MattyMoo

Watching this confirms I had a dog awful run on the left hand side (which arguably isn't as good as the right anyway). "Definitely redo the maze because each experience is different" says Jack - yeah, I would m8 if it wasn't £8-10 a go.

Yep, 100% this. Towers need to be more Lost City than Most Sh****

Noel's House Party IP is what I've heard???

You may well have done actually @RobF - very efficient if it was yourself, was good to tell people exactly where to sit otherwise it's a free for all!

So - my annual trip to Tulleys was last night! Have never done a Sunday before. We always purchase the VIP "RIP" bundle in advance - with fees that worked out at £97 per ticket, and included a £15 merch token and a £10 food voucher according to the website - but in true Tulleys fashion, you actually got a £20 merch token, a £10 food voucher and a £5 drinks token - so that was nice! In case you don't know, the VIP RIP ticket entitles you to unlimited fast-track all night - which, with the new maze entry system where even the paupers with a standard ticket can now go through mazes multiples times (provided they queue obvs), becomes even more worthwhile. Quick and efficient entry to the park as per - they now have bag searches in the queue, and I also got patted down upon entry too - must look dodgy innit! We got into the park at 5.20pm, with haunts due to open at 5.30pm. So lets crack on with my reviews and number of run throughs I had... COVEN OF 13: X3 Normally my favourite maze this one. A few changes this year though - there's a smokey walk to the swamp scene and then after that there's another - pointless - walk without actors that doesn't really do anything in a corridoor. Our first run through was awful, but really because of the group in front taking photos mid-way through the swamp a number of times - despite literally being told not to use phones mere minutes before in the announcements. Also being slow as hell just meant everyone got bunched up and that kills it for that maze. Early in the evening the haze in the swamp was lacking, but this did rectify itself as the night went on. There definitely seems to be less of an outside section from what I could tell and the scares in the outside areas were not forthcoming (had some iconic moments before in the outside sections being stared out blocking the narrow paths). Great actress with a knife in the house section, and I still love the heat room bit! Had a run through effectively by myself at the end of the evening which rectified the wrong-doings of the previous 2 runs with Coven being it's former awesome self. Shout out to the witches in the swamp for now getting up and in your face, crawling on the side walls and such, really cool... and during the heat room section, I was surrounded by no fewer than 5 witches ❤️ Just a shame that this maze suffers badly when you are with a slow group or a big batch. Coven had by far the biggest queues all night - which is a little odd to me when you have newer additions. Maybe people just love that swamp still? And can I re-iterate - having an awful run through is EXACLY why "one shot" paid mazes should not be an £8+ price point... I knew that I could at least give Coven another chance or two throughout the evening vs. "Oh well, some numpty in front completely ruined it for me and that's £10 down the drain" 7.5/10 (on the solo runthrough - if we'd had just the first runthrough, would be 3/10) CREEPY COTTAGE: X3 This was actually our first maze of the night - tradition innit. Some cracking scares on the first run through - always feel the actors have to work harder on this maze. Do have a soft spot for Cottage, however, the end section (with the drapes) should go back to the white fabric from last year in my humblest of opinion - more spooky and fitting, the blue just was a bit odd and that area looked tired. Good fun, but actors seemed sparse late in the evening on this one. Wouldn't like to see Cottage go, but would be nice to have a bit of investment I think. One run was over SUPER quickly in particular. Shout out on this one to the actress with the crucifix on her head who was the perfect mix of creepy and quirky, appearing from nowhere and politely pointing me away when I accidentally ended up in actor run (I know, after ALL THESE YEARS, the shame on me!) Love the "Ring" style actress continually getting up on the ledges in one of the corridor, always looks class when you see that shadow looming at you in the distance! Loved the "there she is!" from one actress when she appeared too 6/10 THE CELLLAR: X4 This was consistent during the night - I know it's basic AF, but I love that snake still, iconic. The strobe/mesh maze at the end was and still is a good addition, with some good scares as always with numerous actresses ganging up on us. On more than one occasion, an actress on one of the bunkbeds got me completely unawares due to how dark it was - one point I was literally looking where she was and couldn't see a thing, only for her to jump out at me into my face! Just a solid maze this really. 7/10 WASTELANDS: X2 This was pretty actor heavy but found the first runthrough suffered due to slow groups in front, meaning you end up as a conga line which just ruins it unfortunately Still an amazing area, and a very big, imposing and consistent maze. Like the "air gun" at the end being fired by an inmate, that makes a real nice change to a chainsaw. Had a go essentially by myself at 11.28pm which rectified the bad run through earlier in the night, got well and truly put upon in the centre of the jail. 7.5/10 (thanks to second solo run - 5/10 based on first run) ELECTRICK CIRCUS: X3 Always liked the Twisted Clowns - not the glasses so much - but it was in need of a refresh, and my god has it got one. Still keeping the fun, silly, scares of before, but now with animatronics, and some true "is that or isn't that a person" moments - particular highlight was the actor with the mask (a la the dolls in Trailers) - spooky as hell. Just really mixes the evening up a bit this maze, something very different, quite intense at times - love the see through actor runs so they can see you coming even whilst waiting in the pre-maze announcement. Great refresh, and an ummmm interesting photo opportunity at the end! That trommel tunnel properly gets me queasy too, bleugh! 