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paige

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  1. Like
    paige reacted to Benin in Alton Towers General Discussion   
    Narrator - "They hadn't."
  2. Like
    paige reacted to pluk in 2021 Season   
    I imagine next year will be a near repeat of this year. 
     
    TWD, DBGTROTD, BM all closed.
    Capacity issues elsewhere. 
     
    If only they had a nice open space like a farm to relax in, a large capacity train ride to take you there, an event space like an arena where people could be spread over a large searing area, or a log flume where each riding group could have their own socially distanced ride vehicle. 
  3. Like
    paige reacted to JoshC. in Why did Thorpe do away with face it alone??   
    An interesting question with a few answers.
     
    First off, to answer you concern: it was nothing to do with it being "too extreme". There wasn't enough serious complaints from guests who did it to warrant its removal. Frankly, I don't even know if there were any complaints - everyone knew what they were getting themselves in for. These sorts of experiences have a niche market (albeit, Thorpe and Towers' alone experiences expanded and simultaneously watered-down the niche).
     
    A short answer: There wasn't a strong enough drive internally to get it to come back.
    Devising the experience takes time (it wasn't simply "actors do whatever they want"), and there was no one who was in a position (in terms of the time-commitment required) to create it. There had been some backlash from actors about the experience who didn't feel comfortable doing it (something I'll go into later), plus it could add another hour onto an already very long day, where they have to work 10x harder. Those two together meant it just wouldn't get off the ground.
     
    A long answer: Less of an answer, and more of a story..
    Face it Alone came about in 2013, with the park trying to diversify their line up and really focus on becoming a bigger, better and more unique Halloween event. The Lionsgate IP bought in the brands and the interest, completely refreshing the concept of Fright Nights. They tried new maze concepts: choices (Cabin in the Woods) and outdoors (Blair Witch Project). They introduced a (sadly poorly received) overnight experience, which was trendy at the time, and pushed forward with the Face it Alone: an extreme and an alone experience in one; again something which was trending and on the up in the scare industry at the time.
     
    For anyone that did it in 2013, you'll no doubt know that every experience was different. The actors were given a scope of things they could do, boundaries they could push and ideas they could toy with. It was free-reign, but it gave the actors a much freer realm to work in. Another important thing to note is that Face it Alone wasn't particularly popular in 2013. People were unsure what exactly it was, whether it was worth the £15, etc. You could also choose which maze to experience. Which all in all meant it was easier to organise, give a personal touch, etc.
     
    When 2014 came along, the experience changed somewhat. Whilst it was still 'extreme', the actors stuck to much stricter roles. Basically, actor 1 did x to you, actor 2 did y to you, etc. By no means a bad thing (if planned correctly, this can be a very good thing), just different. Again, this year you could choose your own maze and, whilst it had gained popularity, it was still pretty calm.
     
    2015 is when everything changed, and was arguably the beginning of the end. Face it Alone became a much bigger spectacle. Gone were the days of choosing your own maze, and it was instead replaced with the Roulette Ceremony by Big Top. A great idea in fairness, and one that many enjoyed. This meant it garnered more attention and became much more popular, and went outside of the niche. Already teetering on the edge here.
     
    2015 did go back to 2013's free realm style too. There were clearly things that certain actors had to do at certain points to progress you through the experience, but in between actors had a very large scope of what they could do.
     
    The next thing with 2015 was the overt sexualisation of the experiences. It's probably not suitable to discuss the details on a public forum, but many things done within the experiences weren't scare tactics, they were simply there sexualised things made to make people feel uncomfortable, humiliated and uncertain. This was the first year that a safe word was introduced too. Safe words do appear in many extreme attractions, but I don't think it's a coincidence that a safe word appeared at the same time the sexualised content of Face it Alone occurred. 
     
    This was a completely different direction to what had happened before. Whilst Face it Alone may have featured things like nudity/being tied up/etc - ie things that COULD be sexualised - they never WERE. By doing so, it adds a very different tone. And this tone meant that people were enjoying these experiences in a very different way. There were plenty of times that people within Face it Alone experiences were asking for certain things to be done to them so that they could 'get their money's worth' and be satisfied with the experience. These sorts of things had happened in previous years, but not to the degree they had happened in 2015. This, unsurprisingly, led to some actors being rather uncomfortable with the experience.
     
