JoshC.

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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!

So The Smiler well and truly is a cracking ride!

So, just finished off the last round - really good fun; shame there wasn't a few more people, but ah well. Massive thanks to Sidders for running this; can't imagine it was easy sorting out all the questions and organising it all. Hope this can become a yearly occurrence! Eagerly awaiting the results...

Slap me wrist I'm double posting! Anyways, a new 'Saturday Secret' has come from ScareTOUR's FB: I think it's safe to say we can rule out the last two. I doubt it's the first one, as it refers to an event, as opposed to an attraction. So, by the power of deduction, that leaves us with the second one...and it seems to fit nicely with the 'revamp' which has been marketed. Of course, none may relate to FN (as with Scarefest), but unlike with Scarefest, it seems something different is happening this season. So, if this clue does relate to Fright Nights, it should be very exciting to see - especially with a large budget. Just hoping I haven't put 2 and 2 together and gotten 5...

Looking forward to this round a lot tonight - should be a good laugh!

The old queue line just wasn't needed. It just added a load more walking before the attraction really - would you really want to walk through the entire Hellgate / Passing route as well as the current queue line, after queueing outside the pyramid, just to go on the ride? From what I remember of it, it was just more corridors that were exactly the same, and the spinning tunnel thrown in for a bit of randomness.

Back to the topic of Scarefest... http://www.altontowers.com/events/Halloween-Scarefest/#ThrillAttractions No new attractions by the looks of things (so hopefully we'll see some attention go into the park's overall appearance), but it seems Carnival could now be the free attraction, with TotT and Sanctuary the paid ones. The TotT description is contradictory at the moment, but it might just not have been fully updated yet. Not too sure what I think about it to be honest, though I guess with the close proximity of TotT and Sanctuary, it's sorta sensible to have them as the paid mazes.

Agreed about the helicopter turnaround into the corkscrew. My absolute favourite moment of the ride; so intense, yet graceful, and I find the chopper does give a nice subtle near miss too. I remember when it first opened and people were saying it was tame and not forceful. Couple more years and I think there'll be a couple of really nice, intense moments.

As Altitude says, most of that is regurgitated from the MTDP, and then misinterpreted. The next coaster can have a maximum height of 50m (approx 164ft) and, lifted exactly from the MTDP, "no more than 9 vertical loops", which is indeed a weird way of wording it... The opening date of the next coaster is unknown. However, in the plans submitted for the new Crash Pad, they said it's "unlikely" the new coaster would be built by the end of the current MTDP, ie by 2016. So, it's possible the new coaster won't open until 2017 - at the earliest. Basically, the TPC news is all stuff regurgitated from what's been discussed on the forums, and then skewed slightly. Personally, I haven't always found TPC to always reliable/trustworthy, but that's just me.

I can just imagine it now... Oblivion. Sponsored by Miranda. *shudders*

Yay for me needing new glasses...

You missed out the more interesting bit said in the Job Description SCB! Sounds like they're definitely going to have roaming actors once again. More interestingly - new mazes this season! Seems like Saw Alive is definitely safe this year. I'd hedge my bets on Passing staying, due to the signage still remaining, and it only came about last season. I reckon despite the mixed reactions last time, with a few tweaks, it can become something pretty special. I'd be surprised if Experiment 10 went, due to the positive reviews it gets, though I wouldn't be surprised if we saw more tweaks / the maze made longer, simply so it can handle the numbers. Maybe Christmas will come early for me and Curse and Asylum will revamped / replaced?

Here's a quote from ScareTour's FB page: The Haunting In The Hollow sounded really good from what I've heard, and spot on for the target market, so hopefully this should be a great addition. No word on anything else about the event, so I guess HitH could return too.

Really had no idea where to put this, but here seems like an okay-ish place... The 446 bus, which passes the park, had a timetable change last Saturday, and now goes into the park at selected times (for the first time since about 2009/2010!). Also, if you get a bus from or to Chertsey or Staines, they go a special £1 fare each way (which I think is £1 cheaper than the Thorpe Park Express). I dunno how closely Abellio and Thorpe operate, if at all, but I assume there must have been a reason why the 446 route stopped going into the park? Here's the timetable, for anyone interested - http://www.abellio.co.uk/ufiles/file/timetables/Route%20446%20timetable.pdf

Is that really the actual reason? I mean, I know they say that's the reason, but is that the only reason? I don't like being unnecessarily pessimistic, but I can't see a company like Merlin (can't think of a way to say this - but basically one which is very profit-conscious shall we say) just going to say 'let's keep a couple of rides to try and make sure their traffic journey is horrendous? Maybe I'm being too pessimistic, but I can't see that be the only reason. Haven't they been keeping Bar 360 (and presumably the Dome too) open till like 11pm for everyone? Maybe they're just responding to customer feedback - something Thorpe have done very well this season - and adding a couple of rides to this, as it's summer, to try and get guests to stay and have more fun? It certainly seems like the park are testing the water with late night attractions too, so maybe this too is part of that test? I don't doubt that the horrendous traffic situations around the park currently have played a part in this idea, and they're certainly going to use that in their marketing. However, to say it's the only reason (as when you consider anyone travelling through Chertsey would have been affected by the roadworks anyways), I feel, is a bit ludicrous.

They were last Friday. Though I did note that some did close before the event had finished, probably due to their quietness.

http://www.altontowers.com/events/halloween-scarefest/ Right you are pluk.. :/ I was sat on the fence on this, as whilst it's not great that they've done this, especially half way through the season, it's not overly damaging on quiet days. However, to cut two days from the event - quite slyly too - does take the biscuit a little bit too much...

I noticed on my last couple of visits that the timer at the bottom of the lift hill (between the TV screens) has disappeared. When did that happen?! Such a simple effect, I know, but it really adds to the experience I found.

Will be interesting to see how onload/offload works. If rumours are true, some of Saw's problems derived from the dual loading / having a separate onload and offload platform, and haven't been repeated on any other Gertslauers. But with an identical indoor layout, and almost identical layout on the whole, it'll be interesting to see whether they go back to 1 onload/offload station, scrap the dual loading, or scrap the different onload and offload stations or what. Might be a step forwards for the company and future products..