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All the black metal fencing behind the boards has been removed. I think the fright nights scenario will become true

Interesting to hear/read about the troubles Towers are having (again) this season, with staggered opening and many rides not opening until well after opening time if at all. I have heard a lot about a shortage of engineers being one of the main causes of all the problems. My thought.... Has Alton Towers just become bigger than is feasible to operate? It's an enormous site with actually quite a few rides, not to mention the 6 hotels.... If you think about the sheer number of staff required to (for example) run a hotel, let alone six, as well as maintain and run the opening routines on all the rides across such a large site, it equates to a huge number of people. When you also think about how remote the location is, they need to draw employees in from far and wide, which is going to be difficult for a company that doesn't appear to have the money to compete with other companies who might attract the same staff. Considering AT isn't open all year, and thus isn't making money for a portion of the year, AND the fact that many of the staff are seasonal, it must be a constant headache to fully staff such an enormous place. When you compare this situation with that of Thorpe Park's for example, as an outsider at least, it would appear that running a smaller park with fewer aspects (no hotels, smaller site, closer to towns/cities for employment etc) is more advantageous.

Went over the weekend. It is... problematic at the moment it feels. Yesterday the only thrill rides open were Toxicator, Nemesis, Rita and Wickerman. Even CBeebies Land had rides late opening so the families didn't feel left out either. The lack of supporting ride line up is telling. Heave Ho had a 20 minute queue at one point! Having things like Oblivion and RMT closed puts such a strain on the rest of the park, where the 11am openings drag things down even further. Families I think are at a loss for those not quite at 1.2m even more so currently. Something easily solved by filling in the currently abandoned spots that once homed flat rides. Yet there's no appetite. Wickerman's batching is still terrible. The pre-pre-show is asking for trouble the way they just let all the queues at merge enter. Smiler yesterday was quoting a 2.5 hour queue when it eventually opened. 90 minutes SRQ and "extended waits" for Fastrack and RAP. Fastrack was the prioritised queueline and the wheelchair lift for Smiler is currently broken. So yay for RAP users. Genuinely believe that if we didn't have RAP we wouldn't bother visiting.

Completely agree. Overall the park looks pretty fresh and they're on form operationally as we've come to expect the last few years. I'm disappointed the Colossus repaint wasn't finished though. I know Thorpe had Hyperia but it does feel Thorpe has lacked ££ out of the merlin parks. - Chessington has had a serious amount of investment the last few years. Jumanji, Paw Patrol land, and minecraft land next year. - Towers has had Nemmy retrack, Toxicator, millions on skyride refurb, and new family coaster within the last 3 years. Would love to see a new flat on the Slammer site next season to complement Hyperia, and a new major investment on the Rumba site or island behind Swarm before universal opening in 2031 would be fab.

Really nice to see. Likely pre-planned and then announced today to make people feel like they got bonus time. After having visited for a couple of preview days, it does feel like Thorpe is still on form operationally. It's a shame that Tidal and Zodiac aren't ready for the start of season. Depth Charge is also currently closed, which might be because of work on The Launchpad. It's equally a shame Launchpad isn't ready, but I imagine that's because of planning delays. There's been a few bits of work here and there across the park. New paving to replace tired paving. It's basic but does the job. New signs and paintwork in Saw's plaza. New effects in Walking Dead. Detonator repainted. But equally, the park feels effectively the same as when Hyperia opened (minus, of course, Rumba now). Last year, there was only one new food outlet (the Dessert place between Tidal and Ghost Train, replacing the Apple Fries unit). This year, no new food units, and only a couple of menu changes (though the Boulevard Bites menu is good and reasonably priced). Now when Hyperia first opened, and in general all the TLC that happened for 2024 with Project Sparkle, Thorpe felt fresh and alive again. And they could afford to ride that wave for a bit and milk it. But I think that that wave is petering out and they do need some bigger refreshes or something new of note now to sustain visitation. So yeah, much the same as before, but should be a good season ahead. Hopefully things like weather and such play ball for the park.

About time to move this to The Past now... Who loves blue boards? Interestingly there is a gate amongst those boards. A big gate; the type that would traditionally exist for vehicular access. Whilst I don't think there's immediate plans for work to happen, it at least seems like they're planning for that to happen

