Mitchada04

Doing some research for a project at college I came across this image. Following the link took me to this page: http://www.artem.com/portfolio/552 This company produced the gasometer, water tank and the church steeple. Some decent images of both effects in use and the creation/installation of them. Excuse me for going slightly of the Tidal Wave topic here, but the whole portfolio is worth a look as they've done many notable projects such as the props used in the opening ceremony, Brian the Confused. com robot and a replica rig that tilts Air's seats for the TV advert. Definitely worth a look!

Nope, I'll post the answer over the weekend in case anyone else would like a guess

From Towers Nerd Live yesterday. That's why all those rides are closed, nothing to worry about (why Spinball hasn't closed though I don't know unless they realised that doesn't need to close).

Not really sure where to put this but I guess it works here. I was reading through one of the available jobs (Marketing Assistant) and noticed they've changed the "About Us" section to it: This definitely has a much higher push towards the family market than the old one which just went on about all the thrill rides. Hopefully a continuation that we will continue to next year see a move towards bringing back the family market.

After getting to do Blair Witch and Saw Alive last night I have now done each maze this year (first time ever) and feel like they should be reviewed. I'll warn you all of possible spoilers ahead but I don't think anyone will mind. So let's start with the worst; My my my, that was Bloody Awful: If you can't pick up from my rename of it, I didn't enjoy MBV, it was utter rubbish. This is based on one awful run through and I did want to try it again but I wasn't prepared to queue 2 hours for something which is likely to be rubbish again. How this got the 5 scare rating worries me but it somehow did. The potential within here is what annoys me, it has the potential to be quite good. But this potential wasn't used and from what I've heard from others who did it other times it wasn't great once. The concept of Harry chasing you through the mines is good and they could have even used some suspense where there is silence in a mine, lights go out and he appears. It just didn't work, the forest just had a troll actor walking through, the room with the heart shaped boxes was empty, actually that whole corridor was, the ending was rubbish, not a single actor in there on our run through but even when Harry is there he just seems to hit his axe on the floor from what I've heard. The only part that was good was the tunnel but not everyone gets to experience that. So overall, awful. Blair Witch Project: I really enjoyed this! We didn't bump into another group on our run and it was pitch black in some parts. The actor hides were noticeable but they were using them in different ways so they didn't always jump out in front of you. Quite an eerie walk in the woods with a few jump scares. The shed was great too! Walking up to it (I led our group) you could just see a silhouette in there so when I entered I went to the right to go round it and he appeared in front of me. And then I got lost in the shed because I didn't realise half of it was blocked by a wall so after having an actor flash a light at me I found my way out. Really good fun and no where near as bad as people had told me. So overall, a great laugh with a group of mates. The Asylum: As per every year, the use of strobes is very disorientating and makes it seem like stuff is moving away when they're coming towards you. Good length, good fun, a few up close moments with actors, and the chainsaw guy doing a good job changing where he hides. Always good fun and confusing with a few jump scares. So overall, good 8 year stint and will be a shame to see it go but change isn't always bad. Saw Alive: I haven't done this since it last opened in the main season (2011?) so was nice to do it again. Although there was no smoke on our run it was good fun with actors joining the conga line, cornering our group as a whole, stroking us, and hiding very well. Theming was as good as it always is, and having a photo with Jigsaw is always nice. So overall, more jumpy than Asylum and it has improved in my eyes since I did it a few seasons ago. Cabin in the Woods: Easily the best. The free flow of going round in small groups is great. The queue line actors are great. The maze actors are great. Just great! After my first few goes I was getting used to where the actors were but yesterday they had changed their hiding places and it actually made me jump a few times and I'm not very jumpy. Got pinned up against a wall to which was very fun. Really hope this returns next year or if we lose the IP based mazes they keep the free flow, choose your route maze because it was so much fun! So overall, great fun, in a group of 2 it is amazing, definitely a concept I hope is continued and improved upon next year. I'd talk about the You're Next actors but I'd rather not talk about them.

