JoshC.

To be fair, if I'm paying £100 for a tiny piece of metal, I'd want it to be delivered by a courier with at least 5 years experience along with 2 bodyguards. Not sure you can get that for £2 though

Don't think the theming picture is getting enough love. Thorpe have demonstrated time and time again that they can do excellently themed set pieces in their mazes, and almost always do. The snippets we've seen from Living Nightmare prove that it'll be no different. As my the maze I'm most looking forward to this year...The Big Top is my choice. As I've explained in the past, though I'm sure I'll enjoy them, I have reservations about TWD mazes. I'm looking forward to Platform's improvements but after last year, you need to keep expectations realistic. Saw will be Saw, and Containment will be Containment. It feels like Thorpe are trying to make Big Top their headline thing, the maze that'll be back year-in, year-out, and will always deliver. Essentially the equivalent of what Asylum was, and what Tower of the Terrors currently is. And if there's supposedly enhancements / changes, I'm all geared up for them...

It's concerning that I'm quadruple posting without batting an eyelid... Another new video from Toverland: Dragon / castle / knight theme seeming more and more likely, which would be a lovely fit for the park. Still hasn't truly sunk in for me that tiny Toverland is getting a (albeit small) monster B&M next year...

Lumber Jump is still there and open. And though Rumba Rapids is closed for the rest of the year, it is back next year.

Not strictly true. Wicked Witches Haunt was a family-aimed dark ride; Vortex (and Detonator) were thrill rides. Zodiac was more the attempted 'replacement' (for lack of a better word), since that was geared as a family ride. The fire happened at the start of the transition period from turning Thorpe Park from a family park to a more thrill-focused park. There had long been plans for thrill rides to join the line up in the Lost City area, and for Mr Rabbit to be replaced by a coaster. Because of the fire, Zodiac was bought in in 2000 (under the name Enterprise) to make up for the fact that 2 rides were closed. It's popularity meant it was introduced permanently in 2001. Vortex also came along to help increase the thrill offering, and start the Lost City area (with Colossus already well underway). Detonator was introduced to further help the thrill offering, and to have something in the area where WWH stood. It was originally only meant to be around for the 2001 (planning permission was only granted for a year, and originally Thorpe wanted a drop tower in the Lost City area). But because of it's popularity, Thorpe decided they wanted to keep Detonator as it was and eventually got permanent planning permission. More backstory on what happened with Detonator can be found on my blog... (Though spoilers - some of the information there is wrong. Thorpe were originally going to get a Vekoma launched coaster, not an SLC...) All the info about the Thorpe fire can best be found over with our friends Memories of Thorpe Park.

I reckon with Thorpe wanting to include families more now (as seen in particular with the addition of Timber Tug and Lumber Jump), Banana Ride is pretty safe. Mechanically speaking, the ride is simple and well looked after, so there's no real reason for it to be removed. So it'll be around for a good while yet.

New video from the park... The aforementioned potential 'new details' day is Tuesday, when the park are presenting at EAS. Oh and for all you fans, yes, that music is from IMA Score...

Construction is starting on the new Gerstlauer Bobsled for next year. The coaster is partly taking the place of La Coccinelle, the park's kiddie cred, as the surrounding area, which has now been removed and will reopen next year on the site of the park's old ferris wheel... (Image from looooooooooooooopings) I believe the nearby boat journey ride is closing soon (if it hasn't already) for construction, and the Halloween version of the ride won't be making an appearance this year. But the boat is back next year. The water park expansion is also happening and progressing well.

It was open last year during AP night, so don't see why it wouldn't be this year. Still the same price (so £8 with discount) and presumably it will be just buy on the day. Probably worth checking with Thorpe for certain on that though!

There's a new video on AT's Facebook about The Welcoming (can't link atm as on phone). There's a plank of wood with symbols spelling out 'Gift', a male hand with the 'N' symbol, and the video ends in a way suggest that the maze will involve you being hooded at some point.

Neat investment from the park, and not that surprising really. A bit of a shame that there's not a more exciting family water ride coming, but it still fills a gap. And their concept art always is realistic compared to the final product, so that bodes well too. One thing from the press release though... Looks like someone has been attending the Merlin School of Marketing...

I feel sorry for anyone who has to go to media night, since they'll have to be near some arrogant enthusiasts who think they're special since they get to go to a theme park a day earlier...

