Inferno

With Alton Towers also having a seemingly similar “audio experience” as their sole new addition to Scarefest, it looks like Fright Nights is where Merlin are spending nearly all of the scare season money this year. Really looking forward to Survival Games - getting all the Sub Species feels From this! Looks like it’s going to be a big maze too.

To be honest I can’t think of a good reason why anyone would object to an indoor ride, especially if the building can’t be seen easily from the neighbouring villages. It really is the ultimate compromise. A large building would also act as a sound barrier between the other rides and the park boundary, so even better really. Merlin have seriously changed gear since going private. So much going on! Towers and Thorpe might be in a bad way now, but the level of investment planned for the next few years is like nothing we’ve seen for many years.

Interesting times! Didn’t expect it, but great news it’s an indoor attraction. There is quite a lot of room back there isn’t there? I’d absolutely LOVE for this to be the next secret weapon coaster - something along the lines of Revenge of the Mummy at Universal would be the dream but who knows! The timescales feel right for the SW cogs to be turning. A flying theatre or other type would be cool too though. I can’t see the Dungeons sticking around - perhaps they could go soon to make more space? That would be a decent space for a secret weapon, and bring some life to a bit of a dead spot area of the park. interesting times!

That’s interesting that The Swarm has a couple of supports in the same flood zone. I guess the scale of this project blows that out of the (flood) water though. I have to admit I do kind of wonder if the EA would ever be that enthusiastic about any major construction on a high risk flood zone. I know there are housing estates up and down the country built on flood planes - wonder if the EA objected and were over-ruled there? No idea how to check. Will be interesting to see what happens.

Out of interest, does anyone know how long it ‘usually’ takes to build or retrofit a ride like this with a new ride system and theming? I assume they would want “Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back, The Return Of The Haunted House - Electric Bill’s Revenge” to be open from day one next year considering Nemesis will be closed. Whatever it turns out being, do we think they will keep the ride system? Would there be time to, assuming it opens in March?

I think they don’t really deserve the bad rep when it comes to dark rides. Not anymore at least. They have clearly tried hard recently to improve the situation. - Hex is still absolutely brilliant. - Skylion is outstanding. - Griffalo holds up really well. - Walking Dead, although a bit meh, was an improvement and fairly well done considering it was only a minor project. - Duel is going to be improved soon. I think one problem is that Merlin very publicly s*** themselves with DBGT though. A lot of effort and money wasted on a white elephant. It was however done with good intentions - they set out to achieve a truly great dark ride, but unfortunately missed the mark horribly. I think the reputation is improving tbh. It’s a lot of the older rides that have been letting the side down. Duel and Tomb Blaster for example.

I agree - nice to see something different being tried again. Cabin and Exp10 were ‘different’, and we’re fab! I do wonder though.. That’s now 2 quite ‘different’ main attractions in this year’s FN. Having an audio experience AND an experimental multi-door scare zone feels slightly risky. I know I don’t speak for everyone, but I quite like the ‘usual’ concept of a scare maze. Scare zones and other experiences are cool, but it’s the “real” scare mazes I love. I’m just cautious because Thorpe can be very hit and miss with their risky experimental attractions. I hope they can pull them off this year. Looking forward to trying some new stuff!

Oohhhh - very good shout! Exodus does mean leaving after all. Leaving earth seems to fit the bill.

The long-time Thorpe fan in me half expects this to be a darkened shipping container containing a few rows plastic garden chairs, where everyone sits and listens to a scene play out through some noise cancelling headphones for 10 minutes. However….. If I remove my musty old ‘The Passing’ hood and put my shiny new optimistic hat on for a second, that trailer looks absolutely amazing. LOVE the storyline idea! Really hoping for the theming shown in that video to be part of the experience. I’m getting Sub Terra vibes from that - the panic and urgency the evacuation sirens and lights created in there were GLORIOUS, and so need to be part of a scare maze

😂 It is funny how the same things seem to go round and round isn’t it. I’m sure the same discussion has happened on here several times over the last 20 years. I agree though - if they want to actually make single rider work, they need to make some real changes to the queues and stations. Every time this gets trialled, it’s well received but ultimately fails because it’s too chaotic without the appropriate fencing / queues etc. Hopefully this time will be different and they’ll spent a little money on it. Merlin’s whiplash management isn’t really suited to this sort of thing though, because give it a few months and someone will ask “why are we spending money on batchers”, and away the position will go, along with single rider again… Similarly to what happened with the Detonator photo kiosk, and the Inferno queue line shop for example 🙄

I must admit, although I enjoyed it, Scarefest last year did feel in need of a big overhaul. Adding new “Scare experiences” is all well and good, but it’s the mazes that most really care about. It’s well past time for Mine Tours to make way for a new maze at least. £32 + admission for the mazes is also a bit ridiculous. Disappointed considering it’s the anniversary.

A couple of posts up, I mentioned that Duel at Fireworks last year was like riding a parody of a bad ghost train. it was embarrassing how dilapidated it had become. Duel has been a disgrace for a few years now, but I am a little sad to see it go… Or at least the idea that a nostalgic ride will be going anyway! It’s one of those rides that doesn’t spring to mind when you think of Towers, but it usually does feature as part of the day. It would be nice to see the enormous show building and amazing facade get the attention they deserve. It’s all wasted at the moment. Wonder how big a job this is? I suppose they will keep the ride system and re-do the theming?

