Thorpe Park 2022

[StevenVig]

Quote

Trailers: Breakout At Bozo's

Enter the dark side of the Carnival in Trailers: Breakout at Bozo’s – a maze with a hilarious twist! The clowns of Bozo’s have taken over our award-winning attraction creating an experience that is sure to make you laugh and scream in equal measure.

You’ll find madness and mayhem around every corner in this unpredictable and chaotic experience as you venture through a series of classic movies, featuring devilish dolls, devious dentists and of course… zombie clowns! You may want to bring a spare pair of pants, you know, just in case.

Okay, so, we're never bringing it back. But we are. 

[Glitch]

On 6/27/2022 at 7:48 PM, JoshC. said:

Presumably this is happening then, given some posters for Carnival appeared around Trailers. It being taken down means it probably just wasn't meant to go live / be seen yet.

 

I don't want to jump the gun too much. But damn, I'm going to say it now.

This will not work.

 

Scare mazes do not work in UK theme parks outside of Halloween.

 

It didn't work when Thorpe opened Freakshow 3D in summer 2005.

It didn't work when Thorpe opened Saw Alive year round (beyond its opening year, which was admittedly good at capitalizing off the Saw brand and ride hyper).

It didn't work when Chessington opened the Twilight Zone in April 2010.

It didn't work when Towers open Sanctuary in early 2013.

It didn't work when Thorpe opened Living Nightmare / Saw in summer 2018.

It. Does. Not. Work.

 

The maze might be good. The experience might be good. But the masses just don't care for mazes outside of Halloween; the demand isn't there. Maybe this will be different with it being an upcharge. But I just don't see it happening. In Summer 2018, when the park opened one of Saw / Living Nightmare as part of the Year of Walking Dead events, they rarely had a queue beyond 10 minutes. Yet in the same year at Halloween, they were attracting 2 hour queues. Now add in the upcharge, how popular and worthwhile will it be?

 

As I say, I don't want to jump the gun. Maybe the "Breakout at Bozo's" tagline might make it a more jovial experience? And tbh, I shouldn't complain too much, since, y'know, I'll do it, and I'll enjoy it. But still, I think from a wider business perspective, it's a bad call.

But it gives the actors a chance not to do something cringe and boring in the summer and helps the eComm team to hit basket value and upsell targets.

[JoshC.]

So we have more details about Carnival now:

 

-A fire performance

-Circus acts, such as Contortionists and Aerial Artists

-A Mime Troupe

-The "Ringleader show"

-A trio of singers, "The Flossers"

-And of course, the special version of the Fright Nights maze Trailers, "Trailers: Breakout at Bozo's"

https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/events/carnival

 

It sounds like something different and fun. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together, as the presentation of each thing will be the key deciding factor in their success. If they are overbearing and/or cringey, it will come across as annoying. Done just right, and this will add an overall atmosphere to the park which will really help over the summer.

 

It's a shame there's not an arena, or just a general performance space with designated seating, anymore. This event specifically, but also Mardi Gras, would have really benefitted from it.

[jessica2]

The price of the breakout at bozo's maze is £6 or £4.80 for hotel guests and passholders. if I'm not mistaken that is cheaper than a fright nights maze, so I do think perhaps people may go for it, but yeah I guess we will see how successful it is.

They did also say the maze is recommended for age 8+, that seems younger than for fright nights if I'm not mistaken? 

[Glitch]

15 hours ago, JoshC. said:

So we have more details about Carnival now:

 

-A fire performance

-Circus acts, such as Contortionists and Aerial Artists

-A Mime Troupe

-The "Ringleader show"

-A trio of singers, "The Flossers"

-And of course, the special version of the Fright Nights maze Trailers, "Trailers: Breakout at Bozo's"

https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/events/carnival

 

It sounds like something different and fun. It'll be interesting to see how it all comes together, as the presentation of each thing will be the key deciding factor in their success. If they are overbearing and/or cringey, it will come across as annoying. Done just right, and this will add an overall atmosphere to the park which will really help over the summer.

 

It's a shame there's not an arena, or just a general performance space with designated seating, anymore. This event specifically, but also Mardi Gras, would have really benefitted from it.

That's the issue, it seems like we have gone from sponsored and fun stunt show esk events to enhance the visitors day into events for the sake of having a full time ents team dance around the park and sell as much branded merchandise as possible.

Also why do we keep taking away from Fright nights, lets keep that as one event in October, last thing I want is summer and scares. 

Thorpe has got really boring recently. 

