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I feel like you've been genuinely unlucky there. I'd say they've been pretty good at getting it open this year and its open for park opening more often than not. Samurai was having issues on Wednesday afternoon, and after park close there were engineers looking on the main arm on a cherry picker. Seems whatever the issue is now its been resolved as its opened this afternoon. Vortex seems to have not changed at all since my last visit, was sat in the exact same position. I've heard its a structural issue, which if true means its likely done for the season unfortunately. Would love to see some investment in some new flat rides. I noticed this too, I imagine they are keeping them in for Fright Nights if I was to guess.

So far then: Glitch goes back to The Cellar New fire and dancers show/experience The Carving is basically now The Carving Backstory - called that one a mile off... Not exactly banging my gong, and that's from a Tulley's fanboi. Here's hoping the first actual NEW haunt is decent and original....

First visit of the year yesterday (10th September) as didn't manage to get a date that worked with my park buddy in April time and once it starts getting busy we CBA with the queues! Anyway, my rambling thoughts Got 3 rides on Hyperia - max queue all day was 50 mins, bottomed out at 15 minutes. We decided to wait for it to open in the morning, it opened around 10.30am. I know that it's an off peak day, but I think it's a valid point to say that as the headline (icon?) ride it really should be open for park opening. I appreciate that problems happen butit seems to happen too often. Our first ride was Row 1, second was Row 2 and last ride of the day was Row 10, so as someone who only visits once or twice a year, I was very happy with that. Row 10 is absolutely nuts. The force of being dragged over the first drop is just ridiculous. I don't care what anyone says, I adore Hyperia - I personally don't want another element, I like the fact it's compact, does just enough (in my opinion) to make it super thrilling without ruining your day. The area is looking far better now that the plants have started to bed in. Good to see station effects are all working too still. Stealth is evidently upset that my love has switched to Hyperia 🤣 Ended up on one train operation, we suspected there must be a train issue from the up and down time (no pun intended) in the morning. Maxed out at a 40 minute queue on one train which really shows how painful it is when it's not at full capacity. Still had 2 good rides, but can I just say - those Stealth birthday flags were evidently bought on the cheap because they are all missing bar one, so you have barrels there with metal poles on and nothing at the top. I say close RIta now and use it all for parts to keep Stealth alive, please and thankyou. Nemesis Inferno was INTENSE, I swear this gets more and more intense every year. Flies up the lift hill every time, and feels faster than ever, if you like that sort of thing. For me, it's a one and done really as I like to keep my stomach contents down. An advertised 15 minute queue ended up being more like 40 minutes though due to loading of guests with accessibility issues, which I understand and appreciate - but the whole thing seemed to take forever with two empty trains sitting there with no guests in sight. Empty trains were sent round also prior to this - not sure of the process they have to go through but I've never seen anything like it before. Colossus was incredibly unpleasant. Ghost Train was closed all day and then opened at 3.30pm approx, so fair play for them bothereing to do that. We didn't get to ride as didn't want to risk being stuck on it if it went down, as that seems to happen to us far too often. Have to wonder how much longer this has left in it, it must cost them a fortune in power and staff. Quantum was shut until late in the day. Samurai was closed all day and advertised as so. Vortex & Zodiac both closed of course. Walking Dead The Ride had a lot of downtime - when we did get on, a lot of the effects in the first half seemed to be inoperable, I'm guessing that's why they didn't bother opening? In the pre-show, they now have a tensar barrier infront of the board with the creator names "easter eggs" on, assume that's to stop people vandalising it but odd that's suddenly been done now as I haven't seen anyone do so prior. The walk through to the station was very dark (too dark?!) - they've turned off that car that honks all the time so that's good, especially when we had to wait to load in the station for 10 minutes or so for reasons unknown. Also, incredibly oddly, you can hear the Nemesis Inferno music INSIDE in parts of the ride?! The Launchpad has all the F&B units there - closed, and the flower entrance sign/portal, minus the central sign - so just some flowers on some wood. There were no staff in the car park directing you where to park, so went and charged my EV on the hotel charge points (as the ones in the "main" car park have a number out of action). The entrance bridge looks tired after it's glow up with the rebrand - specifically, a lot of the flags with the new branding are again missing. Appreciate these are effectively small details, but that's the entrance to start (or finish) your day and to me speaks volumes. We felt the staff in general were pretty downbeat/narked/didn't want to be there (which we totally get tbh, but still) - with the exception of a very cheery chap who was at the queue line entrance on Colossus who wished us a good time and an enjoyable ride (Colossus did not adhere to these wishes) and also a queue batcher on Hyperia who commented on my retro Stealth shirt (Human cannonball one). Tiny details but they help make the day more enjoyable. We spotted a ride op on Inferno leaning on the barrier where the train exits the station whilst waiting... now, I'm sure it's probably safe but I don't think I'd put my trust in that with the drop below and probably not in the ride handbook...! So all in all - the park is tired in places (as are the staff) - will we ever see a relaunch of the Sparkle Project because I feel the park needs it (Whilst I'm here - the Stealth tyre entrance is completely faded and unreadable again...). Hyperia still very good indeed and much needed for the park - getting queues of 40-50 minutes on a "dead day" is impressive. Will be interesting to see what 2027 brings, if anything, but it all just feels a bit stale and stagnant at the moment there, tired is the operative word and the state of the flat ride lineup (not that I really ride them, but they serve a purpose) with increased downtime ahead of the busiest time of the season is concerning, and indicative of the age of them all. It seems a done deal that Zodiac isn't coming back this year... Vortex is more of an issue as this is always popular. Hopefully Samurai is nothing too major considering it's work in closed season. One final thing - we actually saw SAW have a 5 minute queue at one point, which is normally unheard of, but for most of the day that thing still pulled in the crowds. Whoever signed that IP has a lot to be thanked for by Merlin.... PS. I await Parm Pap's thoughts on the above.

