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Following @Inferno's excellent write up about their Face it Alone experience, I've been inspired to talk about my own. For those who haven't seen Inferno's write up... To those unaware, Face it Alone was a VIP extra available at Fright Nights between 2013-2016 where, after the park closed, - you guessed it - you could go through a Fright Nights maze...alone! But it was more than that, the run throughs were much more extreme and personal, and unlike anything seen at Fright Nights before or after. --- I'll take the opportunity to discuss my first ever Face it Alone experience, which was in Saw Alive in 2013. But before actually going into it, some additional context. In autumn 2012, I had started uni. Thorpe Park had gone from a 5 minute drive away for me to a near 3 hours train journey each way. Instead of cramming in as many Fright Nights visits as possible, I only managed one. And, frankly, it was dreadful. Huge queues. I had bad runthroughs of the mazes. It was terrible. After that visit, I questioned whether I would bother going to Fright Nights the following year. Now, I'm too much of a Thorpe fanboy for that to have really been a serious suggestion, but that's how much I hated my Fright Nights 2012 experience. Anyway, the park announced the Lionsgate tie in for 2013 and that had me pretty much sold. And then they announced Face it Alone, and any potential thought of not visiting had been washed away. So I was pretty much sold on doing Face it Alone. But there was still some concerns about it. There were promises of an extreme experience. But Thorpe market tons of mazes as extreme, was it just empty words? (Spoilers: it wasn't!). I'd done Fright Nights mazes enough in the past on quiet days to have the occasional solo run (plus, Experiment 10 you were split up and could go solo anyway!). Was this really worth the £15 extra?? I had a great day during Fright Nights; an immeasurable improvement from the disaster of my 2012 visit. The mazes were all a good standard pretty much, at it felt like Fright Nights got its groove back. 10pm came and we made our way to the Calypso BBQ, the meeting spot for Face it Alone. The Director and his assistant (the key characters of Fright Nights) were there, along with some VIP hosts who confirmed our booking and what maze we were doing. The Director and assistant spoke with those who were waiting, and it was hear I got my first glimpse as to what was to come... I was sat at the bar in the BBQ, enjoying my complimentary drink, when The Director came over and sat on the bar surface. He spoke with me individually and asked for my full attention. Sat on the bar towering over me, he spoke with a level of arrogance and firmness about it, saying about how scary the experience was going to be, and that I wasn't ready for this. Any time I looked at him directly, he told me to keep my head facing straight, not up, meaning I was staring directly at his crotch. Describing this, I understand this may come across a bit...sexual I guess? But it did not feel like that at all. It was all part of the act to make me feel uncomfortable and hopeless, whilst also giving that personal experience. By the time all 6 "Face it Aloners" were here, we were given Thorpe Park ponchos to put on and the Director read the waiver to us. The waiver pretty much said anything could happen: we could be made to do anything, might be tied up, blindfolded, might come across bad language, nudity, bodily fluids, etc etc. The park take no responsibility for any damages, etc. Standard scare waiver. This then ended with the line which is still stuck in my head... "If this all sounds too much for you, you can f*ck off to Chessington". If anyone wants to know how all this build up felt... There's a documentary series on Netflix called Dark Tourist. Great show, highly recommend. In the last episode, the presenter (David Farrier) attempts the infamous McKamey Manor, and it shows the psychological aspect of the waiver signing process for that. This felt very similar. Everything in this build up and the reading of the waiver felt designed to put people on edge, intrigue you, but also make you that little worried. In a matter of like 15 minutes I'd gone from "I hope this is more than a bog standard walk through by myself" to "What on earth are they going to do to me?!" With that signed, The Director escorted me and the other Saw Alive Face it Aloner to Saw Alive. But again, this wasn't quite so straightforward. The Director clasped a hand around a wrist of each of us, tightly. And he then proceed to take us along. He was walking very quickly, always ensuring he was in front of us. It was like we were being dragged. There was a huge demeanour change here too. In the BBQ, The Director was this mysterious, creepy individual. The classic horror movie trope of someone who has a dark side. Now, he was this rude, snarling guy who didn't care about anything other than make us as uncomfortable and scared as possible. Whilst dragging us along, he would sometimes stop. Then change direction. Then circle back. He was taking his time. We went around Rocky Express. He then took us towards Saw The Ride. We