JoshC.

Cost-wise, they're probably pretty similar these days. And with the regular buying Merlin has done from B&M it wouldn't surprise me if they could do some level of haggling in price. I'd agree that the Vekoma equivalent would be better in almost every way too.

A recent Passholder behind the scenes event confirmed that a new coaster will replace Viking River Splash, which has been closed since 2023(!), and a recent application was put in for its removal. https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=pfbid02vYtw4A5HP6n5Bi5wNPT2776TsJx5SDUVr4kPWk2dmVT54ZXu46EjNwitqToXZdWWl&id=61567089908870 It's also said this will extend a nearby land, of which Ninjago would probably make the most sense (and it is a popular Lego IP). Legoland Japan are getting a Ninjago-themed Mack Spinner next year, so don't discount that as an option. Legolands California and Florida recent got indoor coasters from ART Engineering, space-themed, and I think the idea would be great for Windsor. The Chinese Legolands have been getting B&M Junior Inverts too, so a farfetched possibility. Could also be something completely different, especially given the challenging landscape of that area. Also worth noting that all areas will be refurbed in the next 5 years.

Great to see many things happening at the park. The Blitz Bahn thing seems more like an upgrade rather than a complete replacement, but I might be misunderstanding that. Toverland are in such a weird place. 10 years ago, with the plans for the new entrance / Port Laguna and Avalon coming together, it felt like the park was going to rise rapidly. Unfortunately they didn't quite bring in the numbers wanted, and then Covid hit, and it's led to the park stagnating a bit. Not that they're in a bad place, they've added new rides and they've enhanced things like their Halloween event, but it's certainly taken them longer to get to this point than I expect they'll have initially wanted. A dark ride has been a much-needed addition to their line up, and I'm excited to see what they conjure up.

Yeah yeah it's only February, but whatever. 2026 will be marketed, in some way, as 25 Years of Fright Nights. Thorpe have done a few things for 'big' / 'notable' anniversaries for FN: -10 years, 2011: Experiment 10 -15 years, 2016: Platform 15, roaming actors inspired by old mazes -20 years, 2021: Trailers, Legacy, Birthday Bash -21 years, 2022: Legacy, Birthday Bash So what will 25 years bring us? The end of Fright Nights 2025 did nod to 25 Years of Fear with a short video: https://www.facebook.com/reel/843542461548792 Lucifer, the headline character for 2025, is speaking with 'someone / something' and telling them to "give them hell", whilst handing over a "top secret" document about Fright Nights. That at the very least suggests there will be some new headline character / Disciple of Fear for the 2026 addition (which is something the park have done for a few years now). Personally, I think it would be a mistake to take the focus away from Lucifer. That was a near-perfect headline character for the event: clear Halloween association, simple and effective and a character guests could actually meet. Keep that character there yearly and continue to have it as a focal point / marketing piece, and it will go from strength to strength. The only thing I'd look at changing is developing the character away from "Lucifer" to an original demon, which the park could trademark, etc. But heyho, the park will have already had thoughts about 2026 and it seems like they're going in a different direction. Another interesting thing to note is that 2026 will be the first year that Thorpe's Entertainments team / actors have been outsourced (in a similar way to the rest of the UK Merlin parks). So it will be interesting what effect that has on the event. As for what I'd like to see in terms of a line up... I have two parallel pieces of thinking. What I think will happen and what I want to happen. What I think will happen is that we'll see an existing maze replaced. I think 4 upcharge mazes is a natural peak for how busy the park is and what people will realistically pay. I don't know what one. Survival Games I think could be the one on the chopping block, despite its changes last year. The large space it occupies gives Thorpe a lot of room to work with. I'm a bit split on whether they'll use The Launchpad as a Fright Nights space. Before the announcement I thought it'd be nailed on that they'd move Lucifer's Lair, on some upgrade of it, there. But with the announcement that it'll be treated primarily as a rest spot, they might keep it like that and have it as a Fright Nights free zone. If they do put a scare zone / show there, they need to go all out with it, as it won't have as much natural footfall as the other locations. As for what I want to happen. Thorpe, as I've said before on here, are very safe with their current mazes. They've got a variety of themes, some of which are quite different, but the style of the mazes is the same - pre show, walk around highly themed sets in a linear fashion and get jump scares. There's many other ways in which a scare maze can be created. In fact, Thorpe used to be one of the most pioneering for doing things differently, but that did sometimes come at the cost of quality. They've got a strong enough core and reputation of quality that they can afford to take a risk and do something different. My big want is an alone experience - doesn't have to be Face it Alone extreme. But looking at what Walibi Holland offer with their alone experiences, something like that fits perfectly for Thorpe. I doubt that'll ever happen though. So something different to the 'free flow linear jump scare route'. Anything. It will take some work and some tweaking. But do it right, and it'll be the best thing they can do for the event.

Just for a bit of simplicity and clarity: https://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/index.php/2026/02/18/the-launchpad-details/ Some newer plans (looking for minor changes to the ground) came out last month. They still reference a stage and only using the large side of the beach. I'm working under the assumption that, for now, the stage will appear when they need it.

Yeah I meant to say "parks are meant to be quieter" lol Queue-wise this half term has sounded crazy for the parks. I've also heard Chessington is currently having it's busiest Feb half term ever too. Hopefully all this busyness is translating to (at the very least) good attendance numbers, which seem to have been not-great in the last couple of years. But guest experience does seem to be suffering.

I think it made sense to try and go all in on new systems during February Half Term, when parks are quieter, etc. Last minute announcements and tweaks and capacities and all that seem to have messed things up for the start at least though. RAP will continue to be a prominent issue and discussion point this year.

