Paul123

Hi all, went to paultons park today and had a lovely day, weather brilliant too and of course being the middle of the week, crowds were quite light. thought I would post a brief construction update, wow I never realised this new land covered so much ground , it’s covering quite a big area that what I thought, I’m really excited to see what paultons are capable of achieving, if lost kingdom is anything to go by, I think we are in for an impressive treat constuction pics are hard to get, there is a bit construction fence all around the area with no peep holes, and no big high advantage points, I could have poked my phone over the fence but didn’t want to take advantage and faced being told off by staff, the only ride that kinda works getting any pics of the scope of the area is on windy castle which works when your car is stopped at the top so here is the best I could get so things we know for sure or rumoured name tornado springs(confirmed) at least 5-6 new rides according to gossip heard (only rumoured to the exact count but we know there will be a few, another new coaster maybe??) rio grande WILL return and will be extended to run through or around the new area(confirmed as the park have said will return in 2020) wave runner WILL feature in the new area and be rethemed to fit in the new area(confirmed as the park was doing work all around the ride putting up timber sheets around the outside of ride. New area opening may 2020(confirmed as the board around the area says so) RIP panning for gold and mini golf attraction which is making room for the new area, it’s all gone Super excited to keep up with construction on this, can’t wait to see how it looks

I have tryed 4 trips this season to get a ride on the ghost train and every time it's been closed,today was my 5th attempt and finally I was able to get a ride, I only managed to experience it once but I am happy to have finally experienced it I would like another ride or two to really get a good feel for the ride, but overall, I thought it was ok but it's way overhyped still and could have been better. Love the themeing, I think it's done well, so many nice touches to detail here and there.pre show quite good, and quite clever too ride experience overall was good,first part of VR was actually ok, it worked well, everything flowed well, and all effects flowed well to the experience. The evacuation of the train experience was clever(how did they create the experience you came out of a tube train into a station??) tunnel effect worked well with the fake train down the tunnel, and then good interaction getting you back on the train to evacuate now the second part Is where the ride failed a bit, terrible graphics, no effects worked well to the movement of the train, my headset decided to glitch and not work properly and then was left with a blank screen for a little while, and seriously the ending felt weak, no clever effects in there compared to first part, I was waiting for something else to happen only for them to say that's it, get off etc so yeah it's ok but wow it's been massively overhyped, I was expecting more from this and while I enjoyed it to a certain extent, I really hope Thorpe improve it in some way and improve the reliability as well because yet again the same old stories surfaced today, basically the ride opened late at 11am,luckily we passed the ride at 11am,saw lots of activity and risked waiting for a while and managed the first ride of the day so we didn't queue long, queue reached a a max of 45 mins but it was on and off a lot today as we heard announcements it kept braking down when we passed the entrance a few times and we were not even allowed in the queue for another go when we wanted too, plus near the end of the day,they evacuated people from the ride and then it never reopened for the rest of the day. overall though a great day at Thorpe,I rarely get an opportunity to visit Thorpe on a weekday and it was a great day and we have great weather too(no rain at all despite threats of a thunderstorm), managed to ride all coasters at least once, and queues were not that long, longest wait was stealth at 45 mins but queue times were short elsewhere so we didn't really mind one reasonably long wait, all major coasters one train but that's to be expected on an off peak day. Staff were brilliant all over the park, and for the first time in a long time, I really enjoyed my day today

They always go with a big attraction every 3 years(2000 Stinger, 2003 WaveRunner,2006 Cobra,2009 The Edge,2012 Magma, 2015????) so I always suspected they would continue this trend for next year in 2015. Sounds Interesting, Hopefully a new coaster is in the works,Likes Rollercoasters, Professor Blast = Launch??? Maybe a mini launch coaster of some kind, could fit in perfect for the park, and maybe another indoor attraction too, the park does suffer with a lack of indoor attractions but guess we need to wait and see

