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Just go all out and bring a fury 325 regen 😂

It’s less likely now however I still feel like there is room at Thorpe for an out and back b&m hyper at Thorpe.

A recent TPG update shows that the Colossus is continuing at the moment. https://themeparkguide.co.uk/news-page/Behind-the-Scenes-at-Thorpe-Park-A-Sneak-Peek-into-2025-Season-Preparations

As long as we get a complete layout for the next coaster.

I'd personally imagine we'll see a larger rollercoaster come for 2029 in some shape or form. I'm sure things will come in between however I'm thinking it'll be flats, a water ride or even a middle ground rollercoaster. It is possible it could come in for 2028 straight after Minecraft and Project Horizon. If it does happen in 2028, I think something else will come in for 2029.

Out of interest for the next major investment. What would people’s top 3 be?

This weekend I returned to Phantasialand, almost 6 years after my last visit and 8 since my last Winteraum. So a return was probably largely overdue. First things to say are just how stunning the park looks, not only in winter but overall. The glow ups to Africa, Mexico and Berlin look great. The Winteraum event was just as spectacular as I remembered, from its stunning night time and stage shows to beautiful winter decorations throughout the park. The (new for me) Rookburgh area looks spectacular and arguably amongst the best park areas ever created. Whilst FLY isn’t my top coaster, it’s still a spectacular ride and feels more of an experience than a coaster. The perhaps extreme security measures are the only thing I can really fault. As for the rest of the park, Taron was just as great as I remembered (if not a little better), Chiapas delightful and still enjoyed Black Mamba, Colorado, Winjas, Maus and Mystery Castle. Now the negatives, as great as the park is, I cannot help but feel just how busy and overcrowded it becomes, especially around the shows in the evenings. The park is clearly attempting crowd control measures, but it felt rammed to the rafters at times. Crazy Bats & Geister Riksha feel like the weak links in the park currently, with Geister featuring many broken effects, poorly synched audio and a general sense of fatigue, as if the park are waiting to rip it out. For the second time running, my VR broke on Crazy Bats, as the monitor crashed and rebooted at the start of my ride. The park just needs redevelop that whole area of the now because it really sticks out, especially with the abandoned Hollywood ride sealed off. It would be the perfect site for a large scale modern dark ride and more. Stayed in Matamba this time, had a park view (could see some of Mamba) and a tasty breakfast and dinner meal. Only setback was the service at dinner left something to be desired. Overall, it’s easily amongst the best festive events at any European park and feels magical in numerous ways. The vast amount of crowds and demand are the only thing I can fault here. I won’t be leaving it another six years for Winteraum, let alone the park!

Mornington Crescent. I win.

Agree, personally think they will target their 50th anniversary, which is 2029?!?? Would make sense as the next major attraction for the park. What that is… or where it goes who knows. I think your point in relation to the anticipation or reaction to universal is really valid. Hard to know what timescales universal assuming it goes ahead would work to, but can’t see it being prior to 2030 as it’s a whole resort from scratch. It would then also work for Thorpe to go for a major attraction in 2029 prior to universal, then aim to target circa 2032/33 once the universal buzz starts to calm down. in addition to this, Thorpe Chessington and Legoland all stand to profit from Universal, as it draws people in to visit from afar. Hence why I think all 3 will invest in more accommodation as part of this. Just my take on it

It's hard to gauge. In terms of major investments (ie big coasters), the best we can do right now is look at Hyperia's timeline, as that is most reflective for how the planning timelines will work in current-day Thorpe. The public consultation started in December 2021, so a 2024 opening (I believe the original hope was for it to open at start of 2024 too). So, using that: 2029 opening -> December 2026 consultation 2028 opening -> December 2025 consultation Given Hyperia's larger size, if a new coaster is a similar scale to the park's other coasters, it could even be a later. We've got no sense of idea as to when the park will next invest in a major ride. Or anything really. Looking at Chessington, they got World of Jumanji in 2023, and Minecraft Land seems to be coming for 2027. Towers got Nemesis Reborn for 2024 and Project Horizon is rumoured to now be happening for 2027. Thorpe, it's very quiet. The European Merlin Theme Parks it's even longer gaps. Given the changes at the top of Merlin in the last couple of years, it's hard to know exactly where the resort theme parks stand, and what sort of budget is going to them, or how often major rides are coming their ways. In terms of a smaller investment (ie a new flat ride), planning could be submitted just a few months prior. If we were to see a new flat ride for 2026, for example, we could see plans online any time from this summer onwards. I think there will be a level of caution too. Universal is still not confirmed. Certainly feels possible, but by no means certain. If Merlin want to pre-emptively "respond" to Universal and improve their parks, you're right that they will want to "get in there" prior to Universal in terms of constructors, manufacturers, etc. But if the only reason they want to improve and expand and build new rides is to stop people going to Universal, they'll only green light those investments when Universal is confirmed to be happening. Otherwise, if it's just the status quo, and people are still visiting, why would they need to invest and improve? I should add, I don't think that Merlin will necessarily knee-jerk with loads of new investments if/when Universal happens. There will be a natural step-up in their game following a major new competitor coming, but I don't think they'll start majorly changing how they've done because of Universal. I think there's a level of coincidence in, for example, Chessington's recent investments and Universal potentially happening.

