JoshC.

Oh yes, different countries/cultures/parks will always see different expectations for queue times and such. But for some parks, of which Thorpe is one, it is a useful way to get a rough indication for popularity in my experience. It's by no means an exact science, but definitely of use if used appropriately. As a crude example, you could tell that Sanctum at Fright Nights wasn't very popular as it struggled to get long queues, especially compared to the rest. Why that is, you can't say (plenty of different reasons could be possible - location, lack of general marketing appeal, public didn't care, poor reviews and word of mouth, etc), but you can use it as a way of getting the gist of things.

A couple of new documents have been included on the planning application giving a bit more detail on the exterior queue. The outside queue spans to the small concrete walls opposite the toilets, which is where the entrance will be. The exit for the ride is in the same place, but because of the queue, it looks like the only way to leave the area is under Storm Surge towards Donut Factory. Frustrating that it effectively blocks the pathway and turns it into a 1 way system, though thinking about it it does at least mean that the entrance is more obvious (many people always missed the entrance completely).

It depends on how you measure popularity. Because the throughput on it isn't the highest (not helped by varying capacity and shutdowns), it's ridership numbers will never be as high as the coasters, for example. But if you discounted the major coasters, I'd assume it's the most ridden attraction. One thing I always use to gauge popularity is how long people are prepared to queue for something. If the general public see a 2 hour queue and go 'I'm happy to wait that', I see it as something that is popular since people are happy to invest that wait time for what they think will be a quality end result. Ghost Train regularly kept long queue times and the public were prepared to wait long times. Obviously it's a skewed way of looking at things since it's new, people are prepared to wait longer, they've likely heard horror stories about wait times, etc, but it's something. Be interesting to see the situation in a couple of seasons. In terms of how the ride is being rated, I believe it largely improved. In particular, it was rated scarier than last year. So in that sense, Merlin will see it as something that's improved. And even if it doesn't feel like it to some, reliability was a whole lot better this year.

There's equally this which no one picked up on... Derren Brown's Ghost Train: Rise of the Demon De Brilliantly Great Trans-international: Ride of the Decade

It is a paint by numbers style and theme for Towers now. And I guess that's a by-product of Merlin wanting everything to have instant success and return on new investments, and seeing that those things have worked. But trying to look more positive, it does appear like they're going for something more akin to Hex, which is a bit riskier and could have more pay off long term. I don't really blame Merlin for sticking to dark themes. Even amongst enthusiast communities, the dark themes across all parks are the ones which arguably capture the most discussion and spark the most imagination. So Merlin are just responding to demand. I'm sure if they produced a high quality ride with a very loose theme/style (say something akin to Shambhala), everyone would lap it up, but all they see and hear is that people want theming, and people respond to darker themes best, so that's what they'll go with. Maybe I'm just so used to, and understanding of, Merlin's take on things I'm just happy and willing to take what we get, which is why I'm less bothered by the excessive dark and drab things around.

It feels like they're trying to take inspiration from Hex and Th13teen in terms of theme and style. If they can translate that into the ride's area and queue without going too over the top or too scary, then I think it'll work well. But finding the balance with that sort of style is difficult, and there's a good chance that they may not get it right first time. So that's a big risk on Towers' part...

As far as I'm aware, there isn't any plan for any more theming to be added to the ride. They tweaked it a bit last closed season with some paint and a slight tidy up of the area, but there was never plans for it to go much further than that, I don't think it will.

The cost of the repairs is slated to be around a double-digit million pound number, so it's more like the cost of a new major addition than a couple of minor investments. I wonder what would happen if Merlin decided to splash the cash on it; would it be at the expense of new ride/rides, would they use it as an excuse to retheme and remarket as a new ride or what?

I would like to nominate MattyMoo, for dedication to our lord and saviour Jart.

From Theme Park Adrenaline Facebook... Just a wee bit close.

The park have broken their silence on Colossos and released a video (in German) about it. Essentially, in summer 2016, the condition of the rails was found to be a terrible state and the ride had to close immediately. Being Intamin (presumably), it's different to other wooden coasters, takes longer and more money to repair, and requires a full track replacement amongst other things. Heide management are awaiting a decision from the big guys at Merlin as to whether they'll be given the money to fund the repairs, and an announcement of the decision will be made on 11th January. Part of me feels that because they've made an announcement like this, this is actually a good sign. Maybe they already know the ride is staying, and 11th January is when work starts / a reopening date is set. To me, it'd feel strange to publicly say 'we're waiting on a decision from people above us about money' when it's undecided. But who knows..

It wouldn't really be possible to walk through the X queue and join the start of Living Nightmare. If memory serves me correctly, the queue for X shared a wall with the prison scene in the maze, but that's about it. To get to the start of the maze, you'd either have to go outside or essentially cross the station, neither of which are practical. Personally, I don't think Living Nightmare will be used in any capacity for the retheme, simply because it effectively puts the park a maze down come Fright Nights. The plans of the Watchtower and barbed wire fencing reminded me of the Prison, which was a major part of Seasons 3 and 4... The idea could go you're in the prison (having the corridors as prison walkways, etc), and the ride being just a rush through the prison as you're chased by zombies. Doesn't need to make sense beyond that really, and would be easy to theme.

