JoshC.

The park did trial single rider on Saw in 2009, 2010 and maybe even 2011-12 (memory is hazy). In terms of filling up seats, it worked well. It was always a bit of an organisational faff though, since it didn't have the infrastructure set up for it to work. As I understand it, this is something which has been pushed to be tried by some staff for a while. So this is serving as a trial period to see if it works at improving utilisation scores (ie number of seats filled), and how it works from a practical / organisation standpoint. Then maybe they can go from there. The issue the park will face is the same they have always faced - the majority of the park's rides aren't designed with a single rider queue in place. Really, Stealth is the only one which has the infrastructure to do it properly and not interfere with Fastrack / Ride Access Pass queues and ride exits. The current Exodus plans don't show a single rider queue either (though these can of course be changed). So yeah, hopefully it works, and hopefully longer term the park can implement ways to make single rider queues work properly. But at the same time, it should be stressed this is just a trial, and even if it does go down well, there's no guarantee it will mean it stick.

Vampires vs Werewolves is back: https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/videos/3248466045420453/ I wonder if the graduation story line is a hint that this is the last year of the zone / show? With the confirmation that this was the last returning attraction, this means that Swarm: Invasion is not returning. A shame, as it was never given the budget it deserved to reach its potential. Although, with a new maze going behind Swarm, I wonder if they will introduce a new scare zone on Swarm's island still, so it doesn't suffer from "Sanctum syndrome" and feel isolated from the rest of the event? I expect we'll see 3 more announcements: the new maze, the new "experience" and one more zone or show. Speaking of the "scare experience", I'm thinking more and more that that could be a VR...'thing'. Alton Towers have also announced a scare experience for Scarefest, and they've already got a VR set up from Mack in place. It fits the bill of being an 'experience' rather than an attraction, is something that can be duplicated and tweaked for multiple attractions (which fits Merlin's remit lately), but is something that could be good if done right. I personally hope it's not a VR thing, but I think that feels more likely right now.

Throw in Rocky Express too?

I know Duel has loads of problems, but I'm sad to see it go. I love a good shooting dark ride, and Duel's length, theming and story give it a really good basis to be a good shooter. I'd really love to have seen it just be given a good budget and a lot of TLC. But we move forward. It'll be interesting to see if they opt for a complete new attraction, update the ride system or just the theming, and hopefully whatever they do it remains a cool, fun ride. There's certainly potential with it, and I feel reasonably confident they can do it justice too.

Yes, Natural England had their own, separate, concerns regarding the Construction Management Plan, as well as some of the archeology of the area. As seen, the park have resolved these concerns (largely by providing more details and making things clearer). From my understanding, it was a largely simple thing to resolve, since all it required was more information and clearer information. These are the sort of concerns which aren't uncommon to be seen during planning applications: ones where a body doesn't really have a proper concern, but they need more information just be to sure But yes, the big concerns from the EA are still unresolved as things stand from my understanding, and we'll see what happens.

One thing I'm finding frustrating with these videos is that, in isolation, they give very little detail about the attractions themselves. They're great videos, but they don't tell us: -What type of attraction it is (maze, scare zone, show, roamers, experience?) -Give any feel for what the attraction is actually going to be like -Are largely disconnected from the attractions themselves It's cool to build up extra story, hype and intrigue, but it does feel a bit too far removed for my liking. On a related note, I'm still not a fan of the park marketing roamers as an attraction. Through no fault of a guest, you can search high and low for roamers and not see them (even if they have a set route). Hopefully they have some sort of 'show' piece at set times too. But heyho, that's just a minor pet peeve of mine.

If you have a frog in your throat, try a Strepsil, not a new thread. 🔐

Oh WWTPRadio. It's nice to have your quippy remarks back on the forums.

Rocky Express remains untouched since the end of last season. It is not coming back.

I wouldn't be so confident on that. It all sounds like marketing hype to me. I reckon it will be largely the same in the same location. The park have added something new every year since 2008 (technically). But before 2020, scare zones weren't really a thing at the park, so usually the line up would be largely the same, with either an extension to the line or, or replacements introduced. So it's pretty common to see the same things come back yearly tbf

Today's announcement was the return of The Crows of Mawkin Meadow... https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/videos/455278616478459 It's not mentioned if this is still just a scare zone, or returning to the same location, but one would certainly expect so.

Looks like they're announcing an attraction every other day. Including scare zones and shows, let's say there's 9 attractions, then that would take us up to the 31st for the final announcement. One would certainly expect the new maze and the mysteriously vague scare experience to be the last ones to be announced.

