All Activity

I attended the opening day of Valgard yesterday, so let me take a stab at a longer review. Let me start with the area and wider theming... The Area/Theming Overall, I think they've done a lovely job with the area! The theming is all absolutely lovely, and they've finished it off very well! In terms of a few specific points of interest: There are some very nice details around! One of my particular favourites was the sheep "powering" the lift hill for Drakon, but I thought that there was loads to look at! As someone who wrote a post a few days ago remarking that Paultons' theming lacked theatre and pizzazz, I do have to concede that Drakon is somewhat of an improvement in this regard; I was particularly surprised by the pre-lift section, which is very nicely done! People (myself included) griped for years about Cobra being unthemed and lacking atmosphere, and it looks a damn sight better now; they've done an absolutely brilliant job with Raven! Even just having the themed queue and station and little bits like the clock towers in the middle and the area around it has enhanced the overall atmosphere no end! The Feasting Hall is an absolutely excellent indoor space, with some lovely details and a beautiful interior finish. I particularly liked the big fireplace and the big viking ship! I didn't really notice The Edge not being cohesively themed in; as much as including it would have been nice, it's tucked away somewhat and I don't think it sticks out like too much of a sore thumb. One minor gripe I would raise is that I think Drakon could maybe have used some theming that interacted slightly more with the ride and/or was slightly more visible to riders. When queueing, you can see some nice details in the ride area, including a shipwreck that lights up with some fake fire and some spikes, but I don't think these are terribly noticeable when on the ride; after the initial interaction with Raven, it does feel a tad like you're riding over some generic nice landscaping. I think more visible theming interactions from on-ride in the vein of Storm Chaser and Pterosaur in the same park or Raven in the same area, or Merlin coasters like Nemesis, Swarm and Wicker Man, might have been nice. All in all, though, I think it's a lovely area and continues Paultons' streak of very nicely detailed and finished off areas. The park are certainly onto another winner alongside Lost Kingdom and Tornado Springs, and compared to an area like Drayton Manor's 2022 attempt at Vikings, I think it's absolutely night and day! Let me now move onto the main event... Drakon I was highly critical of Paultons building a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter and have made no secret of the fact that it was far from my first choice of coaster for the park. Having ridden it, I do maintain that it maybe wouldn't have been my first choice and it has not converted me to Euro-Fighters as a ride type in a drastic way, but I acknowledge that it is a good coaster and I think it will go down well with the audience, and that I was perhaps overly harsh at points in the build-up period. To raise a few specific points of interest: The stall does offer some very good hangtime. I'm quite surprised that Paultons went for such a dramatic inversion on their first ever inverting coaster, but I'm a fan of it and think it works well (or would if it weren't for the restraints... more on that later). I always like the drop on these Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters, and this one is no exception; it offers some nice airtime! The ride is definitely much smoother than I'd feared it might be; the tracking was generally very smooth throughout on my rides with minimal rattle or headbanging, although there were still odd sections where my head made mild, brief contact with the restraints. The ride is perhaps the least intense of the Euro-Fighters I've ridden, and I wouldn't call it an especially forceful or impactful coaster on the whole even if I think the layout is mostly good fun. For the park, I think this works well, but I thought it was worth pointing out. The first hill going over Raven doesn't really offer any notable airtime, which I was a little disappointed by. I understand that it probably had to be a certain height to clear Raven, but Gerstlauer, for all their flaws, are often quite good at injecting surprise airtime pops into their thrill coasters and a small part of me was hoping that it would be another surprise airtime burst from Gerst! The ride also doesn't really have any airtime more widely aside from the drop, so doesn't continue Gerstlauer's tradition of incorporating good surprising airtime moments. I wasn't necessarily surprised by this given the layout, but I do think this is something that Saw, Speed and Smiler do better. The main flaw I would raise, and a criticism that I 100% stand by from when the ride was initially announced, is that I think the OTSRs impede the ride and I would have preferred it with lap bars. On my 3 rides, I found that the OTSRs crushed my thighs and made the stall in particular somewhat uncomfortable. I begrudgingly accept the reasoning for OTSRs, but don't necessarily agree with the logic and think that some nice lap bars, as I know Gerstlauer offer, would definitely have made the ride more fun. All in all, then, I think Drakon, while not my first choice, is a fun coaster that will suit the park well. It's a very welcome step up in thrill from Paultons Park, and I think the younger guests will like it! In terms of comparisons, it's currently my highest-ranking Gerstlauer thrill coaster for the reason that it's more comfortable to ride than the others, although as I said, it didn't convert me to Euro-Fighters in a drastic way and I've settled on a 6/10 and #49/148 overall. I still personally rank Pterosaur, Storm Chaser and Raven slightly higher within the park. Finally, I'll briefly touch on Vild Swing... Vild Swing I'd never ridden one of these ART wild swings before, so I was interested to get on one for the first time. All in all, I'd say it was OK, but nothing to write home about as someone who's not a big fan of flat rides. The swinging is quite good fun, and early on, none of the sensations feel overly intense, but I would say that the cycle was maybe a bit long for me and I was starting to wear of the repetitive rotating motion by the end. If you’re keener on flats than I am, though, I think you’ll like it! So all in all, then, I’d say Valgard is a great addition to Paultons Park! The theming is delightful, Drakon is overall a fun coaster that will suit the audience well, and if you’re more of a fan of flat rides than I am, then I think you’ll enjoy Vild Swing! I also think Serpent’s Curse looks like it will be a fun addition for next year! To close out the review, here are a few photos I took throughout the day:

