Stuntman707

I think the main issue is around the fact that people who pre-booked a day ticket get preferential, reserved entry over a family who spent hundreds on annual passes.

I'll be there. Mer, bring the 3D glasses for Hocus Pocus.

Legoland were not accepting annual passholders today as the park reached capacity. Don't think it went down too well on Facebook...

Tidal Wave closed with a 2 hour queue so I beleive it just finished operating at 8! Boat 2 was apparently not ready but really not good enough on a day like today. We just went on the bridge and saw a little kid knocked back by the water though. ? It was really busy but a good atmosphere today with the weather. The place was just buzzing with the sun and lively like an american park. Kind of wish the park was like this more often just so it can secure more new developments / rides. Managed to get on quite a few rides with less than an hours queue all day, so on the whole (apart from Tidal Wave) pretty good operations.

As far as I know, they still sell the chocolate. Often hard to find being on a small shelf. There are different flavours at Alton Towers too.

It looks as though the roof beams are not being replaced. The steel structure has been painted brown now.

Kind of worrying there’s no mention as to why the two trains collided. No way it could be mechanical on opening day. Either the block system doesn’t work (Which is very concerning) or it was human error like the Smiler crash.

Pure speculation: Big Top with an IT IP. But then you’ve got clues linked to Saw Alive and Platform 15 so not sure wtf it could be unless it is literally a fright nights overhaul.

I saw an ad on tv recently too, last time I remember seeing one was when Infusion was new I think. Strange there was no mention of Icon. People I’ve spoken to didn’t even know BlackpoolPB were building a new coaster. I absolutely expect Icon to not have any teething issues when it opens. The amount of testing they’ve done on it for months now. That and Merlin really stepped up their game with the Wickerman which is the best ride they’ve built in decades along with very cheap annual passes, BPB is really under pressure to deliver a flawless, successful ride now.

Sounds great, hopefully I can try it soon.

Another drawback about it being a "Thrill" family ride is that I've seen many 'plus' sized people having to miss out. Not to be offensive, they should have like a girth restriction / test seat next to the height restriction at the entrance so people know if they can fit before qeueing.

I think it's something quite big, as the 0? symbols have been found around Thorpe since 2016.

The clues started showing since last year. You may want to subscribe to this Youtube channel: Also I want to link to another clue on the FN thread as Project Zero looks as though it's related to Fright Nights:

I don't see how people would be put off getting the AP upgrades by Thorpe advertising "Exclusive" ride time for said passholders in the evening. If anything, it should sell more. There are loads of walking Dead events as part of the Year of the Walking Dead planned throughout the year; 7 Apocolypse Weekends, 10 Living Nightmare Extreme days, zombie hunt for 6 weeks during the holidays, 7 summer late weekends and fright nights in October. I like the AP events, generally the park is quieter and I get on way more rides. The biggest Annual Pass event perk for me is the Fright Nights preview. Without that, I'd never be able to do as many mazes in one visit as it's usually incredibly busy when it's open to the public. I wouldn't want to pay more for fright nights entry either. How would it be better by removing the perks of Annual Passes? What incentives would people have to renew their Annual Passes if they would get the exact same value as a normal ticket buyer?

Good spot, wonder what it is? Better start speculating. (Please be new ride!)

So the ride has been running quite well recently and is a prime exmaple of how attractions can run more efficiently with a single line. As the only coaster without fastrak and no disabled queue at the time we visited, the normal queue line moved constantly and we only waited around 10mins or so to get on. Just highlights how fastrack only inflates queue times and costs all guests money for those who buy it and time for those who don't. It's an overall negative system for all guests whether you pay for it or not.

This event is making up for the fact that the passholders preview day was cancelled due to weather and the ride was also unavailable during the rearranged passholders evening. (And two evenings, one public to make up for a lost day) It’s only fair as exclusive events are listed as one of the perks for purchasing an annual pass.

The new stuff and the station looks good. I don’t know what’s changed but Merlin have really been doing better ride stations lately since the Gruffalo.

Depression, the ride; Lose yourself in a grimy, damp, unthemed tunnel as you question your life and your choices to return to a park running old rides further into the ground. By the end of the ride you’ll feel nothing but misery and despair as you try to retain your memories of the park’s former glory days.

What I'd personally do with Thorpe assuming no budget limits: Rethemes - DBGT:ROTD with VR removed, turned into a ghost train unimagined (A real ghost train). - New 4D films / different shows - Walking Dead swapped for a British IP like Shaun of the Dead - TWD:TR turned into the Winchester ride. - Completely overhaul Rumba Rapids (See any European rapids ride) Restore / Upgarde - Retrack and replace all Gerstlauer hardware on Saw for Mack hardware (Big Dipper) - Redo the Nemesis Inferno station and tunnel with Wickerman effects. - Change Colossus to Lap bars and swap the square wheels for round ones. - Remove all American audio from Swarm, make the fountains stronger and make pyro effects more frequent. - Change that one broken green lightbulb on Stealth. - Rebuild Depth Charge - Replace Samurai with a new model - Restore the pyro effect on Tidal Wave - Keep Zodiac vertical for a few seconds Bulldoze - Storm Surge - STORM SURGE!!! - Lumber Jump - Timber Tug Boat - Loggers Leap - Old Town - Slammer - All permanently closed queue line shops - All permanently closed Kiosks - The whole Fastrak system and queue lines Additions - Q Bot virtual queue for disabled guests to wait the same time as regular queues - Replacement for the Slammer site - A new log flume (Intamin double drop) - New Area where Old Town is - A permanent Island theme hotel - A lake transport / boat ride - A Huss Top Spin - A Huss Break Dance - A Vekoma Mad House - A Mack Xtreme spinning coaster

When a great coaster is rethemed with "Dedicated" VR, which proves to be so popular it's taken off half the ride cars and dispatched half empty and still manages to stack with two stations. If the staff in there were any more laid back, they'd fall over.

I'm sure it will be fine, all the VIP MAP's will be in their hospitality crèche anyway.

Some footage from the midfright TWDTR event is on Facebook. It’s certainly good advertising for the attraction if nothing else.

I'd go as far as to say it's an attraction in it's own right, not just a ride. The straight line queue, theming, pre-show, announcements, smells, effects and the ride station is the best I've ever seen at a UK theme park. It really is mid-way quality theming (Which Merlin have always been great at) finally at a theme park. I hope the flames are working again soon, even if it's less frequent as the ride is still strong without them in constant use. I love the thundering noise it makes as the car goes up the lift hill. As with all Merlin attractions, I expect the queue line shop to shut after a few seasons.

It’s not great, but at least the rides will be still open during the weekend when it is usually the most popular time to visit.