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Honestly it takes a hour or so on Canva, so lazy.. In other news it seems reviews for Tenement are mixed. In general we have some raving reviews of last night, and then some others like Scaretour and TPW that seem more critical. I hope this does not foreshadow the run, as preview night is usually when the mazes are at their peak (full casts, loads of energy).

Think it's quite certain that companies literally do not care about using AI imagery.

I agree. It was a good evening due to the atmosphere however organization and management decisions let it down. That is absolutely no reflection on the ride team cause they were great and all out of there control.

Doing the rounds on X, looks terrible and plastered all round the park. I know its likely outsourced, but do these not have to get checked and signed off?

Today, launch platform smoke was switched on during the afternoon, apparently, the upturn smoke will return for Fright Nights.

With the Launch Event tonight for Fright Nights, all spoilers for 25 Years of Fear here! Follow along your favourite Thorpe Park dedicated fansite for all the best coverage!

Yeah because they're all thoosies 🤣

£195 for the cable! Certainly didn't pay that much for my Expedition GeForce one.

I enjoyed the event, was great to see them offer something like this. Whilst I don't want to be negative, I think it is worth saying there was room for improvement. Communication and organisation was pretty poor, from entering the event, to having to literally read out 250 numbers, and whilst the reason for it was clear, holding a 2 hour ride time but closing the queue after 90mins isn't ideal. But these are things that come with experience, and can be ironed out. The enthusiasm was there. The idea is there. It was an enjoyable event with a great, positive vibe and I really hope they look at doing more of these things in the future.

Agreed - great atmosphere all evening and the ride team were smashing it. Seen him having fun on the PA the last few times I've been too - great operator. Bit cheeky they closed the queue at half 7 and can't help but feel there was a little too many people there, but that's expected when they were selling the tickets for £10. It was clearly a success for them and I hope we see more of that kind of stuff!

Same as above really enjoyed the event - nice to see the park celebrate the ride with its model becoming more and more rare I do hope they do everything they can to keep it going as long as possible. Also bought some of the cable - it’s a lot for what it is but it’s presented really nicely and the little extras were a nice surprise too!

Just like any other pit stop crew. Traditional.

I didn't really plan on spending £195 on the cable but I love Stealth and it's a gorgeous piece of memorabilia. I just had to buy it. The cable with a certificate of authenticity and a mug and a Stealth coaster. All in a gift bag.

I really enjoyed the Stealth event. Staff were brilliant, met some lovely and enthusiastic people. Fantastic atmosphere. And I bought a piece of Stealth's cable as my ticket was already picked. The cable is 10 of 205 🙂

It was a great finish. What was interesting to see, as the gates opened. all riders immediately moved forward onto the train sitting down, lowering harnesses and putting buckles in. Staff said it really sped up the operation making it far easier and faster than normal. Stealthlike ritual........Go, Go, Go!

It was an amazing event for sure, I was on the final train of the night and the vibe was immaculate, especially with Amir (operator) paying homage to some of the other Accelerator coasters by riddling off their announcements. It just goes to show how much people love this ride and it's legacy. 10/10 event and I would love to see something like this again soon!

Wow, that Stealth 20 Years of Speed Event last evening. I had to change my mindset as normally I would be at TP to ride, but this was about The Ride. The day was interesting as I was aware that the discussions were about Stealth, our own achievements on it and the staffing, Riders normally are not interested in technicalities; the Event was in fact a great opportunity to meet and be amongst like minded people there to celebrate one thing, Stealth. It gave us the chance to chat, including with various staff members which we don't normally have the chance to, all the operating crew for the evening were volunteers. Some of the staff who work in the background were there and that too was a pleasure to be able to talk to them. I could go on but I am sure that there are members here who will also have interesting comments. Well done to Thorpe Park. Planenut

Some great points raised there. I've done a couple of 'torch mazes' (including Haunted Lantern tech and other), and they work best in small groups and when the torch serves a purpose (ie the rest of the maze is in low lighting). So if Thorpe are reducing group sizes, and so lowering throughput, it does justify the higher upcharge and the fact it is not bundled with the other mazes. It may take some time to get it right operationally. Even just ensuring the torches are working, have full battery, and are transferred from exit to entrance is something which requires a certain air of slickness. My hope is that Thorpe aren't afraid to recognise that, take time to tweak things and don't give up straight away if it doesn't work.

