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Some would say it's the past of theme parks.

It was the future of theme parks 10 years ago. So that means it is actually now the present of theme parks.

Sonic Spinball had to be rethemed for similar reasons, the allegations that Knuckles filed meant they had to quickly drop the brand in closed season so it's definitely possible they could reopen as just David Land and drop the Walliams.

The talk of Ghost Train baffles me, as it's the future of theme parks.

Closed season bingo!

Get a TopSpin whilst we're at it plz. Obviously the space is a prime location for a flat ride. Thinking bigger, they could get rid of the tented food place next to it (whose name I cannot be bothered to recall) and fit in a compact, but still worthwhile, coaster. The unrealistic but awesome dream would be the fact that removing The Walking Dead, Ghost Train and the tented food place opens up a huge space for a brand new land which could have an indoor attraction, roller coaster and flat ride. Effectively it serves as like for like replacements (replacing a coaster and indoor ride with a coaster, indoor ride and a flat), but a blank slate would be best for that area. It would never happen, but in la la land, it's what I'd love to see.

I think one wild swing would only physically fit lmao

2 Nebulas and an ART wild swing please. It should be government mandated that every park has these rides.

not yet, this is literally the only time I’m begging for jack silkstone to give us an update about the project

I’m wondering if maybe they’ll hold out for X to finally be removed. Its plot combined with Slammer’s one is quite large. It becomes even larger if they also decided to remove the tent restaurant area, and becomes massive if they also demolish the Ghost Train building. That would leave a huge space right in the middle of the park for something big.

They'll just remove any mention of him, the rides will probably remain for a short while.

If Annual Passes still exist then you can bet all the RAP will be gone.

The area is crap anyway so destroying it is probably the best bet. Towers is depressing at best of times but that section is just dead.

like literally you can just put anything there, either a new ride, a new restaurant, longer queue for dead beat, or just picnic benches (I propose moving bpb's skyforce to here, perfect neighbor for hyperia)

I said a couple of years ago that Merlin slowly turning to people as IPs could come back to bite them. Walliams, Derren Brown, that YouTuber Daz, etc. All it takes is one unsavoury claim against them and it puts Merlin in a hugely difficult (and totally preventable) situation. I'm not saying that any of those people are problematic (okay, Walliams definitely seemed dodgy, but the other two definitely not), but it was always a risk. Obviously there's still nothing confirmed in terms of Walliams. If Towers kept Walliams World during his previous controversies, I don't see why they would get rid now. The bigger issue is, if something came out confirmed tomorrow, what would they do? They wouldn't realistically have the time or associated funds to retheme it for season start, so it'd surely be just closing the area. Or very very hastily removing all Walliams references and just keeping Gangsta Granny closed in a best case scenario.

Merlin have announced that they have contracted out the maintenance and operations side of the park to OCS. They must have looked at the roaring customer satisfaction success of the food and beverage side of the buisness and decided lets have more of that. A theme park lives and dies by the customers experience. If you contract out every aspect that the customer deals with you have no control over your business.

With the David Walliams allegations today in the mainstream media surely The World of David Walliams land is now untenable. Especially the nature of the allegations against young women. With Merlin's current financial difficulties this is clearly the worst possible timing. Do you think the land will remain closed throughout 2026 or is there enough time for a bodged retheme?

Have all their weekend RAP allocation been booked up yet? Obviously only GOOD parks have that nonsense happen.

The opening times for the 2026 season have appeared (subject to change). They're very similar to 2025: https://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/opening-times/ Season starts on 27th March and finishing on 1st November, with 13 closed days during this time (mostly in September, with a couple of Wednesdays in April/May). The park closes at 5pm on weekdays, 6pm on weekends and school holidays and 7pm in August. Fright Nights starts on 2nd October and runs for 24 days up until 1st November, closing again at 9pm nightly. They're not bad opening hours for what we have on offer in the UK. I'll forever stay in the camp of saying I'd want later closing times for Fright Nights still, and it would be nice to see them experiment again with later closes over summer. But for now, it feels positive that there's no reduction on the decent times that we currently have, especially given some of the wider uncertainty that Merlin feels like it gives off.

This is very good news. As I've said elsewhere, it will be fascinating to see a theme park created from scratch. Good luck to those who now see it as an employment opportunity.

