JoshC.

Who want's an aerial photo of Phantasialand? Everyone of course... Posted by Phantasialand's Executive Assistant Chris (who appeared in loads of Klugheim videos, winter update videos, always looks extremely happy and generally seems like an awesome guy), with the caption 'The sky is the limit'. Rumours have been 'fly'ing around that the park are going to be construction updates akin to what they did with Klugheim, and that they could be due to start soon. So we *might* be seeing a nice, official, you-can't-get-banned-from-the-park-for-life-by-looking-at-it, update on F.L.Y. soon!

So The Welcoming will be held in the Mutiny Bay courtyard area (which is being turned into a Smokehouse for next year, meaning this is likely a 1-year maze). Here's a couple of photos from Dave of TowersStreet (sourced from TS Facebook)...

From what I've heard, there's no day-to-day VIP activity during Fright Nights. That would mean no Face it Alone, no Behind the Scenes and that the Zombie Academy that ran during half term week isn't returning. Would be wrong to say Face it Alone has gotten tamer each year though. In 2013 and 2014, you were given a free poncho to protect your clothes - an idea which would have been laughed at in 2015 and 2016. 2015 was by far the most 'extreme' year - it featured overt sexual references, commonly saw people stripped, gagging, being put into physically uncomfortable positions and have uncomfortable things done to you, etc. Something else was that each experience was unique - actors were given very loose directions of what they could do, which gave them free reign to mix it up every time. In 2016 (but also 2014), each experience was a carbon copy - so every Face it Aloner would receive the exact same experience. 2016 was also tamer, reeling in on the sexual side, stripping, etc. Face it Alone isn't actually that expensive to run. Actors usually stay a fair while after park close anyways, to help with a general clean down of the maze, change of costume, etc. The set up in 2015 and 2016 (where only 1 maze had FiA each night) meant that you were only having staff on 1 maze stay an extra half hour or so at most, so it's not that much. The materials used for FiA (tape, shaving foam, paint, etc) are all very cheap and probably bulk bought anyways so wouldn't have that much affect. The one thing which people probably never appreciated with Face it Alone is just how much time goes into creating the experience. It wasn't a case of just telling the actors 'do what you want', it always had a lot of thought and effort put into it. Sure, you can bombard people with masking tape, gaffa tape, baby powder, cream pies, water, etc and put them in awkward positions, but it doesn't quite work if you don't put it in a certain order, build it up so that it actually flows. It's not something that can really be done just like that. And the designing of these experiences was done as an extra; a side project if you will. If the person / persons designing them can no longer do it (say they leave, don't have the time, etc), it's a lot of energy and time to put in for something which doesn't generate a great deal of money compared to other things. So another person might not want to take that load. For Thorpe to no longer offer Face it Alone is truly a shame, and is out-of-touch with the current scare industry. Extreme and alone experiences have been growing in popularity so much over the past few years, and they're something which are really sought after in the UK and Europe in my experience. Thorpe were actually one of the first places to really introduce this on a wider, more accessible scale (both with Face it Alone starting in 2013, and with Experiment 10's isolation cells in 2011). The experiences grew as time went on, and I think they did struggle to find a balance - some people wanted full-on extreme to rival that of specialist scare attractions, some people were expecting a standard run through by yourself. It was difficult to try and advertise - and deliver! - it as something in the middle, to make sure people knew what they were expecting, so that they weren't disappointed or disgusted with what they got. But by no longer offering it at all, it means they can't continue to grow and develop with that. I hope they don't shut the door on extreme experiences completely. There is a market for it, there is the demand at Thorpe for it, and they have a brilliant chance to deliver it. Put the time in, and you'll get the rewards out of it.

Potentially a slippery slope coming along. Many times I've seen guests be quite blunt / upfront about trying to get pin badges from staff (in some cases adults getting their children to ask to try and play the 'sweet kid' card), and said guests be quite rude if they don't get the way. Having swapathons and encouraging swapping in that respect will make it easier for guests to try and twist staff's arm to get them. And will lead to the self-entitled AP holders to get all the more agitated and rude. Could be a nice idea, but I don't think it'll work out...

The physical space where Peeking is will be used for tiger enclosures. The plans showed no new rides for Mystic East. That doesn't rule outthe potential for a new ride elsewhere, but personally I'd he surprised.

Part of me really hopes that on Tuesday they just 'announce' that Saw Alive is returning or something, just to annoy all the enthusiasts moaning that the reveal hasn't happened...

Typical 'showing nothing' style video, which is usually released in the build up to FN...

I would assume most of Experiment 10 was just reused or binned when they turned the containers into My Bloody Valentine, and there's not much of that worth reusing in my opinion... It's not *that* chalky, and certainly not worse than making people walk through Blair Witch when it was a bit wet and muddy. The maintenance shed could still be accessed. I guess they could create a pathway to the open area, and have maze and queue there. Not perfect, and I imagine a logistical pain in the butt for staff, but not impossible in my books.

I could see the space to the side of Swarm being used. It's well maintained, and aside from some gravel, easily accessible. And it is a nice open space away from the park, yet spreads the mazes around the park. Assuming they can make the gravel bits okay, it'd be fine. Would create a massive bottleneck area round Swarm mind.

In fairness, if there's any park that can make a RnR style system work, it's Efteling. They have the infrastructure and the attraction line up for people to have enough to do whilst virtually waiting. Trialling it on Python, their least popular major attraction, makes sense too. And there could be a need for it - on busy days, the park does get long queues. I don't think it'll work wide scale because people won't want to faff about with it. But it will be interesting to see how the Dutch (and European) crowds react to it in practice Still hilarious seeing Efteling essentially copy Thorpe yet again though...