were made to stand outside the station building, in different corners, roughly speaking in this area: The Director just told us to stand still and shut up, he would return shortly. We must have been there for less than a minute, but it felt like a lot longer. I saw rides staff out of the corner of my eye, pointing and seemingly laughing, knowing our fate. When The Director returned, he was shouting at us, saying we were wasting time and asking why we weren't following him. Again, creating a narrative to make us feel uneasy and second guess ourselves I guess. We were dragged again to entrance bridge. It's worth keeping in mind, all of this, and the "Face it Alone" section hasn't actually started yet! I was told to face away from the entrance, head facing the floor, as the other person went in first. The Director took them in and I waited. I heard The Director from the entrance to the boat shouting and taunting me. Again saying stuff like "I'm not ready for what's coming" and "You should see what's happening to the other person". At this point, I naturally turned my head to face The Director, to hear him more easily. He came running towards me and snarled in my ear that he didn't tell me turn around, I wasn't to look at him and I was to do exactly as told. He then pushed on my shoulders and told me to sit on the ground and wait. Shortly after, I was then dragged by The Director into maze, around the Billy Puppet photo point and pushed into the pre show. The Face it Alone experience was about to begin, and I was already a rattled wreck! In the pre show, the police woman actor gave what I can only describe as a mini interrogation. Screaming in my face, asking me questions and belittling me for not knowing the answers. The 1 on 1 nature gave the personal touch, but the general script and screaming nature made it feel that bit more intense. Eventually, she told me to get on my knees and crawl through to the next room to face Jigsaw's game. I do also seem to remember her sitting on my back as well, for whatever reason. Any fears that this would be a 'normal' runthrough ended when I entered the first scene. I was instructed to get up the next actor, and she then proceed to spit a very large mouthful of very cold water directly in my face. Ah, bodily fluids. This took me by complete surprise: the shock of it happening at all, the coldness of the water, the not being able to see for a second. It all just hit me at once. Looking back, it's still something I can't believe they actually did, and these days, it's a concept which would never even be considered by most places. From here, I was pushed, pulled and shoved around here there and everywhere. I was made to get in the bathtub, told how there was no escape. I made my way to the second scene, and pushed and bounced on the chain mesh fencing. I was shoved into corners and made to squeeze my way out. To exit the second scene, I had to crawl under an actor who was blocking my way, only for another actor to grab my ankle and try to drag me back a little. I made my way to the freezer scene, which with the water still on my face felt that little bit colder. The nearly nude actor in there then proceeded to spit more water in my face for good measure. Much like with all the actors in the maze, they were playing roles of 'crazed Jigsaw victims who were failing their games, and so didn't want you to pass your's'. A 'pig head' character came seemingly out of nowhere and pinned me against the wall by my wrists, before then dragging me into the fourth scene. This was the scene that most closely resembled a normal runthrough, though I still had the actors completely filled with energy, ramping up the intensity, and trying to wrap the chains around my arms. But aside from that, nothing major. Things become a bit more of a blur for me now (this was almost 9 years ago after all!). Scene 5 involved me climbing over the 'table' in the scene, being pushed, pulled and dragged around. Actors screaming in my face, etc. The final scene (the carousel), involved me being pushed against the mesh fencing where the carousel was, and having air blasted in my face a couple of times. I remember being made to crawl around the whole scene, before being able to exit into the Picsolve area. Even then, the experience carried on, and I was grabbed hold of, held against walls and effectively pushed out of the exit onto the bridge by about 3 actors. It was all just full on and intense. And that was it. That was also the 'end end' - there were no other outside things. I can't remember who specifically was outside the maze (I think maybe The Director and a VIP host, but it might have just been the host). But we were asked how we found it, etc. And then we made our own way out of the park. What I found striking was how different the other person's experiences were. They spent a lot longer in scenes 4 and 5 for example (and that included being tied on the table in scene 5), but much less in 2 and 3. The general idea, aim and direction was the same, but there were lots of little differences. The actors truly had to be commended for their energy and dedication. Keeping in mind they had done a full shift on a busy Saturday, to then have