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Finally been on it. Area looks crap. Station is a weird attempt at Icon for some reason. It's a great ride until the trims. All that momentum just thrown in the bin, leaving you wanting the rest of the layout rather than awkward corner. Best ride on park? Sure. Best ride ever? Not even close.

Earlier in the day, I promised to write a longer review of Hyperia when I got home. Well, here it is! While it's not exactly the aspect of the project I was most interested in, I'll start by giving a few cursory thoughts on the theming and the area... The Area One aspect of Hyperia that has been heavily criticised is the theming and the area. I have to say that I did not personally get the hate for this; the front-of-house areas look fine to me. It's nothing breathtaking, but I think it's functional and looks perfectly fine. I quite like the black and gold aesthetic, I quite like the station, I quite like the plaza, the queue landscaping is nice enough, and the queue is by no means terrible (although not anything overly inspiring either). In terms of some aspects I would critique, however: The queue could maybe have had a more interesting and less contained layout. I would have loved it if the queue had wound around the ride Wicker Man-style and offered various different vantage points. The ride area itself is quite unsightly at present, particularly the area around the splashdown. The lake with all of the weeds in it looks quite ugly, in my view, and I don't think the actual splashdown area is particularly pretty either. The rust-coloured splashdown track in particular does not look good at all. However, you don't notice this too much on the ride, and the ride area will probably grow to look better with time. Speaking of the splash effect, the whole splashdown is an idea that had such promise, but has turned out to be a complete damp squib. It seems to have completely died only a couple of months into operation, but I did see it working on my visit 2 months ago, if I'm remembering correctly, and I think it's a completely redundant effect even when it works. That sort of effect is designed primarily for visual appeal for non-riders, so when it's hidden behind a 7ft fence and no one can see it properly, it completely loses its purpose. If I'm being pedantic, I'm not a huge fan of how the maintenance shed looks and I would have preferred for it to parallel the style of the station. That is an extremely pedantic point, however; it's not really a big deal. Overall, though, I wasn't too displeased with the area and theming. It's not some spectacular theming extravaganza by any stretch, but I think it overall looks nice, clean, stylish and perfectly functional. I think the style works well for the sort of ride Hyperia is, and I was never expecting heavy theming from a hyper coaster. Let's now move onto the far more interesting aspect of the project; the ride itself... The Ride Now Hyperia has been a ride that I've been excited for for absolutely ages. I watched its build process with great anticipation, and I had high expectations for the ride. But the question is; did it live up to those expectations? Well, dear reader, my answer is; yes, it definitely did! I had 3 rides today, one in row 8 and two in the back row, and Hyperia is an absolutely sublime coaster experience, in my view! The negative g-forces are absolutely absurd; the ride advertises 14.8 seconds of negative g-force, and let me tell you, I can fully believe that figure! They've designed this ride for weightlessness and I think it delivers; you seem to spend most of the ride duration pinned out of your seat in some capacity! The speed is also absurd; it's easy to forget just how fast Hyperia is, but let me tell you that you're quickly reminded of just how fast 81mph is when you're actually on the ride! The sense of speed in parts of Hyperia's layout is ridiculous! For me, an element-by-element walkthrough of Hyperia goes something like this: The first outerbanked turn out of the station before the lift hill is utterly pointless; I don't know why this couldn't have just been a regular turn. The outerbanked version seemingly serves no purpose other than to be mildly awkward and uncomfortable. The lift hill is very fast. I liked the views from the top! The first drop is absolutely unhinged, and probably my favourite part of the ride! I'm a fan of a big first drop, and Hyperia's is truly wild; the ejector airtime is absolutely sublime and surprisingly sustained, and the 180 degree twist adds a really interesting additional sensation! It's definitely right up there as one of my favourite first drops I've ever done, alongside those of Mako and Iron Gwazi! The Immelmann is also absolutely sublime! I love the sheer sense of speed you get going up into it, and the sustained ejector airtime you get coming out of it is absolutely top-dollar! You're pinned out of your seat for a good couple of seconds, and the airtime is absolutely sensational! The Immelmann is another element that's right up there as one of my favourite elements on the ride! The outerbank into an inversion was a very hyped up element of Hyperia, and I have to say that it did not disappoint; it's absolutely insane! The sustained sideways ejector here is absolutely wild; you are pinned sideways out of your seat for what feels like seconds and seconds, and the negative g-forces are fairly strong in terms of force here as well! I'm not entirely convinced that I prefer sideways airtime to good old straight airtime, personally, but this element is absolutely brilliant nonetheless! The zero-g stall is an excellent element, but definitely weaker than the other three big ones for me. With that being said, you still get some very fun hangtime, and it is probably the most convincing example of a zero-g stall I've yet done (the other two stalls I've done are VelociCoaster and Iron Gwazi). I dare say I still find the zero-g stall a slightly overhyped element type based on my experiences of them, but this one did convince me of the merits of the zero-g stall a little more than VelociCoaster's or Iron Gwazi's did; it is a very good element with some excellently fun hangtime! The stall is fun, but not quite up there as a standout moment of Hyperia for me. With that being said, it has very tough competition in this regard; if this element were not on a ride as stacked with brilliant elements as Hyperia, it would probably stand out more! The splashdown trim is quite noticeable. I didn't find it uncomfortable enough to significantly detract from the ride, but the braking force is strong enough that it does seem to contort your face a tad... The outerbanked turn after the splashdown was a surprisingly excellent element for me! It seemed to start with you getting some really decent sideways floater that then transitioned into a surprisingly strong pop of ejector, and I found that really interesting and fun in terms of how it rode! The airtime hill into the brakes is an excellent way to finish with a bang; that hill provides a lovely pop of good, clean, surprisingly strong ejector airtime! On this coaster, every single element hits and hits hard; there is a strong selection of standout "wow" moments on Hyperia. The first drop, the Immelmann and the outerbank into an inversion are all absolutely world-class elements, and that whole first sequence is just perfection! The other elements also hit well and provide good thrills and weightlessness, and I don't think there's one bit of Hyperia that doesn't deliver. Well, other than maybe the trim, and that weird turn before the lift hill... As per usual with Mack Rides, the trains with overhead lap bars are immensely comfortable. I think Hyperia's are perhaps the most comfortable example of this train style I've experienced. In terms of smoothness; there is a rattle. It's noticeable. But it wasn't strong enough that it massively bothered me. It was more that I could feel a bit of a shaking sensation rather than that the rattle was actively hurting me or massively detracting from the experience. It's no worse than the mild rattle of, say, Stealth. The ride was overall very comfortable and enjoyable for me, and there were no severe jolts or anything (roughness-wise, I tend to find myself more sensitive to sudden jolts than rattling). In terms of some comparisons; Hyperia is comfortably my favourite coaster at Thorpe Park (it was previously Stealth), comfortably my favourite UK coaster (it was previously Wicker Man) and also comfortably my favourite Mack ride (it was previously Icon). In terms of my overall rankings; out of 123 ridden coasters, I've conservatively settled on the #5 spot, behind Mako, VelociCoaster, Silver Star and Iron Gwazi (in that order). If I were to offer up some pedantic hair-splitting critiques that explain why it's not my #1, and why it's not higher than #5: The rattle. Hyperia's rattle didn't overly bother me at all, but the coasters above Hyperia have a more perfect blissfully smooth feel to the point where it's almost an active positive attribute in itself. The trim. I didn't find it overly uncomfortable, but it is quite noticeable, more so than on Mako and Silver Star, and as I said, it does sort of contort your face a bit from the braking force, which isn't the case on Mako or Silver Star. The fact that the ride lacks straight airtime hills. As sublime as Hyperia's sideways and inverted airtime elements are and as plentiful as the sustained weightlessness is, nothing quite beats a good old straight airtime hill for me, and Hyperia does have somewhat of a shortage of traditional straight airtime moments. I know those are very pedantic points, and pretty much entirely based on personal preference, but when you're talking about the top 5 and determining exact placements, I think I can afford to get pedantic! When the coasters in question are this good, it gets competitive at the top, and I have little choice other than to split hairs! One legitimate critique I will offer of the ride itself is with regard to the capacity. It's not the highest for a brand new major ride, at 700-800pph, but I think a key reason for that has nothing to do with the park's operations and may have something to do with the brake run. They were operating brilliantly, and stacking was very rare, but the train seems to take a very, very long time to return to the station and moves along the brake run track very, very slowly. This results in more idle time in the station, and if they were able to speed up the train's movement through the brake run, it might improve the capacity. Hopefully this is something the park can look into in the future. But overall, I absolutely loved Hyperia! It's my favourite coaster at Thorpe Park, my favourite coaster in the UK and sits in my top 5! The weightlessness is sublime, the sense of speed is absurd, the elements are absolutely top-drawer, and all in all, it's just an absolutely sublime coaster! What a brilliant investment for Thorpe Park and the UK theme park industry! On a side note, here are a few photos I took of the ride:

