The last time I went into the former I'm a Celebrity building, I came out extremely disappointed by what was the actor-less version of Vulkan Peak. So whilst the adverts that had been up around the entrance in previous weeks looked interesting, I was cautious as to what this attraction would actually be like. Especially given it would be a reasonably expensive upcharge and that it had been pushed back from its original opening date.



So it was both a surprise and to some extent a relief that within just a couple of minutes I was smiling and completely taken in by this attraction. The single actor they had at the start gave a brilliant performance, that was both warm and welcoming, whilst also cheeky and authoritative. The first set alone felt like it had received more love and attention than perhaps some other recent actor led attractions at Thorpe Park had in their entirety. Little trinkets, sounds and the interaction of the actor, all made for a great first impression.



Then into the game part of the attraction. The quality of the puzzles impressed me greatly, both in terms of physical construction and their problem design. Immediately it felt like walking into The Crystal Maze, and I'm fairly sure everyone in our group had a similar level of excitement and awe that I had myself. With group sizes of around 5-7, the puzzles are well thought out such that everyone could participate, and in some cases had to participate in order to succeed.

So it's slightly sad that the ending doesn't seem to be quite there at the moment. The issue is entirely on the creative and story telling side, with all actors providing a brilliant performance and the sets still having the high production quality. Whilst it's possible a change will come before the attraction fully opens on Saturday, I'm not overly sure what change could feasibly be made in the time available to solve the problem it has. However, the current ending does not massively detract from the overall experience. My only thoughts after more time thinking about it, were that if the number of rooms you experienced had been doubled, then the experience would have been exceptional and a great ending perhaps easier to devise.

Ending issues aside, after riding the slide into the Inferno gift shop, I came away with a really good feeling about Jungle Escape. So much so that I went straight back around for a second go. The puzzles were the same, but the overall positive feeling of the attraction remained. Even after two attempts, there was one puzzle that I'm not convinced any of the groups managed to solve.

As posted on SouthParks social media, staff training has been occurring on BounceZilla today, in preparation for its opening next weekend.



Part of the training appeared to involve a few staff members trying out a small portion of the attraction. They certainly looked like they had fun!

Robert.W wrote:

But then again, most of GameFX (everything except the VR?) is free to use, and that looks as if it’s been a bit of a flop... so I don’t know, only time will tell I guess.

What has surprised me is that the VR section has been perhaps the most popular part of GameFX, and has been growing in popularity.

I'm glad, because that part is entirely an outside small company, who have been adapting the offering as the event went on and have some pretty decent offerings. At the moment they have a multiplayer zombie shooter, racing game and some weird contraption that looks like it could simulate sky diving, plus other games/experiences without additional hardware required. There was a queue for it today and a lot of laughter coming from that area.

The rest of GameFX, well very few people were using the consoles when I wandered in today, or a few weeks ago.

Agree that the parks should always be looking for new and different experiences. Whilst BounceZilla is perhaps not quite the new and different experience people may have initially had in mind when thinking about Thorpe Park, I get the suspicion it will be something of a memory maker.

I really wish there was a food related event! The park's offerings are not great this year, with this weekend being the worst with several units normally open being closed. At one point this weekend I wondered whether I should have just brought food with me.

Cue more wishing for a Food and Wine type event.

It's Thorpe Park's 40th birthday today!

First opening on 24th May 1979, the park has come a long way since its initial offering as a water activity and exhibition centre.

I'm told my first visit was in 1985, when was yours?

As reported by SouthParks News, Thorpe Park Resort celebrated a major milestone this weekend with the Island reaching its 40th birthday on Friday 24th May. To mark the occasion, the Island hosted a long weekend of celebrations including the launch of their newest attraction for the summer – BounceZilla! SouthParks visited the Island to experience the celebrations. Also celebrating a significant birthday in 2019 is Saw – The Ride which has seen Jigsaw play his twisted games at Thorpe Park Resort for 10 years.

Some news:



Source

Swarm Chris wrote:

Some news:



Source

Good

Jungle Escape has now dropped in price by £3 across all tickets to be: £7 on the day; £6 pre-booked; and £5 for annual pass.

Swarm Chris wrote:

Jungle Escape has now dropped in price by £3 across all tickets to be: £7 on the day; £6 pre-booked; and £5 for annual pass.

Thorpe Park in “upcharge attraction not being as successful as we hoped so we’re having to drop the price” shocker.

Along with the AT Dungeon struggling to attract visitors too, will this show Merlin that upcharge attractions in the theme park environment don’t work?

Thorpe Park will be the venue for the 2019 Malibu Boats Wakeboarding Nationals on the 22nd-23rd of June, offering the garden area by Fin's as a viewing point for the event.

ProfBurp wrote:

Hopefully someone will realise that this is not the way to go! Yes nobody was keen on IAC but at least it was free!

Really hope so too. It's a great little attraction, with some fantastic characters that the actors portray and decent quality puzzles. But it sadly seems to have sat empty for the majority of its time, seemingly due to the cost. With the new lower cost this weekend, there were certainly more people going in, which I'm sure is a major boost for those working on the attraction.

The capacity of it will mean that it needs to be ticketed one way or the other. But I think it would have been better if operated similar to Zombie Hunt last year, rather than opening with what was a very high price of admission.

Some new merchandise available today. Perhaps we could see a BounceZilla pillow in the future?