JoshC.

https://www.thorpepark.com/events-experiences/frightnights/ - Page updated confirming MBV is staying in the arena this season. Don't think it's been mentioned yet either, but BWP is being advertised as a 'Walkthrough' now, as opposed to a Scare Zone - fairer reflection on the attraction to be honest!

Got a rather different ride on X today with no lights on at all Surprising just how much the lights make a difference. Sure, with no lights at all, it adds to the sense of the unknown and whatnot, but the lights make it so much more fun. Said it before, but despite being a fan of X:\NWO, I'm a huge fan of X and really glad that the park finally decided to give it a proper refurb last year..

As far as I know, a Swarm train won't leave the lift hill until it has cleared the penultimate set of brakes (the one just before where the trains get moved into the workshop). On a different note, Swarm's fire effect went off every circuit today! Though I've noticed it was going earlier than usual - just at the train was starting the zero-g roll, as opposed to when it was half way through. Is there a reason to that that anyone knows of?

Essentially the actors can do anything and everything to you. There is bad language, nudity and possible adult themes as well. I definitely think the 18+ restriction is justified - it is very intense and extreme!

I just don't think chucking a top spin in the mix will suck up the queues that much. In my visits, Ripsaw is usually quiet, but given the small selection of flat rides AT has, it wouldn't surprise me if it does get queues - simply because it's something to do! Also look at Rameses at Chessington; not exactly a popular ride and attracts more spectators than riders. Getting a top spin gives the park another 1.4m ride, which it doesn't really need, and is just another ride to spin you and get you wet, which it doesn't really need. Top spins aren't exactly unique or overly exciting, and are hardly going to pull in crowds that much in my opinion. Add nothing and just improve the park would be much better for the place.

Even if you put some jazzy fire or water effects or whatever on a top spin, it's still a top spin. They're not hugely popular rides, they're very common and any effects other than the jets of water to your face are likely gonna be lost on ride. Thorpe could do so much better I think, even by adding nothing.

The bridge that connects Swarm's island to the main island of the park was one of the later things done during Swarm's construction I think, so I wouldn't necessarily see this as an early sign of construction of a major ride on the island.

Because themed areas?! As much as I'd like to see more Swarm-related attractions, I think it'd be very difficult to pull off unless they kept with a very similar theme of 'ALIENS ARE ATTACKING TAKE REFUGE'. And at this time, I'd want to see something different; certainly a big attraction that's a lot more upbeat. One day maybe, but not any time soon..

When I was 'getting used to mazes', I noticed that they would try to scare the ones that looked the most scared; by getting in their face, shouting boo, playing with their hair, whatever. So if you don't look scared, you're less likely to be picked on in that respect. I expect that if they were to take one person away from the group, they'd focus on someone who genuinely doesn't look afraid and looks like they could handle it.

In Saw and Asylum, you weren't taken away, so there's no need for them to mention it. I think when it happened in Se7en in 2011, it wasn't mentioned in the pre-maze warnings. However, I think it's clear now that all Fright Nights mazes are extreme and, as such, you should expect anything within reason to happen!

Perfectly plausible. There's no age restriction; it's simply a recommendation. I went in The Freezer when I was 9 and no member of staff stopped me / questioned it (though I wish they had! )

I remember when Experiment 10 first opened and no one had a clue what it would be like. There was no indication whatsoever of being split up, stuck in a small room by yourself or anything like that. As far as everyone was concerned, it was your standard conga line maze. Yet when in the maze, you get split from your group, isolated and maybe even spend the rest of the maze without the rest of your group, or maybe even by yourself for a while. To my knowledge, there were very few complaints about the maze (if any!). In my experiences, actors weren't abused, physically or verbally, when when they physically separated people into separate lines / directions. You'd be very surprised how people react in such situations, especially since before going in the mazes, they (should) know that the experience will be extreme and anything can happen. This is one reason I think (and have done for a while now) that the mazes at Thorpe should have an older recommended age to go in. The mazes are intense, they are extreme - that's exactly what Thorpe are aiming for. I know that when I was 13, I wouldn't have liked or even coped with the likes of MBV, Ex10 or The Passing, and I'm pretty sure others wouldn't either. And if Thorpe want to make Fright Nights as extreme and 'adult' as possible, maybe upping to age restriction is the perfect thing to do - even if they don't change a thing to the mazes, it will create a different psychological reaction before going in the mazes.

