JoshC.

I don't see why people are talking about the loss of Canada Creek in future tense, when it hasn't technically existed for the past 2 seasons; it's technically Old Town now... Don't get why they'd remove Rocky Express either. It just needs something else near it for it to sustain a bit more popularity, and it's not exactly like it's not running well. And it takes up so little space it's not exactly like it's removal would create space for anything of any substance. Probably in the minority who wouldn't want an RMC in the Loggers location though - would much rather something a bit more family friendly, so that there's something in that area which is for everyone.

When you look at their other water rides though, Storm Surge - in theory - fills a good spot... Tidal Wave - A ride which 90% of people will only ride during summer / hot spring Rumba Rapids - A 30 year old rapids ride which isn't very rapid, isn't very wet and which many people forget exist Depth Charge - A 10 second ride with a very low throughput. Good bit of fun, but far from a staple water ride. Storm Surge is a family ride which can be 'enjoyed' together, features height to give it a bit of a thrill, can get you a bit wet and I guess is memorable in some sense. No other water ride offers that at Thorpe at the moment in my opinion. Obviously, if Loggers Leap was open, or if a substantial amount of money way pumped into Rumba, Storm Surge would be a spare bit and easily lose-able. But at this stage, I honesty think that if Storm Surge was ripped out and not replaced by a water ride, there would be an obvious gap in the ride line up, and it would hit the park really bad during summer.

For a bit of scale to this addition - this will be the second tallest and second fastest coaster in Europe when it opens (only behind the lovely Red Giant in PA when that opens), so this thing is HUGE. Couple of minor things have changed since the layout above, with the inclusion of a tunnel after the first drop and 4-across trains also seeming to be happening. Could be exciting. Where on earth is all this money coming from for Eastern European parks to be springing out though?!

Voting has been open for 10 days, and I can exclusively reveal some awesome statistics... So if you haven't already...

I always find it interesting how so many people like Furius Baco and feel as if they're in the minority. On this forum at least, it seems to be reasonably popular, and the launch seems to be loved by most.. Much love for the guys who don't like Slammer; you're all awesome. I'd say that me liking DBGT is a reasonably uncommon opinion, but that's when everything flows well. I hate Scorpion Express, whereas most people seem content with it. I like Hollywood Tours at Phantasialand; it's fun. Speaking of Phantasia, I think Mystery Castle is pretty naff as a ride. Theming is good, actual ride is bad.

Travelling backwards makes many people feel queasy. Mix that in with the darkness, stopping and starting multiple times and the unknown of where people were going, it was a recipe for sick.

The park's director said back in February that 2019 would be a unique coaster costing more than Lost Gravity (though there's been no mention of how much Lost Gravity cost). 2017 was said to be a thrill ride, though no sort of monetary budget was rumoured.

Can we please stop the all this petty bickering now - any more of it here will just be deleted. If absolutely necessary, take it to PM. Thanks.

Goliath, the park's headline coaster, is getting a repaint to help celebrate the ride's 15th birthday next season... I like the colour, though some of the community seem to be a bit wary of the loss of the iconic green. In other news, the potential new ride for next year (which was said to be a thrill ride replacing the old 4D theatre near Lost Gravity) might not be happening. One of their Halloween attractions, The Clinic, used the space this year, and had a lot of money thrown at it apparently, and is also returning next year (if you're a fan of scare attractions, I'd recommend looking it up!). But given that this is Walibi, who knows what they're planning...

Ooh, nice thread idea! UK-wise, Vampire's tunnel immediately springs to mind. Also, The Antelope at Gulliver's Warrington had a surprise drop somewhere which 8-year old me loved (see my blog post: http://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/317-what-was-the-thing-with-the-antelope/ ). European-wise, Huracan at Bellewaerde is a standout for it's awesome pre-lift dark ride-esque section; the coaster section is a complete waste of a theme and location! The vertical loop on Typhoon at Bobbejaanland deserves a mention for being so darn intense.

Canada Creek Railway back in 1994. [/OldSchool]

I don't even need to add a comment.

I think we need a "Most Desparate to Want an Award" category at this rate...

Couple of photos of the demon costume in making from the company hired to make it if anyone is curious... http://www.plungeproductions.com/archives/7668

I don't get people's problems about this topic being made at this time of year. Not like there's much else to talk about, and with this year's event still reasonably fresh in mind, improvements will still come to people's heads.. Not only that, Fright Nights is Thorpe's headline event, their busiest part of the season and one of the UK's biggest and well-known Halloween events. With Thorpe growing in popularity and getting more attention overseas, it's also expanding into being well known across Europe, which is only a good thing. So what's the harm in discussing such an important time in the park's calendar a little bit early, and throwing out some opinions? I'm totally against reviving mazes though; especially ones which have been gone for years. I'm not even a fan of having a maze's name brought back in name as a sequel after so many years (so no "Experiment 10: Contamination" please). I don't mind if mazes are sequentially year-on-year (like the Black trilogy at Warwick Castle), but bringing back mazes / maze themes just doesn't sit right with me. Might just be me though.

