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JoshuaA
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Posts posted by JoshuaA
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37 minutes ago, JoshC. said:
Whilst we don't know the exact reasons for Thorpe not opening Creek Freak, this is a pretty rubbish attitude to take. With the level of uncertainty over whether Halloween events could take place, ever changing guidelines and restrictions, and potential modifications required to the building, I really don't think it's right to say 'if Thorpe bothered'. You could take the exact same stance with anywhere - Tulleys could have opened a scream park this year if they bothered...
Is the Towers team stronger than the Thorpe team when it comes to Halloween events? Definitely. Could Thorpe have put more into Fright Nights? Sure. Should Merlin give Thorpe more budget so they can invest more into Fright Nights? Probably. But I don't think you can knock their effort. Especially when they're one of the few places to actually, ahem, bother to put on a Halloween event.
Tulleys adapted. Basically all non Merlin events didn't open this year. Most of them did not open for H&S concerns, as well as how well their venue and mazes would adapt to a post covid world. Tulleys decided to deliver a Halloween drive in with roaming actors, and a fire show. They knew they would lose money, but decided to close because a lot of the park would NOT work in our current climate.
Thorpe Park did decide to open, but they also decided to give probably one of the worst offerings in history. Fair enough right it is tough, but then they decided to make it the most expensive year to date. Passholders have to pay £25 to get in alone, and then you need a tenner for each mazes. Which may I add, are some of the weakest mazes to grace a scare event.
If you are going to charge premium, I expect the park to build premium mazes.
Fear Festival could of been a one off change of pace for Thorpe. But it seems like an excuse to charge a lot for not a lot. Where Scarefest are delivering the goods, and Tulleys is doing something different alltogether than cannot be compared to their usual offering, Thorpe just seem to fail a lot of the landing.
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In my opinion, Alton's mazes really don't seem too different in ventilation. Actually Skin Snatchers opening really shocked me. The maze in previous years has had a very tight and compact layout, it also is in the ruins of a gothic castle. The Attic is copy and paste.
I'm sure the indoor mazes at Thorpe could of happened if Thorpe could be bothered, but Roots of Evil probably was a very cheap way to add another maze for pennies. In my opinion it is mostly down to money and the teams behind each event. Alton have a very creative and willing team which is why Scarefest seems to actually be thriving this year.
Creek Freak maybe should be redesigned in the future then, if the fumes are so bad.
Thinking about it maybe that is why Chop Shop has its open roof?
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Still don't know why the park didn't perhaps use Asylum's building or plonked a marquee around Zodiac and made something small but great. Roots Of Evil honestly looks hilarious. More like a guided tour of a woods in Staines than a maze. I chuckled at the POV. Alton Towers got SkinSnatchers approved somehow, so it definitely shows if there is a will, there is a way.
Creepy Caves is firmly on my bucket list, its good we have a decent scare attraction here in the south even though most of them decided to close.
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46 minutes ago, Glitch said:
Either way if I saw the park as busy as that within that area I would probably just move on and avoid the area and perhaps find a quieter more chilled area. Or in the case of most of these Vloggers, I would just call it quits and head back next week on a quieter day rather than complaining on twitter in seek of vlogger credibility and an invite to next years press event.
Isn't it 25 quid tho for even passholders? It isn't cheap to go back, its not like last year when you could literally just come back the week after for free. Maybe they had the mazes booked, which are £10 each. Obviously not the park's fault, but if you paid £45 quid as a passholder alltogether and things were like Sunday, I would be wanna rant a bit lol. Even if they could come back the week after, that would be another 45 quid with the mazes. Which is a lot money right now considering a lot of people are being made redundant and a lot of job sectors are going under.
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Yeah I went back on 'that sunday' back in 2017, it really is bloody horrible. I have also done it at Scarefest as well, but at Scarefest they didn't sell booze and had security everywhere so it felt a little less horrible.
Its a shame they still haven't got on top of it, like you think at this point they would have security measures galore in place. Well either way shame on the people who ruin the experience for others.
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On 10/12/2020 at 4:39 PM, Glitch said:
Yet Luna cinema can run films with a start time of 9.45pm, makes no sense.
