JoshC.

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..

From what I gather, the annual Scarefest hearse has appeared on Towers Street once again (earlier than normal too I think?), so it seems appropriate to start up a thread. And to start things off, there's been some reductions to the opening hours, with the first Mon-Fri of the event being cut for 10-9 to 10-7 (linky - http://www.altontowers.com/useful-info/opening-times/#tab-themepark-oct). A bit of a shame, especially as it won't even be dark by then, but I guess it could be a lot worse. Many on other forums are kicking up a fuss about it, so it will be interesting to see if we see another infamous Towers Reversal there... As for what attractions we'll see, there's been no confirmation on the AT website, but I've read somewhere (can't remember where exactly though), that Sanctuary is returning, and there was also a strong indication of Zombies returning too. Carnival has had 3 seasons, and based on Boiler House and Field of 1000 Screams, it's time might be up. But with rumours of budget cuts to the event, we may not see it go after all. Only time well tell...

Banned for keep banning me.

A lil' update for you all! Firstly, thanks coastergod for the suggestions - decided to use the one about the Photopass! I've now got most of the Chance and Community Chest made now (just need to get a couple of photos together for a couple more), and will move onto tidying the board up a bit now. I've slowly been getting busier, but I'll try and create the Property Cards as well - so that there's a complete set of cards 'cause why not. I do want to try and design some form of themed game pieces too, though I'll probably end up only designing 2D ones; 3D designing on a computer ain't my thing! What I'll try and do when everything is done is upload it all to Dropbox or something, in a printer-friendly way, so if people were ever interested in playing it at a meet or something, then the option's there. For the meanwhile, though, here's a couple of Storm Surge related cards for your viewing pleasure...

Banned for misreading AM as PM.

Why not combine the Slender the idea from earlier to create.... SLENDYTUBBIES (Skip to about 8:55 for build up to a scary part )

You collect them at Advance Ticket Collection. On Friday, they had 2 booths open; I arrived just before 7, and was at Swarm by quarter past-ish, so not too bad really.

ha, this reminds me of the times of 'Winferno' and 'Failiac', which I think resulted in the filtering of win and fail As for what the point of forums is. Pretty much what everyone else has said - where people who share similar interests discuss news of said interest, as well as share and discuss their opinions. What adds to forums is when the members within them are friendly and make good posts, which usually involves being respectful of other people's opinions, whilst providing their own opinions with explanations of their reasons. However, I'd say the biggest 'point' about the forum is that everyone enjoys themselves. People can have a laugh (which we see on here, for example, through the humour-filled posts that come about on a regular basis), have a bit of banter, whilst getting the opportunity to discuss something they're passionate about, and maybe even make some friends. If no one were to enjoy a forum, then it wouldn't be a good or worthwhile forum.

Saw this being discussed on TST yesterday actually (in relation to ScareFest). The doll they show is from the film Dead Silence (which, coincidentally, comes from the same two people who came up with the first Saw film): I guess the clues all relate to different places, and I doubt we'll see an entire new event 'replace' FN (as the park are calling it Fright Nights on the gate map, but anything's possible I guess?). To be honest, looking at those hints, I'd be rather surprised if one of them didn't relate to Thorpe - probably the theme park related one. If memory serves me correctly, there was a focus group in 2011, and a maze based around a horror film cropped up in a few ideas apparently (mentioned here - http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/8953-thorpe-fright-nights-2011/page-2). All this seems to slot together nicely ey?

Must admit, the more I see the advert, the more I like it. It's a really grower for me.

Banned for making the quizzes difficult.

I think that'll add to the round and make it more challenging, whilst still being fun. It means you have to strike up the balance between the obvious and the obscure, making it more interesting and adding a bit of tactical thinking to the round. That's just the way I see it though.

Eeek, that Records Round hit me quite badly (though I really should be joint 5th there Sidders! ) The Pictures Round seemed like a good'un to me though, and hopefully the Multiple Choice Round should be able to bring me back up.

So, I've just got back from this evening's event. It's fantastic! When they said no queues, they literally me no queues. Swarm, Inferno, Stealth and Colossus are on 1 train, X was on 2 and Saw was on 6 cars(!). The longest wait I had was for Swarm, at the start of the event, for back row, and that was the equivalent of one circuit. I began to feel ill with all the rides (feel like I'm getting old...). All the staff were fantastic - friendly and happy, despite maybe only dispatching trains for a couple of people. There were a few drink places open, and a couple of the coaster shops - enough to keep everyone going. Though I don't know how many people were on park, I doubt it was more than a few hundred. Really fantastic event, and I hope this turns out to be a success for the park. For anyone interested, here's my ride count (bare in mind I was still hobbling around a bit and took a few breathers between rides): Swarm x10 (3 backwards) X x6 Inferno x5 Saw x2 Flying Fish x1 Storm Surge x1

My face in that one. I look terrible! Tommy displaying superhuman jumping abilities though!

Rode X today for the first time without the block breaks. Definitely much better than with them! I still think I'd have preferred it if they could have kept it backwards, and added the lights, sounds and such, but hey ho. Either way, I still enjoy it, and it's most certainly added to the life span of the ride.