I think it’s quite clever… the vast majority of it is removable, to make a big events space. Those benches, the trailer screen, even the fencing in front of it. Keep it bland, and it could be quite a versatile space.

Not sure about riding in the rain though, on some rides that can sting.

Ah, nice! If you're going midweek, expect very low crowds, particularly if it's raining; I went on a rainy midweek day in 2025 and managed 51 rides!

Launch pad looks good, the finish is actually very decent for once! Is this the style Thorpe needed to go for? Maybe not….. should have been more theme parky Genuine question, if amity (KFC area) was damaged beyond repair and the area needed refurbing then what would they do with it? If they did the same thing as this, the park would suddenly get very boring and loose any theme. So yes this is nice looking but is it acceptable for a theme park? I just wish, once again we knew what direction the park was going in eg. Rides, theming ect.

Another good report Matt, well done. I will be attending Paultons Park shortly with some other nuts, and am looking forward to it. It will be interesting to compare, but luckily for us, our visit will be midweek.

16th May 2026: Paultons Park After a quiet day at Thorpe Park on Tuesday, I had a day today that I was sensing would be busier; I attended the opening day of Valgard at Paultons Park! I was excited to see the area and ride Drakon for the first time, and also see an opening day for my first time! We (me, my mum and my dad) left our home at a little before 7:30 this morning, and after a drive where we saw a bizarrely high number of Citroen 2CVs (it seemed like an oddly specific classic car to see a number of on the road) and a services stop, we arrived at Paultons Park at just after 9:30, with it looking as though we narrowly missed some sort of opening ceremony based on the coloured smoke I could see as we pulled into the car park: Before I get into the meat of the day, I should say that I don’t think I’ve ever been to a park day where I’ve seen so many handheld GoPros in one place… it really was like playing spot the celebrity! I saw all kinds of vloggers and have inevitably appeared in the background of about 10,000 different vlogs… although I also saw some people I recognised from TowersStreet and CoasterForce wandering around, as well as lots of other people I didn’t recognise who seemed like enthusiasts! There were certainly a lot of enthusiasts on park today, put it that way. After entering the park, we initially decided to head over to Valgard, although we didn’t start with Drakon as the advertised queue was considerable at 90 minutes. We instead started with… Raven Raven was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so while we’d done this coaster before, we decided to give it a go with its new theme. The new theming all looks very nice, and it certainly gives the area a lot more atmosphere than when it was Cobra! So, how was the ride? Well, I’ve never been a fan of wild mouse coasters, and I’m not a huge lover of the hairpin turns on there as a result, but the rest of it was definitely a more fun coaster than I’d remembered! It had some nice helixes, fun twists and turns and even some bits where it threatened some airtime! All in all, then, I thought Raven was a good way to start the day, and I think the new theming is definitely a good thing for the ride: After we got off Raven, I headed to ride the new flat ride in the area… Vild Swing Vild Swing was on an advertised 25 minute queue time, so I decided to take a ride on there seeing as I’d never ridden one of these ART swings before. The queue took around 25 minutes as advertised, and although the ride did briefly break down, this was resolved quickly. So, how was it? Well, the ride was OK, with some fun swings and a mostly non-excessive level of intensity, although I’m not a massive fan of flat rides and would say I found the cycle a tad long for my tastes. For the families, though, it should be a fun flat ride: After I got off Vild Swing, I met back up with my parents, who proudly showed me a “first” that our family managed to bag today; while we didn’t get on the first train of any of the rides in Valgard, my mum and dad did buy the first ever coffee order from the Feasting Hall. What a first!: After that, we had a brief look at the 2027 construction site before heading out of Valgard to do our first ride elsewhere in the park… Flight of the Pterosaur Flight of the Pterosaur was on an advertised 20 minute queue time, so we decided to have a ride on there. The queue was slightly less than advertised, taking around 15 minutes, and me and my mum were batched onto row 7 and ready to go! But how was the ride? Well, I’ve always liked Pterosaur, and it was good fun! It’s smooth, has very comfortable trains and is surprisingly punchy for a family suspended coaster; that helix at the end is genuinely quite intense! My mum and dad also both liked it, with my dad saying the restraints were very comfortable and both of them being disappointed when I explained that Drakon had OTSRs. Overall, then, I really enjoyed Flight of the Pterosaur; I think it’s possibly still my favourite coaster on park: After Pterosaur, we started to head over to the other side of the park, riding a ride that my parents