Yeah cos it aint like people are in cars or anything (so nobody walking around, and really no risk of transmission).. Makes plenty of sense to me lol
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Honestly can't wait for the next area. I think the park has really done well in bringing some of their existing rides into these times in the past few years. Kolombusjolle, Cancan Coaster, Whale Tours, and that Dinosaur dark ride. I hope they get round to Bobbahn soon though.
A new coaster would make this park even more stupidly huge. I hope Mack introduce something completely new, though basically any of their large scale models would be lush (besides the Big Dipper, which probably won't happen due to capacity).
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After riding Taron and Maverick, I gave Intamin a bump.
1. Mack- They seem to be on fire atm. Time Traveller at Plopsa, the new Arthur like ride at the new Universal Studios park. They innovate, but still make very reliable rides. They are the perfect blend of innovation and reliability.
2. RMC- Brilliant ride layouts, and the king of ejector airtime. As well as weird elements.
3. Intamin- They are getting better.. Though they do have some pretty awful rides to their name (Red Force's pothole launch, Colossus (all of it), Rita, and a bunch of rides that have constant problems with reliability).. I do think they have a pretty bad reputation at this point as well.
But rides like Taron, Maverick, and Millie make me put it here.
4. B&M- Brilliant in the 90s, brilliant in the 2000's. Nowadays they try to strangle you by putting the B&M vests on every coaster model possible.
Though they deserve to be here as their Gigas/Hypers redeem them.
5. GCI
They make one model, and usually those coasters have similar layouts. But when it works, it works!
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They should list the queue times for guest services tbh.
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Sadly no naughty nurses or ex boyfriend flavoured popcorn! Hopefully next year lol
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So I went to the haunted cinema tonight, and overall I am very impressed.
They have a small roaming team of actors that greet you while you drive in, before the movie starts, and while you leave. If you have been to Tulleys, these actors are very akin to the street. Which is great.
Sure you only see them a few times, but when we did they were very funny and were a strong cast.
If you are going to the toliet or to one of the food stands, or if they come near your car, definitely have a chat with them! Very witty in typical Tulleys roaming actor fashion and put a smile on my face.
Overall its a really well organised and well manned ship, I really recommend it.
They also have kind of a trailer for next year as well, which may or may not involve some fire!
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Looks cool. I do think Alton is the better deal this year (especially when it comes to prices).
I hope Thorpe let some of these actors have some humour this year, it would be nice to have laughs in the scare zones. I always found Thorpe to lack the humour that Tulleys or even Scarefest has/had. Even the roamers are always so try-hard.
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The 25 quid I pay to get in better go towards the RMC Hybrid the park is building I STG.
- Martin Doyle and MattyMoo
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I got about 5 rides in this season on Samurai, and yeah agreed, it is running brilliant. It seems to be consistently on a decent cycle, it also seems to be dead at certain times of the day as well so you can grab plenty of rides in. I'm glad its still going strong
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I know times are rough, though I do find this a bit of dramatic move. Sure the park passes had slight pricing issues, and sure pre-booking was a pain in the bum due to how limited they were, but completely ceasing their current offering honestly is a bit of a knee jerk reaction IMO.
IMO they should of bumped up prices on the standard passes by a bit, they are currently stupidly priced. And then perhaps allowed a few more slots for MAP on quieter days, especially when the park was unlikely to reach capacity and it when it wouldn't really affect their profits.
Honestly I see this becoming overtly complicated, just like Six Flags's membership and the million tiers it offers. I'd rather the park pull a Cedar Fair, have a bit higher prices, but not have a million editions of passes, tiers, and perks, and restrictions.
Also the afternoon slots they are introducing, why? Unless you live nearby its utterly useless and a stupid idea.
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Could be completely random, though I do believe Merlin should work with RMC soon. They are basically the future of roller coasters, and they do not have a bad coaster to their name. I'm sure if the park got any type of RMC it would easily be #1 in the park. But lets be real, we ain't getting a coaster here for a while. I can still dream about Alton though lol.
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I miss Wild Mouse lol. Lowkey the best coaster in the UK when it was open.
I remember Revolution being great though, even if it was brutal, the airtime made the ride great. I think BPB have a decent lineup of coasters, I haven't ridden ICON yet though. But certainly nothing on Alton. Avalanche and the Woodies slap though, Avalanche makes other Bobsled coasters look really boring in comparison. I need to get back there.