So I have some thoughts on Tenement. The Haunted Lantern style tech is great, and Purgatory is a fun maze, but.. Throughput and batching is glaring issues, which Purgatory often seems to have crazy queues st Tulleys. I do fear for Tenement being in such a big event, is the throughput going to be enough? Also batching is everything, Tulleys were batching us at a 20 second or so interval which was timed on a big timer, and it was groups of 1-4, but bigger groups could stick together. Obviously splitting up is cool! But I hope the maze is not too overpopulated and is batched and designed with that in mind. Purgatory also had some light bleed in its first year, which could be an issue. Cool idea, and if executed well could be amazing. But selling too many tickets for it, batching improperly, and design oversights needed to be dodged. Which is hard!

Well at least the coaster won't be called Minecraft: The Ride. Instead it'll be Escape the Nether. The Azteca Hotel is also being rethemed to a Minecraft Hotel.

25th September 2026: Chessington Today was the second day of this trip down South; after a night in the hotel, I spent the day in Chessington! I was interested to get back to Chessington, as my last visit there was in 2023 and before that, my last visit was all the way back in 2014; it’s a park I’ve seldom been to compared to Towers and Thorpe, so it packs a lot more mystery and is likely a lot more interesting to read a report from me about! I had stayed in the Safari Hotel, and previously unbeknownst to me, Chessington still offers ERT to its hotel guests for the entire season. This was a nice perk, so I intended to take full advantage, and as a result, I headed to the Azteca Hotel area to await entry into the park for 9am: Before going in, we were held in the Amazu (?) area, with lots of animals to look at. I’ve never been in this area of Chessington before, and it was quite nice! When entry came at 9am, I headed to the one substantial coaster open during ERT… Mandrill Mayhem Mandrill Mayhem was on an advertised 5 minute queue, and was the only substantial coaster open during ERT, so I decided to take a ride on there. As a matter of fact, the 5 minute queue on there was overstated, as I was batched straight into the airgates; I can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, I hadn’t remembered being a huge fan in 2023, so I was intrigued to get back on there. Truth be told, I’m still not a massive fan, if I’m honest. I was sat on the inner seat of row 1, and to start with the positives, the first swing launch section of the ride is good fun! While it’s hardly the swing launch on Toutatis, the backwards launch and junior scorpion tail provide fun floaty airtime, and the launch back through the station is decently punchy! I find myself liking it less when you get past this point, however; the layout doesn’t do a huge amount, and what it does do I find uncomfortable and/or nauseating. I don’t care for the sustained hangtime of the helix, and the roll is just a bit too slow for my own tastes. While I’m not sure rough is the right word, the ride also isn’t overly smooth, and judders about a surprising amount even in the inner seats. The other trouble is that I’m not generally the world’s biggest fan of shuttle coasters, and for some reason, the backwards portion of Mandrill Mayhem leaves me feeling very slightly nauseous. I find this quite odd, as plenty of far more intense coasters don’t make me feel nauseous and other coasters with backwards sections, like Thirteen and the family boomerangs, don’t make me feel nauseous. Perhaps it’s just the more intense backwards section, as I’d say Revolution and Wipeout were somewhat similar? It’s a shame; as Swarm is in my top 20, I should have been falling in love with the same style of ride at Chessington, but I’ve just never overly warmed to it: After getting off, I then headed back round for another ride. I got front row again and had similar thoughts. After that, I thought I should divvy things up from just repeatedly riding Mandrill Mayhem, so I decided to take an opportunity to grab the credit on the other coaster that was on ERT… Chase’s Mountain Mission The new-for-2026 World of Paw Patrol was also open for ERT, and Chase’s Mountain Mission was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so as I needed the credit, any notion of me not riding kiddie coasters has well and truly gone out the window after this season, and I figured that this was likely to be my quietest chance (a suspicion proven correct by the 45 minute queues later in the day), I decided I might as well give it a go. I walked straight in… but I didn’t realise that the ride had a whole preshow sequence. And I have to admit that this made the experience particularly excruciating compared to a normal kiddie coaster ride… perhaps I’m