JoshC.

Just because there's no need for them to decorate them, it doesn't mean that they shouldn't though.

Today is 83 days till Christmas...

I noticed that, but it does seem like the leaf at the bottom is covering the word 'no'.

Thorpe have also instagramed this: http://instagram.com/p/e-D_moEgBG/ "The scariest movie of all time"? Hmm, maybe not...

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.637092849668547.1073741839.114248348619669&type=1 A few new photos of construction (possible spoilers)! Blair Witch is seeming interesting...

I haven't voted for any of the first 3 dates due to being at uni / travelling home from uni. The rest I should be able to make; a little unsure about Sundays at this stage, but should be able to make it.

10 years ago, Thorpe Park were graced with the introduction of Nemesis Inferno. It was B&M's 22nd Inverted coaster, a type of roller coaster which had proven most popular over the previous ten years. Billed as 'the world's greatest roller coaster experience' and having a name that obviously was leading itself to be a successor to the extremely popular Nemesis, the ride had a lot to live up to. Unfortunately, Inferno didn't live up to hype. From what I can gather, it's not a particularly highly rated B&M Invert (it's hard for me to judge of course, having only been on two B&M Inverts, but this is based on what I've heard across various forums, and based on the, Mitch Hawker Poll, where it ranked 123rd, if you feel that has some validity) and is seen as a 'good, but not great' ride. It could also suffer from the criticism of it being a 'cookie cutter' B&M, to a degree. So, instead of being a successor to Nemesis, it ended up more being the runt of the two - not that that's a surprise to anyone really. However, when you wash away the hype, the expectation and the comparisons, Nemesis Inferno is, simply put, a solid, well-rounded ride. It's nothing special, but not everything has to be, and sometimes I think people expect everything to 'be special'. Inferno is easily the park's least-gimmicky major coaster (something which I think is indirectly highlighting on the park's website as well), which, in a way, makes it more appealing to the general public, especially as a 'starter big coaster'. My first ride came a year after it opened, and in honesty, I don't remember being particularly impressed. Okay, maybe impressed is the wrong word - I did enjoy it and that, but it felt somewhat lacking to me. For various reasons, I rated coasters such as Colossus, Dragon's Fury and Vampire as 'better'. However, as time has gone on, it has improved in leaps and bounds. I think it's safe to say that the ride has aged incredibly well. Like modern B&Ms, it is quite smooth, yet it has aged in such a way that there are a couple of intense moments; specifically the vertical loop. From about 2006 to 2011, it was my favourite coaster at Thorpe, and second favourite I'd been on, which I think does speak for itself. Last year, for some reason, it didn't rank as well with me; I can't quite explain why though. It just 'felt' as if it wasn't as good as I thought it was. It's tenth year, though, it has come into its own. Fast and intense, with the audio and effects really showing that it is a good ride. As said earlier, some could criticise the ride for being a bit of a 'cookie cutter' B&M, just sticking together some tried and tested elements and creating a decent ride without really doing anything innovative. The pre-lift section is fun, but feels wasted. Unfortunately, the tunnel which it goes through requires the effects (mist and lovely red lights) to be bursting onto you; this is very hit-and-miss. After the near-100ft climb follows the 'standard' drop to the left followed by a forceful vertical loop. A zero-g roll follows; these inversions are quite possibly my favourite inversion, and this one is quick, relentless and unforgiving. We get a surprisingly low, ground-hugging turn, which takes us into the first of two 'interlocking corkscrews'. Personally, I don't rate the corkscrews; I don't particular feel like they are a worthwhile part to the ride. They feel very bog-standard, and just thrown in because they work on other Inverts. Thing is, the whole 'interlocking corkscrew' thing doesn't exactly shout out to anyone 'Look at me, I'm an exciting ride', yet I almost feel it was designed to have it in mind, and took away from a potentially more interesting element. Anyway, enough of the negatives. Following the interlocking corkscrews, the ride meanders a little bit into the finale; a figure of eight helix. Whilst the meandering feels a bit unnatural and against the rhythm of the ride, the finale is fun. The best elements of the ride do come in the first half, which makes the second half feel somewhat lacking; a shame really, but I guess that happens in a lot of coasters to be fair. Theming-wise, the centre-piece volcano is visually striking and impressive. Okay, so what if the other side of it is just a tin-shed; it doesn't actually take away from the appearance, and it just generally is a pointless thing to worry about. There's so many ways money invested in finishing it off could be spent, most of which would be a much better idea. Other than a few bits of rockwork, and long-gone crocodiles hiding in the pools, there's not really any other bits of theming, which is a shame. However, I can't see how much else could effectively have been added to the ride / ride area. Along with the tunnel effects, there are the geysers which sometimes works; always good to watch them when off-ride. What really sells Inferno, though, is the scenery - all of the trees, foliage and so forth makes you feel like you're in some tropical area, and you actually are nearby a real volcano. It just works - perfectly. So, that's about it really. Inferno is probably Thorpe's most consistently rated coaster; very few people I know of 'dislike' or 'hate' the ride, and the general opinion of it seems quite positive. In a way, that's what's made this blog entry very difficult to write (4 months in the making, on and off), because it's hard to describe the quality of a coaster like Inferno when everyone more or less accepts that quality. However, being 10 years since it opened, I felt like I needed to do it, and had promised to do one following my Saw, well over a year ago... And I leave you with this: Feel the heat SNOW. (Taken on 4th April 2013; Inferno's 10th birthday!)