It is something the park have tried before - in 2011, actors 'stole' the person at the end of the line in Se7en occasionally, and made them sit on a chair in one of the rooms (can't remember which mind ). Of course, actors should only target those who are more brave-looking; I imagine that even after a small bit of experience, actors can quickly tell who are easily scared, and who are not, then take away those who are braver-looking. With the likes of The Passing, My Bloody Valentine/Experiment 10 and Cabin separating people, and indeed separating people who are in the same group, I see no reason why they can't try and do something similar with a conga-line maze!

I'm never normally a fan of actors pretending to be ordinary guests - it's normally quite easy to suss out if someone is acting like a member of the public. There could also be logistic issues (ensuring that an actor always conveniently joins the group before the maze). Would be interested to see it happen though. Personally (if we get a conga-line maze), I'd love to see people just picked away from the group every so often and left to wait for another group / venture the maze alone. Much scarier not knowing what's happened to the person who's been left behind!

Let's remember the premise of the maze - we are going on a tour of Studio 13, where the new film - The Motel - is being shot. Our tour leads us through sets of film, as well as make up booths and what not. If the corridor still exists (I assume it does, but if it isn't a structural necessity, maybe they'll get rid of it; who knows!), then I'd want it to be used to tell us a bit of the story. Have one the film crew let us know about the film, what we're gonna see, etc. Maybe hint at things going wrong, or that something will go wrong. Be eerie, crazy; whatever. It would be much better than a corridor with an obviously-placed scare actor and a couple of painted-on doors. It worked with My Bloody Valentine (indeed, probably the best part of that maze), and given that this is an original idea from Thorpe where thought has gone into the story, I can't think of any reason why it wouldn't work with Studio 13. Of course, the way that corridor is used would depend on how we're meant to walk through the maze. As I've said before - I'm hoping we get something other than the 'traditional' conga line!

In fairness, Fright Nights aren't recommended for under 13s at all. I guess since everything only kicks off at 3pm, there could still be under 13s on park during Fright Nights dates, but I'd consider that somewhat unlikely! On a different note, I think the current playlist for X is around 2 hours (so a similar amount of time as WWTP radio) and, as has been mentioned previously in the thread, is updated to some degree on a regular basis. Pretty decent I think.

The thing with the old layout meant that the queue to get in the maze had to have a hole in it to let people out. So, you had to have a batcher where this hole was to ensure people in the queue didn't 'fill' the hole, and make sure people in the exit didn't sneak back in the queue. On top of that, they needed a second batcher to give safety instructions and let people in the maze. Bit hectic! Since this was only during the first 3 Fright Nights, the event wasn't as busy, so there wasn't as much a need for a long queue line. If memory serves me correctly, the queue for the Freezer took up the MHFS queue and did a shorter cattlepen underneath The Hideaway which was a couple of lines back and forth to the stage.

^ Yeah, you're right. I feel like we need a thread dedicated solely to the music currently being played in X so it's all in one place.

I doubt it - they've used footage from previous years on loads of different occasions (clips from Curse and Se7en are about in clips from the past couple of years, the sackheads from 2012 appear on the screen at the main entrance, etc.). Asylum is gone and Studio 13 well be rather different - time to let go!

I see no reason to change my vote from the last lynch, unless other supposed 'civilians' arouse my suspicion: ##vote J.S217

For small to medium investments, the UK Merlin parks always seem to advertise from October or later. Never has been problematic in the past, and with the various online methods of advertising, even if they don't reach people when they are on park, they'll reach them through the internet. Thorpe may not even be 100% sure what they're doing next year, and if it's anything that requires planning permission, they haven't applied for it yet. No point in advertising something which they may not even get right? Don't think there's a reason to panic or anything, or suggest they've missed opportunity yet.

What makes you say that? None of the Fright Nights attractions seem to have a need for any of the trees to be trimmed, cut down or tagged at all. The park can still build hype for a new attraction if they want. The ride could open mid-season, advertising could start late, whatever. They have no way missed an opportunity!

The canopy-thing will probably only take a day to get down, so no worries there. No need for them to rush about and change the location on the website - most people won't have checked that part of the site yet, and I doubt people who have seen it will care that much anyway (given the fact that there'll be maps showing where attractions are), if they even remember.

The website says "next to THE SWARM". It won't be on the actual island since there's simply not enough room, so the only logical options to me seem to be the island behind Swarm or Lake View.EDIT: Beaten to it