JoshC.

One of the reasons they've gone for another 'dilapidated / abandoned warehouse' look is because it 'fits in with other looks across the park', according to the plans!

It's a difficult one really. Thorpe / Merlin are more than capable of creating their own original concepts and having them work: Swarm, Smiler - kinda - and Studio 13 all spring to mind for me. But it's all quite obvious what those attractions and whatever theme you stick on them, people will still come to ride it. A dark ride will be very different. Thorpe are gonna keep quiet what it is; no one will know what's inside or what to expect. It makes it a lot more difficult to make people come ride. However, it's a lot easier to say 'Come ride our new Doctor Who ride' than 'Come ride our ride about John Smith as he explores the dark depths of this abandoned warehouse'. With little visualisation about the ride itself, it's key to have a theme that will draw in the crowds. So maybe an IP will be for the best, to ensure people are drawn in. Still think an original idea could be possible mind!

To get permission to film on rides at theme parks, you need to fill out lots of health and safety forms and have the camera securely mounted to the ride in some way (I think). For the most part, they only media companies and some big fansites film on rides because it's a lot of effort for usually little reward. In other words, you're pretty much guaranteed to not be able to film on rides at theme parks.

Is all this really still going on? Swear we've got in circles more times than Robb Alvey has been on Wacky Worms. Oh well...

So is this such a big thing as is being suggested, or should it be considered more of a medium development? Hopefully they just mean from an engineering/construction point of view rather than overall budget or impact. It does suggest to me no coaster in there, as surely a coaster plus building would be a bigger rather than smaller job than just coaster, so likely a flat or tracked ride inside. Nice find! I think it's a case of there's a distinction between what we as enthusiasts/guests determine as a major new ride, and what the council will class as a major new ride though. Anything with a large amount of money invested is gonna be a major new ride to guests. However, a themed experience inside a building probably won't be seen as so major to the council. So yeah, agree with you that it's probably just from an engineering view and that it rules out a coaster. Nothing to worry about just yet! ...suddenly the building doesn't look quite so big anymore! How much space for actual ride will there realistically be? Hard to tell whether to distinction between the building 'parts' is just to show the façade differences or whether that's how the attraction will be divided. If it is how the building will be divided, and taking into account it's gonna have a pre-show, retail and all that, I don't think there's anything to worry about really! This is how I could see things shaping up... I'd be very surprised if it did end up like this mind (except the building entrance.exit and shop, which is how it says on the plans), as that seems like an awful, awful lot of space for the pre-show for example. However, it still shows how there's a lot of the main ride element - that's still pretty much the length of the arena and some alright width to it as well. In reality, I'd expect a smaller-sized pre-show to be honest, giving even more space for the main ride. So I still think the building seems pretty large all in all!

Bare in mind that that structure being built in the plaza is gonna be 8m high. Would be very surprised if they ended up building an 8m high Tardis - just wouldn't look right to me!

Eurgh, I did mean to put Duel rather than Hex there - long day yesterday! Duel's building is around 1600-1800sqm I think. Of course, Duel's building is a lot more nice in terms of shape (just a big square really), but that does give us a rough idea of just how big this thing could be. -- Couple of other points I've come across too: -Attraction could well contain ORPs; the plans mention a photo kiosk. -Some from the noise report... So we *may* be seeing a summer opening. I wouldn't read into it too much, as it could well just be implying that it will be open by summer 2016, not for summer 2016. Everywhere else in the plans just state 2016 opening really. So yeah, something to just bare in mind I guess..

I read elsewhere that the Spiderman building is about 6000sqm, whereas this building is around 2400sqm, so it's a fair amount smaller. However, something like this is still a lot bigger than Hex Duel I believe, so in terms of a UK dark ride, it is of a rather large scale I guess!

BREAKING NEWS Thorpe have submitted plans for a dark ride replacing the arena and CRC! - http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/30-10-2014/2016-Attraction-Plans-Released All the plans can be found on the council's website: http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/GeneralSearch.aspx (search for Thorpe Park and it's on the second page). Very exciting times ahead!

More photos from inside the mazes including CITW/MBV, again from Scruffy Dog's Twitter/FB:

SERIOUS ANSWER ALERT Personally, I'd start with either MBV (which seems to have a lower throughput than the others) or Studio 13 (since it's new). Then did Studio or MBV next - depending on what one you did first - followed by Cabin and BWP, which will no doubt have opened by the time you've done 2-3 mazes. Leave Saw Alive till last. It's the most logical way to do it in my opinion.

Ouch. The actors put a lot of effort into their jobs and really do love what they do. Many of them come back to work for Fright Nights year after year. Some are professional actors too. If you look on Twitter, some actors will favourite / retweet good reviews on the mazes they act in, so some of the actors really do put a lot of effort in their role, and ensuring that they please guests. To say they're not putting effort in is a bit insulting really.. Can only go on my experiences, but there was a very obvious and clearly told story line during both my run throughs of Studio 13. My Bloody Valentine had the pre-maze intro (which wasn't as good as last year, but still there). Saw had an intro too; no worse/better than normal. I guess as the event has gotten busier, there's a balance between keeping the queue as short as possible and making sure the maze is still to the quality that the park wants.

