Inferno

Wow, 10 years! Love the article. Honestly it’s terrifying how fast that’s gone. It doesn’t feel like a decade has passed since standing there under the lift hill thinking how cool the area was. A few shots from my first visit in March that year! So shiny and bare!

Wow - great to see the proper plans. Still can’t believe this is actually (hopefully) happening at Thorpe. Lapbars as well - YES. Theming doesn’t seem to be a thing does it. that would surely be in the plans, right?

Hmm.. £15 for spinny Icon? I wonder how well organised it will be? I just remember Backwards Swarm was a shambles especially on busy days, but Icon's station is much smaller, and it's only on the 3rd train.. Maybe it being an upcharge will help with that. Backwards Swarm was free, and even that was a flash in the pan that only lasted 2 seasons.. I wonder how this will go down?

Absolutely LOVE reading up about these! Thank you for taking the time to write them up! Great to hear the experiences in the other mazes. I agree with what you've said there @JoshC. about how vivid the memories still are being a good indication of just how good the BIA experiences were in the early years. I'll get my Studio13 BIA online soon

@JoshC. Really looking forward to hearing your experience with it! I did Studio 13 the following year too (I think on the first night BIA was offered that year?) and was considering writing that up.. Will be interesting to compare experiences! I agree, it's looking unlikely that something like this would return.. But we can hope!

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have. I started off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream, now it's time for Brave it Alone back when it opened in 2013... I have hazy memories about this, but recently I found an old post I made after I experienced it and thought I'd spruce it up a bit and share! - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - We did Cabin in the Woods way back on Sunday 13th October 2013, when the experience was brand new (and in my opinion at its best!) So... Here's what happened! After park closing at 10 pm, we met the Director, his assistant, and some park managers along with the other 'brave-it-aloners' at the bar area in Clypso BBQ, where we were read a very long and elaborate warning speech while having a drink. We then had to sign an agreement that stated that 'you are prepared for anything to happen' and that 'TP takes no responsibility for anything', blah blah... After around 20 minutes, when the guests had all left the park, the 10 or so of us were then given one of the classic "Don't wet yourself" ponchos to protect clothes from fake blood, dirt, facepaint and bodily fluids (yep, really). We were then split up and were walked with a park manager to our chosen mazes, where we were asked further questions such as "are you aware that literally anything could happen in here", and "please you must tell us now if you have any reason to not experience this"... At this point the nerves were setting in - why did these warnings keep coming up? What on earth was going to happen inside? After waiting outside the cabin door for a few moments listening to the actors inside, I stepped in to the cabin's first room, the one with the 4 doors, which was brightly lit. I was alone. Suddenly the lights turn off for a second, then back on, but now there are 2 actors standing right in my face! Do any of you remember the guy who played Les Coogan back in 2011/2012? Well I had asked him if he's still known as Les Coogan earlier in the day, But I'll come back to that in a minute. 'Les' pushed me backwards in to a chair in the corner of the room, where I was screamed at and told of the horrors I was about to see. The chair was then tipped backwards and I was led on my back! This was amazingly intense. The interrogation continued. The actors were hillbillies of some sort, so there was... Umm... dribble.... lol! I was then told to crawl in to the next room. Here I was left alone with a single actor who after a while forced me to 'kiss the moose' on the wall, similar to the film. Interrogation went on for a couple of minutes, lights flashed on and off, the actor started getting crazy bouncing off the walls, when my friend crawled in to the room with an actor riding on his back! (I did laugh at this!) I snuck out in to the next room at this point... This room had a person in a plain white mask, and was one of the most surreal parts. She forced me against a wall and slithered around me... very odd! The lights then went out, flashed back on, revealing her mask right up in my face. This happened a few times with her appearing and disappearing at different points. I was then grabbed by another actor who looked panicked, saying "don't look, just get over here". He stood facing me and grabbed me by the shoulders, then pushed backwards (quite fast!) through several flaps and doors until my back banged against a wall!! I was then pushed (very violently) back down on to the floor by a different actor, and told to continue onwards. This next part is a blur to be honest, but I did a lot of walking, crawling, being pulled and pushed around, had lots of jump scares, until I reached the spinning tunnel, which had 2 female clowns inside... Both clowns had 'penis shaped' balloons which they, errm, 'rubbed' me with in various ways... Yeah I'll leave that to your imagination... They then taunted me with them and popped them in my ears. One of the clowns then got behind me, wrapped herself around me and held me still, while the other licked my face and neck while the other laughed in my ear. This was very uncomfortable and weird!!! CLOWNS!?! All of this while the tunnel was spinning around me! I can't remember what happened between here and the final room., however when I did reach the final room, the actor who played Les Coogan in previous years (remember from earlier?) stormed up to me, with about 5 other actors in tow! They each took hold of one of my limbs, picked me up and put me flat on my back on the floor.... 'Les' then completely went crazy!! They were dragging me around, and Les's final words to me were "DON'T YOU ****ING DARE CALL ME LES COOGAN AGAIN BOY. GET OUT OF HERE NOW." I was then pretty much forced to apologise to 'Les', and literally thrown in to a door leading out of the maze! The look on the faces of the park staff was hilarious when I came out! I particularly remember one of the managers looking genuinely worried! It was absolutely fantastic and much more intense than I could have imagined. The whole experience lasted around 10 minutes. Worth every penny of the £15! Bargain. I have probably missed bits here, and probably haven't done it justice, but you get the basic idea. We then all made our way back from the various mazes and met back at the 'bar' in the BBQ, where we all had a good chat about it! Some of the other guests had done Asylum, which was totally mad apparently. They were all drenched in fake blood, and said that many of the asylum patients were completely naked. Lots of 'adult' themes going on in there, including a performance in the bed scene which I'm not sure would hold up today. Some of the others had done Saw Alive which was apparently amazing as well. I can't describe how good Brave it Alone was in its first year! Genuinely terrifying to have literally ALL of the actors focusing on you the entire time.

