JoshC.

Due to a medical issue, I won't able to go now. Hope everyone has fun, and see you at the next one!

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.

To be fair a blown motor can do a fair amount of damage / look pretty bad. Even if it happens on an occasional basis, every situation is different.

I think it's unlikely the maze would move like-for-like as is. I don't think it was built or designed to be taken down and moved, so much of the scenery simply wouldn't survive a move. This is unlike other mazes which have moved, which were designed in temporary areas and could be taken down and rebuilt. That's not to say that the Creek Freak brand would not return (either in a 'reimagined style', a la Big Top or in a Creek Freak Massacre 2: Electric Boogaloo scenario) in the future. But the maze, as in, moving is almost entirely out of the question.

To add, Tulleys have basically confirmed that one of their new mazes will be a 10/10 scare rating, the first time they've hit that high (they have a couple of 9 rated mazes). Presumably that will be the second one they announce. Obviously it's all just marketing spiele, but interesting all the same.

So let's talk Carnival, the park's other new event for 2022. The event is split into two areas. There is 'the' "Carnival" area, which is in the Lost City area (where various FN mazes have been) and there is the "Junkyard" area, which stretches alongside Ghost Train up to Trailers. The Carnival area is the main one, and features a stage, photo op point, some F&B places and a couple of extra sideshows (magician's tent and fortune teller). Things kick off from 12 and there's pretty much always something going on, or getting ready to happen, from then till park close (which is 7pm for the event!). There's a Ringleader show, showing all the acts, a mime troupe show, a set of singers, and also some circus/carnival acts (fire breathers, trapeze artists / balance performers and the like). The Junkyard area features some "carnival rejects", who are basically just a bit more shoddily dressed, treated like outcasts, and a bit more 'crazy'. All in, there's a real good variety of acts, and it's all just light hearted fun. And it does so without being cheesey or corny, which I felt the Mardi Grad stuff did too much of. I'm sure things will get polished up during the event too. The circus acts are external acts too, so are specialists in what they do. One thing I wasn't keen on was the singing aspects of the performances. It would be harsh, and wrong, to say the singing was bad, but it certainly wasn't something I would call 'good'. Obviously this is a difficult thing to do, since as people we can hear amazing singing in a couple of clicks on our phone, but it does mean there's a high bar to meet. I think the performances would be better without singing, but then again, maybe the wider audience disagree. In any case, I think if the park want singing incorporated into these acts, they should broaden their horizons and look to people with as much experience as possible. Now, onto the thing which I guess people are most interested in: Trailers - Breakout at Bozo's. This...is a thing. And it doesn't know what sort of thing it wants to be. Is it trying to be a fun and funny attraction set inside a spooky setting? Is it trying to be a scare maze which doesn't take itself seriously? Is it trying to be a scare maze which has been toned down? I don't know. And I don't think Thorpe really know what they want it to be. From what I understand, the plan was for it to be something which wasn't that scary, didn't take itself seriously and something you could have a laugh with. But then when it wasn't received all that well, and senior management realised it wasn't scary, they've tried to tweak that. Which adds to the confused nature of it. There are some fun moments in there, don't get me wrong. But none of it feels very right. And it's all just a bit of a mess, and doesn't quite flow. I also feel for the actors: it's running on minimal numbers, and only one per main scene. When most scenes were designed for at least 2 actors, and almost always had those numbers last year, it means they have a lot to do, and in weirder circumstances. Can't be easy. I don't see it being very popular now the initial enthusiast rush has died down. But with the minimal operating hours and minimal staffing, and being upcharge, I expect it will make money, and so ultimately be a plus for the park there. But still, this stinks of a decision made my people in an office with little understanding of how it would work and the consequences, leaving the Entertainments Team to just deal with it. Anyway, I don't want to leave things on a bad note. Carnival is a really cool, fresh-feeling event. It's fun, vibrant and adds an upbeat feeling to the park. At the same time, it doesn't impede on those who aren't fussed: it's a nice, harmless addition. I hope it works out well for them, and that it's something that can continue and be improve upon in the future. On a side note, with these events happening, and being a mainstay, and with shows being a thing at the park again, it's a shame there isn't an arena-like space for them to be housed, and for more work to go into them. Funny world ey.

