JoshuaA

From inside sources I've heard that replacing Containment will be "Katie Hopkins: the escape!" (Basically just being locked in shipping container with Katie Hopkins.. scariest thing ever) Anyway back on topic- I really hope Merlin don't mess this up, if the IP is the walking dead then black felt walls or long unthemed tunnels (like what they pulled in Platform) really are going to look silly next to the high budget effort of Universal's take on the IP..

Inferno is quite underrated IMO. Okay it may not be as iconic or as forceful as Nemesis, but it's still has some forceful moments, and in the back row it's bloody brilliant. It seems to get more forceful as the years go by too. B&M

Yes a bunch of great IP's like the Walking Dead would be great but the execution is key.. Lets hope if Thorpe aim big with the IP's, they do the same with theming and actors.. As HHN probably has a billion times the budget of Fright Nights.. Though, Merlin have gave us quality in Sub Species, Altonville Mine Tours, and even Big Top to a extent- so I could only hope they push the limits and give full effort if they did do a re-vamp this year! Maybe Thorpe could actually beat Scarefest this year? Who knows? If they give us a intense and immersive maze like Sun Species, then I couldn't ask for anymore really.

The first Saw film was great.. It went downhill from there IMO.. There is some interesting plot twists in the first film or two, and generally some brain behind it.. then Saw 2 saw it become just mindless torture porn.. And I'd expect this to be no different.. meh.

I hope Thorpe introduce proper scare-zones like the Towers this year. I also hope the roamers will have more to do than just give a average jump scare or come up in your face. Heck I've had highly amusing conversations with the actors over at Tulleys, and if Thorpe did similar, it'd be awesome. The scare zones and roamers don't have to be terrifying, but as long as there entertaining, and have some good costumes, who cares? I do hope the park could sort something out on Amity Beach, as the park really lacks spaces to put mazes now, and Amity Beach could host 1-2 attractions if the flooding issues are resolved. Also can't wait for the obvious Love Island IP maze this year- it's going to be so sick fam!

I'm not a hardcore fan of either parks, though I was judging from my recent experiences of both parks. Oh and this is a forum, were you know people express there opinion.. though obviously we all have different experiences at parks, and I personally think the operations at BPB are fairly solid. Though don't we all have a little bias in our opinions? The blinkered comment is perhaps one of the silliest things I've seen on this forum.. Well it was a tad of bad wording on my part, though my point still stands.. And yes Dreamland has fairly sluggish operations, but they did just come out of administration.. And generally all the rides were open (excluding planned closures) when I visited, but obviously you don't pick everything up during one visit. My experience at BPB was generally very positive, but maybe I could of gone on a really good day? Things like this can put bias into opinions, and we're all "blinkered" in a way. Though for me the staff at BPB and Dreamland felt way more friendlier and the park generally felt less like a money machine than Thorpe. Don't get me wrong Thorpe is a great park, but they could operate so much better.. Things like this really doesn't have to happen, same with the occasional one train operation on busy days.

In my original post I meant that it probably wouldn't be hard to staff all three of the flat rides.. Obviously all rides have different circumstances, but all three of the rides really don't need much staff to run.. Which was my point.. Judging from the post- it seems this happened on happened on a weekend in July, so barely a off-peak day.. If you're going to put in some random second hand flat rides that barely fit in, at least operate them for god sake. Some parks like BPB, Dreamland, and I bet Paulton have terrible attendance, and still from my experience give a better Guest experience overall than Thorpe. Thorpe is never going to be like Europa Park or perfect, but things like this are just hilarious, and shows how the operations can be quite poor.. Dreamland for example are financially dying, but they still make effort to open their rides and staff them..

Merlin is undoubtedly one of the giants in the industry, whether they say it or not, they have the money, but still, some parks that are financially struggling are operating better than Thorpe.. Lets face it, Merlin plonked two second hand flat rides in their park, and then decided to not run them properly.. Plonking two fairly out of place flat rides was bad enough, but if they can't even staff them, whats the point? The amount of money they're saving is probably peanuts to them though. Like I would understand Dreamland, or other financially struggling parks to do things like this, but Thorpe.. Its really just greed. They have the money to staff these attractions, Merlin could build a £30 Million coaster if they wanted to right now.. Though they're more concerned about saving £60 by closing some of their support rides for most of the day.. Meh, lets hope Blackpool claw back with Icon next year, as I feel Merlin needs some park that could actually threaten them.

Is this a joke? Must be so tough to operate a frog hopper, a train ride, and a tug boat.. Just laughable, parks with half the budget as Thorpe are operating more efficiently. If this is a long term thing- I have no words, I'm actually depressed by how bad the operations are..

Can't wait to ride that 10 year old second hand Pinfari when it opens in the next century or so.. I really can't take Oakwood seriously after them purchasing a second hand Pinfari.. Such a shame, as Megafobia looks like a great woodie, and Speed looks like a decent coaster too. Shame the people running the place are on Class A Drugs..