too self-conscious, but when you’re stood alone in a tight room filled with young families while you have dancing lights around you or are being addressed as “junior patrollers” by the preshow, I don’t quite know what to do other than look around awkwardly! I think kiddie coasters with preshows might be a genre to avoid… anyway, how was the ride? Well, it’s a mirror image of Farmyard Flyer at Paultons, if I’m not wrong, and similarly to that, the ride was a perfectly adequate, if unremarkable, kiddie coaster, with some mild moments of speed and quite a short track length. It seemed a tad smoother than Farmyard Flyer, and while I can’t speak for the accuracy of the theming to the show as my only knowledge of Paw Patrol is from half-watching it with my Gen Alpha cousins when they were at my nan’s house, it all seemed quite nice: After getting off Chase’s Mountain Mission, I left the Paw Patrol area and closed out ERT with two further rides on Mandrill Mayhem in rows 3 and 4: As 10am was fast approaching, I then decided to get in the pre-opening queue for… Dragon’s Fury I knew that the queues for Dragon’s Fury could get long, so I decided to try and beat the masses into the pre-opening queue. This proved a prudent choice, as I got on within 5 minutes; I can’t moan about that for a popular ride! So, how was Dragon’s Fury? Well, I’m not normally the biggest fan of spinning coasters, but I have to say that Dragon’s Fury was good fun! It seemed smoother than Spinball, the ride span well without spinning excessively, and I find the sprawling layout much more fun to ride than Spinball’s more tightly packed one; you even get a couple of nice bits of airtime on there! Dragon’s Fury was a nice surprise this morning, and I definitely enjoyed it: After Dragon’s Fury, I decided to strike the other major coaster while queues were low… Vampire Vampire was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to give it a go while the queue remained short. This proved a prudent decision, as I got on within 10 minutes, and I have to say that the operations on here were stronger than they were last time I was at Chessington; while the throughput will never be absolutely brilliant for a litany of reasons, the operators were getting the trains out with relatively good urgency! So, how was the ride? Well, I remember not overly rating Vampire back in 2014, but I liked it much more in 2023… and I have to say I liked it even more again today! I was seated in row 12, and I have to say that the ride delivers wonderfully as a family coaster; it has some absolutely ace moments of speed and force for a family coaster, those properly swinging trains add a definite additional thrill compared to the bog-standard SFC trains on something like Flight of the Pterosaur, and contrary to what 2014 me said, I also don’t find it overly rough. Overall, then, I thoroughly enjoyed Vampire this morning, and despite it being Chessington’s oldest coaster, I would say it’s still easily their best (for me at least); it’s a great ride, and I think is proof that old can still be great: After getting off Vampire, I initially pondered an instant reride after having enjoyed it, but the queue had gone up to 20 minutes at the entrance and was later announced by the operator as 35, so I thought that riding something new was probably the better course of action. As such, I decided to head for… Croc Drop Croc Drop was on an advertised 5 minute queue, so I decided to take a ride on there. The queue time board was true to its word, and I was indeed on within 5 minutes; I can never moan about that! So, how was it? Well, I’m a fan of a good drop tower, and while Croc Drop is hardly one of the more intense ones out there, I still think it’s quite good fun, with some fun giggly drops that provide mild lift! I also quite like the theming and audio on there; I think all the mist and music gives it quite a sense of occasion: After getting off Croc Drop, I decided to head for a ride I hadn’t ridden since 2014… Zufari Zufari was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so as I hadn’t ridden it since 2014, I decided to give it another go and get a fresh opinion. The ride did have a single rider queue, but it made little difference as the truck was waiting for people to board, so I hopped into an empty seat at the end of a row. So, how was Zufari? Well, I’d remembered it being good fun in 2014, if not quite on the same scale as Kilimanjaro Safaris at Animal Kingdom, which I rode for the first time a month after my last ride on Zufari. However, I’m going to ask a very blunt question after my ride today… was Zufari always that rubbish? Or did Kilimanjaro at Animal Kingdom just ruin it for me? I’d remembered it being shorter than Kilimanjaro… but today, it felt like you passed only about two animal species before you hit the