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Looks like a small fire has broke out on Wickerman this afternoon. Hopefully there isn't much damange. I wonder what caused it?

They're already one of the best for UK opening times so can't complain really - none of the other merlin parks are staying open till 7 consistently throughout summer. Meanwhile Towers have a 5pm close in August. As you say, hopefully this will help build a case for more of it next year. Would love to see it. Even if it means opening an hour later, or as you've said previously just keep FN attractions and coasters open till 10. Would make a big difference.

Opening hours have been extended until 9pm on the last 2 Saturdays of August (24th and 31st) Great to see - especially at a time when hours are being cut on a weekly basis at Towers at the moment...

Not sure how many were in it, but Thorpe have today announced they will be closing the passholder group on Facebook as in their words 'regrettably, we no longer feel that the group is serving its intended purpose.' Big shame. I always thought it was a great way to see updates which the general public wouldn't necessarily be interested in, and also a great way for them to get and interact with feedback. I did notice since Hyperia had opened it had been a lot less active, with them replying to less and less comments etc..

I'm also less hopeful now - as there doesn't to be any changes to last year does there unless allocation is lower. The thing is they know the rough hourly throughputs the mazes get so I don't get why its so difficult to get right. Towers seem to get it right, I've never had a bad experience with queues there. It does surprise me they haven't changed the pricing structure this year, as last year the higher queues seemed to be early on and very little queues later on. But they have the stats etc so must have their reasons for doing it. Last year, I visited on an off peak day and got turned down on my final maze as I queued too long on the first 2. Had to argue to experience a maze which I had paid for. Really puts me off purchasing mazes this year, especially with less time in the dark with the 9pm closes. I will probably just purchase 1 shot maze tickets as an when I want to do one and I see a short queue for one. Free mazes and 10pm closes... what a time to be alive 😢

First teaser video out. Website has also been updated to show we have 4 mazes this year, same 3 as last year and 1 new one. Glad they’ve got a 4th. Hopefully this will relieve a bit of pressure on queues, hoping they can get that right this year.

Very different layout indeed, still fairly short but a much more traditional hyper layout. I do like the layout we got as its very unique, but one thing I like about that other one is the low to the ground final airtime hills. Hyperia is great and I'm happy with what we got, but to think what it could have been if they didn't have trims and a bit more at the end of the layout.

Tiger Rock has re-opened today. Glad they've managed to get it open much quicker than expected.

Temple of Mayhem has now updated to be closed for the remainder of the season. Not a big loss but still a strange decision to close an attraction before peak season. The fact that they started closing this on off peak days before closure makes me believe this is another cut, rather than something wrong with the attraction/building. Wonder if they’re ever going to make an announcement/update on Scorpion Express 😂

I've noticed different hosts have different ways of batching too which really influence the single rider wait time. For example, if the back row needs filling and the next group in the main queue is a group of 4, some hosts will just stick 2 single riders on the back row, where as some will call down the queue for the next group of 2.

So, summer holidays are approaching and Chessington are closing their water ride all summer. I imagine this is the highest throughput ride on park too. If it re-opens for September, it'll then go back to being closed midweek till the end of season too. Chessington just never gets better does it.

From what I've seen on Twitter, organizers were told very last minute it would be on 1 train, but who knows. Seems like a very strange decision. People had paid good money and I imagine it'll put people off organizing these type of events at Thorpe in the future. There excuse of needing it ready for the next day is nonsense when it ran till 10pm press night and opening day, and will likely run on 2 trains till 9pm daily during fright nights. They could've ran it on 2 if they wanted to/planned it properly.

Another topic, the park must surely be aware that the break run is seriously impacting throughputs at the moment. No matter how hard they work in the station, I don't think its possible to get higher than around 800. If the train got into the station quicker I imagine they'd easily be hitting 1000+. Do we think this will be sorted in closed season or it'll be left how it is? I'd be surprised if this wasn't changed especially with the parks recent focus on throughputs. At the moment, the queue moves well. But when Fasttrack increases to normal levels and RAP is changed from 1 per visit its a bit concerning how well it'll cope.

Was the SRQ closed with no one batching?

Rumba opening from 1pm Monday - Friday and Samurai opening daily at 12 at the moment according to the ride availability page. Wonder if this is cost cutting or down to staffing issues? I imagine its down to staffing issues as I doubt they'd be doing staggered openings during peak season otherwise?

Detonator was always one of my favourite rides at Thorpe back in the day, but don't find it anywhere near as forceful as it used to be since the pistons have been removed. Anyone else find the new voiceover really annoying too? I personally can't see Detonator going in the near future. This is the first extended downtime its had in a long time, and its very reliable overall. Would love to see a taller tower replace it when that time comes though.

There aren’t any - they weren’t needed. The only trims are on the splashdown

Also it isn’t a very good look to actively promote Hyperia on all their social channels today too. Surprised it hasn’t been removed yet.

Oh dear. Was only a matter of time really after seeing them slow tests. I imagine they’ll have to get the crane back to get the train off?

I assume they’re waiting for a part as didn’t seem to be any visible work taking place when I’ve been there. Ride availability page is no longer showing a date when it’ll be back.

Such a shame. Seems like Saturdays are cursed for Hyperia 🤣 @JoshC. Yeah I was also unsure why they haven’t built a front row queue on the right? If it gets full they can just close it.

I thought it could be that, out of interest do you know why this isn’t done halfway through the season? Or do they have to do it a couple times during the season?

Have seen this a few times, especially on Stealth where its just used for them to chat and comes across quite rude to guests. Definitely more useful on certain rides I think, saw a couple instances today they were really useful on Hyperia and do think the positives of them do outweigh the negatives overall.

Got to the park just after 2 and managed 4 more rides on Hyperia today, 2 x row 6, row 9 and finally a go on the back! First 3 rides using the SRQ and last ride in the main queue. My thoughts from opening day remain the same, but definitely appreciated the stall much more today. I think before I was so blown away at how good the outer bank was I didn't really appreciate how good the stall is too. The first drop on the back is incredible. Got really lucky on my last ride, got off just after 5 and managed to get back in the queue at 5:04! They closed the queue just after I got back in. There was a group of 4 behind me that got let in the pre queue, but then weren't let in the main queue. Bit out of order to be honest, yes it was after 5 but due to the miscommunication and for the sake of ruining 4 peoples day they should've just let them through. I was interested in what kind of throughput this gets, and I didn't have anything better to do being on my own so was timing the dispatches in the SRQ. Ranged from around 1min 40secs - 2mins, so about 600-800 an hour. Not great. Yes the main queue moves really quickly at the moment, but we have really small numbers or RAP and Fastrack. The team working on Hyperia are great and run it flawlessly, it very rarely stacks. What lets it down is how long it takes for the train to get back in the station, hopefully thats something they can change in the future. Did notice a couple times today, with them double batching the air gates this did cause some confusion and guests boarded the train when other guests were putting bags away. This slowed things down as caused faff with restraints having to be unlocked to go back to the airgates. Still feels so surreal we've got this at Thorpe and its here to stay. Probably won't go back now till midweek September where I can ride it all day!

Good guess! On park now and they’ve put a big screen up, a bar and a Ben and Jerry’s stall.