hadn’t ridden before… Ghostly Manor Ghostly Manor was on an advertised 25 minute queue, so as my mum and dad hadn’t ridden it before, we decided to all take a ride on there together. The 25 minute queue was somewhat overstated, with the queue taking more like 10 minutes; I can never moan when that happens! So, how was it? Well, we all enjoyed it; as much as it’s nothing groundbreaking, I think it’s quite a nice little ride, with some nice scenes, a fun level of spooky for a young child audience and a fun shooting ride experience! On a side note, I also got a score of around 64,000, which I think might be the highest score I’ve ever managed on there: After riding Ghostly Manor, we headed into Tornado Springs to ride our next coaster… Storm Chaser Storm Chaser was on an advertised queue time of 10 minutes, so my dad and I decided to give it a go, with my mum politely declining. The 10 minute queue time was, if anything, overstated, as my dad and I got on within 5 minutes. You can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, we were sat in row 3, and despite not being the world’s biggest fan of spinning coasters in general, I always find Storm Chaser a good, fun ride, with a level of spinning that’s fun without being excessive and some nice speed and punchy corners. Similarly to Pterosaur, it has a surprisingly intense helix! My dad also enjoyed the ride more than he’d remembered, saying that he’d remembered the spinning being worse than it was (we did have a particularly spinny last ride in 2021, to be fair). While I’m talking about Storm Chaser, I also have to say that operations were excellent on there; with 2 trains running, throughputs of 800-900pph being attained and trains frequently not stacking: After getting off Storm Chaser, the queue remained short, so I went straight back round for another go! I was once again seated in row 3, and the ride was once again great fun! After my reride on Storm Chaser, I headed to do a flat ride in Tornado Springs… Cyclonator Cyclonator was on an advertised 20 minute queue time, so I decided to take a ride on there, with mum and dad politely declining. The 20 minute queue time was broadly accurate, which I can never moan about! So, how was it? Well, I remember giving a relatively scathing review of Cyclonator in 2021, citing it as “vile” or words to that effect, but in 2025, I found it a lot more palatable, if not an absolute favourite of mine. In 2026, my verdict is that I substantially overhated it in 2021 and my 2025 thoughts were something closer to my current sentiments. The ride has some good airtime and speed that I enjoy, but the spinning makes me feel a teensy bit nauseous and I controversially much prefer the non-spinning variants of these swinging pendulum rides. I also don’t particularly like the OTSRs on this ride, as I feel like they impede the airtime. I’ll admit my ride on Cyclonator today reaffirmed to me that I’m unsure whether I’ll necessarily get the hype for Aviktas at Blackpool Pleasure Beach; while it does have lap bars, it still spins, and I think I personally much favour the non-spinning variants like the S&S Screamin’ Swing: After getting off Cyclonator, I met back up with my parents and we headed to ride… Cat-O-Pillar Cat-O-Pillar was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so me and my mum decided to ride it. The 5 minute queue was if anything overstated, as we waltzed straight onto row 4; I can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, it was definitely a fun little ride; I always find the Tivolis quite charming, and this one is no exception! I’ll admit they are slightly more uncomfortable when you’re not the only adult in a row, but even still, the ride was good fun with some areas where it gained moderate speed and the charm that always comes with those long Tivoli trains!: After getting off Cat-O-Pillar, we headed back over to the other side of the park with the original intent of riding Velociraptor, but we noticed that a certain draw had reopened following a breakdown on a shorter queue than earlier… Drakon Drakon was on an advertised 50 minute queue time, so as it was the main reason for our visiting and this was a shorter queue than earlier, we decided to bite the bullet and join the queue. The ride had a few “temporary delays” while we waited, but even with this, we were on in around 30 minutes, which I can’t moan about for a new ride on its opening day! Incidentally, I should add that we stopped towards the top of the vertical lift hill on our first ride… which we initially thought made us unique, but turned out that this was happening a fair amount! So, how was the ride? Well, I was quite critical of Paultons building a Euro-Fighter, so I was interested to see how I found it. I have to say that in isolation, it is undeniably a fun ride that suits the park and its market well, and while I maintain that a Euro-Fighter is a conservative hardware choice, I was perhaps unduly harsh on the choice in some regards. While perhaps not the most forceful or exciting ride, Drakon is a smooth ride by Euro-Fighter standards, the beyond-vertical drop on these is always good fun, and the stall is actually quite good (or would be… more on this in the next sentence). However… there’s a but coming, and that’s that I still think it would have been