YES the old entrance really was'nt all that good IMO,It looked like they plonked down some Portacabins randomly in front of the entrance gates, I think the new entrance will be much needed, nice and modern with a nice new main shop and new restaurant. All the new 2014 changes have been confirmed now. They are building a new Carousel,The New Entrance with New Shop and Restaurant will be ready for Easter, and there will be a new film in the 4D cinema. While not terribly exciting changes all round(although I am looking forward to seeing what the new entrance plaza will look like) 2015 should see another big ride if Paultons keeps up their tradidion of a "Big Ride every 3 years" 2000 - Stinger 2003 - Wave Runner 2006 - Cobra 2009 - The Edge 2012 - Magna 2015 - ?????? Rumours keep pointing to a Mini Rapids Ride(like what they have at West Midlands Safari Park) That was a while ago though so haven't heard anything else on the subject for ages,Hopefully a new coaster is on the cards

Report from Friday 11th October Another year and another Fright Nites, and its all change this year with new mazes, and new scares around the park. Firstly a big "sigh" though, Yet again this year there is no added themeing around the park(WHY), Come on Thorpe, Surely you can put in a budget for a bit of extra themeing here and there(You did do it for a number of years when you first started Fright Nites) but now its complety non-existant, I actually find it really sad and despressing a little, Its what makes Fright Nites that little bit special IMO,Alton goes to a bit of extra effort for their halloween event, so surely you can too. But enough about that, lets go to the positives,Well yet again, The First Friday of the event is definatly THE day to do Fright Nites(There is no way I'm doing this event on a weekend ever again)I've done the first friday of the event the past 2 years now and its wonderful not being bothered by big crowds,or big queues for anything(which can be horrible on a Fright Nites when you're trying to get as many rides as possible, and fit in all the mazes) ALL Rides had 30 mins max queues or less(Most were walk ons at times) and the mazes as well also reached upto about 30 mins or less. Ride availability was a bit shocking,Loggers,Samurai,Slammer were all down, Rumba was down for a good portion of the day but did eventually open,Also Colossus and Inferno running one train, Also Colossus got shut down for a good 20-30 mins as someone forced the closure of the ride so the ride ops could look for something someone has dropped from the ride(Not sure what) but it seemed odd, I thought they could only do this after park close?? Now for what Fright Nites is all about(The Mazes),when I left, I had tryed Cabin 4 times,Saw Once,Asylum Once,Bloody Valentine Once, and Blair Witch Once,I also Saw the You're Next actors around the park. CABIN IN THE WOODS - WOW seriously loved this maze(which is why I did it 4 times) loved the whole interactive different routes element, loved the fact you could stroll round it all pretty much at leisure, and do it on your own if you wish. This is how I would like to see other mazes do this theme next year(I think Asylum would be brilliant), loved the actors new approach where it was right upto your face and touching you to intimidate you,forcing you into corners and not letting you go,Blocking your route, and even trapping you in rooms, Basiclly I went in the room with the ballerina(eventually realising it was a dead end), and when I tryed to get out, the actor basiclly blocked my route and kept closing the door,I tryed to get out three times before being allowed out(Just brilliant interactive stuff), I found the control room, but its a waste of time,The Buttons dont do anything which is a shame. After the choice of rooms, The themeing goes off scale a bit, but I still enjoyed it, yet again some good scare tactics by the actors,Overall Brilliant and some good themeing inside too So The Rooms to explore is this, Can you find them all(I think this is all of them??) the Main First Room where you enter,The Garden,The Room with the Chains, The Bedroom,The Room with the Wolfs Head on the wall,the secret control room, The Room with the Faces on the wall,and the Ballerina room(which I think is refered to the Basement room) SAW ALIVE - Nothing has really changed inside, but it felt better than normal to me,slighty better scare tactics than normal, again a little more in your face than just coming out of a wall or hiding place scaring you which I think works better,Overall ok MY BLOODY VALENTINE - Well I enjoyed this one, Loved the roaming actors in the queue for starters which really passed the time well,thought they were very good. As for the maze, thought it actually had a good theme throughout,Quite enjoyed the start of the maze(Where the F%^$ did that actor come from behind him), and that just set the tone well, sure it then feels a little rushed going through the rest of it, but I thought it was ok, felt a little annoyed I couldnt go through the tunnel section as wanted to really try that bit of the maze,but still not bad overall. THE BLAIR WITCH EXPERIENCE - Bravo for Thorpe trying something new, but it didnt really work, Nothing really happens, but then nothing really happens in the film, so I guess they were trying to cleverly portrait that, but I still think they should improve it if it comes back next year, a few nice touches here and there, and one or two decent sound effects, but the end bit felt pointless, and didnt really work,I think the House should have been complety blacked out(Like a tiny maze) and we were made to feel our way out while lots of sound effects keep going of around you or something like that. ASYLUM - Its as good as ever and popular as ever, but maybe this does need a re-theme now as it is maybe getting a little tiresome, I would like to see this get the Free flow treatment like Cabin,and theme it so you go through multiple rooms or alter the maze with a few dead ends. I think the new ending though is brilliant and well done, Lets just say Chainsaw Guy is back and back with a vengence YOU'RE NEXT ACTORS - hummmmmmm, thought they could be more convincing if I'm being honest, they didnt really do anything to anyone, I did like how they were carrying convincing real weapons like a Crossbow,Sledgehammer etc, but there was'nt much scare tactics involved from them, Just needs more scare tactics involved So best Fright Nites ever, NOT QUITE, but this whole new change is a step in the right direction, and I think they will learn from it so if they can just pinpoint the few odd problems and just improve the whole experince a little(assuming they stick with this theme again for next year) then I am really forward to next year, so bring it on

