JoshC.

To put it in perspective, a 2 hour queue for Storm Surge is probably equivalent to a 50 minute Swarm queue. So it's not 'busy' per se, it just attracts more people than it can handle.

Ah. Didn't explain myself properly there, and sorta said the wrong thing! What I meant to say was it's more styled than themed. Whilst there is theming there, like the queue line traps, the headchopper and the stuff indoors (the police car has now gone and I don't think returning?), it's the way they've styled it all which works much better. The way everything feels abandoned and has grown with age, how the area feels secluded and such. I've always felt that Saw was designed to create a certain feel and tone, and never to be this full out immersive experience. and the way everything feels to me is that it's been styled to be like that, as opposed to themed. Not even sure if that makes much sense to be honest. You could even say 'styling a ride' is the same as 'themeing a ride' I guess, but I think they're slightly different and that Saw is more styled than themed.

Get a feeling it's a new thing! Looks quite like an RCT3 'inline twist', so should be very interesting to experience. It looks like they kinda took inspiration from some wingriders, where an inline is the last inversion / major element, followed by a minor element to finish the ride off.

Investment-wise, Merlin are great. All the parks are getting investments - and good ones at that - and we're seeing attention to older rides too. The only park, in my eyes, that isn't as good is Chessie, for whatever reasons, but I think we're seeing improvements there all the time. Operations haven't been great, we all know that. However, I'd argue Thorpe have been improving a lot this year, with their extended opening hours, consistent ride reliability and such. The only thing which hasn't improved there, arguably, is Fastrack. The other parks haven't been doing as well, with reductions to opening hours, silly decisions (Alton specifically) and other troubles. But I genuinely do think that as time goes on, Merlin's operations will improve. Many things have improved under Merlin as well - merchandise, food outlets (bar the utter miserable failure of Burger Kitchen), attractions, themeing, entertainments (bar Thorpe in the sense that they're not constantly there, but instead just for big events. Though, the events they do pull off are good) and more. I think it goes back to what Cornflakes said - it seems Merlin sometimes value profit too much, and guest satisfaction not enough. Again though, I think that will change in time. I'd happily say Thorpe have recently prioritized guest satisfaction more than before (maybe all this is coincidental with the change in market, but who knows?), and I wouldn't be surprised if we slowly, but surely, see that happen across all parks. So, short answer, Merlin aren't that bad at all. In fact, they're rather good. But the 'wrong' decisions they have made have been big and noticeable ones, which is why they seemingly get so much criticism.

Sidders - absolute loved reading the Slender maze concept! Couple of things though - isn't the route between 2 and 4 crossing over Monk's Walk and off park property? Would mean that, in reality, there would need to be a couple of tweaks to the route. Even if you were to tweak it, maybe so you go around the building where the CCR trains are stored (ie the tankers), then I think the experience would still be pretty darn scary. The torches could possibly utilise Bluetooth technology so they 'work' and 'cut out' at different points in the maze (I believe The Passing used Bluetooth for the sounds inside the helmet, so it's more than achievable) and the maze could be a lot more theatrical than the other mazes. With an appropriate charge and explanation, I reckon it would go down a treat. Also, I think regardless of what themes the mazes have, having a couple of roaming actors around the park dressed as a character from a maze would be amazing. Imagine that, regardless of the maze, you feel like you're being tormented by a character from it all the time, not just inside the maze, and that there's no escape. It would be great.

Certainly is nice to see a new Inverter coming to the world; especially after the Wingrider binge. I quite like the look of the layout. The first drop looks decent, inversions 4 and 5 looks quite fun and the finale looks very interesting. Like others, I love that colour scheme too! The wingrider/flying restraint is any interesting idea and hopefully a norm we will see in future B&M Inverters. I really do find them the comfiest restraints around.

I wouldn't call Saw 'themed'; more styled. I can think of at least 2 rides which are better themed - both of theme are at least as well styled or better too. I genuinely don't think Saw is rough. I must admit, I did have an uncomfortable ride when I went to Summer Nights; it was my second in a row, and followed 5 goes on Swarm and Inferno, so I think it was more just needing a break than anything else. It's intense, and you can't deny that, but I think there's a fine line between intense and rough which is different for everyone.

