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I wouldn’t be overly surprised if Legoland gets primary school trip groups rather than secondary school ones like Thorpe and Alton. I went to Paultons last week (which is probably similarly pitched in terms of target age demographic) and there was a Year 6 school trip group there. I never went on theme park trips when I was a Year 6 (only 11 years ago!), but it seems to be a thing now…

Thank you very much everyone! Interesting to hear about school trip season… I (perhaps wrongly) assumed that Legoland wouldn’t be as badly affected by it given the younger audience. Fingers crossed. I have to say it’s quite nice going to a UK park and not really knowing what to expect - it’s been so long!

There has clearly been a sudden halt to that strategy over the winter - however, every company I’ve worked at that has gone through mass layoffs suffers the same “back to basics / keep the wheels turning” sort of situation for a year or so at least while things settle down. It’s often the only way to operate with reduced numbers until wider changes are made. Hopefully as mentioned above, the same management will continue at Thorpe, and the good work will continue, because it feels like for the most part it’s been going in the right direction over the last few years. I think most people would now agree that Thorpe is by far the best run Merlin park. That isn’t something that many would have said a few years ago. It also has the best opening hours and a very good, pretty reliable lineup. The reputation has been massively improved, quite quickly actually. (Made even more stark since it’s all happened at the same time as Alton Towers’ spectacular fall from grace over the past few years) It’s disappointing that the brakes have been put on the progress. Hopefully it’s temporary.

With the IP references, I don't think that's a long-term strategy, but just a reference to what they did in 2023-24. -2023: Retheme of Derren Brown's Ghost Train to just Ghost Train -2024: Removal of Black Mirror, plus retheme of Angry Birds Land to Big Easy Boulevard IPs can work in certain circumstances; Saw is the best Merlin example. But obviously they have overly relied on them in the past, which has caused issues. As I say, I don't envision Thorpe removing IPs entirely. I mean, they introduced IT 4D at Fright Nights last year, so they're still actively doing these things. But they've cut away what wasn't working and hopefully are being more sensible. That BALPA slide is interesting, as it certainly feels like a few of the "maintain momentum" points this year haven't happened. -There's been no capitalising on Hyperia Year 2...I haven't seen any ads for it? -Events have regressed, not developed -The KPI focus seems to tie in with 2024's KPI focus which was related to Project Sparkle, which barely happened in 24/25 winter. The impact of the Merlin restructure, plus the delay in the Beach Stage, plus perhaps some lack of confidence in Hyperia with the early issues this season, all likely haven't helped. And that's a shame. And going onto the other conversation, I think that is felt this year. Last year, the park felt really revitalised and fresh. Hyperia opening really helped, but even prior to opening, the park felt in a good place. That feeling that hasn't been captured this year. There's next to nothing new (just a new dessert place). There was no tarting up. There's no events throughout the year to keep things interesting. It's just a bit...same old same old. And there's nothing wrong with that per se. Parks can't introduce something new every year. But the issue with Thorpe is that that is exactly what they have done for decades (even if it is just a new event, or a bouncy castle, or a maze..). And that stuff papers over the cracks. Other parks get away with not adding new stuff because they fix those proverbial cracks, or don't have them in the first place. Hopefully this year is just a lull, and things pick up for Fright Nights in particular. But sadly, it doesn't feel like the park is maintaining momentum this year.

Since you are going midweek it should hopefully be quiet although it is school trip season. I visited Sunday just gone and it was quite manic but if you get there early enough you can easily get in 2-3 rides before the queues build up. I would suggest taking a packed lunch as I find food at Legoland pretty vile - although I did buy quite a nice iced latte at the end of the day which wasn’t bad. If you want to visit the shop don’t go at the end of the day as it gets big queues - though hopefully not as bad as weekends. Hill train at the end of the day is a god send. I’ve only used it a couple of times but Sunday my back was killing me and you also get a lovely view of Viking River Splash (RIP) from the train. And speaking of - the rapids pathways are all blocked off so you can’t go past it in either direction. We did Dragon and the log flume very early and both were almost walk on which was good - I think the Duplo area gets queues quick as it’s one of the first areas you get to so going further back could work in your favour

Thank you very much, that's useful.

IP removal on Saw would be an interesting dilemma for them.

There was a post on LinkedIn from an BALPA event hosted at Thorpe Park. This graph shows the direction they want Thorpe Park to take. It’s quite simple and fairly obvious but also I’m glad they are taking that direction in becoming the thrill park, nothing else. The graph also shows the way they want to improve revenue and the way they’ve done it. A few things: 2021-2023 it says “event led strategy” and in 2025+ it says “event development” to me it suggest Thorpe management want to and the plan is to bring back events. It was never the plan to drop them from Thorpe’s side. Also they state multiple times how they are keen to remove IP. I hope the management outlasts the cuts as when funding does come back, we need them to push forward with these goals as ultimately this is the correct way forward.

Last 3 days its operated fine. Was open all day today with less than 10 minutes downtime. Sunday and Monday has a few breakdowns but nothing major. For future reference, you can look at the history of queue times/downtime on this website. https://queue-times.com/parks/2/rides/91?given_date=2025-06-09#day Search for Stealth, and put in what date you want to see on the calendar and you can see the queues for that day on a chart.

Sounds promising Dan, Thanks.

It was running on reduced capacity monday the 2nd. (two arms out of action) so I assume those are the ones that were taken off, seems its back open now though, though unsure if full capacity

Can't comment on the last 3 days but can comment on monday the 2nd. Dispatches were fast and it was eating the queue, virtually walk on all day.

