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Exactly I like to think the mood on a forum dedicated to any park would reflect the current state of the park in question. If Thorpe park was doing brilliant like it was from 2000 up until the swarm with a promising future ahead of it, then these forums would be buzzing!! The reality is that with the park being right in the doldrums and has been on a massive decline for years with poor investments, along with no clear direction in terms of where the park is going,aswell as rides just abandoned unfortunately will lead to negativity. Hardly surprising when arguably the most enjoyable thing the park has given their guests since the swarm is a damn bouncy castle. Just the nature of the beast. I refuse to believe that there is some form of witch hunt towards Merlin because when they get it right with things like Wicker Man and scarefest at Alton Towers then people will praise them with the praise they deserve and likewise when they mess up then they will get the criticism in the hope things get better. People don't complain because it's fun or in fashion. People (myself included) do so because they know that Thorpe Park can do better and in those golden years I mentioned HAS done better.

I disagree, isn't the idea of a fan forum to discuss all aspects of a subject (in this case Thorpe) whether good or bad? Being a fan of something doesn't mean you have to defend or be positive about everything they do, IMO. If Thorpe was in a brilliant state I'd be singing their praises, but equally it's just as important to talk about the aspects that aren't good. And unfortunately, there are IMO quite a lot of those with Thorpe currently! I won't be a PR machine for the park and say that everything's wonderful, that's for brand advocates and marketeers not fans.

£9.60 for a hotdog and chips is extortionate even for a theme park. That same venue used to serve full BBQ meals for less than £8 (before discount). You can't really blame people for taking their own food when the quality of park food has decreased and the prices increased massively, IMO.

It would be a shame to see this ride go its a real asset to the park and something the UK park industry really lacks in two aspects is water rides and immersive dark rides, I could understand from a financial point of view but having ridden it a few years back it was a highlight of the park for me and great ride.

Thank christ there's a Tesco not too far away from the park!! Love those sandwiches!!

Whilst we cannot really analyse the running cost figures for Valhalla, the evidence is there to suggest it took its toll on the park. Pleasure Beach in the 90s was thriving, busy and appeared to be making money. Whilst Valhalla was a hugely popular and world-renowned ride when it opened, it also marked the start of the park's decline. Valhalla opened in 2000, in 2001 three rides went SBNO. The high running cost and poor reliability of Valhalla took its toll and combined with the introduction of wristbands it's plausible to believe that the park could have gone from profitable to losing money rapidly. You only have to look at how many rides have gone from Pleasure Beach since 2000 with no replacement to see that the park has not been in a healthy state for a long time. Whilst this can't all be attibuted to Valhalla, it was definitely after it opened that things took a turn for the worst. Also consider, between 1994 and 2000 PB invested in The Big One, Ice Blast and Valhalla. Before PMBO they were also investing pretty well. After Valhalla, it took 18 years before a new investment on the same scale was made. And the opening of this saw another coaster removed and overall park standards continue to drop. Says it all really. Original Valhalla had a constantly cold room with ice and real snow being sprayed from the ceiling, much more fire than nowadays and a multitude of other effects (tesla coil, a better steam effect to the one used now) and with it originally running more boats and therefore triggering each effect more often, it's easy to see why the running costs were high. The ride system itself is also flawed, maintenance heavy and I can imagine uses an awful lot of power. The boats smash against the concrete/metal sides of the trough all the time which can't be good for maintenance. It's also had a number of quite concerning issues, particuarly in the last few years. It's difficult (for me anyway) to watch that documentary and not be a bit sad at how bad PB let the ride get. It isn't even always the expensive things, little details like the style of lighting used or much more foilage in the ice room which has since been torn out and replaced with artificial Christmas trees. The ride has been treated so carelessly as a themed experience and it's such a shame because I genuinely believe it'd still be up there as one of the world's best dark rides if it had been looked after properly. As for whether it will ever reopen, I really don't know. Let's not forget that Pleasure Beach told us the Wild Mouse was closed for "maintenance" before tearing it down in the closed season. If Valhalla does reopen, I think it's likely to be a very cut back version compared with how it was even in 2019 (which was terrible!). Expect to see the fire replaced with timed lighting/smoke, no steam or ice, etc. Lots more dark sections. Personally I'd rather see the ride replaced than reopened in a much less impressive state. If it opens after a year's closure with the majority of effects removed, that won't go down well at all. That said, the park have promised that it will reopen in 2021 so they'd have a backlash if it didn't anyway.

For those unaware of the reference: Wikipedia: Chiapas is a southern Mexican state bordering Guatemala. Its mountainous highlands and dense rainforest are dotted with Mayan archaeological sites and Spanish colonial towns.

Not really a meme but snapped this at home and sent to @JoshC. - coffee for true eNThuSiaStS....

So long as it actually reopens and they don't lie and say it's going to make a return and then keep it closed for years before finally announcing it's dead after it's been rotting away for a period, I'll be happy as Larry. Although I can't see ANYONE being that unprofessional to do that.

But thats not the agenda of the average money saving map holder is it? What are you having for lunch? Hot dogs in flasks.