JoshC.

I'll be there!

1) There are other top spins in the UK (just not Huss ones) 2) No.

One of the beauties of Big Top was the fact it changed in each of its three years. Of course, 2015 to 2016 was the biggest change, but 2016 to 2017 saw quite a few changes too. And I'm sure they could have kept chop and changing if they wanted. And even if they had a completely different design team, they could still reinvent it (the quality is a different matter, mind), and it would still be Big Top. If you have a good core idea, you can keep it fresh and keep it for a long period of time. Some of the best received events in Europe have staple mazes that have been their for years. They still receive new experiences and the staples get tweaked too. And it's that long lasting consistency which makes it good. There's always a time and a place for the big attractions to go and for something new to come along. Big Top really hadn't reached that time yet.

In fairness, Buccaneer was clearly a last minute thing - the ride was advertised and expected to be open this year, but didn't. The Rameses closure is probably something that's been in the mid-term plan for a while, given the ride is on its last legs. It's not necessarily feasible to amend those plans to replace something that wasn't meant to need replacing. Hopefully we'll get something in for Buccaneer soon; it's in too prominent a position to just be left empty for too long.

That particular Sunday is usually the first or second Sunday of Fright Nights. Traditionally it always was the first, but they seemed to have strayed from that a bit recently and sometimes do it as the second.

Chessington have submitted plans to replace Rameses Revenge with a drop tower. Key facts: -25m tall -12m tall crocodile feature with water effects that the gondola will 'splash' into -16 riders -Rotating gondola with one free fall drop -Flying Jumbos to be relocated to the old Carousel site to make sufficient room. Link to all documents/images: https://publicaccess.kingston.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=documents&keyVal=PWLD59NHILJ00 Key proposal: https://publicaccess.kingston.gov.uk/online-applications/files/82F01D47B4A400B27B50B0793ACD4906/pdf/19_02079_FUL-DESIGN_AND_ACCESS_STATEMENT-4214704.pdf Key images: There's no indication as to when this is for. It certainly could be 2020, but I've heard murmurs of other things planned for 2020, so this could end up being later. Equally, this could require a fair amount of groundwork, so 2021 isn't unreasonable to assume either.

And, technically speaking, Red Force isn't even an accelerator

Oh WWTPRadio. I miss you. And the Figaro Bros. No chance of a return to Thorpe?

So not a new fear then. Lol I believe the park had different (and significantly more exciting!) plans a scare zone/show, but have had to cut back. Let's hope they can staff it this time instead of having to rely on actors from agency! Has it not always been this way for the Bring a Friend? At the very least, I'm sure they restricted some dates. If not, it certainly makes it clear that the offer is only for standard entry (ie - not special events). And I'm certainly behind that; I'm all for them having special offers and such, but given the huge number of passholders and the significant saving it gives, I'm glad they're not usable during Fright Nights.

That Feared Five challenge is stupid. I guess that's their attempt at moving people away from the mazes to spread the queues. But on a lively day, people will struggle to do all mazes and all coasters imo. Seems like they're shooting themselves in the foot.

Must resist the urge..must resist the urge..must resist the urge... Nope, can't. Asylum remains the most overrated mazes in the history of Thorpe Park and it wasn't that intense.

Creek Freak Massacre - Thorpe's take on Chop Shop? I do like the take of the Thorpe soundtrack at the end.

Bob closed yesterday, with much fanfare and had definitely seen a spike in popularity over summer (was usually one of the busiest rides on park!). It never had a great throughput so usually had a queue anyways, but at least it managed to remain reliable during its final months. Some stuff from the park... A tribute on Efteling's blog A song dedicated to Bob: And a look at what's to come: A clear jovial style for the new Mack duelling powered coasters Demolition is already underway. Clearing around the site had started a couple of months ago and trees within the ride area had already been felled before the closure. A bit of a shame, since trees in the ride area added to the experience of Bob, but I guess schedules and all that.. Still not a fan of Max and Moritz. Certainly fills a gap - coasters for the very young - but it feels like they could have done something better. Maybe not being Dutch and knowing the story is something to do with it. I think it's worth saying again how much of a family treasure Efteling is in the Netherlands. Like, pretty much every Dutch person will have visited the park. It's like with Python when that was being refurbished - most Dutch people praised the park for keeping it and their childhood memories, rather than replacing it. With Bob, I think there's acceptance that the park will have tried everything, but it's still a sad time.