[Theme Park Fanatic]

Does anyone know what the future holds for Rocky Express? I hope it’s relocated and reopened next season. It looks like Project Exodus may be shelved. If this is correct could Rocky receive a repereve. Rocky was only refurbished a couple of closed seasons ago and is an iconic and popular ride. Rocky Express is a great Family ride. I’m 22 yet still rode a similar ride at Chessington last week. The ride in question is Seastorm. It had a massive que and was unanimously popular. There were a couple of young lady’s about 16/17 years old riding. 

[Hethetheth]

6 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:

Does anyone know what the future holds for Rocky Express? I hope it’s relocated and reopened next season. It looks like Project Exodus may be shelved. If this is correct could Rocky receive a repereve. Rocky was only refurbished a couple of closed seasons ago and is an iconic and popular ride. Rocky Express is a great Family ride. I’m 22 yet still rode a similar ride at Chessington last week. The ride in question is Seastorm. It had a massive que and was unanimously popular. There were a couple of young lady’s about 16/17 years old riding. 

 

Nothing officially confirmed.

 

Presumed to be destined for the scrapheap.

[Theme Park Fanatic]

@Hethetheth it’s annoying me that Thorpe Park are leaving us speculating. Personally I think Rocky Express will reopen. My reasoning is that the rest of Old Town has been gutted or relocated, whereas Rocky is still standing in immaculate condition. I think Rocky could easily be relocated. The Angry Birds Sponsorship must be coming to an end. If this is so the area will need clearing or retheming. This could make space for Rocky. I have a feeling that Project Exodus will be shelved. If this happens,Old Town could be redeveloped into a new Land. I think a Ride like Dragons Fury at Chessington,would fit into the area. Maybe Spinball Wizzer from Alton Towers could be relocated to Thorpe. Along with this Thorpe could addd a similar Rollercoaster to that opening at Chessington next season. In my opinion Thorpe needs a couple  more Family rides. Incidentally I think the Walking Dead Ride should be reverted back to X.

[JoshC.]

On 7/6/2022 at 3:49 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

Does anyone know what the future holds for Rocky Express? I hope it’s relocated and reopened next season. It looks like Project Exodus may be shelved. If this is correct could Rocky receive a repereve. Rocky was only refurbished a couple of closed seasons ago and is an iconic and popular ride. Rocky Express is a great Family ride. I’m 22 yet still rode a similar ride at Chessington last week. The ride in question is Seastorm. It had a massive que and was unanimously popular. There were a couple of young lady’s about 16/17 years old riding. 

Rocky Express was not a popular ride. It never had a queue. It would very rarely have a full cycle. The only time people really paid any attention to it was when it was rumoured to not be returning.

 

Don't get me wrong, Rocky Express and rides like it are fun and enjoyable. But it simply wasn't popular at Thorpe.

 

Comparing it to Seastorm, a ride which is in a park with less thrill rides and has a completely different target market, doesn't show how popular Rocky is or would be.

 

 

On 7/7/2022 at 2:55 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

@Hethetheth it’s annoying me that Thorpe Park are leaving us speculating. Personally I think Rocky Express will reopen. My reasoning is that the rest of Old Town has been gutted or relocated, whereas Rocky is still standing in immaculate condition.

Whilst it may look in immaculate condition, it isn't. The simple fact of the matter is the ride was turned off on the last operating day of 2021 and left untouched. It's had no winter maintenance (which it would have needed) or any engineering checks. And the longer it is left, the worse condition it will get in from a mechanical standpoint. The reason it has been untouched is because there's no need to touch it yet. It's not returning, or being sold or moving on, so they only need to physically remove when it's time to.

 

On 7/7/2022 at 2:55 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

I have a feeling that Project Exodus will be shelved.

There certainly feels like a chance the current plans could be rejected. But whatever happens with the roller coaster project, Rocky will not return, for the reasons listed above.

 

On 7/7/2022 at 2:55 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

If this happens,Old Town could be redeveloped into a new Land. I think a Ride like Dragons Fury at Chessington,would fit into the area. Maybe Spinball Wizzer from Alton Towers could be relocated to Thorpe.

If the current Project Exodus plans are rejected, it's likely that the park wouldn't be able to build any coaster there (not impossible, but I don't see it happening). I wouldn't say no to Thorpe building a Maurer spinner (or indeed, any spinner...Mack Xtreme Spinner for example), but it would need a much higher throughput than Spinball at Towers to cope with the demand it would no doubt get.

 

On 7/7/2022 at 2:55 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

Along with this Thorpe could addd a similar Rollercoaster to that opening at Chessington next season. 