8/10 HELLEMENTS: X1 Be wrong not to give this a go, but nothing really has changed. Chainsaw finale that makes no real sense. Kudos to the actor right at the start hearing me saying "We're descending to hell" and then holding down the rope meaning I ended up crawling along. Other than that - can't really say much on it at all. Hooded mazes aren't scary to me and I think the hoods should go and then do the whole fire & ice malarky "in real life" 2/10 CHOP SHOP: X3 I'm saying it - Chop Shop needs change. Whilst of course you are going to dodge a chainsaw (again - must point out an actress here remembering me from a previous run and then cornering me so I couldn't escape "I remember youuuuuu!" great stuff) - it needs more. Maybe make it multi-route (Hey, bad wood/good wood works for Creek!) I'm not sure what other than freeflow/multi route but it can become processional and if there's an actor deficit, the ending can be weak - in fact, whilst I remember - we found most endings quite weak last night to be fair (even Doom Town - review next). Some great interactions with actors though in the first section "Do you like my dress, it's pretty ain't it, like you" - and then asking "you in a rush to get somewhere boy, you're moving real fast" - yes m80, I want another run on Coven innit! 5/10 HAUNTED HAYRIDE: X1 This ride is pure Tulleys. Simple, well executed, consistent, funny, tongue in cheek. It just works. Some new scenes/characters for this year, plus some classics too. Good moment where the hillbilly girl (the brother and sister: "Me and my brother are like cheese and ham... we're In Bread" - asked about my mate's pistol, and I said he's firing blanks - and she said - holding back the laughs - "that's what I was about to say about my brother" 😁 Sorry for ruining the gag, didn't mean to! 8/10 THE ISLAND: X1 Fair play to Joshua on here for calling me out on our run, that caught me by surprise - well done for getting Thorpe Park Mania in amongst your noises and chatterings, ha! The starting scenes here were good with a number of actors (except that expanse of mud with nothing in it, wtf?) - but this is maze is loooong. I still think it has a lot of potential, and other than Joshua - the two female actors in the room with the wooden blocks in that they stand on (for want of a better description) were great, blocking us off and swiping at us, and splitting up a group. The ship section is just dead and don't know why they don't do... something with it? It definitely wanes in the middle a bit. There wasn't the pointless chainsaw ending as far as I recall which is probably a good thing because I don't know how that fits in anyway Maybe next year I'll have a banger of a run on this - I just think it's too long and too much of a time-eater vs. the payoff. 4.5/10 DOOM TOWN: X5 Ok, Ok, Ok - let's just cut straight to the chase here. This is brilliant. Nearly perfect. So much so, it makes everything else look so inferior. Take a bow Tulleys for creating this, because it's absolutely superb. It's got real life road that runs through (from the outside entrance), complete with traffic lights and road signs - and it's genius how you end up criss-crossing this to go in and out of shops and whatnot - through the central area, and you'd be forgiven for thinking it's free flow, but due to well hidden and cleverly disguised seemingly abandoned items, you do go through a particular route - shopping trolleys, bins and such are cleverly laid out to mark the route, but blend in as scenery perfectly. The central area is what really makes this attraction so clever, because actors can interact with you multiple times during a run. I doubt they'll end up seeing this, but there was a tall chap in the outside area who eyeballed me many times on our runs, and then effectively followed me as I went through, which was utterly fantastic. Queue line in the graveyard is brilliant, going through a church with pews, was class - then, as I remember, there's the toilets, into a nightclub, and then there's a newsagents, Blockbuster, a cinema, a pub, a Chinese takeaway, a grocers - with real rotten fruit, you walk through a bus, a hairdressers.... there's SO much content and theming built in to such a comparatively small footprint vs. other attractions, it's top notch. Some particular interactions that I loved, other than the guy in the central area, was a zombie in the centre holding a bin lid over my head because it was raining (love that), the hairdressers making us sit down in the chairs, the cinema attendants pointing to "Small" on the popcorn menu then pointing to me, same attendants using popcorn buckets as hats in the rain, the guy in the newsagents with magazines, one of which was one from the 90s of an adult nature, getting very excited by it, the landlord in the pub reaching through the pile of chairs to grab at you as you go through, the zombies playing the fruit machine cos I told them it was going to payout, zombie in the pub offering me his drink... honestly, so much interaction and again it's something so different to anything else at Tulleys. The whole area is superb, only minor niggle is the strobe/mist finale which falls a little flat, and maybe something else needs to be in the "disco" section - more lights/theming maybe? - otherwise this would be perfect. What I will say is, even on a run through with "numpties" one time, the maze still worked well because of that central section that you criss-cross. There are references to horror films all the way through - we were chatting to one of the creators at the start on our first run through and he was most pleased with what they'd achieved - and quite rightly so. One would assume they won't be adding a new haunt for 2023, but who knows? 9.5/10 TOTAL RUNTHROUGHS: 26 Cost per maze (taking off merch, food and drink benefits): £2.38 👀 (£10 food voucher got us a hog roast roll and a can of Coke - the vendor strictly speaking didn't have to give us the coke but he always does!) - £5 drinks voucher got us 2 pints of Coke (fair play for doing that too, barstaff!) and the £20 merch vouchers were used for 2x mugs and then we had £10 left still of the £40, which they were happy to let us spend, so added a fiver to get a Tulleys scent candle!) Good evening last night all in all - however, I will say that the new queuing system does mean the main queues were notably bigger at times - and this was a Sunday - with even Creepy Cottage having a 30+ minute main queue at one point. VIP/Fasttrack queues were either literally walk on or 2-5 people in front all night, which I think helps maintain the value of said upcharges. At only one point did a maze have a VIP queue that was too big, and that was Electrick Circus. As per above, I was a bit gutted at my poor run throughs on a couple of mazes, but having the VIP means that you do get that chance to re-do a maze very quickly and rectify. Another decent year for Tulleys in my humble opinion, and as above - Doom Town is brilliant, absolute next level - so glad I didn't read any spoilers before hand as it made the first run through even better! Goes without saying - roaming actors were great last night as always (love the spooky twins just appearing in a completely empty covered area where we having food, didn't even spot them and was only aware of the appearance when we heard a very cutesy "Hello" from behind us!... it's all that that makes Tulleys what it is.

