Matt 236

Thanks for the video, I have always had a soft spot for the Transylvania area of Chessington, and this helps it feel more-so. It's astounding how much skill, effort end creativity was placed upon this ride, from the beginning to the end. In its time it seems to come across as a game changing & revolutionary ride, where as mentioned it was one of the few original dark rides created then. There is further possibility that this could've even been close'ish to Disney standards at the time. Bubble works has always been a dark ride I've strongly enjoyed since first visiting Chessington in 2006 and this has helped me appreciate a lot more. I still remember how amazed I was when I first saw the fountain finale at the end with all the giant fountains everywhere and the impressive strobes which made it feel like you were blinking each time they occurred.

Ive heard Hartenhoff is going to be happening, but not until 2020 although it will be called something different now. Back on topic, I just hope this ride turns out to be worthwhile as the outcome could be something that is either utter,y brilliant or disappointing.

I am absoultely certain this is going to be a Simworx ride. Lets hope it's a good one.

Both look like worthwhile additions, especially the Ghost Train, tempted and hoping to ride it this year [as long as I don't need to take out a loan]. Any updates on that massive new power tower they were going to build/get last year but never happened?

Ive been to Thorpe before when Stealths been closed, but still had s good day. Went to Chessie many years ago where Fury was the same yet still had a good day. Even on my previous trip to Blackpool, when Big One (some could argue is their iconic ride) was closed all day due to wind (the big one), yet still had a good day. Though closed rides are a massive hassle, they don't necessarily ruin days out at parks (depending on the date of visit) as there's often lots to see and visit. DLP in 2016 however is another kettle of fish (considering three major rides will be closed all year and a further five or six supporting attractions also closing in the year. One must also remember than Stealth has been running longer than most of the rides there too having been open for Feb half term too. Will I be visiting Thorpe this weekend? No But there's a good reason behind that and it certainly is not Stealth (mcXVI)

I GOT THE FIRST SWARMY TRAIN OF THE YEAR! see no one cares. Anyways, based on usual things Stealth is often the worse for long breakdowns at Thorpe [coaster wise] and hopefully lots of work can be done on the ride to get it ready for it's tenth anniversary [Wow]. Hopefully the offending part is nothing to serious as I hear if some parts of Stealthy fail, she could be down for a year. As far as I'm aware there's not going to be a FHT next year. At least for Thorpe. TBH I doubt many people will be visiting Thorpe now with Fright Nights over and the weather getting now, probs just mostly fans,locals and those with time off to visit probably now.

This makes me very excited! My wish seems to have been granted. I'm hoping this will be a ride will be loosely IP based with an original story. The ride is getting more and more exciting now.

Just imagine Bubbleworks without the fountains, the mirrors and the music? That would be awful, might as well just turn the lights off too as that would be better.

Today is the day many DLP fans have been waiting and/or dreading to happen. And this will be the site of Big Thunder Mountain now for the next 13 months. Source- Inside DLP Lots more work is taking place too. Some light at the end of the tunnel remains however. It's certainly going to be a long year and a half with all these refurbishments at DLP and so many areas closed, and that's before Peter Pan, Star Tours, Rock N Rollercoaster plus Asvebture Isle, Cabane De Robinson, Animagicue & Tram Tour (who cares) close up. I have no plans to do DLP next year but I'm sure the place will look fantastic when 2017 arrives.

Sounds as though a lot of negative events have happened back stage then. Overall it's been a poor year for Merlin as a whole (except Legoland) which is a shame to hear this. Howl O Ween was alright last week but did lack in many areas, in that it needed another maze, at least one stage show and some roaming actors (that are more eccentric than scary). Really hope things can get sorted and HITH can make a come back next year, even if it's under a different name as that alone would entice me fully to return for next years event. Chewing ton (or Merlin eve), do need to get their act together and make these good events great again. 'This will do' attitudes will never be acceptable. I look at other uk Halloween events and the likes of Screamland & Screamfest Burton look like they wipe the floor here personally, and that's before any mention of the fantastic looking Scarefest this year.

Paultons is the only uk park that's actually making 'nice' things, nonetheless this looks fantastic and is one of many why this park will be on my radar for the near future [if getting there doesn't stop me].

With both these attractions closing this year and both replaced in 2017, another thing has struck me. Considering Universal has no areas in the parks they can currently expand, what attractions are likely for the chopping block for 2018 plus attractions I wonder?