    Come 2016, things had been toned down again. It went back more to 2014's "carbon copy" style experience. Originally it led to some complaints that it wasn't as extreme. I think one issue was that the 2015 version of Face it Alone had created a following of people who hadn't experienced extreme attractions outside of Face it Alone, so they had a very set idea of what should happen. When this didn't happen, it lead to that sort of backlash. Getting the balancing act right likely proved hard. And yet there were still people asking for certain things to be done to them, etc.
     
    Then 2017 came along, there had been a feeling of discomfort for a while from some actors. The experience had expanded too far out and wasn't something that could be controlled and marketed as it should. People changed roles. The amount of work required to hit that sweet spot was ever-growing, for perhaps diminishing returns. Fright Nights also focused on The Walking Dead, and AMC are known for very strict guidelines about their attractions. Working out a Face it Alone experience for those mazes would have been near-on impossible. So everything together just meant it didn't happen, and it hasn't returned since.
     
    And that's that. New external IP, internal concerns and arguably a bit of apathy/running out of steam all really finished it off.
     
     
    Maybe in the future it can return. With the AMC contract disappearing soon that would help. Seeing the extreme version of Creepy Caves at Chessington being a success probably helps. But it requires a lot of work, a lot more than many perhaps realise and appreciate. And I'm not sure I could see it happening soon.
  4. Like
    paige got a reaction from Marc in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  5. Like
    paige got a reaction from Glitch in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  6. Like
    paige got a reaction from Kerfuffle in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  7. Like
    paige got a reaction from MattyMoo in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  8. Like
    paige got a reaction from pluk in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  9. Like
    paige got a reaction from JoshC. in Introduce Yourself   
    Wow, I joined this forum almost six years ago and after a two year long hiatus I am back, maybe? In true me style my laptop died as I went to start writing this post x starting as I intend to go on 
     
    I am now a perpetually stressed chemistry student but I still like the rolling coasters, and unlike me 4 years ago, I have been to Alton Towers. I have actually been to Alton Towers several times this year and haven't visited Thorpe once HAHA!! 
     
    It's funny how I mentioned trying to get my friends into theme parks, I took my flatmate to Alton Towers along with ScARyCoAStErBoY (lol) and she said Hex was boring, but it is progress.
     
    BUT HI GUYSSS, looking forward to annoying you all with my wrong opinions again when I find the time 😙✌️
     
  10. Like
    paige got a reaction from David B in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    Thank you all again! I ended up trawling through this topic a bit later than intended, but so far what you're all saying is matching up with what I'm finding however I've found a few interesting points that are raising questions for me to look into. It is much appreciated  
  11. Like
    paige reacted to Exodus Matt in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    I think the only time I have ever felt properly sick (or close to being sick) was on Samurai at Thorpe Park.
     
    never have I felt so nauseated and sickly in my life. I was close to vomiting on no fewer than two ocassions and it has strongly put me off riding it even to this day.
     
    Surprising coasters I barely ever feel nauseated on (maybe if I'm very dehydrated), but my advice would be to consume sweets and fizzy drinks with moderation at theme parks, especially if you take one any white knuckle rides. 
  12. Like
    paige reacted to David B in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    Hi, I have felt sick on spinning rides at fairs in the past. I have been sick travelling in cars down narrow twisty roads in the past. Coasters have never made me unwell but I tend to take motion sickness tablets if going on spinning rides and they do the job well.
  13. Like
    paige reacted to rob666 in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    The one coaster at my home park...BPB...that makes me queasy is the Revolution, I often avoid it unless I'm with mates who want to go on.
    By way of assisting a fellow geek in their studies, I did the ride this week, amusingly, as I was entering the ride, a punter coming down the stairs immediately chucked up behind the entrance flower bed...so it isn't only me!
    I don't do spinny rides any more as I'm an old git (55), coasters apart that is...I think it is the launch drop on the ride that makes me want to puke, especially with the reverse drop.
    Good luck with your diss, sounds better than mine.
  14. Like
    paige reacted to pluk in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    Don't know if too late, but I basically never get sick on rides.
     