I'm about to do a post in the 2026 season thread about our visit yesterday, but Nemesis Inferno music was playing INSIDE The Walking Dead yesterday at certain points. No idea what's going on there.

Yes was "on park" yesterday and Stealth is our go-to as a ride that keeps our stomachs in place to fill the time - we love it and it never makes us feel unwell, so it was a touch gutting that Stealth was having problems yesterday. I was concerned that Stealth wasn't going to open all day with the downtime in the morning, so we were glad it did and got two rides, both with a 30 minute queue approx.

It ran absolutely fine all day on Wednesday on 2 trains, just had a 10 minute shutdown towards the end of the day. In the afternoon they closed the front 2 restraints on one of the trains due to issues with them, there didn't seem to be any issues with any of the back ones. Great atmosphere over there and the team were smashing the trains out as per usual. Found myself spending so much more time over at Stealth this year, we're very lucky to have it.

Yeah, agreed there's definitely a lot I would change. Interested to see what they do for Fright Nights this year, hoping theres an effort to change a lot of the ride music.

I was at the park yesterday (10/09/26). Stealth had a bad start to the day. Managed 4 laps then one of the trains had to be pulled off. It remained on reduced capacity for nearly the whole day. Engineers were consistently checking restraints each time the ride broke down which would back up that it was the back row restraints causing issues. Also both trains were finding it very difficult to enter the unloading bay. Very very slow to get round the corner and into the unloading bay. Hopefully they get her healthy again soon. The engineering team really are fantastic with Stealth. I appreciate it as it's my number 1 coaster in the UK. Stealth remains very close to my heart for the reason it's launch is something special. And now a world record holder. It'll be a real sad day when Thorpe get rid. I have to drive 3hr 40 mins each way to get to Stealth. But always it's very worth it. Can just about hack it in a day. P.s thanks to the staff for walking us to Nemesis Inferno fastrack for the breakdowns.

Park music is a bit of a mess right now. There doesn't seem to be consistency, rhyme or reason to what they've done with much of it

On my way in yesterday they were playing pop music at the entrance and on the bridge, unsure why. The Noise anyone? Also noticed Colossus is playing the Imascore lost city music on the lift hill and breakrun now which is nice. Don't think I've mentioned it anywhere but I love the end of day which is played parkwide after park close the last couple of years.

From what I understand, you still don’t need to have a valid RAP booking to get the maze timecard, just a valid Nimbus, so you should be fine to get it for the mazes.