I think the weather probably was a contributing factor. It was pretty horrible for much of the day!

Sorry to ask gang, has anybody seen how Stealth is operating within the last three days?

Wow fantastic! How odd to see it so quiet though? I suppose the weather could play a big part there

The first section of this one is honestly such a vibe. Love it. It’s shame this style isn’t played more prominently at the park, because it really does suit it. The music could do with being louder at the entrance and across the bridge / in to the dome. It’s interesting that the previous “jingle” still plays in some places around the park. The Swarm station soundtrack for example still features the IMAscore “sound of the island” tune.

I agree that would be a real shame. Hopefully they can keep it that way. I’ve been having a think about all this…. It’s weird that so many of us seem to share the same “meh” feeling towards Thorpe & Merlin at the moment, especially with Thorpe, because actually when you break it down they’re really doing very well. As has been mentioned, there are no SBNO rides, which is unheard of in recent years. They have a fantastic line up, including a brand new massive coaster. There are no silly cheaply-made mazes anymore, and they’re even continuing to run their notoriously expensive and less popular rides, like ghost train and Rapids. In fact, the park is in very good shape: the decor looks better than ever, reliability isn’t too bad, the food is quite good considering how it is elsewhere, the new brand is working nicely, and the park feels fresh, modern and clean for the most part, especially when you consider how poor the rest of the Merlin parks are. Thorpe seems to be very well run to be fair. It’s also not like there has been new ride after new ride over the last decade, and now that’s stopped. There hasn’t! Arguably, when it comes to new stuff, now is an excellent time in that regard, right off the back of Hyperia opening. An odd one for sure. Perhaps it’s more a general ill feeling everyone has towards Merlin? Or a side effect of the Universal news overshadowing the “business as usual” at Thorpe? Or maybe it’s an extension of the general doom and gloom shrouding seemingly everything in the country at the moment. Perhaps if we are honest with ourselves, we all take the likes of Thorpe for granted these days? I think I do to be fair, because it be beyond devastated if it suddenly had to close for some reason. I even think of Stealth for instance. If that reached a point this summer where they were forced to make a decision to close it at the end of the season, I know for a fact I’d be up there riding it, and thinking to myself “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” 😂

Currently Thorpe has no SBNO attractions and they did well to make it that way over the past couple of years. Hopefully sbno attractions don’t happen again!

Agreed with Fright Nights. Although quality has improved the last couple years, I do the mazes once on a quiet night and that’s it really. I’m not paying to stand in a queue for a chance of a good run through when there’s rides with no queues. Mainly just go for the extended opening hours but even that’s been cut back, loosing the 9-10pm is a shame. Ghost train is interesting. Sooner they close and stop pumping money into that the better but closing it also means spending money for something else. Doubt they’ll want to keep that SBNO being in the centre of the park.

Noted about the fences covered with plastic sheeting?! Yikes. Think it would have been better left as normal ride fencing...

Definitely - I wonder if Project Pivot will go ahead for 2026 - and if it does, that's not a draw to get people through the gate. Is there any point to it if there's only going to be one event a year? (this year at least). If it does go ahead... Slammer site flat ride for 2027? If it doesn't go ahead... new flat ride next year? I feel like we're at a bit of crossroads now for the next development - one would assume TWD IP is nearly expired (and it's not relevant anymore anyway)... questions over Ghost Train what with the disappearing shop and merch - then if you get rid of Ghost Train AND TWD you have a massive space - but would they really want to remove a building that'll only be 10 years old next year? Questions over Rumba Rapids, as we all know it costs a lot to run in terms of power and staff... Interesting times. What would be disastrous is attractions are removed/SBNO without anything replacing them, but to be honest - that's the way I think it will head.

I think that’s a good point about fright nights in particular. It used to be something I’d very much look forward to all year, but in recent years it has become, as you say, a rip off, and nothing more. Without that around the corner, for me at least, it does feel odd that the Merlin parks are sort of not really on my mind anywhere like they used to be. Merlin do seem to very much be in a rut don’t they… it’s all very worrying to be honest, especially given that Paultons and others are accelerating while Merlin continue to decline. It will be interesting to see what they manage at scare season in the short term at least, and looking longer term, what they will announce over the next 12-24 months…

Agree with the above comments (I've never had an annual pass of any type mind you), but I had my visit in April, just about got my ride on Hyperia by heading for it at 10am (as it was the day it valleyed), and managed to go on Stealth front row a number of times (before it died later that week) so I suppose that's a "win" in Merlin terms? I work Monday-Friday and live in Southsea so don't have the luxury of being able to go to Thorpe on a whim and lap Hyperia like some seem to. I guess I won't visit now until September for a quiet day, perhaps - last year I did a 2 day trip (1 night at the Shark) which to be fair was superb value. Other than that, Fright Nights is a rip off so I might finally get myself to SLKSTN UNLOCKED and be able to experience the mazes like the influencers do instead of spending £10 a pop to be batched with 20 people and see 3 actors.

[/benderlaughingharder.gif] The quiet years were always the years that visits were made because of the groups. The rides were always second. Plus the stagnation of the UK in comparison to mainland Europe on top of often cheap access to those parks makes them far more exciting than heading to a Merlin park with a hope of a good visit rather than an expectation.

Yeah pretty much. These are the years where you work out if you actually like the parks or if you just got into them because of a particular ride that hooked you in. Merlin are in a bit of a rut at the moment to be honest, the UK theme park market hasn't recovered like Europe has and I think they are vary cautious on any investment, only Chessington has anything in the pipeline and they are investing in the safest things possible. We do have Blackpool and Paultons but yeah.. troubling times.