JoshC.

So, yesterday I hit Scarefest for the first time ever yesterday. I'd heard many great things about the event in the past few years, and really did jump at the opportunity to go. Being also my first visit of the year, this would be my first experience of the anticipated Nemesis Sub-Terra; needless to say, I was looking forward to the day.
After a long coach journey from uni (two and a half hours somehow, even though it should have only taken one and a half!), we arrived at about half 11, and got in at about quarter to 12.

I do love the Scarefest entrance!

Clowns were greeting guests, and scaring a fair few guests too.

I love this view, whatever the weather!
The park was relatively quiet, and the weather was nice - things were looking good. According to the Scarefest app, Sub Terra's queue was 15-30 minutes, so we jumped at the opportunity. After a quick Skyride over there, we arrived and made our way over. The queue was relatively quick moving and interesting I thought; the TV loop was very good and very professional. We made our way in, and this is where I'll pretty much leave it there for the time being, as I'll post my full, spoiler-filled review in the correct topic.
Just a couple of words though - I really did enjoy it, it left me with a smile on my face, and there were some bit that genuinely shocked me, though I was a little disappointed with the way the storyline ended; a little weak. On the whole, a good, solid attraction which suits Alton Towers perfectly - 7/10.
Afterwards, we made our way towards the Dark Forest via Skyride, of course, though a random detour to Cloud Cuckoo Land for a certain costumed character was had...

Pretty standard shot.
Th13teen times were had as well, though we decided to use Single Rider as the queue was rather large following disturbances in the forest affecting Rita's operational status temporarily, though it was quickly resolved it seems.
I absolutely love Th13teen, it is one of my favourite rides on park. In fact, had that first drop not been trimmed and it kept a large amount of pace during the ride, it might have even been my favourite ride! The indoor queue line is a work of art, and the station area sets such a brilliant tone - absolutely love it. The ride itself is enjoyable, but the first trim really does ruin it for me; I forget just how noticeable it is. In a couple more years once more trees have grown more and such, the outside section will certainly be impressive. The indoor section is so much fun as well; it's something which puts a smile on everyone's face. My favourite part of the ride is the end however - pretty much being launched into the station just makes me laugh for some reason..
Once Th13teen was done and dusted, it was coming close to 1 O'clock and Terror of the Towers was due to open, so we made our way over there and waited a short period of time..

I'm aware that TotT gets large queues, so seeing this short length (as the gates had yet opened) made me happy.


I do like the queue line and the shots of the Towers you can get.

Trying the panorama mode on my phone; pretty successful I think.

The Sanctuary queue is to the left hand side.
Like with Sub-Terra, I'll write reviews for the mazes in the appropriate topic, but a couple of non-spoiler words to follow. I like the back story to the maze, however, I just didn't feel like it followed through in the maze really, which was disappointing. The length was very good, and I don't think it felt drawn out, however, I wasn't as impressed with it as others seem to be; perhaps all the rave reviews lead me to expect too much, but I wasn't overly impressed with it.. - 6/10
We exited the maze into the X-Sector, and made our way to Oblivion. Again, another ride which many seem to like, and I seem to think is okay at best. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the ride, but it just never blows me away really. Lunch was had in the Fried Chicken Co. - really good place; fast service, tasty food and quite cheap as well. Thumbs up from me!

Standard Oblivion shot.

Standard Oblivion shot II.

My usual nature shot. This duck tried so hard to eat this bread, and failed.
We ended up going to Duel, but got lost / sidetracked by the beautiful shots round here:

This tower-thing is pretty sweet.

Panorama-view from by that tower.

Because why not?
Now then, this was my first time on Duel. I knew what the ride was, and I knew that it used to be a Haunted House ride, but I didn't quite know what to expect from the ride. I really did enjoy it though; the effects were amazing, the length was very good and the general setting I loved. Much better than Tomb Blaster, and a very good dark ride - would've loved to have ridden it before the laser guns were introduced.
Nemesis and Air times were had afterwards, and my opinions remain pretty much the same. I also did Nemesis front row, which was an experience. However, as controversial as it may seem, I still prefer Swarm to Nemesis - Swarm just seems to have 'something' about it which is special, whereas Nemesis, whilst special, seems to lack that 'something'. The thing is, I can't really put my finger on what that 'something' actually is, but hey, I digress... A second go on Sub-Terra was also had, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first, proving to myself really that it wasn't a one hit wonder of a ride.
After some general milling around and the such, as well as a quick go on the amazing Sonic Spinball, half 5 arrived and it was time for the Carnival of Screams and The Sanctuary. Again, spoilers elsewhere, just a couple of pictures and a sentence here:

Love this entrance! <3
I really enjoyed Carnival, a really great attraction, and again, a very good length. There were a couple too many 'obvious scares' for my liking, and I'm unsure if that was the point, but on the whole, it was solid and did what it was meant to do. 7.5/10

Sanctuary 'waiting room'.

Everyone Sanctuary patient gets a stamp it seems..
Sanctuary was my favourite maze of the day, and had a couple of real highlights for me. Like all of Alton's mazes, a very good length in my opinion and works very well. A bit like TotT, I found the story is set up very well at the beginning before the maze, but seems to disappear in the maze a fair bit, with just bits and bobs coming through. The ending also needs some work. 7.5/10
Zombies followed afterwards, and there's not a lot I can say about it really. The actors do a good job, the theming is good and everything works well. A good scare and works for all the family, which is exactly what Alton should aim for.