to give a full on, high intensity experience for two people, and create something that was truly memorable is incredible. And a real hats off to The Director, who definitely must have enjoyed his role! Walking to the exit, it was a little before 11pm. Given we got to Calypso BBQ around 10pm, and we had interactivity with actors from then until leaving the maze, it was definitely worth the £15. The maze experience must have been around the 7-10 minute mark, and that alone would have been worth it, but the entire spectacle was excellent value. As I say, I think it says a lot about the experience that almost 9 years on, I can remember so much of this so strongly (this entire write up is done from memory...so apologises if it's a bit jumpy and haphazard in style!). It definitely ranks as one of my favourite scare experiences ever. Truly just magnificent. It's interesting even comparing to Inferno's experience as they've written up. Cabin sounds equally fantastic, but the pre and post maze experiences sound rather different. Whether that was just down to numbers, or whether they were changing things up a bit, who knows. Maybe the reason we were dragged around the then Canada Creek so much is because there was a delay and The Director was improvising? Who knows! But it certainly would have been great to meet up with other Face it Aloners from different mazes and hear about their wacky experiences too! So there's my first Face it Alone experience. I'd love to try and write up some of my other experiences too later. Anyone else want to share the horrors they experienced?

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have. Let's start off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream! Launching way back in 2009 when Saw opened, Sun Scream ran every year for many summers at the park, bringing live music, silent discos, stunt displays, beatboxing, sideshows and festival vibes. In reality, Sun Scream wasn't much in terms of an event, starting off as simply a stunt show and some yellow t-shirts for the rides staff, it evolved as the years went on and new things were tried, but I do have a lot of good memories from my annual mid-summer visits in the sunny weather! The amazing Stunt Show The standout feature of Sun Scream for me was the incredible stunt show in the Arena in the centre of the park. This was one of the few times during the season that the Arena was actually used, but it was used well! I remember sitting in the stands watching the Red Bull Stuntriders going over jumps and performing in the small area, and it was very impressive! I do remember one year one of the riders came off his motorbike during one of the performances, and was luckily ok, but the show was very good and (other than fright nights and Thorpe Blast) was probably the best 'show' the park has ever put on in my opinion, even in later years when it was replaced by a BMX display team. Other activities There were some less than ideal 'activities' as part of Sun Scream.. I distinctly remember a silent disco was tried one year in the Colossus queue line. At a point early in the queue, everyone was offered a pair of wireless headphones which played music for everyone to jam to in the queue. The thing is, in a typically British fashion, very few people actually took the headphones, and even fewer took part in the disco. A nice idea, but didn't really work in reality. I also remember several performances, like a beatboxer one year.. Again, nice idea, but the crowd in front of the stage (in front of X) never really grew to more than about 10 people at any time despite the best efforts of the staff pulling people in. Late opening One of the great things about Sun Scream was the 8PM closing time. Being summer, this didn't really allow for night rides, but it was 'dusk' at least towards the end, and on the warm summer evenings it was great to stay late in the park after the crowds left. This no doubt paved the way for the Summer Nights event that followed years later. That 'Thorpe Park feeling' was at its strongest I'm not sure about what it was about Thorpe in the 2009 - 2012 period, but for me that was when Thorpe was at its absolute best. I always remember driving home from Thorpe, especially in the summer, with "that Thorpe Park feeling". I can't describe it, but it's the feeling you get when you've had a great day, you're knackered, aching and have a fuzzy head, your hair is a mess, and you stink... But you can't wait to go back and do it all again, preferably tomorrow. Sun Scream brought this feeling more than ever - it was such a positive and lively event, the sun was nearly always shining, the staff were lively and happy, and the park was always on top form. We also had a new ride in Saw, and The Swarm was under construction. The park was alive in this period and at its best. Dr Pepper Dr Pepper was the sponsor for Sun Scream, and as such during the event the staff handed out free little Dr Pepper cans. Because of this, I always associate the taste and smell of Dr Pepper with Thorpe Park, and every time I have it even all these years later, it takes me right back to "the good days" at Thorpe. __________ Does anyone have any memories of Sun Scream?

