JoshC.

I'll be going when I want to go. [/Rebel] As for Face it Alone selling out for Saturday, that's good to hear! I assume it's partially down to large numbers from the TTSP meet, but it's still good to see that it's popular enough to be selling out (first time I think a FiA has actually sold out I believe?).

About blooming time. Good to hear though.

Thanks for the pictures! The plain white van is obviously a massive clue. 10 cookies to anyone who can track down the company that owns it just from the licence number.

To clear up some facts... Stealth's layout is as it was on the plans. The picture holtjammy16 posted was from the MTDP in 2004, which was used to show the council the rough size and location. The Stealth/Rita rumour is a staff favourite on VIP tours it seems. They say that Stealth and Rita were originally one ride, but were split between the two parks because neither could accommodate this super ride. This of course sounds very odd, since the parks choose and design their rides individually. Presumably there is some truth behind it. Given that Rita was a very forced ride and relatively rushed compared to other Alton coasters, I wouldn't be surprised if it was something along the lines of Thorpe were planning a launch coaster for a long time, Towers needed a new major coaster, then the big names at Tussauds were able to wrangle a bit of a 'deal' if you will with Intamin, leading to Rita. Of course, this could be completely wrong, but I expect there's some sort of validity to the rumour..

I keep changing my mind with this one; some pictures make it look like two inversions, some make it look like no inversions. Hard to tell the scale of things from photos, but I wonder if this is the record-breaking 52m loop?

Let's face it - the majority of the general public who won't be going to Towers (and in particular, Scarefest) this year have been put off by Smiler, either because its crash has scared them away, or the fact that they want to be there when it's open so they can ride it. The closure of an old log flume and a dark ride that doesn't attract long queues isn't going to change that. Given the look of this year's scare attractions as well, if that's someone's main reason for travelling to Scarefest, I don't think that the closure of one filler ride will make much difference to most.

This comment made me laugh way more than it should have. I've never done Blackpool, but if a ride only offers a great ride in certain weather conditions, then surely it's not a good ride (or, at the very least, a poorly designed ride, which is almost as bad)?

This basically sums up my fears for any major investment at Chessington. The idea of an SFX Coaster at the park just sounds crazy, and not in a good way. Could Chessington really pull something like that off and have it be a success? I really, really don't think so. Given that Zufari apparently had a budget cut in the region of 40%, and they haven't seen any investment in the park that's cost more than £10 million in goodness knows how long, I just can't hold much hope for any major investment in the park until it opens.

I was meant to be going to Tulleys tonight, but I felt absolutely dreadful before I was meant to leave, and had started being ill. So instead of experiencing all these wonderful-sounding attractions, I've experienced other scare attractions such as... -The Toilet (featuring very authentic smells), -The Sick Bucket (a not so pleasant experience that isn't my cup of tea), -The Nap (a very disorientating experience featuring some awesome special effects that I can't remember) -The Chicken Soup (almost as clichéd as a chainsaw ending) -The Getting Slightly Better / The Post-Sick Semi-Sarcastic Post on TPM (a very enjoyable thing that should signify a turn of better events).

That is the queue line entrance. You will queue on the smaller side of the beach, enter through the red tent (closest to the dome), then into the red and yellow tent (in that picture) before crossing underneath the bridge and entering the final white tent, thus exiting the attraction from the larger side of the beach. From what I've heard, the queue line will be 'themed' to some degree, with signs about the circus (possibly even giving a bit of backstory) and perhaps even some queue line interactivity. Certainly sounds like it has some promise!

The 5 years thing will include a large scope of things, from initial planning about what the park wants, where they want to put it, etc etc. The rides themselves are closer to 2-3 years from first designs to opening. Certainly the likes of Saw, Smiler and WC16 won't have taken 5 years of planning. The sheer thought of Chessington getting a SFX coaster makes me want to cry though.

You're best bet in this case would be to phone the Shark Hotel (I assume they have a number of their website?) and speak to them directly about it, to ensure you get the most reasonable price.

By jove I actually agree with you on something. 'Best' is always a tricky word to use with things like theme parks and rides, since it's always such a personal choice. Thorpe is my favourite UK park and, in my opinion, that makes it the 'best' UK park. However, I think on a more neutral basis, and looking at the parks on paper, if you will, then it is hard to argue that Alton isn't the UK's number 1.

Sorry for never responding to this! I had planned to respond and do some more work to it, but must have forgotten.. FN themed things are something I could definitely do. The project is alive and kicking...just about. I'm not sure if the same thing can be said about Chief Ranger though... It would certainly be nice to finish this and have a downloadable / printed out version to have (I'd totally make sure it makes an appearance at any overnight TPM meets), and it is in the back of my mind. I did design some Chance / Community Chest cards, but never uploaded them here. When some free time crops up, I'll try and get some more ideas posted.