The Towers lit up at dusk; very nice sight.
That's pretty much it. A bit of shopping was done, but due to Barclays and their silly fraud rules I missed out on a couple of bits and restricted myself (grr, but life goes on..). I didn't noticed the green donuts which were mentioned on the AT Twitter page either, which was a shame, and missed out on night rides as well, but there'll be other times.
All in all, I really enjoyed Scarefest, mainly because I enjoy Alton Towers. I noticed that apart from in Towers Street and the mazes, it didn't feel very Halloween-y, with no real changes to audio and not that much extra theming and the like. I guess being the Preview Weekend, the park has a chance to add more, make tweaks and the like, which I hope they do. Really enjoyed the day, and I hope that I can make it to another Scarefest event next season and for seasons to come.

So, yesterday I hit Scarefest for the first time ever yesterday. I'd heard many great things about the event in the past few years, and really did jump at the opportunity to go. Being also my first visit of the year, this would be my first experience of the anticipated Nemesis Sub-Terra; needless to say, I was looking forward to the day.
After a long coach journey from uni (two and a half hours somehow, even though it should have only taken one and a half!), we arrived at about half 11, and got in at about quarter to 12.

I do love the Scarefest entrance!

Clowns were greeting guests, and scaring a fair few guests too.

I love this view, whatever the weather!
The park was relatively quiet, and the weather was nice - things were looking good. According to the Scarefest app, Sub Terra's queue was 15-30 minutes, so we jumped at the opportunity. After a quick Skyride over there, we arrived and made our way over. The queue was relatively quick moving and interesting I thought; the TV loop was very good and very professional. We made our way in, and this is where I'll pretty much leave it there for the time being, as I'll post my full, spoiler-filled review in the correct topic.
Just a couple of words though - I really did enjoy it, it left me with a smile on my face, and there were some bit that genuinely shocked me, though I was a little disappointed with the way the storyline ended; a little weak. On the whole, a good, solid attraction which suits Alton Towers perfectly - 7/10.
Afterwards, we made our way towards the Dark Forest via Skyride, of course, though a random detour to Cloud Cuckoo Land for a certain costumed character was had...

Pretty standard shot.
Th13teen times were had as well, though we decided to use Single Rider as the queue was rather large following disturbances in the forest affecting Rita's operational status temporarily, though it was quickly resolved it seems.
I absolutely love Th13teen, it is one of my favourite rides on park. In fact, had that first drop not been trimmed and it kept a large amount of pace during the ride, it might have even been my favourite ride! The indoor queue line is a work of art, and the station area sets such a brilliant tone - absolutely love it. The ride itself is enjoyable, but the first trim really does ruin it for me; I forget just how noticeable it is. In a couple more years once more trees have grown more and such, the outside section will certainly be impressive. The indoor section is so much fun as well; it's something which puts a smile on everyone's face. My favourite part of the ride is the end however - pretty much being launched into the station just makes me laugh for some reason..
Once Th13teen was done and dusted, it was coming close to 1 O'clock and Terror of the Towers was due to open, so we made our way over there and waited a short period of time..

I'm aware that TotT gets large queues, so seeing this short length (as the gates had yet opened) made me happy.


I do like the queue line and the shots of the Towers you can get.

Trying the panorama mode on my phone; pretty successful I think.

The Sanctuary queue is to the left hand side.
Like with Sub-Terra, I'll write reviews for the mazes in the appropriate topic, but a couple of non-spoiler words to follow. I like the back story to the maze, however, I just didn't feel like it followed through in the maze really, which was disappointing. The length was very good, and I don't think it felt drawn out, however, I wasn't as impressed with it as others seem to be; perhaps all the rave reviews lead me to expect too much, but I wasn't overly impressed with it.. - 6/10
We exited the maze into the X-Sector, and made our way to Oblivion. Again, another ride which many seem to like, and I seem to think is okay at best. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the ride, but it just never blows me away really. Lunch was had in the Fried Chicken Co. - really good place; fast service, tasty food and quite cheap as well. Thumbs up from me!

Standard Oblivion shot.

Standard Oblivion shot II.

My usual nature shot. This duck tried so hard to eat this bread, and failed.
We ended up going to Duel, but got lost / sidetracked by the beautiful shots round here:

This tower-thing is pretty sweet.

Panorama-view from by that tower.

Because why not?
Now then, this was my first time on Duel. I knew what the ride was, and I knew that it used to be a Haunted House ride, but I didn't quite know what to expect from the ride. I really did enjoy it though; the effects were amazing, the length was very good and the general setting I loved. Much better than Tomb Blaster, and a very good dark ride - would've loved to have ridden it before the laser guns were introduced.
Nemesis and Air times were had afterwards, and my opinions remain pretty much the same. I also did Nemesis front row, which was an experience. However, as controversial as it may seem, I still prefer Swarm to Nemesis - Swarm just seems to have 'something' about it which is special, whereas Nemesis, whilst special, seems to lack that 'something'. The thing is, I can't really put my finger on what that 'something' actually is, but hey, I digress... A second go on Sub-Terra was also had, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first, proving to myself really that it wasn't a one hit wonder of a ride.
After some general milling around and the such, as well as a quick go on the amazing Sonic Spinball, half 5 arrived and it was time for the Carnival of Screams and The Sanctuary. Again, spoilers elsewhere, just a couple of pictures and a sentence here:

Love this entrance! <3
I really enjoyed Carnival, a really great attraction, and again, a very good length. There were a couple too many 'obvious scares' for my liking, and I'm unsure if that was the point, but on the whole, it was solid and did what it was meant to do. 7.5/10

Sanctuary 'waiting room'.