A. No shame. Unless I'm not physically allowed to ride it, such as Jellikins (which a certain member of the forum CAN ride).

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have. I started off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream, now it's time for Brave it Alone back when it opened in 2013... I have hazy memories about this, but recently I found an old post I made after I experienced it and thought I'd spruce it up a bit and share! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We did Cabin in the Woods way back on Sunday 13th October 2013, when the experience was brand new (and in my opinion at its best!) So... Here's what happened! After park closing at 10 pm, we met the Director, his assistant, and some park managers along with the other 'brave-it-aloners' at the bar area in Clypso BBQ, where we were read a very long and elaborate warning speech while having a drink. We then had to sign an agreement that stated that 'you are prepared for anything to happen' and that 'TP takes no responsibility for anything', blah blah... After around 20 minutes, when the guests had all left the park, the 10 or so of us were then given one of the classic "Don't wet yourself" ponchos to protect clothes from fake blood, dirt, facepaint and bodily fluids (yep, really). We were then split up and were walked with a park manager to our chosen mazes, where we were asked further questions such as "are you aware that literally anything could happen in here", and "please you must tell us now if you have any reason to not experience this"... At this point the nerves were setting in - why did these warnings keep coming up? What on earth was going to happen inside? After waiting outside the cabin door for a few moments listening to the actors inside, I stepped in to the cabin's first room, the one with the 4 doors, which was brightly lit. I was alone. Suddenly the lights turn off for a second, then back on, but now there are 2 actors standing right in my face! Do any of you remember the guy who played Les Coogan back in 2011/2012? Well I had asked him if he's still known as Les Coogan earlier in the day, But I'll come back to that in a minute. 'Les' pushed me backwards in to a chair in the corner of the room, where I was screamed at and told of the horrors I was about to see. The chair was then tipped backwards and I was led on my back! This was amazingly intense. The interrogation continued. The actors were hillbillies of some sort, so there was... Umm... dribble.... lol! I was then told to crawl in to the next room. Here I was left alone with a single actor who after a while forced me to 'kiss the moose' on the wall, similar to the film. Interrogation went on for a couple of minutes, lights flashed on and off, the actor started getting crazy bouncing off the walls, when my friend crawled in to the room with an actor riding on his back! (I did laugh at this!) I snuck out in to the next room at this point... This room had a person in a plain white mask, and was one of the most surreal parts. She forced me against a wall and slithered around me... very odd! The lights then went out, flashed back on, revealing her mask right up in my face. This happened a few times with her appearing and disappearing at different points. I was then grabbed by another actor who looked panicked, saying "don't look, just get over here". He stood facing me and grabbed me by the shoulders, then pushed backwards (quite fast!) through several flaps and doors until my back banged against a wall!! I was then pushed (very violently) back down on to the floor by a different actor, and told to continue onwards. This next part is a blur to be honest, but I did a lot of walking, crawling, being pulled and pushed around, had lots of jump scares, until I reached the spinning tunnel, which had 2 female clowns inside... Both clowns had 'penis shaped' balloons which they, errm, 'rubbed' me with in various ways... Yeah I'll leave that to your imagination... They then taunted me with them and popped them in my ears. One of the clowns then got behind me, wrapped herself around me and held me still, while the other licked my face and neck while the other laughed in my ear. This was very uncomfortable and weird!!! CLOWNS!?! All of this while the tunnel was spinning around me! I can't remember what happened between here and the final room., however when I did reach the final room, the actor who played Les Coogan in previous years (remember from earlier?) stormed up to me, with about 5 other actors in tow! They each took hold of one of my limbs, picked me up and put me flat on my back on the floor.... 'Les' then completely went crazy!! They were dragging me around, and Les's final words to me were "DON'T YOU ****ING DARE CALL ME LES COOGAN AGAIN BOY. GET OUT OF HERE NOW." I was then pretty much forced to apologise to 'Les', and literally thrown in to a door leading out of the maze! The look on the faces of the park staff was hilarious when I came out! I particularly remember one of the managers looking genuinely worried! It was absolutely fantastic and much more intense than I could have imagined. The whole experience lasted around 10 minutes. Worth every penny of the £15! Bargain. I have probably missed bits here, and probably haven't done it justice, but you get the basic idea. We then all made our way back from the various mazes and met back at the 'bar' in the BBQ, where we all had a good chat about it! Some of the other guests had done Asylum, which was totally mad apparently. They were all drenched in fake blood, and said that many of the asylum patients were completely naked. Lots of 'adult' themes going on in there, including a performance in the bed scene which I'm not sure would hold up today. Some of the others had done Saw Alive which was apparently amazing as well. I can't describe how good Brave it Alone was in its first year! Genuinely terrifying to have literally ALL of the actors focusing on you the entire time.