Just came to post about that! In the article they posted, they mention about a 'ghost walk' attraction that the park held in 2005: Think this was the thing I read about ages ago and mentioned earlier in the thread. Certainly not a full blown attraction then, but it was something. XD

Banned for having now lost the underscore in your name.

You can them if you're an MAP holder, yes.

Whilst I don't disagree it would need small groups for a Slender maze to work, it could be pulled off. I played the Slender game a few months back for the first time, with 5 other people in the room. It was dark outside, and all the lights in the room turned off. At first, we all started playing on our separate laptops, and gradually just moved down to having one and all crowded round watching. All the time, there was a tense atmosphere and every little thing made us jump. It was actually great fun. I think if you were to make a Slender maze a charged attraction, and restrict it to groups of 8 (maximum), you would get people who would be in the 'right' frame of mind to play along with the attraction, so keep quiet and such, whilst still allow for maximum scares. It could be pulled off quite well with a 'tour guide' who has become crazy due to seeing Slenderman so often, so every time someone talks / larks about, he could become very agitated and scary in themselves, and then Slenderman himself and do what he does best. It wouldn't be easy to pull off, and is probably a bit too idealistic to pull off in reality, but I certainly think it is achievable.

This is great news. I'll be going to the event a couple of times! Great stuff Thorpe.

Banned for being sexy

I wouldn't mind another IP based maze to add to the line up, if it's done appropriately, but but having all mazes based on horror films is a bit risky. You could risk alienation of the audience, or becoming too repetitive with themes. It's something that needs to be handled very carefully and marketed for a good, long while before the event. Not saying it can't / shouldn't be done, but it may backfire. Personally, I'd like to see a maximum of 2 IPs, and the rest to be original ideas.

I should probably stop posting C&H pictures on here, but ah well...

Go to a Morrisons store - they always seem to have a copy in my local store for £6. Failing that, try a Game or CEX shop - you can probably find one there / find where you can get one preowned for a few quid.

I've heard the building is just used for storage at the moment. Certainly a possibility for some form of attraction - though, in my eyes, I wouldn't want to see a maze there. I'd prefer to see the space utilised more for a show if possible. Wasn't there some sort of show in the Dome last year with the Governor character? If there ends up being another park-wide theme this year, I'd love to see that idea played with further to create a bigger, scheduled show.

It's a shame that they can't adopt the system that was adopted on the first Summer Nights - just leave the bags in the station (as there weren't enough staff to open the baggage hold!). No fuss whatsoever and it was easy to deal with. I appreciate that would add to congestion between offload and onload, and it's not as practical as it is with the likes of Colossus and Inferno, but I almost feel anything would be better than the current system..

Banners.