The higher end rides (Air, Power Tower, Wilde Maus XXL, Alpen Hotel) were 6 tokens last year and one token is £1. I wouldn't be surprised if they increase this year though because they've been that price for a few years now. Unfortunately, now that the date is confirmed I can confirm that I won't be attending due to being in Florida but have a good time everyone who goes

Whilst this may not be the exact layout/elements of Gringotts, it really makes you wonder what could be in store. It also answers the question of a recent article about where will roller coasters end up in the future. If Gringotts turns out to be anything like this then what an experience we have in store! http://youtu.be/r56nK9PwtEo

Having noticed the lack of FN trip reports I thought I'd make one for my visit after surviving the storm of 2013! The park opened late, didn't affect our visit as we arrived at 1. The only things we noticed was they had moved Cabin's queue entrance to the Colossus side due to a huge puddle on the normal side, and a few metal fences had fallen over at the Inferno end of Blair Witch. The park was very quiet with the longest queues we noticed being 45 minutes for Saw and an hour for Asylum. Due to the walk on rides we did these all night and only ventured into the Cabin. The staff were once again great with The Swarm operator turning the lights of in the station on some dispatches which looked great! Slammer, Samurai and Loggers were closed all day but apart from that we didn't witness any breakdowns. So a great evening and a great ride count: Swarm: 3 -2 forward 1 backward Saw: 2 Colossus: 3 Nemesis Inferno: 2 Stealth: 5 X: 5 Detonator: 3 Rumba: 1 Cabin: 1 Rush: 2 Picture time! Theming! My camera was working too fast so there are a few photos like this. You're Next were utilising the blurry effect last night. The woods survived the storm just about It's on fire! The Swarm will save it... Oh that's on fire too. This is what the station looks like in the dark. Loved this, the one in the Stealth plaza is also lit up and has smoke which blows across the launch track. The water is so clean it sparkles! Action! Colossus with no train Colossus with train. Colossus with lanterns. Towards the tower of light... Purple Stealth Blue Stealth Green Stealth Orange Stealth (my favourite) Blue Stealth with a train at the top. And I leave you with a question, what is this a photo of and where was it taken? (answer in the comments section if you want )

I'm heading down at 1 so hopefully they'll be open by then. There is quite a bit of damage in Addlestone which is literally 3 miles from Thorpe. It's probably just so they can put the B&Q sheds back up for Fright Nights Nice to see them keeping everyone updated though!

With the weather looking okay, the only chance I'd get to visit this year, and having heard that the first Saturday is quiet I headed to Chessington today. Had a great day and it was indeed very quiet! Longest we queued was 35 minutes for Vampire with most other rides being 10-20 minutes. Operations also seemed slightly better on some rides (still generally shocking compared to other parks but an improvement none the less). Didn't venture over to the Hotel side of the zoo so I have no idea how well that development is coming along. The only ride I witnessed break down was Rattlesnake, twice. Once when I was about to board everything just stopped, and second time when I was on the ride break run before the station so I sat there for 5 minutes. Other than that a great day and some photos taken: The sky was very fitting for a Halloween event! Sir Arthur's Kobra Rattlesnake working... Rattlesnake not working. It was going so fast it's blurred. In we go We made it! These poor people didn't. R.I.P The count wishes you all a happy Halloween!

I have to say the queue was moving very well today due to this! The new batching system also works well in filling up empty seats as they instead of always blocking out the back two rows for the exit queue, they either fill up one row or two depending on the size of the group so on most rides the main queue was getting 11 out of the 12 rows. Also, groups of 3 were being grouped together to make 6 so very few if any empty seats were left.

After a lot of doubt about whether or not I would make it to HHP this year, I finally got to visit today (albeit only till 4pm) and I have to say I was thoroughly impressed! So here's a little review of everything: Music: I love the music that they were playing around the park, very simple yet very effective. The Mystery of Hocus Pocus' music is also amazing when it's being blasted out of the Manor! Lighting: Whilst I didn't actually see it in use I was keeping an eye out for lights and 95% of them had coloured filters on which were aimed upwards to light up ride supports. There were also some nice blue lights wrapped around many of the trees. So as per usual, I can only imagine the lighting looked superb! Theming: This is the one area they lacked in this year. Previous years they've had pumpkins everywhere which looked quite good, but now they are limited to the entrances and the odd garden bed. Shame as I loved the mass of pumpkins on the sphinx's outside Tomb Blaster. The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall: This was by far the biggest surprise of the day! You really do forget what it used to be once you're in there, the changes are amazing and actually make this worthwhile. The story line is solid, effects good and actors great as always. Definitely worth it. It's not aimed to be scary, more mysterious and it does that very well and the target audience seemed to be loving it. Vampire: The Haunting in the Hollows: I loved this last year and it didn't disappoint this year! It is pretty much unchanged but I'm not complaining because it doesn't really need changing. It has the perfect mix of humour, storyline, suspense and jump scares. It is pretty intense in places and many children around 8 were quite scared at parts and I'm not surprised it is very intense towards the end. The finale also felt better this year due to an extra actor compared to my run last year and a bit more of pace throughout it other than slowly walking through it so this offered a nice chase element. I was gutted not to be able to do it in dusk/dark this year as that really is amazing but it is still amazing in daylight! So overall another great event and I really hope that with The Hollows and Mystery of Hocus Pocus we might get a third maze next year but even if we don't as long as those two return I will be very happy! Yes Chessington has had a bad year but that shouldn't put you off going to this event! All of the actors (as per every year) were great and I hope all of the positive reviews reflect this as it should be commended. Now to see if Blair Witch is weaker than The Haunting in the Hollows

The storm is hitting Thorpe area late Sunday night into the early hours of Monday so it shouldn't effect either days but as everyone knows about the weather it's pretty unpredictable.