I must admit the closure of IAC during all FN dates has shocked me. Whilst it's easy to suggest it's down to budget cuts, there could be other reasons. Maybe they haven't got enough actors in to cover 7 attractions plus roamers and out-of-hours events? Maybe they don't want people to do it in case they expect a scare attraction? I'm not suggesting that any of those are the only reason for the closure. It could be a mixture. But in all likelihood, budget constraints must be a factor, surely? It's not a good sign when a park isn't opening their new attraction for what is usually their most popular time of year. Tidal is closed for maintenance, for definite. It isn't for budget cuts. Feel like these comments are taking things out of context. After 5pm, how popular are Loggers, Rumba and Rocky Express? What sort of queues do they pull? Next to none I bet. I'm sure as well that Loggers, Rumba and Rocky were on a list of early close rides last season as well, and Rumba and Rocky stayed open later than the advertised closed signs anyways. Those 3 attractions aren't going to affect the queue times drastically in any way. Equally, Tidal's closure isn't going to affect the queues that much. How often does it get above a 5 minute queue after September? I bet it doesn't. Those people that would ride it aren't going to affect the queue times drastically either. IAC has the most potential to lead to repercussions around the park, due to its new-ness. However, don't forget that it's apparently getting around 200pph as a maximum. Not exactly a lot, in comparison to basically everything else on park. So even if it would have gotten a 2 hour queue during Fright Nights, you're only looking at about 400 odd people being re-distributed around the park. On busy days where a gate figure is ridiculously high, that's nothing. So yeah, these closures aren't going to drastically affect the queue times that much. At worst, you'd be looking at 600 odd people who would be using those rides that now aren't, and instead are going elsewhere. Spread that across the park with 15000 other people, and the queue time increases will be negligible. In saying all this, I think it should go without saying that I'm not actually supporting these ride closures in any way (Loggers is perhaps understandable due to lighting issues; hard to say exactly wither way without more info. To be honest, I'm surprised Mr Monkey doesn't close in the evening, given its young target market, but I digress...). But simply put, I just don't think these closed rides will affect the queues as much as some people are making it out to be.

From the FN page on the park's site...

I did my first scare maze when I was 9, just sayin'. I was scared to death throughout the whole experience, but I still did it. A strict age limit is an interesting one, though one has to wonder how strictly they will enforce it. I remember when I was 15/16, the only official form of identification I had was my passport, and I rarely carried it around with me (and I definitely wouldn't take that to a UK theme park for a day). So it could prove tricky to verify someone's age. There's also the problem that some under 15s may already have purchased tickets. I expect this is more of a marketing strategy / psychological thing than anything else. Upping the age by a year won't really give them much more lee-way I'd assume. Will be interesting to see if Towers' give any more details about the reasoning behind it.

A pretty awesome update of the overall area, featuring a look at the trains for FotP, over on Theme Parks UK: http://www.themeparks-uk.com/other-parks/news/photos-of-lost-kingdom-at-paultons-park

You're a window from some Cabin in some Woods getting a photo taken of you with some Freddy Krueger toy being cuddled by someone?

I *think* the wallpaper depends on whether or not you have unlocked the first clue.

For everyone making comments about this being an unfair comparison. Usually I would agree (and in some ways, I do), but in 2013, Thorpe made a very daring comment and said that Fright Nights is an event that can compete with ones in America (something along the lines of "people shouldn't need to fly over to America to get the best quality scare event" or something). However, I'm fine with the smaller changes Thorpe do. There's not necessarily as much scope for them with IPs (after all, they will likely want well-known / popular IPs, and these could quickly dry up) and they do have a smaller budget. They still do make changes every year to the line up, and keep things fresh and original. I do hope we see a couple of new mazes next year though replacing the current crop. I don't seem to remember it happening last year? Definitely happened in 2013, but I don't remember seeing any choices last year. Would be great if they could bring it back this year, since it really suits in style of the maze. Also, I hope there's less clowns in the maze this year (especially with Big Top around now); have more variety of monsters! (Can we have a Merman monster please Thorpe?) I remember thinking this too, but apparently it wasn't present on any previews. I think they did say 'There might be electric shocks in this maze', but it turned out to just be the vibrations (which would be just as scary with the psychological factor taken into account). It was definitely planned, but didn't seem to happen. Would be interested to see who wrote about it though!

I feel it's best not to say. Mostly because I'm not entirely certain how I did it myself (I have an idea, but not too sure), but also to keep the fun alive.

^And here we see a classic example of looking too hard to see something that isn't there. Neat little update, should keep us geeks ticking along (did you clock onto what I did there?) for the next couple of months, whilst keeping the general public entertained too. The about section is particularly interesting... I've cracked the first clue and look forward to seeing next month's clue:

Kind of a silly thing to say when Mark9, an admin, has literally just posted before you. Rest assured that the team are always checking the forums and will act accordingly to any trouble on there. Of you do have any problems, you should either file a report or contact a member of the Senior Team.. Much excite for your review.