Before the custom made Euro-Fighter we now know as Saw – The Ride opened, fans of the park were buzzing from excitement, and were hoping that the ride would perhaps be the park’s best themed attraction, or at least the best since Tidal Wave opened in 2000.  After all, the coaster was to be manufactured by Gerstlauer, and their Euro-Fighters are relatively cheap ride systems, and £13.5 million is a lot of money to spend.  To top it off, the ride featured a dark section, and although some would’ve known about the surprises inside from the ride’s plans and construction, everyone was hoping for something ‘special’.

Now, for one reason or another, Saw has received mixed reactions.  Specifically, it seems that theme park enthusiasts take a disliking to the ride.  I am not one of those people; from my first ride, I loved it.  It’s by no means perfect, and it’s not going to win any awards for the best roller coaster in the world; it wouldn’t even win best coaster in the country.  However, that doesn’t mean it’s not good; in fact, it’s really good.  But why do I think that?

Firstly, the layout.  The UK is often criticised for having short coasters, and whilst Saw isn’t exactly long, it has a decent length and ride time.  Not only that, but it is well paced – it’s not a ride where everything happens at one point in the ride, then the rest of the ride is a bit of a filler.  There’s something interesting and exciting during the whole of the course.

SPOILERS AHEAD – you’ve been warned!  The indoor section is very good; for many, it’s their favourite part of the ride.  The hidden drop catches everyone off guard – even when I knew it was coming on my first ride, it still surprised me; the steepness of it!  It’s an element which really does pack a punch.  After a quick MCBR (mid-course brake run), the barrel roll is highly enjoyable.  Going through it rather slowly is a key to it’s success; not only does it give you a chance to see the theming (talked about later..), but you really do ‘feel’ the inversion; you are lifted out of your seat, and put against the restraints, only to be plonked back on your seat.  My trouble with many inversions is that they aren’t always memorable, or that you don’t realise you’ve been inverted.  This is really one of those inversions which I do like.

NO MORE SPOILERS!  As for the outdoor section, it is completely different.  Euro-Fighters (and Gerstlauer in general) are known for quick, brash and intense ride experiences; this is exactly what you get.  The trademark vertical lift is something I like, and can discomfort those who have never experienced one before.  My least favourite part of the ride is actually the drop; the beyond vertical gimmick doesn’t do it for me; every ride I feel as though I’m experiencing a 90 degree drop, followed by a 10 degree drop, followed by a curved drop in a matter of a second or two.  It just doesn’t feel worth it, especially for the roughness and head banging that occurs from it.  The Immelmann loop and following turn are good elements which demonstrate the effective use of the 2×4 cars which work so well.  The air time hill is my favourite one I’ve been on thus far; you really do feel the forces and the air time on it; much more than any of the other (few) coasters I’ve been on.  Following the next MCBR comes my favourite part of the ride.  The drop of the MCBR is amazing; gets me every time!  Even though you can see it coming, it catches me off guard; which is why I enjoy it much more than the other drop.  The dive loop is completely insane as well.

Then you’ve also got the theming and effects.  The station building is meant to be a derelict warehouse, and that’s exactly what it looks like.  Sure, it’s the typical ‘We’re going to build a derelict, ruining theme so we don’t have to maintain it’ that we’ve seen in the past few years from Merlin, but it does work in this case.  The outdoor queue section is okay, though the traps themselves are pretty uninspiring if I’m honest.  The overgrown plants, however, are a touch which works well with the theme.  The indoor queue wreaks of missed opportunities in my opinion; there’s chance for much more than a couple of messages from Jigsaw.  The station building is nicely styled I would say; but the major trouble with it is there’s too much natural light.  From where the cars come in after the ride to the slits between the panelling; too much natural daylight comes through.  It ruins the effect and theme, which I think is a shame.

SPOILERS!  The effects during the ride are good as well, when working.  An effect which is probably not intentional, and possibly the same on many Euro Fighters is the ‘safety lights’ going out when the cars leave the station.  If you’re in the second row, for front row of the second car, you see the 3 green lights, which show that the restraints have locked, go off.  If I’m honest, it worried me a bit – I was not expecting it to happen and thought there was a fault for a split second…  The Billy puppet is good and scares people who recognise him, and the swinging axes and needle pit are brilliant.  The shooting arrows feel like a bit of a wasted opportunity in my opinion; they’re boring, and distract people who could be listening to Billy’s pre-talk.  I do love Jigsaw’s dead body squirting warm water; first time riders are always shocked by that!  One thing which I think lets the ride down is the audio, or lack of.  Thorpe normally get audio for rides right, but I think they did fail a bit on both this and Saw Alive.  NO MORE SPOILERS – YAY!

So, why is Saw disliked by so many?