Everyone Sanctuary patient gets a stamp it seems..
Sanctuary was my favourite maze of the day, and had a couple of real highlights for me. Like all of Alton's mazes, a very good length in my opinion and works very well. A bit like TotT, I found the story is set up very well at the beginning before the maze, but seems to disappear in the maze a fair bit, with just bits and bobs coming through. The ending also needs some work. 7.5/10
Zombies followed afterwards, and there's not a lot I can say about it really. The actors do a good job, the theming is good and everything works well. A good scare and works for all the family, which is exactly what Alton should aim for.

The Towers lit up at dusk; very nice sight.
That's pretty much it. A bit of shopping was done, but due to Barclays and their silly fraud rules I missed out on a couple of bits and restricted myself (grr, but life goes on..). I didn't noticed the green donuts which were mentioned on the AT Twitter page either, which was a shame, and missed out on night rides as well, but there'll be other times.
All in all, I really enjoyed Scarefest, mainly because I enjoy Alton Towers. I noticed that apart from in Towers Street and the mazes, it didn't feel very Halloween-y, with no real changes to audio and not that much extra theming and the like. I guess being the Preview Weekend, the park has a chance to add more, make tweaks and the like, which I hope they do. Really enjoyed the day, and I hope that I can make it to another Scarefest event next season and for seasons to come.

So, yesterday I hit Scarefest for the first time ever yesterday. I'd heard many great things about the event in the past few years, and really did jump at the opportunity to go. Being also my first visit of the year, this would be my first experience of the anticipated Nemesis Sub-Terra; needless to say, I was looking forward to the day.
After a long coach journey from uni (two and a half hours somehow, even though it should have only taken one and a half!), we arrived at about half 11, and got in at about quarter to 12.

I do love the Scarefest entrance!

Clowns were greeting guests, and scaring a fair few guests too.

I love this view, whatever the weather!
The park was relatively quiet, and the weather was nice - things were looking good. According to the Scarefest app, Sub Terra's queue was 15-30 minutes, so we jumped at the opportunity. After a quick Skyride over there, we arrived and made our way over. The queue was relatively quick moving and interesting I thought; the TV loop was very good and very professional. We made our way in, and this is where I'll pretty much leave it there for the time being, as I'll post my full, spoiler-filled review in the correct topic.
Just a couple of words though - I really did enjoy it, it left me with a smile on my face, and there were some bit that genuinely shocked me, though I was a little disappointed with the way the storyline ended; a little weak. On the whole, a good, solid attraction which suits Alton Towers perfectly - 7/10.
Afterwards, we made our way towards the Dark Forest via Skyride, of course, though a random detour to Cloud Cuckoo Land for a certain costumed character was had...

Pretty standard shot.
Th13teen times were had as well, though we decided to use Single Rider as the queue was rather large following disturbances in the forest affecting Rita's operational status temporarily, though it was quickly resolved it seems.
I absolutely love Th13teen, it is one of my favourite rides on park. In fact, had that first drop not been trimmed and it kept a large amount of pace during the ride, it might have even been my favourite ride! The indoor queue line is a work of art, and the station area sets such a brilliant tone - absolutely love it. The ride itself is enjoyable, but the first trim really does ruin it for me; I forget just how noticeable it is. In a couple more years once more trees have grown more and such, the outside section will certainly be impressive. The indoor section is so much fun as well; it's something which puts a smile on everyone's face. My favourite part of the ride is the end however - pretty much being launched into the station just makes me laugh for some reason..
Once Th13teen was done and dusted, it was coming close to 1 O'clock and Terror of the Towers was due to open, so we made our way over there and waited a short period of time..

I'm aware that TotT gets large queues, so seeing this short length (as the gates had yet opened) made me happy.


I do like the queue line and the shots of the Towers you can get.

Trying the panorama mode on my phone; pretty successful I think.

The Sanctuary queue is to the left hand side.
Like with Sub-Terra, I'll write reviews for the mazes in the appropriate topic, but a couple of non-spoiler words to follow. I like the back story to the maze, however, I just didn't feel like it followed through in the maze really, which was disappointing. The length was very good, and I don't think it felt drawn out, however, I wasn't as impressed with it as others seem to be; perhaps all the rave reviews lead me to expect too much, but I wasn't overly impressed with it.. - 6/10
We exited the maze into the X-Sector, and made our way to Oblivion. Again, another ride which many seem to like, and I seem to think is okay at best. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the ride, but it just never blows me away really. Lunch was had in the Fried Chicken Co. - really good place; fast service, tasty food and quite cheap as well. Thumbs up from me!

Standard Oblivion shot.

Standard Oblivion shot II.

My usual nature shot. This duck tried so hard to eat this bread, and failed.
We ended up going to Duel, but got lost / sidetracked by the beautiful shots round here:

This tower-thing is pretty sweet.

Panorama-view from by that tower.

