Cal

Yes I will do one this weekend, just been busy. Which one do you want to see first?

Howl O Scream review for those interested - http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/76/entry-746-busch-gardens-howl-o-scream-2015/

So was in the park from around mid day. The event started at half 7, and the park closed for normal quests at 6. People for Howl O scream were aloud in at 5 and were given wristbands, so from 6 only people with wristbands were given access to all the rides. This was nice as it meant we didn't have to sit doing nothing for an hour like we did at Universal. Was really looking forward to this event, open until 1am with 7 houses with all the main rides open. There was a also a show, live music and nightclubs for those interested. There were no specific scare zones listed on the map like universal but there quite a few around the park, and groups of actors walking round the park similar to Fright Nights. There were people dressed up in ghille suits hiding in bush's and trees all around the park who just randomly just out at people or make a loud bang every so often. I found out the hard way when at 6 (still daylight) I shat my pants when one jumped out a bush and made a loud bang. Didn't expect any actors to be out at all, especially at 6. The event hadn't even started and I had already had a much bigger scare than I got the whole time I was at Universal. Such a great idea, and scared so many people. No one expected it. There was a group of clowns roaming the park as well, and one of them made me jump again as well. At a corner there was a clown just standing there making strange noises distracting me, then another clown jumps out from behind a bin with a horn and scares you. Very well done. Anyway onto the houses... The Basement So first up was the Basement. Turned up here about 15 minutes before it opened not knowing how busy/quiet it was going to be, but thought it was strange there being like 5 people in front of me when there was only 15 minutes until it opened. As soon it was time, we were led down into the main queue and we were straight in. No talks like all the events in the UK, just signs at the entrance. So at Busch gardens all the mazes were free flow meaning you didn't have to hold on the person in front of you, and they put you in the maze in around groups of 20, not as small as what they do in the UK but not as big as Universal (which is just a 1 massive conga line.) Themed around mamas kitchen and how she is gonna cook you up and eat you. A brilliant house, better than all of the ones I did at Universal! Theming was excellent, water sprayed at you (as vomit) for example. All actors were great and stayed in roll the whole time, chainsaw ending on this one as well. 9/10 So next up located in Gwazi park (now closed during the day)... Circus of superstition 3D So being a 3D maze, you wear 3D glasses and everything in the maze is painted really bright UV colours, and all the glasses do is make the colours strike out a lot more. After doing a dreadful 3D maze at Universal Halloween horror night I really wan't expecting much from this one. I walked up to the maze to see a completely empty queue, and got asked if I wanted to wait for a group or just go in alone (Didn't meet my family until after this house). So for the whole first half of the maze I was completely alone until I caught up with another group. It was one of the most intense experiences of my life. Full of scares, including actors on swings/bungees who come out of no where and swing of the wall right up to you (you can't see them on a wall before they swing at you, they just come at you out of nowherere and swing back again. ) Clown costumes were excellent, music was excellent, acting quality again was amazing and overall just an amazing house. Defiantly one of the best I've ever done. 9/10 Facade looked amazing. And there was a giant clown running around outside as well. Next up was the new house for this year, Unearthed scarlets revenge. Waited around 15 minutes for this one, was a bit stupid of us going in the house at the entrance of the park just as the event started as it had no queue later on Gwazis queue was used as the queue for this house, and even went right up to the station... So annoying having a beautiful woodie lit up next to us SBNO which closed months before we went All the trains are still there sitting in the maintenance sheds. Anyway back to the house, it was alright. Theming was good once again and was creepy, but lacked scares, which wasn't helped by the fact too many people were let in meaning it was very slow moving inside there. The main character in there Scarlett was just weird, a sexy girl with horns? Don't know how she was meant to be scary, or how she linked in with the rest of the monsters in there and rest of the house. Was just all a bit weird. Was a good house but just no where near as strong as the first 2 I did. 7/10 Death Water Bayou Didn't really know what to expect for this one. Walked up a long path to find a nice facade, looked like an abounded house. This house was seriously amazing. Probably the best house/maze I've ever done. Seemed to have so many parts of the houses all combined into one, for example the swings/bungees from the clown maze were in here. A ridiculous amount of scares, a spinning tunnel, actors were amazing, theming was amazing, was just a really strong house throughout, loved every second. Very intense, most amount of scares in a maze. 10/10!! Zombie Mortuary Wasn't expecting to be scared a lot from this one, had never been through a zombie maze but once again a very good house. Soundtrack was great with a strong organ sound playing throughout, made a creepy atmosphere. Zombie costumes were really good, theming was good surprisingly a lot of scares. Another really strong house. 8/10 Deadfull Again a pretty strong house, not a lot to say about this one. Theming was great, remember seeing a Merry go round, a playground, a graveyard. Was more creepy than scary. 8/10 Zombie Containment unit 15 Unfortunately I didn't get to experience this one. It had over a 45 minute queue the whole night when everything else was pretty much walk on, so we really couldn't be bothered. Guessing the reason for this is low throughput, all I know is that you have a gun and have to shoot the zombies. My advice to anyone that goes would be to do this first before it builds up a queue, the queue did not go down the whole time we were there. Rides open at night were: Cheetah Hunt in the dark was very good with a lot of it being dark. Dodgems were great with smoke, lazers and loud music. Kumba :wub: :wub: :wub: Sheikra Falcons Fury, which the Americans seemed to love. and Montu. Overall this was by far the best Halloween event I've ever done. The park atmosphere was fantastic, actors all round the park were fantastic and obviously all the main rides are open for night rides. There was really good music throughout the park, lighting and smoke machines everywhere. It's crazy how much a huge place can all have such a good atmosphere. All the houses were very good, all had excellent theming, nice facades, great soundtracks and full of actors. Obviously some were better than others, but all the houses were very strong and there was none that I thought were terrible. Walking around the park in the day is completely different to walking around it at night, it just all comes out of no where. There are loads of really nice photo opportunities dotted around the park as well, with actors standing there and staff to take a photo for you. Have one of me and my Dad. We left the park a few hours early, we got we wanted to do done multiple times as there was literally no queues. Busch are good with re-rides on the coasters as well which is nice. Lots of actors at the exit when we left Apologies all the photos are terrible but they were all taken on my phone and all turned out very bad at night. Thanks for reading. Happy to do a trip report of Busch Gardens in the day, Universal halloween horror night, Islands of adventure, Studios, Sea World, Fun Spot if people are interested

