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Booked a visit for over the Xmas period. Can't wait to get back there! Danse Macabre is an amazing attraction!

moving is a difficult job, and not desirable but capital is limited, ding, dong, and guest numbers are waning, ding, dong these are desperate times. something 'new' to bring the hype, with a new name and theme, is the mega saving worth the scares of the hassle?

Visited Efteling just over a week ago, I absolutely love this park and was very pleased to get on Dance Macabre for the first time (twice!). I hadn’t looked at any videos, pictures or reviews of it so really didn’t know what to expect other than it’s a bit like a ‘show’. It was incredible! Very immersive, surprising, mesmerising, and magical. I found the story quite loose but the charm made up for it! A wonderful transition from the old into the new.

👀

I think the thing is, there's pros and cons to both. dunelm has more going for it with the whole full product scenario, but for bargains of the home variety, can you really beat home bargins? what do you prefer?

Thorpe Park now post on the forum under the alias' Jart and Parm Pap.

Not at all. The park changed strategy, and realised that they could communicate with more people through social media (which, 10 years ago, was a growing sector for brands to utilise). And then the way people consume online content changed, focused more on videos via social media rather than text/forums/websites.

soooo what happened, was there a shakeup that caused thorpe to back out?

Thorpe Park Mania was once the official fan site for Thorpe Park. One of the many perks of this was that Thorpe Park ran that account on the forum, using it to answer fan questions, add context to decisions and also just have a bit of fun with fans. It was similar to the Annual Passholder group they ran a couple of years ago to be fair.

idk why but I found out that thorpe park once was pretty active in this forum until around 10 years ago, so is there a reason why they even decided to be here of all places? (also funnily enough today I gave the account its first badge, 10 years after it went offline)

Would also be worth noting that Megaphobia is designed to suit the terrain it sits upon. That in of itself would cause a headache and require a mass recalculation and redesign of the supporting structure to suit a new position. They'd be 100% better off building and designing something dedicated for the park. As long as they remember to build a complete layout this time.

I see, thank you for explaining. I take it I’m reading too much into this and it’s simply a tease for some upcoming ‘Project Fobia’ or attraction name?

Moving coasters, though cheaper than getting a new coaster, is still a costly and time-consuming exercise. The logistics are a lot more difficult when dealing with a wooden coaster... I'm struggling to recall the last time a wooden roller coaster was relocated. The only example I can think of was more than 50 years ago. The other coasters from Oakwood have gone to other parks owned by Aspro, making it an easier and cheaper deal in that regard. It'd be a huge surprise if Thorpe went for Megafobia, or frankly if any park did.

Not exactly, but yes I did pick the name for that reason. I have no relation to the park though.

Marp backwards is Parm.

Whats so unlikely about Megafobia moving to Thorpe park? Oakwood closed and has sold off other coasters already. It was recently retracked, highly rated and fills a gap in the Thorpe Park lineup. It would just about fit in the area occupied by Ghost Train and some food stalls (which will presumably move to the updated Project Pivot area) Unless you mean the wishful Intamin multi-launch and Xtreme spinner guesses, in which case I agree 😛

Closed season has been what, a couple of days off of Towers and already we've seen the wildest suggestion that will not happen at all. Next year is gonna be a lot of expectation for what's next. But given Merlin's situation at the moment I'm not sure what can be expected.

Wait a second.. I think I’m totally wrong. The clue is ‘fobia’, and earlier that ‘something mega may be to come’. Is the park buying Megafobia from Oakwood? A woodie would be a great addition! Especially if you RMC it 👀

Pretty much confirms ‘Phobia Phear Coaster’ to me 😛 It would make a lot of sense for the park. Small footprint and relatively cheap, so can act as a big upgrade from Ghost Train. Different from anything else we have and quite marketable as the UK’s first swing-launch coaster. Plus another set of modern lap bar restraints to add to the comfort & thrill! Not a world class ride like Hyperia, but a welcome upgrade. A great addition in this long window before we hopefully see a heavy hitter built on the new island (please be an RMC 🙏)

some options are being considered, many are possible, one is cheaper. phobia is the traditional spelling, but in this case, the thrills may exceed the normal levels of fear

They removed all rides that were closed for the buyout days, Tidal Wave too. There was actually some sign of life on on the last day of the season. Engineers around all day and some spinning (not lifting) so hopefully its not over just yet for Zodiac! Zodiac always looks brilliant at night so that was certainly missed during Fright Nights this year.

Its dissappeared from the queue app a few days ago.

Earlier in the year there were also hints “Spiiiiiin, click click click click spiiiiiin” and “there may be some x citing news to come” Both of these could point to a Mack Xtreme Spinner, which would be incredible! Fits with the LSM launch, but I don’t see a connection to the phobia or foto clues.

I made an account just to have a guess! Veloxrotaphobia is the fear of rollercoasters. There was also a clue in another thread which heavily suggests an LSM launch: “They turned the launch to magnet spaces” If the clue above implies we should take the part before ‘phobia’, is it a stretch to say that ‘veloxtora’ sounds like ‘velocicoaster’? Could they be planning an Intamin multi launch coaster similar to Velocicoaster/Taiga? Alternatively, if the clue is ‘phobia’, a much less exciting answer might be a Premier Rides Sky Rocket II model. ‘Phobia Phear Coaster’ matches the photo/foto hint quite well. I imagine this would be considerably cheaper, and we keep hearing about Merlin budget cuts. With slammer having finally been removed, my best guess is a Sky Rocket II replacing DBGT and the old slammer site, to bide their time for a massive headliner on the island behind Swarm for the parks 50th anniversary.

Just to go back to the topic of attendance, it is really worth stressing that the TEA Attendance Report is not accurate for Thorpe / Merlin. This graph is from the Hyperia consultation, including numbers up to 2020: The Queue Times website also has these numbers listed, as well as numbers from the TEA Report: https://queue-times.com/parks/2/attendances#reference4 Just for some reference: 2019: Thorpe say 1.49m, TEA say 1.9m 2018: Thorpe say 1.59m, TEA say 1.88m 2017: Thorpe say 1.54m, TEA say 1.8m 2016: Thorpe say 1.62m, TEA say 1.8m 2015: Thorpe say 1.51m, TEA say 1.85m 2014: Thorpe say 1.83m, TEA say 2.1m etc, etc. As you can see, there's years when the actual attendance has gone down, but TEA say it's gone up, and vice versa. But there is no rhyme or reason. So it is certainly possible that 2024 saw an increase in attendance compared to 2023 at Thorpe. As Benin says, the late opening of Hyperia followed by its extended downtime will have hurt attendance. But once it did get running, it ran well and was a draw. Was that enough to outweigh and then eventually beat what was a quiet, but consistent, 2023? It felt like it, but we'll never truly know.