If the 2014 rumour is true, you will probably get your wish

Just so everyone knows, The old dungeons is definatly closing end of January, so you still have time to experience the dungeons in its old location one last time, there's even a new attraction called Fog Freeze just opened. I think this will be excellent for the attraction to hopefully grow/expand and gain more popularity, It will be in a more prime position for people to visit and should benefit in more visitor numbers, I am really excited about this, roll on March

SplashDown poole is pretty decent IMO, They have some pretty good slides, and you can easily be entertained for a good few hrs, I just love riding the Spacebowl Slide nearly all day , be warned though that Splashdown is Water Slides ONLY, there is NO main swimming pool area, so dont go there expecting to go for a nice swim as well unlike The Sandscastle and others which offers everything in one, this is still not a bad thing of course, because if you like WaterSlides, you will still like/love the place I think, Also its open all year round too, they simply operate with all the indoor slides in the winter season, and open the outdoor slides come the summer,Mississippi Drifter still operates in the winter/off season as it diverts down another flume instead of Grand Canyon which is quite a clever thoughtout process I dont know what the future really holds for this place and Tower Park in general though as the whole place did go downhill slightly, but it suddenly went under a big modernisation adding new restaurants,refurbishing the cinema and bowling, and its kinda payed off with visitor numbers much improved, but Splashdown CANT really expand as they dont have the room, they did add a new flume this year, but its their first major Flume sinse they added The Spacebowl which I think was back in 2005/06,cant remember exactly,Torpedo Run went under a change and re-theme in that time, but thats it. Also cant believe no one has mentioned it, but WaterWorld in Stoke is quite decent, Been there a couple of times, and its quite good, It seems to attracts a LOT of chavs unfortunutly, and it always gets busy(Was busy on all the times I tryed it anyway), but there are some decent slides on offer(including a Master Blaster), and my personal favourite again, A Spacebowl slide,plus the swimming area is quite good with good children facilities, and slides too, defo worth a visit when you're in the area