    - I do sometimes get a bit of a light headed feeling which will occasionally last a couple of minutes after the ride. I once went through the mcbr on Goliath at 6FMM without it slowing and properly greyed out on the Felix if forever which follows, but I find that a wonderful feeling.
    - I've only once felt sick after a ride, and that was after Swarm photoshoot meet, where we all rode well into double figures in the freezing cold and rain. Was OK at the time, but once I was driving home I felt pretty ill and as if I had a bad hangover the next day. Maybe that shows everyone will have their level of tolerance their body will let itself be put through before it gives out some signs to stop!
  15. Like
    paige reacted to CharlieN in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    I've never felt sick personally, but I do have a friend who gets quite faint after certain rides. 
     
    This has happened twice. The first time was after the rock rage (ski jump) at Winter Wonderland. I believe it was the erratic change of direction and aggression that meant that my friend was so ill (and the fact that WW was dead so we were on for three cycles!). My friend then had to sit down on a bench for 20 minutes, during which he probably drunk 5 bottles of water. He told me that he felt like he was going to faint (which he does do, frequently.)
     
    Another notable time where he had motion sickness was after Zodiac at Thorpe park - although it was the repetitiveness of this ride that meant my friend felt faint.
     
    To me, how the contrasting ride experiences achieved an equal level of sickness is interesting. It was the force and aggression of Ski Jump, but the passive repetitiveness of Zodiac. I've always found that peculiar - particularly as roller coasters, drop towers or even car journeys don't make him feel sick at all.
  16. Like
    paige reacted to Mega-Lite in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    The stupid robot arm with a screen 2 inches from your face 3D waste of time that is Harry Potter's Forbidden Quiditch Match at Universal Japan got me badly, wasn't sick but did make me ill.
     
    What a piece of crap that was.
     
    That's the only ride I can think of, off the top of my head. So harsh movements, with a 3D screen inches from your nose is my downfall.
  17. Like
    paige reacted to Mark9 in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    I've only felt ill on one ride, this disastrous contraption at Walygator Parc. It's the combination of swinging and spinning that really didn't agree with me.

     
     
    I once felt sick after eating a Mcdonalds and then immediately single riding Dragons Fury but that was my own stupidity, not the ride itself.
  18. Like
    paige reacted to LK_ in do you get sick on rides? please help me   
    On roller coasters I normally have zero problem, flats such as shot/drop towers/star flyers/screaming swings/top spins/top scans/slammer (rip) ect, I have no problem with, it's rides like Maelstrom that get me, and the worst one, are Skymasters, I actually throw up after every ride so I try to avoid them nowadays, which is a shame because my local fair has one 
  19. Like
    paige got a reaction from Ryan in TPM Christmas Meet 2017!!   
    Hello all!
     
    The provisional date for this meet is currently Saturday, 16th December but as ever you forum lot have the power to decide, the poll for the meet date will be closing in two weeks (8pm on Monday, 6th November). If you find yourself joining us, this is what we could be getting up to...
     
    10:30-10:45 meet at London Waterloo station, underneath the clock, just infront of WHSmiths (if you're late we won't wait, sorry!)
    10:45 we'll start making our way to the London Eye on the Southbank, here people that may need to obtain tickets for the Merlin attractions can do so before we get onto the eye at about 11
    11:30-13:00 (ish) once we hop off the eye (hopefully we'll have some kind of actual view this year lol) we'll head over to the Dungeons to get ourselves well and truly spooked 
    13:00-14:00 we'll be stopping for lunch, which may or may not end up being Mcdonald's for the sake of convenience
    14:00-15:00/15:30 the group shall split for a while here, some may go and visit Sea Life whilst others might want to go and visit Shrek's Adventure
    15:00/15:30 everyone will meet back up outside the attractions before returning back to Waterloo where we'll be getting the tube to Baker Street
    16:00-17:00 once we get to Baker Street, some may choose to go and visit Madame Tussauds whilst other might want to sit and wait in a nearby Wetherspoons
    17:00-19:00 afterwards we'll be having a (hopefully lovely) group meal at a place that is to be determined by you, where we'll be doing secret santa, that always provides some entertainment!!
    19:00-22:00 now for the part of the meet everyone's been waiting for, we'll be heading over to Winter Wonderland for the remainder of the evening, which is a nice way to end the meet and the year as TPM 
     
     
    If you want to attend this meet or partake in secret santa, as ever please let myself know. I'll be sorting out secret santa about three weeks before the meet is to take place, so let us know ASAP if you want to take part!
     
