L7123456

This could very easily be a fake video, but if not then this could be the start of something exciting! The whole vibe of the video is Saw. The barbed wire, the text... Saw Alive revamp? There was a sign outside The Big Top last year during construction with the words 'Legacy' '0?' and '2018'. It didn't make much sense at the time but this video could be another hint. The working title for Jigsaw was Saw Legacy so it's entirely possible Saw could be getting revamped. That would mean that the summer opening could be like a final sendoff for the maze, after 9 years of operation. Also, Wasn't there a 27 and a ? on the Blair Witch Shed during the 2016 construction? Like I said, this could easily be fake, but from the looks of it, a lot of time and effort was put into it. I guess we'll have to wait and see. If it is real, it's exciting! I would have preferred the introduction of a new original concept maze but if Saw Alive does get changed, it'll be good to see: it's been the same for so long now.

It was off last Friday on my visit It's been on for the majority of the season so far I believe? But it's not a good sign if it's becoming more and more frequently off. I might as well drop a review of the ride whilst I'm here! I wasn't overly excited for Wicker Man initially. I didn't think it looked great in terms of a coaster. I was so wrong! The queue line is probably the best queue in the UK. You get some fantastic views of the rollercoaster in action, and you also get very close to the Wicker Man structure itself, which is absolutely stunning in person! The pre-show was also very impressive. It was different and unique; something I haven't seen in the UK before. The ride itself then... I was lucky enough to be placed on the back row for my first ride, and wow! I was honestly surprised at how intense the ride actually was, and how fast it is. 44mph isn't the fastest for a coaster, but it felt so much quicker. My only negatives would be that the fire effect on the shoulders was turned off as I previously said, which was a shame, but it didn't detract from the ride experience. The reliability of the coaster was pretty poor also. A lot of empty trains were sent around, and it often took long periods of time to send another train out. It's a new ride, so obviously there will be technical issues. I do hope that the operations improve as the season goes on! It's the only wooden rollercoaster I've ever done, so I can't compare it to anything else. The theming, the speed, the intensity, all combine together to make a fantastic overall experience. In my opinion, it is easily the best coaster at Towers. It's definitely worth visiting the park this year to ride it!

As expected, IMAscore have created the soundtrack for Wicker Man. https://www.imascore.com/imascore-produces-soundtrack-alton-towers-resorts-wicker-man

The press event for the ride will be on the evening of Thursday 29th March, so presumably the ride will be opening on Friday 30th in time for the Easter holidays. I have mixed feelings about this ride. I am intrigued to see what the ride is going to be like and whether it will be good or not. I do hope that it is actually scary. I don't mind The Walking Dead theme but I hope that this wasn't a last minute, rushed project like Sanctum clearly was. I also think it was a bad decision to remove X. It was the perfect ride for the younger thrill-seekers who don't want to go on the kid rides, but aren't tall enough to go on the major thrill rides. There isn't much for them to do anymore...

Depth Charge (5)Detonator: Bombs Away (3)Flying Fish (5)King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5)Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5)Nemesis Inferno (5)Quantum (5)Rocky Express (5)Rumba Rapids (5)Rush (7)Samurai (5)Stealth (5)Storm In A Teacup (5)The Swarm (5)Tidal Wave (5)X (5) Rush + X -

Depth Charge (4)Detonator: Bombs Away (5)Flying Fish (5)King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5)Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5)Nemesis Inferno (5)Quantum (5)Rocky Express (5)Rumba Rapids (5)Rush (5)Samurai (6)Stealth (5)Storm In A Teacup (5)The Swarm (5)Tidal Wave (5)X (5) Samurai + Depth Charge -

The Big Top sounds AMAZING!!! All this waiting and we finally got a release

I’m liking the look of those 10pm closing times in the summer ? There are a lot more closer dates throughout the year however, especially in May and September. Also, there’s no September weekend for Fright Nights anymore

Every single other Walking Dead attraction across the globe became a permanent addition and I don't see this being any different. It's not a wise choice imo, scare attractions all year round do not work in the UK as we have seen before. The end of the "Goodbye 2017" video implied something horror related coming next year and the quote "See you at the safe zone" is very Walking Dead-ish. One of the mazes will be open all year, and if Thorpe have any sense whatsoever it will be Living Nightmare, not Sanctum... Also, how are people seriously believing that X could be rethemed to TWD. That is never going to happen. It underwent a refurbishment mid-season to spruce the ride up a little bit: The removal of the entrance is most likely a continuation of that surely? Not to mention that X is a fairly popular family coaster that does get long queues on busy days. It really does not seem plausible for them to give it a horror theme.

