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PLANS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED. Some highlights: -The ride will feature trains of 20; 10 rows of 2. The trains will have lapbars. *Not too surprising, but nice to know. -No manufacturer is confirmed; this is not of interest for planning permission, but it is acknowledged it is of interest to roller coaster enthusiasts. Equally, the application just mentions ride comparison are done to a 'similar ride in Europe' -The ride will reach a maximum speed of around 130km/h (though this is not definite) -The ride will have a light track colour high up, similar to Stealth *This was mentioned in the consultation period. I haven't found confirmation of *what* the colour is for the high points, or the low points. This is usually contained within there somewhere. -The ride's highest points are: 72m, 50m, 48m and 43m *This puts to bed an initial thought I had that the park might try to go for the world's tallest inversion record. -Lots of trees will be planted around the station building -During construction, the lake will be infilled partially. Originally, the supports were meant to go into the lake, but it looks like they will go into a small part of land within the lake. I guess this is a compromise between having a nice looking lake and ease of maintenance. -The expanded construction area appears to just be for the *full* demolition of Loggers Leap, as opposed to just the bits in the way. So no extended layout. -Construction should start late this year, and the whole process should last 16 months. So Spring 2024 opening Now some more photos: An interesting look at an alternative layout Trees In past applications, we have gotten a look at the design of buildings, etc. But I can't find any of that. Usually we'd even get fencing plans, saying the style, height, material of every fence in an application. Again, doesn't seem to be here. Interesting, in a geeky sorta way. All I can say about the station is it has walls and a metal roof (a roof shouldn't be taken for granted). So there's no clarity on theming, style, colours or anything. Random note: the transfer track is after the station and at the start of the ride, as opposed to at the end of the ride / before the station. Somewhat different.

Looks like a load of dumped shingle/hardstanding to me, almost certainly for storage, site offices etc. One would assume the loggers trough that's underneath it next to the CFM/LL station building will be the very last piece of Loggers that'll be removed (and then cut into slices to sell as merch innit). I eagerly await the Peepy Poop guy to say something along the lines of: Exodus has something in STORE, and the ROAD maybe shorter then you think. Buckwheats or out of luckwheats Rocky or just rocks Time will tell. Who's Ghost Train is it? (oh hold up went off on a tangent there)

We have an interesting update. Pre-face: An image featured here is a drone image over the park. Whilst there is nothing 'wrong'/'illegal' about flying a drone over Thorpe without permission when the park is closed, it's not something I particularly condone. We can see that some sort of paving has happened next to Creek Freak Massacre. Here's a comparison from Google Maps, from around 2019/2020:

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?

I know that the food stand is going to be called Exod-Ices.

The area has now been blocked off: Sauce is obviously Heinz It's also been confirmed to Chessington Buzz that the name of the new area will be Shipwreck Coast. The two new rides will be called Trawler Trouble (Timber Tug Boat relocated) and Bobbing Barrels (Zamperla Watermania). Whilst we're here, there's been some nice repaints to existing areas for 2022, as seen by TPG: Wild Asia: Mexicana: Forbidden Kingdom: More images and other bits from TPG's live feed: https://live.themeparkguide.biz/?live=CWOA22 Also worth checking out Chessington Buzz's Twitter feed too: https://twitter.com/ChessingtonBuzz

And a look at construction: (Above image from Chessington Buzz too) A couple of alternate views from Theme Park Guide:

This is the thing apologies if off topic. The documentary is excellent, however something doesn’t sit right with me here you shouldn’t be continuing to make fright night construction updates if you’re actively involved in the product / have signed NDAS despite saying it’s all speculation. it’s also a great documentary however I hope they were paid industry rates rather than the mares rates Thorpe would be happy to give out which could lead to toxic relationships further down the line.

If I wanted to spend £15 on spinning, I would go to a Weatherspoons.

They've painted the entrance sign this year.

