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About as excited as ordering a burger kitchen meal.

Is anyone feeling particularly positive about the upcoming season?

I've learned that to enthusiasts, every ride is rough and has a rattle. I've learned that our passion is one of the only ones with such a limited life span. These huge pieces of metal have a limited existence and when they're gone, that's it. No one else will experience Wild Mouse at Blackpool, a 400 foot hydraulic launch rollercoaster, the world's only duelling B&M inverter and much much more. For a lot of rides all we have is faded memories, hazy POV's and photos of ourselves in our younger days. I wish I'd taken more photos of some of the rides I've done because that's all I have left. It's kind of sad when you think about it. I've become almost obsessed with the demolition of Green Lantern and Kingda Ka.

I'd be a bit peeved about Sea-Life, but I live within decent driving of 2 and they're good attractions for little one currently. Plus planning on London based nonsense later this year so always good to have some additional freebies.

Ghost train will still have a cast of actors. Some people have just been appointed the role.

Quick example of one of my lunches at Efteling (from the cafeteria by Vogel Rok) over my Christmas visit. Can't recall the price unfortunately but it's a definite stark difference in quality to what's on offer at Towers in particular. Woodcutters would never. The entry cost is so dependent on BOGOFs, MAPs and booking online finding value in it, however if you charge north of £50 for a standard day ticket people expect that quality regardless. Fortunately as my visits to Towers mainly center around CBeebies these days I've avoided much of the poor availability overall, but it's incredibly telling on the faces of other visitors that it's leaving sour tastes in the mouths. Especially when on a number of times both X-Sector and Dark Forest end up with nothing to actually do. The years of poor investment are coming back to roost. On top of people tightening purse strings because we're still in a cost of living crisis that seems to only be on the way of getting worse.

I'm not sure what Merlin can do at this point to be honest. They've attempted relatively good rollercoasters in Mandrill, Hyperia and Nemesis Reborn, they've tried to do entertainment on a better scale then ever which has now all been cut and last years opening hours felt like a push in a better direction (particularly Thorpe). So far we've only really seen the losses at Towers for 2025 but it's looking anonymous at Chessington and Thorpe too. We are bound to see a lot more staggered ride opening hours. Don't be surprised if Rumba and Tidal Wave open mid season for example. The global report highlighted the issues with the Uk tourism industry If you've been to Efteling, Europa Park, Port Aventura (just to name a few) over the last two years, the parks feel alive and vibrant with excited guests and entertainment. In comparison the UK parks have just got long waits because there's less rides and entertainment, short opening hours and terrible food. It's an awful rut to be in and it can't be changed quickly.

As mentioned in the Sparkle thread, Hyperia now has grass / turf around its queue line: It's a small thing, but much better than what was there previously.

Jack has posted a video covering the removal of Slammer. The first thing which comes to my mind is that I highly doubt 2025 Merlin would have committed to this project. I assume they already had gone too far with plans to back out and realistically they’d have to pay for it one day. Another thing to note is that Jack states the site won’t be used for quite a while, I predict it won’t before 2030. You can see that Colossus has had its repaint, hopefully they’ve done the rest of it. Hyperia has grass planted around the plaza area (but looks like weeds and still needs fencing. I am sure there are other minor updates around the park but definitely nothing major. The discussion of Thorpe Parks future is a long discussion with the Merlin group as a whole cutting entertainment. This time last year it was clear, however I believe no more than ever the future is unclear. They admit to knowing they must invest via management and planning applications but will finance allow?

Drenched is no more. One of two Intamin shoot the chute water rides, the first left Knotts Berry Farm a long while back so it is kinda astounding Drenched made it this far. It's been closed for a while for 'restraint work' and has now being removed.

First run yesterday..........the only coaster to have run this year.

Much more speculative than an update, but there's a chance it may not actually happen this year: https://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/index.php/2025/01/26/beach-renovation-delayed/ The park have had to submit more planning evidence to satisfy some consultees, which means it's unlikely that planning application will be able to be approved until late February. Just seems unlikely it'll happen for 2025 and more likely be delayed for 2026. There's also rumblings of restructuring happening across Merlin, which may well have knock on effects all round.

Right ok let me have a go Swarm ST 0 (if you ride you get caught by the aliens and will be got...?) Rush ST 1 Playground ST Unlimited (you can enter from anywhere?) Please tell me I got it right?????

-Multi launch coaster. Yes we've got Stealth, but modern day launch coasters are so different to Stealth. Have it as a lower-to-ground, not-as-fast ride with a long layout, and it'll be a winner. Something like Manta at Sea World Abu Dhabi would be incredible at Thorpe. But also the likes of Taron, Taiga, Helix, etc etc. Any smaller version of those would be *chef kiss* -RMC. A balls to the wall RMC hybrid or single rail would be amazing to have in the country. Would it be the right fit for the park? I'm not necessarily convinced. But from an enthusiast wet dream perspective, absolutely. -Vekoma tilt. The gimmick sells itself, and is different enough to anything else on park. But the real kicker is getting a modern Vekoma on park, which are wicked fun. A bog standard Vekoma sit down coaster feels unlikely at Thorpe, simply due to it not having the USP. Chuck on the tilt gimmick and a fab layout though, and they're golden.

It’s less likely now however I still feel like there is room at Thorpe for an out and back b&m hyper at Thorpe.

Ding dong no The sky is dark, the coast is rocky, the island mountainous. Construction is far away. Wait bugger wrong account

This year I decided to track all of my rides on Hyperia, over the course of the season, I managed to experience 92 rides. It is interesting to note that it took me my 33rd ride to get the front row (and 34th to get my other missing row which was Row 4), and then by the end of the season the front was my second most ridden row behind the back row.