Best news since Dreen Brown! Slammer, keep on slamming.

Wow! That happened rather quickly! So 2016 looks to be a good year, 2017 to be an even better one for the park having two massive new rides in addition to a massive new water park too. Vsitor numbers I've heard this year have been their highest yet at both here & the Hollywood park which is definitely a good thing. However the park will definitely be rather bleak between now and may/June having Hulk closed, Disaster closed plus twister going very soon too, amongst other possible closures too.

My reviews of my first ever trip to Chessington's Howl'O-Ween. Blog is here http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/63/entry-733-howl-for-halloween/ Vlog is here Curse Of The Tomb was a really good maze, Trick Or Treat was a let down somewhat, but the park lighting was amazing. The park could do with another maze and more entertainment for the event as the line-up felt rather limited.

For several years now, there's been something on my theme park bucket I've always been wanting to tick off now for a long time. No, not Baron 1898 [although soon hopefully], not Europa Park either I'm afraid, however keep an eye out for MC16 which is happening soon, some hints to what this may even appear in this very blog entry. This something is of course on home soil and relatively simplistic in all honesty. It's Chessington's Howl O ween event. It's been something I've planned for over two years but until had not worked out, due to not getting chance in 2013 and absolute rotten luck in 2014, very narrowly missing out on going [big emphasis on the very narrowly]. However due to numerous reasons [cough cough budget cuts], the two former fantastic mazes from the last few years were gone despite receiving strong reviews in their time and in were two new mazes [although in different locations to those], which begged the question. Would they remain as strong? Wait & see. One thing to note about Chessington is how much theming and decoration there was set-up, which made it feel a-lot more in swing, certainly more than Thorpe too. Pumpkins, lots of lots of pumpkins. Not bad theming for Chessington. BTW, I would recommend the Chicken Shack for food at the park as I'd say it's the best eatery there by a large'ish margin, especially if your fed up with Pizza, Pasta buffets or don't want miniscule fish & Chips either. But this was definitely the most impressive Halloween thematic element though, and looked even better at night. Review Of The Mazes [why the heck didn't I take more pictures] Curse Of The Lost Tomb The Main new maze for this year, with the absence of Haunting & Mystery [as mentioned earlier], this was the maze I was looking forward to the most and it had a lot to make up for. The maze was located in Wild Asia where the conference centre was [there might have been a stage there once too]. From the outside, there wasn't much to see really, just a standard temporary cattle pen like in to a building [bit like Thorpe really], not to mention was taking a bit of time for the queue to move. But the question was, did the maze itself prove to be worth it? Overall rating 9/10. Really enjoyed this maze, which featured an original storyline and features [game show like in a way] but unlike Thorpe's mazes were your just straight in to the action and are scraed silly, this had not just more of a backstory and not to mention a general reason why you were here in the first place. Trick Or Tweet Woods Located on the grassy area near Hocus Pocus where the log cabins continue to still exist. Being out in the open, not the best setting for a maze [though Blair Witch copes well] not to mention the cabin and trees were some cause for concern. Due to these reasons, we avoided the maze during the day and only did it once it was starting to get dark, hoping it would turn out better. But were we in for a trick; or a treat? Overall rating 2/10 [I'm feeling generous] That's 5 minutes I won't be getting back, makes Blair Witch MK1 look amazing, bring back Haunting In The Hollows! Though feeling hugely let down by that second maze, there was one good thing now, it was completely dark and meant it was time for some night rides. With the park closing at 8pm this year [something that will hopefully remain for next year], this gave us over 2 hours to experience rides fully in the dark [over 3 hours once the clocks change]. Night rides we managed were Scorpion Express which looked quite impressive at night especially the orange fire effect. We queued for Vampire next, which the dimly lit queue in the darkness really added to the experience even more than it does in the day. Unfortunately the ride broke for a while when we queued but was well worth it in the end, as the ride at night is superb. The way the ride interacts with the trees as it helix's through the shrubbery, it was absolutely amazing, shame there is only 10 days in the whole season you can really experience this ride at night. We did Fury after which turned out to be our final ride of the trip, which proved to be just as good at night, the darkness made the ride more fun and disorienting, not to mention the view from the lift was highly impressive [why I don't see that in the day is astounding]. Howl'O-Ween Summary The event as a whole was very good. Absolutely loved the Curse Of The Lost Tomb maze and the night rides, where the park as a whole looks amazing, even more so than Thorpe [except Stealth], as there was different coloured lighting and effects park wide which greatly added to the atmosphere. The park's soundtrack helped set the scene but was a little repetitive in all honesty. Whilst in some ways this event was better than Thorpes [There I Said It!], like the park's current state, there were a lot of flaws. Firstly ride operations were hit and miss. Some rides were OK such as Scorpion and Falls, but others left little to be desired. Rattlesnake especially which was going very very slowly and took 45 minutes to queue for from the cave, plus Vampire didn't seem to operating as fluently as normal, whether this was because of possible ride issues remains another story. Aside from Trick Or Treat being disappointing, this years event was described as not being as good as previous years [gutted 2014 never happened], but the overall absence of two fantastic mazes replaced by one that was very good and one that was poor, amongst there being a severe lack of live entertainment and roaming actors, which made Thorpe look like it was flooded with in comparison. The factor that Ramesis once had lasers and did not continue to this year, only added insult to injury. There was even slightly less theming this year too [so I've been told]. If the park had kept Haunting In The Hollows, at least one live stage show and live roaming actors, the event would've been amazing to the degree it's better than Fright Nights. However, unfortunately due to the line up being a little on the small side, I would say Fright Nights at least maze and entertainment wise is better. Chessington need to get their act together and pick up the disco ball they once held, I've heard some amazing things about their Halloween events in the park and though this years was ok, it didn't seem to quite up to it's previous amazing standard. With much investment, TLC & efforts Chessington could once again become the creme de la creme of UK parks but has since become very stale. Scarefest is definitely at the top of next years Halloween list.