This whole thing takes us back to the position that Thorpe were in 7 or 8 years ago though. Thorpe still catered for families enough up until 2009/2010, and then solely focused on the thrill / teenager market from then. It worked at first, but wasn't profitable enough, nor sustainable enough, hence why they reverted back to trying to attract families from 2013/2014 onwards. By turning X back from a family friendly ride to a scare ride is a complete u-turn on what they've done on the past few years. That's where people are having the problem. The park have been trying to get the family market back and make things more balanced, yet they've done this, which seems to undo all that. Thorpe have strayed away from the Thrill Capital line over the past 3 or so years, instead opting for the 'Island Like No Other' brand (indeed, 2017 essentially saw that rebrand come into full effect). It's still very thrill focused, but there's no reason they can't be thrilling and attract families!

Eurosat retheme promo art... (Pictures sourced from CoasterForce)

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) DBGTROTD (3) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (4) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (6) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (6) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (4) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (6) Zodiac (5) Derren + Storm Surge -

It's come to my attention that the link for voting wasn't working for everyone. Scandalous! But rest assured, I have created an alternative link in case the original does not work.. And if neither work, let me know and I'll be sure to curse you and say your vote doesn't matt- I mean, I'll look into it with the greatest sense of urgency, because your vote makes all the difference.

Well that was easier than expected... Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Colossus (0) DBGTROTD (6) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (4) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (7) SAW - The Ride (4) Stealth (6) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (6) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5) DBGTROTD + Colossus - Scored reset... Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) DBGTROTD (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (5) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (5( Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5)

On paper, Swarm is surely the obvious choice for a retheme to The Walking Dead. The ride didn't do too well when it opened (by Merlin's measures), and is already themed to a post-apocalyptic world. It would take very little to change it from aliens flying through Thorpe Park to, say, the first days of the outbreak of a zombie virus. Less than it would changing X to TWD.

From Towers Street's Facebook... The mysterious statue is no longer being covered up. It looks like a Wicker head, shock horror.

I don't know what to do with this game now Slammer doesn't exist... Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Colossus (4) DBGTROTD (5) Depth Charge (5) Detonator: Bombs Away (5) Flying Fish (5) I'm A Celebrity (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) SAW - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm In A Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) X (5) Zodiac (5) Lumber Jump + Colossus -

Even though I'm not doing WW, I'm happy to have one of the Merlin things spited. Personally would prefer Tussauds to be spited because I somehow still haven't done Shrek and was hoping to do it this meet, but will follow the majority.

For those who love a fun random fact, you might enjoy this from the TPM Facebook advent calendar... Astrolabe doesn't quite roll off the tongue as nicely as Zodiac..

The Thorpe Breaks calendar is essentially a provisional one, set there to give those planning trips for next year ideas and the opportunity to book. It usually means that this the 'worst' calendar - so we could potentially see longer opening hours, more open days, more FN dates, but not anything reduced / removed. It's an interesting calendar. A lot of closed days (the most out of all the Merlin parks I believe). The 10-10 days in summer are very risky. If the demand is there, all good. But if not, they're running the whole park for not a lot of people, and with lots more closed days, it'll mean less people on the whole going. Especially since standard MAP passholders cannot go Friday/Saturday next year...

The project name on the plans is X:\NWO WD, which would certainly suggest The Walking Dead...along with the Safe Zone marketing.. But yeah, there is now a 'pre show' of some variety at the entrance to the building and also the bag drop returns to the front of the building. There's nothing to suggest that the pyramid isn't being repainted, though I do admit it is very unlikely. So assuming this is going to be some Walking Dead retheme, it just makes no sense. This year saw the introduction of 2 kids rides. Regardless of people's opinions of these rides and their quality, it filled and obvious - and noted - gap in the market - more rides were needed for the younger market. X was a part of the line up for the younger market. It maybe needed to be made clearer what it was, but it was a part of it. I guess this is part of the logic behind the retheme though. Thorpe have struggled to properly advertise what X is, who it's suitable for and why you should ride it. With indoor rides, most either have a clear fun tone or a mysterious dark, creepy tone. X didn't have the fun tone, so they've had to revert back to the dark tone to get people wanting to go in. Just a shame that it likely means families will suffer as a result. On a more upbeat note, I'd be interested to see what Thorpe come up with. AMC have very high standards, so I'd feel confident that a Walking Dead ride would look and feel good. And there's some possibilities for some interesting theming opportunities with the X set up. Also be interesting to see if the exterior theming is a set up to the more well known prison storyline from Seasons 3 and 4, or the more recent Alexandria Safe Zone from Season 6 to present (both have watchtowers of some sort, and barbed wire fencing fits with both). I'd be willing to bet the former, but who knows. So yeah, from the self-centred point of view, this could end up a nice, though totally unnecessary, addition which I'll enjoy. Just a shame that that's not enough to outweigh the negatives I can see... One thing that does concern me regardless of theme is the new outdoor queue line seems to block the pathway off to the right of the building (opposite the toilets)? Might just be the way the plans are showing it and there's still a pathway there, but if not and the only way to access the building is under Storm Surge, that would be silly..

Went today for what I s'pose was my first proper visit to WW (last year I literally walked to Olympia, rode it and left). Was fun enough, managed a couple of creds and did Wilde Maus in the snow which was good. I went with my little brother, and found the price of the children attractions a lot higher than I expected. 3 tokens per person for some of the smallest junk around and the need for an adult to accompany children makes it very expensive. Would have been tempted by more if things were a bit more reasonable.