Hmmm yeah I wasn't massively excited about it when I heard what the new attraction for this year was. Didn't bother going on it on my first couple of visits to Thorpe this year. Have only actually done it once because a) I didn't find it that exciting- also it was so dark in there I managed to split up from the group and then graze my leg a couple of times to the point where it bled plus - the bleeding wait times for it aren't justified in my opinion - I would rather spend that time queuing for a coaster.

As for the guy walking round with a cockroach- that might have been the same geezer I saw stood outside IAC with a huge cockroach - which I stroked- yumnmnnmny

I think it's because we've become friends with the actors I think we get some of the best runthroughs.

I think it's because we've become friends with the actors I think we get some of the best runthroughs.

 

To be fair I've never had bad actors, they've all usually been a really good laugh, which is what I enjoy about the maze... I've done it 8 times... It started off amazing on the preview night and then by the weekend I was pretty disappointed in comparison, and a couple of weeks after it was even worse, not the actors, but the maze itself with celebrity cyclone not working properly, no net etc. and then from there it has progressively got better again, and I do enjoy it, and is worth doing, providing the queue isn't very big! I

Does anyone else think that the I'm a Celebrity maze has been a bit of a flop?

 

Sure, some people enjoy it but I haven't seen many positive reviews (from the general public), and it doesn't exactly get a huge queue - well, apart from the fact that anything over fifty people takes an hour!  I do have to question whether there would be any queue at all if the throughput was good?  Also, it doesn't seem to have boosted gate figures, but that could be attributed to other things rather than IAC.

 

We can only really know if it is a flop if we know what Thorpe wanted out of the attraction in the first place.

 

The attraction itself is a well themed, non-thrill ride addition to the line up.  Something which was desperately needed in my opinion.  I doubt that the park were expecting this to draw the crowds in, but rather fill in a gap in the park's line up (probably for a short term basis) and fulfil the park's fetish of adding in something new every season.

 

The point you raise about the queue and throughput is interesting.  As I've said many times in the past, mazes just don't seem to work outside of Fright Nights for Thorpe (and probably for many other places too).  Freakshow 3D and Saw Alive weren't popular when they were open outside of the Fright Nights season.   But during Fright Nights, they are always popular attractions with very long queue, because that's what Fright Nights is about.

 

Over the summer, if people see a 40 minute queue for IAC and a 50 minute queue for Inferno, I bet they're more likely to queue for Inferno because they've gone to ride rides and coasters, not walk through a maze.  Some people will be happy to queue that, but many people probably see it as "Something they'll do later" or "Something they'll do if it has a 10 minute queue".  

 

So I think if the throughput was a lot better, there would still be a queue (albeit probably shorter), as it would attract people who see it as that something they'll do since it has a short queue.

 

 

I think it's because we've become friends with the actors I think we get some of the best runthroughs.

 

Fantastic for you, but that's not really the point being raised.

To put it across in my point of view, someone who travels nearly four hours there and four hours back to visit this theme park...

 

I literally have no interest in experiencing this attraction unless it had a 10 minute queue, just like JoshC said, it's a filler attraction.

I would wait 50 minutes for Stealth, not IAC... though I've not rode it, I suspect it won't be something that would leave a lasting impression on me for the entire day.

 

It's just not something I would skip the likes of Stealth or Swarm for. 

Only way to find out how successful the attraction is to hack Thorpe's computer systems and see what the KPI scores are...

My first time in IAC yesterday. As someone with zero interest in the program and having heard many bad things I went in with zero expectations, but you know what? I don't think it's that bad really.

 

It doesn't start well; of all the attractions in the world one supposedly set inside a secluded jungle could do without the cattle-pen on slab of tarmac look, especially when there's as much space to play with as they have there, and should be winding among trees and reeds instead obviously. But once inside I was actually quite impressed with how they've used the space and made it look. The theming itself is pretty good and immersive, although they don't seem to know what to do with some of the rooms they have been given and some of the tricks are a bit weak; there should be things like air jets and water sprays in the hand holes, and the booths should have things falling, air jets, vibrating floors etc without fail. Overall though, the basis of what is there is actually pretty solid.