Agree with the fireworks, weren't the best, not a patch on breaking coat hangers whilst re-enacting Thriller. Megafobia though is fantastic and also my first wooden coaster too.

Well Derren Brown for me was highly expected, the dots from events recent and past seemed to connect quite well. Whilst I'm not one that's a massive fan of IP's (bar movie themed parks), I'm quite excited to see how his one develops and though Derren Brown will be a leading contributer to the project, I'm still hoping it will be an original ride with original storyline on top of being highly immersive experience. This probably means though we won't get an IMA score soundtrack then . The 13 minute ride duration could be either a good thing or bad thing, I just hope the throughput is good (needs to be at least 1000) as dark rides can go two ways with throughputs.

The cat is out of the bag, it's going to be Derren Bown; it has to be. Rundown steam punk theme as a possible theatre, many coincidental tweets, a story from air gates citing it would be an ip and potentially offensive, Derren Brown's may have been offensive and Thorpe, Merlin seem to be very much sticking to IP's right now.

JUST REALISED SOMETHING! Both dates say Sunday the 5th & 20th, isn't the 5th a Saturday? If it isn't then #unvote the 5th as I may have an exam that day, otherwise I'll be working and won't be able to take more time off. Edit- unbothered for the 6th as there's no way I can do that day. I can currently do the 20th however.

Next clue Monday by the looks, Back on the topic of Derren Brown. Whilst I'm not the biggest fan of external park IP's (bar movie themed parks), a Ride themed around his work with lots of illusions and effects could work very well and be a fantastic ride if done right (and then well kept). I saw Derren Brown live last January and was really impressed with all his tricks and illusions, not to mention the use of theatre and showmanship during the whole show which without wouldn't have been half as good. It left me talking for hours after the show was over.

How such a small park could theme such a small ride on a large scale is astounding. This wouldn't look out of place at Disneyland Paris.

It's good to see Towers hopefully sorting out one of their lesser themed coasters (except Rita), however they need to do s good job with improving this in order to bring back guests next year. The tunnel will be the answer to as whether the changes will be a good thing.

Can likely do both days but may have to leave early if it's the 5th and even bail Winter Wonderland completely as its a very expensive time for me now.

This was interesting to read. I really loved and enjoyed containment like your self but never really considered some of those improvements so much, maybe because I was too focused on completing the tasks. 1/ an indoor pre-show or actors only thing would make it better. 2/ it does seem noticeably tamer now that's it been mentioned, there were moments where I felt intimidated but not scared. 3/ £10 is definitely on the pricey side, it's worth the entry in but only just. I certainly would not pay more than what I've paid already. 4/ the ending needs done work as there should be more of a fanfare on whether you win or lost and maybe an actor at the end too or something. But hopefully things will only get better next year as this is their first time implementing this sort of attraction.