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I love it when Jack comes back every year or so to complain about Fastrack at Thorpe. It's like when Steve posts every now and then to tell us how **** Merlin are. It's like a comfort blanket.

Yep, Detonator really looked nothing like the concept art did it... Oh wait.

Best thing about the testing was the cheers from the crowds as the train went down the first drop. The sense of community from things like this is never better then days like today.

Not being funny but if it takes 20 minutes to get up the lift hill the queues are going to be horrendous and in my view this is just another way of Merlin exploiting fasttrack sales.

Initially guests wanted it at Helix, it got complaints that it felt unsafe. Then with Icon its because the restraints had double redundancy in case of failure, the seatbelts give it a third redundancy if something was to go wrong. Looking at a few others, Copperhead Strike opened with seatbelts (unsurprisingly, Cedar Fair after all) and DC Rivals Hypercoaster didn't, neither do the majority of the Blue Fire clones, Star Trek or Capitol Bullet Train. Merlin being Merlin, I can just see the guest perception taking precedent with Hyperia. This is the company that wouldn't batch a station at Mandrill and has ugly queue lines where every new ride has fences over 6 foot tall.

As the OFFICIAL DG95 DOMINIC GARDNER would say. A WORLD EXCLUSIVE… trains delivered

Pacing will alter significantly as testing continues. Firstly the train literally crawled over the crest of the lift hill, in a couple of weeks it will be going significantly quicker over the top as Mack lifts are normally fast. This won’t dramatically alter the speed at the bottom (probably only a couple of mph) but that will mean a significant amount of additional kinetic energy is being carried by the train. Secondly the friction will reduce as the ride beds in and warms up so the speed will be maintained throughout the layout. This will probably mean more airtime but less hang time

Drip drip drop with the April Showers. Blowing blowing but when's it going going to go on the track track track, can they claw back back back. May the 24th be with us or will it not. Random Abba reference goes here for reasons unknown.

And don't forget Hyperia will have a single rider queue too. Once I've ridden with my mate for the first time, we'll 100% be using that.

The park need to decide whether they prioritise the main season or the winter season. If they want to do both, the engineering team need to be expanded. They also said a week or so ago that some rides like Rattlesnake and Griffons Galleon will not be open on off-peak days. Poor decision as Rattlesnake seemed to be one of the few rides that was running well over the weekend. Merlin theme parks really test my patience at times. The general expectation at a theme park is to go and rides will be running. At Merlin it's currently a gamble if anything is open on time or for at least half the day.

Night time POV Looks insane, will easily be the best coaster on park now

Might as well continue that red area to bin off the beach and Depth Charge. That area could definitely be used as an entertainments hub almost and the proximity to the 'hotel' would allow for some overnight stuff to occur outside in the summer. No doubt some of the flats will be coming to end of life soon. But much like Towers an actual replacement for Loggers wouldn't go amiss. Chiapas for all! Or they replace Rumba with the nonsense Bellwaerde have recently opened.

They've confirmed Slammer is being removed this closed reason - what are the chances we get a new flat ride there? Or do you reckon we're getting a new picnic area? Would love for them to get a new modern water ride. Get rid of Rumba. Worst rapids in the UK by a mile. Can't really see that happening though unfortunately. I personally don't think we'll see another dark ride until they finally decide to sack off the ghost train and use that building. But who knows. I really hope we're past the days of permanent scare attractions and actor led experiences 🤞