A final teaser video comes 8pm this evening...

With the Ride Access Pass, you will go through the dedicated Ride Access Pass entrance and go on the ride pretty much instantly. You then have to wait whatever the queue time for that ride was before you can use the Pass again. This used to be done by staff writing times on a card, but I'm not sure if it's evolved into a digital format now.

It's good information to have, albeit no different to what they've done in the past really. Presumably Ghost Train's current closure is due to the current weather. The ride is hot enough as is, and unbareable in 30⁰+ temperatures.

Re. the farm being used for Fright Nights. This is a rumour that crops up every now and then. On paper, it is clear to see the appeal and potential it has. But logistically, I don't think it would ever happen. 1. The farm is used for back of house operations / storage. Turning that into something suitable for guest view is difficult. 2. How do guests get to the farm? Walking takes a long time, would require a lot of CCTV, H&S and security considerations and just generally is a nightmare. Other modes of transport are expensive. 3. It's not as simple as just opening a new attraction. You have to consider a lot of extra staffing, emergency plans for guest safety, etc. It's a HUGE task. 4. Noise. The farm is by Thorpe Village, and there are some concerns from locals about noise during Fright Nights. Introduce attractions so close to the village will amplify those complaints. I don't know if the park have ever seriously considered the idea of FN attractions at the farm. But if they have, I wouldn't be surprised if the thoughts were given up with very quickly. The only way I could see an attraction on the farm ever taking place would be if they incorporated transport into the experience. Maybe not a hayride (though that could work). More like the experience starts on park, and you're "kidnapped", driven to the farm, go through an indoor experience there, and then driven back, all within story. Trouble with that is that the operating costs would be huge. So even then, I see it as an extremely unlikely option. --- As for the current teasers, they're well produced. The slow-burn teasers do less for me these days, but it gets people talking and hyped, so all good. It seems like they might be making "The Locksmith" a character for the event. That has potential, and the park have had success with these sort of headline characters (The Governor in 2012, The Ringleader in 2015 and of course The Director in 2013-2014). If they capitalise on it correctly, it could be good. I do think the park should go down the Walibi Holland route and have a mainstay headline character (Walibi have Eddie the Clown). It feels like they're trying this by creating a character called "FEAR" (who also 'introduced' the lukewarm Legacy show), but making said character a mysterious figure who almost doesn't exist. Doesn't quite work for me and feels confusing. Just have a physical, cool-looking character for people to interact with. As for the attraction line up. I'm expecting Creek Freak to return; all the pieces are there. I'd've thought the new maze would go next to Rush, possibly in shipping containers (the park said they considered this for Trailers last year). It also means large parts of the maze could be completed off site, and then have it as a 'plug in and play' type thing. The 'scare experience' feels very much set up to be some sort of twist on an escape room. Containment is still there and could still be used. They could also use the compound next to Trailers if they wanted I guess. The bit adjacent to Swarm (where Sanctum was in 2017) is logistically difficult, but not impossible I guess.

Due to a medical issue, I won't able to go now. Hope everyone has fun, and see you at the next one!

So yeah, a new maze (serving effectively as a replacement for Platform), and a new experience. Plus maybe some refreshed scare zones. The new experience is intriguing. There's no real details yet, and you can't book anything specific yet. But, currently, the price for the "Fearsome Four" add on works out as £37 on top of the entrance ticket. Last year, the Trio ticket for the 3 mazes worked out as £27, and I can't imagine the park will price the mazes as more expensive than £10, or £9per maze when booked as the trio. So that could suggest it's a 'step up' experience compared to the other mazes. Something similar to Containment wouldn't be a surprise; an interactive scare experience, even if not an escape room. Personally I'd love something a bit more extreme / designed as a solo experience, but I don't think that quite matches with what the wider audience wants. So wishful thinking there.

To be fair a blown motor can do a fair amount of damage / look pretty bad. Even if it happens on an occasional basis, every situation is different.

I think it's unlikely the maze would move like-for-like as is. I don't think it was built or designed to be taken down and moved, so much of the scenery simply wouldn't survive a move. This is unlike other mazes which have moved, which were designed in temporary areas and could be taken down and rebuilt. That's not to say that the Creek Freak brand would not return (either in a 'reimagined style', a la Big Top or in a Creek Freak Massacre 2: Electric Boogaloo scenario) in the future. But the maze, as in, moving is almost entirely out of the question.