audibly better with lap bars. This may not have been helped by the fact that I was thoroughly stapled in by the operator, but I found that the OTSRs absolutely crushed my thighs and made the stall in particular somewhat uncomfortable. Away from the track and train, I also liked the theming of the ride; I loved little details like the sheep “powering” the lift hill, and I thought the pre-lift dark ride section was also a nice surprise! All in all, then, I think Drakon is a good, fun ride as a starter thrill coaster for the younger guests. I think it could have been a notably better ride with lap bars, and if I’m being picky, I maintain that this would not have been my personal first choice of coaster, but in isolation, I think it’s a fun ride that works well. I don’t think it’s my personal favourite coaster in the park (I’d still put Pterosaur and Storm Chaser ahead of it, at very least), but it’s a fun ride, it’s a welcome step up, and I hope it works well for them: After getting off Drakon, me and my mum headed to ride our last new-for-the-day coaster… Velociraptor Velociraptor was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so we decided to take a ride on there. The 5 minute advertised queue time was true to its word, with us being batched onto row 5 within 5 minutes (all the 5’s!). But how was the ride? Well, it was smooth and good fun, with the train carrying good speed through the layout, but I’ll admit I don’t rate it quite as highly as the park’s other family coasters, as I’m not the biggest fan of the backwards section. From memory, I would rank it slightly higher than Accelerator at Drayton Manor, however: After Velociraptor, my mum and dad decided they’d ridden enough and deserted me to go and do peaceful things like riding the train and looking at the animals, so having been left to my own devices, I initially decided to get into the advertised 45 minute queue for another ride on Drakon. I only waited 25 minutes this time, and unlike some rides where my opinion notably improved with a second ride, my thoughts remained very similar to the first time around: After getting off Drakon, I went for another ride on Raven, where I would later realise that I had been batched in the same car as at least two other members of TowersStreet Talk. Had I been sure of this in the queue or on the ride, I may have said something, but even still; hello to you two, if you’re reading! I’m sorry I didn’t say hello at the time! As with before, the ride itself was fun even if the hairpin turn section is a tad too sharp for my liking, and I like that the ride is now properly themed: After getting off Raven, I went for another reride on Flight of the Pterosaur. I was seated in row 8 this time, and it was once again really good fun: After getting off Flight of the Pterosaur, I headed over to Storm Chaser for another reride. I was in the back row this time, and it was once again good fun: After getting off Storm Chaser, I headed over to Drakon for one final ride. My thoughts on it remained very similar to earlier, although it was raining a little this time, which made the vertical lift hill… interesting, to say the least: After getting off Drakon, I met back up with my parents, and as it was 3:30pm, it was starting to rain more heavily, my parents were keen to escape said rain and I was quite content with what I’d ridden for the day, we decided to call it quits there and head on home: So, that wraps up my day at Paultons Park for the opening day of Valgard! I had a really good day; it was interesting to experience an opening day (I’ve genuinely never seen so many handheld GoPros in one place in my life… I’ll be staggered if I’m not in the background of at least a few vlogs!), it was interesting to experience Paultons Park on a busier day than my last visit, and it was great to see the new area and coaster for the first time! Valgard is a lovely area; it’s another resounding success for Paultons Park as far as I’m concerned, and I liked the inclusion of some additional show elements compared to some of their prior areas! As critical as I was (and to some degree remain) of Paultons building a Euro-Fighter, I do think Drakon is a fun coaster that the target audience will enjoy, even if it’s not threatening my personal top 10 and I do think it would have benefitted from lap bars rather than OTSRs, and I do applaud Paultons for upping the thrills. As for the park more widely; while Drakon did have its teething issues, I thought the crowds were dealt with very well, on the whole. I got 15 rides in 6-ish hours, which I’m going to declare a huge success for the opening day of a major new area, and I’ll admit that Paultons have either upped their game operationally or I haven’t given them enough credit previously, as I thought operations across the park were excellent and very prompt! As much as it’s one that isn’t quite on my personal annual “must visit regardless of investment levels” list yet, the park remains a very pleasant one to visit and has an admirable focus on guest experience. Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! I’m not too sure when my next trip report will be, but if not before, I’ll definitely be coming at you with a report at the end of June, which will likely be from my first ever visit to Parc Asterix in France!

