Marc

You only have to look at merlins results to see how successful their accommodation strategy is - it’s no wonder they want to continue to add to it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/doztkcgxce9eznl/amity.mp3?dl=0 There you go

I can’t see X no way out ever returning to be honest. There have been multiple rumours over the years that X would leave the park, I beleve it very almost happened 3/4 years ago. It wouldn’t surprise me if The Walking Dead is the last version of X no way out that we see!

Just a quick meets update! Due to other commitments, Ryan will no longer be leading meets for us. @Mattgwise has agreed to step in and help us keep these running - I also plan to be around as much as possible to help out! Hope to see you at Fright Nights!

Anyone know how icon is doing for the park? When was there for the tpm meet it felt busy, although not necessarily busier than I’ve seen it before. I got an email offering free return visits too, along with the new advert I’m wondering if it’s had the effect they hoped?

Its Friday Saturday and Sundays the restriction on Thorpe / Standard annual passes - so Thursdays are ok Your thorpe / standard annal pass wont allow you entry on these days (Wont even scan), so you will need to purchase a ticket if you plan to visit them days.

Looks better than the last - strange to have a new ad in the middle of summer mind!

I wouldn’t get your hopes up - They won’t rip out the permanent I’m a Celebrity for a fright night maze - I’d be very Surprised to see Studio 13 of any fright night maze to be in that area any time soon.

No changes - lots of actors in there today though!

Saw alive has its music playing and plenty of staff around, it’s also been added to the queue time list. Looks like it’s very close to opening (i would guess today as Living Nightmare is closed) edit: it’s now open

Based on crowd levels - it’s been totally dead the last couple days so it’s ended with just the coasters and a couple of flats open, on the busier nights pretty much everything has remained open till 10.

If the VR goes I expect everything else will remain the same as it is now - hopefully they can get back some sort of dispatch light / audio sequence too!

Swarm had its fire / water jets back and running today and Stealth had its launch smoke back

There has to be a balance when using new tech, there’s no doubt a place for it as time and technology is evolves - it’s easy to blame merlin all the time, but without being part of the conversations between Merlin and the suppliers it’s impossible to know what was promised!

Maybe so, but i'm sure hes not wrong in what he's saying, when a company like Merlin signs a contract with a supplier, i don't think its unreasonable for them to expect to get what they are promised - latest technology or not, as the consumer its not up to Merlin to say if it will work or not, surely that onus is on the supplier?

Really good article with Nick Varney here - actually think he addresses what you say about ghost train too! “When the tech works well, it can offer the chance to create “even more mind-blowing immersive experiences”, he says. However there is a caveat. “A lot of suppliers out there are not delivering on their promises. You create demand, customers queue up, rides break down, and equipment doesn’t work: you end up disappointing a lot of people. It was a point I raised at the IAAPA GM’s breakfast.” “We’ve quite had a lot of issues with this. You want to be innovative but you always have to balance it with how certain you can be of a high level of delivery operationally with new rides and attractions.” https://blooloop.com/features/nick-varney-merlin-entertainments-ceo/

Fins still had red coke when I was there a couple of weeks ago - one of the few (maybe only?) places which still have it on tap.

The event usually gets busier the closer to haloween you get, the start is usually the quietest time!

Pizza pasta for me - the food is always decent and it’s good value for money, Ben more so when you get AP discount!

Dishing out free priority passes for not much is just as much of a problem as paid fastrack is!

I too had problems with my ride with lights on - although the TVs worked and displayed what they should they didn’t stop playing throughout the experience. It’s not a new thing, I’ve seen that happen before so hopefully they can get fixed!

It sounds alot to us of course, but for a company Merlin's size i expect they would be hoping to make quite a lot more than that. Im not sure how much the cheap annual passes really hurt, your average guest will probably visit once a year, and will most likely use a 2 for 1, suddenly they can pay just £50 and come back again for a year, the real money will be made by people spending in the park as opposed to gate receipts.

It’s been like this a couple of weeks now - I’d be surprised if 2 pods were simply broken so I expect there’s something abit more complex causing it. Did it tonight actually - had an insane cycle on it, pods were doing full speed 360 flips, something I’ve only ever had on Top Buzz before never on samurai!

Stealth was down all of the day, technical problems, just because it don’t look like a ride is being worked on it don’t mean it isn’t, especially when you consider the vast majority of stealths workings are hidden away in a bunker.... Not sure on Ghost Train, last week it was advertised as closing at 8 I think but tonight it said 10 on the board, possibly a technical issue too? Zombie hunt and Living Nightmare close at 6, think I’m a celeb does too.

I noticed the lights were always on during my ride too - as for the news report that was removed when it become rise of the demon I think!