After asking around a little bit, I'm under the impression now that the scheduled late ride openings is not budget cut related. The park aren't cutting staff hours / having less staff on park. Instead, the park are using the off peak days to further train staff - particularly engineers - allowing them be able to work on more rides. Usually this can only be done during closed season, or slowly, with only 1 or 2 people at a time. This allows more people to be trained at once. The park are simply seeing if this becomes a more effective way of training people, without damaging guest experience. A couple of rides opening a couple of hours later isn't ideal, but I guess if it doesn't have a notable negative impact on guest experience/feedback, and it allows staff to be multi-skilled and the park to run better on busier days / in the long run, I guess it's a good payoff. It's not a set in stone thing. But the key takeaway is this isn't a budget cut.

I'll just give a boatload of info here... -The park's maximum capacity is around 15,000. They can officially hold more, but there's internal H&S/operational considerations they go with. A "sold out" day will probably have around 14,000-15,000 people, as a buffer and also as some pre-booked guests don't turn up. --There's some caveats to this. A "sold out" day may have less people if they have ride closures, expecting certain types of guests, etc. Buy out days are obviously capped at less. -The quietest days I've known of have been less than 1,000. Very rare, but has happened. Last time I think that happened was like 8-10 years ago, when the park was open for a full week after FN. Those weekdays were dead. -These days, September weekdays are probably the quietest. You're probably looking at around a couple of thousand people. Even then, that will vary quite a lot day to day. The park can still feel quiet if there's 2,000 people on park or 4,000 people on park. -A standard weekend day will again vary significantly, likely around the 5,000-10,000 mark. -A "busy" day, in terms of how the park feels and copes, will likely be anything above 9,000 I'd say. It's an interesting situation that the park are in. 10-15 years ago, their weekends / "peak" days were heaving, and their off-peak days were dead. Like 10,000 might he standard on a weekend, and 1,000 on a weekday. The park wanted to increase attendance by increasing attendance on those quieter days. They have of course managed to increase attendance on quieter days, but it seems to be that people are choosing to visit on those days over busier days, as opposed to attracting more guests. That helps on an operational standpoint in that the park can plan more consistent staff levels. But it now means that the park, and staff, are less used to busier days. As I say, back in 2012, for example, 10,000 on a Saturday was normal and the park coped fine. These days, 10,000 on a Saturday is abnormal, in that it is more than usual. So that means the park doesn't operate as well, and it feels worse. It also means that when we hit those capacity days, it can hit even harder. I guess the big takeaway is that Thorpe, and indeed basically every theme park in the UK aside from Towers, hit small arena / stadium numbers. For a football example, we're looking at like League One/Two football matxh attendances (which are weekly things) on a daily basis.

I keep forgetting that we don't have a general "Thorpe Park 2024" thread, or an Oktoberfest thread. So I'll stick my review in here for Oktoberfest It's kind of apt too, as you'd think that Thorpe have forgotten they have an Oktoberfest event going on. Oktoberfest came about in 2020 and whilst it was rough round the edges, it had potential. It's pretty much been the awkward middle child since 2021 though. It got better, but now it just feels a bit thrown together and rubbish. The Oktoberfest area is basically to the left of Ghost Train's entrance, with the stage, the ski lift carrier turned benches (which are pretty cool) returning, as well as snow-covered...Christmas trees? The event is leaning heavily on the more Bavarian Alps theme. By which I mean, it's the primary focus. The main Thorpe show revolves around it (the actors run a "fashion show" with what one of them should wear to go skiing). There's a set of roaming actors at set times who are "on skis". And my god, the show makes me cringe. The dance elements are good for what it is. But the speaking. It feels like the actors were told to watch Allo Allo and just copy the German accents. It's grating. Also, the Christmas trees. Why? The confused "Why is it Christmas?" vibe isn't helped by this song playing at the start of the family stage show: Hilarious. I should add: I believe in story, the actors are called the Furchtbar Gang. That's what it sounds like at least. "Furchtbar" is German for "terrible". So I guess the point is that they are terrible? Or meant to be terrible? But they're not - as I say, the dance elements make the grade. I don't get it. There's a couple of the pop up food places alongside Ghost Train's queue, which will no doubt stay through Fright Nights, and a bratwurst grill in Amity. There's a pitiful-looking bratwurst pizza available from Pizza-Pasta. In truth, Thorpe's Oktoberfest has never done it for me. Maybe I just don't like fun. So maybe this is doing the job, getting good reactions and there's a wider audience who love it. But it does feel like its been scaled back the last 2-3 years, and as nice as it is to get an extra boost during September, maybe it's time to lay it to rest.

1. I'm a theme park enthusiast. I get far more out of a well themed, story based area then just a ride in a big field. I can enjoy things like Fury 325 and Afterburner but my god, I would much rather be riding Baron 1898 and Nemesis. They send shivers, they make me feel connected in a way that a stat heavy machine never can. I prefer family theme parks to thrill parks and I like the variety and imagination that goes into family rollercoasters. 2. Theme Park hotels and staying the night is part of the experience and have become vital to a theme park trip to feel right. Over the years I've stayed at many Disney resorts, Europa Park, Dollywood, Efteling for example and I find them so engaging and immersive. 3. I love hitting parks hard in the first few hours and then relaxing and putting my feet up in a beautiful restaurant or in a bar and just reflecting. One of my star memories is at Toverland, sitting outside the Flaming Feather in the beautiful sun and just relaxing with a beer and chicken wings watching the rides go by. A park that doesn't have a lovely restaurant to sit back and chill isn't worth visiting in my opinion. 4. Theme Park road trips are hard. Just doing day after day after day of theme parks is exhausting and relaxation days are key to making the most of parks.

I was at a Ghost Train behind the scenes tour last Tuesday with the initial presentation taking place in the hospitality tent thing - Fright Nights rehearsals were taking place next door and they were definitely rehearsing to the Big Top theme which I believe is used in the Big Top room in Trailers, so that seems to suggest it'll return this year. Hoping that the scenes that remain inside Trailers are modified in some way too - Trailers was really showing signs of aging last year and was looking really, really exhausted.

That's a really, really good point actually. The expectation on a paid maze is a lot higher. Those mazes from yesteryear which were so well received may be panned if they were in the line up today, because of that expectation, even if they are arguably just as good. I agree on the tour through a set at times actually. Trailers is a good example. The pre-show(s) spend so much time setting story up and showcasing the set, along with cramming so many Easter Eggs into the script (I think I rolled my eyes so hard during the first year I saw inside my head). Stitches is a very passive experience; it sets a very creepy tone and you see a lot of stuff happen, but that's just it...you are watching, not taking part. That's not necessarily a bad thing, as many mazes use that narrative. But you are just touring through. I think Mat made a good point about Tulleys - and other scare parks. They are, mostly, one entrance for unlimited runs of mazes. That's a huge difference in overall guest experience. And whilst there's none that are particularly close to Thorpe, the likes of Tulleys do compete with them. It's interesting that the park have chosen to move in the opposite direction, potentially driving some people towards that one-fee-unlimited-mazes model. On the other hand though, the park were increasing park entrance prices and charging Annual Passholders for entry into Fright Nights. Back in 2018/19, I think the park were charging around £35-50 online for a pre-booked ticket, and £5-20 for passholders. I would fully expect that the on the day, pre-book price following the same model would be £45-60 now for Fright Nights, and again £5-20 for passholders. At it's more expensive price, it's not much cheaper than these days. But still, if that's not resulting in a better time, there's a problem. I would love to step into an alternate reality where Covid never happened. What would have happened with Fright Nights? Would we have still seen upcharge mazes? Would scare zones have become a bigger thing? What would the overall reaction be?