School holidays including half terms make the biggest difference but so does which day of the week you go! This is a good website Thorpe Park School Holidays 2026 & 2027 - Busy Days GuideSurrey school holiday dates for 2026 and 2027. Find out when Thorpe Park is busiest and plan your visit on a quieter day for shorter queues.

Colossus will be closed for maintenance on Wednesday 20th may. I’ve moved my Wednesday trip because of this!

I was there Tuesday, and yes, the forecast for Wednesday was correct with heavy showers. I know the TP rail station bus is always busy but not been on it; being an old fogey, I can use my bus pass on the service buses. With a really low attendance, there is much more chance of banter between people on and around the rides, it's good. And for us nuts, it's certainly a great chance to meet like-minded types.

Glad you got the quiet day you'd hoped for! I agree with your comments about Rush - I love an S&S Screamin Swing but I don't even bother going on Rush anymore. I hope one day it can get replaced with a new version.

I have used the Thorpe Park bus before, but the one time I did, it was rammed to the point where it bordered on uncomfortable, so I decided against it on future visits. Were you on park as well? It was certainly a brilliant day for riding!

Good write up Nick. Would you not use the TP bus from the rail station? it must prove a cheaper option. Tuesday was another amazing low attendance day. Fred (planenut)

12th May 2026: Thorpe Park My period between jobs is rolling on, so with me having secured a permanent role, I thought; why not use the Merlin pass once again and go for a midweek Thorpe Park visit? I know I was only in Thorpe a month or so ago, but I made the spur-of-the-moment trip decision after noticing the quiet crowds last week and I like Thorpe. Sue me! I left home at about 6:30 this morning, arriving at Bristol Parkway just after 7am to take a 7:29 train to Staines, with a change in Reading. As a fun aside, I noticed the head of my directorate from my previous job waiting on the platform, but based on his suit and tie, I’d hazard a guess that he wasn’t heading to Thorpe Park! I arrived in Staines within just under 2 hours, and with all running to time, an Uber to the park and a non-existent security queue got me through the gates at just before 9:45, putting me in good stead for my first ride at opening time: Upon getting in, I repeated my usual Thorpe Park strategy and started with… Colossus While it looks like everyone heads in this direction at park opening time on paper, they’re all heading to Hyperia in reality, so I still stand by Colossus as a strong starting point in the morning. Today, I walked onto row 2 of the very first train of the day; the strategy hasn’t failed me yet! So, how was Colossus? Well, it’s never an absolute favourite of mine due to those extremely uncomfortable trains, but I have to say that it was running quite well this morning; the first half was smooth and had great speed and forces, and even the second half, while not a favourite of mine, seemed more enjoyable than usual! All in all, then, I’m considering that a win as far as Colossus is concerned; it was running well, and it was a good way to start the day: After I got off Colossus, I pondered my usual strategy of heading for a single rider ride on Saw, but the ride was still closed, so I instead decided to head for… Hyperia Hyperia was on an advertised 20 minute queue, but as my last visit showed me that the single rider queue is often quiet first thing, I decided to take a gamble on using that. And this proved a prudent gamble, as I waited a mere 5 minutes to be batched onto row 3. I’ve never seen Hyperia’s single rider queue that quiet before! But how was it? Well, Hyperia has always been a favourite of mine, and today was no exception; the ride was stunning! I’m going to come out with a strong sentiment and say that with more rides, I increasingly think that first drop might possibly be my favourite in the world; it’s a complete riot wherever you sit, with phenomenal sustained ejector that flings you way out of your seat and holds you there and the twist adding a really interesting additional dimension of forces compared to a regular straight drop! As much as I’m an advocate of good, straight airtime on rides over being unconventional for the sake of it, I would also have to say that that outerbank is truly insane and probably the most convincing example of non-traditional weightlessness I’ve ridden! The junior Immelmann and stall are great too… and to be honest, all of it’s pretty phenomenal! The ride is also incredibly smooth, comfortable and rerideable (I swear it feels smoother than it did in 2024, if anything), and when combined with the awesome airtime and speed, that makes it a true winner in my book! All in all, then, I was thrilled to get back on Hyperia; it’s easily my favourite coaster in the UK, and right up there in my top 5 overall, which is no mean feat when I’ve done nearly 150 coasters: After I got off Hyperia, I decided to take advantage of the very short single rider queue and partake in not one, but two back-to-back rerides after that. I had a row 2 followed by a back row, and while both were sublime, I think getting on the back counteracted a comment I made in my last Thorpe trip report. Last time, I thought Hyperia might well be a coaster best ridden in the front half of the train after experiencing the front half for the first time… but having reridden the back, there’s no doubt in my mind that it’s a back row coaster for me, as much as it’s