It's funny as the last image definitely looks like it's of the Saw Alive plaza (based on how Colossus and Storm Surge look in the background). But it looks nice enough. And there's been a lot of want for such a space for a long time. Interesting there's no mention of the stage, and concept art purposefully avoids showing that space. Most recent plans still indicate there will be a stage. I wonder if, for now at least, the plan is to wait until there's a need for the stage before putting it in?

We'll be getting a first official look... https://www.facebook.com/share/1AqZW6ifXh/

Merlin have done a complete U-turn on the situation, but still acknowledge the system needs to change: https://x.com/I/status/2021953258194120748 I expect the backlash was more than they anticipated. But I fear this sets a dangerous precedent for any future changes: kick up enough of a collective fuss and they'll revert the changes. Merlin needed to announce a new system and stick to their guns, but they didn't.

There are groups on Facebook which have guided people on the RAP process, and there's no doubt people have tried to game the system. So it wouldn't be unfair to say that the RAP issues are a viscous cycle which have spiralled.

Yep, the system was unsustainable and reaching breaking point. Something has to be done. I'm sure many of us on here remember the time when RAP was a very small system, which didn't have dedicated queues, where you could only have one RAP user on a ride at any one time, they could only sit in specific seats (in case of an emergency), etc. I think they system had to evolve as times changed and we as a society understood more about disabilities. But obviously now, it's treated like an extra queue in its own right. Hyperia's RAP queue is regularly huge (keeping in mind people will have virtually waited too). Vampire has multiple rows effectively dedicated to RAP now. etc To give some, albeit tangential, anecdotal, evidence... I work in a UK secondary school just outside London. The amount of students who have been diagnosed with some level of neurodiversity is a lot. That number grows more with students who we think could be neurodiverse, or who are waiting on assessments / diagnoses. Though I haven't been in the education sector long, it is a well-stated fact that the number has grown significantly. A large chunk of that is down to better understanding of neurodiversity, as well as more resources in being able to actual diagnosis people (around London at least...the story would be very different up north). At the same time, in my opinion, most people who I see in that environment who are neurodiverse would be able to get by without a RAP. However, I expect that many of them - under the previous system - would qualify for a RAP. Which is why we are where we are. Simply put, Merlin cannot create a system whereby the neurodiverse who need a RAP can qualify for one whilst simultaneously the neurodiverse who do not need a RAP don't qualify for one. To break that down, neurodiversity is a scale. Some people with ADHD might just not be able to focus on one thing and instead have 3 or 4 things going on in their mind all at once, and it makes sense to them. Others with ADHD might have to be constantly moving in a free space / not like being contained in a small environment. It's the same with any sort of neurodiversity, which is a huge umbrella word. And, obviously, not everyone who is neurodiverse needs a RAP. I'm not familiar with the Nimbus card. But I expect that if you are neurodiverse, and perhaps find large crowds exhausting / daunting / overwhelming, it's a simple enough argument to say that you'd qualify for the "Difficulty with Crowds" mark (even if the reason for that isn't because of the neurodiversity you experience). If that isn't the case, do forgive me, but regardless, I can't imagine it's particularly strictly regulated? So from that perspective, I see why Merlin don't accept that. Because under that, they cannot differentiate between who actually does need it and who doesn't. Naturally, this is a very emotionally charged topic. There's plenty of people on social media in uproar because it means they wouldn't qualify. No doubt some of those people genuinely do require it otherwise it's impossible for them to go. Others might greatly benefit from it. Others - and I've seen some people say this - need it so they're not exhausted at the end of a day. Other people still visit and queue normally if they can't get RAP / queues are too long, but couldn't do that for a whole day. Removing all emotion, there's again arguments that can be made for why these people might requires a RAP and why they shouldn't. Any solution is going to have backlash. I don't have a solution. I do think that the system should have had a hard reset, whereby all RAP users have to have their eligibility re-checked under whatever new rules Merlin chose (which doesn't seem to be case from my understanding). I expect this is something that Merlin have thought about for a long time, and have expected the backlash. Maybe not quite so much quite so quickly. But I do hope they don't backtrack / reverse the decision, as that will make things worse. The biggest question about this though, which Benin touched on, is why is this such an issue for UK Merlin theme parks? Though there's parks around the world which aren't as accessible as others, I can't think of any other park which has issues with their disabled system quite as much as UK Merlin does? Other UK parks - fine. Non UK Merlin parks - fine. Parks operated significantly worse than UK Merlin - fine. Park significantly busier than UK Merlin - fine. So it's not a simple answer of "Merlin parks are too popular" or "they run badly" or whatever. There is something that explains it, surely. Is it that UK Merlin are the most broadly accepting of disabilities in the first place? Is it a societal thing? Is it just that the UK has more (diagnosed) cases of disabilities than other countries? Just what is it?

Well if Parm Pap says it is so, it must be true... It's such a weird one. Subjectively, from a ride perspective, t's pretty rubbish these days. But there's no denying it has a place, or at the very least a use, since it can absorb people. At the same time, it's staff-intensive for comparatively little reward. I know they've talked about closing it down in the past. And obviously effectively turning it into a seasonal attraction is a by-product of that. My biggest issue is if they close it without replacement, it seriously dents both the water ride and the 'calmer' ride selection at the park. Okay, it wasn't a great 'wet' water ride, but now you're left with Tidal Wave (overly wet), Storm Surge (equally not a great water ride) and Depth Charge (fine, but not a big player). For a park that just over 10 years ago prided itself on having the best water ride selection in the country, it's a fall off. Even if it stays, the park are in dire need of a new water ride in my opinion. If it goes, they reach a critical point where a new water is a must.

Minor plan submitted to the council... In no way will this be a stumbling block to the development and I believe it will be ready for this year

Mixture of the Beach not being used that much and there being a more recent need for a permanent stage / event space. Realistically The Beach was the best place to put such a thing.