Cornflakes

Air (2) Duel (2) Enterprise (2) Hex (2) Nemesis (2) Nemesis Sub Terra (2) Oblivion (2) Rita (2) Runaway Mine Train (2) The Flume (3) The Smiler (1) Th13teen (2) Sonic Spinball (2) - The Smiler + The flume

I like far too many bands/artists to pick a definite favourite, but right now I'm really loving Future of the Left. Great Post Hardcore/Punk band with some of the best lyrics in the genre.

First of all the lighting in Asylum is just STROBE STROBE STROBE STROBE. That's not atmospheric, it's annoying. There's no variation whatsoever. I also fail to see how MBV did story well, a short bit of exposition at the start of the maze does not a good story make.

Hey all, my latest article on CoasterGeek; "Scare mazes, theatricality and the death of originality" is now online! http://coastergeek.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/scare-mazes-theatricality-and-the-death-of-originiality/ Disagree with me? Leave a comment and I'll be happy to respond - Constructive debate is fun

Chief Rangers Carousel (5) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator (5) Flying Fish (5) Loggers Leap (5) Mr Monkeys Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (4) Saw: The Ride (4) Slammer (7) Stealth (5) Storm in a teacup (5) Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (3) X (6) Teacups + Saw -

I wouldn't say that there being a model at a trade show automatically makes it an off shelf design, the layout of The Smiler relies far too much on the terrain of its area to be an off the shelf model. I'd say its more likely that Gerst are using The Smiler as an example of what can be achieved with the Infinity model, a flagship, if you will.

Hocus Pocus really was fantastic, blew Fright Nights out of the water. Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall is excellent in almost every way, Haunting in the Hollows was still great. Parkwide lighting was fantastic. Brilliant event.

I'll be attending

I'm a yes for this, always wanted to do a Winter meet

As far as I'm aware no maintenance has been planned, Towers tend to announce these things at the last minute though.

I haven't been to many parks abroad, so my list probably won't be as varied as some of the others one here. 1.Hex - The perfect Dark Ride, the buildup to the ride experience is perfectly executed. A benchmark for UK dark rides. 2. Nemesis - What I believe to be the perfect Rollercoaster, the pacing is fantastic, it's well themed and even after 20 years of running its still pretty smooth. 3. The Smiler - Utterly relentless from start to finish (apart from the necessary break in the middle), theming is very good in places and I don't find it that rough. Suffers from the lack of smaller theming elements and an uncomfortable jolt towards the end - Nowhere near as bad as Saw though. 4. Oblivion - A masterclass in building anticipation, the queue line videos have a subtle dash of dark humour to them and effectively build a sense of anxiety before boarding Oblivion. The ride experience itself, while short, is amazing and never fails to leave me breathless. 5. Professor Burp's Bubbleworks - A ride that I, like many others, remember fondly. This used to be my favourite ride when I visited Chessington when I was younger and for good reason. This is the ride that started my love of Theme Parks and other Themed Attractions. Professor Burp's Bubbleworks was a fantastic family dark ride which I sorely miss. 6. The Swarm - I probably wouldn't like The Swarm as much if it was at any other park, but this just blows every other ride at Thorpe Park out of the water, the theming, while certainly not the best in the UK, is amazing when compared to every other theming effort at Thorpe Park. The ride itself is smooth & elegant, and while its not the most exciting or lengthy layout, it really packs a punch in some places and is very enjoyable. 7. Nemesis: Sub Terra - Nemesis: Sub Terra is the complete opposite of Hex, while Hex is serious and atmospheric, Sub Terra is cheesy and silly - but its also rather brilliant. It has a B-Movie feel to it that I just love, the Pre Show videos are wonderfully kitsch and the ride itself is a lot of fun. A brilliant filler ride which I really enjoy. 8. Vampire - The operations are dire, but I have a massive soft spot for Vampire. It's another ride that I loved when I was younger and one that I still enjoy today. 9. Th13teen - It's not the best ride in the world by a long shot, but I think Th13teen is one of the UK's best family coasters, the theme is perfect for a modern family coaster and reminds me of some of the more creepy episodes of Doctor Who. The ride itself, while a little on the short side is very fun, the track drop and the 'mini launch' being the highlights. 10. Detonator - I'm not usually a fan of flat rides, but I really like Detonator. The drop is very forceful and its one of the only rides that still manages to make me a little nervous. Honourable Mentions; Stealth Dragons Fury Dragon Falls Colossus

Definite yes to this, tour sounds fantastic

MBV just sounds like it will be Experiment 10 with some of the scenes switched around, if that is the case, I really hope that the other mazes have more effort put into them then MBV. Of course, I'll reserve proper judgement until I've experienced the mazes though. Have to say, I'm a big fan of the Brave it Alone concept, could prove to be very interesting!

When I rode it on 1/9/13 I didn't find it very rough at all, there were a couple of small jolts followed by the always horrible cobra roll jolts and there was a slight vibration in the train, but nothing seriously painful or anything that could ruin the ride. It wasn't B&M smooth by any means, but nowhere near as bad as some others have been saying.

There has been no concrete evidence to suggest this, ScareTour have made an educated guess, that does not mean that they're right, everything is speculation until Thorpe Park confirms it. I would take everything you see on the net about Fright Nights with a pinch of salt.

As much as I love The Smiler, Nemesis still tops it for me, its just such a fantastic coaster, and it doesn't have the massive downside of having a queue that feels like a prison.

I know it was a relatively old concept, but it is widely known to be a fanmade concept. Something was probably planned for Gloomy Wood, but not the broomstick coaster.

The Broomstick coaster was only a fanmade concept, it was never planned to be built at Towers. There were multiple concepts before The Smiler was eventually settled on, but a broomstick coaster was never actually considered.

Universal are a film company, although they are not directly involved with the films they base their mazes on, they most likely have a far better understanding of the source material, which allows them to create better IP based mazes. Thorpe has tried created an IP maze before, and due to some of the actors misunderstanding of the source material, it just wasn't good. Of course I will have an open mind for FN, but I fail to see how they can come close to HHN. Totally agree with Sidders point about the shear amount of slasher based mazes. Its boring, its been done before, no matter how much budget is thrown at them, they will still be generic mazes about blood and guts. More mazes that use psychology in the scares would be a welcome addition.

All the mazes being based on existing IP is slightly disappointing, I was hoping at least one original idea would find its way into the lineup. Blair Witch has the potential to be one of the UK's best scare mazes if executed correctly and put in the right setting. Cabin in the Woods is going to be a challenge to make, and it should be interesting to see whether its an utter failure or not. My Bloody Valentine was just a boring slasher film to begin with, so I expect a very generic maze. You're Next is apparently a pretty good film, but from what I've seen it looks like a run of the mill slasher, which will probably make for a generic scare maze rather than doing something interesting. I wish Thorpe the best of luck with this, if they pull it off they could have a really great event on their hands

Theme Park Collective aren't trustworthy whatsoever, take everything they say with a pinch of salt.

Which is much more than just "something to improve the aesthetics of the logo"

I never suggested that they were toning down the scare factor, I'm sure the mazes will try as hard as they always have to be scary, I just think the actual event itself will have a more light hearted tone, inline with Scarefest at Alton Towers (Obviously not as child friendly as Scarefest though)

Thorpe are changing their branding to a more family friendly and inviting brand, the thrill capital stuff is pretty much out of the window. Also, just because something is becoming more light hearted doesn't mean it would become any less scary. FN can be funny and scary in equal measures.