MattyMoo

When someone has only 7 posts, one of which was casually dropping the Minds Wanted website - before anyone even knew it existed - we must all appreciate the gravity of his message.

THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Let the speculation begin. Wicked Witches Haunt VR coming 2018 on site of Loggers Leap?

Ah mannn, your review makes me want to go again Amy! What is the proper name for the black squishy things? They were used to good effect in Coven & Cellar - with Coven, it made it look like everyone was just floating heads because of the laser! Chop Shop was by far my fave - as I said elsewhere, ended up split up from my group and then was sandwiched between two chainsaw guys haha - and that part of the maze is very disorientating, for sure - went round in circles a few times "WRONG WAYYYY PIGGYYYY" still rings in my ears

Reading the FN reviews thus far make me glad to be swerving it this year - by contrast, I can honestly say that out of 8 haunts at Tulleys, only Hellements was poor - even the other haunts that were supposed to be less scary/intense ticked all the boxes for me. I think the minimum amount of actors I saw in a "haunt" was 6 or 7 from memory! That aside though - the rides at Thorpe do look particularly good this year lit up at night!

On the plus side though... Was the preshow still working? Sounds a right mess. Understand from Jessica on park it's broken down this evening... And when she got back on after 40 minutes it broke again.

U not heard about Topspin Island coming 2017 m8?

Just call me Jart. Again.

Thorpe in attempt at Fright Nights theming shock

Could this thread be moved to the UK Attractions area for more visibility? :-)

Don't worry the sooner closed season is here, the sooner we can get back on Loggers Leap in 2017!

Am I right to assume that the CCR train is going to be static?

Most of them were officially "conga line" but once in there no one seemed to care Creepy Cottage is a good start, but even that did provide me with some proper jumps

I would've thought all 8 should be do-able but yes would definitely leave Hellements out of the lot - I'd perhaps stay away from Hayride until later in the evening, so stick to the area that has Chop Shop, The Cellar, Pandemonium and Colony, and do Colony last from those 4 as you end up in the bottom area of the "park" then when you exit it (it is HUGE). Couple more photos on my Facebook from the evening - you'll have a blast!

I think if you went early on in the month you'd do them all by 10.30 with fast track Fast track queues last night were about 10 mins.

Really enjoyed my first time at Tulley's last night - and great to see some folk from here too We went straight to Hayride and there were some technical difficulties so we were queuing for about 40 minutes - we were concerned it was going to mess up the rest of our night meaning we couldn't do all 8 haunts - but we did get everything done in the end! Chop Shop at 10pm was walk on FYI. My thoughts from last night: Blown away by the size of the haunts - we must've been in The Colony and Coven of 13 for a good 5+ minutes, The Colony in particular is massive! Roaming actors in the park are BRILLIANT and totally make the event - I'm in love with the giggling Cinema Attendant Girls with their ex-boyfriend popcorn , they were awesome! A mate of mine who is in a blues/country band ended up singing with the two hillbilly banjo guys outside the Chop Shop, brilliant stuff. Those two hillbilly's spotted my Hollywood Tower Hotel t-shirt and said "You best not be doing any espionasge boy, you're from the competition - don't you be going home with anything" My highlight was probably The Chop Shop - at one point I ended up split from my group of 4, turned a corner to be faced by a chainsaw guy - then turned round to find one had appeared behind me too. "Whatcha gonna do now" they said haha. Later on in the haunt I was bellowed at with "WRONG WAYYY PIGGY, WRONGGG WAYYYY" as I kept getting lost. Chop Shop reminded me very much of The Freezer/Asylum in parts, the good old days My mates were shouting "Where's Mat?" behind me and an actor said to them "Mat's goooone" haha. See video below for how awesome the the Chop Shop looks outside. Like I said - Colony is HUGE and another highlight. Really is super creepy being outside in the pitch black. Really enjoyed it, loads of actors here, loved the fire, the smoke, the darkness, the eerie latin whispered at you... so much to take in. Even the "less scary" haunts (Creepy Cottage for example) the actors were top notch, I was at the front and a number of times I literally jumped out of my skin when an actor appeared seemingly out of nowhere. Theming on Creepy Cottage and also The Cellar was top notch - the sinking down effect here was cool! Pandemonium 3D also provided some good scares - again because I ended up separated from the group and they wouldn't let me back. A female actor in there made me jump and then used the actor run perfectly to appear behind me again round the corner with a whisper of "I'm back" The 3D Part was genuinely confusing and did add to it. Hayride was more of a laugh than "scary" but was well done, unique - and again, massive. Being at the front of the cart did take a way the magic a bit as I could see the driver controlling the sound effects with his iPod mini lolz. Loads of actors and scenes on this, and it did work well. Coven Of 13 - I liked the laser "headless people" effect at the start, that worked very well I thought! The scariest part was the outside bit where you were anticipating actors but there was a walk without them until they appeared. Only low point was Hellements which I thought was pretty poor - just disorientating with a bag over your head, and in a weird way, it doesn't make you jump when actors whisper at you/make noises etc because you can't see them. Thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed my evening and I now intend on going back every year - I know Tulleys have space on their side vs. Thorpe Park but there really is no comparison to be honest. Chop Shop for example was borderline as "intense" as Face It Alone for me last year (albeit without the ball gag and swearing haha) Did I mention the Popcorn Girls?

I'm going this Saturday 1st - cannot flippin wait!

It looks huuuuuge

http://www.burtonmail.co.uk/5-million-fine-for-alton-towers-owners-merlin-entertainment-ltd-over-smiler-roller-coaster-accident/story-29754241-detail/story.html That link has slightly more CCTV footage - the empty train seems to sit right at the top of the inversion static for what seems an eternity, I'm surprised that's possible

Just call me Jart...

That's a shame if there is damage to the Victorian train already - not very good considering the small amount of time it's been operational.

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/alton-towers-smiler-rollercoaster-crash-8893176 The Mirror have more CCTV - it shows (briefly) the empty train valleying and the other train at the top of the lift hill - you can see just how windy it is by the tops of the trees on the lift hill.

Ahh near my old stomping ground of "beautiful" Farnborough haha. Am now down in sunny Southsea (can't say I miss Farnborough much) so it's about 1hr 10m to Thorpe depending on how fast I go up the A3...!

I did The Big Top Face It Alone - and spent most of it on my knees with a ball gag in my mouth haha. It was pretty fierce - did get pushed about a fair bit and shouted at etc. but it was still in good humour! I'd definitely do it again - the best bit was seeing the actors afterwards in Finn's Bar asking "Did you enjoy that guys?" And you think - wait a minute - just now you were a big baby covering my face in shaving foam and straw

This may be hearsay but I was under the impression that when cars were added to the track (at that particular time) they were only supposed to be added with water dummies in, due to the stalling problems previously?

17 minutes between the crash happening and the first 999 call. Wow.