Went on Friday to Fright Nites, my thoughts. Firstly, why no themeing around the park, I was disapointed they havent bothered to theme the park in anyway, Its not like the old days when they at least attempted to theme the park a little bit, the only changes here and there are some ride annoucements, but thats it, a bit poor. Some live actors are going round the park this year, but they only come out at night, I thought they were quite good actually, and fitted into the theme well, they were really creating some good scares all round. Crowd wise, it was brilliant, I had a feeling it was going to be quite empty, and so it proved, The Swarm was pretty much walk on from the afternoon, or 5 mins at most, and they were letting you sit where you like too. FF was doing about 5-6 laps all the time, pretty much all other rides had about a maxiumum of 5-10 min queues, Saw reached a peak of approx 30 mins, but died down a bit after that, The mazes had reasonable queues to be expected, The Curse only reached a max of 5-10 mins all day, Experiement 10 probably reached around 30 mins, and Asylum about the same,The Passing had very short queues when it opened, but when I went past it late around 8PM, the queue shot up to what looked like a good 20 mins or so. OK,So mazes review time. The Curse - Really enjoyed it this year, there was definatly more scares than usual, and more actors it seemed,at least 2 actors did a great job by following behind us for a while, the ending seemed different to what I remember too. The Asylum - Still the same old usual maze, but I still like it like this, some very good scare tactics by the actors with a fair bit of grabbing,I still miss Chainsaw guy at the end because it worked so well the way he used to run down that corridor when you were about half way down chasing you out, although "mad Girl" at the end this year as I like to call her was excellent,not letting us out at first, and then pretty much throwing us out the maze, worked well Experimemt 10 - I cant compare this to last year, as I didnt go last year, but I thought it was quite a good maze, Its quite intimidating with very good interaction from the actors, pushing you about a bit, Going in the little room alone works quite well building up the suspense, Now sadly I got the route with the dark corridors and tunnels(would have liked to have tryed the tunnel route as I hear it is much better) but it still worked well, the ending was quite good with everyone bolting towards the exit screaming. The Passing - OK so just to confirm a few things, You can pay for this maze on the day(It is NOT strictly advanced booking only) and its the same price on the day(£3) so you can pretty much turn up and get a time slot for whenever you want, there is not unlimited slots though so they will run out if its really busy, Obviously you do need to pay for this maze though, there is NO standby queue. Also you do go through in Groups, It is not a "going through on your own" type maze, at one point, you can kinda continue going through on your own, but guess the majority of people will always still go through in groups, ok so spoiler time I ended the day with night riding(Well thats what Fright Nites is all about) on The Swarm,Stealth and NI, The Swarm is excellent in the dark, and really delivered a kick ass ride, The Front Row was just special,I forgot how good NI was in the dark too, again very good, and Stealth was the usual excellent ride after dark too. Overall Not a Bad Fright Nites event, The Passing could do better but Experiement 10,Asylum and the Curse are all up to a good high standard, and Night Riding Excellent as usual. Bring it all on next year I say

I took my annual trip to Paultons last weekend, and done an update with many Magma Pictures, 2013 will see a new 4D cinema,New Admission Kiosks, and other improvements http://porsmond.bravepages.com/Paultons/Paultons9/Paultons.html enjoy the pictures

I was on park today, and heard the same rumour that someone apparently got their leg caught under a boat on the loading platform, Got to be honest, I'm not quite sure how that happened though because there doesnt really seem to be a way to do that, I can only imagine that "possibly" the person was a bit silly and decided to try and get out early before the boat stopped complety in the station, and twisted their leg under the boat, or the person rushed too quickly to get in the boat before the boat had stopped, and again got their leg caught under the boat, or again it could have been operator error where the person was getting in, and accidently started up the ride not realising everyone was on, I guess we cant speculate until we really hear anything offical though (If we do) It makes you wonder the future of the ride, only 2 years in, and yes 2 fairly major incidents, plus the ride still leaks really badly underneath, I just cannoy understand Thorpe's decision to buy this ride and put it where they did, Its looks awful, it is awful, and plus you can tell no one really likes it when you see people's expressions when they come off, and the ride only gets queues because of the awful slow capasity. It doesnt look good for the busy weekends ahead now, with Samurai,Slammer,Storm Surge all down, Plus the Carousel was closed today