    Hope to see you all there
     
    Attending:
     
    BaronC. (not WW) Doc Felicity J.S217 (maybe) Kerfuffle Liam T Marc Martin.C  Martin Doyle (WW) Mattgwise MattyMoo  Mer Mr Fish Nick Hutson OldFarmerDean (from meal) RobF (Spoons onwards) Ryan StevenVig Stuntman707 Terrortomb ThrillNation (from meal) Timber Creek (from 5:30/6)
  20. Like
    paige reacted to Ryan in TPM Meets 2018 Planning   
    Hi all!
     
    We're currently in the process of drafting up next year's meet list and would like some feedback/suggestions from yourselves. We are looking at reducing the list of meets to around 8-10 per year, this way we can concentrate on the quality rather than quantity of meets. The current plan includes an International meet, potential replacement location for Guildford meet yet to be confirmed, Thorpe opening weekend, Blackpool, Alton Towers and Fright Nights. 
     
    If you have any suggestions or ideas for 2018 meets then please post in here!
  21. Like
    paige reacted to Ryan in TPM Events Calendar 2017 (Fright Nights update)   
    Hi all!
     
    Just a quick update regarding Fright Nights meet, I've been desperate to release details for it for a while now but we are having to wait for a few things unfortunately. The provisional date for the meet will be Saturday 7th October, but 1st, 8th and 15th October will also be in the vote.
     
    As soon as I can release more details about it I will, but it's going to be exciting (hopefully)!
  22. Like
    paige reacted to Marc in News Desk   
    Updated the forums to the latest software version tonight - if you notice anything not working let me know!
     
    The biggest change you'll likely notice is enhancements to the "Like" system - you can now react to posts much like you can on Facebook!
     
    The skin is the default one at the moment - am working on an all new skin at the moment which will hopefully look alot better!
  23. Like
    paige got a reaction from terrortomb in TPM Heads oop North Saturday 17th-Sunday 18th June 2017   
    thank you to everyone who came this weekend, even though it was horrifically warm!! 
     
    I think that a special thanks is in order to ryan. all I did for this meet was write up the initial post and start the thread, since then I have taken a bit of a step back from organising to focus on my exams so ryan completely stepped up and totally organised the legoland meet and also went about sorting rooms, transport and the cash involved for everyone who needed it in this meet. if it wasn't for him we wouldn't have had a bed to sleep in and I for one appreciate all that he's managed to do for the past couple of months! 
     
     
    our next meet is in just over a month for minster of sound. if you're over 18 and attend the MoS even itself, don't forget to book your ticket as soon as possible and let myself or ryan know if you would like help with booking a room. just please make sure you bring some factor 50 and a lot of water... my umbrella can only provide shade for so many people at a time (ha ha haha) 
     
    I hope everyone manages to stay cool as the coming week is supposed to be even more scorching, see you in july! 
     
     
     
     


  24. Like
    paige got a reaction from Whatever in TPM Heads oop North Saturday 17th-Sunday 18th June 2017   
    so as those of you who know me will know, I am normally running around with my phone in my hand taking photos of everything, the weekend was no exception really. I've mashed together a little montage of the clips I have because I think it would be nice for those who went to look back on, also I think alton towers is a really, reeeaaally pretty park so had to showcase some nice shots of the towers in there. I know it looks like we only went on three rides lol and some of the clips are quite shaky but its hard to hold a camera steady with a limp and I felt a bit iffy for some of the time but I TRIED OK GUYS 
     
     
    enjoy (you will more than likely have to be on a desktop to watch this because copyright stuffs) 
     
     
     
  25. Like
    paige got a reaction from Exodus Matt in TPM Heads oop North Saturday 17th-Sunday 18th June 2017   
    so as those of you who know me will know, I am normally running around with my phone in my hand taking photos of everything, the weekend was no exception really. I've mashed together a little montage of the clips I have because I think it would be nice for those who went to look back on, also I think alton towers is a really, reeeaaally pretty park so had to showcase some nice shots of the towers in there. I know it looks like we only went on three rides lol and some of the clips are quite shaky but its hard to hold a camera steady with a limp and I felt a bit iffy for some of the time but I TRIED OK GUYS 
     
     
    enjoy (you will more than likely have to be on a desktop to watch this because copyright stuffs) 
     
     
     
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