Following Jack Silkstone's documentary, it seems that an announcement / teaser is coming tomorrow. We've also got some form of logo:

Was at the park today and didn't notice any reduction in staffing levels which is positive. 3 hosts on both Vortex and Samurai 4 staff checking restraints + staff batching on both Colossus and Inferno. Thought some of these would be the first to be cut, never used to see this on off peak days in previous years. Only thing I did notice was SRQ closed on Saw which probably means there was no one batching, can't confirm as I didn't ride it.

I think a good indication of cuts is if slammer doesn’t get removed this year and sparkle project doesn’t happen again. Both require investment and both were said to happen this coming closed season. So if it’s changed, it will be a good indicator

A stupid post in a quiet topic is passable, but if you're not going to meaningfully contribute to a topic with genuine discussion occurring we'll just throw the banhammer your way.

1/ A great group can make an average park day a great one I started attending meets on this forum in early 2013 and have had the privilege of attending meet ups at parks around and beyond the U.K. Though some better than others, a great group of enthusiasts on trips can really make a mid-tier visit a great one. Whether it’s game about asking what people’s chosen coaster is, fun banter and excitement or any other reason. The thorpe park ministry of sound nights were certainly a crazy time indeed. 2/ There are different types of park enthusiasts The depths of this could honestly be endless, but you have so many different factions on this area. The ones who know literally everything about rides, the ones who just ride coasters, the ones who are more about the experience or those that are there mainly for the social element. In large meet-ups such as the European Coaster Club etc., you are naturally going to get others such as the other halves are just the plus one but ok to be there. 3/ Every enthusiast has different expectations and opinions To one person Efteling will be the most magical theme park in the world, to another it will be the most mundane thing to exist. To one person Hyperia will be the best coaster in the country (if not the world). To another it will be an underwhelming experience. Every enthusiast has a different opinion about rides, parks, expectations and everything else and can say I know some from different circles with similar opinions of the above. At the end of the day, being an enthusiast would be a more boring place if we all shared the same opinions there. 4/ A return park can visit can hit different, in the best and worst ways Parks and people, sometimes we visit parks 6-8 years ago and find ourselves absolutely amazed and blown away by these places, only sometimes to have a more recent visit and whilst still pleasant, those same wow factors from that previous visit seem missing. I think this is often down to a number of factors, that wow factor from that first visit has just worn off, you are not the person you were when you went before or the park has declined somewhat. The last 5-10 years have certainly been unkind to the park industry. Contrary to that, I’ve also revisited a number of parks and have felt feelings nothing short of joy. Walking through Europa’s entrance one bright sunny day, forgetting just how mesmerising Phantom Manor is or the amazement of everything random and wonderful in Energylandia. Feelings and emotions can be a strange thing. 5/ Your expectations change over time we change through our whole lives, so naturally our expectations to being an enthusiast can and will too. Ten years ago, I was that enthusiastic desperate to travel to as many parks in the whole and do everything physically possible, whilst perhaps trying to vlog like one of those famous YouTubers. I physically wanted to do everything in a park. Over the years I’ve gone through phases of wanting to visit places based on their coasters, dark rides and even landscaping. But today, I like to value a well rounded park. I would rather value a handful of decent rides than lapping one until I’m tired and nauseous. As more and more parks gradually get ticked off our lists, through time it becomes more valuable with who you visit these parks with, rather than where you go. Some enthusiasts who you can call your mates.

From what I understand, it was actually just a typo, and was always set to be just the 4 days. So ladies and gents, boys and girls, make sure to proof read your work!

On the other side of the coin, the park haven't needed to do much planned maintenance to rides before. Arguably, as a seasonal park open mid-to-late March to early-November, they shouldn't need it either. But yes, it is good to see them being open. I do think there should be some discount in entrance price for 23rd-27th though; 2 major coasters closed? Big ouch.

I've never heard of Easter eggs before, what a fantastic idea.

On the topic of Make Your Mark / putting your own Easter Eggs in mazes, I think we can thank/blame @Glitch:

You can judge a coaster by its cover. Vekoma SLC? Yeah, that'll be rubbish. Nu-Vekoma? Yeah, that'll be fun, smooth, possibly slightly over-engineered. Intamin multi-launch? That'll be good. 20+ year old B&M? Will be intense, little head-banging, showing its age, but still fab. It's not a perfect rule, but you will get a good idea of what you're getting just by looking at the coaster. The less you know, the better. Let me tell you a story. Late 2008. Corkscrew at Alton Towers was about to be removed for a new coaster to open in 2010. A 14 year old JoshC was told that that coaster would have vertical drop track, but keep that secret. Tbf, many people ended up being able to piece that together long before that was revealed in March 2010, but I had known almost 18 months before that official reveal. It was almost 3 years from finding out about Thirteen's secret that I actually rode it. And don't get me wrong, I like Thirteen. But imagine how much more I'd have enjoyed it if I didn't know? Never say "I won't get there". Moreso when you're younger, it's easy to think "I won't ever get the chance to get to that theme park". Again, I remember thinking that about Phantasialand when I was younger, and watching POVs of (and reading all about) Winjas. And, like Thirteen, I ended up riding it, liking it, but knowing all its secrets beforehand. It would have been so much more cool had I known nothing going in. So yeah, never think you won't go to a park, or won't ride a ride...as long as it's open, there's a chance. Enthusiasts are great. There's some amazing people who are enthusiastic about coasters, who are just lovely. It's a great community to be a part of. Enthusiasts suck. For balance. There some awful people who are enthusiastic about coasters, who just grate you and everyone around you. It's a minority, but it's a fact of life. Roller coaster element names are stupid. I still don't know what a step-up-under-flip actually is, and frankly I don't care. Nor do I know what a dragon roll is. Is there an element called a twisted knot? Who knows. And what the bloody heck is a jo-jo roll? And why is it called a banana roll; it doesn't roll and doesn't look like a banana?! (In saying that, Untamed's 270° double inverting corner stall - affectionately the 270° dics - remains my favourite inversion, by on-ride experience and name) Don't let anyone else tell you how to enjoy your hobby. You want to only visit Merlin parks and lap Mandrill Mayhem for the rest of time because it's your favourite coaster? Cool. You don't count creds? Fine. You only ride thrill rides, and don't bother with kiddie ones? Perfect. There will be people (in some instances, more light-heartedly) who tell you you should do this, should do that, or say "Why do you do that??". But you do you.

Hi all! After an undetermined period of time, we have launched a completely new version of the main Thorpe Park Mania website: https://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/ Huge shout out to @Marc who has done wonders with the design of it all. With the new site, we have temporarily lost a lot of our old news articles, but these are slowly being added back. Equally, we're still adding in more content over the coming days/weeks/months. We have a couple of new articles: our Ghost Train BTS and Colossus Lift Hill Walk, with more to come. We're also building up one of the most extensive Fright Nights archives out there. We'll be adding to it continually over the next few months, but check it out here: https://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/index.php/fright-nights/ As always, feedback is welcome, especially any issues you see, or anything else you'd like to see on there.

I find that we're having this conversation really concerning, particularly for the UK market as a whole. It kind of came and went but the attendance report for parks was released and some key sentences in there are quote below and I find this to be our ultimate problem is that whilst the European parks are exceeding expectations, the parks in the UK aren't despite investment. I was at Europa Park and Efteling over the last two weeks. Both parks very busy, every ride open (well apart from one but Efteling isn't a seasonal theme park). Rides open on time, fully staffed. If you think it's an unfair comparison, well it isn't. Its the same time of year, Merlin is the third biggest worldwide operator. It's going to take some bold action for our parks to return to a place where they are not only highly profitable but successful. And one of the realities of the Merlin parks is the Annual Pass creates so much drag across the parks. I think a significant look needs to take place as we've seen places like Tokyo Disneyland, Disneyland Paris and Phantasialand either remove entirely or price accordingly and the respective parks have never been so profitable..

