Matt 236

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.

A small yet exciting new addition. Don't know much about this at this but hear they're getting three new rides, one 'could' be a coaster ad Pegasus is apparently too thrilling and that African area place is slowly disappearing. Also hear their express ride is getting some adjustments too which is interesting. Will be interesting to see this next year.

Should be going Saturday hopefully, been wanting to do Chrssington Halloween for years, hopefully won't turn out to be a disappointment, however there's no HITH or MOHP this year amongst much of the stage entertainment too so the other attractions have a lot to live up to. Edit- Preview night I believe is tommorow

Really hate this universal hissy fit stuff about them not wanting I-drive and literally knocking them down at every possible opportunity. Okay, they need competitive tactics and the like, WDW knocked off their original plans and built the tram tour, but the way they are generally tackling I-drive is unprofessional. You don't see WDW slating Volcano Bay or Mako or Sea World doing the same with the likes of Star Wars Land or Kong, so isn't an acceptable approach. There's businesses then there's brutally ruthless bullyng, this case seems to be the latter. Further proof of Uni's skyplex hissy fit (simply a brutal tactic to reduce competition) is the light and height pollution thing. First of all, several of their rides are already fairly high, yes 500ft is a completely different matter but then there's the Orlandi Eye down the road which is 400ft, which begs the question of if they didn't want the height thing, why didn't they oppose this project? Simple, it's not competition in the conventional sense. Then we go on to light & noise pollution, Universal gives off lots of light pollution due to its size, function in addition to its frequently used soundstages (the image above proves this) and no doubt I drive residents can hear Uni's outside rides very distinctively including the recently silenced roar of Hulk so these claims make no sense and are surely invalid. I think the aspect of Universal wanting the land for their own development is another factor. Whilst apart from its height, idrive probably won't be a patch on other parks in the area, Uni's method of reacting to it certainly not sound. It's a shame really they've acted the way they did as aside from that, they're probably the park/resort in Orlando that are potentially improving the most, especially when you compare it to earlier updates such as Disaster & Rip Ride Rocket to the likes of The Potter expansions, Transformers and Kong which look superior in comparison. I'm yet to experience the likes of Orlando in the present (though I have several big parks coming up), so can't properly address the situation as much as I know a fair amount here have been here at least once.

My unofficial scary blog of the trip is now live. Now you can witness what shenanigans unfold and who survives Brave It Alone. https://youtu.be/TTT9ls2MHyE

This place is already looking great and that's before they've even finished the area off. So happy to have a project like this currently going on in the uk.

This is promising news, Paramount needs to happen to bring uk park standards to the likes of what we have in Europe, things will hopefully work out here.

I'll take the Sky Fly anytime.

Another enjoyable meet, was great to see everyone again, plus meeting some new faces such as Matty Moo who is more than just a legendary bag holder. Brave it alone was fantastic, a lot more extreme than last years standards by a large margin, won't reveal but if you're in to extremely scary mazes with extreme manhandling and the like and don't mind getting your clothes ruined a it, this is definitely the experience for you. Massive thanks goes to everyone there especially Mer,Peaj & Mr Fish. Hope to see you guys at another meet soon.

At Thorpe today, Samurai has been closed all day, it's had some testing but has so far not opened yet. The ride really needs replacing with answer model.

Tbh I'm reluctant to trust these are official clothing at all, especially seeing that other rumours this morning appear to be fake and that we already have some t-shirt mercy already, things today haven't made any sense st all. I could well be wrong tomorrow however.

Samurai closed just days after supposedly opening from a massive work up project? Not at all surprising, Merlin really need to just replace it with a newer model regardless of things like paper work and costs (would be much cheaper & easy). I'll be on park tomorrow (with a large chunk of TPM) to see what's happening and if it's the case it's died again just after getting the kiss of life.

What a day for fake news, first that WC16 name & description, now this. What next, Air gets an airport theme & their food loop becomes themed around an airport baggage reclaim?

Dreamland's halloween event sound absolutely fantastic! The quality and effort by the sounds put in to those mazes sounds astounding, especially for a park that has only just reopened, plus the overall feel for all ages feels like a great touch too. Very very tempted to go to this now, but probably won't get the time this year, but sounds so amazing.

They say this ride will be a game changer. I can't decide on twister or mouse trap. In all seriousness hope it isn't an immersive tunnel as it would be a bit of a let down if it was one.