All Activity

I think my biggest issue with it is the fact they've marketed it...like at all. In its current guise, it's an area with some seats and more space to spread out at start of day / evening. That doesn't need any marketing, videos, etc. The fact they spoke about it being a place to watch Football World Cup games when the majority of games take place outside of opening hours (and even overnight) shows it's a desperate ploy to just get people talking. Its potential is great, with space for a stage, etc. The idea of using it to show big TV events is good too. But right now, the potential isn't bring realised. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a thing...so long as they do eventually realise said potential. So yeah, in its current guise, it won't be used much. That's fine. It's a space to open up that part of the park and be a bit quieter. And that didn't need as much pushing as it got. Let's just hope they can utilise it in the future.

Before I potentially gain a whole new arsenal in Blackpool tomorrow, I’ve got a number of throughput timings to report from recent trips! Alton Towers Nemesis Reborn (Theoretical: 1,400pph on 2 trains) - 1,130pph (2 trains, average of 5, 24th April 2026) The Smiler (Theoretical: 1,200pph on 5 trains) - 722pph (4 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 5, 24th April 2026) Wicker Man (Theoretical: 952pph on 3 trains) - 920pph (3 trains, average of 3, 24th April 2026) Note: The ride briefly went down after this, so this reading might be slightly unreliable. That was a quiet day at Alton Towers, so I wasn’t overly concerned about timing throughputs and frankly didn’t have the time to on a lot of rides (throughput timing is a secondary priority to riding!), but on the whole, operations seemed strong throughout the day! Oblivion was on 1 station, which was the only minor detractor, but as it was a quiet day, I didn’t think it was massively concerning. Thorpe Park Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 841pph (2 trains, average of 3, 12th May 2026), 833pph (2 trains, average of 9, 12th May 2026) Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 1,023pph (2 trains, average of 3, 12th May 2026) Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations) - 789pph (unknown number of cars/2 stations, average of 3 dual dispatches, 12th May 2026) Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 906pph (2 trains, average of 6, 12th May 2026) As with Towers above, it was a very quiet day and I wasn’t overly concerned about timing operations, but on the whole, throughputs seemed really strong throughout the day! Hyperia and Stealth in particular seemed to have excellent operations given the low crowd levels! Paultons Park Drakon (Theoretical: Unknown on 3 cars) - 593pph (3 cars, average of 10, 16th May 2026) Farmyard Flyer (Theoretical: Unknown on 1 train) - 284pph (1 train, average of 2, 16th May 2026) Flight of the Pterosaur (Theoretical: 650pph on 1 train) - 465pph (1 train, average of 3, 16th May 2026) Raven (Theoretical: 720pph on unknown number of cars) - 447pph (3 or 4 (?) cars, average of 10, 16th May 2026) Storm Chaser (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 886pph (2 trains, average of 2, 16th May 2026), 790pph (2 trains, average of 3, 16th May 2026) Velociraptor (Theoretical: 750pph on 1 train) - 586pph (1 train, average of 4, 16th May 2026) I’ve often said that Paultons doesn’t have overly strong operations, but this was my first time scrutinising them properly since 2021 (my 2025 visit was so quiet that there was no point even trying!), and I perhaps hadn’t given them enough credit previously, to be fair. Operations across the park were generally very good and prompt, for the most part! Maybe there are areas for improvement, but I thought levels of urgency given the hardware the park are working with were generally strong.

has anyone heard any rumours about the door at thorpe park? I have and it goes like this door, door! noise, noise! door... BBBBBBBBBBBAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Love Walibi Belgium. Its a great park with such a good mix of rides. Solid water rides, dark rides, a drop tower, flats, Kondaaa. And a new RMC for 2028 is finally official now too... Walibi Belgium gets world-class rollercoaster: wooden roller coaster is converted - higher, faster and longer than Untamed - Looopings Can't wait for this. I've never been a huge fan Loup Garou, and having anther headline coaster to go with Konda is going to make the park even better. I thought it would use a lot of the same structure and expected similar to Untamed, so quite surprised to see they've gone for 160 ft. Not complaining though!

To be honest, I think its a wasted opportunity at the moment. - No comfy seating - Lacks shade / shelter - Theres a small retail unit which just sells icecreams I believe but I think its mad not have a bar + food unit there Will be interesting to see how it develops and what the area is used for in the future, but I think it says a lot that hardly anyone seems to be using it and sitting in other areas instead.

Visited the park for first time in over a decade. Would you believe things are very different? The ride lineup has markedly improved. Mediocrity was king, and now Kondaa, Mecaladon and Tiki-Waka help to have rideable coasters (ok Turbine was and still is fab). Mecaladon in particular is a great family coaster. That the kid can ride that and Calamity Mine (just!) but Runaway Mine Train at Towers is too much is hilarious to me. Kondaaaaaaaaaaaaaa is a great coaster too. #600 for me after some recent hectic visits to Gullivers parks to boost that cred count. Certainly preferred it to Hyperia, helped by it having a decent layout and using the height (though smaller than I realised) well. The bunny hops at the end in back row are also nonsense. Low end of the top 10 for me. Pulsar is fab. Need more of these in existence. That boat should lumber along but instead it zooms along. Unfortunately only got to do it once as it died a death later on and needed to get the train home. Apparently Vampire and Loup-Garou were running terribly. Fortunately I didn't have to ride them. The park itself looks nice with the recent area spruce ups, though a few rides are in conflicting areas (Silverton the worst offender) which might get fixed soon maybe. Yeah, good day and a solid cred count boost. Helped by the park being utterly dead even with a few school groups about so still 5-10 minute queues for everything.