The park's commercial and marketing directors have given an interview with Blooloop which explains their processes behind being a thrill-focused park and the benefits of the commercial focus they've had in recent years. It's a great read: https://blooloop.com/theme-park/opinion/thorpe-park-marketing-thrill-seekers/

See, this is an interesting one to me. I agree, the actual mazes themselves are a lot better in terms of theming, duration, and overall quality. But as guests, are we having a better time? I’d argue that no, we’re not necessarily. Yes, of course we are having a very good time, but better? The standout mazes from the past for me have been Experiment 10, Cabin in the Woods v1, and the beloved Big Top v2. While they were far simpler and shorter than todays mazes at thorpe, they were just utterly fab, and I thunk because they were at no additional cost there were no great expectations - it was just a good time with no stress, which you could also repeat several times if you wanted. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it, but something about paying this much for a single go at a maze just sets expectations higher than they need to be for what a scare maze is. I sort of think it’s all lost its way a little bit if you know what I mean? The Asylum for instance, while it was adored years ago, would risk being deemed a joke these days because it would lack all the backstory, “nods”, heavy theming and grandeurs that we now have - even though actually, it would still offer a very intense, disorientating, scary experience, full of jump scares, and would be included as part of your day. I also think mazes a few years ago used to feel genuinely scary, whereas now adays dare I say that parts of some modern mazes can sometimes feel a bit like a tour through a highly-themed set…… (I know this is quite the hot take, I’m sorry!) Anyway,, my apologies, 1. I’ve gone off topic. 2. I’m sorry for appearing negative - genuinely, I do think this year’s lineup looks amazing, and I am genuinely in awe of what the designers and actors achieve these days in such short spaces of time with limited budgets. There’s no denying that the scare industry is achieving amazing things! I’m just a bit sad that it’s all got this expensive that’s all, and I miss that it used to be simpler. I very much look forward to the reviews etc and seeing what comes next

Not sure what I think about the pricing, even with the passholders discount on the mazes (I'm assuming they're doing that this year, although I haven't looked yet) paying about £8 each for 4 mazes is quite a big asking price for me. Although, I don't think I'm going to be able to make it this year, which I'm really disappointed about, I always look forward to my yearly FN trip. But then I guess it's partly my own fault for making myself so busy over the October holidays...

I wouldn't mind paying more for entry if it was unlimited runs on the mazes - like, the current price point would be acceptable if that was an option. I went to the Blue Light day for Fright Night's the year before last with a mate - was just like the glory days, multiple run throughs with no stress!

Was saying to Josh - I can afford to go this year, but, I don't think it's good value. £10 a maze is a lot. No maze at Tulleys is worth £10. If it was nearer £5 I'd go for it, but as I've said before, the Fright Night's model is not for me - I don't like the idea of one - paid - run through that can easily be ruined by the group you are batched with, or actors being misplaced/on a break etc. Am happy paying ~£90 for Tulley's VIP, because we normally get 20-24 runs in total on a night - so around £4 a run, and that's before you take off the £15 merch voucher and food and drink token. There's been times at Tulley's where we start a maze and straight away we'll be like "We'll do this again later because the group are slow/annoying/ruining it" (you know what I mean) whereas that is not an option at Thorpe unless you want to fork out again to roll the dice again for a good runthrough. And you know that run through is going to be nothing like the POVs from press night - whereas, genuinely - run throughs I see from Tulleys are at the same level for us mere mortals as that of the press night.

Jack Silkstone's Fright Nights 2023 Behind the Scene documentary is now live: It is again primarily focused on his, Kieran and Archie's journey and involvement with the marketing videos, giving insight into how they made the set, did the filming etc. And then some general bits about the event, SLKSTN Unlocked, wrap party, etc. There's a little bit about the build of Stitches, but not a lot. I'd love to see more of a focus on the maze building side of things, but heyho, beggars can't be choosers. As always, the amount of effort that was put into the trailer campaign is insane. It's incredible to see such level of detail put into it. I again question the worth of some of the effort - it feels a bit misplaced to, say, spend hours making a design for a toy box that is seen for 10 seconds in a trailer video in my opinion. Especially when that level of detail and effort isn't necessarily translated into overall guest experience of the event. One thing I've had specifically mixed feelings on is the 'headline character' creations from the past couple of years. We had Fear (2021), The Locksmith (2022) and the Toymaker (2023). It's shown they build in quite detailed backstories for them, much of which isn't communicated. I think that's great tbf; the worldbuilding behind the scenes is critical for creatives to build something which feels real to an audience. But it would help create such a stronger connect between the trailers and the experience if the headline character was a part of the event. They did a step with that this year, with the Toymaker appearing in a VIP experience and her voice being used in Stitches. But it would be amazing if they could have the headline character physically be a part of the event. It's difficult as it either means an actor being in a full (masked) costume or heavily make-up-ed, or having different looking-actors play the same character, or rely on 1 actor to do all the dates. But it would genuinely have such a good pay off in my opinion. If they also created a headline character which remained constant each year (a curator of FN if you will), that would be awesome and build a more consistent brand. You only have to look at Walibi Holland's Fright Nights successes with Eddie de Clown to realise the potential. That's just a me-want though. For me personally, I was watching the documentary and hearing them go "we spent *insert insane time period here* doing this", and my instant reaction is "Wow, all that time for...that?" Maybe there's a naivety from me about the amount of time required to do these things, or I have my own pre-conceptions after having flirted with the scare industry myself, but it all just feels like a ton of effort for so little guest reward. Jack has been quite open about his want to work on Fright Nights in a larger role, be it by means of a broader creative aspect, designing a maze or similar. And it feels like, together with the park and UVE, they're building towards that, with greater creative control giving to Jack et al on the marketing, them building the set themselves, etc. Certainly would be cool to see: the passion and creativity is there. From a human aspect, I still wonder the sustainability of that: the amount of work put in is clearly a labour of love, but seems all-consuming. The workload would increase ten-fold creating a whole maze / being a creative. But it's clear that they have the potential to create something cool. I fear this post may come across as a bit of a negative nancy or whiny or something. It's not. It's great to get an insight into the world of FN coming to life in a clear way. The documentary itself is incredible. And it's great there's people with so much passion contributing to the event. And with the event growing, the enthusiast community growing and more roles in the industry coming to life, that will continue. I just hope we see it get reflected in the final product.

I think you’re probably right… I find it a bit alarming that there are so many cuts like this though… it doesn’t feel like something a company would be doing if they weren’t panicking, literally closing rides and reducing hours like this etc at the end of the season. It’s a good point made above about the inherited problems though - vast amounts of money needs spending on things that won’t give them a direct return - sky ride and Hex for example. It must be bleeding them dry playing catch up on the things that should have been done years ago. I don’t mind cuts like no longer needing staff stood at ride entrances (without redundancies I would hope), as that really is a “nice to have”, but closing rides for multiple years, mid season closures, staggered and late openings, and part-seasonal rides feels like a bit of a panicky move. It all feels a bit like when you’re playing RCT and you’ve buggered up by spending all your money too soon and can’t earn it back fast enough without demolishing everything!