Originally Monday 4th and Sunday 3rd were going to be 10-8 days as they were considering running fireworks on these two dates but that changed before the season began. Sunday 3rd should be fairly quiet (I certainly hope so as there's a few of us going from here!) but you can't ever be certain. On Saturday though Swarm and Colossus were walk on from 9 and that was a fairly busy day!

Why did I choose a college that involves getting the train? Or why can't I live in a country where the trains are never delayed or cancelled? Thanks South West Trains for your impeccable service!

I know they've just recently gone from 6 teams to 3. My friend works on X and he also has Samurai, Tidal Wave, Rocky Express and they gained Colossus's set when the teams merged.

It'll also have to do with staffing the rides for just 3 hours. Saw and Vortex are on the same ride team (I think) so it's probably easier to get a bunch of staff in from that one team than a few from each.

A few things from today. Rumba, Banana Boat, and Rocky stayed open past 5pm (Rumba till at least 8:30). Stealths changing lights look amazing! Samurai down and looks like it's waiting for a part. The mazes (I'll fully review the 3 I did tomorrow) Cabin in the Woods: not scary as such, but amazing fun both times we did it and a great concept! Queue also always seemed to be half what it was estimated! The Asylum: as always very disorientating and fun. It's always in my eyes the most consistent in the experience you get. My Bloody.... : what an awful run through on this we had! It began quite well and from what we saw in the tour the attention to detail is superb and the potential great but it didn't happen and it does seem like this one has big dips in performance. I'll try it again and hopefully get a decent run through next time. Saw and Blair Witch weren't done but will probably be done next time.

Does anybody know what time The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall and Haunting in the Hollows open this year?

Most of the schools in the area are aiming to be open but some lessons may be disrupted/cancelled so some students may be lucky enough to have no lessons. I doubt it will have a huge impact though

Halloween at Chessington is great! Their park wide lighting is the best out of all the Merlin parks easily, They try and theme the place so it actually feels like a Halloween themed event no matter what time of day it is, the music used is amazing, and the mazes are great for their target audience! Haunting in the Hollows last year was superb with the right mix of story, scares, laughs, and a little strobe maze section. I'm very excited for The Mystery of Hocus Pocus Hall too! Yes there's the issue of half the park closing at dusk (well all of it on some days) and the 7 close which isn't enough, 8 was good but 7 is far too short! Yes there's the low capacity rides and lack of care to try and run them the best they can be run, plus one main ride and a queue soaker ride closed this year but I'm sure I'll still have a great time when I go!

Disappointed by the use of an IP but not surprised. I get parks like Drayton and Blackpool using them as they don't naturally have the huge draw of being "Britain's number one theme park." There are many great minds at Merlin Studios and I'm sure they could have (and probably did) come up with an amazing immersive experience without the need of an IP. But we know Merlin, if they aren't 100% certain it will be a big draw they won't invest in it. Shame. Oh well, I'm sure it will be good and exceedingly popular with little kids which is the only side Merlin seem to look at most of the time.

Interesting piece of news from TowersStreet: Now whilst I'm not against front row Fastrack (anymore than I am against the entire system) I do find it wrong that you can purchase one for The Smiler yet, the general queue aren't allowed to queue and most of the time when asking for front row aren't given it. Other rides with a front row queue like Rita I can understand (Stealth has had it since it opened?) but with a ride you can't physically queue for the front seems wrong. I've noticed the same has appeared on Saw recently which I also don't quite understand. But, I guess if people are willing to buy it it shall be sold.

It's obviously not too much for people to pay because otherwise they wouldn't go. One of my work colleagues is going tomorrow and even after I said that they should book online for a cheaper price or find a 2-4-1 they said £50 isn't unreasonable for a 12 hour day. It's what, £4 more expensive than it has been most of the season and you're getting rides in the dark, a longer day, plus 5 Halloween attractions. In comparison to non-Merlin parks it is expensive, but compared to what the price is for the non FN dates I don't think it is unreasonable.

I liked this part from the application! Ramba Rapids? New for 2014 ride sussed! No but seriously when I ate at Mexican Cantina earlier this year I liked the food but did find the lack of indoor seating annoying so it's nice to see this being done