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Hi guys. As of late, I’ve heard it mentioned that Thorpe Park is aiming to pursue more of an “amusement park” style vibe, with the themed areas being de-emphasised. The park allegedly even said this themselves in a recent post in their Facebook group. But in the past, the park has aimed to pursue theming more, with the themed areas being more strongly marketed and more themed rides being installed. With this in mind, I’d be keen to know; what is your stance on Thorpe Park’s alleged new direction? What path do you think the park should take with regard to themed areas? Personally, I’m not too upset that Thorpe Park is moving away from themed areas. While there are admittedly some very heavily themed individual rides at Thorpe Park, I would never have said that the park had any real cohesive themed areas; compared to somewhere like Europa, a typical Orlando park or to a lesser extent somewhere like Alton Towers, I would have said that Thorpe Park lacked easily definable themed areas. If I didn’t know any better, I would have struggled to separate areas like Lost City, Amity Cove and Calypso Quay, and indeed the park’s own grasp on these themed areas has seemed very tenuous at times (for instance, X was always listed as being within Lost City even though its entrance was within Amity Cove, and Samurai is in Old Town even though its theme and aesthetic arguably lend themselves more to Lost City). Often, the things within Thorpe’s themed areas have had very little thematic relation to each other, and at times, I felt that the themed areas were little more than a token gesture. I do also agree somewhat with Thorpe Park’s argument that the park is too compact to make proper themed areas work properly. Because everything is within reasonably close range of a number of other themes, I think that it’s hard to make a whole themed area work compellingly. And in a park like Thorpe, I’d also argue that focusing too much on themed areas could constrain creativity when it comes to devising new rides. The park has never seemed overly focused on immersing guests into themed areas, instead focusing on immersing guests into themed individual rides, and I’d far prefer that they do that well than try and fit things into arbitrary themed areas. And besides, not every park needs to be strongly themed; personally, I would have said that Thorpe Park’s strengths lie more in thrills than theming, and if that’s the case, I don’t really see an issue with them pursuing theming less. But what are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with the park’s move away from themed areas? Or do you feel that the park needs to keep the themed areas in mind?

In Broome era Towers you could buy designer clothes, glass & ceramics and even full furniture pieces from different shops on Towers Street! Maybe antiques aren’t such a crazy suggestion after all

SPOILER (although not sure if appropriate now its closed/changing but just in case!) Do people reckon the gift shop ending will remain in the new iteration? Also does anyone have an images of the demon in that last scene? or how the effect was done?

I dunno, Blackpool do sell old ride parts.

merlin.

So me and a few other members popped into Chessington today for it’s 2023 pass-holder day. Lots of rides closed (all advertised bar Gruffalo), which was a shame but expected. Vampire was the only operational coaster today, with some slow operations on just 1 train. Tiger Rock was on just 9 boats, Monkey Swinger had numerous broken seats and Tomb Blaster had a Mis-match of working/broken targets. We left the park around 4. So again early, however this time feeling more accomplished and worthy of the trip, despite the numerous operational potholes during the day. Although when you compare somewhere like Paultons having pretty much their full selection open for February half term, it certainly puts things into perspective. Even if today is just a rehearsal day at this point. Right, some more positives. Because I don’t want to become a Craig Revell Horwood here. Chessington has seen some substantial aesthetic updates last closed season. From entrance amendments to cosmetic theming upgrades throughout the park, from Adventure Point to Mexicana. From a presentational perspective, the park hasn’t looked this good in at least ten years and is welcoming to see. There’s still some areas (naturally) that need t weakening, but compared to the shambles of the 2010’s this is welcoming to see. It’s amazing how better fury looks with just the repainted supports. Jumanji is still a construction site at this time, but seeing the park’s first new coaster in almost 20 years and biggest expansion in a generation is so refreshing to see. A headline attraction with two supporting rides. It’s a park which needs new infrastructure and more capacity, even if there are some compromises in this example. Oh, and Pizza Pasta was actually okay this time round, except the BBQ chicken pizza. That was rather grim if I’m honest, but the other pizzas and pasta were fine.