10th September 2024: PortAventura Park Day 1 Today was the day, folks; our first day inside PortAventura Park! I couldn’t wait to get inside, ride attractions like Shambhala for the first time, and just generally see what the park had to offer for the very first time! Now before I start this report, I should declare that perhaps controversially, we decided not to buy any form of Express Pass for our visit to the park today. We figured that if it was terrible today, we could always buy it for tomorrow and/or Thursday. Before spending all that money, we decided that we should at least try the park without Express first before assuming that Express was needed. Anyway, let me start off our day at PortAventura Park. After having breakfast in our hotel, we headed down to the Gold River entrance to the park at around 9:45am, and were ultimately let inside at just after 10am. This was very convenient, and put us in good stead to do our first attraction at the 10:30am opening time: As we entered into the Far West section of PortAventura Park, we decided to initially head to a nearby attraction that apparently had quite poor capacity… Uncharted: El Enigma De Penitence Uncharted was nearby and had a relatively short pre-queue, so we decided to give it a go. I had been informed that the ride had low capacity and often built up a substantial queue, so I thought that it might be a sound idea to get that one done first seeing as our hotel entrance put us very close to it. The ride had a technical fault, so opened 15 minutes later than planned, but our decision to do it first proved an astute one, as we only waited 15 minutes for it once it opened and the advertised queue time was 1h 40m when we got off! Anyhow, how was the ride? Well, I actually went in knowing remarkably little, as I purposely didn’t spoil it for myself, and I have to say that I thought it was great fun! In terms of the coaster itself, I thought it was excellent; it had some fun twists and turns and fun launches, it was fast and dynamic, and I really enjoyed some of the tricksy elements (I’ll try not to spoil what those are)! I must admit, however, that I thought the on-ride theming left much to be desired for a coaster of this style; aside from the very first scene, it was pretty much a pitch black warehouse, and the screen scenes had practically nothing aside from said screens, with maintenance sheds and blank walls visible all around them. It’s a shame, as the queue is gorgeous and the coaster itself is excellent and offers potential for a great dark ride roller coaster. With marginally better on-ride theming, this could have been something quite special. Nevertheless, I still thought that Uncharted was great fun, and an excellent indoor coaster that I really enjoyed: After getting off Uncharted, we headed to a hotly anticipated headliner of mine… Shambhala Shambhala was on an advertised 50 minute queue time, so we decided to take a ride on it. This queue ended up being marginally understated, taking more like 60 minutes, but I have to say that for all the tales of woe and horror I’ve heard about PortAventura’s supposedly dire operations over the years, operations on Shambhala were not nearly as bad as I was expecting, and the queue didn’t move terribly slowly. While I’d hesitate to call the operations fast, they were not half as bad as expected. The ride was getting just over 800pph and running 2 trains, and Express allocation did not seem excessive, so the queue didn’t move too badly. But enough about the queue; how was the ride? Well seeing as my current #1 is a B&M Hyper and Shambhala is often touted as the best of the type, it was a hotly anticipated ride for me; my most anticipated of the park, and possibly the whole year. I had very high expectations, but I was seated in the back row of the 6th car, and it did not disappoint; Shambhala is absolutely sublime! There’s so much good stuff to talk about with this ride! For starters, the first drop is absolutely phenomenal, with such strong sustained airtime all the way down; it sits proudly alongside Mako and Iron Gwazi as being one of my favourite first drops I’ve ever experienced! There’s also such wonderful sustained airtime, and it’s over every hill; Shambhala delivers right to the end! I think you also really feel the additional speed of Shambhala compared to the other B&M Hypers I’ve ridden, it’s absolutely glass smooth and comfortable… it’s just such a wonderful ride! My mum and dad loved it as well, and it definitely did not disappoint: After our sublime first ride on Shambhala, we initially planned to do Dragon Khan, but instead decided to stroll further around the park, eventually settling on something a little different… Tutuki Splash Tutuki Splash was on a 10 minute advertised queue time, so we decided to take a ride on there. The queue took marginally longer than advertised, taking around 15-20 minutes, but it still wasn’t a long queue, so we couldn’t really complain too much. So, how was the ride? Well, I had a mild degree of trepidation seeing as I’m not a massive fan of absolute saturation soaking on water rides, but it was actually good fun and wasn’t too bad wetness-wise; it was more Jurassic Park than Valhalla, which suits me better! The theming was also lovely; the volcano is really cool, and I liked the jungle surroundings! Overall, Tutuki Splash was good fun, and although pretty wet afterwards, we dried out quickly in the Spanish sunshine: After Tutuki Splash, we sat down and had lunch from a cafe in Meditarranea; I had a lovely margherita pizza slice! We then planned to do Furius Baco, as we’d previously seen that it only had a 20 minute queue, but after we had our lunch, it had broken down, so we instead headed back to Far West to do a different coaster (or duo of coasters) that had now opened… Stampida Stampida was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so we decided to give one of the coasters a ride. We opted for the Blue track for our first ride, and the queue ended up being very accurate, taking around 10 minutes. So, how was the ride? Well, I was sat in row 8, and the racing element was good fun, with John Wardley’s surprise tunnel touch being particularly fun, and it hasn’t got a bad layout, but I wasn’t a massive fan of Stampida Blue. It was quite rough in numerous sections (albeit I’ve admittedly ridden rougher woodies; something like Grand National, for example, was definitely rougher), and I also thought that the trains were very uncomfortable, with a lap bar that seemed to tighten noticeably and really clasp you in as the ride went on, ensuring that you got precisely zero airtime. It seems like the sort of ride that could be vastly better if they gave it new trains and/or some retracking work, because there are some very decent wooden coaster foundations there. Overall, then, I wasn’t the biggest fan of Stampida Blue, despite it having a decent, long layout and fun racing features: After getting off Stampida Blue, I whipped straight back round to nab the other Stampida credit, Stampida Red, while the queue was short. I was sat in the front row on the Red side, and it wasn’t an awful lot different to the Blue side, albeit it felt perhaps marginally smoother. This could have been caused by me being sat in the front, being sat on my own or both, however. Following Stampida Red, me and my mum nipped to ride the other Far West woodie while the queue was short… Tomahawk Tomahawk was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so we decided to take a ride on there. As with Stampida, the queue was bang on the advertised time, taking 10 minutes. So, how was the ride? Well, I thought it was perfectly all right for a family woodie, if somewhat unremarkable. There were some fair drops on there and it picked up some speed in sections, and I personally found the ride smooth enough and with comfortable restraints. My mum, however, was somewhat pinned in and found the train uncomfortable. Overall, then, Tomahawk was a perfectly fun, if somewhat unremarkable, family wooden coaster: After riding Tomahawk, we decided to go for another water ride… Grand Canyon Rapids Grand Canyon Rapids was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so we decided to give it a whirl. If anything, 10 minutes was slightly overestimated, as we were on the ride in only 5 minutes; you can never complain about that! So, how was the ride? Well, it looked like a somewhat unassuming rapids from off ride, but it was proof that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover, as it was a very strong rapids! The river was fast, there were some good waves and some good water effects, and it was overall a very surprising rapids, with a certain ferocity that you don’t really get on a UK rapids anymore! While not Bilge Rats level soaked, we walked off surprisingly wet after being struck by a particularly vicious wave! The girls batched into our boat with us came off somewhat drier… proof if it was needed of the complete lottery rapids rides are! Overall, then, Grand Canyon Rapids was a very surprising rapids that packed many unexpected elements: After Grand Canyon Rapids, my dad and I headed back over towards China, with us stopping at another coaster on the way there… El Diablo: Tren de la Mina El Diablo was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so we decided to take a ride on there. The 10 minute advertised queue time was in fact overstated, as we waltzed straight onto row 15! But