JoshC.

I do wonder if the parks have shot themselves in the foot a bit, with them saying "we're limiting capacity so queues will be shorter" (Towers have been particularly bad at this). When you load rides under usual circumstances, to get them to run well is a well-oiled machine. You plan to have all seats filled. You open the gates and unlock restraints more or less at the same time, creating an almost conveyer belt system for unloading/loading (when done right). Staff then quickly check restraints and boom. It's difficult to consistently do it perfectly, but that's how it works. Under Covid rules that goes out the window: -Some rides you can't fill every seat. -You have to wait for a train to be clear of people before the next people can realistically join. -You have cleaning which disrupts flow. So throughputs are going to be lower. It all adds up. Across the whole park, and with some rides closed, that basically counteracts the reduced capacity. I think one thing to keep in mind: it's the middle of July. At this time of year, queues are always horrendously long: 2hr+ for major rides horrendous. From what I've heard, coaster queues have only peaked at 90mins or so.. Under normal conditions, the queues would again be bad, but standard July bad of 2hr+.. Obviously there's two issues there. Issue 1 is the park are not doing a good job at advertising queue times correctly. It's definitely harder for them to estimate them with social distancing measures, but from what I've seen and heard, they can just be way off base. Issue 2 is the fact that a 90 minute queue is still a 90 minute queue. And it feels even worse when it's going slowly and you see empty seats on trains. Regardless of the situation, it just makes those 90 minutes drag. And it's difficult to improve upon that. Honest question here: what can the park do in response to this? -What else can they do to implement social distancing? Where in the country is social distancing implemented perfectly? It's as much as the guests' responsibility as it is the park's, and if all guests don't do their part, you're screwed. -Security search is going to be hampered by social distancing. They can fit less people in the bag check areas so it'll slow down. -Other guests swearing. Again, what can be done? A lot of bad reviews I've seen are basically along the lines of 'Don't visit during Covid restrictions'. And you know, I get that. Theme parks are very different at this time, and less enjoyable. They have a very different feel. Thorpe in particular doesn't have the theme park 'escapism' feel. And these measures certain have highlighted many of the other problems the park have. That's another issue. But honestly? It feels like a lot of complaints have an overarching theme of 'I didn't like my day because of Covid restrictions and other people's take of them'. And the park can't do a lot about that, as the only other option really is to not open.

Updating, featuring top hat...

Bellewaerde have a new roaming character, Jona Corona: (From TPWW...only photo I could find) Apparently Jona goes around telling people of all the safety rules relating to coronavirus...of which he doesn't appear to mind breaking the rules about social distancing...

Though the park haven't confirmed it directly, Theme Park Freaks have said that Aqualantis will now not open until 2021: https://themeparkfreaks.eu/2020/07/energylandia-stelt-opening-nieuw-themagebied-aqualantis-uit-naar-2021/ This would make 2020 the first year the park has not opened a new roller coaster since opening.

Depth Charge also opened up today. In terms of water rides, I believe Tidal Wave will be a little bit longer. As for closed attractions, the list is now: Derren Brown Walking Dead The Ride Rush Tidal Wave Angry Birds 4D Jungle Escape Beach / Wet Wet Wet

We have some lovely dark green track onsite: The animation released at IAAPA in 2018 showed red track, but I believe that was just for ease of show. I'm under the impression the layout is unchanged.

They'll get Croc Drop (dreadful name) and seemingly Blue Barnacle (I can't see that opening this year like planned now). Doubt we'll see a retheme or rename of Forbidden Kingdom as the drop tower seems designed to fit in with that area. Might get a little spruce up around the tower but that's about it there. You'll get your standard little bits and pieces of new stuff here and there probably, but the investment of two family thrill rides is a pretty huge deal for Chessington to be honest.

