JoshC.

Agree with Altitude that this is the weakest one this year; obviously one just to keep the hype train chugging along. BWP was very meh in its first year, but last year it was fab. There's still loads of room for improvement of course, but I do think they're heading in the right direction! Would be interesting to see them try the tension idea in an indoor maze though.

Enjoy some jumpy Thorpe marketing... The teaser video for The Passing back in 2012 was also rather creepy. And the 2010 one was a bit intimidating too. Unfortunately I can't find links to either of them now! So some of the teaser videos in the past have been a bit scary / intimidating. I think it's worth remembering that teaser videos are just meant to give a glimpse as to what to expect (that should be a general thing for things like films, TV shows, etc, not just scare mazes!), so they won't always have to be that scary. Also, I can't not put in the Freezer advert here, just for the sheer hilarity of it:

I get what you're saying, but I still think this is darker. Marketing never said it was a snuff film for the record though, just called it a horror film. The trouble with the Director video last year was the overuse of effects cheapened away from the darkness. Maybe that was the point, since that video was also aimed to be one that shows on the screen by the entrance, but it certainly did take away from the dark aura it could have had. But then, I still loved that video and it set up the scenario for Studio 13 just fine. The Big Top campaign feels a lot darker and, most importantly, more serious. The 'Run away with the circus' video is the stand out one to me. The other videos wreak of irony to me with a bit of dark humour thrown in. Everything just feels a lot darker, and this seems to be a much more serious attempt at creating a stand-out, long serving Fright Nights attraction. Isn't Blair Witch basically an attraction all about tension? The finale is still a bit lacklustre, but the whole of the route before then is all about building the tension, making you wonder what's ahead, etc. I guess the fact that it only has a 2/5 star rating speaks volumes about what Thorpe / Thorpe's target market think about tension-building attractions though? It's a shame there hasn't been any real teasers for BWP to show people what to expect, but I s'pose that's the point; keep people guessing and on their toes. I'd really love for Thorpe to do a similar attraction if/when the BWP contract runs out, and give it a bit more limelight. That sort of attraction could be a real gem in a Halloween event if pulled off correctly!

Visited Chessington today with the family; main reason being that my Mum had a BTS tour for the animals booked, and because my family liked Chessington. The place was pretty dead, with only Truckers really seeing a queue. But the park itself felt like it lacked any atmosphere as a whole; I've visited the park on dead days before, but the atmosphere was still there. But today, it just felt very lacking. Even my family felt the same about it, even though they've enjoyed every visit they've made over the past few years. Also, the food / service in the Zafari Bar is rather substandard... The Zoo area was decent and the BTS tour of the zoo was apparently ace, so some positives at least. But the theme park side of the place just left everyone a bit disappointed..

For those who haven't seen, the zoo's male lion - Ashok - was euthanized yesterday after a bout of poor health. He was 18 years old (which seems to be about the lifespan of Asiatic lions according to some sources online).

Looks fun. Nothing special, sure, and I prefer the look of themed dive machines (especially ones which drop into the ground), but it looks fun.

When we were there, the ERT only included a few of the smaller attractions / a couple of dark rides I think. Might change throughout the year though of course. Could of course use it to queue for the big rides beforehand, but with 2 days, that should be enough to do everything of note. The advertised ride close is for the queue line, not when the ride stops operating.

I would imagine installing trains from a different manufacturer would be risky business. It could potentially invalidate some form of 'warranty' from the original manufacturer, or even damage working relationships between the two parties. This could especially be the case when the original manufacturer is still very much activate. It's probably possible, but it just wouldn't happen.

Humorously, it opened about 10 minutes after I posted that.

Rattlesnake is closed at the moment.

I meant advertising / promotion, since I class that as the same as marketing. What you are calling marketing I'd call research to be honest. But even with the heaviest of promotion, if people are still having to ask what it is / need it explained to them, surely that hasn't worked? I was talking about major additions, of which many you list aren't really. Oblivion TBH is a weird one, but I have no problem with Gardaland taking heavy inspiration from Oblivion, and presumably most of the Italian audience don't know the connection. I'd have preferred a more original name, though.

