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Closed season bingo!

I agree it is a huge shame that there is quite literally nothing going on. Although to be fair over the last decade there has been a lot of rubbish advertised as “new” - the various year-round mazes and some of the events for example. The absence of those sort of things isn’t that bad in my opinion, and realistically something new isn’t needed every year. Not many parks do that do they. In recent years they have also made a lot of improvements to the areas other than the rides - the toilets to name one example. Thorpe is probably one of the (if not THE) best Merlin park in terms of general upkeep. I agree though that it is a shame there doesn’t appear to be anything at all happening again. It’s been a few years now since they’ve been able to boast anything notably new. I wonder if Colossus will finally be finished in the next couple of months at least? Despite all the cuts to spending at Merlin I’d at least expect that to be done before opening, as well as Zodoac getting sorted. I wonder if the beach project will ever happen now? I can’t help but think the money would be better put towards a larger project.

Some would say it's the past of theme parks.

Sonic Spinball had to be rethemed for similar reasons, the allegations that Knuckles filed meant they had to quickly drop the brand in closed season so it's definitely possible they could reopen as just David Land and drop the Walliams.

Looks like it is happening, with this being a project that was tendered over a year ago...

Something that I often find weird is how much the height restrictions can differ between similar rides at different parks. For example, to ride Marauders Mayhem or Dobble Teaparty you have to be 1.1M tall, but Mad Hatter’s tea party at DLP, essentially the same ride, can literally be ridden by a newborn baby as there are no restrictions. That same newborn baby could also ride Pirates of the Caribbean with its drops and spooky scenes, but would have to wait until they’re 0.9M to ride Curse at Alton Manor. Similarly Runaway Mine Train at Alton Towers has a min height of 1.3 meters, but the likes of the far more intense Wickerman and Big Thunder Mountain is only 1.2. Although Wicker does have individual restraints rather than the single bar between 2 people on runaway and BTM Tower of Terror can surprisingly be ridden by someone just 102CM tall. So most 4 year old children can ride that before they’re allowed on the teacups at AT & TP. Is anyone else aware of any bizarre height restrictions, or any of the reasoning behind some of them? For the record I’m not arguing against any of these restrictions, clearly there’s a reason for them, I just find it an odd and interesting quirk.

The prices at Towers are probably such to avoid hitting the local B&B market too hard. It does feel expensive though considering the lack of overall quality. Though my visits the last two years were fine, wouldn't really wax lyrical about them either. Just looking at possibly doing Efteling for a week in May and one of their 6 person renewed lodges is comparable to Splash Landings price wise. However I know the trip will be just... better. CBeebies Hotel pricing is just awful though.

I was hoping that with the theme being a literal cinema, the park had a plan to change the 4D film regularly. It'd be a simple win to change the film shown yearly (albeit maybe a bit of a faff). Who knows what the contracts are like for these things. I know Merlin in the past liked to go for 3 year rolling contracts with IPs. Whether that's still the case - and the case with a 4D show - I have no clue. I agree that it would be nice to see something new in there for 2026 though.

