July 17, 20178 yr comment_250959 Does anyone know why the maze is now showing its shut until the 24th July? does it only open at peek times now?
July 17, 20178 yr comment_250961 6 minutes ago, Mr. Fish said: Does anyone know why the maze is now showing its shut until the 24th July? does it only open at peek times now? It's a seasonal attraction so will only open on certain dates
July 18, 20178 yr comment_250980 Anyone know when the IP runs out for IACGMOOH? Reduced operating hours surely means the beginning of the end, if it hasn't been said already.
July 18, 20178 yr comment_250982 22 minutes ago, MattyMoo said: Anyone know when the IP runs out for IACGMOOH? Reduced operating hours surely means the beginning of the end, if it hasn't been said already. I'm not sure on this for certain, but I believe it was a 3 year contract with an option to extend if both parties wanted to. That's how the Lionsgate contract worked for FN, so it'd make sense for Thorpe to try and get a similar style of contract.
July 25, 20178 yr comment_251162 Went Thorpe on Saturday and the maze was open. There were 2 differences that I noticed when I was there. Firsty, the bridge you cross as you first enter the attraction (just before 'Holey Moley') now vibrates. I can't remember it doing that in the past! Secondly, we were ushered from the 'Chambers of Horror' straight past the section where you have to sort out the washing and were shown straight in to Kiosk Kate's section. I thought it was a staffing issue until I realised someone was standing by the door and had given one of the guests the bag of Dingo Dollars to hand over at the Kiosk! Surely she could have managed the section where you have to sort the laundry? The queue was only 20 minutes long so it can't have been to get more people through quickly!
January 4, 20196 yr comment_262290 Hooray! Hopefully they can start to use it as a maze space again for FN, the building is perfect for FN mazes and IAC was just a hot mess anyway.
January 4, 20196 yr comment_262291 Well that was definitely a worthwhile use of money and resources then.
January 4, 20196 yr comment_262294 14 minutes ago, Coaster said: Well that was definitely a worthwhile use of money and resources then. It did 4 seasons and would have cost very very little (probably made it back in its fastrack sales) Will be interesting to see what they do with it - the theming in there is actually really good so hope it’s not the last we see of it!
January 4, 20196 yr comment_262307 I mean why would you close it literally a month after the previous series finishes?* Weeell yew know, someone at Forp must really hate 'Arry Redknapp... * ...apart from the fact it's a pile of crap...
January 5, 20196 yr comment_262308 5 hours ago, Marc said: probably made it back in its fastrack sales Fair enough that you were replying to a post about money and resources rather than entertainment value, but when bad attractions need to be justified by fastrack sales you know somethings wrong. Fastrack is a scam that shouldnt need to even exist. Attractions should make good business out of good entertainment (I'm sure you agree, but just saying)
January 5, 20196 yr comment_262309 I'd be very surprised if they decide to open Living Nightmare over I'm a Celebrity. Living Nightmare requires significantly more actors (IAC requires 4 minimum, LN probably a solid 8), and it didn't exactly generate any more popularity than you'd expect. Scare attractions don't work outside of Fright Nights, and hopefully this lesson has finally sunk in at Thorpe. The actors have escaped the jungle, they're not going to live a nightmare instead. I expect the license for IAC ran out, Thorpe didn't want to renew. The space will probably stay the same; they'll re-use the theming and route for something else. It cost a lot of money, they'll want to get as much as they can out of it, rather than flatten it for a new maze.
January 5, 20196 yr comment_262310 If it is closing for good then I wonder if we'll see the building go back to only being used at Fright Nights or becoming another year-round attraction. Can't see it being used for much else apart from maze-type attractions.
January 5, 20196 yr comment_262323 In all fairness it was all a matter of time on the ‘waiting’ game to when IAC, especially with the politics involving Ant. Four seasons is quite astounding for an attraction that was clearly intended as something short term and not built to last. Hopefully what follows investment wise wise will be aimed to be more long term, but who knows.
January 5, 20196 yr comment_262325 I can imagine the interior would've cost a fair bit, as well as getting the ITV/IAC license? Surely the money they used for that would've been better spend towards something that would have benefited the park in the long term? Like, maintaining their log flume so it didn't have to close, perhaps?
January 6, 20196 yr comment_262348 12 hours ago, Coaster said: I can imagine the interior would've cost a fair bit, as well as getting the ITV/IAC license? Surely the money they used for that would've been better spend towards something that would have benefited the park in the long term? Like, maintaining their log flume so it didn't have to close, perhaps? The license cost, for many IPs, isn't as much as you'd expect. IAC in particular would have been quite cheap, as they probably didn't opt for any form of exclusivity, as no other UK attraction would really do an IAC-themed thing, and it's a different show abroad. The money spent for 4 years of the IP is small fry compared to fixing a log flume. Given the amount of work Loggers needed (and now further needs), I'd be very surprised if the money invested into IAC would have been enough to stop Loggers closing if it had been spent on that.
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262378 Any money spent on it could've literally been used on ANYTHING (even polishing Varney's car fleet) and it would've been a better return...
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262379 3 hours ago, Benin said: Any money spent on it could've literally been used on ANYTHING (even polishing Varney's car fleet) and it would've been a better return... You say that and then there also could've been the millions spent the following year... ...right Derren?
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262381 Not a fan of I'm A Celeb - but if this is removed without a replacement attraction, that's one less attraction on park and more queues elsewhere. I guess it's pretty safe to assume there is nothing new for 2019, attraction or ride wise...?
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262384 1 hour ago, MattyMoo said: Not a fan of I'm A Celeb - but if this is removed without a replacement attraction, that's one less attraction on park and more queues elsewhere. I guess it's pretty safe to assume there is nothing new for 2019, attraction or ride wise...? Didn't this attraction spend most of last year shut anyway? Little to no difference if it's not replaced (which it won't be this year)...
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262386 51 minutes ago, Benin said: Didn't this attraction spend most of last year shut anyway? Little to no difference if it's not replaced (which it won't be this year)... Was open throughout the peak periods - so it would help with the queues even if just a little.
January 7, 20196 yr comment_262389 Indeed. Having an attraction to eat some queues is better than nothing
January 11, 20196 yr comment_262424 Sure, having attractions to eat queues is better than nothing, but considering the average throughput was around 200 (300 at an absolute push on good days), the difference isn’t that substantial really, especially when you consider fastrack and RAP will make 30-40% of that too. It was an okay filler attraction, but maybe budgets should’ve been spent elsewhere too as the space lends itself better for fright night mazes.
January 11, 20196 yr Author comment_262441 And nothing of value was lost. Did it a couple of times during its short life, it was pretty rubbish and I'd have had no interest in ever doing it again. It should have been obvious the throughput could never be sufficient to satisfy a single price theme park environment, and efforts to increase throughput massively hurt the already poor experience. The only other option would have been to have it as an separately paid for attraction but then it would have to have been good enough to warrant it, which it wasn't. That would have been the way to go with it; make it a lot more personal and interactive with actual competition and a prize to play for. The escape room has proven there is an appetite for something like that on an up-charge if it's good enough. I doubt the space will be put to much use. A generic jungle themed Frightnights maze feels inevitable...
February 6, 20196 yr comment_262753 I honestly don't think the rangers are going to be returning. They have absolutely no relevance to the park anymore, yes it's the 40th birthday, but lets be honest, if they came back nobody would have any idea who they are and what significance they were back in the day, except the geeks. Also, IAC closed because the contract ended. I am confident that the building will be SBNO, because that's what the park seem to love to do at the moment. This will be the extent of the birthday celebrations
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