While I don't have an issue with this being implemented, it contradicts what support told me while I was trying to organise my FN booking! I'd been asking how accessibility would work with mazes this year for the past few weeks, since the RAP system underwent significant changes in general. I always thought it odd that there was no timecard for mazes. But yeah, specifically asked about that ahead of making a Shark booking, because I didn't want to go at all if mazes need RAP this year and I can't get RAP for the date of my stay. Initially, staff were uncertain, said they thought you probably wouldn't need dated RAP just for mazes this year, but said get one if you can just to be safe (I've been trying to get one since the release back in August, still no joy!) Just over a week ago, I asked again in case anyone had a solid answer, as I wanted to get on and book the stay before rooms sell out for the 1 specific date I can visit on. The final answer I got from support in the form of an email response was that a RAP booking won't be needed for mazes, only rides. For mazes, just show your access card and you'll be allowed to enter the fast track queue. You can safely go ahead and book your stay at the Shark Cabins... so I did! But then this new info suggests what I was told isn't actually true after all? Or do they not mean that you need a specific dated RAP? You just show your Nimbus Card/Merlin RAP App to prove that you do have an access pass, even if you don't have RAP for the day of your visit? I'm so confused and stressed out by all this, and I don't want any trouble/embarrassment on the day :(

Just checking with someone yesterday to establish their awareness of Stealth's forces, "yeah, I rode it when I was younger!"

Oh wow thank you!! I spent a while on youtube but apparently I didn't look hard enough lol (can't believe they were on the same channel as the vid I linked)

Nice. Should get some interest.

That YouTube channel has all the videos. As you said, the one you posted was the first. And though this wasn't a teaser, it was posted shortly after the name reveal: I believe that the Saw IP was confirmed reasonably late in the process - my understanding is that it could have even been after the first teaser video was released.

Pretty cool idea. Price / sign-up style will be interesting.

For those interested, Thorpe will soon be selling 205 pieces of a launch cable. Looks like they will also be putting on a 2 hour ERT for Stealth but no date confirmed yet. You can sign up for more information here - https://www.thorpepark.com/newsletter-sign-up-stealth/

It is that surprising that the queueline shop for the ride with the longest and slowest queues in the park is generating the highest revenues? Imagine if they sold ear defenders in it. No surprise with the merch either. One of the few positive things Merlin really has is their merchandising. It was always going to be a success from a business perspective.

Yep that worked, the area around Hyperia in generally has a really bad atmosphere, full of entitlement from a load of guests, unbearably long queues driven by a low capacity headliner, exceedingly long RAP queues and it being the only ride people want to use their VIP fastrack on. It's the perfect success story for a company like Merlin.

Those financial figures seem incredible. It always seems odd when sat on other rides, to realize that the person next to you has a pair of Hyperia wings on.

I came across this which I found quite interesting https://creativepool.com/merlinentertainments/projects/hyperia-experiental-award-for-merlin-entertainments?utm_source=chatgpt.com It’s Merlin’s entry for Hyperia in the 2025 Creativepool Awards, a few things I found particularly interesting: Hyperia was specifically designed with teenagers in mind, with Merlin saying one of the aims was to 'reignite the passion' of teenagers for Thorpe Park Within just a few months, Hyperia had achieved a 9.6/10 Product Score, while Thorpes Net Promoter Score increased by 12% year on year 46,154 Hyperia merchandise items had been sold, with the shop generating £698k. This was £385k more than expected The queueline shop generated £240k, making it the best performing queueline shop on site Merlin says Hyperia directly contributed to increased visitation, with many guests specifically saying Hyperia was the reason for their visit

Just seen this on the Fright Nights page - https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/events/halloween-fright-nights/ Good addition regarding the timecards for RAP holders for the mazes. Before there was no timeout of any kind. This does however seem to confirm that Fasttrack queues are being added to the mazes this year, which is really disappointing to see. With paid mazes there is no reason there should be queues in my opinion. They know the rough throughput they can get on the mazes and should only be selling that amount of tickets for them per timeslot.

A look at some theming: Worth noting this is a different / new company for the park to use for building mazes.

A few extra details from the Thorpe Park Blog: https://thorpepark.com/blog/new-maze-2026-announcement/ That confirms we're seeing Haunted Lantern style technology, whereby the light guests are given are controlled by your location in the maze. The blog also says that Rebel Ball is at the Launchpad. An interesting wrinkle is about Survival Games: On the one shot purchasing, it has been edited from last year, to say that actors "will" touch you and you will be split up, as opposed to you 'may'. However, it is still listed as 13+ there.