finale, which by safari standards is pathetically short. And I feel like I remember the cave at the end doing something in 2014… but today, it made no sense whatsoever as we literally just drove through a cave with some pretty plants. It was fun to see a few animals, but I’m not sure I’d waste my time riding it again unless it was on a very short queue like it was today: After getting off Zufari, I decided to head for a dark ride… Tomb Blaster Tomb Blaster was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to have a go on there. The queue took 10 minutes, so I got on in relatively little time, which I can never moan about! So, how was it? Well, it was good fun! I do have to say that that ride has some very impressive physical scenery and quite a nice storyline, and some of the scenes are really quite nice! The lighting could be improved in some scenes, though; I wonder if a Curse-style revamp, where they reuse lots of the scenery and just modernise everything a bit, might go down well on here in the future: After Tomb Blaster, I headed for another reride on Mandrill Mayhem. The single rider queue was unfortunately closed today, so I queued for around 10 minutes in the main queue. I was in row 1 this time, and similarly to earlier, the ride had a fun launch, but I’m not its biggest fan overall: I then headed for another reride on Vampire, on an advertised 40 minute queue that took 35. In the queue, I was behind two boys who were using Nokia flip phones; I had no idea those were still a thing, let alone still in fashion! As for the ride itself, I was in row 11 and it was once again great fun; it’s such a great family coaster, and I definitely didn’t appreciate it enough before: After Vampire, I pondered a spot of lunch, but I noticed that everywhere was either closed or had a big queue, so I decided to take another ride on Croc Drop to wait for the queues to die down. Once again, the ride was really good fun: After getting off Croc Drop, I decided to brave the queue for Drop’n’Chicken, which ended up taking about 30-45 minutes out of the day when you combine the queueing and the eating! I then had a reride on Dragon’s Fury, which was once again good fun! Although incidentally, why is it that they faff around with weighing groups and such on here when they don’t on Spinball? The procedural difference seems odd: After Dragon’s Fury, I went for another reride on Mandrill Mayhem. I waited 20 minutes and was in row 3; very disappointingly, I never got further back than row 4 all day, despite wanting to get further back to try the backwards row: After Mandrill Mayhem, I closed out my day with not one, but two back-to-back rerides on Vampire. One took an hour, as the ride closed for “essential cleaning” when I was at the end of the queue and the queue was advertised at 40 to begin with, while the second took only 10 minutes as I took advantage of the depleted post-closure queue. These were in row 11 and row 12 respectively, and they were terrific fun once again; the ride had warmed up nicely over the course of the day, with some brilliant whip in those corners!: After getting off Vampire, I hadn’t realised that it was already past park close; I had foolishly thought that the park closed at 5pm, but it had actually closed at 4pm. As such, I dashed out of the park to try and catch an earlier train out of Chessington South. This later backfired, as I had to buy a new ticket and while everything ran well up to London Paddington, my train between London Paddington and Bristol Parkway was ultimately delayed by nearly 45 minutes, thus meaning that I didn’t get home much earlier anyway (in fact, I may still be in transit depending on when this report is posted!): So, that just about wraps up my day at Chessington and this trip down to the southern Merlin parks! I had a really good day at Chessington; it’s not a park I’ve been to much compared to Towers or Thorpe, but there are some really good attractions! My favourite in the park is definitely Vampire, but there are some other fun bits too and I do have to say that there’s a wider range of non-coaster attractions than there is at Alton or Thorpe, if that’s important to you. If I were to say what they should get more of, I would say that they could do with additional headline ride capacity, and I do think Minecraft could be a step in the right direction. The coaster looks very good, and if it’s anything like Uncharted, it should ride pretty well too! I shall definitely be back to ride it in 2027! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report, and the series of reports from this week! I think I’m unlikely to visit another park in 2026, so I shall likely see you all in 2027 trip reports-wise; after a somewhat quiet 2025, 2026 has been a terrific return to form for me, so I hope that 2027 maintains the momentum!

