Benin

The Bubbleworks closing event was the park desperately trying to hit the nostalgia train and by all accounts was poor. Towers probably didn't want to advertise another ride being closed for Scarefest, especially with the main marketing focus being Nemesis. End of day we can't imagine what John Wardley might think about the project. Might be he sees it as a chance to start again, but also I think some people may be putting too much into his involvement. Might be just as a consultant or almost a courtesy for advice. He's not heavily involved anymore (so much so they completely forgot his existence when designing Wickerman) so I wouldn't be surprised if insiders were using it as a "don't worry JW is involved" to sate worried enthusiasts. Sitting in what could have been 30 years ago when technology has advanced in so many ways is a backwards way of thinking. Especially in the theme park industry. Look at Efteling closing Spookslot!

Haunted House hadn't existed for nearly 20 years. There's a number of members on this and other forums who weren't even born. Hex still exists, unless that's also closing? Therefore the UK's "best dark ride" isn't going anywhere (though some would argue Valhalla here). End of the day you're seemingly upset because the park aren't doing the thing you want. Most seem to think a fresh start is better. And Merlin certainly don't treat Nemesis or Vampire well. Nemesis is only being retracked because of end of life and likelihood actually costs less than to redevelop the land. You have zero idea what the ride will be replaced with, but you can wager it'll be better than what Duel was by the end of its time.

Absolutely bottled it! And what good is that Doctorate when you can't do one of the number rounds? 😉

Yeah how dare they remove 30 year old pieces of theming that they may or may not replace with modern techniques that might or might not produce a better attraction. They're better off gutting the entire thing and starting afresh. Clean slate and all that.

Summer openings are the big thing these days so will probably just postpone it and get a new IP for Ghost Train and call it a day.

Someone needs to drop the Zamperla catalogue outside Magic HQ or something. Do a 2001 Thorpe and just open all the flat rides. Could easily do 4/5 without much work given all the dead space in the park now.

A Mr Blobby jump scare like the end of Wallace & Gromit would make it the scariest ride in the world.

It's some weird fan theory that I think people seem to think will happen without any substantial evidence from the park. Then of course those on park see this and do things to tease this into being a reality even though they don't likely know what the real plan is.

You think Apocalypse will go to Towers? I mean. No.

I'd say the queue for Vampire being over an hour is down to Chessie's poor operational standards on top of being the big ride. Especially for those between 1.1-1.2m. I miss 3 train Vampire.

Given the current operating standards of our incumbent government, I wouldn't be surprised if it ends up becoming part of a new planned budget.

#basic Apparently each social media post is different as well? One of which will get the Emily stans really excited.

The bottom of the lake.

It's good. But when you have an unbanked boring corner about 3/4 of the way through the layout someone messed up. Almost just invited Wardley when they'd already approved the final layout sums up Towers' view. Get John in to please the enthusiasts and they'll accept any old mediocrity now. Purely because of the Wardley name.

Nothing is confirmed unless there's an errant can of WD40 left in the area.

John Wardley was (eventually) involved in Wickerman. Granted too late to make it good but still. Think even he'd admit it wasn't just a solo effort on his part. Some of the classics were a joint effort and almost lightning in a bottle esque that everyone pulled in the same direction. I don't understand why this Emily Alton thing has gained so much traction when it was a literal gag character who majority of park guests didn't even see. Fan theories have gotten worse, especially when clearly the obvious character to focus on is Electric Bill. Think the Jumanji theme was an estimated guess by someone with good links to Merlin. Helped by Gardaland getting a themed attraction. So far no one of any substance has made a case for the random claims and likely the park is taken full advantage of this in their (stock footage) marketing.

If the ride wasn't in a state of disrepair when it originally closed. Untouched since it closed but to sell off some broken tat to willing goons. Dread to think of the state of the ride system right now. Maybe in a few years it'll reappear. Maybe they'd be better off replacing with something new and iconic for the park given the removal of one is imminent and Shockwave is crap.

Jesus. 1. Bubbles style revamp was doubtfully a "turn into a boat ride" thing. Probably more akin to the ride changing from scary to comedy. 2. A clone of Duel? It didn't even exist at the time of the fire and they wouldn't have had the space considering Tropical Travels was in the way. 3. They were not the same ride so did not have the same spider scene. WWH has a cousin at Europa Park though. Also it wasn't fairly new as I think I 4. I doubt this fire forced the introduction of smoking areas. More the change in the national laws and public image of smoking as a whole. 5. The fire did not change the target audience. Tussauds did when purchasing the park as they didn't want to compete with Chessie and they had less limitations to work with at Thorpe. 6. The ride opened in 1984. I think it's officially older than nearly everyone on this forum. Not exactly brand new when it got burnt.

Spinball won't fit at Blackgang because it's on the side of a cliff and the footprint is massive comparative to existing attractions (I've even checked. It's essentially double in size!). RCT is not real life.

I went to an EA run event earlier in the year with one of those dinners afterwards. Typical sort of lot who'd spend more time and money patting themselves on the back for a job well done than actually doing anything.

It's worrying that I have to double check the poster these days to see if it's an actual joke or some made up fan rumour.

WHERE WAS IT'S CLOSING EVENT LIKE NEMESIS IS GETTING??!

I mean London Resort is never going to happen. So that point is laughable moot.

This is usually the case every year. Add in the Twitter toxicity and lack of any grey area these days and it's ridiculous.

My thought is that a lot of the scenery will be old and with low upkeep so lots will be heading to the local tip. They'll likely need a bigger skip.