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And here's an issue I have with the park at the moment. They have been great at sharing updates geared towards geeks and those who are interested. The collaborations with Jack Silkstone over the years (pre-season videos, for example) have given a great insight into what to expect, some of the park's thinking, etc. But they're almost being too open. We go back to Tidal Wave's fire effect returning. That was announced for, what, 2021? And yet here we are, no fire effect in sight. Their communication about SRQ has been good. They trialled it on Saw last year (after a push to trial it from a Rides Team Leader), and expanded it to a couple of flat rides. They've said they intend to put it on Stealth too. But that was many months ago, and the official line has just been 'it's coming soon'. How long does it take to set up? I genuinely cannot understand why it is taking so long, especially since Stealth was designed to have a Single Rider Queue, which still exists. If they hadn't have said anything until it was confirmed and all but in place, it wouldn't have caused any issues. Even if they said "We're looking at putting it on more rides if possible - watch this space", that would be fine. But by announcing it, with no clear idea of when it could happen, it's created this situation which frankly could have been avoided. Hopefully they've learnt from that, and choose to be more selective with what they talk about. And they get SRQ up and running. I don't see Stealth's life as limited. Hydraulic launches are fine. Yes, Top Thrill Dragster had issues, and that's why they've changed that. Hydraulic launches are still not the most reliable and parks do still have issues with them. And yes, hydraulic launches are old hat now, with LSMs the launch of choice now (and rightfully so). But at the same time, Thorpe have got Stealth down to a tee. Yes, it's had a bit of downtime recently (a few days I believe). But aside from that, it's been reliable, rarely has a rollback, and is incredibly popular still. Okay, it's not going to be the tallest ride on park. But that's not big issue, when the tallest ride is only a bit taller and faster, and on the other side of the park. It still has a huge selling point and draw. People still lap it up. Thorpe aren't short on space, so don't have a need to remove it yet. And frankly put, there's other coasters which would be higher up on the list to be removed in my opinion. Doing a Top Thrill feels a bit unnecessary at the moment. It would have to be turned into a swing launch in all likelihood, which would require a significant rejig of the station. The whole process would be incredibly costly at a point when, again, that money could be better spent elsewhere. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Stealth SRQ is the new Tidal Wave fire effect.

Where could a Single Rider Queue on Stealth go, out of interest? In terms of removing Stealth; there are plenty of other development plots that the park could fill before touching Stealth, so unless the ride develops maintenance issues any time soon, I think we should be good for now!

In short - the park has far bigger issues and/or redevelopment areas before tearing down (beloved) Stealth.

I don't think Exodus is in the limelight at the moment. The park have simply made a clear indication to the masses that they're building the UK's tallest coaster. For most people, that's huge news, and enough to spark interest. The park don't need to do any more advertising on that for a while yet, really. Whilst it's true that this time last year we were half way through the Fright Nights reveal, in previous years, reveals / announcements usually happen in mid-to-late August or early September. Perhaps a bit of a controversial opinion, but I think last year's slow burn announcement wasn't quite on the mark. The videos were great, don't get me wrong. But they didn't do a good job at showcasing each attraction, or communicating what each attraction was. Yes, they built up the story around the attractions, which was great for a small portion of the audience, but they didn't tell you what each attraction was (maze/scare zone/show) or accurately depict what to expect from it. Equally, the park only revealed new attractions in the last week of August. This year, the park could just do one big reveal for the entire event. Yep, I think another thing is they didn't want the Exodus video in the middle of any Fright Nights campaign. Could send mixed messages. Oktoberfest is, comparatively, a small event. Almost the forgotten child of the park's event line up (which I personally think should be scrapped, but that's another topic). They can focus on FN advertising whilst Oktoberfest is being prepped / starting. Yep, Jack and Kieran have done the videos for Fright Nights (and the Exodus video from Wednesday). I don't think that they've necessarily focused on Exodus over Fright Nights; it will be a creative decision from the park to not do any Fright Nights promo work yet.

I think most of the Fright Nights teasers do come from Jack Silkstone and because he is so focused on Exodus we haven’t really seen any construction updates as of yet. I agree now the promotional video is out we should see something soon, especially as they wanted to release it on national rollercoaster day.

The name not being firmed up would explain why the teasers have been non existent. Might have to go to option 3 at this point at call it The Golden Boi.

Yep here's two more familiar ones...

It is weird hearing it elsewhere. Years ago I heard Rush’s music on a tv show (can’t remember what it was) You must be right Matt, a lot of it is Stock music isn’t it.