Wow, it sounds SO good. I've weirdly tried to avoid watching a POV because of just how epic everyone says it is - even if it's years away, I'm waiting to see it in person, and can't wait! The queues even after all this time seem absolutely mad, but even so it sounds like it's worth the wait.

There's been some speculation about the key referring to the Netflix series Locke and Key, but that skull and horns doesn't seem to fit with that? Interesting!

Wow, congratulations Dr Josh!! What have you been studying?

Really interesting to read this.. Thank you. I haven't been to Disney since Genie but it sounds like an absolute fiasco on top of existing cracks that are beginning to show. I must admit the pull towards Disney is beginning to wear off for me... Don't get me wrong, I very much look forward to going back, but I can't get onboard with all this pre-planning that now needs to happen before a visit. Genie, dining plans, dining reservations, magic bands, arriving hours early to see shows... I don't really understand why you now seem to need to plan and invest so heavily before even leaving for Disney. I understand that you can use quick service and standby queues etc (cringe at all this Disney lingo by the way), but they've 'imagineered' it so that you don't have as good a time as you would if you'd jumped through the Disney hoops and payed the extras. We're planning on going to Orlando in the next few years hopefully, and watching various videos and reading posts like @Mark9's above just stresses me out 😂 and really only makes me look more in the direction of Universal etc, where you can just book park tickets and have a great time. Remember those days? 🙄 Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart, but I just cba to get the degree in Disney planning that now seems to be required before a visit. When you search online/YouTube on Disney, it's all about planning/diningplans/reservations.. Ugh, who cares? Is it that worth it? I'm not sure it is.

Yes, yes please, yes, yep, absolutely and yes again. Please. Thank you.