It's not as big an issue as it looks - it can happen on these top scans. As with many rides, it probably doesn't help that it hasn't seen continuous operation for several months, especially since it would have been ready to go too. I believe it was only stuck like that for a couple of minutes before it was able to be manually lowered down. Obviously wouldn't be pleasant to be stuck on the 'top' or 'bottom' arm though.

Some updates from today: -You no longer need to queue in the main cattlepen for Nemesis Inferno. They have removed the fence so you bypass it, and the first extension is now going to remain open. (This does open up the problem where people will end up queueing in the cattlepen in the first extension, but you know, baby steps) -Inferno is no longer loading every other row. When I was there, Row 4 was left empty for some reason. Also saw Row 3 left empty too. Not sure why. -Colossus is now loading a group, then leaving a row, then loading another group, rather than every other car (as is Stealth). -Since Saw is basically running as normal (both rows loaded, since I believe it requires a minimum of 4 people to ride), it makes you wonder what the point of social distancing on rides even is. Does coronavirus not exist at Saw? -Most people were obeying social distancing in fairness. I never saw a person not wearing a mask. -The park was very quiet. And it felt very lifeless too. I've been on quiet days in the past. I've been on days where things go terribly wrong and loads of rides are closed. But this felt different. It still very much felt like you were living in a world where a pandemic was going on. There was no escapism. (Be interesting to see if I think that about other parks or if this is Thorpe-specifc). This further isn't helped when areas like Derren, the walkway by Fish, etc feel so dead, with no music or...anything really. -All water rides were testing today. I believe some of them are hoped to be opening within the next few days if all goes the park's way. -Timber Tug Boat opened today. I believe Lumber Jump is due to open tomorrow now too. In terms of face covering. I was wearing a reusable one I bought from Lidl (2 for £2.99, 2 layers with space for a filter). It stayed on all rides fine, except for my back row ride on Stealth, where it came off my nose (front row was fine though!). As for non-Covid stuff... -I had my worst ever ride on Saw today. Was very painful. -Swarm felt very vibrate-y. -The vegetarian place by Ghost Train is alright for what it is. Does diversify food choices a lot. -There's some new music in Old Town. Well, kind of new - it's the Old Town-soundy excerpt from the bridge loop. But it fits. All in all, an okay visit. The park are doing well enough with the Covid-restrictions. They're still learning and getting stuff wrong, but it seems they're ready to fix it. Hopefully as time goes on things will be better. The park itself is the same old same old really. Some of the branding refreshes are nice, others aren't. It's hard to judge the park under such weird circumstance, but it does just feel a bit...meh.

Totally agree. Thorpe have made a lot of positive changes. Whilst there's stuff I'm not keen on (Infinity for example), there's no denying there's plenty of steps in the righr direction for people/ I guess one of the major problems is that for the past few years, Thorpe in particular have been keen to push the "look at what we've done over closed season" type content before the park opens. Be that through their own channels or through fans (here at TPM, Jack Silkstone, etc). So when the park opens, everyone knows about the positive changes. We've seen them and, to a degree, no longer care, because they don't seem like new changes - they've been known about already. So when there's not-good stuff - such as the arcade wall, Stealth's forever-broken green light, etc - people zone in on that more, because that's what the new stuff is. In a few days/weeks, people won't be as up in arms about the bad stuff, because it'll be the new normal. Just like how they're not as hyped by the new stuff. In any case, all of these changes are pretty superficial - none of them are big changes, making sweeping changes to the park. Ultimately, the park is still the same. And in Thorpe's case, that's a park that hasn't had a 'proper' new ride in 4 years, once again going through a rebrand which U-turns what the park have done 2 years prior, is suffering from an ageing thrill ride selection and is in dire need of a new major attraction to modernise the park. Obviously something like that doesn't happen overnight. But does it feel like it's starting to happen? Arguably not.. So yeah, whilst there's lots of positives, it's no surprise there's still a wave of negativity.

Towers clearly having a bad day: high winds have caused lots of shutdowns, to the point where they've offered free return tickets.