Good for you!

The top was taken off today. There is a video on thorpes intagram of it being removed. Seems rush is having a lot of maintenance this year. Don't think the top of rush gets taken off every year?

Netflix Mac or windows?

Manta. Quality isn't as good on here.

Loggers Leap (1) Nemesis Inferno (9) SAW- The Ride (2) Stealth (8) Loggers Leap - SAW - The Ride + How has loggers made it this far!?

Colossus (5) Detonator Bombs Away! (5) Loggers Leap (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) SAW- The Ride (5) Slammer (5) Stealth (5) Tidal Wave (5) + Slammer - Loggers

Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (4) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Loggers Leap (6) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (4) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (4) SAW - The Ride (5) Slammer (6) Stealth (5) Storm In A Teacup (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Vortex (5) X (5) + Inferno - MMBR

http://www.imascore.com/en/english-thorpe-park-team-up-with-imascore-for-new-attraction-2016

I assume Stealth is closed to start maintenance early so that it can open in Feburary again next year. Slammer hasn't yet opened today and it also says on Thorpes website that is closed for this season. However, it doesn't say 'and will be returning in 2016' like Stealth does.

Yeah fair enough. I don't get all the bad reviews MBV gets, it's always been my favourite and still is.

The park are expecting to reach capacity tomorrow by the looks of it.

You still have to queue to collect it. Try the annual pass building instead of advanced ticket collection, it's quicker.

If I remember correctly it was just a single restraint for both people, like the scorpion express' for example.

Hahahaha. Has Samurai ever actually lasted a whole season of Fright Nights.

FN trip report here - http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/53/entry-725-fright-nights-2015/ Does contain spoilers.

