Stuntman707

Found the soundtrack for Dr. Archibald if anyone is interested. https://itunes.apple.com/de/album/dr-archibald-master-of-time/1412835961

Thorpe are terrible at doing teasers so I'm not going to speculate until we see some work happening somewhere. Something will change as Merlin always have to have something "new" to advertise the new season with at their parks. Could be anything from a ride to a footpath.

Another FF classic - Inside Alton TooT

Thorpe Shark isn’t the best, but looks way better now when compared to the the Pods. Premier Inn are showing us what is possible with their pod concept. All Merlin is doing is lowering standards but still over charging for what you get. Of course rival hotels are never going to be on site. Maybe they are reasonable depending on what you consider to be worth 4 times the price of a Premier Inn pod - On site location, poor competition, complacent owners etc.

There's good reason people are against Alton Towers new pods. Looking at it purely in comparison to what Premier Inn are planning - Premier Inn: - Designed by PriestmanGoode - twin beds that can be pushed together to create a double - a bathroom with power shower - free wifi - a TV - power sockets - air conditioning From £19 a night Alton Towers: - Bare Pinewood "minimalistic theming" - fixed twin beds & small double taking up most floorspace - free wifi - power sockets - convection heater - Shared bathroom facilities a short walk away in "pod camp" - Breakfast bap (Currently free mini golf offer) From £88 a night off peak Purely on value for money, Premier Inn's luxury pods wipes the floor over Alton Towers pods.

A pretty damning article on the cuisine at Legoland. https://news.sky.com/story/legoland-sells-deep-fried-crap-to-kids-study-claims-11532908

Hopefully it’s priced fairly and they give access to annual pass holders. Would certainly help spread the queues in the park so long as the price is right. Now it just needs Fastrack to make it a triple price attraction!

Confirmed by Towers Street, the dungeon will be an upcharge attraction.

Europa posted a new preview video inside the building site of Rulantica:

Any reviews of Derren Brown's (Hog) Roast Train? ? The roast train reimagined. Sorry I can't help myself! ?

Haha, savage post from Tulleys!

So recently after owning an iPhone for many years and it being the only smartphone experience I've ever known, I decided on switching to Android. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro and its rave previews so far have been compelling enough for me to make the switch. There's also a pre order offer of their new smartwatch and wireless charger added in for free too which has just sold me over the new iPhone XR at a similar price point to the Mate 20 Pro. I'm wondering if anyone else has made a similar switch and how easy they found it using a different operating system?

As others have mentioned, here are main priorities Thorpe need to work on over the closed period: 1. Set up a TLC programme. Jetwashing, repairs, painting, restoration. Relatively low cost but makes a huge difference to the presentation of the park. The sort of things that top parks worldwide do every year. 2. Motivate the staff. They deal with the guests and keep the rides going. When they are unhappy, it directly affects guest experience. A cheerful interaction can really make someone’s day but find a way to keep it going throughout the season. 3. DIGITAL TICKETS! You already have the technology, Make it happen. Reduce the strain on the ticket office. Put NFC payment on the busses. 4. Remove SBNO attractions. Communicate a decision on what’s happening with the Loggers Leap site. Dismantle and remove the Slammer. 5. Make Summer Nights a bigger and better event. Use the chilled Island theme to your advantage and make it a parkwide event. Live music, party lights, roaming entertainers. 6. Relaunch Fright Nights. Start planning next year’s event in November. Look at why the independent farm events are so popular and at least create an event to compete with them. Focus on Quality.

