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So I’ve just been having a look around at prices etc for trips this year, and have noticed something about the prices Merlin are charging for their “short breaks”. It looks like the prices aren’t quite as ridiculous for some dates this year, but I think they’re still too much. Having done my usual bits of spot checking etc, I’ve just done a quick comparison test on a super off peak 1 night / 2 day stay on the cheapest dates I can find, and for 2 adults and 1 toddler to stay at ATH on 22 March it’s £368. That’s very good for Alton Towers, but considering that’s the super off peak price I still think it’s a lot for what it is. By comparison with the notoriously expensive Disney, if you go end of Jan next year it’s £419 at Santa Fe, although to be fair AT aren’t booking that far in advance, so for fairness sake if you go start of Feb this year it’s £477 to stay at Santa Fe. Bearing in mind this is entry to 2 parks until well in to the evening too, and the prices per night improve if you stay longer. I have always struggled to understand why Alton Towers hotels are so expensive even in super off peak, and have yet to stay in one during the open season. Does anyone know what the occupancy rates are at AT? It would be interesting to know if they regularly sell out, or if their prices are kept high despite low occupancy.

Something that I often find weird is how much the height restrictions can differ between similar rides at different parks. For example, to ride Marauders Mayhem or Dobble Teaparty you have to be 1.1M tall, but Mad Hatter’s tea party at DLP, essentially the same ride, can literally be ridden by a newborn baby as there are no restrictions. That same newborn baby could also ride Pirates of the Caribbean with its drops and spooky scenes, but would have to wait until they’re 0.9M to ride Curse at Alton Manor. Similarly Runaway Mine Train at Alton Towers has a min height of 1.3 meters, but the likes of the far more intense Wickerman and Big Thunder Mountain is only 1.2. Although Wicker does have individual restraints rather than the single bar between 2 people on runaway and BTM Tower of Terror can surprisingly be ridden by someone just 102CM tall. So most 4 year old children can ride that before they’re allowed on the teacups at AT & TP. Is anyone else aware of any bizarre height restrictions, or any of the reasoning behind some of them? For the record I’m not arguing against any of these restrictions, clearly there’s a reason for them, I just find it an odd and interesting quirk.

I was hoping that with the theme being a literal cinema, the park had a plan to change the 4D film regularly. It'd be a simple win to change the film shown yearly (albeit maybe a bit of a faff). Who knows what the contracts are like for these things. I know Merlin in the past liked to go for 3 year rolling contracts with IPs. Whether that's still the case - and the case with a 4D show - I have no clue. I agree that it would be nice to see something new in there for 2026 though.

I took a wander down Monks Walk on Monday and I didn't take any photos/videos, simply because there was nothing to take photos of. I think in some ways we've been spoilt over recent years, with lots of works visible from Monks Walk (from Hyperia, to Fright Nights, etc) as well as many in-park updates. But it hasn't always been like that - rewind 10+ years ago and Monks Walk never really showed anything particularly interesting beyond the odd glimpse, despite many things happening. Okay, we still got the odd in-park update too, but right now the level of updates is going back closer to a reset of what was once the norm. I do also think compared to many other seasonal parks, Thorpe gets a heck of a lot of eyes put on it out of closed season, with many updates shared and visible. Thorpe have, in some ways, been the exception to the rule in that case. That's not to say the lack of any visible updates isn't disheartening though. Finishing off Colossus' repaint would be amazing. Inferno and Swarm would benefit from TLC. Rumba Rapids is dying. The fact there's been no visible work there is a shame, and indicates we're unlikely to see much there. The Beach area cannot really be seen from outside the park, so we're none-the-wiser about anything happening there. The 'New for ___' is a double-edged sword. New stuff each year can be beneficial, but Thorpe in particular are seeing the dangers of adding in new hardware/rides yearly as now they have several 'old' rides which are going to require more work all close together. New events can be okay, but gimmicky and don't really draw people in. If you look at some of the better-received parks, the likes of Phantasialand and Efteling, they don't add in many new things. Since 2015... Phantasialand have added in 3 new coaster, rethemed a coaster and a 4D show and added in a couple of walkthroughs / play areas. Efteling have added in 2 new coasters (I guess technically 3 as one is a duelling coaster), 2 new dark rides and rethemed a couple of things. In that same time, Thorpe have added in 1 new coaster, 1 new dark ride, rethemed some things and done a couple of walkthroughs. The level of investments isn't as big a difference in the overall park experience and quality. And that's the bigger issue - Thorpe haven't consistently been able to upkeep their attractions (or revitalise them) the same as other parks that invest at a similar frequency. I think the other issue - which is Merlin-wide - is Thorpe does rely extremely heavily on returning visitors, as opposed to new visitors. Whether that's them, over a 10-20 year period, having exhausted the market and not been able to expand it or a purposeful strategy to not try and reach more people, or another reason entirely, is unclear. But it is certainly the bigger issue that the park face. They've had a huge new coaster for 1 and a half seasons - that's still a big deal, and not really something that should be viewed as stagnation. But when the park aren't pushing it and rely too heavily on repeat visits, then it will feel like that. You say that, but then they've recently announced Legoland Germany are getting a Lego Harry Potter Land, which will be Merlin's single biggest investment into any theme park. Legolands California and Florida are getting substantial new coasters next year. Chessington are getting Minecraft World soon, and Towers' big new coaster seems to still be going ahead. Gardaland invested 12 million Euros into retheming their indoor boat ride this (where that 12m went I don't fully know, but that's what they did). They're financial issues have been documented in the press, and their selling / closing down of midway attractions, outsourcing and structural changes are further signs of that I expect. But they are still making investments, and notable ones at that, in many places. But it feels like Thorpe is being brushed aside a bit right now (along with Heide Park...if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought Merlin forgot they still own it).