I'll ride them if I'm in the park and they have a short queue. In parks I visit regularly, sure I'll ride (Baaa Express at Europa Park for example). But say I'm at Kings Island, there's 14 rollercoasters to get on, I'm there one day in total. I won't be going out of my way to ride the Great Pumpkin Coaster as the bigger, more unique rides are far higher a priority. Our to put it this way, I wouldn't rush to Legoland Windsor to ride the Duplo coaster. So category C in general.

2nd Detty tower finally happening.

A naughty double post... Here's the extended post I mentioned chatting about Face it Alone: Looks like my write up from my Original Face it Alone is on my old-old laptop, and I dread to think how long that will take me to find and boot up. But still, you've inspired me to re-write it up...keep watching this space!

Now this is a proper trip down memory lane - thanks for sharing! I really enjoyed Face it Alone. It was a cracking experience that really differentiated Thorpe from other scare events in the UK for a short period of time. It was unique, worthwhile and a joy for the niche market it targeted. And most importantly, in my eyes, it was something which let Thorpe justify Fright Nights as a premium Halloween event, which had something for everyone. It certainly changed over its 4 years of being offered (and some of those changes were for the worst). It's a shame that it stopped, though it would be great to one day see Thorpe try something a bit more extreme again. There's clearly demand for these more extreme experiences, and they can certainly fit it into their line ups imo. I never did Cabin though for Face it Alone. It's great to hear what exactly happened during your run! My runs were: 2013: Saw Alive 2014: Studio 13 2015: Big Top 2016: Big Top All were very different and interesting in their own way. I don't think I ever posted my experiences / reviews at the time (because of how they were asking people not to, to keep the element of surprise). But I did write them up...I'll have to try and track down where I saved them and post them! If not, I can recall parts of my runs, so will share them a bit later. I also think I did an extended post about Face it Alone a couple of years back on here, discussing some more of the ins and outs of the experience and why it changed and left the line up. And again, if I can't find it, I can remember some details, so will add some more. Watch this space!

Still have a pair of DR Pepper pants from this event. These were the days.

