JoshC.

Be interesting to see how they use the space. Now that Crust is open this year (and is an external brand), I imagine they can't close the place due to contracts and stuff. Thorpe won't want to actively encourage people to eat at somewhere that isn't their own brand (say by having the queue pass it), so they'll have to be even more creative with the area this year...

Thorpe have been confirming via social media that the closed days that were changed to open days are now closed days again. Confusion! So the September calendar posted by Miles is the most up to date, correct, one. The two additional Fright Nights dates on Thursday 11th and Thursday 18th remain however.

Baring in mind that I was significantly younger when I did Freezer, the main thing that sticks out in my mind with Freezer is that it had actual different scenes and progression. Asylum was effectively a corridor, a huge chain mesh section, and another corridor. And don't get me wrong, I get the purpose - an endless chain line maze which seems to go on forever where you're target by loads of people, but you don't know if it's 1 or 100, etc. But it just always felt repetitive for me - nothing exciting or interesting. Freezer had progression throughout the maze - you had different scenes (even if it was just 'prison bars' or a wall as opposed to mesh), different characters who would have different things to do. It had a build up. Asylum lacked that for me. As I say, I see why people loved Asylum, but that sort of scare attraction does little for me.

Go on then, Top 18... 1) The Big Top (2017) 2) Studio 13 3) Se7en 4) Experiment 10 (2012) 5) Platform 15 (2017) 6) Cabin in the Woods (2013) 7) Saw Alive 8 ) TWD Living Nightmare 9) Containment 10) The Freezer 11) Blair Witch Project (2015) 12) The Passing 13) TWD Sanctum 14) Hellgate 15) The Curse 16) My Bloody Valentine 17) Dead End 18) The Asylum

Totally agree - Se7en was one of the few Merlin mazes which made full use of your senses, along with great set pieces, clever routes and well placed actors. Definitely underrated.

With there being potentially 6 new experiences and 6 days (including the 11th) left until this big announcement, it would be awesome if the park could give a cryptic tease about what each thing is.. Also, the website has updated, saying mazes open at 3pm, not 12pm as originally listed.

Since Fright Nights Fever is hitting... -Asylum was the least enjoyable and most repetitive maze that Thorpe Park has ever produced.

The 'X' is a cross button, and 'Escape the dead' is there to close down the jump scare of a zombie appearing on the screen. ? However, I agree with Marc that there's a possibility they could do something to TWDTR by adding in more actors. Who remembers back in 2009 when 'Saw The Ride Comes Alive' was an advertised attraction?

There's an Experiment 0/10 chance of that happening.

Thorpe have updated their opening times on their website - they are now open every weekday this month (as opposed to having 10 close days), and are open 10-5 (as opposed to 10-4). They have also added two extra FN dates - Thursday 11th and 18th.

Let's be sensible here - there's a massive Blair Witch symbol hanging up, Thorpe released a Blair Witch pop badge and there's been lots of rumours of the maze returning. That all points to one thing...

If DBGT only cost £30, it now makes perfect sense why the VR headsets are always broken! Though it does explain a lot mind...

Not sure what's happened there, but here we go...

There was a pizza called The Edge at the time, but that was sheer coincidence - there was never any talk of a pizza hut sponsorship! The 'Edge' logo looked exactly the same as the Stealth logo, with no sponsorship in sight!

Construction has sped up with the launch track ('sped up', 'launch', geddit??)

I believe the sign with Edge was installed at one point, and some merch with the name on was made, but never sold. There might be some of it still out there though I guess. Other names that were considered, but didn't get as far as Edge, were Humdinger and Jonny Rocket's Drag Race.

The mysterious pop badge released today was a Blair Witch one, perhaps unsurprisingly. So still we wait for news.

It's next to the lake. Must be an Aquatrax. You could say that the 2015 flooding problem was a real...beach to deal with, so they will do everything to avoid going there again.

I've done 13 a few times this season now, and you know what. I bloody love it. It genuinely is my favourite ride at Towers now. I've always had a soft spot for it, but this year, I've really grown to love it. Yeah sure the outside section is a bit tame with all the trims, but you still get a bit of fun out of it. But it is ageing pretty well in fairness. But the indoor section is executed perfectly and is just so much fun. And as much as Merlin can get slaughtered for their dark themes, 13 works. It just does.

Some more information about Project 42... Source - https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/whats-on/family-kids-news/alton-towers-reveals-terrifying-brand-15098674 Expect some more official stuff soon I guess. Confirms that it will take place in Sub Terra (not that this is a surprise given the construction going on around there). No word on how much of Sub Terra they'll use though Similar-ish theme to Sub Species in some ways I guess, but still a different and interesting setting. Looking forward to what they have planned though!

They don't look like they're in a position where a tent pitch would go up though...

Image from Scare Tour...

Thorpe Park called. They said Tulley's are 14 years late to the party.

tbf I'd be very surprised if they didn't bring in at least one 'new' maze. Fright Nights is too big an event for them to not bring in something new. And with stuff like Blair Witch and Sanctum, they have at least got scope to change them and make them feel different enough. It's possible we could see Big Top or even Platform transformations to mazes. And for people blasting Blair Witch, I remember is being one of the best received mazes of 2015 - so there's potential for something like that to be good, even if another outdoor maze is not what Thorpe needs right now.

Unless my circumstances change, I'll be around from about 3/4ish