JoshuaA

About to head off for Tulleys this year! I really cannot wait, expect a review written up by tonight/tomorrow, I'll try to get a ton of photos too.

I think they might of had the odd use of "sh*t" in the Towers mazes? Though I guess most people who visit the event are teens/adults so the swearing probably doesn't matter all that much.. Plus trust me, you'll hear worse from the chavs's queueing in front of you for the mazes..

I took a peek at both of the POVS and I think it looks pretty promising.. If Living Nightmare is linear I think its for the better.. As Cabin last year was a nightmare with stacking, it actually ruined the maze for me last year. I think both look pretty good, though obviously I can't fully judge it until I experience it myself.

I may bash Infusion and Big One a lot, though I gotta say I think Icon is going to be easily one of the best coasters to be built over here.. The layout looks long, creative, and maybe even better than Blue Fire's layout? Yes its speed is meh, though speed really isn't the reason I ride a Mack Launch.. Blue Fire is generally a coaster that crawls through its elements, though its hangtime, airtime, and that crazy heart-line at the end is the reason its loved so much. Lets hope Vahalla gets some work done for next year though, as holy god is that ride good when its effects are working.

I would have to agree with the post above when it comes to Sub Species. I don't scare easily at all though Sub Species is truly the most intense maze I've been in. I was alone for a lot of it, I was pushed like a rag-doll by actors, and the maze has everything from open spaces, pitch black sections, to crawling sections. Though you'll probably be fine with TOTT, as its generally a LOT tamer than Sub Species. Skin Snatchers might be okay, though there is quite a lot of touch scares and some separation, but its not as bad as Sub Species. I think Tulleys though will be fine for you though. I find the event a lot more light-hearted than the Towers in that a lot of their mazes are more fun than scary, though if you have anxiety about chainsaws I recommend giving Chop Shop a miss. Chop Shop is literally 5 minutes of creepy looking actors throwing themselves at you with chainsaws..

Its confirmed by now that its gonna be a 300 foot tall topspin. Jeez. Get ur facts right.

I'll try my best to keep my preview night review spoiler free, though for those who want to get spoiled I'll probably some put some of it in spoiler tags. Can't wait for preview night though, the atmosphere is always so awesome when they open the event. Heck, the atmosphere is good every night.

Well first off Canada Creek doesn't even exist anymore.. Now we have the very fitting "old town". I think the railway will be fully demolished by 2018-2022 or so, and in that time frame I wager we will see maybe a GCI woodie around the area somewhere? Or another log flume would also be good, I think that is what we'll see. Obviously we'll see some kinda gimmick thrust up onto the replacement too as Merlin and gimmicks go hand in hand. I think Canada Creek/Old Town will be fully changed at some point, as pretty much every main ride in the area is closed..

I think its safe to say the railway will probably not return. The railway has got pretty beat up over the years, and the ride wasn't exactly essential to the lineup.. To bring it back would probably entail a ton of money that I don't think Merlin would spend on something like this. Plus from my memory it was pretty dated in its final years, so the removal really wasn't much of a surprise or loss.

I really hope (if done) the hooded element will only be a section of the maze as there is so much a hooded maze can do IMO. I guess Molly Crowe was pretty nicely executed though, so the hooded element on here will probably be no different. Molly Crowe really did set up a story and an atmosphere with its audio and effects, so I hope Alton bring some of that back here. I do hope they have some non hooded sections though, as the hooded element can get dull if done for too long like Hellements..

Thats awesome! Very interested to see how different VIXI will be. That is pretty awesome by the staff though.

How's construction going? I would pop down the road to go and check though I'm so lazy Anyway only a week Saturday before Tulleys begins, the hype is on!

Got to love Tobin, he really is what made that franchise bearable. As much as people like to moan about Saw Alive's age, I think 2015 and onward its been one of the better mazes at the park. Some of the scares were actually pretty relentless last year, and the pig-mask guys for sure got a few shocks out of me when they jumped out of nowhere.

Living Nightmare will probably be a multi routed maze, and Sanctum will probably be an outside maze with some open spaces for actors. I cannot say for sure as both attractions have not opened yet, though I'm pretty sure that both will be nothing like Containment. The Walking Dead would fit an escape attraction like Containment though, but unfortunately its not happening this year.

