Cal

With phase 2 of festival world planned for 2030, I don't think there'll be any replacement before then. Shame they couldn't keep it going until they're ready to replace it. Glad they're planning on a replacement rather than new trains though.

Yeah, couple more failed launches this morning but once they took that train off it ran fine for the rest of the day.

You'll be pleased to know they sell Haribos and packets of crisps too 🤣 But yeah I agree. Would be a good location for some food, a bar and some comfy seating.

They've done quite a lot in recent years which has collectively improved throughput. - Increased the amount of bag storage - Pretty much always have 4 hosts checking restraints rather than 2 - Pretty much always have someone batching to fill empty seats - Pretty much always on 2 trains - New PLC means all restraints don't have lift all the way up - Queue line announcement with boarding instructions - Boarding instructions/screen before entering the station

So, anyone know anything about Zodiac? Its just under a year of it being closed. All the signs were there for reopening. Continuous testing since the start of the season, new rap signs at the exit, pods all cleaned up and old logos removed, added back to the app. But now, nothing? Haven't seen any sign of movement for a good month or so now.

I've always had a soft spot for Colossus, massively over-hated. Its looking and running better than ever. I love that they seem to permanently have 4 hosts checking restraints now too, used to be very common to see 2 off peak. Noticed the smoke machine has been off the last month or so. Hopefully it'll be back for Fright Nights when it looks its best.

Stealth still seems to be struggling with reliability unfortunately. A few failed launches today causing it to be down for around half the day in total. On another note, I love loud audio but the station pre load and dispatch was wayyyy too loud today. Could even hear it loudly on Swarm island 🤣

Love Walibi Belgium. Its a great park with such a good mix of rides. Solid water rides, dark rides, a drop tower, flats, Kondaaa. And a new RMC for 2028 is finally official now too... Walibi Belgium gets world-class rollercoaster: wooden roller coaster is converted - higher, faster and longer than Untamed - Looopings Can't wait for this. I've never been a huge fan Loup Garou, and having anther headline coaster to go with Konda is going to make the park even better. I thought it would use a lot of the same structure and expected similar to Untamed, so quite surprised to see they've gone for 160 ft. Not complaining though!

To be honest, I think its a wasted opportunity at the moment. - No comfy seating - Lacks shade / shelter - Theres a small retail unit which just sells icecreams I believe but I think its mad not have a bar + food unit there Will be interesting to see how it develops and what the area is used for in the future, but I think it says a lot that hardly anyone seems to be using it and sitting in other areas instead.

So, now the 9pm closures are over. How does everything think they went? And do we think we'll see any more? They certainly filtered out a lot into the evenings with very short queues, but I wouldn't say they were completely deserted and still had quite a lot of people stay. I think the heatwave may have had an impact on attendance, with people either not visiting at all or leaving early due to the heat. I know on Monday they struggled with ride availability and activated free returns, and a lot of people left due to the combination or poor ride availability and the heat. Interestingly, when I woke up the other morning I noticed this had been posted on Merlins facebook page. Seemed to have been posted around midnight but it has since been removed 👀

I completely agree. Its so unnecessary. There was a period they removed it a few years ago but then it came back for some reason. Same with the queue line music, they reverted it back to the original soundtrack for a while and then changed it back to Imascore. Would love for that to be changed back to the original, and then have the the Imascore play in the wider 'jungle' area. I love having the original back on Colossus. Also Saws dispatch has disappeared so would be nice for that to come back. Yeah not sure, but ever since the PLC change its always played when the trains ready for dispatch. Must admit I did prefer it when it played earlier but its fine how it is now.

They extended hours till 9 23rd - 25th May. Lates at Thorpe Park: May Half Term Extended Hours

The Colossus station announcement has been changed very slightly, they've cut out the 'Please stand clear the gates are about to close' and now just starts with 'Your ride on Colossus is about to begin' Makes sense seeing as they've already closed the airgates when they play the announcement now.

Depth Charge opened at 9:30 today, and launch pad has opened. I’ve heard Depth Charge is now going to open daily at 9:30, with it being right next to Launch Pad. Big fan of that. It gives people something else to do in the morning and helps bring some kinetic energy to the area.

SAW wasn't a planned closure and did originally show as 'Delayed opening' early on. Colossus is planned to be back open tomorrow, and hopefully whatevers up with SAW can be sorted asap with half next week.

Glad you got the quiet day you'd hoped for! I agree with your comments about Rush - I love an S&S Screamin Swing but I don't even bother going on Rush anymore. I hope one day it can get replaced with a new version.

I was one of the people who saw how quiet it was, booked a half day at work and spent the afternoon there 🤣 Was one of the best afternoons I’ve had there. Honestly felt like a buyout day it was that quiet. Great atmosphere on Stealth with a big group of us lapping it, the operator encouraging us to fill up the empty seats.

Launch pad looks near complete and a new screen has been installed. I imagine this area will be open before 10am and they'll do some kind of countdown for park opening in the morning? I'm certainly not complaining, but not sure how viable these last minute openings are, as the park was deserted today. First time I've seen Hyperia walk on and able to re-ride on empty seats throughout the day. Spent my afternoon lapping Hyperia and Stealth. Great atmosphere, particularly on Stealth as it was full of enthusiasts re-riding. Someone I spoke to had done over 80 laps 🤣

It’s rare I say much positive about Towers but they’ve just announced Twilight Towers from 22nd - 31st May with extended hours until 8pm, which covers the whole half term. Good to see and I hope it’s successful.

App says it’ll be reopening this Friday 1st May, which is in line with how long it takes them to do a cable change. They regularly do them a little faster than scheduled so wouldn’t surprise me to see it open Thursday afternoon.

Stealth is back open today!

Seems they've gone back to not sending empty trains again. On the last train yesterday we spent what felt like forever on the break run whilst they filled the 3 front rows with water dummies.

No one batching on Inferno today so just queueing as normal inside the station.

Not sure when this was updated, but they’ve scrapped the two closed Wednesdays in May and will now be open 10–5, which is good to see. They’ll still be closed next Wednesday 29th, but after that they’ll be open every day until September.

Operator was clearly just feeling generous, unless they run 5 laps as standard now. But they do usually adjust laps based on queue time.