Stuntman707

Now there’s an idea; A Merlin Contactless system. The other big parks like Disney and Universal are going contactless that way with Magic Bands and Tapu Tapus.

Was a kid on the back row who came into the station looking like he’d passed out. Host undid his harness and after an awkward pause he jumped into life as a joke and walked away. Was so funny at the time, kid left us stunned!

I loved that technical issue with the demon. Got stuck in the doorway, the lights came on and Derren Brown projected just in front of it going “Shhh!”

I’ve noticed Thorpe have started going cashless to speed up payment. Also enjoy the straws while you can! Chessington have already got rid of them. Hopefully we’ll at least get paper alternatives.

Got an update on what's changed for version 2.5 and why they've done it, don't read if you want to keep it a secret!

It looks like people are arriving at the entrance as normal and the later opening times are causing big crowds to form. On the other hand, it's great to see Wicker Man drawing the big crowds back though. It's really what Alton Towers needs to recover. They just need to keep advertising the ride along with safety. Hopefully the inevitable teething problems are fixed quickly as they arise and guests are well compensated for the downtime.

There's a new Amusement park related film starring Johnny Knoxville called Action Point coming out soon. Pretty much an amusement park without any health & safety, of course it looks absolutely stupid and messed up as you'd expect but could be a good laugh.

After watching the video, it generally looks like the ride is improved. I want to reserve full judgement until they declare it complete however. Credit for them keeping it open though.

I’m quite disappointed to learn that they’ve added $8 AtmosFX stock moving portraits to the queue line. Something you’d expect to see at a funfair or a small Halloween event not so much Alton Towers. I fear this might turn into another Tomb, really hope not though. https://atmosfx.com/collections/decorations/products/unliving-portraits

Generally I don’t like press events as they usually mis-represent the ride by adding extra effects, entertainers and actors. It’s not how the ride is operated on a standard day. Sure it would be great to ride the Wickerman in the dark with lasers and fire jugglers but if you really want to review a new ride honestly, you have to go on a standard day and queue along with the general public. That to me is the honest experience for the average guest.

I was there yesterday too. Felt like there were more staff than visitors and felt sorry for the ones on the stalls. Had a good day, Gruffalo is definitely the best ride there now. It was all working nicely. Have loads of £10 entry vouchers valid for a few months if anyone wants any. I’m tempted to bring my own 3D glasses just for Hocus Pocus Hall as it’s really crap without any.

Yeah that’s the problem. Merlin don’t really have any competition with Thorpe so they can be complacent with mediocre investment and maintenance. Sure there are a few other parks nearby but nothing on Thorpes scale. At least at Towers, they have BPB to worry about especially since I think many thrill seekers are going to return there this year instead of Towers for Icon. Hence all the new entrance work and heavy theming on WM. Competition is good and something that’s missing in the south.

Quite a few people are pissed that fan sites are already showing the pre-show ahead of it officially opening to the gp today without any spoiler alerts.

I don’t think the two day upgrade is available this year. However the Thorpe Annual Pass is the best value ticket this year for two days at £49. You also get a 20% discount on own brand food and shops. Also if you revisit later in the year, you won’t have to buy tickets again which more or less pays for itself!

More updates:

Yes, anything other than Burger Kitchen. Easily the worst place I've eaten at Towers and avoided as a result at Chessington. Pizza pasta is alright, Just wish they gave you plates bigger than a saucer. Not as keen for The Mexican. Food wise, Thorpe is easily the best. I've heard good things about Bush BBQ, will have to try it at some point this year.

Well on the whole, that sounds rather depressing. Why on earth would they remove the glasses from Hocus Pocus Hall? That's lliterally the whole point of the attraction. If it's cost cutting that's very petty to ruin a whole attraction just to save a few quid on glasses.

Looks good so far. Looking forward to see the whole train with the front in testing. Crazy we're at a point now with Towers that we can praise this ride for having a decent baggage system. What a great year though for new rides!

I suppose it will look less like they’ve just left a porta-building near the entrance plaza. I guess there’s not going to be a better entrance in the near future. At least they’re trying to make it look a bit better in the meantime.

I should be able to attend. I wonder if Duel will be open?

For anyone who missed out, there are more open-dated early bird tickets available for Tulleys.

My hat goes off to Merlin, it’s getting very positive first impressions and the theming of the whole ride and queue looks to be of a high standard. Not only that, but the trains were running a lot faster even almost empty which is very reassuring. I always had a ton of skepticism and low expectations for the Wicker Man at the start but perhaps Merlin may finally be getting things right with this ride. So glad it’s looking better than I expected.

Well that’s your opinion.

Merlin making quality, world leading attractions. It's not like the entrance is important enough to hide that stuff right? Just want to put Wodan's entrance here for comparison: Europa Just look at them Merlin. That is how you build a proper theme park.

Towers rides aren’t complete without scaffolding and bare steel beams by the ride entrance.