I wasn’t even aware that Natural England had an issue with the plans. I wasn’t even aware of Natural England at all tbh. Good news though I suppose. Now for the Environment Agency to withdraw their complaint…

Love the simplicity of the back to back seats idea. The only other thing I can think of is to simplify the restraints - no seat belts maybe? Wouldn’t save much time but every little helps on a one train wonder

My first thought was that the farm would be too far a walk from the main park, but really it’s no further than you’d walk elsewhere, even at Towers, and it would spread the crowds nicely. Is there any evidence so far suggesting that the farm could be on the cards? Hopefully whatever it is, it’s indoors.

Very nice Josh! Hope you had a great time in the US. Such a shame about the last minute re-planning, but I imagine that was a good move? America is a BIIIG place isn’t it. looking forward to reading more!

100%. Although Now... that's what I call music? NTWICM 111 is the latest album. NHS 111 the ride confirmed.

No I agree @planenut! I know what you mean. It's weirdly peaceful up there isn't it! 🥴 What a shame it's on the way out - it's such a huge ride, both physically in the park and 'iconically' (yeah whatever) in the UK. It's 22 years old now though isn't it, and is fast becoming 'the odd-one-out' at DM. It's falling in to disrepair and looks very tatty now compared to the new shiny areas they're putting in. As for what's next, Apocalypse itself doesn't take up much space (being a drop-tower), but clearing this, along with the large tarmac area in front, as well as the neighbouring unused footprint of Pandemonium and Test Track - that's a large space available. Here's hoping for a nice coaster on this site. Something Wickermanny / Th13teeny! - - EDIT: I don't think I quite realised until now how major the Drayton turnaround actually is. The new areas look really good, and they clearly have big plans for the place. The future is looking good!

POV looks good! 'Sik' though? How strange. Is this one of those Merlin-style weird marketing stunts from 15 years ago, to get people talking?

That's a really nice summary, glad it all worked 'technically' at least, even if the experience is messy as ever. Sadly it's not reflective of a 'standard' run-through 😂 I think the number of comments and confusion about weather or not the footage cuts out, and the surprise/acknowledgement at the number of working headsets available says it all about the attraction. It's a mess. Riders shouldn't be noticing this. It shouldn't be the go-to comment in a review. An attraction like this should be somewhat seamless. Completely agree with the comments on the hanging carriage. It's easy to forget that both the actual ride vehicles and suspended carriage are incredible. I remember first riding this when it opened, and how "wow" the suspended carriage and tube train interior was. It really does feel like you're sat on the tube, and the underground station is genuinely BRILLIANT. I think that "The tube" element - train and station - is by far the most immersive and detailed theming Thorpe (maybe Merlin?) have ever acheived. It's SO well done. It all falls down though because those things simply fade in to the background because the poor technology and chaotic story come to the forefront. We only get a glimpse at those incredible set pieces as we rush past them. There's no opportunity to properly take them in. Most of the DBGT experience is spent in an unthemed, narrow corridor, or with a terrible VR headset in front of our eyes. A waste and a shame.

Love this! Inferno takes it for me - years ago (pre-saw) on a quiet day towards the end of the day we’d often head to Inferno and just stay on the train for as long as we could (as long as nobody was in the air gates, we’d be allowed to stay seated!) I have no idea what my record would have been, but it was something ridiculous 😂 Good times and great memories. Do they still allow that at Thorpe? ———— On a side note this has really pulled on my heart strings. I spent hours doing this with a friend who lost his life a few years ago. Thank you for posting this and letting my re-live such happy memories I’d forgotten I had 😊 Weird how such specific things bring the memories flooding back isn’t it.

I agree. Doing small things like improving the food offerings, getting all the rides open, and improving the appearance of things by refreshing the monorail and deep cleaning or painting shabby things (like the entire Smiler) would make a big difference. Losing Nemesis is going to be a blow to the park in its current state.

What? I must have gone to a different event. The Fright Nights 21 visit I had was the worst theme park visit I've ever had. Fair enough. The set & design was fab. Our run-through was awful though. Again, I must have gone through a different scare zone. 🤷🏼‍♂️ --- Congratulations to them for the awards, clearly a lot of hard work went in to creating the event, and as always the actors were incredible and working bloody hard. But based on my visit and my personal experience on the night, the park don't even deserve the wooden spoon. I think it was down to difficulties recruiting staff etc, but even so it's interesting to see how much guest experiences can differ from each other with scare events. It's promising to hear that many thought it was worthy of these awards though. Hopefully consistency is worked on going forward.

I had no idea the waterpark and golf had pretty much the same opening hours as the park. What is the thinking behind that I wonder? The waterpark used to be busy in the evenings as far as I remember? (it's been ages since I stated there)

That's a bit of a shame. I think honestly the Festival of Thrills has flopped. The acts are very good, but it was the same when I was there - nobody was attracted to the stages, and the park was worryingly quiet. It feels to me like they were expecting huge numbers now that Covid seems to be 'over', but nobody showed up. I've noticed the weirdly enormous number of staff this season too. I assumed it's down to the attendance not meeting their expectations, which is desperately sad really considering they've put on all these staff (if that's what the reason is). Could they also be 'displaced' staff from Hex and Enterprise? Last season I felt that Towers was in bad shape, but this year with more rides closed and no real improvements, it's starting to feel again like it did when they re-opened shortly after the Smiler's crash.. Still a good day out, but feels empty and a shadow of its former self Looking ahead, in the sort term at least it's a bit worrying that Nemesis will be closing soon for its refurb. As for this season, hopefully crowd levels pick up and they get (and keep) all their rides open - Towers is one of those places that does well when it's a little busier to make it feel alive. The summer season is almost here too, so that should be a boost for them.