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Ahhh, this old chestnut. The story is quite simple, but a sort of Chinese-whispers effect has led to some confusion over the years.
 
That image is from the MTDP from around 2003. The MTDPs only show loose ideas that the park have at the time. That drawing, for example, shows the top hat being the other side of the Stealth area. The layouts mean nothing; they're just there as a rough indication of size. 
 
When Thorpe were drawing up ideas for Stealth, they wanted a longer ride, more akin to Xcelerator (hence why the MTDP shows that). Ultimately, it never happened, for a variety of reasons: space, money, visual impact of the ride, etc. There is no online copy of any longer layout they may have considered. 
 
The "Stealth and Rita were meant to be one ride" thing is one of these 'fun facts' that the parks liked to say during behind the scene tours. However, that's very much an embellishment of the truth. Thorpe had long planned for a tall and fast icon ride and, as stated, did look at a longer ride too. Eventually they settled for the standard Intamin accelerator top hat-airtime hill combo we have.
Alton Towers were in need of a new thrill ride to stay fresh and competitive, especially after encountering issues with planning for their wooden coaster. With the company in advanced discussions with Intamin over Stealth, they were able to work with them further to get another coaster, Rita. There was likely some sort of deal that they were able to haggle as well. The layout of Rita is kind of just plonked how it could fit really.
 
It's certainly possible that Rita's layout featured inspiration from Stealth's extended layout, if the design process ever got that far. But it's more likely, in my opinion, just its own separate thing. So history would tell you "Thorpe wanted an Intamin accelerator, which eventually ended up being Stealth. They considered getting a longer one but didn't. Alton Towers also got an Intamin accelerator due to their other plans falling through, and it just so happens that the layout, with some tweaks, would have worked well after Stealth". But to say "Stealth and Rita were planned to be one ride" is a more fun story.
 
We'll probably never know exactly how things went down (in part because we're never told these things, in part because most who were involved with it have probably moved on), and we'll never see exactly what Stealth's extended layout could have been. 
 
 
As touched on earlier, Thorpe's MTDP is a very loose thing. It just shows locations and vague scales of what they're considering at the time. But these ideas can and do change (Ghost Train was never mentioned in the 2010 MTDP, for example). The reason Thorpe submitted them is because it made the planning process for the rides easier, and kept up good relations with the council.
 
When Thorpe do submit plans though, they have to stick to them very precisely. They have little room to change anything, everything must be done pretty much exactly as agreed. So they'd never be able to hide anything. Towers is slightly different, in that a large part of the park is covered by a General Development Order (GDO), which means that, within that area, they can do lots of things without submitting planning applications. This is how they were able to build Octonauts without a planning application, 'hide' some inversions in Smiler's application, and change the profiling on Wickerman's drop.

Have removed a couple of posts from here - Regardless on your opinions on Nick’s music - fair play to him for organising this - just looked and I saw he’s raised almost £600 to donate to a mental health charity and no one deserves to be berated for that - that’s significant amount especially during these times from such a niche market.
 
Whilst I get it may not be everyone’s cup of tea I think it’s great people when people l come together and do things like this which will ultimately benefit others more in need, especially in times like this!

I imagine next year will be a near repeat of this year. 
 
TWD, DBGTROTD, BM all closed.
Capacity issues elsewhere. 
 
If only they had a nice open space like a farm to relax in, a large capacity train ride to take you there, an event space like an arena where people could be spread over a large searing area, or a log flume where each riding group could have their own socially distanced ride vehicle. 

Chessington Buzz has reported it to be manufactured by ‘Metallbau Emmeln‘ 
 
Here is a video of a ship also manufactured by them which looks to be very similar, with the same looking supports also. Luckily it swings pretty good.
 

I don't get the TPWW hate. I'm no fan, I'm no fan of any vlogger really as I find the whole thing a bit of a cringy embarrassment,  but he turns out comparatively decent videos and seems a nice enough chap. I watched this Adventure Island one, what with it being my home park, and he shows the place off really well. Made me want to visit, as his series of videos at the end of summer from loads of smaller parks did for those places for the couple I saw, and having people visit is exactly what these smaller parks need. 

In 2005, I was fortunate enough to attend an ECC meet up which featured a meal and talk with the Bryant family that owned Drayton and back then, their hopes were high. Hotels, big coaster investments the works. The years have't been kind to the park truth be told and I think when G Force closed, the early warning signs were there. It's somewhat of a shame that its come to this. Their heavy investment at the turn of the millennium with Apocalypse, Maelstrom, Stormforce 10 and G Force showed a park with intent but it never recovered from the Smiler's crash effect on the industry or the death on Splash Canyon.
 
Whilst it will never get that level of investment again, at least jobs have been saved and the park can continue to function.
 
 

In fairness, attractions can only do so much to enforce the guidance given from the government. Realistically, no attraction is going to check the address of every person, and then check what tier that address is in. It's the same for restaurants: no restaurant is going to be actively checking that every person in a group is from the same household.
 
