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Had some iconic rides on it over those early enthusiast years. Particularly over Fright Nights. How long will this grave be left before actual development happens I wonder?

Well put Cal - I agree. Really, since they were never going to invest in it again, it was time for Rumba to go, and I don't think anyone's going to be surprised by that. It would have been good to have had the opportunity to ride it one last time, but I expect the ever-changing situation at Merlin has meant the decision to close was made after the park closed last season. As much as it's a shame to see it go, it's not like we have lost one of the greats, like Loggers Leap. I think really the biggest shame is that Thorpe's reputation for water rides has dwindled so much. Here's to whatever comes next - hopefully the area won't be left to rot for long.

nothing is coming.

A big shame they didn't finish it this year. Strange decision, the rest of it looks so good! Not sure its been mentioned but Passholder day has been announced for next Sunday 22nd. Hours are 11am-5pm which is a shame as we got 11am-7pm last year. No night rides on passholder day this year.

Shame its closing 1 year before its big 40, and we didn't get a last chance to ride (it definitely said returning 2026 on the queue boards) but budgets have clearly changed and forced it to close. I'm not surprised and do think its the right decision. Its by far the worst rapids in the UK and it's a shadow of its former self. The more recent changes it went through took all the fun it had left out of it, removing the fun soundtrack and changing to dull colours. Last year, it was hardly open anyway so it just isn't worth the resource getting it open anymore. Whats the point in getting it through winter maintenance and ages staff training for the sake of a couple of months. Then when it is open, you have the huge running costs + heavily staffed. I'd rather have the rapids closed than cuts elsewhere on park. My favorite memory hands down is when they added that huge fire hose type water effect near the start of the ride. That didn't last long 🤣 Rumba was always good fun in my early years of visiting Thorpe so sad to see another Thorpe classic close. RIP Rumba ❤️

Bitter sweet…. it was a ride that you could relax on between rides but also a large ideal area to build a new ride on. If the park was full with no space at all to build then I could fully get behind it. However with multiple sites still unused then I don’t really see the full benefits of doing this. We’ve had 2 years of no SNBO rides and now we have another. That area will feel quiet but at least it wasn’t a major ride and it is out of the way slightly. This comment on Jacks instagram post is confusing to me I believe it means that they don’t actually have any immediate plans to replace it and they have no idea as of yet. The amount of space this leaves could mean a decent replacement will eventually come. I’d like to see a dark ride but can imagine some sort of coaster between there and the island next to swarm

Post from jack silkstone and the park has just gone up on instagram, Rumba rapids is no more 😮 https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVyeQ5yiHaw/?igsh=YXAyZ3FlN3Z5bzFt

I think the loop and a couple of other places weren't done. Weird isn't it.

Did they ever finish the Colossus repaint?

I know its not exactly a big priority for the Merlin parks but I will never understand how even Six Flags in its bankruptcy era was able to repaint their coasters and yet inferno still looks god awful and they can't even finish a Colossus repaint. Baron 1898 just got a massive refurbishment and repaint and that's half the age of Inferno. I find it incredibly frustrating that they don't mind if their parks look like a dump.

I did say.

the the piano, the the piano, the the piano, the the piano, p I a n o, guitar, the the guitar, neel neel guitar, guitar guitar, GUITAR, G U I T A R huuur huuur huuur tthhhe electronic bitttt, uuuur huuuur h huuurrrrr h u u u rrrrr r sha la la la la la la

This is fantastic news. Despite the financial issues at Merlin, it's encouraging to see that there is still a lot of development happening across the UK parks. The River Splash location is a great place for a major ride. Good to see such a large SBNO ride being removed and replaced.