sublime in every row. The back row experience of that first drop alone settles it for me; as much as it hits hard in any row, the back is just narrowly where it hits hardest and it is my favourite element on the ride! After three back-to-back rides on Hyperia, I decided it was time to explore the rest of the park. Saw was still having some trouble opening, so I instead decided to head towards a B&M instead… Nemesis Inferno Nemesis Inferno was on an advertised 5 minute queue time and I hadn’t ridden it yet, so I decided to take advantage of this and give it a go. The queue time board was true to its word, and I was seated in row 4 within 5 minutes; it’s always good when that happens! So, how was it? Well, I’ve always liked Nemesis Inferno, and today was no exception! The ride was smooth with excellent forces and speed and some great inversions; what’s not to like? I also have some indecision in my mind about whether I rank it or Nemesis higher; as much as Inferno has the more conventional layout of the two, I quite like how it runs: After getting off Nemesis Inferno, I headed to a flat ride… Detonator Detonator was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so I decided to give it a go. The queue time board stayed true to its word, with me waiting only one cycle to board. So, how was it? Well, I do love a good drop tower, and Detonator is always an excellent one, with a wonderfully punchy drop! I always think these Fabbri models have more punch to them than you expect: After Detonator, I headed to a different coaster… Stealth Stealth was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so I decided to take a ride on there. The 10 minute queue was if anything slightly overstated, taking around 5 minutes, which is always great! So, how was the ride? Well, I do always love Stealth, and today was no exception; that hydraulic launch is so punchy, the airtime is great, and the speed is wonderful! I’ll admit that the more I ride it, the more I’m not a fan of the restraints on there; if it had the lap bars like Red Force, we’d be onto a winner. However, this is a minor niggle rather than a deal breaker; I still think it’s an absolutely awesome ride: After my first ride on Stealth, I had a reride while the queue was still short and I was still in the area. I was seated in the back once again, and it was once again awesome! After my reride on Stealth, I headed down towards another big coaster I hadn’t yet ridden during the day, but on the way over, I couldn’t resist another reride on Hyperia. Single rider delivered the goods in the form of a 5-10 minute wait once again, I was seated in row 6, and the ride was once again phenomenal! On a side note, I should add that unlike the typical trope of airtime trying to undress riders, Hyperia tried its very hardest to redress me each time I rode it; I was wearing a waterproof coat with the hood down, and without fail, the airtime in some of the elements made it fly up and stay over my head every time!: After Hyperia, I finally headed towards the coaster I was referring to before… Saw: The Ride Saw was on an advertised 30 minute queue, but as with Hyperia, I was able to exploit the secret weapon of the single rider queue to shorten this. Single rider delivered once again, with me only waiting 5-10 minutes for my ride on Saw; I can never moan about that! So, how was it? Well, Saw is never an absolute favourite of mine, but it wasn’t running too badly today. It was a bit rough in areas, but not too terrible. With time, one thing I have also grown to appreciate about Saw is the airtime; it’s not exactly known for airtime, but there are quite a few surprising pops of ejector throughout the ride, which I always like! The Euro-Fighter as a ride style is never the most comfortable and is rarely an absolute favourite of mine as a result, but with all things considered, Saw was running quite well today. It also provided me with a very fresh point of comparison for when I go and ride Drakon for the first time at the weekend: After Saw, I went to do another flat ride favourite of mine (and it’s rare that you hear me call a flat ride a “favourite”!)… Rush Rush was on an advertised 5 minute queue time. In actuality, this ended up being a walk-on for me, as I was batched into the next cycle that was about to be loaded; I can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, despite not being a huge fan of flat rides on the whole, I’ve always liked Rush, and today was no exception! While somewhat repetitive as all flat rides are, I like the fact that it focuses on airtime and speed rather than spinning or repetitive forces, and I find the airtime at each peak and speed in each trough great fun! I do, however, bemoan the cycle on there; Rush runs quite a weak cycle, and only 1 or 2 full height swings were offered up today. As a point of comparison, I would say Rush in its current state feels markedly tamer than Serengeti Flyer at Busch Gardens Tampa, which ran a much longer cycle and had absolutely bags of sustained airtime and probably sits as my favourite non-drop tower flat ride as a result. Even still, I do always enjoy Rush, and I was glad to get on it: After Rush, I went to ride my final big coaster that I hadn’t yet ridden during the day… The Swarm The Swarm was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so as I hadn’t yet ridden it today, I decided to take a ride on there. As promised, I only waited around 5 minutes before swiftly taking my seat in row 5. So, how was it? Well, I’ve always had a soft spot for Swarm, and while I’ve gone up and down on it over