Leaderboard

I imagine next year will be a near repeat of this year. TWD, DBGTROTD, BM all closed. Capacity issues elsewhere. If only they had a nice open space like a farm to relax in, a large capacity train ride to take you there, an event space like an arena where people could be spread over a large searing area, or a log flume where each riding group could have their own socially distanced ride vehicle.

At this point I wouldn't be surprised if all the indoor stuff was delayed AGAIN, and it would be another financially devastating year for the park. TWD can't operate, Derren can't operate, Black Mirror's probably staying shuttered for the second year in a row. And with the IPs, you might get the chance we've seen the last of Derren and TWD a year ago if they're not renewed. The Thorpe guys are probably considering getting some kind of temporary "panic button addition" if BM is delayed again. I simply can't see 2021 being the godsend year everyone's hyping it up to be with distancing regulations being thrown away in early summer. The year will be another "not so great" year for the park, clearly better than 2020 but still far from previous years. See it as some kind of "if 2020 was a full season length". They could open BM if it's absolutely bodied by covid restrictions but it'll give awful first impressions of the new attraction and everyone's gonna call it "just another subpar filler until the next big thing". I want Black Mirror to be good and it would be nice to see it do well. Black Mirror opening at all would be nice though, always good to see things we haven't seen before. Most of the time.

I have to be honest, I strongly disagree with this. The Gruffalo River Ride Adventure is, for the most part, very well done and an improvement on the version of Bubbleworks that immediately preceded it, but only because that had fallen into poor condition. Tiger Rock however, aside from the new show-piece tiger head, which already looks tired and dated, they completely ruined the theming after the first drop and the majority of other features now look out of place or in desperate need of a paint job. I much preferred Dragon Falls. Walking Dead: The Ride too, ruins the ride in my opinion. It isn't suited to the hardware at all and it was much more enjoyable and fun to ride as X IMO. Valhalla does not need to become a lifeless bland IP-driven investment, and I thoroughly hope it isn't in any way similar to Gruffalo, Tiger Rock or Walking Dead!

Heh, only just found this topic! Hey, I'm Robert. I have 82 credits with my #1 being Olympia Looping, and my most ridden coaster is Stealth with 24 total rides on it. Throughout my time at parks I've blacked out on a Capriolo, broke down on two rides, waited two hours for a scare maze in pouring rain, chipped my tooth on an inflatable slide, and almost threw up on a Go Gator. Might sound cliche but theme parks are truly one of my favourite things, and they're an absolute blast. I hope I hit 100 credits in the next two years, so I better get going at that

Yes, wooden coasters need more maintenance. But having to shut the ride down for multiple days multiple times throughout (half of) a season, and then having to spend a significant amount of money on further maintenance over a closed season is nor normal for a wooden coaster.

How potentially Covid-secure is the Black Mirror eXPEriEncE, does anyone know? My guess is "not very".... apologies if this isn't the correct thread for this but maybe discussion and speculation about 2021 season is acceptable! Going to be interesting how that pans out - if they can't open it, will they have a backup plan/something else new for 2021? One would assume not. A lot can happen in 5 months... I do think next Spring/Summer is going to be different - not "normal" by any stretch... I guess the big next step is over-the-counter covid tests - in theory that could open up a lot of things... What fate will DBGTROTD have next year? Am I right in saying that 2021 is the last year that the IP is valid before renewal? I would assume XTWDTR will remain shut whilst social distancing is a "thing" because of the fact each car needs to have 4 people. I'm glad I got to visit Thorpe twice and Towers this year, was very much needed for a slice of some semblence of normality after a rollercoaster (LOL!!!) year. And to conclude: I maintain that the loaded fries, hot dog and drink deal at Wilderness Bar & Restaurant is the best value on park. And if you told me at the start of the year that you'd be able to get a pint of Spaten at Thorpe Park, I'd tell ya to get outta Old Town and buy me a VIP Parking space.

I mean, she wasn't really wearing it properly, so it was bound to fall. But it raises a great point of how many people actually know how to wear one properly, as you say. From what I've seen at parks across Europe, and from people I've spoken to, you can easily wear masks on rides and have them stay in place the entire time. And let's not forget people have done this in Asia before coronavirus anyways. It's not something that any park could really do. To commission such a study would be very expensive. It would be difficult to find people who could do this (ie - are properly qualified to give an opinion and conduct any research) as well as people who would (anyone who could would likely be putting their efforts into something which has wider appeal / more useful to the public). Also, such a study would be insanely difficult. People are less likely to cough or sneeze whilst a roller coaster is in motion, so that means you need to focus on studying people's screams and breathing. It's less known how droplets spread during these situation, as generally speaking there's less droplets and they're less regularly spread out. You then need to take into account the speed of a ride, direction of travel, etc. As these things are ever-changing, it means you have to do millions more calculations compared to, say, how you'd model it for someone riding a bike. As a result, any study that could be conducted would likely just reaffirm the benefits of wearing a mask (in that it would use the same ideas as in any other study of motion, from riding a bike to standing still), and demonstrate how a suitably fitted mask can stay on whilst riding a ride. And why bother with a study to show that?

So sad! Take us back to the 90's / early 00s