Because why not?
Now then, this was my first time on Duel. I knew what the ride was, and I knew that it used to be a Haunted House ride, but I didn't quite know what to expect from the ride. I really did enjoy it though; the effects were amazing, the length was very good and the general setting I loved. Much better than Tomb Blaster, and a very good dark ride - would've loved to have ridden it before the laser guns were introduced.
Nemesis and Air times were had afterwards, and my opinions remain pretty much the same. I also did Nemesis front row, which was an experience. However, as controversial as it may seem, I still prefer Swarm to Nemesis - Swarm just seems to have 'something' about it which is special, whereas Nemesis, whilst special, seems to lack that 'something'. The thing is, I can't really put my finger on what that 'something' actually is, but hey, I digress... A second go on Sub-Terra was also had, and I enjoyed it just as much the second time as I did the first, proving to myself really that it wasn't a one hit wonder of a ride.
After some general milling around and the such, as well as a quick go on the amazing Sonic Spinball, half 5 arrived and it was time for the Carnival of Screams and The Sanctuary. Again, spoilers elsewhere, just a couple of pictures and a sentence here:

Love this entrance! <3
I really enjoyed Carnival, a really great attraction, and again, a very good length. There were a couple too many 'obvious scares' for my liking, and I'm unsure if that was the point, but on the whole, it was solid and did what it was meant to do. 7.5/10

Sanctuary 'waiting room'.

Everyone Sanctuary patient gets a stamp it seems..
Sanctuary was my favourite maze of the day, and had a couple of real highlights for me. Like all of Alton's mazes, a very good length in my opinion and works very well. A bit like TotT, I found the story is set up very well at the beginning before the maze, but seems to disappear in the maze a fair bit, with just bits and bobs coming through. The ending also needs some work. 7.5/10
Zombies followed afterwards, and there's not a lot I can say about it really. The actors do a good job, the theming is good and everything works well. A good scare and works for all the family, which is exactly what Alton should aim for.

The Towers lit up at dusk; very nice sight.
That's pretty much it. A bit of shopping was done, but due to Barclays and their silly fraud rules I missed out on a couple of bits and restricted myself (grr, but life goes on..). I didn't noticed the green donuts which were mentioned on the AT Twitter page either, which was a shame, and missed out on night rides as well, but there'll be other times.
All in all, I really enjoyed Scarefest, mainly because I enjoy Alton Towers. I noticed that apart from in Towers Street and the mazes, it didn't feel very Halloween-y, with no real changes to audio and not that much extra theming and the like. I guess being the Preview Weekend, the park has a chance to add more, make tweaks and the like, which I hope they do. Really enjoyed the day, and I hope that I can make it to another Scarefest event next season and for seasons to come.

1st October 2012 - Return to the Magic Kingdom
Having changed how I view theme parks in 2011, returning was a different kettle of fish. Over time your own memory builds reputations that rides sometimes just cannot match up to. So how would it face.
The opening ceremony is in itself a thing of beauty. It is pure fun regardless of whether you're young child or old woman. The steam train coming around that corner is just theatre.



So into the park we went and just like before, we headed straight to a ride that I think is pure theme park perfection.
Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
When Theme Parks add a ride aimed at everyone they quite often shy away from doing the ride justice. Rides like Dragons Fury and Thirteen are great rides but something always seems a little off. Whether the ride be unthemed or whether the whole ride lies on an unconvincing gimmick, something just seems wrong. Big Thunder Mountain is not this ride. In my view this is the perfect family attraction. I know that in theme park circles, the Paris version is seen as the pinnacle. I am yet to ride the French version. I'm here to discuss this throughput focused, themed giant. The ride has recently seen a lengthy refurbishment in which many of the effects have been fixed and the ride repainted all over and the queue line re-roofed, re-organized and sorted it with new wooden fencing. It looks absolutely fantastic, testament to Disney's continuing effort with their theme parks. The ride itself has so many positives that I'll probably forget some but hey ho.
+ The ride has so many staff working absolutely flat out to get you on that ride as quickly as possible. There's little to no faff, with you batched and seated nearly as soon as you enter the station
+ The ride is a throughput giant, five trains and two stations running continuously. Even with fast pass and a full queueline, you can bet your life that your maximum wait will be around 30 minutes. That is staggering for a park regularly achieving over 70,000 people gate figures a day.
+ Thunder Mountain is now 29 years old. And it looks fresh out of the box. Part of that is the refurbishment but its also the love and attention that Disney have given the attraction. They have looked after the ride properly.
+ The ride itself is pretty damn fun. It has its dull spots such as the section after the third lift hill but I can hardly downgrade a ride much based on its finale in the same way that thrill coasters live or die on layout alone. It's a fun packed layout with things to spot around every corner.



Big Thunder Mountain Graded A
Our plan was to have a go on Splash Mountain but in a rather shocking turn of events it was closed. Considering we scarcely saw a closed ride in 2011, this was rather strange to see. With a heavy heart we left Splash and went towards Fantasyland. We grabbed a fastpass for Peter Pans Flight (knowing how busy it gets) and went for a ride on The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh.
The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
I find this such a charming ride in its own right from its interactive queue line to the way the ride does the three adventures from the film such justice. Sure it is slightly showing its age and some of the audio was slightly off key, but it still does the job in such a lovely way that I do find myself favouring a ride on this then other rides at Magic Kingdom.


We next had a go on Philarmagic, one of Chris's favourite attractions. Not much can be said particularly about this because it has changed very little since last year. It has a humour all of its own and is completely under-rated as an attraction.

Onto Peter Pans Flight which was an attraction that I didn't really like. And I still don't think that much of it. The problem really is down to the ride racing through the story like a monkey on speed. The worst part though has to be the queue for it. If we hadn't got any fast-passes then we wouldn't have bothered because the length of the ride doesn't compare to the length of the queue. It saw queues regularly over 30 minutes.