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have. Let's start off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream! Launching way back in 2009 when Saw opened, Sun Scream ran every year for many summers at the park, bringing live music, silent discos, stunt displays, beatboxing, sideshows and festival vibes. In reality, Sun Scream wasn't much in terms of an event, starting off as simply a stunt show and some yellow t-shirts for the rides staff, it evolved as the years went on and new things were tried, but I do have a lot of good memories from my annual mid-summer visits in the sunny weather! The amazing Stunt Show The standout feature of Sun Scream for me was the incredible stunt show in the Arena in the centre of the park. This was one of the few times during the season that the Arena was actually used, but it was used well! I remember sitting in the stands watching the Red Bull Stuntriders going over jumps and performing in the small area, and it was very impressive! I do remember one year one of the riders came off his motorbike during one of the performances, and was luckily ok, but the show was very good and (other than fright nights and Thorpe Blast) was probably the best 'show' the park has ever put on in my opinion, even in later years when it was replaced by a BMX display team. Other activities There were some less than ideal 'activities' as part of Sun Scream.. I distinctly remember a silent disco was tried one year in the Colossus queue line. At a point early in the queue, everyone was offered a pair of wireless headphones which played music for everyone to jam to in the queue. The thing is, in a typically British fashion, very few people actually took the headphones, and even fewer took part in the disco. A nice idea, but didn't really work in reality. I also remember several performances, like a beatboxer one year.. Again, nice idea, but the crowd in front of the stage (in front of X) never really grew to more than about 10 people at any time despite the best efforts of the staff pulling people in. Late opening One of the great things about Sun Scream was the 8PM closing time. Being summer, this didn't really allow for night rides, but it was 'dusk' at least towards the end, and on the warm summer evenings it was great to stay late in the park after the crowds left. This no doubt paved the way for the Summer Nights event that followed years later. That 'Thorpe Park feeling' was at its strongest I'm not sure about what it was about Thorpe in the 2009 - 2012 period, but for me that was when Thorpe was at its absolute best. I always remember driving home from Thorpe, especially in the summer, with "that Thorpe Park feeling". I can't describe it, but it's the feeling you get when you've had a great day, you're knackered, aching and have a fuzzy head, your hair is a mess, and you stink... But you can't wait to go back and do it all again, preferably tomorrow. Sun Scream brought this feeling more than ever - it was such a positive and lively event, the sun was nearly always shining, the staff were lively and happy, and the park was always on top form. We also had a new ride in Saw, and The Swarm was under construction. The park was alive in this period and at its best. Dr Pepper Dr Pepper was the sponsor for Sun Scream, and as such during the event the staff handed out free little Dr Pepper cans. Because of this, I always associate the taste and smell of Dr Pepper with Thorpe Park, and every time I have it even all these years later, it takes me right back to "the good days" at Thorpe. __________ Does anyone have any memories of Sun Scream?

I'm not going to lie, the events (other than FN, and SunScream actually) don't really do anything for me.. But I'm glad to see them again as I know a lot of people enjoy them. This means there's an event running for most of the season - more days will have an event running than not!

Hmmm..... X?

I'm like a broken record here, but whatever.. Loggers Leap?

Wet Wet Wet would definitely be the ideal place for those kids rides. I wonder if it would even be worth selling those rides? They're all at best second or third hand now. Surely it's barely worth the effort of selling and transporting, and would be better keeping them for now?

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Black Mirror Labyrinth (5) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (2) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (6) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (4) Vortex (5) Zodiac (5) Timber Tub Goat - Rush +

I think it's quite interesting actually to think about this.. It's not something I've ever given much thought to, but F&B is actually quite an important part of the overall experience isn't it. I think the days when people just wanted a hotdog out of a 'hole-in-the-wall' outlet are gone.. Now it seems that more and more people want a proper sit-down restaurant with a decent meal in a nice environment. Also with the accommodation options growing, dinner and breakfast are also part of the experience, especially in the 'better' restaurants like Secret Garden, Crooked Spoon and Zafari. I think now more than ever F&B needs to be of a good standard, it's a bigger part of the experience than it was years ago when really a hotdog stand and donut stall was enough. Catering is a whole industry on its own, with its own challenges etc.. Perhaps outsourcing it will be a good thing? This is a big contract for Aramark so I'd imagine they'd want to get this right.