I agree Thorpe could do with more family / family-thrill rides. But a coaster like that at Chessington (a launched wingrider) is very low down on that list for Thorpe imo

[Mark9]

On 7/7/2022 at 2:55 PM, Theme Park Fanatic said:

@Hethetheth it’s annoying me that Thorpe Park are leaving us speculating. Personally I think Rocky Express will reopen. My reasoning is that the rest of Old Town has been gutted or relocated, whereas Rocky is still standing in immaculate condition. I think Rocky could easily be relocated. The Angry Birds Sponsorship must be coming to an end. If this is so the area will need clearing or retheming. This could make space for Rocky. I have a feeling that Project Exodus will be shelved. If this happens,Old Town could be redeveloped into a new Land. I think a Ride like Dragons Fury at Chessington,would fit into the area. Maybe Spinball Wizzer from Alton Towers could be relocated to Thorpe. Along with this Thorpe could addd a similar Rollercoaster to that opening at Chessington next season. In my opinion Thorpe needs a couple  more Family rides. Incidentally I think the Walking Dead Ride should be reverted back to X.

 

So your ideas are for Thorpe to become completely unoriginal and just get the same rides that its sister park has got/is getting.

[Matt 236]

At this point, they should just go and build Spooky Island from Scooby Doo. Then it would be an island like no other. 

[Benin]

On 7/9/2022 at 12:00 PM, Mark9 said:

 

So your ideas are for Thorpe to become completely unoriginal and just get the same rides that its sister park has got/is getting.

 

What about a Top Spin?

[coasterverse]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:25 PM, Matt Creek said:

At this point, they should just go and build Spooky Island from Scooby Doo. Then it would be an island like no other. 

 

Now this is an idea I can get behind...

[chrisgeorgiou46]

On 7/9/2022 at 8:25 PM, Matt Creek said:

At this point, they should just go and build Spooky Island from Scooby Doo. Then it would be an island like no other. 

 

Spooky Island seemed like an incredible park that I wish was a reality!! Minus the creatures and demonic possession. 

 

And the Scooby Doo wildmouse in Warner Bros, Australia, (themed after Spooky Island) is a fun ride.

 

So essentially, I would love this to happen. The park has a woodie from what I recall, and it would be an IP (Thorpe loves an IP) that suits families!! Tick tick tick.

[LukeKenno]

Just got home from todays Thorpe park trip 2nd of the year for me, had a top day dispite the weather warnings. Ride count of 17 Walking dead x3 nice blast of aircon to cool down every now and again being main reason haha, Inferno x3, swarm x2, tidal wave x2, storm surge x2, Rapids x2, saw x1, Colossus x1 and black mirror.. Was clearly alot quieter due to the weather still a fair few school trips but nothing like it would of been most rides walk on most of the day I prebooked fast track a week ago expecting last week's queues but only used it twice as just wasnt really needed. Plenty of extra announcements highlighting the free suncream station locations and water refills they had plus ride hosts also encouraging you to stay hydrated. Massive shout out to the staff for working in the heat I'm glad they all had extra fans and portable air con units in the ride stations and shops etc to try take the edge off things. No real down time noticed mainly depth charge and a small amount for Saw, samurai and Swarm. Pizza pasta is my go to for lunch and did not disappoint, Plenty of work going on for carnival prep no other things too noticable swarm screens off as expected, Nemesis inferno Station speakers broken and very tinny lost city as a whole had no music was looking forward to hearing Colossus old soundtrack. 

[Rosstafox]

When do fright night tickets normally go on sale? 

[JoshC.]

20 hours ago, Rosstafox said:

When do fright night tickets normally go on sale? 

Usually you would be looking at late August / early September. It is usually linked with whenever they announce their line up, which varies, but is usually around that sort of time

[JoshC.]

So let's talk Carnival, the park's other new event for 2022.

 

The event is split into two areas. There is 'the' "Carnival" area, which is in the Lost City area (where various FN mazes have been) and there is the "Junkyard" area, which stretches alongside Ghost Train up to Trailers. 

 

The Carnival area is the main one, and features a stage, photo op point, some F&B places and a couple of extra sideshows (magician's tent and fortune teller). Things kick off from 12 and there's pretty much always something going on, or getting ready to happen, from then till park close (which is 7pm for the event!).

 

There's a Ringleader show, showing all the acts, a mime troupe show, a set of singers, and also some circus/carnival acts (fire breathers, trapeze artists / balance performers and the like). The Junkyard area features some "carnival rejects", who are basically just a bit more shoddily dressed, treated like outcasts, and a bit more 'crazy'.

 

All in, there's a real good variety of acts, and it's all just light hearted fun. And it does so without being cheesey or corny, which I felt the Mardi Grad stuff did too much of. I'm sure things will get polished up during the event too. The circus acts are external acts too, so are specialists in what they do.