"Meet you at the safe zone in 2018"... I'm intrigued as to what this means. One of the Walking Dead mazes becoming permanent? Containment related? Or something completely different..

I went to Scarefest on Monday, and to be honest I felt that this year wasn't so good compared to previous. Sub Species was okay. I had a bad run I think. There weren't many actors, I ended up going the shortest route through the maze and the chainsaw guy did nothing. There was one actor who completely abused me though! Altonville Mines was nowhere near as good as last year, but still great! The theming is still outstanding, but there were not enough actors, there were LOTS of dead spots. Terror of the Towers was pretty good. It's exactly the same but it made me jump loads! I loved The Welcoming though. It wasn't overly scary, but as an experience it was excellently put together. Definitely could have done with a better ending however..

This year's Fright Nights has really impressed me! I didn't find any of the mazes bad at all last night, although there is room for improvement! Big Top - 9/10 - I didn't think that last year could get any better, but I was so wrong! The strobe maze was so disorientating, I got lost on all of my runs in it! I love all of the new rooms that they've got this year too! The actors were excellent too! Definitely the best attraction of the night! Saw Alive - 8/10 - I've never seen Saw as good as it was yesterday. Yes, it is essentially the same, but a fantastic cast makes this maze one of the best! Platform 15 - 7/10 - Wow! What an improvement on last year! Ignoring the black tunnel, this maze is 1000x better! The village scene in the middle is beautiful and the definite highlight of the maze! Living Nightmare - 7/10 - There is potential for a great maze here. The theming is immaculate, but the whole thing is over within about 2 and a half minutes. Definitely needs more actors in the first half too! Sanctum - 6/10 - The weakest maze of the night by far. It's a real shame that you don't go inside the shipping containers; a couple of indoor sections would've been nice. As with LN, it's too short, but I did still enjoy it.

There's even more footage here! It contains FULL POV'S of BOTH Walking Dead attractions according to the description so don't watch it unless you want to see what's in store. I haven't watched it and have no intentions to. I want to keep everything a surprise!

Thorpe have been telling people on Twitter that the event is running from 4 until 10?

Well we can't exactly see what's inside the tunnel so we have no idea whether it'll be the same or not. Hopefully they make some big changes to everything that is past the train scene, as I actually quite liked that section of the maze. The rest was awful.

Yeah opening Sunday last year was very quiet, the longest queue I saw for any of the mazes was Big Top at an hour, but that went down very quickly. Everything was walk on by the end of the night too. The first two Friday's and Sundays I expect will be fairly quiet, then it will start getting busy.

That is just hideous. You can go to Shocktoberfest on a peak night and get 8 quality mazes for less than this... you'll probably wait half the time to get in the mazes at Shocktober too, as they will no doubt oversell them as per usual. The thing is, people are going to pay it...

I noticed that too. Presumably it won't be happening anymore?

I've promised school friends that I would go with them on that weekend so I shall probably see ya'll there but I won't be able to stay with the group!

Interesting that they're doing two mazes based on the same IP... I genuinely cannot wait however, this year is looking like it could be very good! Platform getting new scenes intrigues me too. Apparently the tunnel has gone up today, and from the looks of things from Monks it looks like very little has been done to it.. Thorpe Park have also confirmed via Twitter that there will be no Backstage Tours of the mazes this year

On the VIP page on Thorpe Park's website, it advertises that there will be VIP experiences for Fright Nights this year, but it doesn't say what they will be: https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/vip-experiences I really don't want them to get rid of Backstage Tours. I loved the one I did of Saw and Cabin last year, and was desperate to do one for The Big Top this year.. I'm guessing they'll update that part of the website on Tuesday with the maze lineup, so I'll guess we'll see what's happening..

Not sure how reliable this is but Face it Alone is apparently not returning this year due to guest feedback. From what I've heard it has been getting tamer and tamer each year, but it seemed like it was quite popular.

A trademark for the Wicker Man has been filed and this image has appeared with it. This pretty much confirms the theme for SW8.

The torch is from Platform 15; they used them in the tunnel I believed. The twigs could be from Roanoake and the beanie hat is worn by Violet in an episode of Murder House. I'm convinced that AHS will be joining the lineup.. they have literally destroyed the entire pathway which Blair Witch went down... We'll just have to wait and see..

The sticks could also be from American Horror Story: Roanoake. They make more sense than Blair Witch returning out of nowhere, although the hat indicates that it will come back