(My favourite fast-pass)
It's a Small World
Over my years of theme park love, I've never really seen much love for this ride. It's often spoken badly off because of its irritating theme tune or the way the ride is sickenly optimistic. To tell you my view is to say that I think it's the kind of ride that the UK so desperately needs. Sure, it's a roomy attraction and one that has a very specific target audience. But it's a people eater, it's a long ride giving you a good queue to ride ratio and its just so happy. It has a message that one day all nations will get along.. it definitely deserves its place in Fantasy Land for this reason alone.



Back into the realm of madness, we went to ride Dumbo, a ride we never made it to in 2011. Now moved into a new position and paired with a clone of itself the ride certainly impresses more then it ever used to. Sure, it is just a simple round ride with elephants but it looks lovely with each elephant sporting a different colour around its neck. The childrens area in the tent is also an inspired idea, we saw a lot of kids crying when their time to leave and go on the ride occured. Strange children...


Over the holiday, new parts of the Circus opened. Before our Holiday, Casey Junior had just opened, on day one, the big top opened, on the Sunday the meet and greet opened and on the final day, The Little Mermaid had its first rehersal day.


And for the final part of this bit of the trip report, dinner. Now on our last holiday we learnt that having a sit down meal in the evening is an awful idea. So we decided to have dinner at lunch time and for our first destination we chose every girls favourite, Cinderellas Royal Table.
To be frank, this was not Chris's favourite restaurant because of the meet and greets. With the others, you can escape the fact there are people in the outfits because they don't talk to you and you can pretend they really are Mickey or Dug. But not with the Human characters. Here we had several princesses coming round to each table. Each was introduced to the room via pre-recorded announcements. We had Snow White, Belle, Aurora and Ariel.

Chris's face before the character walked around.


I adore how each character stays completely in character. For instance, Ariel asked us how long it took for us to swim from London to Orlando and Aurora asked us if our Queen at the Jubilee was an evil queen. Belle dropped a hint that her new restaurant may open before we leave...

In short - it's the least scary maze because it's the worst.
It has a nice setting, but the route doesn't lead itself to many jumps or scares. The actors do less interacting and pretend to be ghost-pirates more. (This is all my personal experience of course). So yeah, a very nice starter maze.

Howdy do everyone. Basically a few members have contacted me and said that it may be worth starting a separate SW7 topic exclusively for spoilers/rumours regarding the recent TowersTimes information announcement.
I have moved all previous posts from the SW7 discussing in explicit detail (even if spoiler-marked) into here and if you wish to discuss what we already know about the ride then feel free to continue in the main topic. This topic will serve those who wish to discuss the potential world's first feature.
Please Note: This topic mainly concerns itself with spoilers regarding the World's First element. When details about the ride's name, for example, are released then they can be discussed in the main topic. This topic is for those who wish to discuss anything that some members may not wish to know about the experience of SW7, as well as any secret ride features, etc.
EDIT: For some reason my post is no longer at the top of the page. Oh well, as you all were...

An incident has happened on Storm Surge today:

(From Thorpe Nerd Live)
This was tweeted by CF, who are also on park today:

Looks like Storm Surge could be out of action for a while. Hopefully the person is 100% okay and this was a really bad accident..

The Curse is probably the least scariest, followed by Saw Alive in my opinion.
Asylum is very disorientating, and has some real scares. Experiment 10 and Passing seem to be the 'more extreme' ones, and perhaps should be avoided unless you're fine with the other three.
Hope that helps.

A Press Release from the park:

Ah, I love these things at times!

A Press Release from the park:

Ah, I love these things at times!

A Press Release from the park:

Ah, I love these things at times!

A Press Release from the park:

Ah, I love these things at times!

Well, that wasn't what I was expecting...
The way I read about the hessian body bag was that it would be put on your head and you would see ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. You would then be guided around for a bit, executed and such, and then left to explore the rest of the maze without the bag, but just in small groups with practically no light.
The way those pictures seem is that the body bag is on your head for much longer, though you have some ability to see through it.
Interesting, as I say - not what I was expecting. I do like how your 'crime' is on your bag though, which could lead to some potential personal interaction, and it does seem you go through in very small groups. Can't wait to try this maze out..
Also, this has been posted on ScareTour's Facebook page:

Basically confirmation of what we've wanted / expected - park wide theme!

I will be at work so unable to attend, shame as I like a bit of behind the scenes action.
As a non attendee it doesn't affect me, but may I suggest the places when limited in the extreme like this be given to repeat meet peeps / frequently active posters, rather than first timers who may join for this perk never to be seen again? Just seems fairer to me. Sorry for sticking my beak in, as you were.