Surely the lack of interest in what the ride is comes down to poor marketing as a whole, rather than an obscure name? A bad name doesn't help, granted, but if people are interested in it at all unless someone has to physically explain to them what the ride is, something has gone wrong with marketing as a whole? Interested what other attractions you think have been lazily named / named with a "cool" formula. Certainly in terms of major attractions, the likes of Swarm, Raptor, Smiler, Flug and Scorpion Express aren't that formulaic, and all fit in with the story given to the ride? Maybe I'm just easily pleased / not that fussed.

As anyone who read BenC's Italian trip report may already know, Cinecitta World hasn't been that busy recently. So much so that they've decided to significantly change their open season and reduce the number of days they're open. http://www.theparks.it/cinecitta-world-p1147/notizie/2015/09/il-parco-chiude-inaspettatamente-questa-settimana-n1811/(In Italian, but Google translate is our friend) Hopefully the park can have a better 2016 season, as it does look like a lovely park!

Source: Vekoma's FB Junior Boomerang is going up!

I don't quite get your point? Are you referring to the Horror Pass? That was a pass available to Standard Pass Holders (and non-AP holders) which would give them access to all Fright Nights dates without having to pay the £5 charge that Standard Pass Holders had to. As far as I'm aware, they either still had to book in advance for certain dates, or the number of passes sold was taken away from the maximum gate figure per day. This is different though. In the past, some Premium Pass Holders were literally booking all dates for things like this (since it was free to do so), just in case they decided to go on a certain day. The £1 booking charge is surely there to discourage people from doing that, and instead only book for dates they are actually going to go? Some people may decided to book all 20-odd dates and pay £20 for that insurance, but it will definitely be a deterrent. I doubt many, if any, will pay money just to potentially spite other people from going.

To be fair, those attractions were rarely used in the first 2 hours in the past. I find it hard to moan about it when plenty of other parks do it as well, and Chessington wasn't even open on these weekdays 5-6 years ago.. On a different note, am I still in the minority of people who actually Zufari's name? Clearly a formation of the words 'zoo' and 'safari' and relatively quirky. Shame it sounds too much like Zafari of course...

Yes, they could. But it will cost them £20 odd, and so they'll lose out on some money for doing it. So its aim is to discourage people from doing it (which will be the case), as opposed to doing them outright. You don't want to limit people on the number of Fright Nights they can attend either, so this is possibly the most sensible solution to a problem which has been created by some AP holders.

It's 35mph; the font they've used does make it look a bit like a 1 though!

I thought Rattlesnake remained open for a few days after Smiler's incident, then closed down and has been closed since? I wonder if there's other issues they've come across during its original downtime (because of Smiler) that they've also decided rectify in one go?

Really looking forward to seeing the Boomerang go up; genuinely think that could be a little gem of a ride! Loving the advertising signs Paultons have got going too.

Possible spoilers...

Random thought and genuine question - are there any companies which allow you to make a refundable deposit online using a bank card? I've of course heard of deposits in person where you hand over a set amount of cash, or give you card details, and they're then returned to you in person. But wouldn't it be more awkward (and require more details) to ask guests to pay a deposit online, only to give it back to them once they've visited? If so, that would surely explain why they can't take a deposit

People are putting words in Thorpe's mouth here - it is NOT a £1 charge to enter the event, it's a £1 booking fee. It's not uncommon of we're honest in many places (many travel companies charge booking fees on their cheap fares for example). Pretty sure that in the past they have had booking fees for online transactions, so it's not a new thing either. It's inconvenient, but this is a case of the minority ruining things for the majority.

It's a bit frustrating, but then again, it's more frustrating if people are booking and not showing up. I'd rather not be charged anything, but I guess I'd rather go than not go at all.