Went to Towers on Friday for Alton After Dark. This was my first time visiting since 2024 as I only bothered with a Thorpe pass last year. Some mixed thoughts but overall had a great day and it wasn't too busy. Oblivion was closed for the day unfortunately which was a shame. It wasn't staffed and has now been added to ride availability page so may be closed for a while. A shame, but these things happen and can't be helped. Having 7 rides closed for the day though (including Monorail and Skyride) is totally unacceptable and needs to be sorted as soon as possible. I can understand having the couple of water rides closed if it was solely them closed, but when you have them as well as all the others closed its just poor. Disappointing to have the Skyride closed after having millions spent on it the last couple years. Along with that they have a number of staggered openings with major coasters opening at 11, which again is really poor. The only thrill rides that actually opened on time on Friday was Rita, Wicker man and Nemesis. Every other thrill ride closed. Its a very poor first impression. Once things started opening up ride availability was actually very good and I only witnessed a couple of breakdowns. - Thirteen was on 3 trains but the bag drop was closed when I first went on around 1pm which meant throughput was pretty dire. Having 3 trains stacking is something I hadn't seen before but was happening regularly. Thankfully later on it did open. Having the SRQ back on Thirteen was great! - Galactica was running 2 crafts 1 station achieving a throughput of under 600. Nice to have the SRQ back but was a painful wait with such slow operations and sending empty seats a number of times. - Wickerman was on 2 trains achieving around 700-800 an hour. Bag drop were having issues keeping up which meant a queue on the exit stairs causing them to send empty trains at one point. Onto the positives... - Toxicator is a fantastic edition and looks great. The cycle is decent enough, has good intensity at the end but not too much that it puts people off going on. A shame to see the fountains off and water drained though only 1 year after opening. The lights on the gondola weren't on at night either. - Smiler was running really well. Was running 4 trains and they were smashing the trains out. Could definitely do with a clean up at certain parts though. - Nemesis was riding great. Had quite a few rides on various seats and didn't notice any rattle at all. I've always been a big Nemesis fan and was initially a little disappointed with Nemesis Reborn, but theres no arguing that what they've done with the area is fantastic and I'm glad they spent the money on it. I forgot just how good Nemesis looks in the dark now too. World class with all the new lighting and smoke effects. 100% my favorite night ride in the UK! - Curse was great and easily my favourite dark ride in the country. Getting back on Hex was good also. Overall was a good day and great to get back. Towers has so much potential and theres so much I love about the place, but its very frustrating seeing it being run they way it is. 7 rides closed all day, limited capacity on major coasters, and staggered ride openings is just poor. Dark Forest and X sector are both in desperate need of a supporting flat in my opinion too.

Hours extended today for passholders day from 11-5 to 10:30-6 which was a nice surprise, even with the park really quiet.

Looks great. I'm not usually a big one for IPs but I think this is one of the better ones and this has potential to be great as long as Merlin spend the money on it. Throughput could be a problem for this. Saying that though, this is Chessington so it doesn't have much competition, this could probably still have one of the best throughputs on park 🤣

Woo. Everyone's talking about it. Brand new theme park focused on Minecraft. Theres no way that intamin is going to have a high enough capacity for the crowds this area will attract.

We'll turn this thread into a Minecraft World thread, which has been officially announced for 2027: Minecraft World | Opening 2027 at ChessingtonA world-first, fully immersive Minecraft‑inspired theme park land, inspired by the game’s most iconic biomes, mobs and items. Sign up to find out more! The announcement says it will feature a "world first roller coaster". Given that it'll likely be an Intamin multi-dimension coaster (given the plans and art shown), I expect this will be some not yet seen trick track element

I agree. Years ago they had quite a few things closed at the start of the season and 1 train on Colossus for months for example but last few seasons they've been on it! Long may it continue.

Fantastic news about Zodiac seemingly making a comeback soon. It seems Thorpe are a lot more prepared for the season ahead than Alton Towers, which has several rides closed for the foreseeable future, and is continuing to struggle to open rides at opening time every day. Hopefully Thorpe will be able to continue with their good operations and availability that they’ve had for several years now. It’s encouraging to see only 2 rides listed to be closed, for just 2 days at that.

Thorpe ParkRide Availability Information | Thorpe Park ResortCheck live ride availability on the Thorpe Park App, including real-time updates on ride closures and maintenance. Plan your visit with confidence today! Ride availability page updated to show that Tidal Wave and Zodiac will be closed this weekend. It specifically states 21-22nd March so will be interesting to see if they open next week. Zodiac was closed most of last season and has last operated in June (?) I believe but looks like it'll be making a return this season. The gondolas which were removed last season have been added back on and it looks like all the gondolas have been tidied up. All the old branding Thorpe logos have been removed.

Teacups confirmed removal for 2027.

hello, merlin manager, can you help us? merlin manager: spoon in mug, spoon in mug, spoon in mug now, mug in tea, mug in tea, mug in teaaaaaaaaaa

Can I throw Second Detonator Tower in the ring? Would make the repaint make sense, as the second one will be brand new.

Guess who decided to break the day before it's 20th birthday... 🤣 Apparently a loud noise was heard from the launch bunker on Saturday, and engineers were seen walking up and down the launch track; it tested once afterwards then nothing. We can't ever have things run smoothly can we..

Top Spin: The Musical?

There's a whisper of someone saying a new show should go in the Arena too...

Maybe.... there is some sort of higher power after all. Russ would be proud.

Another square for Thorpe Bingo everyone!

All those years, and just in time for the fears of gas prices set to increase massively again it's installed. I reckon it won't happen, but I'd like to be wrong!

Boarding is going up: It was a rehearsal day today. I fully expect the whole ride to be covered, the sign to be removed and the boarding to have something on by opening.

No sign of that I'm afraid!