Agreed on Big One though, its a kiddie coaster after the drop. You could probably check tinder and update your Facebook status while on it, its that boring.
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1 hour ago, JoshC. said:
I feel like I've heard this every year since the Raptor was announced. 😂
I think they have been over-hyped a little, but I do think next year will see the model gain some steam.
2018 was the testing of waters, It might help we're actually getting confirmed raptors next year. Jersey Devil, Silverwood's, Kentucky Kingdom's, and the one that was due to open this year in South Dakota (probably will open next year).
1 hour ago, JoshC. said:And they're having issues with the T-Rex model too still. Maybe one day they'll be a big thing, but it just feels like the model is ticking along right now, and not going to be the next big thing.
From what RMC have said in interviews, I believe they are just testing the limits of the Raptor first. Look at Jersey Devil. They wanna test all the options, and sell a few to smaller parks as their price point is a steal (Silverwood, Kentucky Kingdom, and that random park in Dakota).
The-T Rex would be a huge step forward for RMC, and remember they only got their start 9 years ago.. It would also be a lot more resources than the Raptor. I'm sure when RMC are ready, we will get a T-Rex.
1 hour ago, JoshC. said:No denying they've got potential and look like fun rides, but they don't seem to have taken off as well as RMC's conversions of wooden coasters.
I feel this is premature statement for a model that debuted in 2018. And two were due this year, remember it took several years for the hybrids to take off. I feel it is far too early to compare the model to the hybrids.
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Double Post:
Silverwood (a small park in Idaho) are getting a RMC Raptor, a clone of Railblazer and WonderWoman. The ride has a neat theme, and has a pleasing red and white colour scheme. Certainly going to be give the park a elite coaster, a great compliment to their two woodies, their classic arrow, and their Vekoma Giant Boomerang. Certainly a park to visit now, as their lineup is pretty unique. I honestly pinned Silverwood as a good candidate for the next RMC, considering RMC have actually constructed most of Silverwood's coasters and re-done the track for Tremors. It really was a matter of time. 2021 is going to be the year of the raptor.
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On 9/9/2020 at 8:56 AM, JoshC. said:
-A lot of the ride audio is a bit meh in my opinion. And the announcements are caricature level German to the point it sounds more Austrian in my opinion.
I have a lot of family in Austria, and I agree to an extent. Though honestly Bavarian Germany and most parts of Austria have interlinked culture anyway. My uncle makes Lederhosen for example, and Oktoberfest and Beer Tents are huge where my family live and the accents aren't too drastically different either. It sounding Austrian is not bad at all IMO. Very minimal difference, most people really won't care.
On 9/9/2020 at 8:56 AM, JoshC. said:The huge focus on yodelling too, which is a bit odd given yodelling isn't a big Oktoberfest thing. It's more a Swiss thing, but whatever.
I agree with this. Yodelling isn't really something that I would consider big in Germany or Austria, I'm not sure what was going through their mind.
Not bad, just strange.
On 9/9/2020 at 8:56 AM, JoshC. said:All in all, the event has potential there. It's clearly been done very quickly, and is a knee jerk reaction to a lack of other events. It would be foolish to expect anything top notch from the word go. But equally, it isn't hitting the mark yet, and it's a bit of a shame it isn't really ready yet, and that they haven't got the stage performers daily (they do have roaming performers, but they're...not good). Hopefully it grows, hopefully they iron out the flaws and - in honesty - it would be nice if they continued it in future years and gave it a chance to properly develop.
Agreed, I hope in future years the park brings it back and expands on it. I did enjoy it a bit more, but I do admit its anything but perfect.
I think first thing would be to direct some actors with great improvisation skills. Look at the street at Tulleys, imagine if the roamers had things to say to you. What if you could have a funny and witty conversation with them? Right now they feel a little awkward, which probably is due to poor preparation or bad direction/lack of direction. I also would love some more food options. I hope they continue to do Markt Lebkuchenherzen (the ginger-bread hearts), it brought back memories seeing those. Expensive but worth it.
