JoshC.

Repainting is going well... Side note: slightly annoying that part of one of the supports on the cobra roll has been painted blue

Thorpe did some cool drone shots:

Yesterday's update from the park

The Kerplunk tower grows... https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1733824855638769788?t=KaLhBN7yYO54zcOS_AT2sw&s=19

The outerbank from that station is going in Ketchup:

Rapids tend to splash the water, but gold star for effort.

The park do need to be careful here. It's something they've been doing for a while, albeit not as much, nor in as much a spotlight, as they were last night. Being cheeky, sarcastic and fun on social media can work and be good. Ryanair does it very well, for example. But you have to be careful it doesn't go too far, as it can leave a sour taste in the mouth otherwise. Right now it's difficult, as it can come across as defensive and rude. But at the same time, it's just a logo it doesn't affect the operation of the park in any way. How they respond to people when people have genuine complaints that affect their day is much more important.

For what it's worth, Jack Silkstone has said he did not create the new logo.

I'm not big on brands in general over-simplifying their logos. It's obviously a modern trend, but I've just never liked it for any brand. At the same time, I don't hate this. It works and has a level of versatility. This is from an email sent out to passholders: Changes to the colours works nicely. It does feel a bit 'change for the sake of change', but it does the job. I can understand them wanting a fresh start if they're changing their brand voice a lot more. Will miss the infinity logo and still feel like that had buckets of potential.

Here we go..

tbf a new logo requires a bit more effort, money, change, etc. So that help justify keeping the change and not going back. I think the bigger thing, which admittedly is harder to know unless you're aware of these things, is that the senior management at the park has been stable for a good period of time now. In the 2010s, especially the latter half, there was a lot of chop and change at the top, and that was reflected in the brand identity, vision and so forth. Hopefully the stability in the senior management continues, meaning they're singing from the same hymn sheet, if you will.

First video in this series

The park now have a Hyperia construction blog: https://www.thorpepark.com/blog/hyperia-construction-updates/

looks very nice

Hyperia. Nemesis is great. And will be great. But Hyperia.

The jump into the brakes, and the brake run, have gone in: https://twitter.com/DG95Official/status/1725858289638875338/photo/1

I like the idea. It's smart and slick, and will remain as a hub for the Mardi Gras event which will no doubt continue in the future. Hopefully we see some 3D facades rather than just simple paint jobs. Or just some extra details. One of the issues I felt with Angry Birds Land is everything largely felt flat and basic, with some of the detailing lost from the previous area (canon shot marks on the buildings, etc).

My travels for the year have been cut short thanks to a broken ankle. Missed out on the Madrid and Barcelona parks, plus a return to Walibi Belgium, because of that. I should be fine for a Plopsaland visit I have booked in December though. So, in terms of new parks: Bakken Tivoli Gardens Djurs Sommerland Tivoli Friheden TusenFryd Fårup Sommerland Return visits: -Thorpe Park (no clue on the number; 20-30?) -Chessington x4 -Alton Towers x2 -Parc Asterix x1 And new coasters: 294 Tornado (Bakken) Bakken 295 Rutschebanen (Bakken) Bakken 296 Vilde Mus Bakken 297 Mine Train Ulven Bakken 298 Mariehønen Bakken 299 Dæmonen Tivoli Gardens 300 Rutschebanen (Tivoli Gardens) Tivoli Gardens 301 Mælkevejen Tivoli Gardens 302 Kamelen Tivoli Gardens 303 Mandrill Mayhem Chessington 304 DrageKongen Djurs Sommerland 305 Jungle Rally Djurs Sommerland 306 Skatteøen Djurs Sommerland 307 Piraten Djurs Sommerland 308 Juvelen Djurs Sommerland 309 Thor's Hammer Djurs Sommerland 310 T-Rex Family Coaster Djurs Sommerland 311 Vilde Hønsejagt Djurs Sommerland 312 Tyfonen Tivoli Friheden 313 Bisværmen Tivoli Friheden 314 Dragen Tivoli Friheden 315 Tonnerre 2 Zeus Parc Asterix 316 Toutatis Parc Asterix 317 Storm - The Dragon Legend TusenFryd 318 SuperSplash (TusenFryd) TusenFryd 319 Thunder Coaster TusenFryd 320 Speed Monster TusenFryd 321 Loopen TusenFryd 322 HuriHuri TusenFryd 323 Western Expressen TusenFryd 324 Fønix Fårup Sommerland 325 Saven Fårup Sommerland 326 Mine Expressen Fårup Sommerland 327 Lynet Fårup Sommerland 328 Falken Fårup Sommerland 329 Orkanen Fårup Sommerland 330 Pindsvinet Fårup Sommerland 331 Flagermusen Fårup Sommerland Not a bad year, but the broken ankle did put a significant dent in plans. A cancelled flight also meant I couldn't stay over at Parc Asterix like originally planned. 2024 will hopefully be bigger.

The rethemed Angry Birds Land has been announced as Big Easy Boulevard... We'll keep discussion of that in here now.

I expect this is the idea. Slowly fading out the old and then bringing in the new. Changing the whole name of the park, even if to Thorpe Island, would be a huge thing, and quite risky, for ultimately very little reward.

In an update, the park have confirmed they're repainting parts of the ride over this and next winter, as well as replacing sections of tracks. So presumably they're committing to replacing sections of track which need it, and then repainting the rest so it all looks largely the same. https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1724477605854781893?t=BZRA2KTVbdy3t_nA8qtucw&s=19

Prep work is happening at Colossus, expected to be for a partial repaint:

This happens occasionally. In short, the ride system won't let the train off the lift hill until the train ahead has passed a certain point. With Swarm, it doesn't happen much because you require the train to be loaded incredibly quickly. Also, staff are discouraged from sending the train at a time when it would make the train stop on the lift hill, but these things still sometimes happen. Nothing to worry about, nothing exciting. Just shows that ride operations were being efficient tbf.

I can't tell if the above 2 users are the same person from different accounts, or two friends. Keeping an eye on it... As for Angry Birds Land, the park have confirmed the ride line up for the new area will remain the same (with a new 4D film). No rides will be taken away, nor added. The area is quiet small, so it's difficult to add anything in there. Including the Teacups in the area would be nice. Extending the area into Amity makes the most sense. Doesn't have to tie in directly with Stealth or Tidal Wave (they're both different eras anyway). But just something Amity works. In the world of pipe dreams, I would love (duelling) junior Boomerangs wrapping around that area. If they're creative they could find the space. It's highly unlikely in the first place of course, and even moreso now Legoland are getting a duelling pair.

I think the park said in their passholder group that the logo won't be exclusively gold. I'd be very surprised if there wasn't a Hyperia inspired logo though, which would probably be gold.