This conversation is presumably coming from Theme Park WorldWide's visit to the park, despite the fact Shawn lives in a Tier 3 area and the park is in Tier 2, with his justification being 'TPWW forms his sole income, so he's travelled for work'. 
 
If you live in a Tier 3 area, you are told to avoid travelling, but you are not banned from it. So Shawn/TPWW aren't breaking any rules. Attractions and venues can, in theory, stop them from entering under their own T&Cs, but almost definitely wouldn't unless people were causing issues.
 
Ultimately, it's a bending of the rules, not a breaking of them, and you could argue it's morally a grey area. And it shows how easy it is to exploit the government's recommendations, and how important it is for every single person to play their part, and use their own judgement and common sense. 

This is an excellent move. Sell fewer for more money, make the same money. Now for the same move with fastrack please...

This is an excellent move. Sell fewer for more money, make the same money. Now for the same move with fastrack please...

This is very true of course and I hope my worry to be proven wrong with the finished thing!

Although best thing since Transylvania might be a push,  Forbidden Kingdom with Terror Tomb and Rameses when new was brilliant. Beanoland new was also a really fun kids area even though it was small. Can't imagine how this giant croc head will suit the area as good as Rameses did when it was new but I hope it turns out well anyway.

I hate to sound negative, the park are at least going further than their usual standard for flat rides, but I think it looks potentially awful. A giant, beige blocky croc head awkwadly sticking out of a temple, a  hamfisted idea of "crocodile themed" like something an enthusiast would make.

Even the colouring and carved details look really flat so far, I just hope this isn't the finished look.

You can never tell until something's finished, so let's hope it looks great in the end. But the whole concept is a bit weird.
What will it actually add to the area and the ride experience?  Instead of all the money on one big ugly block, why not spread it on more scenery and the temple? It could look brilliant.

The MAP group are kicking off big time about the price hike, but let's be honest here - the passes have been too cheap for too long. MAPpers typically won't use F&B on park, where Merlin make that precious and needed revenue and margin. 

If you struggle with when and when not to take things literally maybe look at a posts reacts to give you a steer. 🙂

Wicked Witches Haunt coming 2021 to Thorpe Park
 
You heard it here first!!

As others have said, I think this is still a pretty solid offering, especially given the free parking and minimal restrictions (bank holidays and Halloween).
 
At £120, plus free parking and discount, you're looking at needing to visit 4-5 times before it becomes worthwhile (assuming you use discounts for entry otherwise). That's fairly standard and in line up with other individual park passes across Europe.
 
Plus, being an Annual Pass (ie - valid for 12 months rather than till end of season) is a much better option. A Season Pass is ultimately flawed in that its sale value becomes less as time goes on. Pay the price in March and get access all season, or pay the same price in September and get access for two months (minus exclusions). 
 
The issue with Thorpe and Merlin is they have aggressively focused on trying to get as many people have passes. They'll have felt the problems with that this year, but it's always an issue. With such a large number of passholders, it's harder to predict numbers for each day (as they didn't have to pre book). You're also left with a larger market who think they're special and should be rewarded for their loyalty. The trouble there is with such a large number of people, any perks aren't actually that special as they're accessible to so many people..
 
The main issue is the pre-booking thing. For whatever reason, Thorpe's system ultimately didn't work this year (as pre booking wasn't checked for passholders). Hopefully they have a better checking system, and have an improved method for checking numbers. I wouldn't be surprised if Merlin are hoping to a degree that come summer time they can have less restricted numbers at their parks and the passholder prebook can become relaxed / not a necessity. 

If you struggle with when and when not to take things literally maybe look at a posts reacts to give you a steer. 🙂

If you struggle with when and when not to take things literally maybe look at a posts reacts to give you a steer. 🙂

If you struggle with when and when not to take things literally maybe look at a posts reacts to give you a steer. 🙂

Day tickets have reduced in price, was £55 now £50. 
 
The park passes were simply too cheap and now it’s being balanced out.

Reports coming out of USA and China that Stealth blown bulb vaccine only around 80% effective.

I know sarcasm doesnt always translate well in writing, but I'm hoping I'm missing some here otherwise this might just be the most deluded themepark statement since scenic world announced orphan rockers opening date. 

"Forbidden Tomb returning!!" = they are going to reuse the old sign that's still clearly visible underneath, to save paying for a new 3D one probably

I've heard it's going to be called Crocodile Rock instead as that doesn't break any trademarks.
 
Laaaaaaa, la la la laaaaaa....

Sadly I ultimately think it's right that an open water system water ride does not have a significant amount of investment to keep it operational. It's not up to current regulations for a new build and I can see a time when they are health and safety'd out of existence.
 
What would be perfect for the park would be a new modern flume alongside and interacting with a family thrill coaster. 

3 Intamin prefabs in 7 posts, I like that!
 
I'm both extremely excited and extremely nervous to test out the Arrow/S&S 4D coasters. Can totally see why you'd pick X2, that sensation sounds incredible and evil at the same time!