In other news, Tobin Bell visited Thorpe Park yesterday and did a brief interview... https://www.thorpepark.com/blog/thorpe-park-meets-tobin-bell

To be fair, Efteling are pretty good with throughputs and their queues are quick moving, with only the old rides like Python and Bob being quite slow. They don't have Fastrack queues, and only 2 SRQs (Baron and Symbolica). So they do focus on 1 quick moving queue mostly. It's also worth noting that Carnival Festival (their omnimover which can get like 2 hour queues on busy days) has recently had an app made, which can interact with stuff in the queue now. Makes me think they're trying loads of different ideas to try and improve people's queueing experience (since there's little more they can do with throughputs), and see what works best.

The outside section of Platform is what needs the most work. It's where the majority of actors are, yet you can see them all as there's no hiding places. And there wasn't enough scope to be able to draw off a 'creepy atmosphere' for that length of time. So if they added in some walls / set pieces to turn that section into a bit more of a labyrinth, that's work well. The tunnel doesn't need much in my opinion. It was bad last year because it was just a long walk in dark. If they included more things to tackle the senses, it'd be fine. For touch, they could have different types of floor (hard floor, soft floor, gravel), and say have bits of cotton hanging from the ceiling, as well as bits of cloth like last year. A couple of extra sound effects / ambient background for sound. Add in a smell somewhere and that's enough to keep you entertained during the whole tunnel if spread out evenly.

BTS Tours never included Fastrack before. So, assuming maze Fastracks are £9 per maze, the price of the actual tour has only gone up a couple of quid. Of course, you have to wonder if the people doing BTS tours care about Fastrack, since they're either in a position that they've done the mazes before and will do them again anyway, or they don't do the mazes outright and just want to see them.

"You're just here for the rides..." - except Efteling is one of the few theme parks that isn't just about rides, and if that's all you do there, you're foolish. But yeah, good to see more Efteling creeping up in the UK media.

Saw V is my least favourite. The Hoffman backstory is good, but the traps are the most nonsense of the series and there's just not much too it. IV is my favourite, and has the best ending - SO MANY TWISTS.

Just as good as other events, who hang signs on the ceilings... Or make small, bland signs with a basic logo stuck on... Moral of the story - everywhere does the occasional bad entrance. And, mostly, it's what's inside that counts.

I was there the first Sunday last year too and this is more accurate...

It is coming back as it's listed as an attraction on the Fright Nights page. Not sure why they haven't made tickets available (unless they're considering a change in price and that's still being finalised). I'd guess it would go on sale very soon though! The cost of Fastrack is continually rising. It is a premium product and they do want it to be limited. However, there is a case of trying to find the right balance between making it accessible to everyone (in terms of cost), making sure they make enough money (like anything else, it's there to make money and has targets to hit) and making sure it's limited enough. If they sell it at too cheap a price, it means they have to sell loads to meet targets, everyone will want it, meaning it's not a premium product and defeats the point. Not to mention how much it will annoy guests. Make it too expensive (and reduce the quantity sold) and people won't buy it, they won't make enough money and it will just annoy guests ("it's too expensive"). The large jump in price would suggest to me that they're reducing the number of Fastrack tickets available. Hopefully it'll be noticeable, as the number of Fastrack tickets sold as always been a major complaint come Fright Nights.

Probably just saying that Fastrack starts for 11am for rides and 3pm for mazes, since some people think they start straight away. Odd wording though!

They've worded it differently, so that it just lists the rides you get unlimited Fastrack on. Though they might want to remove Rush, Slammer and Rumba Rapids... Ooh, looking back into it, the 5-combo was actually £30 last year (£6 a maze like the coasters), so it's actually gone up by £14. Would assume then the single maze Fastrack are £9. Definitely a big jump, but certainly needed. Ultimate FN Fastrack was £99 last year, so it's gone up by £26.

Toverland recently posted this video, which is the first 'official' confirmation from the park that the new entrance and new area (with wingrider) is coming next year: Apparently there's going to be more details / concept art revealed later this month. There's also rumours that the new area could be themed around King Arthur / general castle and knights theme, which would be exciting and interesting for the park. Very little has happened in terms of actual construction at the moment though. So fully expect this to open sometime next summer...