• The ‘roughness’.  The most common complaint of Saw I hear from both enthusiasts and the public is that the ride is ‘rough’.  Now, I personally have no trouble with it; I don’t even think it’s rough – Colossus is MUCH rougher..  I would call Saw intense, but is that an issue?  Some coasters are smooth and elegant, some are intense; it just depends.  I would say that the bottom of the main drop certainly does cause head-banging, but from someone who has had neck issues in the past, in all the rides I’ve had, I can safely say that only once have I had an issue with it.  People have different thresholds for intense-rough, and have different likes in what they want their coaster to have, but I would never be able to call the ride ‘rough’.
• The hype.  At the time, everyone was expecting an epicly themed roller coaster and a truly immersive experience.  We unfortunately did not get this, but instead got a ‘ride of two halves’, with a themed indoor section, and a pretty much unthemed outdoor section, which both offer different coaster experiences.  People don’t seem to like that for one reason or another, and therefore don’t actually concentrate on what they’ve got..
• The Intellectual Property (IP) that is the Saw franchise.  There are many different views on IPs, from not liking them outright, to thinking they do wonders.  The trouble is, the Saw IP is dying, perhaps already dead, and there’s not that much Saw stuff directly linked in – they couldn’t even get Tobin Bell to voice Jigsaw for goodness sake!  I think many people who were also disappointed because they thought having an IP will inject loads of extra theming and such into the ride, when in fact it was a rushed idea which basically allowed the use of a name.

So, I’m actually cutting this a little short if I’m honest.  Maybe a Part II or some sort on continuation will arise in the near future.  Basically, long entry short, Saw is actually a really good coaster, despite the fan-hatred.  It’s only in the 2012 season that I’ve realised just how much I like it, and it sits as my second favourite coaster, only behind Swarm.  I even prefer Saw to Nemesis Inferno now, despite Nemesis Inferno ranking as my favourite ride at Thorpe Park until last year, and just why that is is probably for another entry.

Saw – The Ride:  7.5/10

This August 2012, get ready for a summer of jaw-dropping stunts, stomach-churning rides and festival vibes at the nation’s Thrill Capital!

Join THORPE PARK in Surrey between 17th and 26th August for extreme heat as Sun SCREAM returns this summer.

Brave Europe’s tallest winged rollercoaster THE SWARM, with its 127ft head-first inverted drop and terrifying near-misses as you rip through the apocalyptic annihilation, swooping beneath the wings of plane wreckage.

Prepare for the twisted horror-coaster SAW — The Ride, or take the ‘Unholy Trinity’ challenge: Stealth’s full-throttle launch from 0-80mph in under 2 seconds, the ten-looped Colossus and the inverted hell ride on Nemesis Inferno.

Thorpe Park is one of the South East of England’s top attractions and is perfect for a short break or a visit on your holiday. You can find some excellent self catering cottages and apartments close by to make the most of your stay in Surrey.

Find out more about Thorpe Park and where to stay

Saw the Ride was my favourite ride. It’s only a small car with two rows of four seats. You start inside a building in the dark and you can see all sorts of things from the movies. You go outside and up a completely vertical hill, over the top and the downhill is inverted. What I liked about this ride was that there was more to it than just the scary vertical hill. With rides like Stealth (or Oblivion at Alton Towers) all it is is that one scary hill. With the Saw ride you have the bit inside the building, then the main bit (vertical hill) and there’s more twists and turns to come after that.

Saw The Horror Maze was also a favourite of mine because it was not what I was expecting at all. You walk in with a group of people and you have to hold onto the person in front so you make a little train. Then you walk through this building which is dark and people dressed up as characters from the films jump out and shout and just generally try to scare you as much as possible – and it worked! I was terrified, clinging onto Lee and screaming the whole time!

I love all the little, quick rides too like Detonator. It’s so scary being stuck at the top, knowing you’re going to drop at any time but you don’t know when it’s coming…

Lee was most excited to go on Tidal Wave and he made us sit at the back where you get the wettest! And we did get extremely wet! It was so cold but luckily we dried quite quickly because the sun was out! Personally, I prefer the more gentle water rides like the Rapids and the Log Flume because you can relax and enjoy them. We also had lots of fun on Depth Charge – the water slides you go down in a dinghy.

We had lunch at 360 Bar and Grill where they offered two meals for £12 so we both had cheeseburger and chips which were lovely.

Although the park seemed quite busy we didn’t actually have to queue for most rides. The longest we waited was 20 minutes for the Swarm and about the same for Saw The Ride. Most rides we could walk straight on to or we just had to wait five minutes or so. I think we chose a perfect day to go because we had great weather and because the schools hadn’t broken up yet it wasn’t as busy as it probably would be if we’d gone this week instead.

