JoshC.

Oh FFS... So is Wicked Witches Haunt at Thorpe. So is Corkscrew at Towers. So is Prof Burl's Bubbleworks at Chessington. It's been removed. It no longer exists. Get over it.

Let's look at what someone from Thorpe's marketing department say: http://www.cupcakesandcoasters.com/2018/09/halloween-2018-most-anticipated.html?m=1 People will expect what they're told to expect. They're told Terror at Amity High is a new attraction, and clearly fits the bill of being a scare zone. Don't blame people for expecting what they've told.

With the Annual Pass preview event today, we can expect reviews of mazes old and new to come rushing in. Please post them here and not elsewhere!

Given it's listed as an attraction, surely it's fairly reasonable for people to expect a scare zone at the very least? Though arguably 'roaming actors in a specific area' is the definition of a scare zone in the first place... But if they're listing a set of roaming actors as an attraction, then that's pretty poor, and shows how much they're scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to listing an attraction.

No creds or parks to report on in this blog post, but there'll be a few visitor attraction things. So yeah, still give it a read... Monday morning came and, for whatever reason, no parks seem to open on Mondays in Poland during off peak (Legendia only opened Friday-Sunday, Energylandia closed on Mondays). So, in an unusual twist for my trips, we planned a full day of non-theme park stuff and culture. The first stop of the day was Auschwitz, which was just over 30mins away from Legendia. We didn't go for a guided tour, instead opting to tour the area ourselves. I won't really go into any more details, as I don't think I need to explain just how harrowing of an experience that is. We spent a couple of hours there. We then made the hour long drive into Krakow, where we were going to general touristy stuff, bit of sightseeing, eat at the Hard Rock etc. A bit of research the night before gave us some really interesting-attractions to visit: Lost Souls Alley - a horror maze / escape room style experience Krakow Pinball Museum - a 'museum' where, for a small fee, you can play over 40 different pinball machines and classic arcade games as much as you like After a bit of wandering round, we found a third attraction of interest - Exit Room, an escape room. Exit Room https://www.exitroom.pl/ We stumbled upon Exit Room whilst trying to find Lost Souls Alley, and decided to book a room. They had 8 to choose from, and we opted to go for the Wolfenstein themed room. Not related to the video game series, bit sharing the same story. You are locked in a room, have an hour to escape, and the way to escape is to find the pieces of a gun to shoot an animatronic Hitler(!). It also started out quite nicely, as we were blindfolded at the start to disorientate us, and one of us was locked in a separate room to escape from as well. We didn't escape, and sadly there was no timer to give us the encouragement, but it was a very well presented escape room, and staff spoke excellent English! Krakow Pinball Museum http://www.krakowpinballmuseum.com/aboutus.html This place is a real fun little gem! For about £8, you get unlimited access to lots of machines and arcade games (some classic, some new). It's a really chilled out, relaxed atmosphere, not busy, etc. Drinks were also cheap as well (everything in Poland is cheap, but in comparison to the rest of a city centre, the drinks were cheap too!). The best part was you were given a wristband, and could pop in and out throughout the day. We really got our money's worth! It's a little bit geeky, maybe a guilty pleasure for some, but it's definitely something I'd recommend looking into if you're spending the day round there. Lost Souls Alley http://www.lostsoulsalley.com/index-en.php I don't even know where to start with this. This is an experience which will probably stay with me for the rest of my life, and not in a good way. I didn't want to write a dedicated thing about it, but I think I'm going to have to. It requires so much explanation and set up to truly understand what this attraction is, and why it haunts me so much. So yeah, suffice to say I didn't like this. Standby for more details; I'll link the thread when I've written it... Krakow was a wonderful city to explore in general though. Lots of pretty buildings, the people were brilliant and the food was ace. The day we visited happened to be the anniversary of the Soviet Union invading Poland in the lead up to WWII (1939), which is also when the country's President and Prime Minister fled the country. There were memorial services throughout the day in various locations, which again were pretty hard hitting. Another standout feature of Krakow, which sadly I didn't get a decent photo of, was a fire-breathing dragon statue by the river. Completely random, but very cool. We left Krakow in the evening to go to our nearby hostel, which was very nice and simple. As I've said, it's a wonderful city, and it was nice and different to for me to spend a fully doing non-theme park stuff on a theme park trip... Coming soon, Energylandia, with it's 10000000 creds, and other random stuff.