Its that time of the year once again and we will be holding our annual Fright Night meetup!
The meet will be on Saturday 20th October and we plan to meet at 1PM at Stealth sitting rocks as usual
The meetup will include a behind the scenes tour of Experiment 10, which returns with a twist this year! The tour will be at 2:30pm and once the tour concludes we will be at the front of the queue for when the maze opens at 3PM!
Please note that numbers for the tour are strictly limited to 20 people and will be on a first come first served allocation and you will be required to PM me to confirm your attendance, the first 20 will be able to take part on the tour and join us at the front of the queue.
Please note cameras will not be permitted on the tour and breaking this rule could spoil future exclusives from the park.
Date: Saturday 20th
Time: 1PM
Where: Stealth Sitting rocks
PLEASE NOTE: Places for the tour of Experiment 10 are now gone.
If you are on the list and not able to make the tour for any reason, please do let me know so we can free up the space for someone else.
Attending meet + Tour (Limited to 20!)
Marc
Ian
Sarah
TPKabz
James
Christian
Ryan
Jonny Skidmore
Maxy
Austyn
Kieran
Mer
Luke
Smartguy
c1hrisin
Jackstevens
Peaj
Kenny

I'm completely with Benin on this. It makes me wonder at times how much enthusiasts care about parks.
We always complain and comment that parks should make more of an effort in keeping things secret and building up suspense and such, yet the moment we can get a leak, most are like 'OMG let's find everything out NOW and spoil the park's hard work!!' Fair enough if you don't mind the secret being spoiled and that, but there's a difference between knowing the secret after it's been released, but at this stage where it's been leaked, it just feels like everything been a bit ruined.
Much like Benin, I'd not want to completely avoid all discussion, as I enjoy following construction and speculating, but now it seems that for the sake of not spoiling the experience the park are creating, I will have to. I was fortunate enough to not find out what the secret was, and hopefully I will not find out until the park reveal so, or until I ride.
Meh, rant over.

I'm completely with Benin on this. It makes me wonder at times how much enthusiasts care about parks.
We always complain and comment that parks should make more of an effort in keeping things secret and building up suspense and such, yet the moment we can get a leak, most are like 'OMG let's find everything out NOW and spoil the park's hard work!!' Fair enough if you don't mind the secret being spoiled and that, but there's a difference between knowing the secret after it's been released, but at this stage where it's been leaked, it just feels like everything been a bit ruined.
Much like Benin, I'd not want to completely avoid all discussion, as I enjoy following construction and speculating, but now it seems that for the sake of not spoiling the experience the park are creating, I will have to. I was fortunate enough to not find out what the secret was, and hopefully I will not find out until the park reveal so, or until I ride.
Meh, rant over.

Hah, if only it was that simple of not reading spoiler tags when plenty of other forums I'm on haven't used them...
I'd rather not go down a route of completely shunning a project, as I do enjoy watching the construction of rides and of course a nice bit of speculation, but there is a difference between speculation and going "it will be this"...
Just makes me wonder how hard it is for people to keep stuff that has been intended as a surprise as such, because then you lose some of the excitement of some random piece of track happening that no one saw coming (see for example, Oblivion building the drop last, wouldn't have worked today at all with the desire for information forums have)...

Sigh, what's the point in Towers being secret these days when enthusiasts ruin the excitement? It happened for Thirteen, and it's happened again if these things are true...
Do these inside people even care about their media policy? Or because of their special knowledge does it give them some form of power trip (I.e. the "I know something you don't know" card)...
Why spoil the surprise? Especially when quite frankly, it sounds bloody awful and stupid...
Urgh, enthusiasts really get to me at times... If it's meant to be a surprise, let it be a surprise, don't ruin it...

(It might be worth checking out my post here, which may give further explanation as to why I'm positing this! Sorry if some may feel this was more appropriate to be posted in a PM)
With regards to Theme Park World as a member has had an account banned previously, for reasons I do not know. This new account is in effect a constant advertisement of his site / page; perhaps a polite suggestion to him to change his username to something more suitable / related to his name, nickname or something quirky is in order. This would no doubt please members who have issues with the site (and perhaps the member) and also help the person be more inline with the rules, which I do believe state a member's username must in some way relate to their real name?
Secondly, on a slightly related note to the post I made in Theme Park World's thread, forums should be welcoming and encourage people to talk about their enthusiasm. Whilst this site does do this rather well, I do think the 'Tips for New Members' thread (http://forum.maniahu...rs/page__st__20) could perhaps do with a bit of a clean out; after all, the arguments that are in the middle of the thread are hardly a good example for new members, also considering two members there have been banned, and such members there have high post counts (I'm all for freedom of speech, worth pointing out, but I do think that such topics should be kept as simple as possible).
Also, is there any way of setting up an automatic Private Message for when a new member joins, welcoming them to the forums, and pointing them to important introductory threads, such as the 'Tips for New Members' and 'Introduce Yourself', and perhaps a link to the forum's rules? It would be a nice touch and help members out, help continue the growing community that is here and also help ensure that younger members and potential, so-called 'n00bs' are helped out as much as possible.
Sorry for the completely random points; just something I felt I needed to get off my chest!

