Zanstabar

I'm hoping that this year's event feels less 'cheap'. Last year the mazes felt pretty bland, predictable, and at worst not even scary. 'Precincts' lacked atmosphere and felt like a copy-paste of previous years. I love getting scared, and I especially love having an event like Fright Nights that's nearby, but you lose me as a patron when you become stagnant and every scare is obvious. A joke loses most impact when the punchline is obvious, it just so happens that scares are the same.

It seems weird to me that they'd be focusing on rejuvenating Paradise Pier/Pixar Pier already, considering it got so much attention during the original DCA makeover. I would've much rather seen them focus on Hollywoodland or a Bug's Land. That said, Tron Light Cycles, Guardians of the Universe of Energy, Mission: Space: The Ride: The Restaurant, and the Great Mickey Ride all seem like great additions. I'm really excited to see how this 2.5D effect works.

Regardless, the event looks nice although the use of the 90's Batman costumes feels a little weird to me. I'm so used to seeing MW base all their appearances based on the actual comic franchises that seeing a Danny Devito Penguin instantly makes me think back to all those old souvenir videos on Youtube. Riddler's Lair, anyone?

Don't mess with the classics

@Reanimated35 I thought I had escaped the clutches of Smash Mouth

I prefer my pancakes at 1 am. Why isn't Dreamworld fulfilling my pancake needs? But for real, I wonder why they'd only have a menu for two hours. Seems a little strange to me. Looks like I'm going to have to be at the park early to get my fix

Looks like we're getting quite mixed reviews on this one. I remember as a young kid being asked if I wanted to ride the original Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, and all it took was one look at the surroundings to tell me exactly what I need to know. It was ominous, mysterious, and looming over almost all of the Anaheim skyline. From sight alone, it set up the story. Walking throughout the desolate gardens and the lobby only helped emphasise this. Every interaction was set up in such a way that I was walking into my own episode of the Twilight Zone, and that scared me because it felt, in a way, so real. Then I take a look at what it's become... The footage of the ride certainly looks like an enjoyable experience, let me clear that first. What I think is missing is that sense of journey and adventure. The original incarnation had a sense of progression, from empty rooms, a journey into another dimension, all the way to the very climax at the very top as you take in the view of the Disneyland resort. Mission Breakout feels very much to me like a quick comic book romp featuring Star-Lord and the gang. Does it suit the personality of the franchise? Well, in a sense, yes. Everything I love about Guardians of the Galaxy is present in this ride. The humour, the characters, the music. I just think that it's missing that sense of story. Rather than building its way up, it appears that you just board the elevator before getting right into the action. At the end of the day, I shouldn't complain too much. It still looks like fun and I'm not going to act as if I won't ride it multiple times and enjoy my experience. I just don't think it's at the level of the original, where I would go to the park, out of my way, just to experience it. If DCA was a festival lineup, Mission Breakout would be a sideshow rather than the headliner that it used to be.

Who bought Area 51? I bet it was Scully and Mulder...

Here's my thoughts on the matter… Psycho is one of my favourite movies of all time, so I'd love to see it be done. Can I see it as a fully fledged maze? Not really. I feel it's better suited to a single scene within a larger "compilation style" maze rather than being a standalone attraction. I wouldn't cross out Halloween so soon. It's still a well known franchise that they haven't really used beyond a single precinct. For all we know, last year's precinct could have just been testing the waters and seeing if it has any audience recognition Child's Play could be interesting. Certainly still seems to be popular today, and has the potential for some really different and imaginative scares compared to the bog-standard zombies that we seem to get every year Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also interesting. A little bit similar to what we've seen in the past, yet still different in it's own way. I'm personally leaning towards this IP more than anything, but then again that judgment is based on extremely limited knowledge Universal fought tooth and nail for the rights to the Exorcist the other year. Might be a negative standpoint, but I feel that if one of the world's biggest and best Halloween events struggled to get this IP then we would too. I love Alien. It's just a scary good time. Only problem is that it would take a lot of work, and I mean a lot. The Xenomorphs look so detailed that I'm sure most of the potential budget would go on costuming or puppeteering before anything. Scream would be nice as well, but I have heard that in the past the licence owners have been pushing to promote the tv series rather than the original film. Would prefer not to have it at all than to be in a similar situation to Halloween Horror Nights 25 The Shining is another good option, but I have heard word that Stephen King is extremely protective of his works. I'd love to see a maze based off "The Birds" but I feel it'll just be the average magpie mating season Wouldn't the Blair Witch be hard to pull off? It's not exactly the type of franchise that we've seen MW execute in the past...