the years, it was running really well today! The first drop, with that awesome sensation of diving towards the ground, is truly ace, I love the floaty inversions, with the last roll being a particular highlight, and I also love the sheer sense of speed that the winged trains provide! It’s also a really smooth experience that is easy to reride and enjoy, and while the vest restraints aren’t my absolute favourite, they don’t lock and tighten as badly as they used to and the ride is more enjoyable for it. Overall, then, I had a fantastic ride on Swarm; I always enjoy it, and perhaps controversially, I increasingly think it might be my 2nd favourite coaster on park behind Hyperia again after a few years of having been lower down and behind Stealth: After getting off Swarm, the queue had shortened, so while I was in the area, I decided to partake in not one, but two back-to-back rerides. I had a back row and another row 5, and these were once again fantastic! After my rerides on Swarm, I headed for a reride on Detonator. Once again, it was an absolutely awesome drop tower with a surprising amount of kick for its size, and on this ride, they were interestingly running a slightly different audio track about it being “time to drop the gondola” that didn’t reference any of the firework theming that the regular one does: I then went for a reride on Nemesis Inferno. I was in row 6 this time, and it was once again great: I then went for another single rider queue reride on Hyperia. I was in row 7 this time, and it was once again sublime: I then sat down and ate my packed lunch before heading for not one, not two, but three brilliant back-to-back rerides on Stealth, in row 6, row 8 and row 9 respectively: I then went for another reride on Nemesis Inferno. I was on the back this time, and it was once again an awesome ride: After that, I went for another brilliant Detonator reride, where normal service seemed to have resumed from an audio perspective: I then went for three back-to-back rerides on The Swarm, in row 5, row 6 and row 5 respectively. Once again, these were excellent: After that, I went for another great walk-on ride on Rush; it was nice to spice the rerides up a little with a flat ride: After Rush, I went for another sublime Hyperia reride in row 7. I tried the main queue this time, as it had fallen to an advertised 10 minutes and single rider looked longer than earlier, but I’m not sure that single rider wouldn’t have been better, as it ultimately took 15. Even still, it moved quicker than single rider, still wasn’t particularly long, and wasn’t exactly impeding ride count given that this was the 27th ride of the day, so I can’t really complain: I then went for a reride on Nemesis Inferno. I was sat on the back this time, and it was awesome once again: After that, I was originally going to go for more rerides on Stealth and/or Swarm, but Stealth was closed and Hyperia remained short, so seeing as I was unlikely to ever see the Hyperia single rider queue so short again, I decided to take full advantage and park myself in Fearless Valley for the rest of the day (it was about 3:40pm by this point, and the park shut at 5pm). Unoriginal, I know, but Hyperia is easily my favourite ride on park and I’d had a perfectly good fill of the other coasters between this visit end my visit last month. Between 3:40 and park close, I managed 7 back-to-back rerides on Hyperia using the single rider queue, in a variety of different rows. I was unfortunately sat on the left hand side for a number of them, where the host seemed intent on stapling me to death each time, but on my final row 6 ride, I was sat on the right hand side, where I had possibly my loosest lap bar ever on Hyperia and flew miles out of the seat like never before on that first drop! On the plus side, the stapled rides did show me that Hyperia most certainly passes the stapling test in that it still hits hard with airtime even when you’re stapled in. That is not necessarily a given on an airtime machine! This sequence of rerides was a lovely way to finish off the day, and after a number of visits where I’ve only managed 2 rides on it, I was very pleased to close out the day with 13 Hyperia rides in total: After that, park close had arrived, so I headed out of the park and made my way back home, arriving back into Bristol Parkway at around 8pm. So, that wraps up my day at Thorpe Park! I had an absolutely amazing day; the park was nice and quiet, which meant that getting lots of rides in was easy! If you lost count, I managed 35 rides in total, which is the most I’ve ever managed at Thorpe Park (or any Merlin park, for that matter) and second only to 51 rides during last June’s deserted Paultons Park day overall. I can’t moan about that! My final ride tallies were: 13x Hyperia 6x The Swarm 5x Stealth 4x Nemesis Inferno 3x Detonator 2x Rush 1x Saw: The Ride 1x Colossus This day underscored to me how much I love Thorpe Park on days like this. On a day where I’m alone with short queues, there are very few parks I would pick to be in over Thorpe. The ride lineup is a wonderful one to reride, as you have lots of great choices! My definite highlight is Hyperia, but the likes of Swarm, Stealth and Inferno are also there to provide additional variety! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! My next one will actually be arriving very soon, as I’m unexpectedly going to be attending the opening day of Valgard at Paultons Park on Saturday! It will be interesting to attend an opening day, if nothing else, and I can’t wait to see what the new land has to offer!