how was the ride? Well, I did not go in with very high expectations, as I’ve never heard overly good things about El Diablo, but it was surprisingly good fun and definitely exceeded my expectations! It’s a really long coaster, it’s not overly rough, and while not the most thrilling coaster, it has some really fun helixes and turns where it gains surprising speed! Overall, then, I definitely enjoyed El Diablo more than I expected to, and my dad liked it too; it was definitely a positive surprise: After El Diablo, me and my dad headed into China to tick off a big thrill coaster we hadn’t done yet… Dragon Khan Dragon Khan was on an advertised 10 minute queue, so we decided to give it a whirl. This queue was fractionally understated, taking around 15 minutes, but I still didn’t think that was an overly long queue for such a major headliner. So, how was the ride? Well, I’d heard that Dragon Khan was very rough, but I was seated in an inner seat on row 6, and I did not find it as bad as expected based on reviews, despite not having an overly high roughness tolerance. It has a bit of headbanging in places, and is perhaps one of the rougher B&Ms I’ve ridden, but it wasn’t anything overly terrible and the ride was overall not terribly rough. It was no rougher than, say, the retracked Hulk at Universal. The layout is also very decent, with some excellent inversions and good forces; it’s rather reminiscent of Kumba in that regard, even if it hasn’t seemingly aged quite as well. Overall, then, Dragon Khan wasn’t a bad ride at all; while not glass smooth, I didn’t find it massively rough, and the layout is very decent: After Dragon Khan, my mum and dad left the park and left me to my own devices. As such, I decided to go for not one, but two, rerides on Shambhala using the single rider queue. This worked well; on a 30 minute advertised queue, I got onto the ride within 15 minutes the first time, and even with a stoppage of 5-10 minutes while I was in the queue, I still matched the advertised main queue time of 30 minutes the second time. As for the ride itself, I was seated in the back row of the 7th car both times, and if anything, the ride was possibly even better than it was in the morning, and seemingly grew on me even more with each ride! The sustained airtime was once again glorious, the speed was once again glorious, the ride was blissfully smooth and comfortable once again, and overall, the ride was just absolutely sublime and such a joyous experience!: You may notice that earlier in the report, I steered clear of doing any direct comparisons and answering the question of whether Shambhala has bested Mako as my #1 coaster. After my first ride, I was unsure of Shambhala’s placement among my B&M Hypers (the other two I’ve ridden are Mako and Silver Star), but I knew it was in the conversation of top coasters… the second and third rides, however, made me think that it may have sealed the deal to become my favourite B&M Hyper Coaster, and that after 8 years, I may finally have a new #1 coaster! I’m not concluding that firmly just yet, as I still have 2 more days to ride it more and decide, but currently, I am thinking that Shambhala is a new #1 for me! In terms of what is spurring me to provisionally place Shambhala above Mako; there are a couple of things that I feel it does slightly better while maintaining all of Mako’s best qualities. Firstly, I think the additional speed really enhances it. Secondly, I also think that Shambhala flows better and keeps the thrills going right to the end marginally better than Mako does; on Mako, you have the harsh trim and the slightly weaker ending, but on Shambhala, the ride flows beautifully, every hill delivers sublime sustained airtime and it keeps the thrills going right to the end! I also thought that Shambhala’s speed hill was a bit better than Mako’s; on Mako, that hill, while wonderful, isn’t a particularly standout moment, but on Shambhala, it provides an absolutely stunning pop of ejector airtime! Mako is still an absolutely sublime ride, but when it’s the #1 spot you’re talking about, pedantry has to win out, and Shambhala marginally wins on pedantry for me! I pondered a 3rd reride on Shambhala, but the single rider queue looked longer when I got off after my 2nd reride, and I realised that there was still a key thrill coaster I needed to ride to get the clean sweep of major coasters in PortAventura Park. As such, I headed down to Mediterranea to go and ride… Furius Baco While Furius Baco had a single rider queue, it looked rather long, so I decided to chance the 50 minute main queue instead. The 50 minute main queue turned out to be perfectly accurate, taking the advertised 50 minutes; you can never complain about that! So, how was the ride? Well, I was morbidly intrigued to ride Furius Baco, as I’ve always heard deeply polarised opinions about it and it has its fair share of both passionate lovers and passionate haters. One common thread, however, is that the ride is generally agreed to be quite rough, and given what some of Baco’s haters say about it, I was morbidly intrigued to see just how rough it actually was. I was seated in a relatively unremarkable seat, being in the row 4 inner seat on the left, and I can’t say I was too much of a fan. The launch was excellent and incredibly punchy, as is always the case with these Intamin hydraulic launches… but it is definitely a pretty rough ride! Interestingly, I wouldn’t say it was overly rough in the traditional sense of head-splitting jolts or jerkiness, which I tend to be more sensitive to than rattling/bouncing… but it is perhaps one of the bounciest coasters I’ve ever ridden, to the extent where the sheer degree of bouncing bordered on head-splitting joltiness on odd occasions, and I definitely came off with a decent headache! In the seat I was sat in, I wouldn’t say it was quite uncomfortably rough enough to be “the worst coaster I’ve ever ridden” or in that very bottom 1/10 tier like some declare it, and I think I have ridden some rougher coasters… but it was still a bit too rough for me, and given how rough it was in the row 4 inner seat, it’s not too hard to imagine it being utterly vile on an outer seat! Overall, then, I’m afraid I wasn’t a huge fan of Furius Baco, despite the ever punchy Intamin hydraulic launch. For me, it’s simply much too rough to be something I overly enjoy or rate highly; even if it perhaps wasn’t the most uncomfortably rough coaster I’ve ever ridden in the row 4 inner seat, it was still too rough to fully enjoy for me, and it’s not too hard for me to imagine how it could be absolutely vile on an outer seat or further back in the train!: By the time I got off Furius Baco, the 6pm park closing time had passed, so I bade PortAventura Park goodnight for the day and headed back to Hotel Gold River to meet back up with my mum and dad: So, that wraps up our first day in PortAventura Park! I had an absolutely excellent day; Shambhala was a particularly huge highlight, but there were many other great bits too, and in general, I just thoroughly enjoyed the day and loved setting foot inside PortAventura Park for the first time and seeing what it had to offer! In terms of my first impressions of PortAventura Park; they are overall very, very positive, and I feel that the park is right up there as one of the strongest in Europe, of the ones I’ve visited (admittedly not too many compared to some)! It’s an utterly gorgeous park to walk around and just exist in, the theming is sublime and intricately detailed throughout, and there are some great rides (Shambhala being the main highlight)! Thus far, I’m absolutely loving the park, and I can’t wait to get back in there tomorrow; I dare say that it’s possibly exceeded my expectations so far! I also feel that I should address those old chestnuts that people always moan about with PortAventura; the operations, the queues and Express Pass. Overall, I did not feel that those things were nearly as bad as I was expecting. Express usage did not appear to be excessive, and while I’d hesitate to call the operations fast, I didn’t think they were overly awful by any stretch of the imagination; I’ve seen far worse. Shambhala was doing over 800pph on 2 trains, Stampida had 2 trains on both sides and was doing a combined 1,200pph, the water rides were sending boats at a decent rate, and in general, the operations did not seem that terrible. The queues also weren’t that bad either. I did not buy Express Pass today, and personally, I don’t think I needed it; on the whole, the queues today were no worse than on a busy day at Alton Towers or Thorpe Park, and I’ve certainly waited in longer and slower-moving queues at some of our UK Merlin parks. I’d also argue that PortAventura actually had an advantage over those in that it seemed easier to find major rides with a short queue; rides like Stampida, Tomahawk, El Diablo and the water rides seemed to have queues of 20 minutes or less all day. I was certainly very content with my ride count of 12 in 7.5 hours without using Express Pass; I managed to get on every major coaster, as well as 2 water rides, and get in rerides on Shambhala! Overall, though, I had a fantastic day at PortAventura Park, and my first impressions are overall very positive! Thanks for reading; I hope you’ve enjoyed this report! Tomorrow, we’ll be heading back into PortAventura Park, as well as also visiting Ferrari Land. I can’t wait to get on Red Force for the first time!

