JoshC.

##vote kinnaird

It's pretty much the same problem as the Premium MAP. You get £5 vouchers for Fastrack packages (that you can only use once). Unless other people have Premium passes or simply buy Fastrack it doesn't work out too well. Similar with the VIP Pass, which gives the passholder only unlimited Fastrack . It's not forcing people to go in the mazes alone; simply just gives them the option to use Fastrack. What you're forgetting when considering the price is that it no longer is £5 to visit with a Standard MAP. The price is now £10; £5 is simply an early bird price - a special offer if you will. So, assuming you use the car park and the Fastrack package, you get your money's worth in two visits (since each visit would cost you £15 for parking and entry and the Fastrack package is £25 - that's £55 of value already). There will definitely be people, TPM members or not, who visit at least twice, so I think the cost is justified. As I've said before, I'm unsure how many people will take them up on the offer, but it's a nice offering. Face it Alone wasn't revealed until a couple of weeks before Fright Nights started. Last year, tickets were £15 per person per maze, and you would head to the Calypso BBQ just before 10pm (park close), where the experience begins. Prices for this year haven't been announced yet, so just keep an out eye really! Looks like there's no official confirmation yet either way; could be 3pm, could be 4pm. It's almost always been 6 hours of maze time at every FN (except last season), so I'm more expecting 4pm. I guess it's a case of wait and see!

Oh why not.

Well yes, the idea I think is you get one Fastrack package. Just like the Premium MAP gives you one £5 off voucher for Fastrack at the parks. The Horror Pass isn't meant to appeal to Premium holders since they get free every anyway (just have to prebook. This is primarily sinned at Standard MAP and Thorpe Park AP holders.

Bare in mind the Fastrack package is now worth £25. So, with the free parking, you've got your value in 2 visits. Certainly more expensive than I was expecting, but I can see the reasoning behind it. Not sure how many will take them up on it though..

^Pretty sure Thorpe confirmed to someone via Twitter it's going in Asylum's spot. TPM have an article - http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/01-09-2014/STUDIO-13 13th Fright Nights attraction for the 13th Fright Nights, and has the number 13 in! This is so much better than Experiment 10

Logo! Certainly is a surprise - I was expecting another IP for sure. Had I known it wasn't going to be an IP before this announcement, I'd have been disappointed. However, Thorpe have gotten this just right - it fits the overall theme well, is a different story all the other mazes and definitely has potential. I wonder how the maze will operate though. The last conga line style maze Thorpe added was Saw Alive back in 2010 - I'm almost expecting a free flow / different approach.

Not entirely sure where Fastrack users go for Colossus when RnR operates (they both might use the Fastrack queue?). But since there wasn't any RnR trials today(?), then surely Fastrack users would just use the Fastrack queue anyway?

Do you mean exit pass users? Not sure how you can tell how many rows would be used for Fastrack, and only 8 Fastrackers per train would be quite reasonable for Colossus!

I'd expect most secondary schools start this Wednesday or Thursday and colleges to start between Thursday and Monday (especially in the local area). So next week will probably still be quite busy and there'll be a fair few people trying to get in that last quick visit before going back to school.

If you look, you will find them! And they certainly range in intensity - some will appeal to a 'friendlier' market, others to hard-core fans. Due to the nature of scare attractions, only theme parks and other permanent attractions well be the only ones who really push their scare attractions. Other places will advertise more to the those who are interested in the first. As I say: look and you will find them!

I would agree with you that having to pay £50 would be excessive. However, say to get the Horror Pass bolted onto you is only £25-£30, then would you go for that? Especially since it gives you extra freedom. It seems to me that the idea is to get more people to upgrade their passes or encourage people to plan ahead further to control the number of guests on park.

No. My point is, there's more than different AB theming (which in itself hasn't even been confirmed) - there's roaming actors, different audio, different feel, etc. There's some park wide theming, and hopefully there'll be more this season.

Fair enough. I can't comment too much on BPB (not really knowing or caring that much about the place), however... Thorpe Park: 5 (five) free Fright Nights attractions, roaming actors, small shows (albeit, poorly advertised), open till 10pm and more. Cabin in the Woods has also been critically acclaimed, and I'd be surprised if Thorpe don't try to use that to their advantage. Alton Towers: 2 free Scarefest attractions, couple of Scarefest things for younger kids, open till 9pm. Oakwood: All that (which isn't exactly special or enticing) and open till 10pm. Thorpe certainly seems the best option out of all of that! Well, there's going to be a lot more than that; that's my point..