I'm pretty sure it WONT be because I have just booked my trip to Fright Nites and going on the First day(12th) and I've booked the passing for a 6PM go,and its in timed sections of 15 mins from 3PM so surely it cant be only 4 people an hr which would only be 24 people a day, Can you imagine the hundreds of complaints they would get from people turning up on the day seeing about the new maze/experience but only to be told, that you cant buy it because its advanced booking only and all sold out. I have a feeling it will be played out "in court" style, and there will probably be a group of upto 10 of you(I'm guessing no more than that surely) and you will be trialed by excecution, you will then be lead to your death etc I am generally looking forward to Fright Nites this year,I couldnt make it last year, but this year looks exciting with the new style maze/experience, and my first try of Experiement 10 where I was'nt able to go last year and try it, First Day will be excellent too, I did it once before in the past and crowds are pretty low so cant wait

I went today(18/8/12), I thought it would be insane being the hottest day of the year so far(It hit about 85 degrees) and yeah it was pretty busy, the queues to get tickets was insane, glad I could skip all that though with a season pass(one of the great benifits) This was'nt an all day visit, I was going upto London anyway to pick up my girlfriend who stayed up there the night before with a friend, so I visited for a few hrs, and left around 3PM, I entered the park just before 10AM, wanted to get there earlier, but it was my own silly fault for lying in too late and leaving later than I planned, thought that would blow my chances getting a quick swarm ride when I saw the crowds on arrival, but as it turns out, the ride did not open for park opening and only just opened up when I entered the area, this meant I was able to get a ride on swarm with only a 15 min queue, and on the front row too(BTW Why does NO ONE use the front row queue bit,EVERYONE just went up the normal bit at the end, Really bizarre, Not that I'm complaining of course, lol) Anyway the ride was good as usual, and I think its finding its form already, very smooth, and felt a tad more intense than usual. In the 5hrs I was on park, I didnt manage that many rides due to the crowds,Just The Swarm Twice,Stealth Twice,X No Way Out Once, and Flying Fish Once, I did have lunch in that time, and went to see the Basketball Stunt Show in the arena, so its not "too" bad for 5hrs work, I really miss Single Rider Queues at this park though now, I could have easily managed a full day at the park today if I wanted too, but I cant anymore, Its a bit sad really, If Alton ever stops theirs, I will scream. So yeah crowds were busy today, but it was one of the hottest days of the year so far, Tidal Wave's queue came OUT THE ENTRANCE, and Storm Surge reached 90 mins(Sod that),Didnt check the Rapids or Log Ride, but think on the boards, they both reached well over 30 mins each. NI,Colossus and Saw all easily about 1hr. Swarm reached a peak of about 1-2hrs), but I tryed the "afternoon trick"(Go around 2PM when everyone rides its first and goes elsewhere) and incredibly IT WORKED, The queue was only 25-30 mins, so notced up another quick(ish) ride before heading off. Basketball Stunt show was very good I thought, the guys were very talented, and there was some good skills on show, Worth a watch if just to get away from the crowds, and chill for a while, They were giving out Free Cans of Dr Pepper too for the show, and then afterwards, Gave away more Freebies(Some Dr Pepper Pants, lol) 2 amusing things seen today, People QUEUEING in LONG queues to get Fastrack tickets and then seeing them still wait in a QUEUE in the Fasttrack queue for many rides which didnt really help people avoid any queueing(So it was more like QueueTrack today), and Silly people using the Hot Air dryers coming off Tidal Wave drying themselves when errrrrrrrrrr it was soooooo hot outside, you could have dryed off easily in about an hr or so in the extreme heat, WTF. So not a bad 5hrs really, I actually expected it to be a lot worse.

