Archive for August, 2008
August 21, 2008 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Thoughts
It’s not what you think, Thorpe haven’t taken their Fright Nights too far by locking babies in cages or anything. It’s quite a funny story (probably not for the child involved) but I’ll let you make your own mind up on this one!
During summer 2000 and something, I went to Thorpe Park for the day! Go me! It was getting towards the end of the day so we thought we would take it easy and watch a few folk get wet on tidal wave, for those of you who want to appreciate this story you have to realise the splash from this ride is immense!
So we get sat down out of range and watched a few boats come down, but then we saw something strange. A family (mum, dad and the little one in a pushchair) are standing out of range watching like us, having a giggle at the wetness of all the people on the ride but then from nowhere it was as if Satan had possessed both of them for a split second and before the next boat hit the lift hill, they tightened the restraints in the pushchair and shoved it up to the edge of the pool in the centre of what Thorpe call the “Splash Zone.”
Well as they say the rest writes itself. The boat came plummeting down the drop and hit the lake, water rose up and quickly moved towards the little one…
SPLASH!
The pushchair was engulfed with water, well I couldn’t help but laugh and the parents, well… they were in hysterics! The poor kid looked like a drowned rat but it was well worth it.
Is this child abuse or is it just good old fashioned fun? Have your say!
August 20, 2008 at 11:36 pm · Filed under Thoughts
Having visited Thorpe Park at Halloween for the last two years and hoping to make it a third, I would recommend it to anyone! The atmosphere at the park is amazing; everyone is on edge at the unsuspecting doom that awaits them in each of the three mazes and the chance of riding all the rides in the dark which always makes things more fun! Unfortunately it can be a very, very busy time at the park so it is advised to visit before the kids break up to avoid having to wait up to 2 hours or more to go though the mazes!
There are 3 main attractions at the moment although a fourth is in the works to help deal with the crowds but as it stands they are: Hellgate, The Asylum and Se7en.
Hellgate is a strange attraction, although once having a story is now mainly just a series of scary encounters and scares rather than scenes and psychological attacks. It is very strong and last year was manned by a great cast who had my friends begging for mercy to get out! I have found it to be one of the less popular off the three so there is rarely a queue, which in some ways kills the tension a little but hey if there’s no queue there’s more rides!
The Asylum is by far my favorite attraction, it really does disorientate and puts you on edge, with a misleading and confusing layout using mirrors and chain fence allowing you to look through at the patients in their cells to turn the corner and now find that you are in the cell and the actor who was safely behind a fence is now in your face screaming with aggression! It is very strong and can easily conceal the actors allowing them to move freely creating powerful scares. Once again there is little story but the theming soon lives up to its name. This one usually has a looong queue but it usually quietens down towards the end of the night. Last year we decided to wait by the exit for some of the victims who were just leaving the maze in let’s say a bit of a hurry, have a watch as they pour through the exit!
The final maze and the one which is often regarded as marmite! This was the first horror maze I remember going through at Thorpe, me and my friend Laura queued up nervously for nearly an hour unknowing of what we were about to go through. She took the lead of our group but only one room in, I had to take over. Once we had finally got out she swore never to go in again. For us it just seemed so scary and intimidating with the twisting corridors and the good variety of actors.
All in all we always have great fun at Thorpe during Fright Nights and it’s a great time to go! But be warned it can be very busy! Hopefully over the next few years this will grow to be as big as Knott’s Halloween Haunt with 13 mazes!
August 20, 2008 at 6:00 pm · Filed under Theme Park Life
Hey, welcome to Thorpe Park Blog. Today is pre-launch day for the new Theme Park Life Network and Thorpe Park is one of the first parks to get itself a dedicated blog, along with Alton Towers and Flamingo Land.
Over the next few days, the three blogs will be open to the public so we can get your input and ideas whilst we test things and make sure everything is working how it should be before we officially launch.
If you do have any feedback or come across any errors, please use the comment feature below to let me know so that I can get any problems fixed as quickly as possible.
For Thorpe Park enthusiasts, I hope to see you all become regular readers and contributers over the coming weeks and months as we bring you the latest park news and rumours, with a few ideas and personal opinions along the way.