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2 hours ago, alexander said:
Anyone know if Queue Times is remotely accurate? Am trying to gauge it since schools have returned but it's been saying the last few days Inferno / Colossus / Stealth have been on 90 mins - most coasters are reporting 60-80 minutes today.
If that's gonna be the case I just want to prepare myself next week, but to anyone who has been during the week, does anyone know otherwise?
Apologies as I asked a similar question a couple of weeks ago (thanks @JoshC.)
Its a bit hit/miss, the queues are about a hour during mid-day, though later on the day the queue times can be a bit bloated/exaggerated. Yesterday Stealth said 45 minutes when it was about 10 minutes. And it still said 45 when it was walk on for a fair while. Swarm is similar, it said 70 minutes when it was 20. Honestly I recommend not 100% trusting the reported queue times, especially in the afternoon. Though in the morning you may have to queue for a while for the major rides, especially Saw, which seems to be closed more than its open..
So anyway I went on Wednesday/Thursday, stayed in Thorpe Shark for the first time. And overall, its a OK hotel. Me and my mate were a bit cramped in the room, I honestly don't think 3-4 people could stay in comfortably to be honest. Though its fine for what it is, I like having the dome next door, and the park and the water around it look very nice at night. I do wish Infinity had more options though to be fair on the food. Overall okay, but at the end of the day, it puts the B in budget.
Although rough around the edges I found Oktoberfest to be a good laugh. I really hope the event gets expanded on in the future. I like the new soundtracks on some of the rides, I really enjoyed the plaza which made a dead spot on the park feel alive. Overall it is not perfect by any means, but I think it has potential. I would like more food options in future years, and the roamers certainly need more direction and improvisation going forward if the event returned. That plaza near the Ghost Train was always fun to walk by, and I bet live music will only make it more of a nice place to chill and have a drink.
Ride-wise, Inferno and Stealth are still my favourite coasters. With Swarm as a kind of okay number 3. Saw is now my least favourite on the park. I find the ride to be just as painful as Colossus, but at least Colossus is open for most of the time. A slight breeze could shut down Saw down, its been a really bad season for it. Samurai is more reliable than it, that is pretty bad. On the upside, even though its not quite as brutal as it used to be, Samurai still manages to be pretty great fun as well as reliable. Easily up there with Detonator for best flat ride. Also got my first ride ever on Depth Charge, which is a brilliant water ride. Probably my favourite water ride on the park.
Ride Count over the two days
Stealth X5
Inferno X3
Colossus X5
Saw X3
Swarm X3
Depth Charge X2
Tidal Wave X3
Samurai X3
Rumba X1
Storm in a Teacup X3
Mr Monkey's innuendo X1
Rocky Express X1
Long-stupid-name-for-bumper cars- X1
Zodiac X1
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1. Steel Vengeance
2. Taron (new)
3. Maverick (-1)
4. Shambhala (-1)
5. Wodan (-1)
6. The Smiler (-1)
7. Top Thrill Dragster (-1)
8 Goliath (Great America) -1
9. Black Mamba (new)
10. Wickerman
11. Nemesis
12. Blue Fire
13. Millennium Force
14. Magnum XL
15. Silver Star
Post Phantasia rankings.
- Matt 236 and Martin Doyle
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On 9/4/2020 at 11:01 AM, MattyMoo said:
For £10 I will expect to have a ball gag in my mouth, made to squeal like a pig and crawl around on all fours whilst being pushed about and then have a big fat man dressed as a baby put a custard pie in my face and throw straw at me #BigTopBraveItAlone #TheGoodOldDays #SharedBallGagNotCovidSecure
Sounds like an average evening in Staines to me.
Fright Nights 2020
in The Past
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Honestly I think people should know its not for kids right? Chessington is down the road.. No matter how you brand it, people still won't listen..
As a scare actor I have seen infants and even babies in a sling come through the mazes, its not the brands fault, but the people who are foolish.
Most scare events do not have age restrictions. Even Alton Towers don't seem to properly enforce their 15+ restriction, I went through Sub Species when I was 13 for example. What could of they done? Ask for ID? The only ID you could have that age is a passport, and some people don't even have a passport. I think it really should be down to parents, its your child, if you spent 2 minutes on the website you'll probably know whether its appropriate or not.