I think that a fine line needs to be reached between people's opinions on the person and the views of their site. Many people will no doubt have judgements of Theme Park World / Confuzzled as a member (and perhaps by extension, as a person), and will expect his site to mirror such judgements.
As I said in Chat last night, an increasing number of younger teenagers are having a go at these sorts of things (heck, even I had a go at one a couple of years back, which was a waste of my time really, but ah well). Being the generation brought up with technology that we are, these sorts of thing are common not only with theme park fan sites, but also in general.
The trouble with some of these sites is that they go for ideas which are perhaps too broad in aim (I won't name other names, but Theme Park World for example; suggests ALL theme parks, which no doubt this member - nor anyone really - can achieve). Yet people will try and ultimately fail and be criticised harshly. Then we also have sites claiming they'll get exclusive after exclusive, high quality media and so forth - again, something which cannot be achieved by a teenager by themselves on a free-hosted site. Some sites also steal other's works without credit, don't list sources or just make stuff up, which again is something criticised largely and gives these sort of sites 'bad names', if you will. Again, I will use the example of Theme Park World's recent 'Facebook Problems' topic, which seem to more be a less-than-subtle way of trying to get his Facebook page promoted even more; a simple 'Oh, sorry guys, this link is no longer working, I don't know why, can anyone offer any help?' in this thread would have been better, but oh well, live and learn and all that.
I have no problems with these such sites really, as long as they are run responsibly and to a good standard. If such a site steals others' works, spam other forums about their site, or whatever else, I will lose respect for it - which goes for all sites really; theme park orientated or not. After all, where would sites such as this one be of it didn't start off small?
No doubt the people who run and make these sites enjoy doing it, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. Perhaps it's a way of showing their enthusiasm or knowledge of the park, or just 'something to do'. Personally, I'd much rather not see these dozens of sites (most of which probably won't expand beyond an okay Facebook page) and instead see more good quality conversation and discussion in the 'major sites' that we've got, with new ones that are set up growing well due to them being well thought out and have a dedicated person / peoples behind them. Of course, that is an idealistic scenario, but I think it would in general make theme park sites better in the long run.
Perhaps if major sites and their communities were more welcoming to newer members and 'n00bs' (NOTE: I am not saying that everyone on every major theme park site is unwelcoming here, but there are certainly members across the majority of forums who almost go out of their way to be unnecessarily unwelcoming for no apparent reason) and gave some members a chance instead of ignoring them just because they are n00bish, some may not feel the need to create such sites, and in turn discussions such as these would not be happening. Another thing worth remembering is how everyone is of different ages, different maturity levels and so forth - every new member isn't going to be a theme park expert who knows the best way to post and such; going back to the live and learn thing I talked about earlier.
Okay, I'm rambling a lot here, but I will continue nonetheless. Constructive criticism is the best way to go for these sort of sites. For example, I'm currently confused about Theme Park World - is it a Facebook only site at the moment? Is there any particular focus of the site / page; all parks, UK parks, Merlin parks? Also, I think it is perhaps over-zealous to say the site brings "the latest news before anyone else"; especially when the site has yet to achieve that. Perhaps the page could serve as some sort of 'information check point', which can round up the news for the past however many days / weeks, and has a variety of sources, complying all the news into an easy to reach point? But then you have to ensure everything is accurate, there's a variety of sources so you're not just posting what another site has using different words, etc.
I do unfortunately think that this site / page will be another which fails to make it past the 'okay Facebook page' stage. However, there's no need to strike people down for it; after all, we all have a common interest and should support the like-minded as much as we can in continuing their enthusiasm. When people make mistakes, help them out. Perhaps with this specific member people may feel they have given him chances and helped him out enough and have decided that they've had enough. Whilst this opinion is more than fine, rather than making every chance to have a dig and such, help keep this particular forum as friendly and nice looking as possible, and try and keep quite. Take any issues to moderators and Private Messaging, try and get all of this sorted, and just help everyone get along.
Okay, I'm pretty much finished now. I understand that this is completely off topic, perhaps a little unnecessary, and what I am saying will not agree with everyone. I was going to write a final word to moderators / admin on what I think should be done to help this issue, but as I had a fair bit to say, I've posted it in the 'Feedback' topic here: http://forum.maniahu...140#entry141340

Jeez, I know this topic is usually for off topic rants but this for some reason has really riled me.
People seem to think it's cool or good to bash Thorpe no matter what just because people believe they will get more support if they hate on them than support them, it's like they are the child who will never fit in class. Especially when you see people one minute saying "Yeah, Swarm is really good, best theming on park, good step in the right direction", next topic "Thorpe can't do immersive, they suck". Jeez will they ever be able to do anything right in people's eyes?
I don't go to Thorpe enough to hate nor love it, I can only say what I experience on the occasions I manage to get up there and I have never had issues to the point where it warrants the apparent hate it appears to get. Rides breaking down? Out of the park's control, Guest behaviour? Out of the park's control, weather affecting operations? Out of the park's control, teething problems with new attractions? Out of the park's control. I don't doubt there is a lot within its control such as what it installs and the bad decisions they may have made on that front (Storm Surge) but come on now, credit where credit is due.