Recently, Jack Silkstone posted a documentary about his involvement in Fright Nights 2021, which was primarily the teaser videos, as well as some other bits: It's worth a watch to see the amount of effort himself and Kieran Adams put into the creation of the videos. I'd say they're some of the best official Thorpe Fright Nights videos to come about. I think there's some questionable things - the amount of effort and manhours that seemed to be put into creating the SuperSpark Cinema Shop feels like wasted energy as it didn't quite work. And whilst it's great to see a lot of work going into giving nods to fans and such, I hope it hasn't come at an expense of alienating a wider audience. Though that is something that the park seem to be cautious of. But yes, back to the documentary itself - it gives a great insight into the creation of the videos, as well as a little bit of the operational preparations before Fright Nights begins. Give it a watch if you can!

Hi guys. While it’s probably one of the lesser known defunct UK theme parks these days, I’m led to believe we have quite a few people on here who grew up in the UK in the 1990s, or were more generally around in the UK in the 1990s for that matter, and know about Mr Blobby and Crinkley Bottom in Cricket St Thomas, Somerset. So I was intrigued to know; did anyone ever visit this park in the brief period it operated? And if so, what did you think? I must say it’s a park that looks intriguing, and quite a strange one to imagine as someone who wasn’t alive in the 1990s. As someone who mainly knows Noel Edmunds as the host of Channel 4’s Deal or No Deal, I can never imagine him being a big celebrity with a huge TV show and theme park like that, but him and Mr Blobby were apparently huge in the 1990s! I mainly posted this thread, though, because I’m currently staying in a lodge complex in Chard that’s only around a mile’s walk from the former site of Crinkley Bottom. As such, my dad and I took a walk down there today to see what we could find, and while the site is now a Warner hotel and no longer looks remotely theme park-like, like most other stately homes in Britain, there are still a few little oddities there to find if you know where to look. I mostly took pictures of stuff that I thought looked vaguely theme park-y, and like it could have been part of Crinkley Bottom, but having consulted a Crinkley Bottom park map and looked online after getting back to our lodge, I actually wasn’t far off. I did take a few photos that I thought might be of interest to you guys. For reference, here’s the map me and my dad used, as a point of reference: (Credit to dunblobbin.com for this image: https://www.dunblobbin.com/park-map) Firstly, here are a few oddities I found that looked like they might have been from when it was a wildlife park: And then we came to what was unmistakably the former railway bridge: And I also photographed this building that was apparently home to the Animals of Farthing Wood attraction according to the map: After that, we crossed what was marked as the Flamingo bridge on the park map, walked along the former railway line, and walked back to the other side along the Crinkley Bridge, at which point I photographed a distinctly colourful looking building, which I later ascertained was the Crinkley Bottom Art Gallery, with what looked like the Extremely Nice Thingy Shop next to it (possibly not in the photograph): (It looked more colourful and stood out more in person… I was zoomed in a lot here) We then came to the Holey Tree, listed on the park map: And finally, we then took a walk up to Cricket House itself: But that’s not all! As it turns out, the very track we walked down to get there used to be the track for the safari (which you can see once you know that was the case), and we also saw a tunnel that used to be Mr Blobby’s Lair, supposedly! (I didn’t photograph that because my dad thought it looked too new to be part of the park) So I definitely had a very productive and interesting afternoon here in Chard; I hope you like my photos of remnants of this slightly more obscure piece of UK theme park history! Did anyone ever get to visit this interesting attraction, or do you remember it?

Sorry to double post, but for those who have absolutely no idea of what I’m talking about, here’s a documentary by Expedition Theme Park, for a bit more info on what Crinkley Bottom actually was: https://youtu.be/Prr59WolXv4

I remember my Face It Alone experiences very fondly. They we’re intense, hands on and completely different on each run through. Managed to do Cabin In The Woods, Studio 13 and Saw in 2014, Big Top in 2015 and Saw again in 2016. I think my first run through on Saw was my favourite, because of the variety of actors and encounters in there. My 2016 one was probably my least favourite because it seemed rather toned down. I definitely preferred the setup in the first couple of years, where you could choose your maze and then drink champagne before enduring such a crazy experience. Would love to see it return one day, though this seems unlikely.