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Hey guys, I don't know about you, but I am fed up of seeing all the negativity out there about Thorpe Park. Sure, it's far from perfect, but this is the Thorpe fan site - If you're reading this forum, you must love the place to some extent? So why not share why?! Let's bring back some of the glassy eyed excitement we all used to feel when using these forums Please let us all know what are your 3 favourite things about Thorpe Park. Why do you love the place? I'll start. My favourite things about Thorpe are The atmosphere. I don't know what it is about Thorpe, but it has a certain atmosphere that you don't get anywhere else. I can't put my finger on it, it's just "that Thorpe feeling" you get as you walk over the bridge in to the park - it's the same today for me as it was when I was a kid back in the early 2000's! I think it's that it doesn't take its self too seriously, and it's certainly rough around the edges, but it's just got a chilled, fun vibe. It's quite a unique atmosphere in my opinion. The park has stayed humble as well which I like - it's not pretending to be more than it is. Fright Nights. It's not the best horror event out there anymore, and yes some of the recent attractions have been a bit lack lustre, but Fright Nights is almost its own 'thing', and is a must-do at Halloween. The familiarity and "at home" feeling. A lot of people say walking in to Disney is like coming home. Now, I wouldn't say that about Thorpe, but it certainly has that kind of vibe for me. I think it's because it's always been my "home park", and I sort of grew up with it over the years. It's by far my most visited park, so feels like "my place" if you know what I mean? I bet there are a lot of people that feel that way

Some nice drone footage of the park from this past weekend: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=skysurveyuk&set=a.255034999417922 In particular, this image shows some work taking place between the entrance arch and the security check in point: They've needed to properly sort out the entrance area for a long time, so one can only hope that they end up doing something good.

Here's the images in question: (Credit to Jack Silkstone for grabbing to Google Earth screenshots) Anyone who did Platform 15, especially when it was lighter or who looked over their shoulder, may have noticed this. I believe that there was a lot of a chopped up wood used for theming round the Creek Freaks Unchained scare zone last Fright Nights. Could well have been for that. In Jack's video, he says that staff said it was basically nothing. It's hard to imagine it being for anything because: 1. We haven't seen any planning permission (which they would likely needed for anything there) 2. Building a ride there would mean they lose a maze space for FN (which is at a premium these days) 3. I genuinely think that the Loggers site would be the most expensive to develop for a new thing So yeah, I expect it's for nothing exciting. But, have to say it's nice to see something, anything, happen at Thorpe these days...

What's this, a post, in the Next Big Thing thread? "Is it spam? Someone making a stupid RMC joke?" I hear you ask. Nope, there has been activity on the local council's planning application website, related to Thorpe Park! For the first time in almost 3 years!! But don't get too excited. Way back in 2017, Thorpe submitted an application to the council to effectively change how they submit for plans for stuff. In short, the current method involves the park having to submit a detailed application for pretty much anything (eg: Containment required planning application, and that's just 2 shipping containers!). Thorpe wanted to change that so they didn't have to submit plans for buildings below 5m in height, or rides below 25m in height (similar to an agreement which Towers have). Decisions and stuff had stalled and there was some opposition to them from local residents. No formal decision has ever been made. A document appeared on the application a couple of months back indicating an extension of time regarding the proposal until the middle of April this year. After that, who knows what will happen. In short, this means nothing for the 'Next Big Thing' as it would presumably exceed 25m in height and require a planning application in any case. But it's still interesting. tl;dr - a boring planning document got an update a couple of months back. It means nothing in the reality of any new investments at the park for now. (but hey, I'm sure I got at least one person excited for a split second )