So a new year dawns upon us and the parks are adding the finishing touches to new attractions ready for when they open in March. Alton Towers have Th13teen, a worlds first coaster replacing the historic Corkscrew coaster while Chessington have a whole new land called Wild Asia including a brand new Disk-O Coaster.

Thorpe Park have decided to take a different approach this year. With the HUGE success of SAW: The Ride last year Thorpe are giving fans more of what they want by creating SAW: Alive. This new attraction is a brand new year round Scare Attraction to give guests a strong dose of horror before Fright Nights begin once again in October.

When posters began to appear around the park towards the end of the last season speculation began where the attraction would be housed. Many assumed it would be attached onto the side of X:// No Way Out where Hellgate is normally located, although this seemed like it would be an odd decision for it being quite a distance from SAW: The Ride.

It wasn't long before planning permission application forms appeared online showing artwork and plans of the exterior of the attraction. It was here we learnt the old Thorpe Belle which has previously been used for toilets, storage and education talks will be converted into Jigsaws new realm of terror.

Work is well under way while they decorate the interior with all the scenes and props before they float the Belle along to it's new position alongside SAW: The Ride. SAW: Alive will be accessed via a new path which builders began working on early last year due to having to fill in a large section of the lake surrounding the park.

The fading red of the Belle has been upgraded to look like an old warehouse. It is still unknown if SAW: Alive will have it's own narrative and follow a story which explains why Jigsaw chose to use an old paddle steamer as the base for his latest plans.

The attraction itself will take nervous patrons though 6 famous scenes from the Saw moves. Guests will literally be in the film and see the traps they only thought existed in nightmares.

Adverts were sent out late last year for casting auditions for the attraction. It's strongly rumoured that we'll be seeing some recognisable faces from the other mazes although here they may be concealed by pigs masks or blood due to the nature of the attraction. I'm sure that the actors will on top form as well as they look forward to their £70 pay check at the end of each day.

Even though this all looks promising Thorpe have a lot of competition as other Saw attractions such as the one at Universals Halloween Horror Nights which got rave reviews. Once again the park have been working closely with Lionsgate to ensure that fans are satisfied and that the reputation and image of the Saw franchise isn't at risk.

I for one am looking forward to see what they do with SAW: Alive when it opens in March 2010 at Thorpe Park and will be visiting soon to see how they pull it off.

This article was written by Oliver Cook.