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Seriously! Back in 2008 when I first visited the park was arguably the most exciting park in the UK due to amazing investments the park was installing each year! Now every new attraction is either a maze or “experience” and the fact they turned their only “good” family coaster into a horror themed attraction is just ridiculous! Why don’t they add any new coasters or flat rides? It’s becoming such a bore! The last decent addition was in 2012! The 2nd hand kiddie rides they’ve added to old town don’t even blend into the area they stick out like sore thumbs with their colourful colour scenes and old “theming” Why have they closed rides and left them to rot? Loggers leap is closed and rotting, Slammer is closed and rotting, Saw: Alive is closed and rotting are they just going to leave them there it’s so strange and sad to see the once great park in such a depressing state... I also don’t understand who they are marketing themselves at anymore are they are thrill park or trying to be a family park because there image is all over the place and doesn’t quite fit together because they market it a lot different to the addictions they then add or don’t add... what’s going on?

What do you mean we don't have an Intamin thread?! Oh well, here goes... Intamin last year announced several new ride types to their offering. They've now uploaded some videos... Ultra Splash: A take on Mack's PowerSplash (aka Pulsar) model Giga Splash A take on Mack's SuperSplash model (see SuperSplash at Plopsaland) Vertical LSM coaster: A take on Premier's Sky Rocket II model Hot Racer: A take on RMC's single rail (Raptor) concept. Unlike RMC Raptors, a specific focus on launches (something RMC have said they wish to avoid with the Raptors altogether) and duelling. Nothing particularly new or groundbreaking, but some interesting ideas. The Ultra Splash model seems weird since it lacks the capability of a turntable like the Mack equivalent, meaning throughput could suffer, despite their claims. I'm particularly fond of the Giga Splash though. Looks lush

Are Intamin the new Golden Horse LOL? I'm sure parks will trust them over Mack to build their water rides, it isn't like any of their large scale water rides have failed hard in the past..

I went to Thorpe park on Monday. Got there at about 9:45 and was in by 10:10. Security has been stepped up somewhat. Metal detector wands, bag searches and a pat down. It all went very smoothly and without issue. I kinda fee bad for the people who went on Sunday as having worked in public events I know it’s almost impossible to spin up a security team over night. Monday was great, no worse than going to a gig or a festival. good vibes all round.

So here's the Thorpe problem in a nutshell. Their investment in the 2000's was big. it was exciting, it was dynamic, it was a dream to be a Uk theme park fan with rides left right and centre. But the Thorpe problem comes down to a lack of space and a lack of diversity. They've got themselves into a rut when The Swarm kind of failed. Their target audience demands the newest, most exciting attractions. Who cares about Colossus and its measly ten inversions when The Smiler has fourteen.So then when they fail to grow, they start to downsize. The problems start to increase. The lack of investment means a lack of return which just spirals until we get to now. Thorpe doesn't have the advantages of the family market. Chessington went through a similar slump when it left the thrill market altogether and turned to family. The difference there though is that the family market spends money. Kids demand toys and treats. Ap family holders are all too happy to grab a nice meal and a pint with their family. They like staying in an over-priced hotel. Kerching. Thorpe's target audience doesn't. Thorpe AP holders are happy to only spend a pound in the park all day. It starts to cost too much money to remove the SBNO attractions. Just build a wall. Who do you target at now when the bulk of your attractions are thrill heavy. Really there is absolutely no reason why the park couldn't build a family rollercoaster or some entry level flat rides (give me a breakdance you cowards). But they won't because all they want are headlines and aren't interested in sustaining the park beyond the end of the financial year. So we get short term rubbish like I'm a Celeb or Black Mirror instead of attractions that stand the test of time. I'm amazed that Chessington actually replaced Black Bucaneer and are replacing Rameses with a generic drop tower AND redid Tomb Blaster AND built a Rainforest area, refurbishing Toadies and building a Log Flume at the same time. This stuff never happens at Merlin, it will certainly never happen at Thorpe because the idea of cookie-cutter attractions would never fly. So instead the current attractions just age away and nothing gets built or done. If you were to ask me what Thorpe should do, I'd go with refurbish attractions, build rides that attract a wider audience and beef up that awful entrance with a new look and better security stations. Inferno shouldn't be turning green, family rollercoasters are awesome additions and a stabbing should never be able to happen again. There is absolutely no point in building an RMC or B&M Hyper if the rest of the park looks like a rubbish dump. Putting a bow on trash is still trash. And that for me is the Thorpe problem.

Can confirm, one green light still not working on Stealth. Hoping it'll be sorted by 2021.