I took a wander down Monks Walk on Monday and I didn't take any photos/videos, simply because there was nothing to take photos of. I think in some ways we've been spoilt over recent years, with lots of works visible from Monks Walk (from Hyperia, to Fright Nights, etc) as well as many in-park updates. But it hasn't always been like that - rewind 10+ years ago and Monks Walk never really showed anything particularly interesting beyond the odd glimpse, despite many things happening. Okay, we still got the odd in-park update too, but right now the level of updates is going back closer to a reset of what was once the norm. I do also think compared to many other seasonal parks, Thorpe gets a heck of a lot of eyes put on it out of closed season, with many updates shared and visible. Thorpe have, in some ways, been the exception to the rule in that case. That's not to say the lack of any visible updates isn't disheartening though. Finishing off Colossus' repaint would be amazing. Inferno and Swarm would benefit from TLC. Rumba Rapids is dying. The fact there's been no visible work there is a shame, and indicates we're unlikely to see much there. The Beach area cannot really be seen from outside the park, so we're none-the-wiser about anything happening there. The 'New for ___' is a double-edged sword. New stuff each year can be beneficial, but Thorpe in particular are seeing the dangers of adding in new hardware/rides yearly as now they have several 'old' rides which are going to require more work all close together. New events can be okay, but gimmicky and don't really draw people in. If you look at some of the better-received parks, the likes of Phantasialand and Efteling, they don't add in many new things. Since 2015... Phantasialand have added in 3 new coaster, rethemed a coaster and a 4D show and added in a couple of walkthroughs / play areas. Efteling have added in 2 new coasters (I guess technically 3 as one is a duelling coaster), 2 new dark rides and rethemed a couple of things. In that same time, Thorpe have added in 1 new coaster, 1 new dark ride, rethemed some things and done a couple of walkthroughs. The level of investments isn't as big a difference in the overall park experience and quality. And that's the bigger issue - Thorpe haven't consistently been able to upkeep their attractions (or revitalise them) the same as other parks that invest at a similar frequency. I think the other issue - which is Merlin-wide - is Thorpe does rely extremely heavily on returning visitors, as opposed to new visitors. Whether that's them, over a 10-20 year period, having exhausted the market and not been able to expand it or a purposeful strategy to not try and reach more people, or another reason entirely, is unclear. But it is certainly the bigger issue that the park face. They've had a huge new coaster for 1 and a half seasons - that's still a big deal, and not really something that should be viewed as stagnation. But when the park aren't pushing it and rely too heavily on repeat visits, then it will feel like that. You say that, but then they've recently announced Legoland Germany are getting a Lego Harry Potter Land, which will be Merlin's single biggest investment into any theme park. Legolands California and Florida are getting substantial new coasters next year. Chessington are getting Minecraft World soon, and Towers' big new coaster seems to still be going ahead. Gardaland invested 12 million Euros into retheming their indoor boat ride this (where that 12m went I don't fully know, but that's what they did). They're financial issues have been documented in the press, and their selling / closing down of midway attractions, outsourcing and structural changes are further signs of that I expect. But they are still making investments, and notable ones at that, in many places. But it feels like Thorpe is being brushed aside a bit right now (along with Heide Park...if I didn't know any better, I'd have thought Merlin forgot they still own it).

Does anyone feel like Ready Player One has overstayed its welcome at the cinema?

Merlin have announced that they have contracted out the maintenance and operations side of the park to OCS. They must have looked at the roaring customer satisfaction success of the food and beverage side of the buisness and decided lets have more of that. A theme park lives and dies by the customers experience. If you contract out every aspect that the customer deals with you have no control over your business.

We've got a green light from the government, this is happening! BBC NewsUniversal Studios gets green light to be built in Bedford...The park is expected to attract more than eight million annual visitors and open in 2031. Construction will start next year if all goes to plan.

Just for Josh, (who did his top 10% in 2024 as well), here is the rest of my top 10% from (11-61). This won't be in any order because after the top 10, it becomes impossible to put them in preference order. On any given day I could prefer Oz'Iris to Taron and so forth. Stardust Racers Yellow Oz'Iris Katun Helix Wodan Blue Fire Copperhead Strike Afterburn Wildcats Revenge Stealth Black Mamba Fly Superman la Atrocciones de acero Manta/Acrobat Incredible Hulk iSpeed Shambhala Kumba Griffon Alpengeist Juvelen The Smiler Medusa (discovery kingdom) Tatsu Taron Alpina Blitz (Nigloland) Monster (Walygator) Icon Karnan Flug der Demon Raging Bull Twisted Timbers Behemoth Magnum XL 2000 Maverick Gatekeeper Untamed Dwiverlwind Velocicoaster Monster (Grona Lund) Wildfire (Kolmarden) Hyperion Abyssus Dominator Pantheon Farenheight Candymonium Mako Steel Dragon 2000 Nitro El Toro Batman Gotham city Escape Iron Grawzi Goliath (Six Flags over Georgia) Aerieforce One Thunderhead The Beast Fianna Force The Voyage Piraten Dragons Fury I love lists so much.