A bit criminal of me but I'd never visited Blackpool pleasure beach. Always been a bucket list park for me from a young age due to their wide selection of coasters, a lot of which are very unique. I visited last Thursday for my first ever time so I thought I'd share my thoughts. Heard lots of mixed things about Pleasure beach recently, mainly negative so I was a bit skeptical on how my day was going to be, but I had a great day and thoroughly enjoyed myself. The park was open 11-5, and advertised to be closed was Ice Blast, River Caves and Grand Prix, (now announced it'll be closed for good) Nickelodeon land is also advertised to close at 4pm an hour before park closing. I expected the park to be quiet, but the park was empty, according to staff this was the quietest day so far this season at just over 600 people on park. Most of the queue times on the app showed 10 minutes but nothing had a queue all day. I'll list the coasters in the order I rated them worst to best... 10. Blueflyer - Smooth classic woodie, but very short and more of a kids coaster. Would be a great first coaster. 9. Infusion - Was dreading this but not as bad as people make out. Not a lot else to say really, standard SLC. 8. Steeplechase - Good fun and very unique but I did find a little uncomfy, every corner the seats dug into my hip a little. 7. Avalange - Enjoyed this, much preferred it to Europas. Although its short, it had a lot of force. Lovely station and a nice soundtrack. 6. Nick streak - Great airtime hills and very very smooth for its age. Trains were really comfy with all the padding. 5. Big one - Didn't know if I was going to get this as it was closed all day Wednesday due to high winds and high winds predicted for my visit too. Looking at the forecast winds were due to pick up at 1 so my best chance of getting this was getting on it early. Luckily it opened first thing but it did later close for the rest of the day. They were only loading the front 2 cars with the rest sandbagged. First drop was great but apart from that, the rest of the layout nothing really happens. I imagine it was running slower than usual due to the winds. Would've liked to have tried the backrow (backrow looks lethal on that first drop) but was happy to get on it nonetheless! 4. Big dipper - Oldest rollercoaster I've ever ridden but was riding great for its age. Had some good drops and good airtime hills. All round enjoyable. 3. Grand national - I expected a lot from this, with people saying this is the best woodie in the country. I went straight on the back row and honestly felt like I'd just been beaten up. I saw someone on the other train on the 2nd to last row and it reminded me to ride non wheel seats 😆 Much more enjoyable but could definitely do with some more work. Would've loved to have tried the other trains back in the day. The racing aspect of it is great fun and you do get some nice airtime. 2. Revolution - Had never done an Arrow launched loop so was great to get on one of these - good airtime moments especially on the front and back row. Chucks you out your seat. Particularly enjoyed going backwards on this. 1. Icon - This was great fun. Although this is my favorite at the park is it my favorite in the UK? Absolutely not. Do think its a bit over-hyped but its up there. Some good airtime on the back row and really enjoy the top hat too. Its a great length and its great how it interacts with other rides too. Unfortunately didn't get to give Enso a go. Apparently they had the Enso train on first thing but took it off as it was predicted to be really quiet. Its a management decision weather to put it on or not in the afternoon based on crowds but they didn't, but understandable. Very expensive for what it is but would've liked to have gave it a go. Onto Valhalla - although it was a cold, windy and little wet day I couldn't come to Blackpool without getting on this. Always loved indoor water rides, but wow. Completely blew me away. Hands down my favorite dark ride in the UK by far. I didn't know how I was going to find this as reviews are nowhere near as good as they were before. I didn't get particularity wet on the drops, just from the effects but every time I went on the boat was to myself so I imagine thats down to the weight of the boat. I know from reading before that the effects are unreliable and can differ all the time so I did lots of re-rides to see if it was any different. Everything was consistent on my rides apart from the ring of fire which I only saw twice, although all the other fire was on every other ride. Also the waterfall as you go into the building didn't turn off on my first ride. For the rest of the day this was then just turned off. After doing a bit of research since I've been back, the only effects I didn't see on any of my rides were the crashing logs and the rolling log. There also didn't seem to be any mist outside the ride like I've seen online too. Particularly enjoyed Skyforce too. My first Gerst Sky Fly and really enjoyed this. 1 good gust of wind and you are off for the rest for ride. Operator said I did 64 spins, which is certainly the most I've ever been upside down on a ride before. So overall a good day. Got on everything I wanted to with lots of re-rides. For the most part staff were friendly enough and were fine with re-rides if there wasn't anyone waiting in the air gates. Hard to comment on operations, everything was on 1 train but there wasn't need for more than that on anything. I got my ticket just the day before for £35 which is reasonable too. I wouldn't rush back. Its nearly a 6 hour drive for me so unless they get something new worth traveling up for I wouldn't bother. Bit worrying a bit recent ride closures and hearing how quiet it is even on weekends at the moment. Will be interesting to see how the park does going forwards as the future isn't looking particularly great. They have a lot of old rides which can't be cheap to maintain and the park isn't the most presentable...