Hansa Park are replacing their bell-themed pendulum ride with a family drop tower and kids log flume next year: https://m.facebook.com/hapaforum/posts/3014862091889408 Hansa Park concept art is usually pretty damn close to the real thing, so looks like a cute little area.

Announcement tomorrow!

The 9th "attraction" is listed as a challenge, so I expect it'll either be the return of the rib cage challenge or similar, or something equivalent to Towers' Big Six challenge ("can you tackle our terrifying mazes to get a kids pop badge??"). Last year they didn't even include the Fanta thing as an attraction! They may have something return though; wouldn't surprise me.

Given that it's adding extra staff, midway through the season when budgets are already set and such, I'd assume (and hope) that there's a reason behind this other than 'trying to improve the experience'. If the park wanted to improve guest experience, there's plenty of other ways to do it and plenty of other parts of the park. Given the experience was designed 20 years ago, it's possible that by-and-large, audience reactions have changed. Maybe the park feel there's a need to guide people through the experience more explicitly. Maybe there's been a reasonable number pieces of feedback suggesting that. Saying "it's been fine in the past" is a narrow way of looking at things. Of course, if that is the case, it could be Merlin's own doing that people have responded in such a way. Many of their recent experiences have been actor-led and spoon feed people throughout the experience. So maybe that's what people expect now. Nonetheless, the changes don't sound great, so hopefully they are reversed.

The benefits for the Shark Hotel have been put online, and include actors in hotel rooms for the first time. Sadly, they're not at great times, but still nice to see something different being tried..

Very few staff will probably know what's happening at the moment; they keep it within marketing and senior management as long as possible. Most staff will probably find out what's going in for Fright Nights the day of the announcement (or see it for themselves when the announcement goes live). It's probably best to not waste your time or their's asking questions they don't know the answer too Your best bet is to try and decode the "clues" they've left on the blog until they announce something: https://www.thorpepark.com/blog/fright-nights-2019-five-fiendish-clues My guesses would be they're hints at this year's 5 mazes: 1. Blair Witch. Cos woods, trees, etc. 2. New maze. Cos it's "popular", will probably have chainsaws galore (especially given the marketing we've seen) 3. Platform 15. Cos dark tunnel 4. Do or Die. Shopping for body parts to eat cos cannibalism 5. Living Nightmare. Cos zombies bite

Zadra is old news now. Let's have a look at supposed concept art for their Vekoma double launch opening next year:

A new Platform ending is much needed. They've tried a different thing every year, so hopefully they've learnt from what hasn't worked and can do something that does work.

In fairness, I think air conditioning is something which is severely lacking across the UK in general. Many places when designing buildings don't really see it as necessary due to it likely only being needed for a very small time each year, so some buildings simply don't include them. And when they are included, in many cases they are poorly executed (poor air flow stopping it from cooling rooms/buildings equally). It's certainly something which should be focused on more, more generally too. I don't know how easy it is to retrospectively fit that stuff in, but hopefully they can do something with the Dome soon. Even on warm days, the downstairs area in particular can be unpleasant.

Chessington are offering an extreme version of Creepy Caves after the park closes this year: https://www.chessington.com/explore/chessington-vip-adventures.aspx#tabAnchor6 Sounds exciting!

How dare you! (The October trip is the trip after my next trip...)

I'm travelling the 12th and would only be able to make for a couple of hours (assuming Ryanair don't delay me), so the 13th would be better for me!