Cal

Glad you managed to get a couple rides on Hyperia in the end! Out of interest, when they were testing after strong winds did they use water dummies or empty trains?

^ I'm not either, in fact I've only just watched that trailer for first time which shows my excitement level. I don't think thats a this year only thing though, for me Fright Nights was good in the old days of the stronger mazes and being able to lap them till 10pm free of charge. I don't have an interest in the dance shows, scare zones, or paying money to stand in queue to get a weak runthrough in a maze. I miss the old intense Fright Nights days, getting locked in cupboard in experiment 10 and having actors in queue lines etc.. I do appreciate that times change though and theres clearly a market for what they do now though, and I do think that Fright Nights is in a much better place now than it was a good few years ago. Its a strong lineup again this year so I hope they have another successful year. I will still go to Fright Nights this year multiple times for the longer hours for rides and general atmosphere. I might give the odd maze a try if it has no queue and I'm with someone that wants to, but certainly won't be going out of my way to do so. I do get the vibe that they've just added this scarezone for the sake of having something new this year. I'll reserve my judgement until we see what it is but its a shame if that is the case, as everything else on the lineup is of high quality and will be a shame if they've just added this for the sake of it. Would rather they just use them actors and have a couple in Swarms area and SAWs queue for example. Would add more than a weak scare zone IMO. On another note, I do hope they make more of an effort with ride soundtrack overlays this year. They've been redundant for a good 2-3 years now which is a shame.

Had my first ever visit to Gröna Lund last Saturday. It’s a nice little park, and really impressive how much they’ve managed to cram into such a small space. Monster is a brilliant little B&M Invert. It’s amazing how well they’ve made it fit in the park - it just looks like it’s always been there. The underground station is really unique, and so is its layout for an invert. That airtime hill completely took me by surprise and was easily the best airtime moment I’ve had on an invert before. It’s silky smooth and definitely sits high on my invert list. Unfortunately, I got spited by Insane, which didn’t operate all afternoon/evening while I was there. I was particularly looking forward to it since I’ve never had the chance to do a Zac Spin. Not sure why it was closed or how long it’s been down? As a big drop tower fan, I was really impressed with their lineup - three towers all offering different experiences. Definitely the best drop tower selection I’ve seen at any park, and it makes sense given how limited their space is. The S&S tower was solid. It starts with the “shot” mode, then slowly takes you to the top for the drop. I like the towers that do both rather than just one or the other. Ikaros is an Intamin Skyjump, and after doing some research in the queue I learned Falcon’s Fury is the only other one, which I've also ridden. Surprised Intamin hasn’t sold more of these. The views were fantastic, but I found the ride itself pretty forceless. Hard to compare directly to Falcon’s Fury since it’s been 10 years, but I’m pretty sure Ikaros breaks lower down and swings a lot more on its return. Falcon’s still looks more intimidating though. Fritt Fall was my favorite of the drop towers - an Intamin the same as Apocalypse and Condor. These never fail to deliver and this was no different. The park also had a nice bar with views over Stockholm. You’re not allowed to leave the bar areas with drinks though so they can “watch” you, which made me laugh. ‘Vilda Musen’ the parks Gerst bobsled is decent, and Twister the gravity group woodie was okay. Smooth and a decent family coaster, but nothing to write home about. The day ended on an annoying note. The park closed at 10pm, and while I was at the front of a queue for my last ride, the host came down the queue to tell us their boss had said they had to close now and we wouldn’t be able to ride. The time was 21:57. Bit annoying since it was still before 10 and I was already in the queue, but it is what it is. On the way out I also saw them turning people away (already in the queue) for one of the drop towers too. Its a great compact little park with a great selection of rides, Monster being the obvious standout. Not somewhere I’d rush back to without a good reason to or in the area again, but I enjoyed my time there and do recommend a visit 😃

You turned down a rollback 😱 Stealth and Hyperia are both operated exceptionally well most of the time, they have great teams. For comparison, I’ve just got back from a few days at PortAventura. They were averaging about 1 min 30 secs a dispatch on Red Force, 480 people an hour. They have no seatbelts to check and less seats. One thing I did notice though, they don’t advance the train from offload into load until the train has cleared the top hat. On Stealth they advance it as soon as it’s ready.

Thankyou both, much appreciated. Think I've settled for both the Walibi Parks this year, and may try Europa or something different next year. Walibi Holland is a new park for me so going to go for 2 days there, especially after hearing how busy it gets for Halloween. @JoshC. on days the parks open till 11 do you have to buy a day ticket as well as a fright nights ticket? They sell spooky days and fright nights tickets on them days and unsure what the difference is?

Has anyone done any Halloween events in Europe, and if so any recommendations? I did Asterix last year which was great so I’m keen to try some others this year, looking at potentially doing Walabi Holland and Belgium but any thoughts would be appreciated If anyones done either of the Walibi parks at Halloween what did you think of them?

Interesting. With Rumba closing earlier than before and now cuts to Ghost train (which I don't think we've ever seen?) it definitely seems like theres been cuts made to operational budgets. Shame if thats the case - but would rather them close Rumba and this than cuts to opening hours.

Would be interesting to see what the Towers prices were last year to see what the increase was. Another thing I didn't realize, they have 1 less paid maze this year, and 1 more free scare zone, which could potentially be why they've made the mazes more expensive. Last year they had 4 paid mazes and 1 scare zone This year 3 paid mazes and 2 free scare zones Still doesn't justify charging £14 - £16 for a maze run through though...

Just had a quick check on queue times. 2014 is the earliest year its recorded. Rumba was open till 10pm Fright Nights, Loggers closed at dusk. Thought I had memories of loggers in the dark but maybe I'm imagining things there. 2015 was the first year Rumba started closing at dusk by the looks of things.