We managed to go on pretty much every ride once and by the time 5 0 clock came we were both knackered! We bought a magnet as a souvenir because we didn’t take a camera in case it got wet. The magnet cost £8 which was a bit extreme but with that you get to download your photo for free so you can print it off or whatever!

With Halloween creeping upon us, Thorpe Park has extended its opening hours to the dead darkness of night. You are invited to get lost in live action horror mazes which will leave your heart pounding and body trembling, and ride the rollercoasters in the dark.

As well as taking the voyages of Stealth, Colossus, Nemesis Inferno and even the Teacups rides by the night, you are sure to get lost, frightened and tormented in the mazes. Even though you’ve been on all the rides in the summer’s gone, being launched up into a pitch black sky has the most disorientating feeling. Stealth was so exhilarating that we went twice! And as for Teacups, well I should know better than to sit in one with Nikhil. All our heads were spinning!

And as for the ridiculously scary mazes, a special feature of the Halloween nights – a MUST-DO for any dare devils, or wannabe dare devils:

Se7en: Distressing scenes of violence and pain. Each room leaves you feeling trapped. Not advised if you suffer from claustrophobia, asthma or epilepsy!
Scare-o-meter rating: 8.5/10

The Curse: Scare-o-meter rating: every actor seems to want to take your life. Prepare for fear, and you’re not allowed to run in the mazes so take a deep breath or close your eyes when they attack – it’ll lessen the pain! And as for the man with the chainsaw, well don’t even get me started on seeing him!
Scare-o-meter rating: 8/10

The Asylum: Filled with dead ends, mirrors and hidden corners, you will seriously get lost in here. And if that is not enough the chaos increases when shadows of locked up mental patient appear behind you.
Scare-o-meter rating: 9/10

Hellgate: The final maze, and by this point, I almost cried. The bravest of souls cannot prepare for the evil that will be unleashed. Empty souls wander, preying on human life and trust me, they can smell fear. The more fear you show, the more distressed they will make you. At one point, you feel that you are trapped in a room with no escape. Bars line the walls and on the other side, actors chuck themselves against the bars which leaves your heart pounding crazily.
Scare-o-meter rating: 9/10

For the mazes, you are required to enter with a group of at least four others. You are asked to make a train like chain so that nobody gets lost in the darkness. Or to just hold on for your life to the person in front of you (which is what I did!) There are dead ends, actors in terrifying outfits and brilliant make up and acting skills. It takes approximately five minutes to get through each maze, but for some, that will be the most terrifying five minutes they have ever experienced. The actors do an awesome job of scaring you out of your wits- jumping out at every corner, pulling on your hair, coming up really close behind you, tugging your leg – all at times when you are least expecting it.

The best thing about it was there were no queues! Going with the John Lewis crew the park was practically empty. I’ve got to say that did make it a little scarier but hey, it was all in the name of fun!

Then I went to Islands of Adventure in Florida and the rollercoasters there were even better – faster, more spins more loops and totally different experiences, the Hulk and Dueling Dragons the clear winners.  Although I was also completely taken in by the Spiderman Simulation “Your Spider-Senses Will Be Tingling. Put on your 3-D glasses for an eye-popping, pulse-pounding, first-of-its-kind 3-D Spider-Man thrill ride.”  That really, truely was a thrill. I loved it!

Then, we went to Thorpe Park at the weekend (for the first time) and I was impressed.  Although compact and small in ground coverage compared to other big theme parks Thorpe Park still has the big rides that attract thrill seekers.   First up was Stealth (0-80mph in 2 seconds) fast, exhilirating and brilliant fun! But over fairly quickly so glad the queue was only 10 mins.   Then a nice ride on the rapids and luckily it was a sunny day as we did get soaked, quickly followed by Nemisis which was a great, fun and exciting ride.

Then the queueing began for Saw..The Ride.  Already just in the queue I was feeling petrified (I’ve only watched half of the first film as I was too scared) but I hadn’t come all that way (well an hours drive!) to wimp out. One hours queue later…  we’re in line, only 20 or so people to go and then we’re on.  Heart pounding, hands shaking and slightly sweaty brow forming…..an announcement is made “Technical fault… we appreciate your patience whilst riders are removed from the ride….” Hmmm, so 20mins later and the suspense has almost gone, very glad we’re not going to be the first people back on it. Anyway riders were finally removed off the ride, technical fault sorted and we were on.  Crickey was I scared.  But we did it, and it was amazing! Probably the best coaster I’ve ever been on, but that is probably somewhat down to how scared I was to begin with! Totally ACE!

I won’t bore you with the details of every ride but I’ll tell you this much – Saw is breathtaking. Not to forget exhilarating, thrilling and surely full of suspense. The ride has had a lot of publicity but, the hour long queue was worth every second.