As we'd expect, 30 years ago, Thorpe Park was a very different place. In fact, it wasn't really until 1983 that the park saw investment in 'theme park rides'; until then, the park was a more educational/leisure area. One attraction which opened in 1983 saw Phantom Fantasia - the first incarnation of what many knew as Wicked Witches Haunt. The ride was rethemed into WWH in 1994, before its untimely closure in 2000 due to the infamous Thorpe Park Fire. Whilst I never got a chance to ride the original Phantom Fantasia (would be a bit difficult considering I hadn't been born then ), I've heard / read a couple of accounts of the ride, and it seemed to be a very British attraction - it had that eerie / scary tone, yet had humour to it as well. It was a ride which sounded fun for everyone, and was just spot on. When we remember that at this time, Thorpe was a small business, and the idea of a theme park wasn't really around in Britain (something which Wardley discussed about so well in his autobiography I thought), it's - in a way - an astounding achievement. Here's a few photos of the original Phantom Fantasia, from either 1983 or 1984 (put in spoilers to save on space and such): Unfortunately, I can't really offer much explanation into the scenes and such. However, Neilfever added a brilliant video of the ride onto his Youtube account a few years ago... One final Phantom Fantasia photo to leave you with is this one... Anyone recognise him? You walk past him as you exit Nemesis Inferno! I think after the fire, he appeared in MHFS, and now keeps guard of the now abandoned area... Wicked Witches Haunt I did get a chance to go on WWH, however. Several times. My memory of it is rather hazy, seeinghow the last time I went on it I was barely 6, but there are some scenes that I remember. I think that in itself speaks volumes of this attraction - for me to remember it 13 years after my mind shows that it was an attraction that stayed with you. It might not have been the best dark ride, but that doesn't mean it didn't affect you. My personal memories of the ride was that it was one of the attractions you 'love to hate'. Not in Storm Surge way, but in a way that it always left me scared or spooked out, I'd have to close my eyes really tightly or cover my eyes and I'd sometimes let out a scream. As a child, it was ride that scared me, but that's why you like it. The best way I can word it is that it's the child-equivalent of a scare maze, or watching a horror film. The witches didn't scare me really. I guess at that age, you're introduced to stories that split opinions on witches - some seem horrible, but are actually nice and vice versa. The thing was though, it did give me a 'feeling'; something bad could well happen here. The scenes that never failed to scare me were the ones with spiders - there were big, fair, ugly hairy spiders. They jumped out at you and stuff. I was petrified. I think the finale, or a scene very close to it, involved the carriage turning to face a wall, and then the biggest spider there was jumping out at you. Scary stuff. For the family audience the park had at the time, it must have been a huge hit. So, that's really all I have to share. Whilst the ride was not 'iconic', it certainly played its part in Thorpe's history, and is probably something that will be mentioned for years to come. I do doubt that the ride would have stayed at the park much longer anyway, due to the shift in target market, the age of the attraction and such, it is a true shame it burnt down. But c'est la vie. A couple of links which show of PF/WWH really nicely - http://www.memoriesofthorpepark.co.uk/phantomfantasia.html http://www.baffles.me.uk/features/tpg/features/wwh/index.html Would be great to hear others' memories of the ride too!

Banned for banning just a tinny weeny bit too much.

Ever wondered what Inferno would have looked like if it didn't have its volcano for its station? Ta da! (This is the view from Monk's Walk) I think they decided to change to the volcano quite early on. Also, you can just make out where the shop and photo collection point would have been - just in front of the station. That incomplete volcano back doesn't look too bad now either

Been trawling through the planning portal recently (because what else are Sunday evenings made for?) and came across something interesting... Don't know how many people knew this, but the original planned Tidal Wave was meant to be rather different. It was meant to be a bit longer (25m, so not much longer really), and face in a different direction, and the queue was meant to mainly be a board walk. The entrance would be opposite what is now the Fish and Chip shop, with that being the entrance to the Pirates 4D cinema. The ride itself would likely have had a more pirate-y theme, as these plans indicate: We can see it's still themed quite nicely (imagine a near 90ft tall boat at Thorpe!), has a nice style to it, and a similar exit queue (which probably allows for people to possibly get wet as they leave). But due to concerns from the council, including such large theming and the board walk style queue, the plans were changed to what we have now (which included doing infilling of land). Interestingly, the plans were submitted in September 1998, so maybe Tussauds were thinking of opening it in 99 along with P4D for a new pirate-themed area as their first major investment, but due to the delays, could not (the ride was approved in May 99). Really don't know there.. Have to say though, as nice as these plans look, I'm glad we got the Tidal Wave we have. After all, it gave us Amity Cove and WWTP radio, two of Thorpe's finest successes in my eyes, and showed that the park can come up with something clever, original and quirky. Plus, imagine how long the queue outside the entrance would nowadays using that queue!

Admit it - we've all done it at least once..

Had never heard of the actor till today. Won't make any judgements till their episodes are released of course - after all, how many people had heard of Smith? - so it shall be interesting. I expect we'll see a slightly more serious 'side' of the Doctor too; I do look forward to it!