YAY, Get Ready People :)Tuesday 1st NovemberDont Tell the Bride, The Thorpe Park Episode9PMBBC3Dont forget there is always repeats throughout the week, but timings always vary, so you will need to check TV guides/TV planners

I cant confirm this 100%, but I heard that the ride did breach the tree height limit and they could only apply for the ride on a temporary contract(apparenly for 4 years at first) they then tryed to extend it which they did for another 2 years, but were told that noise levels need to come down and improve otherwise it would be taken down, this was then for this very reason that it was eventually removed.Great ride it was though, ahhhhhh I so miss Thunderlooper, What a classic

Batching does work on most rides and probably wouldnt bother me if it was introduced on the Vampire all the time, it would stop people clogging up lines when others are empty. this happened to be once, I saw a line empty, but the one next to it must have had about 3-4 groups of 2 people ALL WAITING, I was a bit puzzled at first, but calmly walked into the empty line obviously doing nothing wrong, then a woman waiting in the line next to it started having a go at me saying "what are you doing,there's a line here, Cant you see We're all waiting" So I just calmly replied saying "errrrrrrrr actually love, there are 2 seperate lines here, and this line was empty so I'm doing nothing wrong,You could have queued in this line too you know" she soon shut the hell up after that, was funny, what was weirder was she still continued to queue up and not move over, and then I just gave her a really cheesy smile as I went off in the train(she didnt seem to like that either, LOL) I thought I heard of a rumour of a new family coaster in 2012/13, anyone know more or am I thinking of Legoland??

errrmmmm may I ask why there is a topic for this, there is absolutely NO WAY you can predict how busy a theme park will be on a particular day.YES you can take a guess based on previous years, but there are a few factors that actually go into each day into how busy it will be like the weather,accidents on local roads/motorways,unexpected lots of coach trips,any public holidays etc. I went to Thorpe back on June 30th, and expected it to be really quiet, and when I suddenly heard about the big public union strike, I was still maybe expecting to be quiet(ish) but NOPE, It was pretty dam busy that day, I'm guessing that because so many people were suddenly not working that day,most people thought of going to a theme park or going somewhere out to make a day of it.There's also been 2 times in the past I've been to Legoland in the middle of the week expecting the park to be really quiet/dead, but I've been stunned on both those occasions in that the park has been pretty heaving(Its stunning to say the least) and proves you cant really judge when a park will be quiet. I'm not saying we shouldnt continue with this topic, but I'm only speaking the truth, you cant predict the future, also when people do answer and give a prediction, it could make it worse for the person who turns up expecting it to be really quiet when it could easily turn out to be really busy. I'm just one of those people who just turns up and waits to see what happens, If its busy,oh well, you just try to make it the best day you can, If its really quiet, then BONUS, You can chill for most of the day while still going for a number of max rides and taking advantage of it

Sorry peeps, looks like we will be waiting at LEAST 3 more weeks for this episode, Next week the programme is taking a break(18th October) I dont know why as they didnt say?? Its NOT the episode on the 25th October because the preview for it didnt show Thorpe, so yeah its gonna be at least 3 more weeks.At least everyone has a bit more advanced planning ready to record/watch it I suppose

I mentioned this in another topic, tryed to start up another topic, but wouldnt let me??YEP, looks a good episode(seemed to show some good footage of Stealth) obviously dont think the whole show will be from Thorpe, just the wedding bit I guess, and maybe the after wedding bit or something, not sure though.This is a 12 week series, so we "could" still be waiting a while for the thorpe show, maybe showing as late as early/mid november,however at the end of each show, there is always a preview for the one the following week so we should know a week in advance, if I know I will post back. Also there are always repeats of the show throughout the week incase anyone misses it, but I think the timings always vary a little, so you will need to check tv schedules.