Filled with drops, gruesome scenes, loops we walked off shaking. Just when you think you’ve dropped enough to be quite close to the ground you drop again! Also the ride is partially in the dark which just adds to the Saw atmosphere. And funny thing is the best was still to come – alongside purchasing photos, you can now purchases videos of yourself on the ride!

Being the first themed rollercoaster for a horror film it is definitely worth the £13.5 million it took to create. The 8-seater car allows for tight changes in direction and speed, whilst giving thrill seekers a ride to remember!

More on the Thrills of Thorpe Park here!

Last Friday I went to Thorpe Park for the first time in 5 years and these days the park looks somewhat different to the one I remember.  Loggers Leap and The Flying Fish remain, but there are so many other rides to choose from that I didn’t even go on either of them.  Instead we (there was a group of 10 of us) started with a ride on Vortex, a large swingy, spinny thing,  followed quickly by 2 consecutive goes on the magic carpet ride Quantum.  Once upon a time both of these would have been considered pretty extreme for Thorpe Park, but these days they’re a pretty tame introduction.  So, upping the ante, we headed for the park’s newest ride, Saw. The ride itself was awesome, but the 90 minute queue was not so great.  Fortunately no other queue was quite that bad and after lunch we managed all the big coasters, including Nemesis Inferno, Colossus and my personal favoruite Stealth. There was still plenty of time to go on loads of the other extreme rides too, such as Samurai, Slammer, Rush and X:\No Way Out.

All in all it was a very good day and, while suprisingly busy for a Friday during term time, we ended up getting on pretty much everything we wanted to in the 8 hours we were there although we did end up purhcasing a fast-track ticket for Stealth for an extra £4  to save us some time.  I would have liked to got on a couple of the roller coatsers a second time and so if I went again I’d either go mid-week earlier in the year or modify my ride strategy a bit to go on the coasters first and last thing with all the other rides inbetween.  It’s also worth noting that there’s no need to ever pay the full £35 entrance fee as 2-for-1 vouchers are so easy to come by that we ended up with about 4 spares between the 10 of us.  While we concentrated on the bg rides there’s still plenty of stuff for younger kids too, so it’s definitely one for the whole family.

It’s 5 in the morning
Long story.

Thorpe Park

I’m fortunate enough to be going to Thorpe park tomorrow. And that means I get to go on Saw the ride, the slammer and detonator.

Saw

Detonator

Its Over

Sizing up the Somerset House fountains while we wait for the fountain controller to supe it up

See you on the streets. X

It’s 5 in the morning
Long story.

Thorpe Park

I’m fortunate enough to be going to Thorpe park tomorrow. And that means I get to go on Saw the ride, the slammer and detonator.

Saw

Detonator

Its Over

Sizing up the Somerset House fountains while we wait for the fountain controller to supe it up

See you on the streets. X

Thorpe Park , an amusement park in Surrey in the South of England has just unveiled their latest attraction; ‘Saw – the ride’ which claims to offer the world’s steepest freefall drop.

It certainly aint my idea of a fun day out, but see what you think.

I’ll stick to small, canvas covered aeroplanes for my airborne fun, if you don’t mind.

I know there has been lots of discussion on the Cadbury adverts of late, which was the whole point of the seemingly random concepts, but I have to say that the kids’ eyebrows one is fantastic. I have been super happy recently, smiling even more than usual, but when the advert came on the cinema (having not seen it on TV for a few weeks), my smile widened even more. I hope I remember the ad whenever I am a little sad while away, as I have no doubt it will instantly pick me up.

The last advert before the previews started was for Saw the Ride, a new attraction based on the horror film franchise opening up at Thorpe Park (the place I spent quite a few fun family days out as a child). The lights in the cinema dimmed just as the screen went black and then Jigsaw (the mechanical doll used by the baddie, which I admit does scare me a little because of its similarity to a clown’s face) suddenly appeared. I am not sure whether other people noticed the change in lighting but I found it certainly added to the fright affect. I wonder whether the timing of the lights was intentional or accidental.

Finally, the film. Watchmen was visually stunning, the sound effects were seat trembling, and the fight scenes were wonderfully brutal (for those with slightly disturbed taste like me). The soundtrack is full of classics (only soured by the Chemical Romance cover of Bob Dylan’s Desolation Row) and perfectly accompanies the retro setting of the film, which was expertly portrayed. As I have not read the graphic novel, I do not want to comment too much, however I was left wanting because the storyline was all to predictable. Apart from the increased violence, I can see no difference between this graphic novel adaptation and films based on comic books, although I am sure that there will be a lot of graphic novel fans that disagree with me. In my opinion, is not a bad thing though, because I think most of these action based films make for great, albeit mindless, entertainment.

Seriously? My brain just fell out of my head, and onto the floor. Check out some info on it here.

Wait a minute, this over-the-top style of merchandising seems very familiar….