Unfortunately, due to budget cuts, Alton Towers are no longer able to afford Photoshop when designing their concept art, and so could only resort to free software and Paint.

*Insert generic 'OMG NO IT HAS OTSR' comment* ------- Looks like a decent coaster for what I guess is a small-ish park. Nice to see some theming coming along too; anyone reminded of the Th13teen marketing with those wraiths?

These random pictures the park are posting are really cringe-worthy, regardless of if they relate to the park or not. I'm not sure if I like the style of marketing or not. I appreciate they're going for a more family-orientated market now, but it just feels like they're trying to go for cheap and pointless laughs...and failing. :/

Whilst I agree it's unlikely to be replaced, I wouldn't count it out just yet. There's still time for a replacement to be sent in, etc. Though the park would have to stick to a tight schedule to open it for the beginning of the new season. Then again, it could just be replaced by something which doesn't require planning permission; a picnic area or something for example.

I'll be interested to see how having the Cabin inside goes down. There's not exactly a lot of space in the area, so it needs to be used well, so it will be interesting to see how effective that will be. Great to see the accuracy in relation to the films, and am now expecting a lot of detailed theming inside the mazes.

From what I'm aware, ORPs have always been taken automatically at Thorpe. There's an obvious different in quality, which is to be expected really. I'm not sure if I'm correct in saying this, but I think at one point, you did have to give your address, pay upfront, and then have your photos posted to you with 7-10 days. Again, as time went on and technology improved, I think you were able to collect them on the day, after a short wait (which I'd assume is longer than we currently have to wait). I do have a couple of ORPs at home from the late 80s / early 90s of Loggers Leap and Dragon River (now Dragon Falls) at Chessie which I haven't scanned up yet (when I pop home from uni for the weekend in about 3 weeks time, I can do it then), which show how they were quite different to nowadays. For example, in some Loggers Leap ORPs, you can make out the Hudson River Rafts in the background; a boat ride from the lake which Loggers surrounds. The Dragon River ORP had a sign next to the boat, which showed the name Dragon River, along with the park logo and the year. Hopefully that sheds a bit of light, though I expect some other members know / understand it more than what I do. This is the earliest ORP I currently have uploaded, which I *think* is from 1996 or 1997. Pretty sure you could get these quite quickly after your ride, but you can see the difference in quality:

Yep, Chessington is a FAMILY park; it should cater for everyone. Closing at 6pm (or whatever ridiculous time they're closing at) does not cater for everyone.

Speaking of Press Releases, there's been a few new ones released - http://www.thorpepark.com/press/releases/default.aspx The most interesting one gives loads of facts: Sounds good!