I'm not saying it's a good reason, but that will be their reason. Let's also remember that after 3pm/4pm (whatever they decide this season), the park - theoretically - changes completely, with roaming actors, change in music and more (hopefully more park wide theming this season; fingers crossed ey!). So, in effect, the park is turned into a whole different attraction for Fright Nights, and that could well be reflected in an increase in price. The other parks you list, when open late, don't offer much more than a fireworks show (correct me if I'm wrong though), which usually aren't paid for extras. It's a difficult one really. But if you put yourself in the park's shoes, you can see that charge they have in place isn't simply for pure profit. I'm hopeful that the increase in price reflects an increase in quality, though.

1994 - 'Varney and Wardley - Two Coaster Legends?' First post: "Following the huge success of Nemesis this season, I think it's clear that Alton Towers have theme park geniuses working for them. Nick Varney, the park's marketing director, and John Wardley, ride designer, were both heavily involved with Nemesis (and rumours are it was one of them who gave the coaster its already iconic name). Following other spectacular additions recently like The Haunted House, I don't think it's too soon to call these guys legends in the UK industry, and whatever they do in the future, nothing should take away from the achievements they've made this season!"

Annual Passes should be as simple as possible. People may not want to be bombarded with 'Do you want perk x, y or z with your Standard Annual Pass?', especially if those perks are only going to affect you for 3-4 weeks of the year. Having a two tier system (well, technically three, but the VIP pass has a very small market) works well. The trouble with issuing wristbands is that it is a lot more faffing around really. It works for Summer Nights given the small number of guests taking part. But imagine having to issue wristbands to 10000 guests, just so a few who don't want to do the mazes don't have to pay as much. Just not going to work well, is it? And given that there's 5 FN attractions, I don't think having them all as pay extras (and hence dropping the AP charge altogether) would work either. I agree that £10 is very steep and that this is merely a way of getting people to either upgrade to a Premium Pass, or upgrade to a Horror Pass. The Horror Pass is an interesting one - offering it in the week's leading up to Fright Nights is good, but I think that's the only time it should be advertised (otherwise it makes it too confusing). It shouldn't be seen as a new pass or upgrade either in my eyes - more just a bolt on in my opinion; though I doubt it'll be advertised as such. Of course, Thorpe will justify the charges to a degree since you are getting the extended opening hours regardless. Though I think charging AP holders more than what they get charged for Summer Nights is a bit of a silly idea.

The resins are £6-8, depending on which one you get.

True - maybe I shouldn't have put 'well' there. Regardless, the point stands that Thorpe are serious about keeping the ride as long as possible, which should be noted over all this needless worry every time the ride has a blip.

To be fair, since Slammer reopened in May/June time (can't remember when exactly), it's been rather reliable. Sure, they're opening it later and going general checks every day at 3pm, but they are clearly serious about keeping it running well, and I don't see any reason to panic about it being removed until it suffers a serious problem (which would be a breakdown lasting more than a couple of days, in my opinion).

Only thing that is really interesting me is the S&S Free Fly to be honest. Looks fun and hopefully can better the Intamin ZacSpins. Twisted Colossus looks good, but fear of throughput and other things just make me feel a little less excited over it. Everything else is just meh.

Unsure how many people have noticed, but the cost of a FN ticket for Standard MAP holders / Thorpe Park AP holders is now £5 if you book before October 1st, and £10 afterwards - https://www.thorpepark.com/events-experiences/events/fright-nights/ Certainly makes the Horror Pass look more enticing if you're wanting to do a couple of dates!

So long as your lap bar is done tightly enough, you can quite happily ride Slammer safely. The shoulder restraints are more there for added comfort and peace of mind I'd assume.

Given that the past three Fright Nights have given new mazes with rather special / different twists (isolation rooms, bags on head, multiple routes in small groups), I'd expect something with an equally interesting twist. I don't think it had been confirmed it would be in Asylum's spot yet, so nice to have that officially confirmed. Really do look forward to what Thorpe give us!

If memory serves me correctly, it was either a telephone box or a black sign.