To add, Tulleys have basically confirmed that one of their new mazes will be a 10/10 scare rating, the first time they've hit that high (they have a couple of 9 rated mazes). Presumably that will be the second one they announce. Obviously it's all just marketing spiele, but interesting all the same.

So let's talk Carnival, the park's other new event for 2022. The event is split into two areas. There is 'the' "Carnival" area, which is in the Lost City area (where various FN mazes have been) and there is the "Junkyard" area, which stretches alongside Ghost Train up to Trailers. The Carnival area is the main one, and features a stage, photo op point, some F&B places and a couple of extra sideshows (magician's tent and fortune teller). Things kick off from 12 and there's pretty much always something going on, or getting ready to happen, from then till park close (which is 7pm for the event!). There's a Ringleader show, showing all the acts, a mime troupe show, a set of singers, and also some circus/carnival acts (fire breathers, trapeze artists / balance performers and the like). The Junkyard area features some "carnival rejects", who are basically just a bit more shoddily dressed, treated like outcasts, and a bit more 'crazy'. All in, there's a real good variety of acts, and it's all just light hearted fun. And it does so without being cheesey or corny, which I felt the Mardi Grad stuff did too much of. I'm sure things will get polished up during the event too. The circus acts are external acts too, so are specialists in what they do. One thing I wasn't keen on was the singing aspects of the performances. It would be harsh, and wrong, to say the singing was bad, but it certainly wasn't something I would call 'good'. Obviously this is a difficult thing to do, since as people we can hear amazing singing in a couple of clicks on our phone, but it does mean there's a high bar to meet. I think the performances would be better without singing, but then again, maybe the wider audience disagree. In any case, I think if the park want singing incorporated into these acts, they should broaden their horizons and look to people with as much experience as possible. Now, onto the thing which I guess people are most interested in: Trailers - Breakout at Bozo's. This...is a thing. And it doesn't know what sort of thing it wants to be. Is it trying to be a fun and funny attraction set inside a spooky setting? Is it trying to be a scare maze which doesn't take itself seriously? Is it trying to be a scare maze which has been toned down? I don't know. And I don't think Thorpe really know what they want it to be. From what I understand, the plan was for it to be something which wasn't that scary, didn't take itself seriously and something you could have a laugh with. But then when it wasn't received all that well, and senior management realised it wasn't scary, they've tried to tweak that. Which adds to the confused nature of it. There are some fun moments in there, don't get me wrong. But none of it feels very right. And it's all just a bit of a mess, and doesn't quite flow. I also feel for the actors: it's running on minimal numbers, and only one per main scene. When most scenes were designed for at least 2 actors, and almost always had those numbers last year, it means they have a lot to do, and in weirder circumstances. Can't be easy. I don't see it being very popular now the initial enthusiast rush has died down. But with the minimal operating hours and minimal staffing, and being upcharge, I expect it will make money, and so ultimately be a plus for the park there. But still, this stinks of a decision made my people in an office with little understanding of how it would work and the consequences, leaving the Entertainments Team to just deal with it. Anyway, I don't want to leave things on a bad note. Carnival is a really cool, fresh-feeling event. It's fun, vibrant and adds an upbeat feeling to the park. At the same time, it doesn't impede on those who aren't fussed: it's a nice, harmless addition. I hope it works out well for them, and that it's something that can continue and be improve upon in the future. On a side note, with these events happening, and being a mainstay, and with shows being a thing at the park again, it's a shame there isn't an arena-like space for them to be housed, and for more work to go into them. Funny world ey.

Usually you would be looking at late August / early September. It is usually linked with whenever they announce their line up, which varies, but is usually around that sort of time

Ooooh, but seriously. I have an update. Here's the current state of the Old Town area: Lots of weeds growing up through the paving. That certainly indicates very little human movement and interaction in the area. And yes, Rocky Express is equally untouched. I believe that whilst the main construction period is due to start autumn / early winter this year (if all goes to plan), the park had planned to do some preliminary work this summer. This seems to have been bought to a pause, although is no real indication - and should not be read as such - as to whether the park think the planning application will be approved or not.

Looks like even Parm Pap has lost their mind with all this waiting now. That's their most incomprehensible post yet. They should go all 2018 and 'Year of the Walking Dead' with it. Stormzy: The Roller Coaster Stormzy Surge Stormzy in a Teacup Stormzy's Ghost Train The Stormzy Stormzy Inferno The Stormzy Express