I think that a fine line needs to be reached between people's opinions on the person and the views of their site. Many people will no doubt have judgements of Theme Park World / Confuzzled as a member (and perhaps by extension, as a person), and will expect his site to mirror such judgements.
As I said in Chat last night, an increasing number of younger teenagers are having a go at these sorts of things (heck, even I had a go at one a couple of years back, which was a waste of my time really, but ah well). Being the generation brought up with technology that we are, these sorts of thing are common not only with theme park fan sites, but also in general.
The trouble with some of these sites is that they go for ideas which are perhaps too broad in aim (I won't name other names, but Theme Park World for example; suggests ALL theme parks, which no doubt this member - nor anyone really - can achieve). Yet people will try and ultimately fail and be criticised harshly. Then we also have sites claiming they'll get exclusive after exclusive, high quality media and so forth - again, something which cannot be achieved by a teenager by themselves on a free-hosted site. Some sites also steal other's works without credit, don't list sources or just make stuff up, which again is something criticised largely and gives these sort of sites 'bad names', if you will. Again, I will use the example of Theme Park World's recent 'Facebook Problems' topic, which seem to more be a less-than-subtle way of trying to get his Facebook page promoted even more; a simple 'Oh, sorry guys, this link is no longer working, I don't know why, can anyone offer any help?' in this thread would have been better, but oh well, live and learn and all that.
I have no problems with these such sites really, as long as they are run responsibly and to a good standard. If such a site steals others' works, spam other forums about their site, or whatever else, I will lose respect for it - which goes for all sites really; theme park orientated or not. After all, where would sites such as this one be of it didn't start off small?
No doubt the people who run and make these sites enjoy doing it, otherwise they wouldn't be doing it. Perhaps it's a way of showing their enthusiasm or knowledge of the park, or just 'something to do'. Personally, I'd much rather not see these dozens of sites (most of which probably won't expand beyond an okay Facebook page) and instead see more good quality conversation and discussion in the 'major sites' that we've got, with new ones that are set up growing well due to them being well thought out and have a dedicated person / peoples behind them. Of course, that is an idealistic scenario, but I think it would in general make theme park sites better in the long run.
Perhaps if major sites and their communities were more welcoming to newer members and 'n00bs' (NOTE: I am not saying that everyone on every major theme park site is unwelcoming here, but there are certainly members across the majority of forums who almost go out of their way to be unnecessarily unwelcoming for no apparent reason) and gave some members a chance instead of ignoring them just because they are n00bish, some may not feel the need to create such sites, and in turn discussions such as these would not be happening. Another thing worth remembering is how everyone is of different ages, different maturity levels and so forth - every new member isn't going to be a theme park expert who knows the best way to post and such; going back to the live and learn thing I talked about earlier.
Okay, I'm rambling a lot here, but I will continue nonetheless. Constructive criticism is the best way to go for these sort of sites. For example, I'm currently confused about Theme Park World - is it a Facebook only site at the moment? Is there any particular focus of the site / page; all parks, UK parks, Merlin parks? Also, I think it is perhaps over-zealous to say the site brings "the latest news before anyone else"; especially when the site has yet to achieve that. Perhaps the page could serve as some sort of 'information check point', which can round up the news for the past however many days / weeks, and has a variety of sources, complying all the news into an easy to reach point? But then you have to ensure everything is accurate, there's a variety of sources so you're not just posting what another site has using different words, etc.
I do unfortunately think that this site / page will be another which fails to make it past the 'okay Facebook page' stage. However, there's no need to strike people down for it; after all, we all have a common interest and should support the like-minded as much as we can in continuing their enthusiasm. When people make mistakes, help them out. Perhaps with this specific member people may feel they have given him chances and helped him out enough and have decided that they've had enough. Whilst this opinion is more than fine, rather than making every chance to have a dig and such, help keep this particular forum as friendly and nice looking as possible, and try and keep quite. Take any issues to moderators and Private Messaging, try and get all of this sorted, and just help everyone get along.
Okay, I'm pretty much finished now. I understand that this is completely off topic, perhaps a little unnecessary, and what I am saying will not agree with everyone. I was going to write a final word to moderators / admin on what I think should be done to help this issue, but as I had a fair bit to say, I've posted it in the 'Feedback' topic here: http://forum.maniahu...140#entry141340

I think it's meant to be taken with a pinch of salt. Basically a name/nickname you can easily be recognised by. If you signed up with the name Hot-Stuff then that'd be a no no, for example.

The Thorpe Park Annual Pass currently stand at £85 (though could go up in the new year) - source: http://www.thorpepark.com/prices/annual-passes.aspx?tabnum=2
In theory after two visits, if you pay the full £43.20 (which will no doubt go up next season), the pass has paid for itself. However, if you use BOGOF, half price vouchers or book in advance, then the price goes down, as you probably know. According to the official site, if you book online, you can get tickets from £25.92, which would mean you'd realistically have to go 4 times for the Thorpe Annual Pass to be worth it. If you also ever consider buying Bounceback (which this season are £15, £18 for Fright Nights or £6 for the next day..I think), then there's plenty of ways to save money.
The benefits of having a standard Thorpe Annual Pass are that you get 20% off food, drink and shopping. There are no Early Rider Times like Alton Towers, or any other benefits. However, with the Snoozeboxes next season, it could be a case of there being ERT for 'hotel guests' and AP holders - though no one really knows about that at the moment. Another benefit would be not having to worry about when to go, booking tickets, etc.
Personally, I think you'd be better of not buying a Thorpe Park Annual Pass unless you make at least 5-6 visits next season. Having it may give extra incentive, yes, but it's no guarantee. I think it's possible to book online and then use your ticket to get a Bounceback (though you may want to just check with the park beforehand just to be sure, or someone on here may know), which would mean you'd be looking at about £41 to have had 2 visits. Do that again, it becomes £82 for 4 visits and so on. It may be a bit of a hassle and require a bit more forward thinking than with an Annual Pass, though.
If you're planning on possibly getting an Annual Pass in the new year and can afford one in January, it might actually be worth getting a Standard Merlin Annual Pass, surprisingly. At around that time of year, they're big on doing special offers for the Annual Passes as it's just after Christmas - the past couple of years in January time, you've been able to buy a Merlin Annual Pass for half price, so around £78! That would give you much greater freedom and choice for less money, so it would be worth keeping an eye out for those offers (like the Merlin Annual Pass page on Facebook if you have; best place to keep track of the special offers). Of course, they may not do such a thing this year, or may do it at a different time, but it never hurts to keep an eye out.
Hope that helps!