An interesting question with a few answers. First off, to answer you concern: it was nothing to do with it being "too extreme". There wasn't enough serious complaints from guests who did it to warrant its removal. Frankly, I don't even know if there were any complaints - everyone knew what they were getting themselves in for. These sorts of experiences have a niche market (albeit, Thorpe and Towers' alone experiences expanded and simultaneously watered-down the niche). A short answer: There wasn't a strong enough drive internally to get it to come back. Devising the experience takes time (it wasn't simply "actors do whatever they want"), and there was no one who was in a position (in terms of the time-commitment required) to create it. There had been some backlash from actors about the experience who didn't feel comfortable doing it (something I'll go into later), plus it could add another hour onto an already very long day, where they have to work 10x harder. Those two together meant it just wouldn't get off the ground. A long answer: Less of an answer, and more of a story.. Face it Alone came about in 2013, with the park trying to diversify their line up and really focus on becoming a bigger, better and more unique Halloween event. The Lionsgate IP bought in the brands and the interest, completely refreshing the concept of Fright Nights. They tried new maze concepts: choices (Cabin in the Woods) and outdoors (Blair Witch Project). They introduced a (sadly poorly received) overnight experience, which was trendy at the time, and pushed forward with the Face it Alone: an extreme and an alone experience in one; again something which was trending and on the up in the scare industry at the time. For anyone that did it in 2013, you'll no doubt know that every experience was different. The actors were given a scope of things they could do, boundaries they could push and ideas they could toy with. It was free-reign, but it gave the actors a much freer realm to work in. Another important thing to note is that Face it Alone wasn't particularly popular in 2013. People were unsure what exactly it was, whether it was worth the £15, etc. You could also choose which maze to experience. Which all in all meant it was easier to organise, give a personal touch, etc. When 2014 came along, the experience changed somewhat. Whilst it was still 'extreme', the actors stuck to much stricter roles. Basically, actor 1 did x to you, actor 2 did y to you, etc. By no means a bad thing (if planned correctly, this can be a very good thing), just different. Again, this year you could choose your own maze and, whilst it had gained popularity, it was still pretty calm. 2015 is when everything changed, and was arguably the beginning of the end. Face it Alone became a much bigger spectacle. Gone were the days of choosing your own maze, and it was instead replaced with the Roulette Ceremony by Big Top. A great idea in fairness, and one that many enjoyed. This meant it garnered more attention and became much more popular, and went outside of the niche. Already teetering on the edge here. 2015 did go back to 2013's free realm style too. There were clearly things that certain actors had to do at certain points to progress you through the experience, but in between actors had a very large scope of what they could do. The next thing with 2015 was the overt sexualisation of the experiences. It's probably not suitable to discuss the details on a public forum, but many things done within the experiences weren't scare tactics, they were simply there sexualised things made to make people feel uncomfortable, humiliated and uncertain. This was the first year that a safe word was introduced too. Safe words do appear in many extreme attractions, but I don't think it's a coincidence that a safe word appeared at the same time the sexualised content of Face it Alone occurred. This was a completely different direction to what had happened before. Whilst Face it Alone may have featured things like nudity/being tied up/etc - ie things that COULD be sexualised - they never WERE. By doing so, it adds a very different tone. And this tone meant that people were enjoying these experiences in a very different way. There were plenty of times that people within Face it Alone experiences were asking for certain things to be done to them so that they could 'get their money's worth' and be satisfied with the experience. These sorts of things had happened in previous years, but not to the degree they had happened in 2015. This, unsurprisingly, led to some actors being rather uncomfortable with the experience. Come 2016, things had been toned down again. It went back more to 2014's "carbon copy" style experience. Originally it led to some complaints that it wasn't as extreme. I think one issue was that the 2015 version of Face it Alone had created a following of people who hadn't experienced extreme attractions outside of Face it Alone, so they had a very set idea of what should happen. When this didn't happen, it lead to that sort of backlash. Getting the balancing act right likely proved hard. And yet there were still people asking for certain things to be done to them, etc. Then 2017 came along, there had been a feeling of discomfort for a while from some actors. The experience had expanded too far out and wasn't something that could be controlled and marketed as it should. People changed roles. The amount of work required to hit that sweet spot was ever-growing, for perhaps diminishing returns. Fright Nights also focused on The Walking Dead, and AMC are known for very strict guidelines about their attractions. Working out a Face it Alone experience for those mazes would have been near-on impossible. So everything together just meant it didn't happen, and it hasn't returned since. And that's that. New external IP, internal concerns and arguably a bit of apathy/running out of steam all really finished it off. Maybe in the future it can return. With the AMC contract disappearing soon that would help. Seeing the extreme version of Creepy Caves at Chessington being a success probably helps. But it requires a lot of work, a lot more than many perhaps realise and appreciate. And I'm not sure I could see it happening soon.