I'm not saying that at all; perhaps maybe I shouldn't have even mentioned about the park being busy. But surely if you're prepared to wait an entire hour to go to guest services to simply complain, you can be prepared to queue 2 hours to go on a ride, which is a much more satisfying experience? Maybe the park did 'oversell Fastrack' and it made the day more difficult to enjoy, but queueing for an hour to go to guest services isn't exactly the way to try and make the most of a day out. Totally accept that complaining in person is the best way to do it, but I just can't see people's logic in queueing in a ridiculously long queue so that they can complain. Unless of course, people do it in the knowledge that they'll get Priority Passes and sparking the never ending cycle of long queues.

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/oct/29/armed-police-halloween-event-guns Halloween events can be very realistic it seems! Just trying to imagine how I'd react in that sorta situation!

You see, this is what confuses me about people. You go to a theme park for a special event during half term, so you're going to expect queues. Having not visited the past week, I don't know just how bad it was. But, if you're having that terrible a time on park, why would you join a ridiculously long queue / wait an hour just to complain? If your day is that terrible and there's so many people waiting at Guest Services, I would just give up and go home, and then email the park (whilst emailing is less efficient, if I was having such a terrible day, I'd rather be at home then waiting in a queue to complain...). And if you are prepared to wait that long to complain, then surely you'd be happy to wait a bit longer and actually experience a ride/maze? Almost feels like people are complaining just so they can benefit from it / to make their day better...

Sounds fun. Being attacked by dogs is a bit of a scary thought, but it looks like you're wearing enough safety gear (and that the dogs are trained enough) to ensure you won't get hurt. Just like an interactive horror maze by the sounds of it. Would love to give it a go to be honest!

All AP tickets are now sold out for Thursday to Saturday:

I'm not quite sure what you're expecting though? It's half term during the park's busiest and most popular event. Queues will be long!

Wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being just a new Madagascar show...

I'm pretty sure nothing he's doing is illegal. I dunno much about (American) law, but I imagine that if they sign a waiver, they accept whatever terms are on that waiver, and that it should be as clear cut as that. If simulated torture or whatever is on there, then there we go. I guess one could argue at what point does this simulation stop, and it become genuine torturous ordeal? But then, isn't that the point of simulated torture - to feel like you are indeed being tortured, but just with genuine, safe back up on hand if needs be? It is a bit of a fuzzy line, but there you. Illegal or not, the 7 hour tour must surely just be beyond physical and mental human limits.

It's worth remember that McKamey Manor has operated for several years, though of course no where near this level of intensity. Indeed, at times, it was simply a 'very extreme haunted house'. This year, the new 7 hour tour was introduced and (by the sounds of it) was only tried by a few people, before being scratched for a shorter version. People have survived the older MM tours (just check Youtube), but it seems this one was a step too far. So yeah, clearly a step too far and surely no one could survive it. Maybe the older versions of the place were the physical human limit? A link to the Youtube account - https://www.youtube.com/user/McKameyManor WARNING - SOME OF THE VIDEOS ARE DISTURBING, CONTAIN BAD LANGUAGE AND WHATNOT. (EDIT: If link doesn't work, just Youtube McKamey Manor...)

My time machine worked! We've got the exact same conservation as we had two years ago, almost to the day! - http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/9845-park-operations/ (but seriously, there are some good points from either perspective there ) Thorpe are pushing Fastrack as a way to make your day better, not as a necessity, from how I read into it. It's not overly surprising, really, but not something you normally see parks do in fairness. Do agree that it probably adds to the perception that Fastrack is a necessity though, which is a shame. Also worth noting that for the Maze Fastrack Package (£25 for all 5 attractions) doesn't save you any money than buying them all separately (£5 each), whereas it did in the past. Good thing in my eyes!

If Thorpe chucked more mazes to the line up, I'd worry about a potential dip in overall quality. Yeah sure, it means people spread out more and there's more to do, but is it worth risking quality for quantity? I'm not too sure. Also remember the park are trying to move away from sticking mazes in tents. Up until about 2010 I think, Thorpe did run Fright Nights for about 3 consecutive weeks, but the weekdays were just so quiet if I remember correctly, so they just cut them away. Given how the event is growing though, it would be interesting to see if it's popular enough to sustain enough visitors for it to be worthwhile now. Nahh, don't think so. Very few people will turn up on the gate after 12pm just expecting to buy a ticket easy peasy. Most of those who turn up after that time will be AP holders (who have to prebook) or people who have prebooked. Certainly won't be the same number of complaints either way.

Yeah, it is worded a bit badly! I think most people are under the assumption you need the park ticket anyway, and it's just there to cover the park.

It means you have to have a valid entrance ticket to be able to go to the Grotto. The Grotto is an extra on top of park tickets, for use one you're in the park, not a way of getting, essentially.