Take into consideration how Tempesto wasn't even the countries, let alone the parks, most expensive rollercoaster. This is like Disney leaving all marketing of Expedition Everest up to a few weeks before opening

I disagree. The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the Haunted Mansion both had me dumbfounded and believing in ghosts as a kid. I didn't have to actively imagine anything, as the rides themselves provided a tangible version of exactly what I envisioned a situation like a haunted house would be like. The Amazing Adventures of Spiderman is also a prime example of not having to use your imagination. The attraction provides an almost exact representation of the typical Spiderman comic but in a physical experience. It may take "one little spark" to create and envision the attractions and experiences, but the guest shouldn't have to fill the gaps in any regard. I don't go to the places "where dreams come true" to simply continue dreaming.

Similar things happen in a few of World Fair-esque events as well. The Palace of The Fine Arts in San Francisco, as well as the entirety of Balboa Park in San Diego, were all built using temporary materials which where then decided to be kept well after the exhibitions had finished. As you can guess, as whole load of money, time and manpower was spent trying to keep these structures intact, or rebuild them from scratch. I don't see the sets for the latest Aquaman film to be as cultural significant as the Palace of Fine Arts so I doubt anyone would be actively seeking to repair and refurbish the set pieces from the film, especially a local park with a limited budget.

Rides like Buzzsaw still get people through the doors. I'd love it if every addition to our local parks could be the calibre of Superman Escape, but bottom line is they are a business and they need to make money.

I've always heard people talking about how high it used to get but never really believed that it would have scaled 80% of the tower. If only we could get that same experience today

^This. I can be scared shitless of heights at times, to the point where I find two steps up a ladder to be a daunting task. Yet people always ask how I can manage to go on a ride such as Tower of Terror or Superman Escape without being frightened while still claiming to be scared of heights. These rides just make me feel safe. I feel completely secure when I'm on a ride such as Arkham Asylum or the Giant Drop. There's just nothing about the rides that makes me feel a sense of worry or distress. That said thought, waterslides still scare me. Dropping down on the Aqualoop with only a pool of water to stop me? That's a challenge...

Maybe get Foghorn Leghorn out for photo ops?

Surprised no one has suggested "Scooby-Doo 2: Electric BOO!Galoo" yet

The Carnivale website for 2017 is now live. Looks like 2017 will be a very different year for the event

Absolutely loving the game so far, but my only gripe is the lack of scenarios. Having endless possibilities just isn't all that fun to me, and I find that my best work comes amidst constraints. That said, I adore everything else about the game, especially the soundtrack. I just find it incredibly charming.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSy5mEcmgwU

I've seen the film multiple times and I'm well aware of the story, which I found the maze followed quite faithfully. My point in that post was that I find it quite clear to see why MW would chose Friday the 13th over the likes of American Horror Story: Murder. Friday the 13th has had numerous film released over a 35+ year period, as well as showcasing a series of consistencies throughout each entry. There is almost always a campsite, there's always a group of reckless teens, and there's always a member of the Voorhees family running around. Going through the maze with people who had not seen the 2009 film, I found that they still understood the basic concepts as they have become a part of pop culture. They understood exactly who Jason was, they understood that they were in a bloodied campsite. Every aspect was quite clear to them. Compare that to American Horror Story: Murder House. This is only 12 episodes of content that aired roughly 5/6 years ago. Not only has it aired a while back, but the characters and settings are not deeply engrained within pop culture. Show the likes of the Infantata to a random individual, and they'll most likely just brush it off as a creepy monster. The same can be applied with most characters of the show. Most of them just haven't made a heavy impact on pop culture. If you had to chose between one franchise to bring people to the event, one of which has had a 36 year impact versus one which had only aired one single season, which would you chose?

Friday the 13th is also deeply engraved in the cultural zeitgeist. With 12 or so movies up it's belt, I would assume more people would recognise Jason Voorhees and a Camp Crystal Lake cabin over a classic creepy house and the "Dead Breakfast Club".

I said Sea World mainly because it's never really had a proper "themed" area Sure it's had rides that have held a cohesive theme, but apart from Castaway Bay and Nickelodeon Land the park has a very "generic" feel about it. It would be nice to see them try to provide theme that differentiate from the tropical theme that they've used year after year.

That was my biggest complaint with the maze. It's easily the most iconic image associated with the franchise, so it was devastating to not see it recreated a little bit more faithfully