My second year at Tulleys started off with high hopes following a brilliant event last year. We were fortunate enough that it didn’t rain on our visit however all the queues and plenty of tables are under cover if it had of rained. The whole event was just as immersive as before with street actors being the first to greet you as they roam around the open areas and even lurk in the bushes! Before you continue, note that this does contain SPOILERS so avoid reading further if you don’t want to know what happens in the mazes. On to the haunt reviews in the order we did them: The Creepy Cottage We started off with the least scary maze to get us in the mood. It felt similar to last year, had quite a few scares from the actors. The cottage was quite dark and atmospheric in places. Not too scary but the groups were well spaced so we never caught up to another group resulting in good actor interaction. Many of them are chanting gibberish that sounded kind of like Latin which was certainly creepy. Overall a strong Tulleys classic. The Coven of 13 The Witch themed maze was pretty much the same as last year. It starts off with the inflatable laser room with actors hiding below the lasers. I had a good jump scare from at least one here! The outdoor section was creepy but you could still see the actors coming here like last year. The actors in the cottage were targeting more scared people in our group, if you show fear you will certainly be picked on more! Just coming out of the cottage some, I’d say late teenage boys were properly jump scared by an actor who made them scream and run which was hilarious. The final scene with the caged witch was just as impressive. I’d still like to see some more separation in the outdoor sections but the rest I enjoyed. Circus of Horrors A great show which I’ve never seen before. There was a rather camp Vampire as the host who introduced a range of impressive acts; sword balancing, sword swallowing, fire eating, burning limbo, nose drilling, high ribbon acrobatics, contortion, cutting string out a stomach and more. The show was well paced and not too long. I found it very entertaining and in the end, definitely worthy of Tulleys lineup this year. Twisted Clowns 3D This maze was one of my top favourites this year. The actors in here are brilliant and highly interactive. Practically everyone in the group was picked out by someone. They’re funny yet sinister, making comments about people coming through. The electronic circus soundtrack and bright UV paint make it such a fun maze too. There are a few funhouse elements such as a shrinking corridor, inflatable corridor and a trommel tunnel. In summary a highly interactive maze. The Chop Shop I was fearing this maze the most from last year however I feel like it’s been toned down this year. Don’t get me wrong, I still think it’s a brutal maze but last year it was overwhelmingly intense. The lights which used to go off for a few seconds that I found horrible in the narrow corridors has been replaced with a constant, slow strobe. The actors don’t get up in your face with the chainsaws either and aim them lower down. As much as it is a bit of a gimmicky maze, it’s still a horrifying experience that I think I could attempt again now it’s not as insane. The blood stained corridors are endless and you’re constantly looking around corners. The Colony: Dystopia The epic, extended version of this maze returns stronger than ever this year. Endless fields and pitch black tunnels combined with an army of tribal actors makes this my absolute favourite attraction at Tulleys. There’s a very surreal moment where you leave the fields and enter a completely white container filling with smoke the further in you went. Actors wearing gas masks and bright coloured eyes stopped me and stared directly at me without saying a word. Honestly I thought I was hallucinating at that point and it was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in a scare maze before. In the fields the actors follow you from behind moving in and out of the shadows. There are lookout points, walkthrough huts, campfires, dark tunnels, a catacomb and the end being the narrow chainsaw corridor on the other side of the farm. Even when there are no actors in certain sections, the completely dark and quiet fields and tunnels keeps you on edge making eventual encounters even more frightening. I can’t praise this maze enough, the scale and layout of it is just epic. Horrorwood Haunted Hayride A special attraction only found at Tulleys, it was very enjoyable. Many scenes remained the same as last year with the highlight being the amazing actors jumping on and off the tractor on the way round. The big effects returned too with plenty of fire, a few air cannons and falling platforms. The only thing I missed from last year were the pole dancing nuns. Still a must do at Tulleys as you get to have a nice sit down ride while the actors come to you. The Cellar: Imprisoned My other favourite maze at Tulleys has been improved and extended this year. Plenty of animalistic actors jump scare you from hidden corners. A large snake head coming out of the wall at one point was completely unexpected. The new strobed cage maze was brilliant. Very disorientating. Every section of the maze had an actor in there this year. VIXI Tulleys hooded maze was pretty much the same as last year. The bags completely black out your vision and there is clear instruction from staff before you start. you go through the cold wind to an area where actors sneak up and whisper demonic noises in your ear. You go past some flowing water and then into the flamethrower room. Again you can feel the heat from it every time it goes off. A staff member instructs you to remove the hood at the end so you can remove it yourself. Then you exit, or do you? You go through a meat room with hanging bodies and a cage maze with falling barrels. After getting round the actors here, you exit the maze for good. I’m not a huge fan of hooded mazes but this does have elements for your other senses so it doesn’t feel completely pointless. Personally I just don’t find this type of maze as scary. In conclusion, the event has largely remained up to the same high standard with many improvements made. It was a fun night of entertainment with only just enough time to do everything on offer. Already booked a bounce back to go again!

I’m not going to complain about Hocus Pocus being changed. The Gruffalo has been done very well and I still believe that it’s the best attraction at Chessington currently. So I have no worries about Room on the broom. My only criticism is that for many years now, Chessington has only done refurbishments rather than building any new rides. I wonder if it’s an excuse to not repair older attractions and leave them until they need to be completely redone.

Is that where the VR headsets are stored?

Indeed, another refurb at Chessington is “better than nothing” tm

Thanks for the review. Going this weekend and it certainly sounds as good as last year. Looking forward to the Colony and will force myself through ChopShop. I think it’s the only maze I’m genuinely scared of but it’s just so intense. Confined spaces, all chainsaws and the lights going out. ? Do you know how much the Colony is extended, does it go further out into the fields? Hope your day at Thorpe goes well.

Has anything been added to TWDTR for Fright Nights?

If that price does include tickets, that’s not too bad. Members on Towers Street figured that type of accommodation is normally worth about £40 a night max.

Haha, wait until you see the starting price for the stargazing sheds at Towers!

I saw exactly the same thing recently at Chessington on Tomb Blaster. It was a very busy day and fastrack has been oversold. Everyone was queuing from the exit and the operators did exactly the same thing. Two full trains of fastrack & RAPs were dispatched. I agree it should never happen. When the normal queue is effectively closed off for priority only, there is a real problem with the system.

We should organise a seperate trip to Tulleys. I'll definately be going to that, not so sure about Fright Nights, especially when the FN meet is about £45 (£50 + parking) indicating it will be busy. Would be nice to go to Tulleys with some of the meet regulars though if anyone's up for it? Got an open dated ticket so any date would be doable.

Probably The Walking Dead : The Ride Extreme or something similar. Its practically half scare maze already. Just put some more panda eyed actors in old boiler suits and there you go, extreme!

I'm glad Thorpe will at least refresh the audio for fright nights. The director sound clips are getting really old now, may be tempted to visit seeing how press night goes. Been watching a lot of American vlogs though and the events over there are insanely good. Even Tim Tracker transformed into a vampire looked better than the actors at Thorpe!