I still feel like they should have called Lumber Jump Loggers Leap. Perfect fit for the ride. Would have been even better if they made a big deal about it and said 'Loggers Leap now open' on social media, with a photo of the logo proudly placed on top of the ride, but not showing said ride.

^^We saw someone come off Dragon Riders just before us who looked extremely pale. Fairly certain the ride had a designated sick bucket too.. Very much an endurance ride and, yes, horrid is definitely a good word. Creek - if you're tossing up between 2019 or 2020, you may as well wait till 2020. That's not to say the parks are bad in their current state, but 2020 will be a lot more rewarding tbh

It feels like half of the European coaster community has decided to venture over to Poland this month, following the opening of that small coaster Hyperion, and with rapid expansion taking place at the two major Polish parks - Legendia and Energylandia. But how do they actually fair? We flew to Katowice on a Saturday evening, arriving at our hotel late, giving us the perfect opportunity to arrive at Legendia Sunday morning. Legendia is based in Silesia, an old mining district of the country, and now in the process of truly being redeveloped into a tourism hot spot (indeed, around the area are plenty of mining headframes which have been turned into prettier sites!). With Legendia being bought by a new owner a couple of years back, it's clear the park aim to capitalise on this. To our surprise, Legendia is very much a city park, literally just based off a main road through the city, and all the surroundings just being standard city stuff. Interestingly, the park operates a one-price ticket system, for 99 zloty (about £20). However, you're only allowed to leave for 15 minutes, and if you want to return after that, you need to buy a new ticket. Clearly a tactic to keep people in the park as long as possible, eat on park, etc. The park also has VERY good opening hours (minimum 10am-8pm, with park gates opening between 9 and 9.30), meaning people can pop in at various hours of the day. The park opens with a little show, where kids are handed out free sweets and balloons and encouraged to take part, whilst adults are given free fudge! The park has 4 coasters - two Zyklon Galaxis, a Soqeut looping coaster, and Lech, a new-gen multi-looping Vekoma. The Zyklons are bog standard, with some okay facades, and the Soqeut was closed due to it being rethemed for next year (plus the track looked in HORRID condition). So let's get down to Lech... Lech Coaster Lech is mental. The layout features a very steep drop (maybe even beyond vertical, I couldn't really tell), 3 inversions (one going through the station), plenty of airtime, twists, turns, and is partially over water. It flows so well, is incredibly smooth, the airtime is fantastic, and the vest restraints are surprisingly comfortable (and feel almost necessary with the amount of airtime you get!). And, finally, the first drop and inversion is intense. Extremely intense. I greyed out on every ride I did. We did 2 rides back-to-back, and that was a mistake as I felt quite wiped out afterwards. It's at a point where it's arguably too intense, as it put me off wanting to re-ride it too much. Nonetheless, it's still a fantastic ride, a truly brilliant investment (just over 4m euros) and something which has put Vekoma back in people's attentions, and rightly so. Bazyliszek The park's new for 2018 ride is a shooter dark ride. Themed around a house with lots of monsters, where a Basilisk has escaped. Trackless, and a combination of work from ETF, Alterface and Joravision, this is actually something very special. The queue is spectacularly themed. The ride features interactive sets and screens, which is transitions between very well. The shooting aspect isn't the only focus of the ride, with some story driven points too. It is genuinely astounding. There are a couple of minor issues though - it's never really explained that you have to hit targets multiple times before they are destroyed (I only realised this mid-way through my