24th September 2026: Thorpe Park After my trip to Alton Towers earlier in the week, I headed out for my second trip of the week today, heading out to the London area to visit Thorpe Park and Chessington! Today, I spent the day in Thorpe Park; I couldn’t wait to get back to the UK’s most thrilling theme park for the first time since May and get back on some of my favourite attractions, particularly Hyperia! My day started early, with me leaving home at before 6:30am to make an early train from Bristol Parkway. I changed at Reading to get to Staines for just before 9:30am, and everything ran to time: I then caught an Uber to Thorpe Park from Staines railway station, and this was a little bit interesting! After hailing the Uber, I initially stared at my phone for about 5 minutes watching helplessly as my Uber driver seemingly struggled to find Staines railway station and couldn’t make up his mind as to where he was, and then when we got to Thorpe Park, I didn’t pay attention in time to realise that he’d driven into the regular car park rather than the drop off zone and seemed very confused, eventually just randomly stopping in the middle of the car park and letting me out… and to top things off, he didn’t seem to know what Thorpe Park was and asked me “Wow, are they selling cars here or something? Have you come to buy a car?” when we arrived and saw all the cars in the car park… I’ve been taken to theme parks by a lot of Uber drivers over the years, and I’ve never had that before! Anyway, I eventually got into Thorpe for around 9:50am, so still had plenty of time to get in and wait for opening time: Upon the park opening, I was initially going to head to Colossus, but it was closed, so I instead decided to head for… Saw: The Ride Saw was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to start my day there instead. I went through the single rider queue, but as it turns out, this wasn’t explicitly necessary as there was no one else waiting in the station and I was batched onto what was seemingly the second dual dispatch of the day! So, how was it? Well, Saw has grown on me somewhat since I first rode it; I do like some of the airtime on there! However, it’s a little bit too much on the rough side to be one of my absolute favourites; while it wasn’t running too badly today all things considered, I would prefer it a little smoother: After I got off Saw, I decided to head to a favourite of mine… Hyperia Hyperia was on an advertised 40 minute queue time, but from previous experience, the single rider queue is very often quiet in the morning, so I decided to have a go at using that today. This proved a prudent choice, as single rider only took 5 minutes; I can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 9, and I have to say that it was absolutely sublime! Some of the airtime on there is absolutely wonderful; the first drop is my particular highlight, but I would have to say that the outer bank is also up there, and to be honest, every element on the ride provides absolutely fantastic sustained negative g’s! I also love the sense of speed, but also how smooth and comfortable the ride remains while being superbly thrilling! Hyperia definitely deserves the title of my favourite UK coaster, and I think it’s a wonderful testament to how far coaster technology has come in recent years: After getting off Hyperia, I decided to take advantage of the short single rider queue and go for another ride. I once again only waited 5 minutes, which I can never quibble with, and I had an excellent row 3 ride this time! I can never decide if I prefer Hyperia in the front or the back of the train; I feel like the back offers the fuller effect of that first drop, but the front offers stronger forces in some of the hangtime elements, particularly the big outerbank! After my reride on Hyperia, I headed to my original planned destination at the start of the day… Colossus Colossus was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so as I’d intended to do it at the start of the day, I decided to strike while the iron was hot and join the shorter advertised queue. The queue ended up taking more like 20 minutes in actuality, but given I’ve waited 2 hours for Colossus later in the day in the past, this wasn’t as long as I have waited for it! So, how was it? Well, I was seated in row 13, and while the ride had been growing on me somewhat over the years, this was probably the worst ride I’ve had on it in a good bit of time. It seemed rougher than it has been in a good bit of time, but more than ever, I also found myself resenting those restraints. They really do feel as though they cut off all circulation to your legs, and it makes it very uncomfortable. It’s a shame; the first half is actually very good, even if the second half still isn’t to my personal taste, and Sik up at Flamingo Land arguably proves how much difference better restraints make to this layout: After Colossus, I headed over to the other side of the park to ride… Stealth Stealth was on an advertised 30 minute queue time, so as I hadn’t ridden it yet, I decided to take a ride on there. The 30 minute queue time ended up being more like 15, which I can never moan too much about; I often find Stealth’s queue is shorter than you might expect! So, how was the ride? Well, I do always love a ride on Stealth; the launch is incredible (even more so when as the operator reminded us, the ride is now the world’s fastest accelerating coaster!), and the top hat and the sustained airtime that offers definitely adds a bit of additional impact compared to riding Rita earlier in the week! I will say, though, that the restraints on this do impede it compared to Red Force; while the launch on that one isn’t as strong, I remember the lap bars making the airtime a bit more comfortable, and while I did always say that I’d take Stealth over Red Force due to the launch, the restraints make me less sure. If we could combine the launch acceleration of Stealth with the size and restraints of Red Force, we really would have the ultimate Intamin Accelerator Coaster!: After getting off Stealth, I headed around the corner to ride… Nemesis Inferno Nemesis Inferno was on an advertised 30 minute queue time, so as I hadn’t