I think the outside section was actually pretty decent IMO. I got few good scares in that section on my first run through, though some theming and more hiding spaces would be nice. The tunnel is truly dreadful though.. As BaronC said some audio, and some floor type changes and maybe even some elevation and it'd be decent. Though I think The Tunnel would work better in the beginning/middle of the attraction. If you look at Tulleys the dark sections are usually used to build tension during the beginning/middle of the mazes, and with Platform this usually meant you were walking out bored from that annoyingly boring long walk in the dark you just did. I don't think Thorpe are gonna be the able to do a full U turn like they did with Big Top, but I think Platform could be Ok/Decent if they give the Tunnel some actual atmosphere.

IV and I are my favourites. I cannot stand the seventh film, the plot is just so stupid.. It makes a good comedy I guess.. The overload traps really is not for me.

Its a decent entrance.. Unlike certain events its not just a banner on the back of a building of a lacklustre ride.. Creepy Caves entrance really isn't bad..

Towerstimes just posted some pictures of construction on The Welcoming. So I think it looks pretty interesting. I guess most of this will be outside with the wooden walls shaping the layout? Shame about Duel Live and Haunted Hollow live, though I think the park right now has overall a decent lineup for Scarefest. I do think they should make House Of Monsters or at least one maze free though next year, as doing all 5 mazes is pretty expensive. Though I guess in Sub Species/Skin Snatchers case its worth the money, but it would be nice to see something free on the lineup other than Freakshow.

I'm so hyped for Preview Night in a few weeks! Though the Funfair rides from my memory don't open on Preview Night anyway so it makes sense that there not up. I'm still intrigued to see if they do the yearly "world record" thing on preview night this year as they usually do a world record of some sort.. Like 2015's Zombie Conga Line, or 2016's Witches record, I hope they do something like this again as its a really nice way to open the event.

Just saw IT last night and I thought it was pretty decent.. The film is pretty relentless, and there isn't really a dull moment in the first half. I just think the film drags on for WAY to long at the end, and I think they could of decreased the use of cheap jump scares in some moments.. The trailer for Jigsaw though was something I have to mention. Never have I ever seen so much laughter in an cinema.. It looks like a great unintentional comedy..

I do like the event- don't get me wrong, but queuing 60-180 minutes for a half arsed maze that has group stack galore isn't fun.. I'm actually baffled by people who think this event is well organised.. And now the only way to enjoy it (fastrack) requires you to take out a loan.. I'd rather fork out £20 for Alton's long, detailed, scary mazes than queue up for hours to be presented with (bar Big Top) a half arsed experience.. Alton's system is far from perfect, though at least they have some kind of control of crowds.. Fright Nights even earlier on in the season is like a a zoo compared to the likes of Tulleys.

I didn't exactly boast about the closure of Loggers in my original post did I? Slammer is a fairly recent closure so I think there is some justification as it is a loss in the support lineup for Fright Nights. I wasn't suggesting we open IAC either as staffing issues are pretty obvious, and the park suffer from actor-shortages anyway.. My point was that the park are under heavy amounts of pressure during Fright Nights and Rush and Rumba is a fair loss to the support lineup which will probably mean even MORE pressure put onto the other rides. This combined with the recent loss of Slammer (though it probably would of closed for 90% of the event anyway) and the unreliability machine named Samurai.. I think the park are gonna struggle more than ever with queues. I think with an event like Fright Nights, the more rides you can open, the better. Though with the sugarcoat comment I meant I feel like there is a tad bias for Thorpe. Breakdowns are not the park's fault, but I do wonder how parks like Europa drift by with so little problems with the rides.. (Only seen 1 breakdown there, and it was fixed in matter of minutes) I do take back the Alton comment though considering I was comparing a YEAR closure to a closure for a few months. Anyway at least we'll have Timber Tug and Frog Hopper to eat up those FN crowds..

Well.. Thats odd.. I really don't think it would of took much effort to plonk up a film/random footage from TWD and call it a day.. It would of been nice to see the theatre actually used for something but I guess its not much of a loss..

So I guess this will probably be a few changes to Hellements- which to be fair I was expecting the hooded element to return anyway, so I'm not too disappointed. Yes a ground up maze to replace Hellements would be better, but I think Hellements with the right changes could actually be a pretty good attraction. I do think Coven and Chop Shop will shine this year, as both with a few changes could be absolutely brilliant. I think Twisted Clown's 3D really depends on how they pull it off. If its a full 3D experience, then I think it might flow better than the abrupt 3D section at the end last year..