JoshC.

There's a few contributing factors I think... -Post-big investment lull. As Benin mentioned, there can be lulls after big investments at parks. Not every park, but it is common. It's funny because historically Thorpe was good at avoiding that by having some marketing gimmick for the year after a big investment (Stealth's "upgrade", Saw with Saw Alive, Swarm's Brave it Backwards, DBGT and Rise of the Demon). Hyperia didn't have that, and there's not been anything to follow up. It happens, but it's very bland, yes. -'Time thing'. I assume by this Matt you just mean getting older, and that does play a part of it too I reckon. You get older, and busier, and times just change. And also ties in with what Benin says about the world being general a bit rubbish right now. -Lack of updates. There's things happening at the park, whether it's little touch ups here and there or bigger things behind the scenes. Admittedly right now that is minimal, but it is there. But there's less noise about it all now. The Passholder Group on Facebook closed down. Jack Silkstone, who has been the main source of such things for a few years now, has moved into a more professional capacity so isn't making the little update videos. Fansites (like TPM) have succumbed to the time thing. And there's just very few places providing general updates. -Lack of anything to be excited about. There's no plans to the council for anything new. There's no rumours of anything new coming. Other parks in Merlin are getting things and Thorpe aren't. We're kind of just ticking on by. It makes it hard to have the same enthusiasm. On a personal level, I found 2024 to be such a huge buzz of a year for Thorpe. New coaster, obviously, but the Sparkle Project invigorated lots of other parts of the park. There was optimism for the future and such a positive. Since then, they've followed that up with a much-needed open space by the front of the park (although that execution has split opinion), and nothing else. The park is effectively exactly the same as it was 2 years ago, even down to food outlets. With seemingly nothing new on the horizon, there's only so long one can revisit the exact same place before a bit of burnout hits.

Tickets being released in a fortnight... https://x.com/I/status/2079115598530056412

Nice idea and advertised far enough in advance. Hope it works out for them!

Yes, the fake shop was included at the Creative's decision. The Lead Creative was someone who worked predominantly on Dungeons attractions and liked the idea of the fake shop, which is why it was included again with a couple of extras. As mentioned, internally there was more hesitation about re-including it given it had been "done" before. The hope to change it in a future year, but that ultimately never happened, presumably because of budget. These days it's obviously completely bypassed, which is a shame.

It has also been announced that Vampire, the SLC, will close at the end of next year. No replacement has been confirmed, but the park have said they wouldn't close it with nothing in works to replace it.

Ultimately, Thorpe will drag Stealth out until its last dying breath. Just like they did with Slammer. I don't see them TT2-ing it (ie converting to a LSM swing launch). Largely because there's not enough space for that. They possibly could convert it to a powerful enough LSM launch, but that'd be expensive. When the time comes, I do expect they'll just tear it down.

I've heard pretty much nothing. One of the big issues the park will face is if staff haven't worked on it in a certain time frame, they will 'lose' the ability to work on it and need complete re-training. This might be why there was a lot of testing earlier this year, to stop that from happening. It's weird though. It's on the map / app / queue boards. It's got the new RAP signage. It's clearly meant to be a part of the 2026 line up. So why is it just sat there.

Walibi Belgium has come on leaps and bounds over the last decade. I remember my first visit (coincidentally, just over a decade ago). I actually didn't mind it as a park, but it was clearly missing a lot and needed some love. There was big restrictions on the park, and lots of jokes about them only being able to build Boomerang-style coasters. The near-total transformation is incredible to witness, and every part of the park oozes with quality. Kondaa is a fabulous headline attraction. They've got a solid support line up of coasters, and an RMC will add to the top-tier headliner, and great dark and water rides. I'm a bit disappointed they chose to RMC Loup-Garou, since I really like it and think it would have just benefitted from a retrack. But at the same time, the quality of an RMC is largely undeniable. Now if only they can rip out Vampire and put something good in its place...

I think my biggest issue with it is the fact they've marketed it...like at all. In its current guise, it's an area with some seats and more space to spread out at start of day / evening. That doesn't need any marketing, videos, etc. The fact they spoke about it being a place to watch Football World Cup games when the majority of games take place outside of opening hours (and even overnight) shows it's a desperate ploy to just get people talking. Its potential is great, with space for a stage, etc. The idea of using it to show big TV events is good too. But right now, the potential isn't bring realised. That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a thing...so long as they do eventually realise said potential. So yeah, in its current guise, it won't be used much. That's fine. It's a space to open up that part of the park and be a bit quieter. And that didn't need as much pushing as it got. Let's just hope they can utilise it in the future.

I was at Thorpe on Monday for one of the 9pm closes too. Ride availability was pretty poor. One of 'those' Thorpe days - though they are fewer and further between now. I don't think the heat can take the full blame for availability (beyond Stealth, as hydraulic launches do typically struggle in heat), but certainly can't have been a good factor. In saying that, I had a good time, and there were a good number of people there until close. Was it rammed? No. Was it lively enough though? Yes. Obviously the extreme heat won't have helped, and the May half term is usually the quietest one of the school holidays (I think, in part, due to it being around exam season, so a chunk of your core demographic are actually less likely to do bigger days out). So I don't think the 9pm closes being quiet are a 'bad' thing in any way. I find it funny seeing the discourse around that if the parks are quiet on late closes, then they won't do them again. Isn't part of the reason to spread crowds out more throughout the day, improving rides per guest and overall giving guests better experiences. I think, on the whole, the late closes achieved that.

We have the first piece of marketing, earlier than usual...

Parm Pap's weather reports are more insightful than an endoscopy.

It's a cable replacement and nothing crazy. The previous prolonged closure is not ideal, but if history is anything to go by, it should be okay now.

Though a different situation to last year (where Stealth effectively opened weeks into the season), it must be a concern for the park that for the second year running they've had early-season issues with Stealth. The issues with hydraulic launches are well documented now. And one as powerful as Stealth will add to that complexity. At the same time, Thorpe are well-versed in dealing with complex, unique and temperamental rides (for better or worse). So hopefully they're not thinking of giving it up yet. But equally, from a purely business perspective, if this keeps happening, one has to expect they'll at least consider changes to it.

Never seen that before, and it hasn't been like that all of this year. Could just be because the weather was nice and staff wanted to more be outside. Could be they're trying it there to advise people of potentially long waits for front row (it holds a lot of people). Could be a security thing. Will be interesting to see if they carry on doing that; it's certainly a bit further away from the rows so harder to see