Han30

I’m gonna be awake all night with excitement for tomorrow’s announcement ?

Large drops were something that before I conquered my fears, absolutely terrified me. I was bricking it before Oblivion, Stealth and Saw - not helped by the fact that all 3 rides are pretty intimidating to look at. I love them now but that first time can be nerve wracking. Now you’ve done inversions I would say start off with Saw but maybe not front row first - yes the drop is quick but it’s over very fast. Also Phantasialand is an amazing park if you can get there (I’d also highly recommend Efteling though I’ve only done 3 parks out of this country being these 2 plus DLP years ago)

On Tuesday there were no actors at all after the ride both times I rode it - first time that’s happened and it definitely enhances it having actors there. Also the bloody corridors were SO dark - I’m surprised no ones had a bad injury, I could barely see anything ? Also, I’m not the most observant of people but have they added that awful stench in the exit corridor recently? Fairly sure I’ve not smelt it before - it’s right after one of the flaps (which I’ve since named the flaps of death because the smell is vile). It’s the kind of smell that you can taste but not in a good way ?

???

Encounters - roaming actors?

Yeah he was saying they were only told about it yesterday (I was being nosey and listening in)

Am at Thorpe today and one of the staff on Stealth was telling a guest that they are open throughout Sept so that’s odd!

I just had a thought - could it be my bloody valentine? - the only reason I say that is due to it being put in the location where BT was when the arena was shut off for construction of DBGT. And it was mainly shipping containers. Either way I’m losing hope for a decent FN ?

Sanctum was in a perfect place - where a lot of people probably didn’t even know it was there ? Bringing back Blair Witch is just meh - Asylum on the other hand would be amazing but that’ll never happen thanks to the PC brigade (and the fact that IAC is there now). P15 in its first year was god awful - last year a huge improvement but the tunnel is far too long and there is no proper ending to it. If Sanctum is being relocated to where BT was then I just hope that it has a huge improvement from last year. Losing BT in my opinion is a massive mistake (as was Asylum) but who knows what goes on with the people who decide on the mazes. To replace BT with BW to me screams of cost cutting - I’m assuming BW would be pretty damn cheap in terms of theming compared to Big Top but maybe I’m just being a cynical old fart

Youve done incredibly well - very pleased for you as I know myself I used to have a huge fear of rides so a big pat on the back. If you’re off to Thorpe then you’ll be absolutely fine on Swarm and Inferno. Saw is my favourite there but I can understand people don’t like the look of it. On my nieces first go on Saw back in 2015 she literally cried but got off and declared that she loved it and has since ridden it over 50 times (she was only 11 on her first go) so you never know. Have a fab time and let us know how you get on!

Amazing - well done! edit - did you sit back row on Nemesis?

I hate Rita personally - that first turn smacks my head quite bad. Seriously get on Nemesis (try for front or towards the front) you’ll be fine I promise!

Yeah I knew it wasn’t just a case of chucking a tent up but ?? In comparison to Blair Witch which has a few pop up tents and the shed and I’m guessing would be relatively easy to set up as there’s very little theming. Urgh damn

The doll looks like Billy (or my eyesight is awful) Realistically how long does it take the park to set up The Big Top? I’m trying to cling on to hope that it will be there this year but it’s looking doubtful. As mentioned before, this year we’ve already had Living Nightmare Extreme open for half term and then at the beginning of summer when there was a delay on Saw Alive, Living Nightmare was open for a bit (which I did and it was awful - completely different beginning with no photo and a chunk of it sectioned off but in fairness it could have just been bad luck) So IF Blair Witch returns instead of Big Top there will be 3 outdoor mazes and both indoor ones have already been open this year so not a great deal of incentive to visit - yes Platform is good but Sanctum and BW need lots of work on them. Saw I enjoy but it’s been there for years and does get very samey. As good as P15 is its not a line up to get excited about - I usually look forward to Fright Nights but feeling a bit meh about it this year. I will go - only because I have a MAP and this will be the first year my niece @that.girl.soph will be doing FN.

I really hope Big Top returns this year - as much as the chainsaw dude at the end creeps me out it is probably my favourite maze - that music ? I thought Sanctum was naff last year but it was a good laugh - if that returns (which I’m assuming it will due to TWD thing) then I hope it improves a la Big Top and Platform. Pray for Big Top and not Blair Witch but this is Thorpe so nothing would surprise me

You were a tree in a past life ?

Was really impressed with creepy caves one last year but they do need to make it clearer that it isn’t one for smaller kids - from what I saw and read online a lot of kids were terrified. I really enjoyed it but went in with a family which included smaller kids last year and my eardrums were nearly perforated.

Are my eyes playing up or is that a middle handle thing (as opposed to the daft ones at the side of the seats) - much prefer the wheel in the middle - got a damn good bump on Rumba last week and cracked my arm which bloody hurt

I’ve not been to a meet this year due to personal reasons but just want to say thanks to Ryan (and Paige) for the meets I attended last year - both myself and Roodie enjoyed the ones we attended and as was the case when Peaj ran the meets, they were always great fun. Best of luck to Matt in running forthcoming meet ups - when I’m up to it I’ll try to get to some meet ups as you guys here are a great bunch of people and I kind of miss everyone

That’s quite pricey though the pop badge would prob sell on eBay for £500 ?

Not long till Fright Nights and hopefully Saw Alive will be open today unless it ends up floating off in the rain ??

Yup rides tend to look so much scarier or intimidating than they actually are. With the exception of Detonator which just fools you into thinking it’s quite tame. Years ago I swore I would never ride Oblivion and my first trip to Towers back in 2013 I’d done the big rides fine, forced myself on Blivvy and actually cried up the lift hill - but now it’s one of my fave coasters. Was worth crying like a baby ? and grabbing my friends hand to face the fear!

Ah that makes sense - honestly once you overcome this fear (and you will) you’ll probably wish you’d done it sooner - but it’s never too late - I was 32 when I faced the big coasters at Thorpe and I’m gutted I used to be the one holding the bags when I could have been enjoying the rides. Don’t put too much pressure on yourself and take things at a pace that you are comfortable with but at the same time you have to push yourself a little bit to overcome the fear - it’s not easy but it’s worth it!

You can do it - I’d recommend Inferno before Colossus but whatever way works for you - just go for it ? might be worth taking some paracetamol as Colossus can be rough depending where you sit. I always carry headache tabs to theme parks as they charge about £500000 for a pack