Germany Parks will even dispatch rides even if you get in the car and the bar isnt even down I went on the mine train at Europa Park once, and got in my seat, and had barely sat down when the guy just dispatched the train, I then very quickly grabbed the bar and pulled it down, lol. This is why I love Germany, they dont do none of this health and safety crap when they physiclly have the check the lapbar to see if its locked, they just do a quick glance down the train to see if all restraints/bars are locked/clicked in and away they go, capacity on the rides then goes way up, and queues move lightning quick(anyone whos been to Europa Park will know how quick their lines move)

Another TV Alert(Sorry would start a seperate thread in this or the general thorpe forum but it wont let me for some reason???)Anyone watch Dont Tell the Bride?? a new series has just started on BBC3( I dont generally watch it, but my girlfriend does) Anyway on one episode, there is going to be footage from Thorpe Park, with the guy arranging the wedding at the park I assume??? they keep showing a preview of the series at the start of each episode, and they showed footage of Stealth, so it might be worth watching??Its on Tuesday nights at 9PM BBC3, there is always repeats throughout the rest of the week but I think they vary a little and you will need to check schedules, Its a 12 week series and it started 3 weeks ago, so bear in mind, the episode from thorpe could be shown as late as early to mid November, If and when I catch the episode on the series, I will report back to say

^You can see parts of London from Peeking Heights, but it does have to be a very clear day. I think you can just make out the Wembley Arch tooAnyone want to relive some memories of Eclipse when it was at Thorpe, I took some nice aerial photos from its last operating season, amazing to see from these photos how much Thorpe has once again changed so much over the yearshttp://porsmond.bravepages.com/Thorpe/Eclipse/Eclipse.html

Cheetah Chase looks stunning, and progress is moving along nicely,however I guess I am still hoping for a miracle that Busch will do a soft opening of this, I am visiting Early May and I know they have confirmed it will be opening end of may for memorial day weekend, its just a shame Busch dont really do soft openings,if only they could do it this once?? wish I could have gone later in the year, but it was'nt actually possible due to lots of other various commitments, and when I first organised going back to Florida, I obviously didnt know the opening day so never mind.Still looking forward to going back though, and lots of new stuff for me to try still, Manta at SeaWorld, Harry Potter Land,Aquatica,Simpsons Ride,RipRocket Ride and there's still the new kiddie coaster credit at BGT. At least Cheetah chase will be something new next time I go back to Florida

^hey weeby-vuit, I am going to Florida that day too(29th April) although, not going as long as you, only going till May 7th, been loads of times before anyway.Late April/Early May is quite a good time to go, You get nice weather(Hot but not too unbearable), and the crowds at the parks are not too bad either You will find they are reasonably busy, but they wont be extreme.Tips for the Waterparks, they get really busy from opening all the time(Queues can get silly) but I've found they calm down half way through the day so best to do half days from late(ish) afternoon,Check to see if you can get discounted entry after a set time(Wet N Wild used to do it) crowds are a lot less pleasent, and you can enjoy it more with less queues.I cant wait to go back, looking forward to Aquatica, Manta at Sea World,Harry Potter at IOA, Simpsons at Universal(All new for me since I last went) Going to miss Cheetah Chase at BGT, I'm gutted, but hey ho, its something for next time I guess