It will be interesting to see what happens. I think a new modern water ride is needed at the park. A proper dark ride would be good too. But also, coasters are what work for the park, so who knows. Maybe they should sack off doing anything else and just stick in a bunch of coasters?

I don’t at the moment. I was a pass holder for I think 15 years and stopped a few years ago because of having kids. Will pick it up again soon I think though, it’s still great value even though I’ll need to buy it for all the family this time 😬 I do miss it.

I do. Currently on subscription at £15 a month and it expires 200 years after I pass away. Compared to some of the rubbish I waste my money on, £180 a year is great value and with some of the investment at the moment, it's easy to justify.

Bit slow etc. Definitely will have a lot of wasted momentum going into the final brake run by looks of it.

train reveal I think they look very good

Thank god we were spared the higher capacity crowd pleasing B&M hyper ey

God the capacity is gonna be crap.

this project has turned out to be one questionable decision after the other to be honest - don't get me wrong - I absolutely cannot wait to ride - but everything from the station building, planned landscaping, lack of a viewing platform, queueline etc has been pretty disapponting thus far. I also personally find thorpe's generous (putting that lightly) overuse of the gold colour super tacky. if it was used as a highlight colour against a black station, it would look so much more elegant. also a little confused by the black and gold colourscheme of the station, queue etc but the actual coaster itself is white and gold? wouldn't a white and gold station have fit the aesthetic better than a black and gold one..?

What is Merlin’s new obsession with 7ft high fencing for the queue lines now? I’ve just been watching JS latest construction update where he showed park of the queue and to be honest it just looks stupid. The rides meant to partly be about floating and feeling free, what a great way to start that experience, ramming the rider into a metre wide queue with a fence taller than you… I know there’s probably something to do with Heath and safely that’s influenced this decision, but how come like 90% of the other rides on park don’t have fencing higher than like chest height?

I've heard rumors of a permanent closure but no one knows for sure I guess as they've still not communicated any update. Its still showing on their ride availability page as 'closed until further notice' Although it was testing a little last season I don't think theres been any movement since and the area is closed off so its not looking like it'll be open any time soon!

^ I mean this is basically what I was trying to say to be fair 🙃

The operator would switch the lights off (switch in the console) and I believe to not play the launch audio they'd use the mic to override it. They've stopped doing these now thankfully. They were good fun a good few years ago, but when the word got spread and people were asking for them every other launch they got very boring.

And I've worked in project management. Zero surprise that some projects really push the limit in terms of targeted handover dates. Purely depends on what Mack says the required testing hours needed are. Which none of us are privy to (and any of those who are won't be able to divulge such information). Merlin have form for it too over the years. Even Nemesis is getting stuff added to it since opening officially.

Just looking at photos from Theme Park Guide... 54 days until opening? It feels like a rush to me 👀 I'm sure Thorpe Park knows what they are doing... They always know what they are doing... Right?!

That is generally what roller coasters do, to be fair.

I've seen that Colossus has been up and down a bit. Opening day availability went to the wall when a storm hit combined with "strong" winds, but that can't be helped - at one point, everything was closed bar TWDTR, Rush and Dobble Tea Party.

Hopefully this is the start of slightly stronger ops on Oblivion! In previous years, it's often had slightly weaker operations, with throughputs slipping to 800-900pph on occasions, so I was pleased to see this improved throughput reading! That's an interesting finding with Wicker Man. Clearly it was going a bit slower during your visit, as both of my readings had it closer to 800pph, or dispatches roughly 10s or so faster.

Samurai is looking fresh!