We've got a green light from the government, this is happening! BBC NewsUniversal Studios gets green light to be built in Bedford...The park is expected to attract more than eight million annual visitors and open in 2031. Construction will start next year if all goes to plan.

Just for Josh, (who did his top 10% in 2024 as well), here is the rest of my top 10% from (11-61). This won't be in any order because after the top 10, it becomes impossible to put them in preference order. On any given day I could prefer Oz'Iris to Taron and so forth. Stardust Racers Yellow Oz'Iris Katun Helix Wodan Blue Fire Copperhead Strike Afterburn Wildcats Revenge Stealth Black Mamba Fly Superman la Atrocciones de acero Manta/Acrobat Incredible Hulk iSpeed Shambhala Kumba Griffon Alpengeist Juvelen The Smiler Medusa (discovery kingdom) Tatsu Taron Alpina Blitz (Nigloland) Monster (Walygator) Icon Karnan Flug der Demon Raging Bull Twisted Timbers Behemoth Magnum XL 2000 Maverick Gatekeeper Untamed Dwiverlwind Velocicoaster Monster (Grona Lund) Wildfire (Kolmarden) Hyperion Abyssus Dominator Pantheon Farenheight Candymonium Mako Steel Dragon 2000 Nitro El Toro Batman Gotham city Escape Iron Grawzi Goliath (Six Flags over Georgia) Aerieforce One Thunderhead The Beast Fianna Force The Voyage Piraten Dragons Fury I love lists so much.

Would love to see a Intamin Sky Jump at the park would be a great addition to fearless valley with Hyperia.

YES ! I love it too! I really don’t understand why it’s so overlooked 🤷‍♂️ Fantastic ride that doesn’t get the love it deserves!

Here is my absolute Top 10: 1 Toutatis Parc Asterix 2 Taron Phantasialand 3 Taiga Linnanmäki 4 Untamed Walibi Holland 5 Skyrush Hersheypark 6 Helix Liseberg 7 Oz'Iris Parc Asterix 8 Balder Liseberg 9 Der Schwur des Kärnan Hansa Park 10 Phoenix Knoebels At the same time, it feels a huge disservice to not mention so many incredible rides I've ridden. As my coaster count has risen, I've found a "Top 10%" is a still-arbitrary, but more reflective, view of my absolute favourites. So without further ado, here's my 11-43 ranks... 11 Kondaa Walibi Belgium 12 Hyperia Thorpe Park 13 Lost Gravity Walibi Holland 14 Jersey Devil Coaster Six Flags Great Adventure 15 Joris en de Draak (Water) Efteling 15 Joris en de Draak (Vuur) Efteling 16 Colossos - Kampf der Giganten Heide Park 17 Manta SeaWorld Abu Dhabi 18 Kingda Ka Six Flags Great Adventure 19 Candymonium Hersheypark 20 Goliath Walibi Holland 21 Nemesis Alton Towers 22 El Toro (SFGAd) Six Flags Great Adventure 23 Troy Toverland 24 Black Mamba Phantasialand 25 Mahuka Walibi Rhône-Alpes 26 Fønix Fårup Sommerland 27 Flying Aces Ferrari World Abu Dhabi 28 Hyperion Energylandia 29 Lisebergbanan Liseberg 30 Van Helsing's Factory Movie Park Germany 31 Juvelen Djurs Sommerland 32 Batman Gotham City Escape Parque Warner Madrid 33 Pulsar Walibi Belgium 34 Voltron Europa Park 35 Silver Star Europa Park 36 Shambhala PortAventura Park 37 Nitro (SFGAd) Six Flags Great Adventure 38 Nemesis Inferno Thorpe Park 39 Storm - The Dragon Legend TusenFryd 40 Colorado Adventure Phantasialand 41 The Storm Coaster Dubai Hills Mall 42 Lech Coaster Legendia 43 Mission Ferrari Ferrari World Abu Dhabi Only Kondaa is new to the list in 2025, although there's been a bit of movement too. After riding RMC Single Rails YoY at Walibi Holland a couple of months back and not really rating them, I expect Jersey Devil wouldn't be anywhere near as high up if I re-rode it. But who knows.