Usually you would be looking at late August / early September. It is usually linked with whenever they announce their line up, which varies, but is usually around that sort of time

Ooooh, but seriously. I have an update. Here's the current state of the Old Town area: Lots of weeds growing up through the paving. That certainly indicates very little human movement and interaction in the area. And yes, Rocky Express is equally untouched. I believe that whilst the main construction period is due to start autumn / early winter this year (if all goes to plan), the park had planned to do some preliminary work this summer. This seems to have been bought to a pause, although is no real indication - and should not be read as such - as to whether the park think the planning application will be approved or not.

Looks like even Parm Pap has lost their mind with all this waiting now. That's their most incomprehensible post yet. They should go all 2018 and 'Year of the Walking Dead' with it. Stormzy: The Roller Coaster Stormzy Surge Stormzy in a Teacup Stormzy's Ghost Train The Stormzy Stormzy Inferno The Stormzy Express

Yeah go on, I'll be there.

The Chinese Legoland parks set to open in the next decade or so all have renderings/concept images which show what looks suspiciously like wing coasters, as well as B&M junior inverts. So they'll definitely end up there. Definitely not much of a leap to suggest they'll end up at more (and I wouldn't be surprised to see one end up at the new Legoland Belgium too). Windsor is the least likely though, yeah. Planning permissions being awkward, little space and the fact that there's one 30mins away all adds up to no B&M Wingsor.

It's been a long time since I did Scarefest, so I could well be wrong. But it seems to change every year. At some point they had a 'core three' set of mazes, plus a fourth one, with the fourth one only being able to bought individually. I think they've moved away from that now, and heavily push the quartet option, but quietly having options for solo mazes - likely at £10 a pop, and possibly even only available to buy on the day? Long and short of it is that they'll probably advertise if you can buy single maze tickets once they've announced their line up and full offerings. With it being the 15th anniversary of Scarefest they're looking at pulling out all the stops for it, as it were. But simply though, I'd be surprised if they didn't offer single maze tickets, as it's a great way to squeeze extra money out of people.

Rocky Express was not a popular ride. It never had a queue. It would very rarely have a full cycle. The only time people really paid any attention to it was when it was rumoured to not be returning. Don't get me wrong, Rocky Express and rides like it are fun and enjoyable. But it simply wasn't popular at Thorpe. Comparing it to Seastorm, a ride which is in a park with less thrill rides and has a completely different target market, doesn't show how popular Rocky is or would be. Whilst it may look in immaculate condition, it isn't. The simple fact of the matter is the ride was turned off on the last operating day of 2021 and left untouched. It's had no winter maintenance (which it would have needed) or any engineering checks. And the longer it is left, the worse condition it will get in from a mechanical standpoint. The reason it has been untouched is because there's no need to touch it yet. It's not returning, or being sold or moving on, so they only need to physically remove when it's time to. There certainly feels like a chance the current plans could be rejected. But whatever happens with the roller coaster project, Rocky will not return, for the reasons listed above. If the current Project Exodus plans are rejected, it's likely that the park wouldn't be able to build any coaster there (not impossible, but I don't see it happening). I wouldn't say no to Thorpe building a Maurer spinner (or indeed, any spinner...Mack Xtreme Spinner for example), but it would need a much higher throughput than Spinball at Towers to cope with the demand it would no doubt get. I agree Thorpe could do with more family / family-thrill rides. But a coaster like that at Chessington (a launched wingrider) is very low down on that list for Thorpe imo

So we have more details about Carnival now: -A fire performance -Circus acts, such as Contortionists and Aerial Artists -A Mime Troupe -The "Ringleader show" -A trio of singers, "The Flossers" -And of course, the special version of the Fright Nights maze Trailers, "Trailers: Breakout at Bozo's" https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/events/carnival It sounds like something different and fun. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together, as the presentation of each thing will be the key deciding factor in their success. If they are overbearing and/or cringey, it will come across as annoying. Done just right, and this will add an overall atmosphere to the park which will really help over the summer. It's a shame there's not an arena, or just a general performance space with designated seating, anymore. This event specifically, but also Mardi Gras, would have really benefitted from it.

@Mark9 When you said this park needs investment, I'm not sure this is quite what you meant... https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220623005938/en/Cedar-Fair-Capitalizes-on-Opportunity-to-Sell-Its-Land-at-California’s-Great-America-Amusement-Park