Corrected it for you 😃

Agree on the 9pm finish being too early - we were on park from 10am and to be honest, didn't think we'd last the day - but it's amazing how you get second wind once night-time falls - all of a sudden we had 30 mins left to go of the evening from nowhere!

Emily Alton did not write the sign herself as she is not a real person, hope this helps add to the discussion 😱

100% didn't have it in the final room on my go. They must have 2 of those masks as they are in the run through video from press nights... Similarly - I found maze queues very short. Longest was our second run on Creek Freak which was about 20 mins. Trailers was about 10 mins, Survival Games was walk on, Terminal was - obviously - walk on....

Just watched a SLKSTN POV of Survival Games which I purposefully didn't watch before my run through on Friday. Needless to say that 1) didn't see anyone with those cool LED masks - have they gone the way of the DBGT Demon already or are us mere mortals not allowed to see them and 2) I had nowhere NEAR the amount of actors as he did, as you'd expect - and did not see any of the fake guests (actors) also in the video.... Maybe I had a poor run but Survival Games looked the part but didn't deliver at all for me. Our second run through on Creek Freak was great (first was very meh) and only managed to get the second run through because both Survival Games and Terminal staff didn't scan our "Fearsome Four" tickets. If I'd only had the one run on Creek I'd be very very miffed for what I actually got for my £9ish. Trailers looked the part too again, but severe lack of actors - none in the doll room, none in the Ship Happens room, and not even one in the bed jumpscare which is just inexcusable if you ask me - surely that's one of the "highlights", no? This is why I dislike immensely the "one shot" tickets for mazes - if you have a duff run either because of no actors or being put with a group of idiots (the likelihood of this increases as you approach Halloween), that's it - you've spent your money, see ya later. Compare with even the Tulleys top package, £97 - less £25 (merch token & food) - even if you get just one run - which isn't going to happen with unlimited fastrack - it works out more like £6 a maze. We normally get 20+ runs so you're talking less than £4 a maze which is far more acceptable. Oh and whilst I remember - I was invested in Terminal, I liked the lift pre-show and the creepy Black Mirror-ish attendants - but my god that is a steaming pile of trash. Wow. That's £9 ish I'm never seeing again.... Upcharge attractions aside - I had an absolutely great day to be honest on Friday - 4 rides on Stealth, 3 of which front row and 2 at night - got all the coasters done (my god Saw is painful in parts now!) and there's minimal downtime other than Saw in the morning. We weren't expecting to last until 9pm but we were kept occupied. Also, shout out to the "Ghost Train" BBQ stand next to the teacups for some great food (for a theme park) - lovely ribs!

