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To me it depends on use and if they are combined well with physical sets A dark ride like Pirates over at Shanghai disney looks a masterclass in the correct use of screens as they blend well with the sets. The same can be applied to the potter dark rides at Universal. On the flip side, rides like Skull Island which is 95 percent screens with an amazing Kong animatronic I find very lazy. I wouldn't want dark rides going down this route. Hope that explains my stance on them!!

Personally, I wouldn't be at all surprised if we see Colossus go before the end of the 2020s, and I'll be stunned if it's not the first of the big thrill coasters to go. It's not an especially popular ride (among enthusiasts, at very least, and none of my family especially like it), it's lost its original USP even within the UK, it takes up a not insignificant amount of land within a park that will soon be tight on space for new rides, and correct me if I'm wrong here, but isn't subsidence causing issues with the ride's footers? However, I would counter that by saying that I don't think coasters necessarily have a set lifespan. For every ride getting removed at 30 years old, there's a similarly specced ride still hanging in there for decades afterwards, and I don't think that a ride hitting a certain age is necessarily an indicator that "[x ride] is due for removal or retracking". I think it's more nuanced than that, personally.

The Nemesis retrack is a weird one, as we're in slightly uncharted territory with regards to the lifespan of B&Ms. And, of course, we don't really have much to go on for what the life span of more modern steel coasters are. I can't be the only one thinking that 30 years is somewhat on the short side as a lifespan for a coaster, especially one from a top tier manufacturer? I don't know, maybe I'm being overly optimistic? I wonder if the Nemesis situation is made worse by the location and the fact it was still one of B&Ms first coasters. Could accelerate potential issues! To get more to the point of the topic though...yes, Thorpe could well be looking down a potential difficult barrel. If we do go for the 30 year mark for coasters, it leaves a lot of potential expensive work to happen in a short period of time. But on top of that, their support rides are also a cause for concern. Rides like Samurai and Vortex are becoming more unreliable, and even some of the smaller rides like Depth Charge and Teacups will see a time when a like-for-like replacement must surely end up being cheaper than repairs? Thorpe is a potential ticking time bomb for maintenance and replacements! I'd expect Colossus would be the first major ride to need major work. Not just the age, but the location and rumours of sinking supports (and the numerous works it has had to supports and filling in the lake around the ride). Whether that results in a retrack for the ride that 'put Thorpe on the map', or a replacement is hard to say. Colossus is clearly still popular. But with Exodus around the corner, Smiler holding the inversion record and the wider audience moving away from a 'more inversions = better' logic, is Colossus a ride of the past? Could the space be put to better use for a newer ride? No wrong answer there of course. I honestly would not be surprised either way if they retrack it or dump it and replacement. But I do think the time is close for it to receive major work!

On a slightly different note, here's an excellent visual from Jack SIlkstone showing just how Project Exodus looks in context within the Thorpe skyline: It really dwarfs Saw in particular here!