JoshC.

Dar she grows!

A fair assumption to make, no?

Certainly would be a shame to lose the IMA Score transition we've seen recently for Fright Nights. The 'Sound of the Island' should be a focal point for all future soundtracks in my opinion, Fright Nights included. And it worked well last year (just a shame it was stolen for TWD The Ride). Though it will be nice to see more rides given Fright Nights themes - let's hope they're good.

That is correct, yes.

So with Dead Creek Wood presumably taking place in Zombie Hunt's route, I'm guessing Blair Witch will take place from roughly the Zombie Hunt exit, and ending at the shed. That creates a very short attraction.. My bigger concern is how congested that stretch of the park will be. You'll have Blair Witch and Vulcan Peak in the same area, Dead Creek exiting there, and then further along, you've got the entrance to three other mazes all in pretty close proximity. It seems like it could be a recipe for disaster. They really need to find a way to use the beach again. I know they had major flooding issues, among other things, in 2015 with Big Top, but it was more or less okay 2008-2012 with Curse and Se7en. Yes it will almost definitely require tents, yes it will require a lot more money, but it'll spread attractions round the park and utilise a massive space prime for an indoor attraction.

Went here yesterday. I'll do a report thing in a few days, but let's talk Hyperion. Rode it three times (first train of the day, back row, once in row 2 and another ride in back row). And it's a great coaster once it warms up. First ride was alright, 'fun' at best, but nothing special. But in the afternoon, it's a different beast. The airtime really chucks you round and makes you thankful that Polish staff are taught to really staple you into your seats. It whips round the turns really quickly. It's just, generally, very good. However, the back is quite rattly and vibratey, especially in the second half, which takes away from things a bit. The park are onto a winner with this. It's the headliner the park needs right now. It looks intimidating, packs a punch and is great fun all round. One thing to note though - the batching process is weird. There's 4 batching rows, confusingly labelled 1, 2, 3, 3. These lead to doors which open to the station area. Row 1 lets 4 people in at a time and is for front row. Row 2 is for 'individuals' and lets in 8 at a time. The two row 3s let in 8 at a time each. When waiting at the doors, Doors 1 and 3 open, so people find their rows. Once everyone has found a seat, Door 2 opens and the 8 people fill up the gaps. Very weird system, poorly explained (the explanation is at the front of the batching area, which can't be seen when there's people there!), yet was sorta working? I don't like it though. Also, on my first ride, I got SOAKED by the splash. I was literally the only person to get wet, but I got properly drenched. My other rides were fine and I never saw anyone get as wet as me, so I dunno if it was just an unlucky go or what. Anyways, tl;dr - Hyperion is great. Reckon most will enjoy it. Go ride it if you can.

Thorpe have said that "selected mazes" will be open next Saturday (29th) exclusively for AP holders. The park will be open to all guests till 8pm, with the mazes open to AP holders presumably from 3pm.

To be fair, scare zones aren't necessarily meant to be scary, just add general atmosphere and introduce people to the scary stuff who don't necessarily want to go in the mazes. That's the issue with giving mazes numerical ratings - anything that's low is instantly rubbished. I liked last year's rating guide ("intense", "spooky" and "gorey" I believe?), as it didn't lower any maze, buy gave them a category. Interesting mix though. Saw and Living Nightmare being the two scariest yet already opened this year, putting a lot of pressure on Sanctum 2 to deliver. They can never make their minds up with Containment either (seesawed between 5, 2 and intense, now an ambitious 4). Vulcan Peak already sounds over-hyped though sadly.

Damnit Benin, stop making so many good posts that I have to keep liking...

Vulcan Peak teaser video:

Tried one of their escape rooms - would really recommend. Lots of fun, very challenging, fantastic atmosphere with amazing theming and detailing. Clearly has some very talented people behind it, and really hope people give it a go!