Okay, so it has little impact on anyone's day. But it's a theme park for goodness sake. This looks like something you see whilst walking down a back alley in Staines. No level of enjoyment whatsoever. And this is off a main walkway in the park. I think there's a wider issue though. This is opposite Ghost Train, which will inevitably be closed all year. You've also got Walking Dead just a bit further down, a ride which will likely be closed for a while. And the other end of the pathway, you've got Jungle Escape, another experience that will be closed for a good while. In the centre of the park, you have a complete dead zone. Of course, it's not Thorpe's fault everything round there is closed, but this doesn't help. It might be part of a redevelopment, but it begs the question why do that now? I honestly can't think of any other theme park I've been to that would leave a guest-facing wall looking that glaring bland.

The arcade itself is still open; the entrance here is blocked off to allow for people control. What has happened is the removal of the canopy like stuff, along with some games machines.

https://kanaalz.knack.be/nieuws/walibi-heropent-op-een-kwart-van-z-n-capaciteit/video-normal-1616365.html Some details about Walibi Belgium is the above article: The park lost approx €15m during Belgium's lockdown. Like some parks here, they hadn't yet opened before the Lockdowns started, and only opened on Wednesday The new Intamin Mega is a €25m investment in total, and the ride is on track to open in April next year That is of course part of a €100m investment plan of the park. This plan was to take place between 2018-2023, but the park have confirmed this will now be finished by 2025. I don't think that's totally down to Covid either, as plans for last year and this year had been delayed Compaigne des Alpes, the parent company who own all Walibi parks as well as Parc Asterix, took out a €200m loan during Lockdown

Who loves before and afters? Here's one of the back of the arcade, opposite Ghost Train.. Second image from: https://live.themeparkguide.biz/ One would like to hope this is part of some long term project. Hope. I don't expect it though. I don't know what's worse. The removal itself, the cheap paving working or the ugly look.

TPM are, of course, on park for opening today. Follow thoughts and updates on our Facebook page... In a hilarious level of irony, they're handing out leaflets saying they're not doing paper maps to reduce contact...

Swarm's rows are far apart (I believe something in the region of 1.5m), so effectively you're already socially distanced. Closing off rows does nothing in that case. Other rides need rows closed off to maintain that distance. Obviously whether one is socially distanced or not, it likely makes little difference as to whether you'd catch Covid is likely small

Another Jack Silkstone video detailing what's happening in the park: All the highlights... Admissions Cars will be parked as every other car Self service ticket machines have been introduced The temperature check will be after bag search You can only use every other turnstile As we knew, ANPR car park barriers are in place, which has also meant there's another lane No paper maps at all this year (not sure if that was the plan pre-Covid, but it is said to be to reduce contact) Lots more new signage which looks pretty nice Hotel Improved system for checking in and out Social Distancing Majority of outdoor places have yellow painted dots for social distancing. I wonder how long they'll last before fading.. 'No dwelling' signs at key areas where people usually wait around (The Bridge, outside Dome) The waterski company have agreed to not pass the bridge at peak times to stop people watching The park are encouraging 'walk on the left' in most places, with 'walk on the right' in some places where operationally necessary Rides Face coverings to be worn on 14 rides which will open tomorrow (side note not in video: 15 rides are due to open tomorrow; the exception to the face covering rule is Tidal Wave) Social distancing in place on rides; each ride has own rules There are 3 hand sanitising points available for all rides: at queue entrance, just before boarding, and after the ride No Fastrack at open. Implied that it won't be in operation for the whole season. With reduced capacity, it's hoped there won't be a need for Fastrack anyway Ride Access Pass is still a thing Stealth, Swarm and Saw will still have photos Food and Shops All food places will be operating as 'grab n go', with the exception of Infinity and KFC, which will have limited seating The self serve Coke Freestyle machines will still be in use, though maybe not from start of season. They won't have ice though, for hygiene reasons.. 'Most' places will be cashless. The park obviously have tried this for a couple of years now, with limited success. But Covid has made many places cashless now of course Shops to have one way systems The refurbished Megastore will force everyone to have a basket whilst they look around. The baskets act as counters for the maximum number of people allowed in the shop The Colossus shop, which is the only shop open where guests are forced through the shop after the ride, has been changed so that people walk through. The shop remains open though, and people can ask the staff member for whatever they want to buy, with all stuff on display behind a barrier Events The park are still planning to hold some form of Fright Nights, though do accept it will be very different Oktoberfest will be a day and evening event Nothing particular striking or surprising really. I'm surprised the Merlin parks are mostly going for painted distancing markers - they either fade reasonably quickly or are rather permanent (and I expect they'll have gone for the fading paint). Means they'll regularly have to repaint them. Hopefully the walking / one way rules are all very clear. Operating food places entirely as grab n go is odd. Indoor restaurants are allowed to open tomorrow too, so why not at least have that option there, with reduced table numbers. Will be very interesting to see how it all works out tomorrow. I've decided to wait a little while before going back, to at least judge what I think of the rules and whether I think it's worth it...