second ride!), and some of the real theming looks quite basic, and thus tacky and out-of-place compared to the other. Aside from that though, this is a true winner of an attraction, a real gem, and one of my favourite dark rides! Dragon Riders Dragon Riders is bloody mental. I have no idea who designed this ride, how many of these there are in the world, or any general clue really. But I imagine anyone who's thought "this is a good idea" has been on some hardcore drugs. To try and explain the ride. You sit in your pod, with nothing more than a - rather loose! - lap bar to keep you in. You then start going round in a circle, like you would in a carousel. Your pod then starts to spin / roll continuously. Think of Slammer, but faster, in a smaller radius and for a lot longer. You do this for a while, then go in the other direction. And this lasts for about 3 minutes. Due to the loose lap bar, you bounce around in your seat, getting slammed every single way, and it's just general sickening. And unlike with many spinning rides, this doesn't have a 'warm up' period - it just seems to go straight to max speed! I felt queasy for a good few hours afterwards. I'm not a huge fan of spinny rides, so I knew it would leave me feeling meh. But with something this insane, you have to try. You may regret it after, but you have to try it. The rest of the park is pretty average to be honest. They have a log flume / boat ride thing which has terrible throughput, has staff specifically instruct you to brace yourself on the drops so you don't slam into row infront, and is generally a burden to ride, but has decent splashes. There's a few other funfair style rides, run incredibly well, but nothing that stands out. We ate at one of the newer restaurants by Lech, and the food was decent and well priced (I believe I had a main meal, drink and dessert for about £7.50). And you do get wonderful views of Lech too. Speaking of food though, one thing which really stood out was how they didn't serve any snacks or bottled drinks at any of the shops - they were only at the food places. And the food places had very long queues from 1-5pm. The park, surprisingly, has lots of shops with lots of ride merch though! Two things really stood out to me with Legendia. 1) This park isn't a full day park. The park was, admittedly, very quiet when we visited, but even when busy, I can't see you needing more than a 10-6 day at the park. Given how the park's ticketing works, this is a bit disappointing, as it means you can't enjoy the park at it's opening and at it's closing (ie - night rides) without either buying two tickets, or having a very boring lull mid-way though the day. 2) Legendia has a future, and a very bright one at that. The park has a fantastic infrastructure and is clearly set up to hold a lot of people (Lech and Basilisk's queues were HUGE too). All the staff we interacted with spoke perfect English (and they even have flags with what languages they can speak on their name badges). They've got a fantastic entrance area. They know who it is they want visiting, and they know how to attract them. The thing that's missing at the moment is quality. Lech and Basilisk fill two very obvious holes, and have done so quickly and reasonably cheaply. A new water ride is coming in 2020 (hard to know what it could be based on the location, but a proper log flume or rapids would suit the park perfectly right now). And with the new ownership, they've clearly got the money to be able to bring in the new, high-quality additions. So yeah, give this park 5 years, and I have no doubts they'll have a solid line up with some great filler attractions. In 10-12 years time, though, I really do see this having the potential to be one of Europe's most charming, most fun parks - a real gem in the making! We left the park at 5-6ish in the end, after really dragging out the day. We spent some time exploring Katowice (and sadly, basically nothing was open because the Sunday we visited, EVERYTHING WAS CLOSED), and then got ready for a day of Polish culture...coming to a blog post near you soon...