From a ride rather article and Bloomberg : Here

All this talk of Oktoberfest being rubbish means I really should dress up when I visit next Tuesday to help with the IMMERSION.

I see today Thorpe has "scheduled late opening" for some attractions, except... none of the attractions were scheduled to open late in the app or online... At 1pm, Flying Fish, Zodiac and Detonator are "scheduled late opening" and WDTR hasn't opened yet today. Are they low on techies so prioritising opening each day? What's going on?

I'm 6ft4" and have always been fine with the rides. Hardly ever stopped due to the fact that I'm tall and the one time I've been measured on the Swarm all was good. Have fun on your visit!

For those interested, I returned to Drayton Manor yesterday for the first time since 2022, and resultantly managed to ride Gold Rush for the first time. I promised a longer review, so let me properly delve into things, having had quite a few more rides since that initial take! I was intrigued to try Gold Rush, but some of the initial reviews seemed quite muted, so I went in with somewhat lowered expectations. But I have to say that it exceeded my expectations by a fair bit; I thought it was an absolutely excellent family coaster, and I thoroughly enjoyed it! The investment doesn’t just comprise of the coaster itself, though, with the wider Frontier Falls themed area also being new for this year. I’ll start with that… Theming/Area In terms of the theming for Gold Rush itself, I actually thought it was very nice overall! I think Drayton Manor have done a sterling job with the coaster’s theming and aesthetics, personally! To raise a few specific points of interest: I quite like the queue; it has some nice vantage points, the tunnels with posters and things are quite neat, and I think it’s overall been finished off very nicely! The station is very nice, with a very nice wooden look to it and some really nice details and thematic touches! As I rode more, I noticed a surprising amount of nice thematic touches around the ride area. For example, I noticed quite a nice water feature in the middle, I noticed that a pipe by the station was billowing out smoke, I noticed some neat little signs and written bits around the area… there are a few nice little touches, and things like that really add substance to the theme! The effects sequence in the “dynamite shed” is quite simplistic, but works well. The smoke and the synchronised audio is quite nice, and it’s reasonably effective overall despite its relative simplicity. On a minor side note, the American accent used on the ride is not terribly convincing (I overheard someone in the queue describing them as “the most British-sounding cowboy ever”, which I think is quite apt…), but that’s nothing more than a fun observation… I certainly couldn’t do any better! I think the overall finish of the ride just looks very pleasant and pleasing to the eye. It has some nice landscaping, the wooden look is quite pleasant, and it feels quite well finished off. In terms of the wider Frontier Falls area; I think here is where things falter slightly. There’s undeniably been real effort put into sections of it, but if I’m being picky, it falls slightly short of being a fully cohesive themed area and comes across a tad unfinished. It seems as though the will to do a full themed area was there, but the budget didn’t quite stretch to an entire themed area and they could only do bits of it. On the positive side, some of the new look facades look really nice with some fun details, I’m a fan of the sand effect paving that goes through parts of the area, and I also think that the rethemed Drunken Barrels (now called Blasting Barrels, I believe?) looks really nice and has clearly had real effort put into it. There was clearly intent from Drayton Manor to do a full Western themed area, and what’s there looks very nice, to be fair. In terms of why I feel the area feels slightly unfinished to me; there are some rides that don’t really fit in with the theme, and resultantly, I also think the area boundaries on the end by Accelerator and Flying Dutchman are slightly blurred. The main examples I’m thinking of are: The Haunting has had no changes to blend it in at all, with it still retaining the same English vicarage theme it’s always had. To be fair, however, it’s tucked away enough that it’s relatively inoffensive within the wider visuals of the area, so this is quite a pedantic one. The main weak point for me was Accelerator. I admittedly didn’t get to see the indoor queue, as it wasn’t open and I couldn’t ride it, but externally, it looks as though there’s been little to no attempt at retheming it and it now sticks out like a sore thumb. I hope they’re able to do a bit more to make this fit the area in the years to come. Flying Dutchman also really sticks out, but I’m admittedly unsure if it’s in the area or not. But overall, I think the themed area is nice, and the theming of the coaster is particularly nice and well finished off! I hope they’re able to finish off other sections of the area like Accelerator in time, as finishing off those bits will make it a really nice complete themed area! Now let’s discuss the coaster itself… The Ride To be honest, Gold Rush was a coaster I was more intrigued by than overly excited by. It was undeniably unique and I could see that from the get go, but when some of the slightly muted initial reviews flowed in, I was sceptical about how it would ride. However, I have to say that Gold Rush thoroughly exceeded my expectations; it was really, really good fun and I enjoyed it a lot! It is not the most intense coaster by any means, but I think it’s just good, clean fun, and I often find that a very enjoyable quality in a ride; intensity isn’t everything! In terms of some key points of interest within the coaster itself: I thought it packed surprising vigour at points; the backwards sections in particular were surprisingly forceful! The launches are quite good fun and have a nice punch to them. They’re not going to blow your head off, but for a family coaster, I think they do the job nicely. Some of the twisty bits were very good fun and felt quite dynamic. I think Intamin are excellent at throwing some nice dynamic twists and turns into their family coasters, and that really shines through here! The coaster is very smooth, with not a hint of rattle or roughness whatsoever. The trains are also lovely and comfortable! It’s a deceptively long ride. The track length isn’t very long, but the switch track technology means that you get quite a bit of ride time out of Gold Rush! In terms of the ride’s overall force set, I’d liken it quite considerably to Thirteen sans the drop track. A lot of the sensations feel very Thirteen-esque. I really like Thirteen, so I liked this! I think Thirteen marginally edges Gold Rush out for me if I were to pick a winner, but it’s actually very close for me; there’s certainly a much closer contest between the two rides than I’d expected before riding! The multi-cycle feature is intriguing. It’s certainly novel, and it does make you want to try the ride again later on! Of the two cycles, I’m unsure which I preferred; I thought the backwards section dropping down the lift was quite neat on Cycle 2, but I did think that the launch out of the effects shed was a bit better when done backwards on Cycle 1. I managed to get a lot of rides in various seats, and I think my preference errs towards the back row on Gold Rush, regardless of cycle. In terms of a critique, one very pedantic thing I would say is that the ride is quite lacking in airtime given that the layout looks like it was designed to offer airtime in places. It has quite a few bits where it threatens airtime, but doesn’t quite go the whole hog and actually give you any airtime. I’m not expecting top-tier ejector by any stretch, but that is one thing I think Thirteen does better; on there, you have a surprisingly decent moment of air on the first drop towards the back of the train, and some of the hills in the outdoor section provide some fun floaty airtime regardless of seat. Gold Rush didn’t quite seem to match the fun floaty airtime pops of Thirteen, and to be honest, that is probably the one thing that keeps Thirteen fractionally ahead of Gold Rush for me. If Gold Rush provided those fun floaty pops, then it might have beaten Thirteen for me. This is a very pedantic critique, though, and doesn’t notably detract from the ride! Overall, then, I think Gold Rush is an absolutely cracking little coaster, and a superb addition to Drayton Manor! It’s my favourite coaster at the park by some margin, and for families, I think it’s a simply superb coaster that should please everyone in the family! It is not the most intense of coasters, but for the 1m height restriction, I think it packs some really good thrills and is a great coaster for the younger kids while also pleasing the older members of the family; I certainly came off with a smile on my face every time, anyhow! For the whole family demographic, I think it’s the fun, rerideable family coaster that they needed, and it suits the park’s new direction down to the ground. If we’re doing like-for-like comparisons with similarly scaled coasters, I would say that it is my favourite coaster in the UK with a height restriction of 1m or below, beating out anything on offer at Paultons Park (the commonly cited poster child for a great family park in the UK, with a thoroughly enjoyable selection of family coasters). The coaster itself is also themed really nicely, and what they’ve attempted with the wider themed area is very nice! I just hope that they’re able to get a bit of additional budget to fully complete the area and theme in some of those rides that currently stand out; that would be the icing on the cake! To close off my Gold Rush review, have a few assorted pictures I took: On a side note, I also managed to experience The Wave for the first time following the sit-down conversion, so I’ll briefly cover that too. I’ve long held the view that Shockwave would be greatly improved with sit-down trains, so I was intrigued to try it out. I think The Wave does improve somewhat on Shockwave… but sit-down trains aren’t the game changer I’d perhaps hoped they might be. They are generally comfortable and do make some of the better qualities of the ride layout shine through better; some of the inversions are reasonably decent! However, the ride is still a bit rough in places (although you admittedly feel the roughness a bit less with no OTSRs), that brake run slam at the end is still horribly violent, and it still hasn’t got the most interesting of layouts. I also noticed that the lap bar sometimes tightened a fair amount during the ride, and the new trains are also not terribly efficient for operations. The staff need to pull down the lap bar to a very specific place and ask you not to touch your bar, and then they need to press a different button before they push down your bar again to tighten it properly. It does make the operations rather inefficient. With that being said, I think it’s overall an improvement. The ride is more comfortable than before, and it also fits the park’s new direction a lot better seeing as younger kids can ride it. It fits the bill quite nicely as a “first big inverting coaster”! If you’re interested, I also wrote a trip report about the rest of my day at Drayton Manor:

That's not the Merlin way - website, signs, emails or otherwise 🙃

Tulley's have removed the "Scare Factors" from the haunts page, which is probably a good thing because they were pretty nonsensical anyway. We've had the best scares in Creepy Cottage on some visits, for example - all just depends on the actors.