Usually they announce it sometime around August/September right? Be patient, a ton off events haven't revealed their lineup yet.

Haha, I was the exact same after riding Steeplechase and Wild Mouse- I tend to have a will prepared before riding them Couldn't agree more on Infusion though, its rare for me to not enjoy rides, heck I even find some enjoyment in Colossus and Saw, but Infusion.. Holy jeesus is that thing a abomination!

Here's mine: Black Hole- not much of a fan of holes in the first place though tbh Eagles Fortress- looks insane from the POV. Jeesus christ, easily the most insane arrrow-suspended every built. The 5th Dimension- looked like a pretty cool and innovative dark ride for its time. Would of loved to of ridden it! Terror Tomb- Again looked like a pretty well thought out, and solid dark ride, shame they had to sh*t on it! Knightmare- Looked like a pretty solid and cool coaster. Submisson- Got on it once, but I spent that whole experience shouting vulgar profanity..

I think Drayton Manor needs a kick up the ar** soon. When comparing to the rest of the UK Park's- Drayton Manor hasn't really been investing recently.. Now in this I mean Paultons is heavily on the rise, BPB is investing in a superb looking Mack Launch, and the Merlin Parks obviously get decent-ish investments yearly. But Drayton Manor kinda just seems to be rotting recently.. Okay they have a pretty cool flat collection, but their coaster lineup is flaming garbage from when I last went a while back.. Thomas is really the only thing the park has going for it right now..

I think the main interesting thing about this year is what maze we're going to lose. Now Blair seems to be not very likely to return this year, and so does Cabin, so were will the new IP be located? Maybe we'll see both bite the dust and see two new attractions? Maybe one IP in Cabin's space, and one new scarezone/maze with a original theme? I personally wouldn't like to see a Nightmare On Elm Street or a Texas Chainsaw maze as the IP TBH. Like okay they could be great if pulled off right, and both are iconic IP's, but Universal have kinda already done those IP's to death, and Universal with its budget for its Halloween event obviously dwarfs Thorpe in comparison..

Wow, this is great investment, can't wait to ride it! So nice to know Merlin doesn't just rip out second hand rides and plonk them in, like that would be really lazy and pathetic for such a large company.

And then they'll proceed to fill that maze/space with little to no theming, no actors, and dull black tunnels

So I guess this might mean two new attractions then? As I don't think Thorpe could afford to lose a maze- as then the crowds would surely spiral out of control...

Tulleys is a complete different situation to Thorpe in that Tulleys is pretty much strong and fresh every year- especially last year, despite my early dislike of Coven, I gotta admit it bleeded creativity, and the attraction showed that Tulleys are still full of ideas. Thorpe on the other hand has kinda been hit/miss with their attractions, and quite a lot of there attractions have gotten stale.. Okay the acting at Thorpe is pretty great, but most of their mazes have a lack of actors anyway, and add the stacking/crowded nature their attractions are put under make most of Thorpe's attractions sub-par. I think Thorpe need to give Fright Nights a much needed kick up the arse soon, look at what they did with Scarefest- they created some of the best mazes in the industry, and made Scarefest one of the best events in the country as of now. Anyway I hope they attempt to make Fright Nights a solid event this year, as of recent years, it seems the atmosphere of the park has been slipping. Though Big Top last year definitely showed Thorpe can give us quality, lets hope they can make all of their attractions like that, and not just 1-2 of them..

I was at the park today, and oh my, was the operations dire.. X closed, Rumba Rapids closed, and Storm Surge/DBGT not opening til at least like 1-2PM, and tons of breakdowns.. With my last park visit being Europa- the sheer difference in operations was pretty insane.

If guests want to experience the ride without the VR headsets- just take off the headset, simple as. It doesn't really matter- the ride experience is kinda dull either way..

Btw cheers to Alton Towers for professionally shutting down the ridiculous Daily Mail article that pretty much blew a tiny situation into something news-worthy.. Just wow, I didn't know they would scoop that low..

I think we'll see a family coaster like a small GCI or maybe another Log Flume like Chiapas (but not as good) replace Loggers.. Hopefully.. And then just slap a random/irrelevant IP on it and you got yourself a Merlin attraction..

SHHH! don't ruin the ridiculous theory.. Anyway, if they did use that as a marketing point, I'd think I'd shoot my brains out.. Merlin have done some bad marketing in the past, but this would just be borderline hilarious..

I'm pretty sure Cabin's replacement will be the new IP- it seems there is a ton of work being done in that building, so it only makes sense that the new IP will be placed there. I definitely think Cabin needed to go, like it was good/really good back in 2013/2014 but quite honestly, Sub Species IMO completely did what Cabin did, and did it 10x better! I'm very interested to see what they do with Platform this year though, as with it being such a large space and layout, I'm not sure how they can change it. we can dream, we can dream..