Today, staff were suggesting that tomorrow will be similar to last Wednesday but I've seen the weather forecast, hence my attendance today.

Saw on twitter it went down today and reopened on one train - hopefully what ever the issue is isn’t too serious!

Is Hyperia on one train or something? I’ve noticed that it’s currently on ~60 minutes while no other thrill ride in the park is above 10 and the only other thing above 10 full stop is Ghost Train at 25…

I was one of the people who saw how quiet it was, booked a half day at work and spent the afternoon there 🤣 Was one of the best afternoons I’ve had there. Honestly felt like a buyout day it was that quiet. Great atmosphere on Stealth with a big group of us lapping it, the operator encouraging us to fill up the empty seats.

An absolutely crazy day TP has been closed on some recent Wednesdays, but I noticed it was available today and with the weather looking the better option, I went. A staff member who knows me told me that there were maybe only a couple of thousand people attending. oddly enough, I wanted to ride Stealth, and as there were hardly any guests on the ride or platforms, the gate was kept open so that people could re-ride, and that continued to beyond the lunch hour, with so many guests telling me that every ride was walk-on. During the time, some people wlo lived within a few miles had also then attended due to seeing online the short queues. As much as it pained me, I left Stealth and had two walk-on rides each on Nemesis Inferno, Hyperia, Saw, Colossus and Swarm before dragging myself back to Stealth, where the re-ride gate was open and announcements of "re-ride just get on", several were running to get on again, and there were loads of conversations between people and staff, many discussing their crazy ride totals for the day. There really were few guests and no waiting for rides one wanted. Staff were really upbeat and helpful. It really was a crazy day..

Launch pad looks near complete and a new screen has been installed. I imagine this area will be open before 10am and they'll do some kind of countdown for park opening in the morning? I'm certainly not complaining, but not sure how viable these last minute openings are, as the park was deserted today. First time I've seen Hyperia walk on and able to re-ride on empty seats throughout the day. Spent my afternoon lapping Hyperia and Stealth. Great atmosphere, particularly on Stealth as it was full of enthusiasts re-riding. Someone I spoke to had done over 80 laps 🤣

Park has put in an application for a clone of the Ninjago Spinner at the Korean park to plop on some of the Rapids land. Solid if unspectactular choice.

Didn't really know whether to put this here or in the Inferno topic. Last week I had my first instance of being "stuck" on a coaster during a shutdown (Inferno) in 20 years of regular trips, it left me a bit perplexed in how these things are handled. We stopped about half way up the lift, only for about 15-20 minutes but it was restarted rather than evacuated. When the train was dispatched from the station there was a weird clunky noise I didn't recognise from above the train, it caught my attention as weird but not enough to be concerned. Came round to the lift and it felt like the train hadn't quite caught onto the chain and jolted repeatedly backwards and forwards with a clunking noise again before just stopping dead. Once we'd got back to the station a few trains ran round empty then it reopened. Couple of observations. Guest welfare - I've always felt like nothing would bother me on a coaster but actually it isn't a nice feeling to be trapped on an invert at that angle, I didn't realise how quickly your feet become uncomfortable without a floor. A girl in the row in front of us starting having a panic attack and when we got back to the station was in tears (and still was all the way to the shop). Should the staff not check on how everyone is when the train returns to the station? I realise 99% of answers would probably just be "yeah good" but there was no concern shown at all, just get off and get out like normal. Is it not standard practice that a ride host is supposed to walk up the lift to the train? Presumably knowing it's a quick restart job would be why they don't. Restarting - Given the noises heard and the clunking, I was a bit taken back by the whole restarting within 10 minutes thing? I'm not an engineer and have no idea what I actually heard but I didn't see any form of even a cursory glance at the train or the lift? Again I assume the ride tells the engineers / Ops what's actually wrong but restarting so quickly seemed odd. Is this specific scenario actually something that happens regularly on Inferno that the park are used to, and I've just never seen it? I also thought after the Smiler incident, coaster / block restarts weren't done with guests still on the ride?

I did 6 hours of driving today to get back on Stealth. (3 hours each way and going around the theme park). She really did well. I managed to get 8 rides on her whilst doing the other coasters. No fast track. Really so chuffed with engineering 😀. Great job Thorpe 😀 Just about managed it all in a day. Knackered myself but worth it. It's always a massive gamble with the cost of fuel and getting up at 4am to be home for 9pm.

Bit of positive news having visited Hyperia Yesterday is just how good the operations are, the ride took 15 min to open after park open, which is ok as u can tell the ride is running slow in the cold (makes you wonder if wheel heaters are worth investing in) But such a great ride team, it was the same as when I visited last year, they will fly through the queue. It gets to the point where the ride barely stacks on the brake run (though obviously the brake run is relatively slow) Interesting observation is how many people where re joining the queue and how many asked for front row (and how a front row queue would become so overwhelming on this ride) Single rider is good though like Smiler at Towers, you wonder how many people in that queue are on there own ;p

We have the first piece of marketing, earlier than usual...