I went to today’s passholder day and kinda wonder why I made the effort. Ride closures galore, with basically one half of rides closed for the day and the rest pretty much breaking down on a fairly regular basis. Ok, some were advertised and other’s weather related, but still disappointing. Stealth basically closed midday due to various rollbacks. Swarm and Detonator appeared to have regular breakdowns. Rush was on one swing and Quantum was playing as they had to keep releasing the bars. The Dobble teacup sticks out like a sore thumb and is an inferior iteration to say Tetley. I arrived midday at the park and left around an hour before closure. Probably says it all if honest. Not the greatest day by all means and possibly the worst passholder day since 2011. It is understandably a preview/rehearsal on the main part, where things won’t be perfect. However if these issues persist beyond a certain point, one must wonder if it is worth it. On a more positive note, some nicer spruce ups around the park. Rush flooring, Dome enhancements, F&B outlets, the new rest areas and more. Hopefully this continues as cosmetic improvements are always welcome. Exodus construction will without doubt be a pulling factor for things too.

This is something I posted on a FB chat page, but thought I'd share here for your thoughts as well: I have mixed feelings on DBGT. In its favour it is unique and a do mostly enjoy it. However I feel there is lost potential. Its biggest issue though is narrative and immersion. The ride chops and changes what the theme and story of the ride actually is. Here is how the ride pans out. 1. Derren introduction makes it explicit you're preparing for a theme park ride. 2. You see the hanging carriage with a Victorian theme, suggesting a time period to be immersed in... 3. ...which is immediately undermined by making carriage modern inside. I know this was deliberate, but it begs the question what's the point? Illusion for illusion's sake. You go from modern (Thorpe) to Victorian (hanging carriage) to modern again! 4. The first VR section is consistent with the carriage and the story continues as a modern 'ghost train' 5. The middle section is also consistent and keeps with the modern story... 6...but suddenly the final VR section is now showing park guests with headsets, making it explicit that you're on a ride again. It's hard to be immersed in a rise which veers between being: A. Victorian B. Modern C. A ride invaded by monsters. The twist that the carriage is modern inside and old outside is not terrible, but surely that's the wrong way around for interesting theming? To use a different theoretical example, imagine that you had another dark ride which had a modern themed queue and the station was themed to pirates. The ride then starts and magically transports you back to modern for the rest of the ride. Guests wouldn't be going "wow, what a twist", they'd wonder what happened. Turn that the other way around, and have a modern station but the ride takes you back in time to see Pirates, that is a bit more interesting, right? I get the logic in the train changing from modern / Victorian. However, theme parks are at their core about transporting you to 'the other' (so a different theme / time / place. What is seemingly backwards about DBGT is that the queue is 'modern' with mentions of fracking, then the carriage is 'Victorian', but then we're magically transported back to the time period we started off in! It's a bit backwards. This is why I feel that a simple switch from a modern and abandoned tube carriage with a Victorian interior would be more 'magical' and therefore more interesting. It takes guests to a new place, where the current ride takes you super briefly to a Victorian carriage before taking you back to modern immediately. Here is my proposal: 1. You start in Thorpe Park in an abandoned warehouse = modern 2. You see the hanging carriage which is now a modern tube train. The story is now that the train has been experimented on for paranormal purposes. 3. You step on board and now it's Victorian. You've been taken back in time by the mysterious carriage, and the ghosts are after you! 4. Events pan out as they did before but all in a consistent Victorian theme and plenty of ghosts. The second VR section omits the headsets on other virtual people. 5. The shop ending remains the same, because it's the best bit of the current ride. I'm obviously not suggesting the is is viable to change the carriages now...but it's how I'd have done it with the same ride system. What are your thoughts?