Double post cos I rode the Dezza Train on Friday. Preshow still the same. Pointless numbers and questions about phobias (iS AnYONe ScAReD oF SPiDerS) in preshow 2 now gone, you just wait and are guided on to the train. VR 1 worked fine for me (though my friends - not so much due to broken headphones - lots of headsets in bags again) Live action bit inbetween was actually really good, an actor was hidden underneath the fake train which genuinely made me jump - lots of interaction with the actors and Tulley-esque tongue clicking noises VR 2 all good - until we got the interruption to your service message - which I genuinely thought was part of the experience/add on due to the fact it was themed... screens told us to take headsets off. Staff said put headsets back on. Much fun. VR then continued for the demony grabby trainy throw bit. You're back in the room. And then hastily exited out - completely bypassing the fake shop and long disappeared Demon (he who has risen and is the whole point of the ride) Shop looking really really empty now in terms of Dezza merch... what on earth are they going to do with this thing? Who's Ghost Train is it? Nothing to do with me bruv. Was suggesting - in my mind, the only way they can really sort of save it once the Dezza IP goes, is to run as some sort of upcharge Ghost Train with live actors etc - something Dungeons-esque? That Underground station theming is second to none as I've said so many times. A scare attraction in there could be amazing - and if it's upcharge, it's only moving around and costing money when there's people paying to be on it. Would the maths work? Will the IP be renewed? Is it the future of theme parks? Who knows.

Cheers! We normally get around 20-25 total maze run throughs with VIP... I do like having it because of the chance of a run through being ruined by numpties 😂 We love our re-runs (Coven normally, ha). Not looking super busy tonight from the app - do love an unplanned "brave it alone" at Tulleys haha. Sundays seem to be the quietest days:

Now going next Sunday 16th! Any word on how the queues are faring with the new multiple run throughs system? Praying for my VIP pass being worth the money 😂

Hand sanitizer dispenser clip still there = Rocky returning CONFIRMED.

My money's on 2025 now, which will mean - finally - 2024 will see the new IP with the "Stath Lets Flats" area taking over Angry Birds land, with the long rumoured 2nd Detonator tower being installed, a record breaking 5 Frog Hoppers, a Miami, and Ramases Revenge being installed inside the 4D Cinema (it's currently in storage in one of the Shark Cabins).

Not the tip - it'll end up in the TPWW woRlD oF TheMEpArkS (version 2)

This would never happen this way. You'd bring him to a pub, you THINK you offered him a drink but in fact you've just signed over your house, life savings and cat to him and you'd be none the wiser.

OK so there's no tent - but spoiler alert, the Saw Alive queue line IS being used as part of the scare zone this year.

Soz for double post - but this 100%. Samurai is having it's usual dead time, but then bear in mind it's 24 years old for crying out loud. We've seen it at Alton with Hex throwing a wobbly and CWOA with Scorpion deciding to end itself - these rides do not go on for ever, and when they decide to conk out, you just shift the queues elsewhere.

Yep - I think the Yep - Black Mirror doesn't exactly get massive queues considering it was new for 2021... and is a very slow throughput attraction. Was a good bit of fun when I did it earlier this year - mainly due to the actors - but it screams temporary and filler to me. Do we just anticipate absolutely nothing "new" for 2023? Not that a playground and relocated Frog Hopper is much to write home about for 2022, but still. Maybe new for 2023 is the Tidal fire effect? 100% agree with Josh - there's literally nothing to stop them clearing the area now and prepare for construction - even without planning permission and get ready. I mean, yes, pausing things means they haven't got to build a bridge to get to Creak Freak and will save a few quid, but come on - there's no way that's the reason for re-opening Old Town for access to a maze in the grand scheme of things of a project of this size...

Was saying to Josh last night - I think we are looking at Summer 2024 now - at best. If it slips to 2025, then I really don't think Thorpe can get by on just "events" for the next 2 seasons. Like I've said previously - I'd be surprised too if all goes to plan with construction and clearance, bear in mind that Loggers is 30 years old, there will 100% be pipes/infrastructure etc. that won't be accounted for underground, plus throw in the fact it's surrounded by water - not ideal.

That shop is HUGE too -almost as if they thought DBGTROTD was the future of theme parks 👀

Can't wait. Turns out I'm doing Fright Nights on Friday 7th and Tulleys 8th so will be interesting to compare and contrast.

This content will be available to SLKSTN Patreon's only, sorry.

It's official now innit. Bit cheeky for Merlin to phrase it like that though, implying that OMG Nemesis is closing 4 good!!111 - either the work experience social media admin did this, or it's done on purpose to get that sweet sweet footfall. Also - Phalanx... return of Sub Terra confirmed? Or at least "a nod" and eAStEr EGg to Sub Terra.... Would be good to have another dark indoor ride back considering Hex seems to have thrown a wobbler all season.