yet ridden it today, I decided to give it a ride. The 30 minute queue time ended up being 55, but this was due to a breakdown that saw the ride shut for quite a period of time. Before this, I must say that the operations on here were absolutely superb and probably some of the best I’ve ever seen on the ride; in the 5 readings I was able to get, the throughput averaged nearly 1,200pph, and dispatch intervals as quick as 80s or less were being logged. It was a brilliantly efficient operation, and minimal to no stacking was the name of the game; great job, team! But how was the ride itself? Well, poor old Inferno always gets relegated to being a bit “less than” compared to the original Nemesis at Alton Towers, but every time I personally ride it, I always think it’s a fantastic ride in its own right and offers the Alton original tougher competition than I expect! Today, it was running superbly; it was smooth and it had cracking forces and speed, so what’s not to like? While it lacks the unique layout design and terrain of the original Nemesis, I always find Inferno to deliver more potently than you’d expect, and I thoroughly enjoyed it today: After Nemesis Inferno, I ate my lunch in the Launch Pad, the new “attraction” for 2026, before heading to my final unridden thrill coaster for the day… The Swarm The Swarm was on an advertised 10 minute queue time, so I decided to take advantage of this and take a ride. The 10 minute queue time was perfectly accurate and took exactly 10 minutes; I can never moan about that! So, how was the ride? Well, I’ve always had a soft spot for The Swarm, and today was no exception! I love the sense of speed on there, and I also love the hangtime provided by some of the floaty inversions; the final roll in particular is difficult to beat! While it’s not my #1 coaster anymore as it was back in the day, I still absolutely love it and it’s not difficult to see why I rated it so much: After getting off The Swarm, I headed for my first flat ride of the day… Detonator Detonator was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to take advantage and have a go on it! The 5 minute queue ended up being slightly longer than advertised, taking 10 minutes, but as that’s still pretty short, I can’t complain too much! So, how was it? Well, as much as I’m not the greatest lover of flat rides in general, I am a drop tower fan, and Detonator is an excellent one! For a tower that’s relatively small, it packs a serious punch; the amount of airtime is superb, and the forces are tough to beat! As someone who loves a drop tower, it’s a definite must ride for me every time I come to Thorpe: After Detonator, I went for another reride on Stealth. I was in row 9, and it was great once again; that launch is brilliant: After Stealth, I went for a reride on Nemesis Inferno. The ride was brilliant once again in row 3, and without any breakdowns stopping proceedings, I got to see those superb operations in full flow. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the ride operated like it; they were giving it the whole “this train is ready to leave with or without you” over the tannoy, and the staff were sprinting around the platform: After Nemesis Inferno, I went for another reride on Hyperia, waiting 30 minutes in the single rider queue after seeing a brief technical delay where the ride stopped on the lift hill and the other train stopped on the brake run. The ride itself was sublime once again in row 9: After Hyperia, I went for another brilliant ride on Stealth in row 8; that launch always delivers: After Stealth, I headed for a second go on Detonator. As simple as the ride appears, I can’t get enough of that drop: After Detonator, I headed for another row 6 reride on Nemesis Inferno while the queue was only advertised at 15 minutes and turned out to be 10. It was once again brilliant: After Nemesis Inferno, I headed for another sublime single rider reride on Hyperia. I was in row 2 this time, and my quandary of whether I prefer front or back on Hyperia continues; I always think it’s a sign of a great ride when I struggle to pick a favourite seat on the train: After Hyperia, I closed out my day with not one, but two back-to-back rerides on The Swarm. I was seated in rows 7 and 6 respectively, and both were absolutely superb; I got two nice, loose restraints, meaning that I really floated out of my seat through the inversions!: After those final two rides on Swarm, I left the park, having to dash out a bit more quickly than I’d anticipated after booking an Uber while still in the park and not expecting it to arrive nearly as quickly as it did! To make my way to my next park, I took the train towards London from Staines, which was a first for me. The train up to Clapham Junction was absolutely rammed to the point of almost being overcrowded, but I eventually managed to sit down on the train down to Chessington South. Clapham Junction station was a sight to behold; I’ve never seen a station with so many trains moving around it at once!: After getting out at Chessington South, I took the short walk to Chessington itself, where I checked into the Safari Hotel for the night. I’ve never stayed on-site at Chessington before, but it was only £81 with Blue Light Card discount, so I thought I might as well give it a try! First impressions are that it feels newer than the Alton Towers Hotel, but it’s not as heavily themed; I’d call it more styled. The fact that they still put 2 Freddos on the bunk beds despite me not bringing any children was a fun surprise, though; you’ve always got to love every Brit’s favourite barometer of inflation!: So, that wraps up my day at Thorpe Park! I had a great day; I got on 17 rides, which I would call a respectable tally for a 7-hour park day, and it was great to get back on some of the favourites! Hyperia was as sublime as ever, but some of the other rides like Swarm, Inferno, Detonator and Stealth were also great fun and in general, I always enjoy a visit to Thorpe! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! Join me tomorrow for a report from Chessington; that one should be a little more different, as it’ll be my first visit to Chessington since 2023 and only my second within the last decade!