Ravensburger Spieleland, a theme park in Southern Germany with big focus on play areas and stuff too, are getting their first roller coaster next year. What is it, you ask? It's an SBF Hamster Wheel (also known as a Big Air Coaster)... The Hamster Wheel model debuted at IAAPA last year, and looks sickening, yet intriguing, to say the least: This is the second one to open; the first is in fact the one from IAAPA, which was bought by a small Family Entertainment Centre place in America . In lighter news, Pitts Special at Powerpark did a Gerts Special the other day and valleyed... lol

Some shots, with all footers complete: Source: https://www.facebook.com/pg/themeparkmagic1/photos/?tab=album&album_id=746845186144740 Vertical construction is due to start in September. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: I hate the location of this.

It hasn't been explicitly said either way whether the ride is actually going to reopen on Saturday or not. From the details here, we have: As I understand it, the list of rides which require you to wear a face mask is more or less the whole list of rides reopening from Saturday: Samurai is listed twice, presumably a typo. The water rides are not listed as the park have said they don't recommend wearing them on rides where you get wet, but I believe Depth Charge and Tidal Wave at the very least are planned to open. No indoor attraction is listed, so presumably they will be closed at first. Rush is also missing from the list, and as I understand it, will be closed for a while due to non-coronavirus reasons. I believe they're hoping to reopen more rides in a phased basis, depending on how the restrictions go and how the park feel. Walking Dead is a difficult one. Being indoors is one challenge. The long dark corridors don't lend themselves to social distancing. The 'there must be 2 people per row' alienates odd numbered groups completely now. So it'll be interesting to see their decision.

Thorpe are following Towers' lead and also hosting some form of Oktoberfest event this year: https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/theme-park/events/oktoberfest/ It'll be interesting to see what exactly it involves, especially with social distancing measures.

All Belgian theme parks are reopening today. I'm rather confused how Bellewaerde managed to open Wakala for some sort of previews yesterday given the rule was that theme parks couldn't open before today. I guess they found some sort of loophole given they have a zoo, but I was under the impression that they weren't opening the zoo only at any point prior. Not the end of the world either way though..

More Gerstlauer news, with Wakala at Bellewaerde taking riders today for some form of preview event, ahead of the park and ride opening tomorrow: (Front and back row POVs) Dispatch audio sounds really fun!

But don't companies go to B&M for Hypers and Gigas because they have the most experience making them, and arguably make the best ones? Eyebrows would equally be raised if a park went to Gerstlauer for a traditional, 7-8 row long train Giga, no? All very true, and if B&M were ever going to design a new generation launch coaster, Busch/Sea World would be the most obvious choice for the first one, given their relationship.