UK-wise, I guess it'll be the standard Merlin quartet. Would like to be doing Paultons next year since I couldn't fit it in this year.. Abroad, Liseberg, Efteling and Phantasialand are all high up on the list and pretty much must-dos. Plopsaland (if Heidi ever opens), Movie Park Germany and Bagatelle would all be very nice too. Aside from them, I'd like to look into Port Aventura, Disneyland Paris, Europa Park and Walibi Holland (for Halloween), but all of them would very much be time and cost dependent..

It's come to that time of year again - it's the Thorpe Park Mania Awards! Once again, we are using SurveyMonkey to collect the results. If you've never used it before, don't worry - it's dead easy! By popular demand, we've kept the same awards as last year, which are... PARK AWARDS: -Best UK Park -Best UK Coaster -Best UK Flat Ride -Best UK Water Ride -Best UK Dark Ride -Best UK Themed Experience -Worst UK Ride -Best International Park -Best International Coaster -Best New-for-2016 Attraction (can be in the UK) -Best International Themed Experience -Most Uncomfortable Ride -Most Disappointing Merlin Moment 2016 -Best Looking Attraction for 2017 -Best Manufacturer FORUM AWARDS: -Best Member -Best Team Member -Best New Member -Best Quality Posts -Best Official TPM Meet -Most Knowledgeable Member -Most Dedicated Member -Most Sarcastic Member -Most Likely to be Banned in 2017 -Funniest Member -Biggest Fanboy/girl -Sexiest Male -Sexiest Female -Storm Surge Award -Cutest Couple -Member you'd like to see more of And here's some clarifications in case any of the above are confusing... You don't have to vote for all the categories if you don't want! Please you forum usernames rather than real names - makes things easier For the park awards, feel free to vote for parks / rides you like the look of the best (especially the case of International Awards, where members might not have been on many / any foreign rides). Team Members are any member with an orange box underneath their username. We're working on a way of finding a list of new members for 2016 as we speak. Member's join dates can be found on their profiles if you have someone in mind! Storm Surge Award: Vote for the member who you think reminds you of Storm Surge or should be awarded a Storm Surge for their efforts in TPM. Member you'd like to see more of Award: Vote for the member who you'd like to see post on the forums more often / see at meets / generally get to know a bit better! These are of course meant to be a bit of fun, so just enjoy the ride! CAST YOUR VOTES HERE! Voting will close at 8pm on Friday 16th December. Please do not vote after this time as your votes will not count but you may be charged... If there's any questions, problems or whatever, please PM me and I'll get back to you. Happy voting!

This chap wants the full experience though: I can see The Mirror headlines now... 'Backwards Facing Alton Towers! Theme park fails to provide suitable experiences for extremely flexible people; discrimination!!!'