Stage is built: Interesting that it's effectively in the opposite place it was last year. I guess it gives more room for viewing, and an additional pathway for Fright Nights since Death's Doors seems to not be returning. I wonder what effect it will have on Ghost Train. There was instances of noise bleed into Ghost Train from the stage, so it will be interesting how being closer, but with speakers facing the opposite way, affects things.

Park seems to have bought a few misters for around the place: Weird to get them towards end of summer, but better late than never (equally could have been delays outside their control). But if they have bought and own them, it should be easier to then get them out in future. Also, the Hyperia stage is outside Ghost Train, presumably ready for Oktoberfest prep: With Oktoberfest starting a week today, it does continue to show, in my opinion, that Oktoberfest is very much just a side quest style event that is the middle child of Thorpe's current line up. Whilst I like the idea, I question the worth of it moving forward.

Stage is completely gone, fans/misters on queue line, and work going on around the queue:

Looks like they maybe installing some water fountains in the queue maybe? (Not my photo!)

Just don't break it, or Stealth, thanks.

Naturally because I've posted today that it's been closed for ages, it's re-opened today. Currently has a queue which stretches almost to the Teacups!

I had the same thought, but can't be sure either way. Still digging around to find out. Over Fright Nights it closes at dusk in any case. Rumba is an interesting one at the moment. It's been closed for an extended period of time, and that's sort of flown under the radar. Many of my recent visits it's just been sat there, although on Thursday it was testing, with staff in all Watcher positions. Saturday again it was dormant. Two weeks to get it back open. Thorpe did say earlier in the year, on the Facebook passholder group, that it's a seasonal attraction. I guess it makes sense; it's a staff intensive attraction that is out the way and will have a low ridership in autumn. A different kettle of fish to, say, Tidal Wave, which though expensive to run and has low autumnal ridership, is very prominent. Too prominent to close. Remember in 2020 when Rumba was 'transformed' for Oktoberfest into the Oompah Rapids? That feels a lifetime ago, and now it's closed for basically the whole event. The park need to do something with it. Realistically, the park lack a mid-level water ride; one that gets you wet, but not too wet. Rumba and Storm Surge are rides on water, but barely get you wet. Updating Rumba, with new boats and effects, could work. The other option would be the scrap it entirely and put a new ride there. With some work, they could create a closed water system there and put in a new water ride (new gen log flume with restraints?), but it won't be cheap. The issue for Thorpe right now is they still have Slammer SBNO, next to the big new thing, they've got flat rides which are nearing 25 years old, they've got an elephant in Ghost Train, which surely can't operate as is until the end of the decade, and coasters seem to be the main draw to the park. Where in all that do they fit in a Rumba replacement? So the bigger question is: do they drag our Rumba as much as possible, rolling the proverbial turd in a bit of glitter, or do they take the hit and SBNO-it, hiding it behind a few extra trees? Neither is ideal, but it feels like we're leaning more towards the latter.

This is so lovely Matt ❤️ Brought back fond memories of my Grandad Keep making memories Matt. I hope you’ve got an ORP with him!

The app does also say that "all Hyperia queue lines will close prior to the advertised park closure time". It is mixed messaging, but equally it is there. The question is: how do the park create a clear communication line? Does the app need "opening hours" for every ride, especially ones which are scheduled to be open from open to close? Could the park remove that? Equally, what more can the park do to push that Hyperia's queue line could close earlier, at any time? People don't read the information, or have been conditioned to ignore it (because, more often than not, the queue line does close at park close). The park obviously have reasons for wanting to close the queue line early. Why that is is unclear. Could be engineering, staffing, etc. Obviously with Fright Nights around the corner, there's questions as to whether this will be a regular occurrence. If people want to, say, do the mazes then get a night ride on Hyperia, it feels like it'll be a difficult to get timings right for people, given the issues they have with timing on mazes. I understand the want for a night ride. But just take a step back. You got a ride at some point after 8.20pm. That's good, right? At worst, that's a ride happening at dusk. A ride at a time that wouldn't have been possible so far except on opening day. And you may also have gotten other rides during the day. Your complaint boils down to the fact that the lack of communication meant you couldn't get another ride? As I say, take a step back. Don't get me wrong, the communication can be improved, and it has left a sour taste for some, but saying something like this: feels like an over-reaction to the situation. The park have extended opening hours, with much of the park being quiet during those extended hours (likely due to poor weather), at a time when other parks within Merlin have cut opening hours and have reduced ride selection. Whilst your experience left a poor final impression, there's a huge oversight on all the positives from yesterday.

Very well done, and thank you . Those of us, especially this dinosaur, can have no idea of the complications of setting up a site, trying to transfer sections across, and having to put up with any unhelpful comments. Thanks, Fred (planenut)

I have some throughput timings and insights from my visit to Thorpe Park on Sunday. The readings I was able to get were as follows: Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains) - 764pph (2 trains, average of 4, 18th August 2024) Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 765pph (2 trains, average of 9, 18th August 2024) Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 932pph (2 trains, average of 8, 18th August 2024) Note: This reading was skewed downwards by one particularly slow dispatch; prior to that, the average was over 1,000pph. Saw The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars) - 853pph (unknown number of cars, average of 10, 18th August 2024) The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains) - 882pph (2 trains, average of 5, 18th August 2024) In terms of some more general insights: Saw and Colossus were operating about as well as I’ve ever seen them operate. Saw in particular seemed to be operated excellently! Hyperia was operated very well, with little to no stacking; a train was frequently starting to head up the lift hill as the train in front hit the brake run! However, its throughput is definitely inhibited by how slowly the train moves along the final brake run; due to this, there is unfortunately quite a bit of idle time in the station between trains. If they were able to sort this out and make the train return to the station more quickly, I think they would get much closer to that 1,050pph theoretical figure. Operations on Nemesis Inferno were pretty good; it quite frequently wasn’t stacking! I did notice quite a few empty seats on my train, though; maybe they could be slightly more forthcoming in encouraging different groups to sit together? The Swarm was a bit of a weak link, unfortunately. There seemed to be very little urgency to the operations on there; I honestly think the 882pph reading I got was quite a generous assessment of the situation. Dispatch times of multiple minutes were not uncommon. It’s a shame, as when operated well, Swarm can be a real throughput powerhouse! I do wonder if the return of the baggage hold on here would help; people dealing with baggage on the platform does seem to delay the opening of the airgates and the swift movement of people onto the ride somewhat.

Fantastic, super detailed trip report there and love hearing following your grandads journey too. Glad you enjoyed your day.

This aged very nicely over 11 years…

The issue with the train crash sequence (and why it was removed for the 2018 season) was that it just didn't work. Completely temperamental, had a mind of its own, and they just couldn't get it right. As cool as it was, it was also another effect that made it a "one and done" type ride. And, given its temperamental nature, when it didn't work, anyone who was expecting was more disappointed. I maintain my original standpoint with this version of Ghost Train: the concept is the best they could have done with what they had to work with. There's issues (transition to crypt, the shop exit, etc), but given the hand they were dealt, it's not bad.

Just remembered another one I had a good few years ago where Thorpe switched rides around - I distinctly remember people going down Depth Charge in a singular swarm seat (with restraint). Pretty sure Rumba boats were going down Storm Surge and boats from Storm Surge were on Rapids.