Completely agree...in recent years it has seemed to be a bit like Roller Coaster Tycoon (Storm Surge just being plonked in a gap where it barely fits). Thorpe should remove all of the SBNO rides completely and utailize the spaces...perhaps not for a ride but for catering maybe? I do value storm surge though because if you look at previous investment patterns 2007 Minimal (flying fish), 2008 Minimal (Time Voyagers), 2009 Large (Saw), 2010 Minimal (Saw Alive), 2011 Minimal (but looks medium to large (Storm Surge)).
For the patern of investment, I think that storm surge is fine...just in the wrong place.
As for next year...I can see a lot of work on existing rides being carried out over the winter.