Thorpe Park Sunday 10th OctoberI havent been to Fright Nights for 2 years, I boycotted the event last year because of the silly ban on season passes to the event, however it looks like that backfired on Merlin for them to relax the ban this year and allow the use of passes with a small fee of £5 which is reasonable, so I decided to visit again this year. Thought it was going to be a nightmare day though as there was long queues for tickets, and I queued 30 mins to get my ticket which I booked on the internet, lots of people were quietly moaning in the queue, so yeah it was'nt a good start. However thankfully the day turned out really well in the end and I finally enjoyed a good day out at Thorpe for once, the final ride count ended like thisStealth - 7Nemesis Inferno - OnceX No Way Out - TwiceRush - TwiceColossus - TwiceFlying Fish - TwiceSaw - OnceQuantum - OnceAll Mazes and Saw Alive - Once eachSo Not a bad ride/maze count overall I thought, I left at 7.30PM.What is up with Colossus, OMG It is FLYING, and it seems a lot smoother too, It definatly did not go that fast into the inlines in previous years, I dunno what they have done to it, but I absolutly loved it. Saw is still good as ever, but the Blades are not swinging at the start, its also got a tad rougher too but thankfully still not too unbearable, still a very good ride overall. X had the lights on today and I thought that made the ride BETTER, It was really unique riding it at the front seeing the track in front of you riding backwards,It made it kinda cool in a way, Stealth is still awesome as usual, the staff were excellent today keeping queues very reasonable, and no brakedowns to speak off(none I personally witnessed anyway).So It was soon 4PM, and it was onto the mazes, It didnt get off to a good start though as when queueing for the Curse, they annouced it was going to open at 5PM due to a technical problem(OMG its only a maze, how can it suffer from a technical problem, I really did find it highly amusing) so I quickly dashed to Se7en instead.Se7en - Clearly the most popular maze still, and it shows, I really enjoyed this maze again, some of the scare tactics were excellent and everything just seemed to work so well, The 3 fake doors scene still somehow works every single time with everyone trying them, and the actors laughing at you when you cant seem to find your way out, eventually they pointed the way out to us, but it was highly amusing, the end scene was slighty disapointing as they didnt lock us in for a while before letting us out, I thought this added to the drama last time I did it, but they just went along banging on the bars and we just went round the side and exited,Still very goodThe Curse - A good maze, I think its done really well, I was at the back of my group, and one actor followed me for a good while touching me on the back constantly, I think its good they do this once in a while, It just adds to the overall experience,good fun.Hellgate - Still the weakest maze out of all of them, but slighty better from how I remember it, lots of actors this time around(Last time I did it, I swear they were all on a tea break), no real action in the last scene, but not badThe Asylum - Still very good as usual,the way it seems to go on forever is brilliant, and lots of scare tactics galore from the actors, one actor kept pestering the girl behind me in my group really freaking her out, I thought it was hilarious, Chainsaw guy is back again, giving everyone a good scare at the end running out the exit, good times.Saw Alive - I really want to like this attraction, but I do think it could still be better, I wonder if Thorpe will improve it in any way next year, I dont think its a terrible maze though, and most people actually seem to enjoy it,I finally got the full effect in the Carousel trap room where it stopped and you got blasts of air pumped at you, it freaked out a few people in my groupDead End Terror Zone - errrrrrrrrr, what were Thorpe thinking, It really was'nt great was it, I thought it was a bit poor TBH,I just came out thinking "is that it" and then having a laugh at the end because it took you about 30 seconds to walkthrough,The smoke was not thick enough to create a good atmosphere which meant you could immediatly see the actor when you turned a corner etc, absolutly EVERYONE I witnessed coming out of it didnt look too thrilled about the whole experience either. I appreciate that Thorpe made the effort to create something new but it really could have been better. My Solution for next time, create it along the new path at the back of Colossus leading upto Saw Alive, this is quite a long windy path, and with the right lighting effects,themeing and good thick smoke effects, it would work really well along here I think.Other Comments - I cant believe Thorpe never bothered to theme any of the park, I was disapointed by this(there was only very minor themeing here and there) I also couldnt believe that none of the music/sound effects/announcements were changed on the rides either this time around to fit the theme like in previous years,again disapointing. The New taking of photos of your group before you entered the mazes I thought was stupid, with only one person given the ticket and that means you would have to remember to ask the person you want the ticket if you did want your photo, but its easily forgettable when you get out the maze,really they should give out a ticket to everyone in the group.Overall it was a great day, The Staff were bang on form on every ride, really keeping queues down to a minimum, I didnt queue up long for anything(Longest queue of the day was Saw 35 mins) I did all the mazes in just 1hr 30 mins, and I really liked Saw in the dark, its quite cool ROLL ON NEXT YEAR FOR MORE I SAY