Yeah I must admit I didn't know whether or not to add it to the list, but the park are still yet to announce a permanent closure. Its also still listed as closed on the ride availability page (https://www.chessington.com/plan-your-visit/resort-information/ride-availability/) but looks like this page hasn't been updated for a good while! Its a strange one as I thought they would be desperate to get this back open, and it was seen testing last season. But maybe they have bigger plans for this area now!

Not that it makes a difference to your point, but Scorpion hasn't run since mid-2022, and is completely absent from the park's map now. Whether it's died a slow and painful death or just taking a hibernation, who knows...

Thanks for this @Matt N always find these interesting! Its so satisfying being in the Nemesis queue, always seem to have a good team running it and the queue constantly moves. Nice to see Oblivion is being ran slightly better this year hopefully that continues. Only timing I got last week was in the Wickerman queue as I was bored and was interested how it does on 2 trains. Were dispatching trains roughly every 2 mins so 720.

Thanks Parm this is a brilliant update! I don’t think anyone on here expected the trains to arrive soon

Lady Di is riding it with Sir Capt. Tom & Baby P.

And here's an issue I have with the park at the moment. They have been great at sharing updates geared towards geeks and those who are interested. The collaborations with Jack Silkstone over the years (pre-season videos, for example) have given a great insight into what to expect, some of the park's thinking, etc. But they're almost being too open. We go back to Tidal Wave's fire effect returning. That was announced for, what, 2021? And yet here we are, no fire effect in sight. Their communication about SRQ has been good. They trialled it on Saw last year (after a push to trial it from a Rides Team Leader), and expanded it to a couple of flat rides. They've said they intend to put it on Stealth too. But that was many months ago, and the official line has just been 'it's coming soon'. How long does it take to set up? I genuinely cannot understand why it is taking so long, especially since Stealth was designed to have a Single Rider Queue, which still exists. If they hadn't have said anything until it was confirmed and all but in place, it wouldn't have caused any issues. Even if they said "We're looking at putting it on more rides if possible - watch this space", that would be fine. But by announcing it, with no clear idea of when it could happen, it's created this situation which frankly could have been avoided. Hopefully they've learnt from that, and choose to be more selective with what they talk about. And they get SRQ up and running. I don't see Stealth's life as limited. Hydraulic launches are fine. Yes, Top Thrill Dragster had issues, and that's why they've changed that. Hydraulic launches are still not the most reliable and parks do still have issues with them. And yes, hydraulic launches are old hat now, with LSMs the launch of choice now (and rightfully so). But at the same time, Thorpe have got Stealth down to a tee. Yes, it's had a bit of downtime recently (a few days I believe). But aside from that, it's been reliable, rarely has a rollback, and is incredibly popular still. Okay, it's not going to be the tallest ride on park. But that's not big issue, when the tallest ride is only a bit taller and faster, and on the other side of the park. It still has a huge selling point and draw. People still lap it up. Thorpe aren't short on space, so don't have a need to remove it yet. And frankly put, there's other coasters which would be higher up on the list to be removed in my opinion. Doing a Top Thrill feels a bit unnecessary at the moment. It would have to be turned into a swing launch in all likelihood, which would require a significant rejig of the station. The whole process would be incredibly costly at a point when, again, that money could be better spent elsewhere. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Yeah its good to see them well prepared. Meanwhile Chessington can't even open all of their rides on a weekday 😆

Maybe you should have spelled it out clearer, like Parm Pap

So today Chessington has the following closed all day; - Mandrill Mayhem - Rattlesnake - Tiger Rock - Zufari - Tomb Blaster - Tiny Truckers - Seastorm - Monkey Swinger - Scorpion Express Dragons Fury has operated for 1 hour so far today and is currently closed. What an absolute shambles. I swear this is getting worse every year. I feel like Thorpe and Towers have both turned a corner and are making the right decisions and investments. The same can't be said for Chessington unfortunately... The park also re validated tickets yesterday due to ride availability.

Where's the stupid post guy when you need him? Nowhere to be seen? I'll fill in... Ding dong, the Express is dead Which Express? The Rocky Express.