SPOILERS AHEAD Sunday 11th October 2015 Went to Thorpe Park on Sunday from 10:30 till 10. Operations were really good all day, and didn't see any rides break down all day. Queues were minimal in the day, and all rides were walk on from 4 onwards. To give you an idea of how quiet it was, Stealth was on 1 train and the gate was still left open on the platform. MBV was walk on a lot of the night, and SAW Alive were allowing us to go on again, straight through the fast track queue. It was a shame to see Slammer closed again, thats the second time this year it's closed 2 days before I've been. Samurai hasn't been open any of my visits this year, and Vortex re-opened late afternoon. It was running really well! Roaming actors were really good this year, bumped into them many times, and one of them kept putting his fingers in my ears? The Cabin roamers were really good as well. Shame some of the only Fright Night theming has been lost, such as the trucks by Tidal Wave and Stealth lit up with smoke and no fire effect by Saw. Maze count Containment x 1 The Big Top x 2 Saw Alive x 4 Cabin In the Woods x 4 My Bloody Valentine x 7 Couldn't really be bothered to do Blair Witch, was over an hour every time I looked, even at 9 the queue was full, Can find my full ride count here - http://ridecount.com/browse/trip/15849 The Big Top - 0.000001/10 I was looking forward to this maze so much from the initial reveal, outside theming looked great and loved Carnival of Screams, but the big top is one of the, if not worst scare maze I have ever been in. The fact you could see the red roof above the black curtains the whole time ruined it. The maze was well too open. The first tent was utterly pointless. Both times I went on it the actor literally said 'Go left or right, it's your choice.' Either way you walk down a path of black curtains and exit that tent. You then enter the 'mirror maze' which had so much potential with the strobe lights and loud music. Again the theming was awful, you could see the red roof and it was way too short, because it was too open. 1 actor didn't do it either. The outside section both times an actor guided us straight through, none of the actor banging in the box like I've seen on youtube. Third tent was better, but not good, again way too open for any scares and lacked theming. Chainsaw ending was poor, and the second time he didn't even bother trying to chase us. I really have been disappointed with the last 2 mazes, didn't particularly like Studio 13 and this was dreadful. Wasn't willing to give it a second go, but saw that there was about 5 people in the queue. It was just as bad... Saw Alive - 8/10 (6/10 Later on) By far the best run throughs I've had on SAW, lots of Actors earlier on in the night and all very energetic and in role. As the night went on there did seem to be less actors in there so it did seem to get worse. On one of our runs as we were having our photo taken actors came out shouting telling everyone to get back, and staff came and got us all out. I had never seen staff an actors so serious and angry, could tell something serious had happened. Found out it was all due to Travellers abusing an actor. Later that night later that night the roaming actors were banging the fence and making a laughing sound (being clowns.) The person in front of us in the queue then started having a go at them, saying 'Come to this side of the f****** fence then' and then attempted climbing over, a member of staff then stepped in and shouted saying if he continues to behave like that she'll get him kicked off the park. Not good. Cabin in the woods - 8/10 Really enjoyed Cabin on Sunday, not as good as 2013 but was a lot better than last year. Plenty of actors and seemed a lot darker this year and lots of smoke, meaning actors were just coming out of no where. Also noticed actors were appearing from windows which was pretty cool? Didn't notice that in previous years. No idea why the tunnel wasn't working when they've had a whole year to fix that, and the 4th time now I've been to the control room and nothing worked Queue time said 90 minutes and we queued 25, there was a staff member standing in front of the queue (blocking the entrance) and she said 'Would you like to buy fast track the queue is a lot shorter'. When will they learn. There were 3 actors roaming the area all night who were great, 1 of them in particular was hilarious. My Bloody Valentine - 9/10 For the third year running, my favourite maze at the park. Not as good as previous years due to it being shorter this year, and for some reason no Harry Wardens? Actors were really good in this, and loads of them. At one point an actor came up behind the 2 of us, and there was an actor in front of us, so we were trapped. Towards the end of the night when it was quiet the beginning actor was putting us in on our own which was good as well, but I did find my cousin shortly. On one of the last run throughs an actor did head-but me by accident which was pretty funny, he did instantly go out of act and apologise, asking if I was alright but it wasn't hard. Could certainly see that ending badly if it was one of the travellers he head butted Atmosphere in the queue was really good as well this year, blasting out the music and the loop has been extended this year. It's on about a 4-5 minute loop now instead of last years 1 minute. Also, the team running the maze the whole night were amazing. Never moved so quick in a maze queue before, and even though they were moving the queue quick, there wasn't too many people in the maze. Never clashed with another group in there after the splitting point. I guess not having the door this year helped. Did see one breakdown which was due to the lights going out apparently. It was the 5th time it happened that night. Did re-open very quick though. First time I've ever seen a maze walk on... (Blurry I know but I rushed) Containment Not going to give this one a rating as you can't really compare it to the mazes, but it was good. It wasn't scary, but it was fun. It was just about worth the £8 but I wouldn't do it again. Once you have done it once it would be pointless doing it again. Actors were really good as well, staying in role for the whole 5 minutes. One of them took an agressive approach and shouted at us the whole time, and others were just acting weird? I got asked to open my mouth "because everyone loves a bit of oral" We escaped the first 3 rooms but failed on the last one. They did say because we escaped 3 of them she would give us green bands as 3 is good but 1 of us had to take a red one, so I took it. A red band meant that actors are meant to pick on you more throughout the night which was a good idea, but I didn't notice anything. I did witness a lot of trouble, due to the park being full of travellers. Apparently this day is known for it, however I went the same day last year and didn't notice it. I saw them chucking rubbish from depth charge onto people in the containment queue, staff must of threatened them at least 5 times but they couldn't do anything as they didn't have a radio. Also saw an evac on Saw, them threatening the roaming actors, MBV staff shouting at a group of 10 year olds, queue jumping multiple times, and a group of 10 year olds were shouting every time the Big Top host was trying to talk. Did feel sorry for the staff but there simply wasn't enough done, they just kept threatening. Did really like the park audio this year, was nice to hear the Asylum theme being played again as well. However, did prefer the director announcements. The new ones are very unclear and couldn't understand a word any of the announcements said. Audio was also played very quietly this year which was a shame and Detonator wasn't playing any audio all night Thanks for reading

Sorry I shouldn't of said 'Anything' If you can collect brave it alone tickets from the advanced ticket collection I'm pretty sure you can collect it from the AP building. It's worth a try anyway?

Just a little tip I've found over the years, you can collect anything from the annual pass building, including friends and family tickets and AP fright nights tickets. On Sunday the Advanced ticket collection queue was full, but I just walked in the annual pass building and collected it all there.

I will when I get home Containment was good but not scary. Just about worth the £8. Glad I experienced it but like said I wouldn't do it again, once you've done it once it would be pointless doing it again.

Just posted on Thopes insta But it doesn't do anything for me?

Also noticed it isn't on as often anymore, as I walked past it I noticed it said the next show was in 41 minutes, where as it used to be every 20 minutes.

Agreed. Shame about IAC music still being played in the queue though, even though it wasn't even open. The station music was pretty good, but a shame it was being played so quietly.