JoshC.

I'm not complaining about them bringing one maze back. In fact, I think it's a sensible idea, and as Asylum is probably the most consistently rated maze in the past, it makes sense that they choose to bring that one back. However, it does absolutely nothing for me. I don't find it scary; all it does is give me a headache and I've found it to be a weaker maze than the likes of Se7en, Experiment 10 (2011 version) and The Passing. I genuinely don't 'get' what all the fuss or hype about it is. The only positive point I can think of is the ending. Personally, I just want it scrapped / changed heavily. Also, I don't like the 'It's pretty much there every Fright Nights so it should be kept' argument. Colossus was the ride that put Thorpe Park on the map; should that be kept at the park forever? I think it's time for change. I'm hoping that with the large investment being pumped into FN that we'll see a fair amount of work done to it. I'm willing to give it a go again this year if I have the chance, but if it remains similar to what it has done for the past several years, I'm pretty certain it won't light up my world. It will be interesting to see if we get some sort of film tie-in with it though. One possibility I'd like to see is an 'Asylum' of evil characters from various films; could work a treat...

I don't know what the difference is exactly, but you don't need actors to scare you... As for 'Brave it Alone', love the concept behind it, and the cost is justified in my eyes. It will be interesting to see what maze they end up using for that one though (presumably they'll only use one maze for the entire event). VERY tempted by that one...

Am I right in saying that, like all the other wingriders to feature the inversion and drop, it differs from Swarm's in that Swarm does a full 180 degree roll before dropping, whereas the rest (including this one), roll and drop at the same time? Either way, good to see construction is coming together nicely..

http://www.thorpepark.com/frightnights/ - MBV has been added to the list. Looks like Experiment 10's trick is sticking with the maze; fingers crossed it doesn't inherit the problems that maze had last year... As for the return of the Asylum. Yawnn. My views of the maze have been made perfectly clear a couple of times in this thread now, and I'm not thrilled that out of all the mazes to return, this was the one. I appreciate it may be a good idea to keep a non-IP maze (as we now have 2 returning attractions from last year). All I can say is I hope it receives a lot of attention and is played about with a lot...

I think it's in the region of 50-60. The current one could have up to 112 rooms I think, but only one row is up, instead of two.

So, the application has been approved... http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=183854&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

Great find SCB - thanks for sharing! I knew a couple of people that had this project whilst they were at college; it was something that really got everyone's interest from what I heard. I don't know if they are still there, but some of the designs were placed in the Thrills Workshop. There's a couple of photos of some from when Mer got a behind the scenes tour with the ECC last year - http://s100.photobucket.com/user/mlp_03/library/SWARM?sort=4&start=all&page=2 (all credit to her for the photos of course, and I hope she doesn't mind me posting them! ). I remember that the queue line layout shown in that plan was also the original one they submitted, but thank goodness they changed it. Also, I'm glad that those water pumps aren't there just before the station - imagine being stuck there for 5ish minutes with them going off..! Out of all possible locations though, I think the one we've ended up with is the best... I can't be the only one to find it funny that one of the possible locations actually was alongside Monk's Walk either, after all that PR hype? Maybe it was true all along...

Interesting that the trailer shown for the Saw one is the final film. I wonder if there's any chance that an additional scene might be added from that film then; though I do have some doubts in honesty. And yeah, the CITW description has been updated, including the scenes. Based on the new description, I wonder if there are not only alternative routes, but also alternative endings as well?

And obvious discovery of the year goes to the findings in this article... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-24046971

I think a Blair Witch maze has the chance to do this. It can only utilise a tension building experience in my eyes, and use the likes of strange noises, unexplained sightings and themed scenes to build up to a finale. It depends on how they want to execute the maze though, but I think we will see a tension-based maze for Blair Witch.

Am I the only one who feels this maze is screaming out to use the old Experiment 10 containers - plus a few extra? I know MBV will be there, but still, it seems a bit strange, does it not? Will be interesting to see what happens... Spoiler about the film ahead...

Got you both I'm afraid! It was actually the second one! I recently broke my right ankle, not my left; talk about me being sly.. But yes, I did indeed start Thorping from when I was 6 weeks old, and I do own a pet corn snake called Norbert. Here's a picture of him as well...

Hmm, I'll have a go now.. 1) The first time I went to Thorpe Park I was 6 weeks old. I went to the farm on that day. 2) I recently broke my left ankle. I torn a ligament, 'pulling' off a bit of the bone, whilst playing football. 3) I own a snake, called Norbert. I named him after Hagrid's dragon from the Harry Potter series.

Interesting that they're saying the entire event is only suitable for 13+. I wonder to what extent on park theming and the roaming actors will go to then? With the bookings opening on Friday, I get this sneaking feeling we'll see some more info come out by then too... Gutted I can't make the preview event due to uni, but oh well.

I wonder if the 'will it get retrakced?' debate will crop up over closed season?

Look at that Welsh name!

^^I believe that link was in relation to a comment about most of the budget going on the IPs, and not the theming / actors. EDIT: Here's the post: http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/9761-fright-nights-2013/page-28#entry166521 ScareTour, as you can imagine, are well-informed about many Halloween / scare events all around the country. They seem to have a pretty decent relationship with Merlin as well (organising behind the scene tours of mazes at Thorpe and Alton, for example). So, what they say is probably more than an educated guess; more a well-informed prediction. I can't think of a time when anything they've said has been wildly incorrect, either, so I'm quite happy to more or less take what they say as fact. Of course, they could be mis-informed or have just got the wrong end of a stick, but I'd say ScareTour are more than reliable when it comes to things like this. In saying that, I'd be rather surprised if the entire Blair Witch attraction took place by Inferno and up towards the farm, say. It would be extremely 'linear' for an attraction, and there'd be loads of potential distractions too.

You go fishing regularly? You don't seem like a fisherman to me!

We don't know if it's even going to be used for FN yet.

Behind Inferno is an interesting spot for Blair Witch. Hopefully it is more behind the old MHFS spot and up towards the CCR station, so other noises don't ruin the experience. Hopefully Monks Walk won't cause any issues either.

Not saying it is at all. I thought, for some reason, Hair Raiser was a stand up, showing that one has been built after 1999. As that's not the case, the point I was trying to make is completely void.

Ignore me then, I must have caught the dumb and temporarily lost the ability to read.

Just came across this... http://rcdb.com/9647.htm Can't find anywhere that it was a relocated, so it seems like the odd one has popped up. Wouldn't say this means Thorpe, or anywhere else actually, is likely to get a B&M stand up any time soon though.

Thanks for doing the TR Peaj; really enjoyed it! Also, this photo never fails to make me laugh...