What I more meant was it could be a large set piece which doubles up as a way to stop people gazing over, as opposed to a second floor. But yeah, should've been clearer. Terror of the Towers at Alton had stairs half way through the route in 2012 (not sure if it still does). It was awfully done, with only a regular member of staff near there encouraging people to go down the stairs safely - complete atmosphere killer. So it can be done, but it can be a negative effect to the experience. I'd love to have seen you in the days when Se7en was announced. Happened quite late on (about a month before the event started) and construction for the maze didn't start till there was about 2 weeks before the event. THAT was cutting it fine.

Or they might just be building really high walls so no one can look over the X queue line to see into the maze...

Rumours of a woodworm infestation have been about for a while, so potentially damage from that.. I'd be more interested to know when they'd replace it to be honest. They don't want to outright lose a major attraction for a few years; if anything, they want to expand the number of them. Imagine what the situation would be like is Colossus or Stealth at Thorpe got SBNoed...

Efteling are set to trial out a new, free to use, reduced queue time system on Python from next month... https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/8310/Doorbraak-Efteling-krijgt-gratis-FastPass-systeem.html It is exactly like Reserve n Ride.

I had suggested that we change the forum to Movie Park Mania, but alas it wasn't to be.

Yeah the Big Top campaign started around now, and they were able to carry on a big push for it till Fright Nights started. That really helped with getting tickets booked at high levels.

There have been plenty of times when they've announced new attractions for FN in September - Containment, Studio 13, The Passing, Experiment 10, Dead End were all announced in September. I'm sure if we were to go further back plenty of details weren't revealed until very late on as well. We've really been spoilt with early Fright Nights announcements the past couple of years. Maybe the early reveal meant the hype train died away too early, hence why they're trying the 'something is coming' tactic.

I'd be very surprised if this does have links with the film. I can't think of a time when Merlin has done an IP and not used the logo of that IP. Plus there's the fact the film is called 'The Wicker Man', as opposed to just 'Wicker Man'. And I have just enough faith in Merlin to think they wouldn't theme a family coaster around a dead flop of an old horror IP. The issue at the moment for me comes down to whether people will see 'Wicker Man' and instantly think of the films, the general idea of a burning wooden thing or what. And the fact it still feels a bit too much like they haven't learnt from Th13teen. If they wanted to go down the fire and wood route, I'm surprised they didn't go for a pirate theme. It practically sets itself up and could have been hilarious.

It's a shame that in this day and age it's easy enough for enthusiasts with enough time on their hands can dig through trademark websites to find out names / logos in advance.. Spoils the fun a bit more... Then again we've known this name since before Flume was fully dismantled so I guess there's that... Logo looks nice, prospect of fire is good. Somewhat concerned that a Th13teen style over-hyped marketing campaign is coming though.

To be fair, it works. Plus it is a good amount of effort creating a whole alphabet of 'ruins' and chucking in loads of random 'weird' things in the video that'll be noticed by enthusiasts watching it 100s of times. It's simple, will mean next to nothing about the ride (I expect 'Be Chosen' will be a marketing slogan and that's it), but slowly gets people talking. I'm just disappointed they didn't go for a proper code breaking thing, and instead opted for the much easier, quick to crack translation method.

Since we don't have a Bobbejaanland thread... http://www.looopings.nl/weblog/8365/Bobbejaanland-sluit-achtbaan-Typhoon-na-botsing.html The Belgian park's Gerstlauer Eurofighter, Typhoon, had a "low speed" crash in the station last week. Seems like the final breaks didn't work properly, causing the car that had finished the circuit to crash into the one being loaded in the station. The ride is closed whilst it's investigated. Oh Gerstlauer...

Parc Asterix's Storm Surge equivalent had a bit of a crash... http://m.rtl.be/info/946259 Seems like part of slide near the bottom had come loose, causing boats to pile up. Couple of minor injuries, but nothing serious. Customer care has been very good though.

The Pagan-esque symbols are also carved into the wood either of the sign. I think it's fair to say that those symbols could be deciphered to say 'Be Chosen' (look in particular at the same symbol where an 'e' would be). The 3 symbols on the sign itself could be 'SW8', especially as the first symbol matches the 's' in 'Be Chosen'. Potentially something to look out for during the marketing campaign. Not unheard of for Towers to be interactive and get people to work out clues (the latter part of Smiler's advertising for example).

Feng Ju is easily the worst madhouse I've done, largely because the story is so awful and the 'upside down' section is do meh. The harsh closing times are very annoying, especially since EVERYTHING stops bang on close time in my experience. But I wonder if that's a cultural thing? I had basically the same experience at Movie Park Germany where everything except the main shop was closed at park closed. And similar things happen on all my European park trips come to think about it. And on my visits to Phantasialand, the park seems to be dead very quickly after opening. So maybe the Europeans see and understand a, say, 8pm close as 'everything is closed by 8pm'. I do think we in the UK are a bit spoilt by our closing times in that respect, as it's only queues that close at park close, and many snack places and shops remain open later too. Just a shame park close in generally quite early..

Not saying it should be encouraged, like Benin says they're all equally bad (arguably you don't need them to be good; they're essentially the same as construction sites). Just a shame that when parks do little things like this they get laughed at...