Hello and welcome to part 2 of my California 2024 trip reports. This entry takes us Universal Studios Hollywood, the original universal park which has now been open for over 50 years, predating every other park considerably. Even the Orlando resort. As oldest Universal park, at first glance this park is significantly smaller than its other parks with considerably fewer attractions, especially compared to the Orlando resort. However this park makes up for much of that shortfall. Firstly, the park has a unique selling point, it’s adjacent to a working studio complex. This lends itself to the mesmerising Studio Backlot tour, more on that later. Not to mention a stunning and unique location, where the park is on different levels, requiring several flights of escalators to get there. Twice the amount of say Liseberg. You can get some stunning views of the surrounding area there too. Even if the attraction front is condensed, what they’ve got here is still a rather sufficient lineup, which will only be improved substantially by the Fast & Furious coaster eventually. Annoyingly Jurassic World unexpectedly shut during our visit and reliability issues also meant being spited of Hollywood’s Transformers ride too (darn it). Super Nintendo World (Hollywood version) Universal’s latest blockbuster area, Super Nintendo World.Opening last year, this is noticeably downsized version of the one in Tokyo, which opened two years prior. The main area differences are that this one only contains one ride and is all on one level pretty much. Walking around the area was absolutely stunning, with so many incredible details. Moving coins, characters, strong scenery and of course music too. There’s nothing quite like it (except Tokyo I guess) and was blown away by it all. There was always something new to find. The ride in this area is Mario Kart: Bowser’s challenge, which as the name suggests is based on the popular game, Nario Kart. The queue line is massive but is also beautifully themed, going through themed rooms and even a giant bowser statue. The pre-show/holding areas work in some ways, but not always others, due to some bottleneck areas. The ride itself was an absolute delight, utilising 3D glasses on a dual loading track circuit, where one can steer the car and fire and use objects from the game. A mixture between screens and animatronics are used. As someone who loves the game, this was a very enjoyable and addictive attraction, which was done four times during the visit. I also (somehow) won on all the goes Also inside the area are numerous interactive objects, which can be triggered by power up bands (additional cost) as well as a shop and the toadstool cafe, a restaurant where you can eat a variety meals in the mushroom kingdom. I had the meatballs and tiramisu block, both tasty enough, if a little pricey. The bowser attack sequence every 15 minutes made for an interesting touch. Wizarding World Of Harry Potter Just like Super Nintendo World, this version is also noticeably smaller than the others, still housing the impressive Forbidden Journey, within the grand castle as well as a variety of shops, restaurants and hippogriff coaster within the area. No Hagrid’s motorbike here unfortunately. Forbidden journey was just as enjoyable as last time, apart from the ride stopping both times we rode it and not fully resetting in the located scene. Oh well. Revenge Of The Mummy I’d heard a lot of reports saying the Hollywood version was noticeably weaker than the Orlando version and this is correct. However, it was still a greatly enjoyable ride, by going forwards, then backwards and then forwards again. There were fewer effects in this one, no fire or other bits, however space limitations are likely. Still an enjoyable dark ride coaster mind you. The first room gives me terror tomb vibes. The Upper- lot On a whole, most of the park’s rides are actually on the upper lot, the rest of the ride lineup, these include: A small Simpsons area featuring a few food places and the ride itself. Was about the same as the Orlando one, except maybe a little more bumpy for some reason. Despicable Me- Minion Mayhem, decent enough simulator ride themed after the popular despicable me films. Featured the usual gags and was a coool gimmick to become a minion. Secret Life Of Pets- Off The Leash- Charming dark ride using a mixture of old and new effects including a decent number of lovely animatronics too. Dream Works Theatre- Amusing Kung Fu panda show, featuring an open with many of the iconic dream works characters. Backlot Tram Tour One of the fundamental elements that makes the Hollywood park worth visiting is the backlot tram tour. This 45-60 minute experience passes many of the iconic sets and backlot areas used in universal films. Including the courthouse square, the psycho mansion and the jaws scene, although this was closed on the day. There were also Kong, earthquake and fast and furious segments in the experience too. The latter was definitely better than the atrocious ride in the Florida park. Halloween Horror Nights This was my second universal horror nights I experienced, only this time in Hollywood and not Orlando. The format is virtually the same, with numerous large scale house located in mostly soundstage like buildings, striking scare zones with numerous actors and set pieces as well as some shows too. The turnover especially for the latter is definitely impressive. There were eight scare houses/mazes located throughout the park. Some on the upper lot and others on the lower lot. A couple were relocated in completely different area, which was weird because you essentially walked a good 5-10 out of the way from the rest of the park. However given space limitations, this was probably logical. The typical maze involves one walking in an end-less group style way (a walking omnimover if you wish). Vast setpieces and design await, with various timers through. It’s great on the sense of design and immersion, but if you are after a more intimate experience perhaps not. Several Marshalls are hidden in some areas, prompting people on if the pace lessons too much. Out of the eight, the Ghostbusters and Texas Chainsaw Massacre were the ones I probably liked the most, with some awesome effects and interesting jump scares. The latter had some pretty gory set design for sure. Despite anticipation and missing out on it Orlando, I was rather disappointed by The Weekend maze, which besides his awesome music didn’t feel like one thing or the other. Besides some awesome scare zones, featuring 7-8 feet tall figures, we watched an awesome stunt show based on the Purge, in the water world theatre and an entertaining Chucky doll show in the dream works theatre. For me, this event definitely retains the awesome quality of the one seen in Orlando. And that’s the end of the report, it’s definitely still worth visiting despite being a park of only a dozen attractions pretty much. And here is Santa Monica.

Cables removed; the process has begun