Various videos online appear to show that several rides are now being tested ready for opening. Not long to go now. Nemesis Inferno has had some new parts on the seats by the look of it, and bizarrely Detonator has been painted (I didn't think it really needed it to be fair, but it's encouraging to see this sort of thing happening). Tidal Wave's support structure has also been painted and is looking nice and clean now. Disappointingly, the Colossus re-paint appears to have not been completed however. There also doesn't appear to have been much progress on the new launch pad area, which will be a shame if the entry way is a construction site when the season starts, however it's difficult to get a view of that area to see if anything's happening, and the work will be quite out of view from outside of the boundaries. It will be interesting to see what else (if anything) has changed around the park. I know this will be a 'nothing' year overall, but often Thorpe tend to do a lot of 'general' stuff around the park to keep it looking good.

I've seen some pictures on social media of fencing surrounding Rumba, and a digger parked on the path by the wave machine. If they have gone to the effort of putting up a substantial fence, this must mean that RR has been made inaccessible for either a decent refurb during the season, or it's being blocked off for good. My money is on Rumba's site being the preferred location for the next major ride. I wonder if we are seeing the very early stages of prep for it to be decommissioned, to make way for something else. And if that is the case, I would bet they'd want to open it before Universal, so I would bet probably 2029 or 2030. Could we see land clearance happening towards the end of the year I wonder? Either way - they certainly wouldn't be putting that fence up around a ride that they're expecting to re-open soon...

no no no no-thing, whoooooooooo, no no no no-thing, gling, glong, no no no no-thing, gliidde, woof-woof-woof-woof-woof piano chords, visitor beware, you're in for a scare

Cost-wise, they're probably pretty similar these days. And with the regular buying Merlin has done from B&M it wouldn't surprise me if they could do some level of haggling in price. I'd agree that the Vekoma equivalent would be better in almost every way too.

Some of the areas need refurbishment. Though Miniland has looked tired for over a decade. There was also mention of a second major attraction added round back of Minifigure Speedway to replace Skyrider. Though whilst Temu Cosmic Spin looks fun coaster wise the interactive element looks really poor. Hope they don't waste money on a B&M junior invert when they might as well get a Vekoma STC/SFC instead.

A recent Passholder behind the scenes event confirmed that a new coaster will replace Viking River Splash, which has been closed since 2023(!), and a recent application was put in for its removal. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02vYtw4A5HP6n5Bi5wNPT2776TsJx5SDUVr4kPWk2dmVT54ZXu46EjNwitqToXZdWWl&id=61567089908870 It's also said this will extend a nearby land, of which Ninjago would probably make the most sense (and it is a popular Lego IP). Legoland Japan are getting a Ninjago-themed Mack Spinner next year, so don't discount that as an option. Legolands California and Florida recent got indoor coasters from ART Engineering, space-themed, and I think the idea would be great for Windsor. The Chinese Legolands have been getting B&M Junior Inverts too, so a farfetched possibility. Could also be something completely different, especially given the challenging landscape of that area. Also worth noting that all areas will be refurbed in the next 5 years.

Great to see many things happening at the park. The Blitz Bahn thing seems more like an upgrade rather than a complete replacement, but I might be misunderstanding that. Toverland are in such a weird place. 10 years ago, with the plans for the new entrance / Port Laguna and Avalon coming together, it felt like the park was going to rise rapidly. Unfortunately they didn't quite bring in the numbers wanted, and then Covid hit, and it's led to the park stagnating a bit. Not that they're in a bad place, they've added new rides and they've enhanced things like their Halloween event, but it's certainly taken them longer to get to this point than I expect they'll have initially wanted. A dark ride has been a much-needed addition to their line up, and I'm excited to see what they conjure up.

