Cal

I’ve had some good days at the Thorpe ones back in the day, and the Fright Nights passholder events I did were good too. Seen some terrible reviews from Chessington ones but Chessington is always terrible. I’ll probably go to this one with it being a 7pm close, depending on the ride availability they post nearer the time.

Passholder day has been announced for Sunday 16th March. Park is open 11am - 7pm which is nice, interesting as don’t think I’ve ever seen them open after 10am. Would love to see some more of this, opening later and staying open later. 11am - 10pm would be great for fright nights.

Highly doubt it. Will be interesting to see if there are any cuts ghost train wise with huge cuts to entertainment budgets Merlin wide.

I know it hasn't operated for years but still sad to see this go. To this day still my favorite flat ride by far. Interesting they're removing it without a replacement. Hopefully we'll get a new flat for 2026.

It really doesn’t help they’ve decided to not ‘time out’ RAP for the mazes. It means on days like this where they’re free or people that have the maze pass have unlimited fast track for mazes.

The full 20 minute area loop has been released on Spotify now!

Pretty much confirmation that the new area will be Minecraft themed.

I've just come across this document which does confirm this area will be accessible before the park opens. 'The proposed new seating and gathering area will provide a location for visitors to dwell when they arrive in the morning prior to the rides opening, and after they have passed through the ticket kiosks and security/bag check. This will assist in reducing queues and improve guest experience.' It also states that the stage will host up to 18 shows/events over the season in addition to the entertainment already provided. So sounds like they're planning additional events over summer maybe? I know they used to hold some concert type events (back in 2015/16 maybe) unsure how successful they were? 'In addition, it is proposed that the stage will host up to 18 shows/events over the season for bands where the music will be louder and more like a concert format (capacity of 2,000 guests). These events will take place through the year. To protect residential amenity, noise levels will be reduced at 11pm to the pre-agreed park levels.' 'The only new activities will comprise up to a maximum of 18 days per annum where events can take place up to 95dBA within the audience area. These events will be carefully managed and will end at 11:00pm.'

Valid point about bags on Stealth with them flooding the airgates. Only the park will know how many thefts etc are reported though so if they don't see it as a problem then there will be no need to change things there end. I still don't think the baggage hold will come back though its just a unnecessary cost. It would be great to have a SRQ on Stealth but I can see why they don't at the moment as they don't allocate rows. Its quite common for empty seats and does slow down throughput, but with Stealth regularly being the best coaster on park throughput wise they probably don't want to change it. To be honest I don't think staff would be able to keep up allocating rows as well as dealing with the fast track and RAP queues, so if they were to batch rows I think it would require 2 staff at the merge. Although it would be nice to have a SRQ on Swarm I don't ever see them changing the batching. The current way they batch works, theres rarely empty seats. Also as it wasn't designed with that in mind I don't think they really have the space to incorporate that. Its also another staff cost, which again I don't see them justifying to fill up a few empty seats.

Have you got a merlin pass/thorpe pass? If you book a date either side of a closed date in September for 2 people its currently £65 and include unlimited all day fasttrack including on Hyperia. Crazy value seeing as Hyperia 1 shots are currently £20. https://www.thorpepark.com/short-breaks/offers-packages/merlin-holiday-club/

The proposals from the previous hotel looked a lot nicer. Seems this is smaller too. 100 rooms whereas the one they previously got planning permission for was 250. Good to see they're at least looking at a business case for a hotel again though - would be nice to see a permanent hotel.

Looks good, and great location to have something like that at the entrance of the park. Will be interesting to see how Lucifers Lair and Oktoberfest evolve in a new space. Also interested to see what it will for used for the remainder of the year while events aren't on though. Hope they won't go back to blaring pop music or cringy shows from the 'Thrill makers' If that area is accessible in the morning maybe a countdown of some sort before the park opens at 10?

I would imagine Hyperias area will definitely see some work. Even non enthusiast friends who I've been with throughout the year have commented on how unfinished the area looks. It'll be interesting to see what they do with the splashdown too, although not too bothered if they do anything with that. I'd like to see Colossus finished and Slammer finally removed this year. I thought they'd tie the Slammer removal in with a new flat but that is looking very unlikely for next year now. Inferno could definitely do with some love but I guess that depends if budgets allow. Rumba needs attention but I'd rather them just not bother and get rid of it in the future. Its by far my least favorite rapids, and it must cost a fortune to run nowadays being so staff intensive. I'd rather the area and money be used for something in the future instead. What do you think needs amending for Stealths and Swarms batching system out of interest? I don't think we'll ever see Stealths baggage hold return. Bags are still removed prior to boarding so I can't see it impacting throughput too much. Not significant enough for 2 extra staff daily anyway. Would be nice if they opened Swarms on peak days only similar to what towers do with Smiler and Thirteen, as it does seem to significantly impact throughput.

I know its early but thought it would be good to keep conversation of 2025 separate. Opening hours for the 2025 have been released already. https://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/before-you-visit/opening-times/ - Season will start on Friday 28th March and end on Sunday 2nd November. - Continuation of 5pm closes for off peak weekdays, 6pm for holidays and every weekend. - Couple of closed Wednesdays during April and May but they were very quiet this year. - 7pm closes throughout the summer holidays and every Saturday from mid June. - September has a couple of closed Wednesdays. - Park will be closed in October except for Fright Night dates + Thurs 2nd which will likely be press night. Fright nights has the exact same amount of nights and structure to 2024. Overall, they're pretty good and very similar to this years apart from some extra closed days, which were all very quiet this year. Its good to see they haven't been cut with the uncertainty around merlin at the moment. Of course they are subject to change but I've never seen Thorpe reduce their opening hours once published. I would love to see the return of some 9pm closes in summer and 10pm for Fright Nights, or even trial a later opening and closing time for Fright Nights so we have more time in the dark.

Thankyou! Yeah loved it in the end. Definitely preferred it at the front, and it is inconsistent. Sometimes you're sitting on the breakdown blown away and sometimes not so much. That's what makes it so re-rideable though 🤣