Rumba was open till around mid September last year so hours are certainly getting less and less for it. Don't forget there was also a period of it opening at 1pm this year too. Seems hardly worth all the effort getting it open and staff trained if they can no longer keep it operational during the summer holidays. Who remembers the days of Rumba and Loggers till 10pm in October? 😢 I do also understand it from a cost cutting perspective though. If they're being asked to cut costs, would much rather they do this than make staggered openings elsewhere or cut park hours completely. Its reliability has noticeably been a lot worse the last couple of seasons. Its been years of it not reaching full height too. Its a very old ride, wasn't it 2nd hand from Drayton? No clue how long it operated there. Zodiac has never been one of my favorites so I wouldn't miss it, but it would be a shame to see it go and not have anything replace it (which would be the most likely option unfortunately)

Audio has never been the same since they got rid of all the Bose speakers in my opinion. I miss the loud audio at the bottom of the lift too, much quieter now.

Will be interesting to see reviews from Scarefest this year and if theres any difference in quality. Its a good lineup this year, new maze and a new scarezone which is exactly what they needed in my opinion. I wonder if RWS have any input in design or its purely just from an operational perspective (employing actors.) If I was to guess, RWS are purely operational. One thing I've noticed though is the prices for the mazes at Towers. Thorpe this year 4 mazes £34 or £28 with AP discount 1 shots £8 or £7 with AP discount Towers this year 3 mazes £38 or £30.40 with AP discount Edge of the forest 1 shot (new maze) £16 or £12.80 with AP discount Compound or Mine Tours 1 shot £14 or £11.20 with AP discount £16 and £14 for a 1 shot through a maze is absolutely absurd, especially considering cost of entry etc..

Since this post theres been a couple of changes; - 6pm closes from 9th Aug - 31st Aug 4 - Mondays + Thursdays throughout September and October have been cut from 5pm to 4pm Don't think Chessie has ever had 4pm closes so thats a shame. Still no sign of any hours past 5pm in October, usually 7pm in the holidays + weekends.

Chessingtons opening hours for the whole summer holidays (and for the rest of the season) is 5pm. Same with Legoland. Going back, 6pm has always been standard, and for most weekends throughout the season. Infact a few years ago there was even a lot of 7pm closes in the holidays and weekends. Ouch.

The last few years, I'd say Thorpe park by a long way. Best ride availability, best throughputs and best opening hours. Crazy because going back 5+ years or so I would've always said Towers. 1 train ops on off peak days was standard at Thorpe, resulting in long queues even on quiet days.

Lineup has been released for 2025. - 4 scare mazes from last season returning - The crows scare zone - IT 4d cinema - Lucifers Lair - Creature Campus with a new show ‘Shock to the system’ - A new scare zone revealed soon ‘Something lingers in the shadows... a place even the damned dare not tread. This Halloween, we open the gates to an all-new realm - where lost souls wander in purgatory and time stands still. But beware: step inside, and you may lose all sense of where you're going... or why you came.‘ In an ideal world it would’ve been nice to see something new in Trailers place, but this is still a good lineup and to be honest another free scare zone is exactly what the event needs in my opinion. Looking forward to seeing more details and where it’ll be located?

Could’ve potentially been plans for a new flat this year or 2026 that had been cut? Or they just used part of the sparkle project budget to get it removed whilst they had the funds. Either way, shame to not have a replacement flat there yet. Hopefully soon 🤞

I've just seen on Linkdin that Russ Gaines, who was the commercial director for the last 6 years has left his role at the park. He was a very public figure, appearing in lots of Jack Silkstones videos and clearly had a lot of passion for the park, so its a shame to see him go. Don't really know what impact hes had at the park during his time but always a shame to see someone with clear passion leave.

https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/news/2025/07/11/alton-towers-resort-update-july-2025/ Bianca is out. Big shame in my opinion. Shes was a breath of fresh air and has done a lot of good for the park since shes been there. Sounds like she wanted to do a lot more too, but has never had the budgets to do so. Will be interesting to see what happens next. Towers needs someone good and long term.

Stealth is scheduled to be closed 23rd - 25th July. I assume this will be launch cable replacement.

Thorpe have certainly done a lot right the last couple years and its great to see. It was great to see an American enthusiast group so enthusiastic about Thorpe are Hyperia in particular on twitter. Believe Hyperia got its record throughput of 54 trains in an hour on their ERT too. I used to love Nemesis but have never liked reborn as much as the original. Inferno seems to get better and better every year, can't beat an old school B&M.

Nice to see! Will certainly look nice at Fright Nights if it’s still going then. Colossus already looks great at night as it benefits from the smoke from crows. Interesting choice to add a new smoke machine when they can hardly maintain others on park…

From next Monday till 21st July Rumba is scheduled to open at 1pm. I imagine this is due to the school trips and 18+ rule? Hours for Rumba certainly getting less and less each year though.

Noticed on a few visits this season after the cycle has finished on Rush there is a wait of nearly 2 minutes until the restraints are released, which is really awkward and leaves a lot of people very confused and questioning whats going on. I know it has to wait for air pressure to build up after the cycle before restraints are released, but the time it takes to do this has significantly increased. Its also running particularity poor, hardly reaching full height. I believe Rush goes through a more extensive winter maintenance program once every 3 years which includes having the top come off which I believe is this closed season. Hopefully it gets the work it needs to get running well again as its running pretty poor at the moment.

Yeah I remember that. Little things like that add so much in making the area feel more alive. Wasn't there 1 or 2 more locations that triggered that sound too? Or am I imagining things, its been a long time 🤣