Dar she grows!

A fair assumption to make, no?

Certainly would be a shame to lose the IMA Score transition we've seen recently for Fright Nights. The 'Sound of the Island' should be a focal point for all future soundtracks in my opinion, Fright Nights included. And it worked well last year (just a shame it was stolen for TWD The Ride). Though it will be nice to see more rides given Fright Nights themes - let's hope they're good.

That is correct, yes.

So with Dead Creek Wood presumably taking place in Zombie Hunt's route, I'm guessing Blair Witch will take place from roughly the Zombie Hunt exit, and ending at the shed. That creates a very short attraction.. My bigger concern is how congested that stretch of the park will be. You'll have Blair Witch and Vulcan Peak in the same area, Dead Creek exiting there, and then further along, you've got the entrance to three other mazes all in pretty close proximity. It seems like it could be a recipe for disaster. They really need to find a way to use the beach again. I know they had major flooding issues, among other things, in 2015 with Big Top, but it was more or less okay 2008-2012 with Curse and Se7en. Yes it will almost definitely require tents, yes it will require a lot more money, but it'll spread attractions round the park and utilise a massive space prime for an indoor attraction.

Went here yesterday. I'll do a report thing in a few days, but let's talk Hyperion. Rode it three times (first train of the day, back row, once in row 2 and another ride in back row). And it's a great coaster once it warms up. First ride was alright, 'fun' at best, but nothing special. But in the afternoon, it's a different beast. The airtime really chucks you round and makes you thankful that Polish staff are taught to really staple you into your seats. It whips round the turns really quickly. It's just, generally, very good. However, the back is quite rattly and vibratey, especially in the second half, which takes away from things a bit. The park are onto a winner with this. It's the headliner the park needs right now. It looks intimidating, packs a punch and is great fun all round. One thing to note though - the batching process is weird. There's 4 batching rows, confusingly labelled 1, 2, 3, 3. These lead to doors which open to the station area. Row 1 lets 4 people in at a time and is for front row. Row 2 is for 'individuals' and lets in 8 at a time. The two row 3s let in 8 at a time each. When waiting at the doors, Doors 1 and 3 open, so people find their rows. Once everyone has found a seat, Door 2 opens and the 8 people fill up the gaps. Very weird system, poorly explained (the explanation is at the front of the batching area, which can't be seen when there's people there!), yet was sorta working? I don't like it though. Also, on my first ride, I got SOAKED by the splash. I was literally the only person to get wet, but I got properly drenched. My other rides were fine and I never saw anyone get as wet as me, so I dunno if it was just an unlucky go or what. Anyways, tl;dr - Hyperion is great. Reckon most will enjoy it. Go ride it if you can.

Thorpe have said that "selected mazes" will be open next Saturday (29th) exclusively for AP holders. The park will be open to all guests till 8pm, with the mazes open to AP holders presumably from 3pm.

To be fair, scare zones aren't necessarily meant to be scary, just add general atmosphere and introduce people to the scary stuff who don't necessarily want to go in the mazes. That's the issue with giving mazes numerical ratings - anything that's low is instantly rubbished. I liked last year's rating guide ("intense", "spooky" and "gorey" I believe?), as it didn't lower any maze, buy gave them a category. Interesting mix though. Saw and Living Nightmare being the two scariest yet already opened this year, putting a lot of pressure on Sanctum 2 to deliver. They can never make their minds up with Containment either (seesawed between 5, 2 and intense, now an ambitious 4). Vulcan Peak already sounds over-hyped though sadly.

Damnit Benin, stop making so many good posts that I have to keep liking...

Vulcan Peak teaser video:

Tried one of their escape rooms - would really recommend. Lots of fun, very challenging, fantastic atmosphere with amazing theming and detailing. Clearly has some very talented people behind it, and really hope people give it a go!

I imagine that whatever they do, it'll be pretty much just a retheme. There's not too much they can do with the space, and with the 'property advert' listing the effects and goblins, I imagine all of those would remain. Hard to know whether they'll lean towards an IP or not. Chessington have seen how well IPs work with Gruffalo and, to a lesser extent, Madagascar, but they've not done too bad with internal brands too. Room on a Broom seems like an obvious choice, but I wonder how well known it is in its own right, as opposed to 'from the same author as the Gruffalo'?

It's a marketing stunt, and one of the more fun, different and clever ones we've seen from Merlin. Do you really think they'd sell a building in the middle of a theme park for someone external to use?

With Big Top being gone, which was easily the headliner for the past 3 years, it'll be interesting to see what attraction, if any, takes that role. Every Fright Nights has had a natural headliner, the one everyone knows and wants to do. Freezer and Asylum held the role, Studio 13 kept it warm for a year, then Big Top has fulfilled that. But nothing major jumps out to me this year. With Living Nightmare and Saw already having opened this year, they are well known, but not necessarily for being 'the' Fright Nights attraction. I guess Sanctum Do or Die could fill that role, but we all know that needs significant work. Platform 15 is good, but lacks that headliner draw imo. And nothing else jumps out as major. It'll be interesting to see what happens. Without that one big draw, I wonder how much the park would be affected.

Praying for Movie Park Germany to butcher their's. Not old, but needs it...

ANNOUNCEMENT AT 7AM TUESDAY 11TH. Except we won't announce it all.

As long as the Gasten revamp gets rid of those spiders, I'm game.. ?