Hi there! They say that 51 inches is their maximum chest size - are you able to measure yourself to see if you fall within that? If you do, you should be ok. Each ride has a test seat and restraint outside the queue entrance. You can sit in the seat and pull the restraint down to test if it will close and be comfortable. Some rides have better restraints than others. For example Colossus is quite restrictive, but Nemesis Inferno and Stealth seem to offer more space. Nemesis Inferno also offers larger seats in one of the rows. This is the park's official answer to this question: https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001178391-How-restrictive-are-the-restraints-on-the-Rides- If for any reason one of the rides isn't suitable, or you're not comfortable in the test seat, I would advise queueing with your Nieces, then when you reach the station you can decide not to take a seat and wait for them by the exit, that way you'll still be able to spend the day with them. I hope you'll be ok, and you have a great day!

According to Theme Park Guide, Merlin have outsourced the food and beverage operations (in all of their UK parks and hotels) to Aramark. This is one of the companies who do the food for schools, hospitals and prisons. There are some cheap jokes to be made here because of the industries they're in, but actually I've always had good experiences with hospital food, and the food at my school at least wasn't bad! (no idea if it was Aramark though) It looks like F&B staff at the Merlin parks and hotels will be employed by Aramark from March, similar to how HB Leisure run the games etc on Merlin property. I think this is potentially good news. The food offerings at Merlin parks have been declining for a few years. Alton Towers' food options are beyond ridiculous, especially around Halloween/fireworks season, there simply aren't enough restaurants and the food they serve even in the 'higher-end' places is terrible. Thorpe and Chessington's food isn't quite as bad, but I hear Legoland's is DIRE and extortionately expensive. I think it's a bit of a shame that Merlin can't run their F&B like they used to. The food in their hotels was quite good until not too long ago, and the likes of Woodcutters and PizzaPasta weren't bad for theme park outlets. It's gone severely downhill since those days though. I wonder what, if anything, will change? And will Thorpe continue to run the KFC and Burger King franchises, as I assume they are Merlin employees working at the franchise brand? Time will tell.

I'm off to New York in a couple of months, and we're just looking in to things to do. The Coney Island Cyclone has always been on the 'must do' list for me, but I must admit I've felt a little disappointed this week when I looked Luna Park up. I've had a look at @Coaster's Blog and it sounds worth the visit, but other reviews I've read have been than enthusiastic! Anyone had any experience with this park? Is it worth going? Is it worth the journey from central Manhattan? Any tips, etc?

Much the same with me really - I quite like screens on dark rides, especially when properly combined with physical sets. I do understand people's issue with screens though. Some rides really do rely too heavily on them, and I do sometimes think they can take away from what a dark ride should be. I haven't been on Skull Island, but it looks almost as disappointing as Fast and Furious, which was an absolute joke. When used subtly though they're great - one ride that impressed me was Revenge of the Mummy - that uses physical sets and fire etc, along with subtle screens that are only used briefly to simulate scarab beetles coming out of the cracks in the wall - brilliant.

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Black Mirror Labyrinth (5) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (4) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) Zodiac (5) Nemesis Inferno + Derren Brown’s Ghost Train -

Loggers Leap?

Surely this just simply isn’t going to happen.. right? As Benin has pointed out, this has been going on for years and the entire thing has literally just been vague fantasy drawings and blue-sky concept art, with occasional “news” of some ‘rich folk’ talking business and apparently chucking money around… It’s all rubbish. I’ll happily buy a London Resort souvenir hat on opening day and eat it if this opens as anything near resembling what they are talking about, but I just can’t see this ever getting anywhere.