 

Where it falls down most is in two big areas. The first is the throughput, which is worse than dire. They must have know roughly how many people would be able to get through it, so how something this low got to be built as a standard attraction is baffling. The second is the lack of point to what is going on. Ant and Dec should set the challenge in their video, but don't. The staff try hard to pump some enthusiasm and narrative into it, but really they struggle to find a reason to make you bothered. Win some stars, or you can't have dinner, now you lose all your stars, so no dinner after all... do you want a photo, exit through the shop full of sweets. It makes no sense and lacks any real (or decently perceived) risk or reward to motivate any point to the whole thing.

 

In my mind both of these things are fixable with one big change in the operation. This should clearly be a stand alone up-charge attraction. With a few tweaks to the tasks it is of sufficient quality to justify a charge for a timed ticket. Maybe slow things down a little further still to give more of an experience and allow for some real competition between the group. Have an actual prize to win, to play for against your group. That would actually be fun!

 

That ship may have sailed, it having been 'free' for a year people would probably begrudge being asked to pay. But I can't really see any other way of rescuing the otherwise good work they have done here. 

... also thought today, how bizarre is it to have an attraction which is closed for the entirety of the peek period of interest in it? Literally the day after the park closed the celebs for this year were announced and will be shoved down our throats for the next couple of months, before all being well over and forgotten by the time this thing opens again in March!

For Fright Nights next year they should open the I'm a Celeb maze but with the addition of Lady C!

Tbh I wish they'd done something special with it for fright nights anyway, but sadly it came down to a lack of actors :/

A Lady C finale would be amazing ahhaha

Tbh I wish they'd done something special with it for fright nights anyway, but sadly it came down to a lack of actors :/

A Lady C finale would be amazing ahhaha

 

I'd volunteer if I could dress up as Lady C! Aha

I would love to see that iac terror of lady c

TBH I find the TOWIE stars more annoying than Lady C

Put  the TOWIE crew  into a horror maze, that would scare me..

TBH I find the TOWIE stars more annoying than Lady C

Put the TOWIE crew into a horror maze, that would scare me..

I take offence

No,no,no. Definitely needs to be Lady C, would make the maze so much better.

In fact, put here at the start of the maze to rush people through and then you have a throughput improvement and a reason for it that adds to the experience.

If Aunt Bessie's popped up every 5 minutes in the maze it would be a better reflection of the show.

If Aunt Bessie's popped up every 5 minutes in the maze it would be a better reflection of the show.

I would actually love it if the two old ladies showed up every now and again in the maze and chucked Yorkshire puddings at me.

and chucked Yorkshire puddings at me.

 

I would pay to enter that maze if that happened. Better than Bush BBQ any day

If Aunt Bessie's popped up every 5 minutes in the maze it would be a better reflection of the show.

Making crude innuendos advertising Yorkshire puds. Count me in. 

I'm A Celeb maze is being updated for 2016 according to this article -

 

http://chelseamamma.co.uk/2016/02/over-200-days-of-thrills-with-a-thorpe-park-resort-annual-pass/ 

 

join us this March and return to the jungle in the newly revamped I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here! Maze. Updated for 2016, guests will have to dig through dirty laundry in the Dingo Dollar Challenge and shriek in the Outback Shack as guests experience life as a camp-mate for the first time ever in this one-of-a-kind experience.

 

Nice to see it's not being SBNO for its entirety and seeing some improvements!

Oooh, interesting (and somewhat unexpected)!

 

Not getting too excited as I doubt they are major changes to any of the trials, but instead just changes to the bits inbetween the second and third trial; Dingo Dollar Challenge could replace the "reptile" tanks after the pipe scene, and the Outback Shack could be the room before the inflatable corridor.

 

Still, nice to see some attention to it over closed season.  Hopefully some of the planned effects can come to fruition too

I'm surprised that they're not adding VR to it!

 

In fairness it's good to see improvements being made, but it won't change the fact that an attraction like that doesn't work in a theme park environment, that's just my opinion though.

That was the one good thing with IAC. It was regularly refreshed over the season, you could say to find the perfect formula or to keep it different for regular guests. So it's nice to see them continuing this and not giving up on it!