 

One thing I wasn't keen on was the singing aspects of the performances. It would be harsh, and wrong, to say the singing was bad, but it certainly wasn't something I would call 'good'. Obviously this is a difficult thing to do, since as people we can hear amazing singing in a couple of clicks on our phone, but it does mean there's a high bar to meet. I think the performances would be better without singing, but then again, maybe the wider audience disagree. 

In any case, I think if the park want singing incorporated into these acts, they should broaden their horizons and look to people with as much experience as possible.

 

 

Now, onto the thing which I guess people are most interested in: Trailers - Breakout at Bozo's.

This...is a thing. And it doesn't know what sort of thing it wants to be. Is it trying to be a fun and funny attraction set inside a spooky setting? Is it trying to be a scare maze which doesn't take itself seriously? Is it trying to be a scare maze which has been toned down? I don't know. And I don't think Thorpe really know what they want it to be.

 

From what I understand, the plan was for it to be something which wasn't that scary, didn't take itself seriously and something you could have a laugh with. But then when it wasn't received all that well, and senior management realised it wasn't scary, they've tried to tweak that. Which adds to the confused nature of it.

 

There are some fun moments in there, don't get me wrong. But none of it feels very right. And it's all just a bit of a mess, and doesn't quite flow. I also feel for the actors: it's running on minimal numbers, and only one per main scene. When most scenes were designed for at least 2 actors, and almost always had those numbers last year, it means they have a lot to do, and in weirder circumstances. Can't be easy.

 

I don't see it being very popular now the initial enthusiast rush has died down. But with the minimal operating hours and minimal staffing, and being upcharge, I expect it will make money, and so ultimately be a plus for the park there. But still, this stinks of a decision made my people in an office with little understanding of how it would work and the consequences, leaving the Entertainments Team to just deal with it.

 

 

Anyway, I don't want to leave things on a bad note. Carnival is a really cool, fresh-feeling event. It's fun, vibrant and adds an upbeat feeling to the park. At the same time, it doesn't impede on those who aren't fussed: it's a nice, harmless addition. I hope it works out well for them, and that it's something that can continue and be improve upon in the future.

 

On a side note, with these events happening, and being a mainstay, and with shows being a thing at the park again, it's a shame there isn't an arena-like space for them to be housed, and for more work to go into them. Funny world ey.

[LukeKenno]

I was meant to ask something ref fast track.. Never bought it before but used it on last visit fearing a rammed park of school kids.  I bought the adrenaline one so 5 coasters. Only Saw scanned my fast track barcode, walking dead and Colossus let me walk straight through cant comment on swarm and Nemesis as they were walk ons so didnt bother. Is this a usual theme for it not to be scanned meaning people can take advantage of getting more than 5 coasters? Just interested as never used fast track before and if this is the case makes the queues alot longer and people affectively having joker cards to fast track again

[UKdude]

I know sometimes the ride host's scanners are broken.

 

It wouldn't surprise me if people are doing this though 😛 

[Mark9]

1 hour ago, LukeKenno said:

I was meant to ask something ref fast track.. Never bought it before but used it on last visit fearing a rammed park of school kids.  I bought the adrenaline one so 5 coasters. Only Saw scanned my fast track barcode, walking dead and Colossus let me walk straight through cant comment on swarm and Nemesis as they were walk ons so didnt bother. Is this a usual theme for it not to be scanned meaning people can take advantage of getting more than 5 coasters? Just interested as never used fast track before and if this is the case makes the queues alot longer and people affectively having joker cards to fast track again

 

Yeah maybe, Sounds like they got you good and proper though if the two best rollercoasters were walk on. 

[LukeKenno]

I guess its one way to make £45 more value for money, wernt sure because turned out to be quiet they were more lenient.. haha yep definitely done good and proper I pre booked everything expecting 90 minute queues but going on the Tuesday heatwave meant walk ons most the day for the coasters I only used Saw, WD and Colossus as they had a massive peak of 20 mins at one part of the day 🤣

[LukeKenno]

Went to Thorpe to check out the Carnival event today for a few hours, really enjoyed it and I thought it was well executed especially for being so new. I watched the individual circus acts across both areas and all were very impressive. If the event is not your thing its really not a in your face event and can still have a normal day on park. The carnival area had more atmosphere than Junkyard area felt the junkyard could of done with a mini stage for the acts but will definitely go again to it next year if it returns.

[LukeKenno]

Nice addition to the website, long overdue but helps with planning. PS appologies for now a triple post albeit different topics 😅

https://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/resort-information/ride-availability/

[JoshC.]

It's good information to have, albeit no different to what they've done in the past really. 

 

Presumably Ghost Train's current closure is due to the current weather. The ride is hot enough as is, and unbareable in 30⁰+ temperatures.