3 years later.... Resort area planned for 2027. Will go on some older car park area and where the high ropes course stood. LooopingsToverland wil vakantiepark Ithaka Resort openen in juni 2...Toverland zet vol in op een viersterrenresort met internationale allure. Achter de schermen worden de laatste voorbereidingen getroffen voor de bouw... But that's not all. Blitz Bahn is getting spited at some point for something potentially later this year. LooopingsDetails over vervanger van Maximus' Blitz Bahn in Toverla...We zijn weer iets wijzer geworden over de attractie die Maximus' Blitz Bahn in Toverland gaat vervangen. Het Limburgse themapark neemt binnenkort... And thennnnnnnn the park want to expand the Port Laguna entrance area with a big dark ride and other things. LooopingsNieuwe tekeningen tonen uitbreiding Port Laguna in Toverl...Er zijn nieuwe ontwerpen opgedoken van de uitbreiding van Port Laguna in Toverland. In een openbaar document van de provincie Limburg, over een... Exciting future for the park really.

pom pom pom, and then the bom bom bom, and then the pom ba bom

This is the wrong topic but Chessington in particular should be at near all year round operation now. They had Mandrill open through December (it was running on xmas eve) and Fury and Rattlesnake being open in February is a real first. I'm amazed Fury hasn't vallied.

I wish there was news, something big this way comes, the best is a show, unless budgets do come don't stop, flute, flute, flute flute flute

Yeah yeah it's only February, but whatever. 2026 will be marketed, in some way, as 25 Years of Fright Nights. Thorpe have done a few things for 'big' / 'notable' anniversaries for FN: -10 years, 2011: Experiment 10 -15 years, 2016: Platform 15, roaming actors inspired by old mazes -20 years, 2021: Trailers, Legacy, Birthday Bash -21 years, 2022: Legacy, Birthday Bash So what will 25 years bring us? The end of Fright Nights 2025 did nod to 25 Years of Fear with a short video: https://www.facebook.com/reel/843542461548792 Lucifer, the headline character for 2025, is speaking with 'someone / something' and telling them to "give them hell", whilst handing over a "top secret" document about Fright Nights. That at the very least suggests there will be some new headline character / Disciple of Fear for the 2026 addition (which is something the park have done for a few years now). Personally, I think it would be a mistake to take the focus away from Lucifer. That was a near-perfect headline character for the event: clear Halloween association, simple and effective and a character guests could actually meet. Keep that character there yearly and continue to have it as a focal point / marketing piece, and it will go from strength to strength. The only thing I'd look at changing is developing the character away from "Lucifer" to an original demon, which the park could trademark, etc. But heyho, the park will have already had thoughts about 2026 and it seems like they're going in a different direction. Another interesting thing to note is that 2026 will be the first year that Thorpe's Entertainments team / actors have been outsourced (in a similar way to the rest of the UK Merlin parks). So it will be interesting what effect that has on the event. As for what I'd like to see in terms of a line up... I have two parallel pieces of thinking. What I think will happen and what I want to happen. What I think will happen is that we'll see an existing maze replaced. I think 4 upcharge mazes is a natural peak for how busy the park is and what people will realistically pay. I don't know what one. Survival Games I think could be the one on the chopping block, despite its changes last year. The large space it occupies gives Thorpe a lot of room to work with. I'm a bit split on whether they'll use The Launchpad as a Fright Nights space. Before the announcement I thought it'd be nailed on that they'd move Lucifer's Lair, on some upgrade of it, there. But with the announcement that it'll be treated primarily as a rest spot, they might keep it like that and have it as a Fright Nights free zone. If they do put a scare zone / show there, they need to go all out with it, as it won't have as much natural footfall as the other locations. As for what I want to happen. Thorpe, as I've said before on here, are very safe with their current mazes. They've got a variety of themes, some of which are quite different, but the style of the mazes is the same - pre show, walk around highly themed sets in a linear fashion and get jump scares. There's many other ways in which a scare maze can be created. In fact, Thorpe used to be one of the most pioneering for doing things differently, but that did sometimes come at the cost of quality. They've got a strong enough core and reputation of quality that they can afford to take a risk and do something different. My big want is an alone experience - doesn't have to be Face it Alone extreme. But looking at what Walibi Holland offer with their alone experiences, something like that fits perfectly for Thorpe. I doubt that'll ever happen though. So something different to the 'free flow linear jump scare route'. Anything. It will take some work and some tweaking. But do it right, and it'll be the best thing they can do for the event.