Merlin are clearly a bit hamstrung financially at the moment. But I certainly don't miss the adding something new for the sake of it period. That's how you end up with crap like I'm A Celeb or Black Mirror.

Although I’ve been excited for this since the rumours started all those months ago, I think it’s only just hitting me now that we are actually getting a Universal park here at home… I cannot wait to see it all take shape. It’s an interesting time for the UK theme park industry isn’t it - what terrible timing for Merlin to be on the ropes.

I agree it is a huge shame that there is quite literally nothing going on. Although to be fair over the last decade there has been a lot of rubbish advertised as “new” - the various year-round mazes and some of the events for example. The absence of those sort of things isn’t that bad in my opinion, and realistically something new isn’t needed every year. Not many parks do that do they. In recent years they have also made a lot of improvements to the areas other than the rides - the toilets to name one example. Thorpe is probably one of the (if not THE) best Merlin park in terms of general upkeep. I agree though that it is a shame there doesn’t appear to be anything at all happening again. It’s been a few years now since they’ve been able to boast anything notably new. I wonder if Colossus will finally be finished in the next couple of months at least? Despite all the cuts to spending at Merlin I’d at least expect that to be done before opening, as well as Zodoac getting sorted. I wonder if the beach project will ever happen now? I can’t help but think the money would be better put towards a larger project.

Just saw a monks walk update on TikTok and I know you can’t see everything from there but I find it frustrating that we are already back in the 2018-2022 period in terms of new things and investment. There is just nothing going on when a lot could be going on. No Colossus repaint, no flat ride for the old slammer site, no replacement for ghost train, No amity beach update. I miss when Merlin pretty much advertised ‘new for 20xx’ every year, no matter how minor. I appreciate that their thinking is that Hyperia is a big draw but it is pretty stagnant park now for returning visitors. Arguably it is in the worst period in terms of investment and new things. 2019 onwards you had multiple new events each year, so you could look forward to each part of the season. In comparison to 2022/23 when they had the Facebook group, now they litterally have nothing to say and if it was still running you’d get quite depressing and boring responses. What is next for Thorpe Park?

Does anyone feel like Ready Player One has overstayed its welcome at the cinema?

I mean if we’re going by the original iteration, then yes. It has been passed and gone.

Some would say it's the past of theme parks.

It was the future of theme parks 10 years ago. So that means it is actually now the present of theme parks.

Sonic Spinball had to be rethemed for similar reasons, the allegations that Knuckles filed meant they had to quickly drop the brand in closed season so it's definitely possible they could reopen as just David Land and drop the Walliams.

The talk of Ghost Train baffles me, as it's the future of theme parks.

Closed season bingo!

Get a TopSpin whilst we're at it plz. Obviously the space is a prime location for a flat ride. Thinking bigger, they could get rid of the tented food place next to it (whose name I cannot be bothered to recall) and fit in a compact, but still worthwhile, coaster. The unrealistic but awesome dream would be the fact that removing The Walking Dead, Ghost Train and the tented food place opens up a huge space for a brand new land which could have an indoor attraction, roller coaster and flat ride. Effectively it serves as like for like replacements (replacing a coaster and indoor ride with a coaster, indoor ride and a flat), but a blank slate would be best for that area. It would never happen, but in la la land, it's what I'd love to see.

I think one wild swing would only physically fit lmao

2 Nebulas and an ART wild swing please. It should be government mandated that every park has these rides.

not yet, this is literally the only time I’m begging for jack silkstone to give us an update about the project

I’m wondering if maybe they’ll hold out for X to finally be removed. Its plot combined with Slammer’s one is quite large. It becomes even larger if they also decided to remove the tent restaurant area, and becomes massive if they also demolish the Ghost Train building. That would leave a huge space right in the middle of the park for something big.

They'll just remove any mention of him, the rides will probably remain for a short while.

If Annual Passes still exist then you can bet all the RAP will be gone.

The area is crap anyway so destroying it is probably the best bet. Towers is depressing at best of times but that section is just dead.

like literally you can just put anything there, either a new ride, a new restaurant, longer queue for dead beat, or just picnic benches (I propose moving bpb's skyforce to here, perfect neighbor for hyperia)

I said a couple of years ago that Merlin slowly turning to people as IPs could come back to bite them. Walliams, Derren Brown, that YouTuber Daz, etc. All it takes is one unsavoury claim against them and it puts Merlin in a hugely difficult (and totally preventable) situation. I'm not saying that any of those people are problematic (okay, Walliams definitely seemed dodgy, but the other two definitely not), but it was always a risk. Obviously there's still nothing confirmed in terms of Walliams. If Towers kept Walliams World during his previous controversies, I don't see why they would get rid now. The bigger issue is, if something came out confirmed tomorrow, what would they do? They wouldn't realistically have the time or associated funds to retheme it for season start, so it'd surely be just closing the area. Or very very hastily removing all Walliams references and just keeping Gangsta Granny closed in a best case scenario.