I imagine that whatever they do, it'll be pretty much just a retheme. There's not too much they can do with the space, and with the 'property advert' listing the effects and goblins, I imagine all of those would remain. Hard to know whether they'll lean towards an IP or not. Chessington have seen how well IPs work with Gruffalo and, to a lesser extent, Madagascar, but they've not done too bad with internal brands too. Room on a Broom seems like an obvious choice, but I wonder how well known it is in its own right, as opposed to 'from the same author as the Gruffalo'?

It's a marketing stunt, and one of the more fun, different and clever ones we've seen from Merlin. Do you really think they'd sell a building in the middle of a theme park for someone external to use?

With Big Top being gone, which was easily the headliner for the past 3 years, it'll be interesting to see what attraction, if any, takes that role. Every Fright Nights has had a natural headliner, the one everyone knows and wants to do. Freezer and Asylum held the role, Studio 13 kept it warm for a year, then Big Top has fulfilled that. But nothing major jumps out to me this year. With Living Nightmare and Saw already having opened this year, they are well known, but not necessarily for being 'the' Fright Nights attraction. I guess Sanctum Do or Die could fill that role, but we all know that needs significant work. Platform 15 is good, but lacks that headliner draw imo. And nothing else jumps out as major. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Without that one big draw, I wonder how much the park would be affected.

Praying for Movie Park Germany to butcher their's. Not old, but needs it...

ANNOUNCEMENT AT 7AM TUESDAY 11TH. Except we won't announce it all.

As long as the Gasten revamp gets rid of those spiders, I'm game.. ?

Be interesting to see how they use the space. Now that Crust is open this year (and is an external brand), I imagine they can't close the place due to contracts and stuff. Thorpe won't want to actively encourage people to eat at somewhere that isn't their own brand (say by having the queue pass it), so they'll have to be even more creative with the area this year...

Thorpe have been confirming via social media that the closed days that were changed to open days are now closed days again. Confusion! So the September calendar posted by Miles is the most up to date, correct, one. The two additional Fright Nights dates on Thursday 11th and Thursday 18th remain however.

Baring in mind that I was significantly younger when I did Freezer, the main thing that sticks out in my mind with Freezer is that it had actual different scenes and progression. Asylum was effectively a corridor, a huge chain mesh section, and another corridor. And don't get me wrong, I get the purpose - an endless chain line maze which seems to go on forever where you're target by loads of people, but you don't know if it's 1 or 100, etc. But it just always felt repetitive for me - nothing exciting or interesting. Freezer had progression throughout the maze - you had different scenes (even if it was just 'prison bars' or a wall as opposed to mesh), different characters who would have different things to do. It had a build up. Asylum lacked that for me. As I say, I see why people loved Asylum, but that sort of scare attraction does little for me.

Go on then, Top 18... 1) The Big Top (2017) 2) Studio 13 3) Se7en 4) Experiment 10 (2012) 5) Platform 15 (2017) 6) Cabin in the Woods (2013) 7) Saw Alive 8 ) TWD Living Nightmare 9) Containment 10) The Freezer 11) Blair Witch Project (2015) 12) The Passing 13) TWD Sanctum 14) Hellgate 15) The Curse 16) My Bloody Valentine 17) Dead End 18) The Asylum

Totally agree - Se7en was one of the few Merlin mazes which made full use of your senses, along with great set pieces, clever routes and well placed actors. Definitely underrated.

With there being potentially 6 new experiences and 6 days (including the 11th) left until this big announcement, it would be awesome if the park could give a cryptic tease about what each thing is.. Also, the website has updated, saying mazes open at 3pm, not 12pm as originally listed.

Since Fright Nights Fever is hitting... -Asylum was the least enjoyable and most repetitive maze that Thorpe Park has ever produced.

The 'X' is a cross button, and 'Escape the dead' is there to close down the jump scare of a zombie appearing on the screen. ? However, I agree with Marc that there's a possibility they could do something to TWDTR by adding in more actors. Who remembers back in 2009 when 'Saw The Ride Comes Alive' was an advertised attraction?