How has the launchpad been since it opened? I haven’t seen it yet, but from the photos I was expecting a lot more seating, making it a place people could go to around lunchtime etc. It also seems very exposed with little shade or rain cover. Interested to see how the update has been

I was at Thorpe on Monday for one of the 9pm closes too. Ride availability was pretty poor. One of 'those' Thorpe days - though they are fewer and further between now. I don't think the heat can take the full blame for availability (beyond Stealth, as hydraulic launches do typically struggle in heat), but certainly can't have been a good factor. In saying that, I had a good time, and there were a good number of people there until close. Was it rammed? No. Was it lively enough though? Yes. Obviously the extreme heat won't have helped, and the May half term is usually the quietest one of the school holidays (I think, in part, due to it being around exam season, so a chunk of your core demographic are actually less likely to do bigger days out). So I don't think the 9pm closes being quiet are a 'bad' thing in any way. I find it funny seeing the discourse around that if the parks are quiet on late closes, then they won't do them again. Isn't part of the reason to spread crowds out more throughout the day, improving rides per guest and overall giving guests better experiences. I think, on the whole, the late closes achieved that.

boop beep boop beep boop beep boo boo beep, *head turns round nod nod nod waaaaaaaar, waaaaaaaaaaaaaar, waaaaaaaaaaaaaarr r, clangclang, clang, clang late nights, quiet, wind, and rain, hot sun, too hot, injustice, and cash summer lates, summer lates, ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh! stones, cars, travel, stones, cars, travel car park, car park, car park car park, ah! ah! summer lates, summer lates, oooooooooooooooooooooooh! our money, our money, our our our money, chin chin! boop bupp boop beep, boop bupp boop beep it all means something summer lates, summer lates, ooooooooooooooooooooooh! scary info, coming soon, whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

So, now the 9pm closures are over. How does everything think they went? And do we think we'll see any more? They certainly filtered out a lot into the evenings with very short queues, but I wouldn't say they were completely deserted and still had quite a lot of people stay. I think the heatwave may have had an impact on attendance, with people either not visiting at all or leaving early due to the heat. I know on Monday they struggled with ride availability and activated free returns, and a lot of people left due to the combination or poor ride availability and the heat. Interestingly, when I woke up the other morning I noticed this had been posted on Merlins facebook page. Seemed to have been posted around midnight but it has since been removed 👀

I completely agree. Its so unnecessary. There was a period they removed it a few years ago but then it came back for some reason. Same with the queue line music, they reverted it back to the original soundtrack for a while and then changed it back to Imascore. Would love for that to be changed back to the original, and then have the the Imascore play in the wider 'jungle' area. I love having the original back on Colossus. Also Saws dispatch has disappeared so would be nice for that to come back. Yeah not sure, but ever since the PLC change its always played when the trains ready for dispatch. Must admit I did prefer it when it played earlier but its fine how it is now.

Closed all day today, hope nothing serious has happened. Failed to launch 3 times yesterday, mostly due to the drive tyres in the station failing to work properly. Hopefully back up again soon!

Oh. I'm not technical at all, but was it really not possible to resync it back to the last restraint closing trigger with the new PLC?!

Why not fill in the gap at the start to fit with the rest, with this: Please adhere, the journey will soon dispose. Your ride on Colossus is about to begin. Please keep your arms inside the train, your feet on the floor. And brace yourselves at all times. Once again, your ride on Colossus is about to begin. Please keep your arms inside the train, your feet on the floor. And brace yourselves at all times.

I really wish they could drop the “place your heads back and brace your selves” from the inferno dispatch announcement and have it back to how it was with the thuds as they pressed dispatch before it went into the music, I know a few years ago they went through and added pre dispatch safety announcements to all rides but since then Hyperia has opened and didn’t seem to need one so would be nice if Inferno could have the same!

They extended hours till 9 23rd - 25th May. Lates at Thorpe Park: May Half Term Extended Hours

The app is showing that the park was open until 9pm tonight. Is that normal for a bank holiday?

The Colossus station announcement has been changed very slightly, they've cut out the 'Please stand clear the gates are about to close' and now just starts with 'Your ride on Colossus is about to begin' Makes sense seeing as they've already closed the airgates when they play the announcement now.

Presumably the only reason it isn't splashing those standing at the end of the drop, is because the water I isn't filled to the usual level?

On Stealth today and a guy next to me announced that he first rode it twenty-five years ago. What large sticker is on the front of each train? 20 years old. He must have had heat stroke.

Love the nod/Easter Egg to the old entrance screen with some dead pixels on the BRAND NEW SCREEN.

Depth Charge opened at 9:30 today, and launch pad has opened. I’ve heard Depth Charge is now going to open daily at 9:30, with it being right next to Launch Pad. Big fan of that. It gives people something else to do in the morning and helps bring some kinetic energy to the area.

SAW wasn't a planned closure and did originally show as 'Delayed opening' early on. Colossus is planned to be back open tomorrow, and hopefully whatevers up with SAW can be sorted asap with half next week.

Both Colossus and Saw closed today, I wonder if the maintenance on Colossus means saw can’t open? Who knows!

I must admit, I wasn't particularly excited for Drakon either, I think euro-fighters are kinda boring and things like the Mack big dipper are far more versatile and interesting. That being said, Paultons know their target audience incredibly well and have built a ride that caters to that. Obviously Drakon is a massive step up from Storm Chaser in terms of thrill. To be honest I'm far more excited for Serpents Curse. I cannot believe that no other UK park has chased the UK's first water coaster title frankly and I think it's a brilliant choice for Paultons for 2027. One thing I really like about Paultons is how each caters for the different family members. Take Valgard, it has the thrill coaster, the family coaster, the family flat ride, the play area for kids and in 2027 the water attraction as well as the kids water ride. They pack so much into small areas and theres no wasted space.