How are you judging 'Mazes' there? Surely a maze can only be judged on the scares, set design and costume, which you've all judged in separate categories? Just interested really.

Comparisons to HHN have to be expected (especially for CITW), when the park are saying you don't need to fly out to America for a great Halloween event. In that, they are pretty much saying Fright Nights will be as good as HHN; they've set the bar extremely high. For CITW, I wasn't expecting much of an exterior - they simple don't have the logistical space, and I doubt the budget, to create of such high immersive level. Hopefully, as time goes on, we'll see more and more money splashed out into FN, and hopefully more on the actual look of the event. We do know not to judge things based on their exterior as well; look at Se7en and Curse. They had a fair amount of good quality theming in tents, so I do expect the inside of CITW to be rather special. But as Fred says, first impressions do count, and hopefully people won't be too let down by the exterior. Then again, that will come down to expectations, and I doubt somewhat that most people will have seen Universal's attempt to compare / expect..

Was expecting something different (like an introduction from the deranged film director or something), but it does the job. No where near as good as some of the previous Fright Nights trailers though, I'm afraid to say!

We best be careful guys... http://themetapicture.com/things-that-kill-more-people-than-sharks/

- The second water effect (by the fire engine) I *think* has been turned off totally now, as I think it was causing problems with the fire effect. The first one is admittedly hit and miss. - Almost every time I've been this year, the fire effect has been on, and goes off every 3 cycles. The only time I can think of was in March and April, when it was snowing... - I have noticed the staircase effect has been off. However, I think only one time I've been this year was that part of the queue even open, so maybe it's a decision that reflects that, though I think if that's the case, it is a shame. Saw did have troubles with its effects in the first season or two as well. I'm not saying it's okay that Swarm's effect aren't perfect, but from all my visits this season, Swarm's effects have been pretty darn good.

I'm guessing Carousel and Banana Boat are due to lack of popularity (especially if the entire event is for over 13s). Loggers and Rocky are interesting; wonder how much of that is due to Blair Witch? Rumba is interesting; I can only guess it's more due to the fact the scare zone could go up that end of the park as well? Can't see it being due to lack of popularity / cost cutting really; Tidal Wave surely would have been a better choice then.

But Rameses is a thrill ride, surely? What's the point in having a thrill ride running like a family ride? Also, just because they are a family park, why does it mean they can't have even one thrill ride?

Yeah, I'm not quite sure how they're going to pull it off; it's all about the building of tension, which will be difficult to achieve with a more constant and sporadic flow of people. You're Next would have suited a scare zone well, but I think the roaming actors will work well. The past couple of years, we've had 5 mazes and roaming actors, and 2010 was 5 mazes and a scare zone. So, we have effectively lost an actual maze. I do have worries about the queues this year, especially as it looks like Slammer will be out of action for Fright Nights as well. Presumably they have taken it all into account, and have worked to ensure the mazes' throughputs are high. As for CITW now being labelled a Live Action Horror Maze, I think they've done it for simplicity. Whilst it is set to be more interactive than the other mazes, calling it something different probably confuses people, and so it makes sense just call it the same thing probably.

Surely a scare zone will have next to no queue though? I can only assume that there'd be a slight wait to allow an even spread throughout the area? I'd be very surprised if there was a queue for it really.

It's nice to see the locations finally properly announced, and it'll be interesting to see how large BWP is. Also, it seems like none of the mazes bar Saw have 'ORPs'? Win. I guess it's possible the design hasn't been finalised / they want to release it after the announce any possible new additions for next year? In saying that, notice how the logo for BWP covers Slammer? Looks like that's out for the rest of the season. Could even mean they had the map ready, but they might be getting rid of Slammer, and so had to change it... Though I'm getting ahead of myself there. EDIT: The BWP logo doesn't cover Slammer, it's been entirely edited out! (For comparison purposes - http://www.thorpepark.com/downloads/plan-your-visit/thorpe-park-gatemap-2013.pdf)