Haha, I think the laws of physics have already spoken on this one! 😄 Adding a rocket to the back of the train might make the drop faster, but I doubt Thorpe would be too keen on testing that idea. When comparing speeds, drops, and ride stats, I usually find free online calculators useful for checking the numbers before making any wild engineering suggestions. The Swarm is already impressive enough without turning it into a rocket-powered coaster!

22nd September 2026: Alton Towers Day 2 I had another day in the park today! I was looking forward to getting back in and doing some rerides on my favourites, as well as maybe 1 or 2 things I didn’t do yesterday! After my night in the Alton Towers Hotel, I checked out and left the hotel at 8:30am or so, making my way to the turnstiles for just before 9am. I had forgotten that the turnstiles now don’t open until 9:30am, but even still, I entered in plenty of time to get to my first ride early: As always with my Alton Towers visits, I decided to start at the back of the park… Rita Very few people head towards Rita at the start of the day, so as always, I decided to head straight there. Only two people were in front of me, one of whom was DigitalDan, who I understand was riding Rita many times for charity! So, how was Rita? Well, I was once again sat in row 3, and I have to say that it was a very good ride! That launch always delivers, and there are some brilliant airtime moments and bursts of speed too! I do think Rita is overhated among enthusiasts; people always seem very eager for it to be removed, but I still think it holds its own and would be sad to see it go: After getting off Rita, I headed to the one major coaster I didn’t ride yesterday… Thirteen Thirteen was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so as I hadn’t ridden it yesterday, I decided to give it a go. The queue time advertisement was very accurate, so much so that I walked straight into the station and it was so quiet that we had to wait for more people to fill the train! So, how was Thirteen? Well, I was seated in row 3, and it was really good fun! While the outdoor section isn’t the most intense on there, it has some fun twists and turns and pops of airtime, and I do always love the indoor section with the drop track and backwards section: After getting off Thirteen, I headed for a reride on a favourite of mine from yesterday… Oblivion Oblivion was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to take a ride on there. The queue only took 10 minutes, which I can never moan too much about! So, how was the ride? Well, as with yesterday, it was absolutely superb, with great airtime, a smooth ride experience and a phenomenal sense of speed at the bottom of the drop! I also have to say that the mist is firing out nicely at the moment; I’ve been absolutely pummelled with mist on every ride I’ve had this year!: After getting off Oblivion, I headed to the other coaster in the area… The Smiler The Smiler was on an advertised 10 minute queue, but I once again decided to give single rider a go. Despite the short advertised time, this proved a prudent choice, as I was batched straight into the front row; I can’t quibble with that! So, how was it? Well, I have to say that once again, the ride was running pretty well; it’s never an absolute favourite of mine, but it was providing good forces and speed and wasn’t overly rough either: After getting off The Smiler, I headed for another very quick single rider queue ride… Spinball Whizzer Spinball was on an advertised 10 minute queue time, but I could see that single rider was empty, so I decided to take a ride on there as I was walking by. I got batched pretty much straight into a car, which I can never moan about! So, how was it? Well, it was enjoyable enough, but I have to admit that it was running quite rough today: After I got off Spinball, I headed for a reride on another favourite of mine… Wicker Man Wicker Man was on an advertised 15 minute queue time, so I decided to take a ride on there. As advertised, the queue took around 15 minutes, but they seemed to be struggling to batch the pre-show in time to fill the trains; it was running 3 trains, but the operations were bizarrely struggling and you had times where an empty train was sat waiting in the station with no one to board it and the staff were desperately trying to hurry people onto the train. So, how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 3, and even though I was sat closer to the front, the ride was still absolutely brilliant; you still feel the speed and airtime even at the front!: After getting off Wicker Man, I headed straight back round for another reride while the queue was short. I was in row 11 this