It’s like that time I googled how American football works. All the words are there, but I just can’t understand what it all means.

There’s no reason this couldn’t be the start of the next big thing in the works. I’m sure there’s a fair amount of forward planning going on with Universal making their appearance. I wonder if logistically they need to get the ball rolling and get things planned in and on the calendar with the manufacturers and those who actually build these things? I would imagine they need to “book their slots” before Universal “book theirs” - because they will hoover up quite a lot of the manufacturer and construction people’s time for a few years I guess. Merlin won’t want to be forced to wait until universal is built before they can build something! Just guesswork, but I can’t imagine there are many companies out there who do this sort of stuff… and they’re going to be fully booked for a few years

Whoever Parm Pap actually is, I gotta give it to them, they sure know how to press TPM's buttons. The revival of the TPM Ride Game but with even fluffier, more nonsensical rules? Well played. Unfortunately the rules are so nonsensical I don't know how to play.

Ding dong, ding dong, a new game has been waited for too long In each ride, there has to be an entrance otherwise they cannot run it. But if you assign too many entrances to a single ride, the ride will not work anymore. So make sure you assign the entrances correctly, as so Hyperia ST 2 (main entrance and golden goddess entrance) Stealth ST 1 (it is a wheel only) Saw ST 0 (if you go in you will be got so it can't be an entrance) Once all rides have been added, the game will be over if the number of entrances equals the number of dings coming to dong in the next few years. The rules are nobody can post an entrance before the ride has been added, otherwise they will know. And if two goes are made in quick succession, the game must be halted by a [BLOCK SECTION]. If too many [BLOCK SECTION] s are put up at once the ride will not move and the entrance will not work. I hope everyone has fun, this is a very clever game and the answer will tell you the new ride ding donging into the park in the future of the island like no swarm

Spiiiiiin, click click click click spiiiiiin, click click click click spiiiiiin, click click click click spiiiiiin, click click click click Last year the golden goddess ding dong danged down to the water and found her wings One day, might she navigate to her happy ride?

If they are to decrease the gaps in investment, planning permission for a new ride surely has to be put in this year?

I'm looking forward to the Family Gerstlauer the most.

My understanding is from last year during Hyperia build a significant amount of material was placed on this island. I thought back then that it was probably a sign that it would be for future development. Still think this is probably 2030 ish tbh 🤔

Ding dong no The sky is dark, the coast is rocky, the island mountainous. Construction is far away. Wait bugger wrong account

I'm thinking that the island behind Swarm along with Treasure Island are prime development spots for the future. If combined with Rumba Rapids, it could be massive 🤩

Does this confirm an RMC or should I wait for the great nonsense talker to emerge with some obscure clue and babble.

In theory yes. Looking at that image I've posted (which is a couple of years old now), it does look like there's effectively a road which leads to the main island behind Swarm. This would also make sense since supports of Hyperia were stored on that island during construction. So it could potentially be something as simple as work on the road following that, ensuring it is in a safe to use condition. But it could be for something, anything, else.

So in theory this could possibly indicate some ground testing occuring in the area for a new coaster or flat ride behind swarm island and on the surrounding area??

Where is the old Treasure Island plot in comparision to the rest of the park? It's probably just for regular maintainence or something similar but I'm now curious to where Thorpe's new potential investment could be. (the closed season dellusion has 100% hit me, its defo just like some dull work not a new coaster)