Hope you all grabbed some popcorn or something during this brief intermission. Anyways, here's the second half... #7 - Cabin in the Woods (2013-2016) Years experienced: 2013-2016 To be honest, Cabin has gotten progressively worse each season for me. I'm sure that's partly down to getting used to it all, as newbies in the maze really are blown away by the idea. However, the original version in 2013 was by far the best. The idea of the maze was that you would enter a room, close the door, and something would happen. Every room had an actor and seemed to have a special effect to go with it. Maybe I just got a good run, but it felt a lot more interactive and the aim was actually achieved. It wasn't scary, but it was certainly a lot of fun! #6 - Saw Alive (2010-2016) Years experienced: 2010-2016 I'm including this as a Fright Nights attraction, even if it didn't start off as one. I've experienced Saw loads of times, due to it being open all season in 2010 and 2011, so I guess it show how much I like it given how high up it is. It's got a good use of effects, which is something a fair few of the other mazes lack. And it later years, it's become a bit more theatrical, which gives it a different feel to the others. I've definitely got a soft spot for Saw Alive, and I might be over-rating it a tad, but I really have enjoyed it the past couple of years, which I guess helps! (Concept art from Thorpe Park) #5 - Containment (2015-2016) Years experienced: 2015, 2016 2015 Containment was average at best to be honest. But Containment for 2016 was fabulous; from the nice pre-show, to the fun tasks to the fantastic actors. Everything just worked, and left me with a huge smile on my face. The fears included were of a nice range, from the common to the not-so-common: numerophobia (numbers), chronophobia (time), trypanophobia (needles) and haemophobia (blood). It might be because this is the only escape room that I've done that I enjoy it so much, but it's at least set the bar high, and got me itching to try and another horror escape room! Image from Scruffy Dog #4 - Experiment 10 (2011-2012) Years experienced: 2011, 2012 Experiment 10 was one of the most difficult ones to place on the list. The beginning was pure genius, and the first time I experienced it, it did shock and surprise me. But from there, it went downhill, with little to write home about. And let's not talk about the 2012 version and ending shall we. Nevertheless, the reception scene, decontamination sequence and isolation rooms were absolutely fantastic, and a brilliant way to start off a scare attraction. If the same atmosphere and intensity from actors could have been matched during the rest of the maze, it certainly would have been higher up! Image from scare-zone.com #3 - The Big Top (2015-2016) Years experienced: 2015, 2016 Obviously for this, I'm referring to the 2016 version. Don't get me wrong, 2015 Big Top had a lot of potential and was fun on some runs, but it just wasn't up to scratch when all was said and done. 2016 Big Top had a nice mix of everything though. The Madame Mephisto scene was nice, the playground area was fantastic, and showed me how a mesh-strobe-scene can work. Then the rest of the maze had plenty of theming and nice, open, sets which all worked really well - especially the clown wash room! Yeah, chainsaw ending doesn't quite fit in with the rest of the maze, and it's a bti cliché, but it still works at least! It is just so much fun and is designed so that it's really easy to scare people. #2 - Se7en (2006-2011) Years experienced: 2009-2011 I honestly think that Se7en was quite under-rated during it's time at Fright Nights. It got a lot of hate for being in a white tent, and I think its first couple of years weren't that well received generally, but the times I experienced it, it was a solid, dependable maze, featuring fab theming, great smells and effects and a variety of different scare tactics. 2011 was a stand-out season for Se7en though - actors seemed to have been given more leverage on what they could do, and were very full on throughout. Sure, some of the rooms had lost their appeal after going through it multiple times (in particular the Envy room), but things like the Gluttony room remain in my mind - and nostrils! - to this very day. I know tents aren't the ideal situation for a horror maze, but based on how this and Big Top have gone down, I'd be happy to see more of them back in the future for greater in-maze experiences. Image from Theme Park Tourist #1 - Studio 13 (2014) Years experienced: 2014 I adored this maze. It's the only scare attraction where I've truly felt part of the story. The beginning felt like a backstage tour of a film studio where something wasn't quite right. The middle felt like being part of a horror film. The end was executed brilliantly, with the horror film spilling out into real life, and definitely gave me a shock (moreso because of my expectations than anything else, but still...) The theming was largely very good as well, and the actors all seemed to work well with the maze in my runs. It all just gelled really well to create quite possibly my favourite scare maze to date! Image from lukedysonphotography.org And that's a wrap! Here's to more gorious years of Fright Nights...I look forward to what next season brings...

When I visited Walibi Belgium Pulsar did seem to have a few issues with the turntable not working. Not too unexpected I guess given it's new technology and all that. There was no obvious clunk or roughness over the turntable section either, but how it will stand the test of time is a concern. But since its Mack, I'm sure it's been thought through.

Isn't 5D basically just 4D but with a physically moving transit system? So still meaningless marketing dribble in one sense, but I guess you could argue 5D is a legitimate thing...

Figured we may as well have a Mack thread since they're awesome. At this year's IAAPA, Mack revealed their "Xtreme Spinning Coaster" concept... (Image from CF Twitter) In short: -3 launches -Spinning cars train -4 track inversions The interesting parts come with the ability to add a turntable in the station (like Pulsar at Walibi Belgium), so there can be 2 trains, with one in load and one on the circuit - see 1:18 in the video. However, more interesting is the ability to have two separate stations and a traverser between the circuit; allowing for 2 different types of trains, with the video showing spinning car trains and BigDipper trains (like Lost Gravity at Walibi Holland) - see 1:41 in the video. It has been said that a park has bought one; though not sure if that's for the 2in1 or the turntable station. Looks like an interesting concept, and we now see what that test spinning car on Blue Fire was for.,..

Efteling released some concept art of the preshow room for Symbolica a while back. Spoilering because Efteling concept art is so realistic... Also, Python is set to be closed for pretty much the whole of April, May and June for its refurb, with rumours of a whole track replacement rife..

http://www.looopings.nl/weblog/6461/Acht-buren-klagen-over-Plopsaland-vanwege-ontbreken-vergunning.html?coockie=accepted Plopsaland have revealed that during this saga, there's been 8 formal complaints about the lack of environmental permit, as well as general noise and traffic issues. They have, however, also received formal letters of support. So in other words, nothing to worry about, they'll get a new permit and all will be fine. Bring on Heidi!