time, which was a much better placement! After my two excellent rides on Wicker Man, I headed further round the park to reride another classic… Runaway Mine Train Runaway Mine Train was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to take a ride. The queue was in fact overstated, as I walked straight into row 9; that’s always a bonus! So, how was it? Well, as with yesterday, it was great fun and put a smile on my face; parts of it are surprisingly thrilling, and I think the ride as a whole punches above its weight for a powered coaster: After getting off Runaway Mine Train, I headed into Forbidden Valley to ride another favourite… Nemesis Nemesis was on an advertised 30 minute queue, so I decided to take a ride. From afar, the queue was only curving around the final curve of the queue line, so I thought 30 minutes looked wildly overstated… but this unfortunately turned out to be pretty accurate, because it became apparent that the ride was only running 1 train. This was disappointing to see, particularly as the ride was running 2 trains yesterday and the queue today was 30 minutes, which isn’t insignificant. But enough about the operations; how was the ride? Well, I was seated in row 3, and as with yesterday, the ride was running brilliantly, with an awesome sense of speed and intense forces without being too intense: After getting off Nemesis, I headed to another ride I didn’t do yesterday… Toxicator Toxicator had just reopened from a breakdown and was resultantly walk-on, so as I had only done it once previously in 2025, I decided to give it another try. I had not remembered taking to it at all in 2025, but was interested to see if I’d been too harsh. So, how was it? Well, I sadly hadn’t been too harsh in 2025, as the ride was every bit as vile as I’d remembered if not worse. I’m just not an enormous fan of flat rides in general, and this one has a lot of sustained hangtime which I find nauseating, as well as some horribly intense back to back flips that I just find myself clinging on through and waiting for them to end. As an aside; does it mean anything if the “program” is now different? I seem to remember it being “program alpha”, but today, it said “program beta”: After getting off Toxicator, I headed for a quick dark ride break… The Curse at Alton Manor Alton Manor was on an advertised 5 minute queue time, so I decided to ride it as I was walking by. I walked straight on, which I can never moan about! So, how was it? Well, as with yesterday, it was a very nice atmospheric ride, and very nice for a quick sit down; even if the Trommel remains broken, there’s lots to look at and see on there: After getting off Alton Manor, I got some lunch, timing the throughput of Wicker Man as I ate, and then went for a reride on Wicker Man. I was in the front row this time, for the first time in about 5 years, and it was certainly a great ride up front, even if the back remains my definite preference on Wicker Man: After that, I went for not one, but two back-to-back rerides on Oblivion, as it was on a 5 minute queue. These were once again fantastic!: I then used the single rider queue to go for a fun reride on Thirteen. I was seated in row 6 this time, and it was just as fun as earlier, with perhaps a bit more pull being on the back! After that, I went for another reride on The Smiler. I was quickly batched into row 3 via the single rider queue, and this was perhaps the best Smiler ride of the trip; it ran very well all trip, and I have gained some new appreciation for it: I then went for two further rerides on Oblivion on a short queue, which were once again fantastic: Finally, I closed out the day and the trip with another fantastic reride on Wicker Man in row 6: I then left the park and headed back home after an excellent trip. So, that wraps up my second day at Alton Towers, and this September 2026 trip to Alton Towers! I’ve had an excellent trip; it was great to get back to the park for the first time since April, and it was also great to stay on site again! Rides-wise, my highlight was as always Wicker Man, my favourite coaster on park, but I rode lots of other great rides too! Thanks for reading; I hope you enjoyed this report, and yesterday’s too! I’ll be coming back at you later in the week with trip reports from Thorpe Park and Chessington on Thursday and Friday, so keep your eyes peeled!

I also feel like Merlin are in a good place with maintaining hydraulic launches like Stealth. Skilled engineers, best source of getting parts and general up keep of these attractions is strong. Stealth is just massively complex and to keep her going for as long as they do is breathtaking. I take each launch thinking how lucky we are to have these amazing moments ❤️