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So yeah, a new maze (serving effectively as a replacement for Platform), and a new experience. Plus maybe some refreshed scare zones. The new experience is intriguing. There's no real details yet, and you can't book anything specific yet. But, currently, the price for the "Fearsome Four" add on works out as £37 on top of the entrance ticket. Last year, the Trio ticket for the 3 mazes worked out as £27, and I can't imagine the park will price the mazes as more expensive than £10, or £9per maze when booked as the trio. So that could suggest it's a 'step up' experience compared to the other mazes. Something similar to Containment wouldn't be a surprise; an interactive scare experience, even if not an escape room. Personally I'd love something a bit more extreme / designed as a solo experience, but I don't think that quite matches with what the wider audience wants. So wishful thinking there.

The third scare maze is said to be an Indoor maze, would definitely include the farm building under that description. However, it would mean it wouldn’t use the land to and around the farm. scare experience seems more likely in this location. However why tease the scare experience. You’d think it would be a nod to a new maze. For an indoor maze though, unless you joined shipping containers together. Where else in Thorpe could they house the scare maze?

I don't know why but I've got such an intense vibe that something will be happening at Thorpe Farm this year. The teaser trailer doesn't look like it's filmed inside of Containment and looks veeeeeery similar to the location where the teaser for Creek Freak Massacre was filmed last year (pictures below for comparison). Thorpe Farm is just used for storage at the moment and obviously is still connected to the main Thorpe Park - so my prediction is that you walk over to Thorpe Farm and this is either where the new scare experience is or is the third maze. Personally, I think there's more weight behind this being the location of the scare experience, as I have to agree that I think Containment will be making a return for the third maze this year.

Definitely a containment rehash or similar….

I'd imagine there's probably a reason why Stealth is painted the way it is, so I presume the transition point will be very similar to that of Stealth's. Pure assumption, mind. I could be completely wrong.

Great write up Matt. My kids have been brought up to "eat in the queue, don't lose ride time" and I am pleased that my grandson is being educated the same way.

I went to Paultons Park on Friday for the first time in a few years and it really makes you realise how strong they are as competition to Chessington. We started over at Cobra and then gradually moved our way around to the right hand side of the park. Doing this you could see so easily how the park has evolved over time to get more and more detailed with their theming going from Cobra and Edge which are essentially completely plain, to Lost Kingdom and finally Tornado Springs. It’s not just themeing though that’s impressive for a relatively small park, it’s the fact that everything is immaculate that stood out the most. You could tell they work hard on repainting, cleaning, gardening, etc. It’s probably this that makes the biggest difference between here and some of the Merlin parks, like Chessington, where many elements just look tired now. I’m looking forward to see what Paultons have to bring in the future as they’ve got so much potential. I think Chessington have started to see them as a threat and have been gradually improving over the past couple of years but I still feel that if I was recommending a park to a family with younger children then Paultons would be the top suggestion.