Cal

In a nice, but admittedly very random, addition, Colossus now has a smoke effect!
 
https://x.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1936799436602065404?t=uY0MNotqAIdP5sGeIsb4tA&s=19

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. 

It's strange because the rest of the park received new TVs which are basically always on and working. So is Swarm just cursed with other issues, or is there another reason why it doesn't work. 
 
The effects situation is a crying shame. It's easy to forget that when the train goes through the tower before the station fly over, it used to (/ is still meant to?) trigger the Swarm 'noise'. I can't remember when I last heard that.
 
There's definitely a disparity between creative and operations. I find it hard to believe that Thorpe would actively have wanted the water effect on Hyperia given the way Swarm's has gone down, and how quickly it stopped working. Hopefully they can stabilise and streamline that process in the future. 

It’s such a shame isn’t it. Thorpe does have a lot of cool features around, but they’re mostly abandoned.
 
Hyperia’s one minute wonder water effect being one of the worst offenders ever.
 
The screens feel to me like another casualty of the cutbacks. I suppose they’re running on the bare minimum staff now, meaning maintenance will be prioritised to essential stuff first. 🤷‍♂️ 

Has anyone seen any of the queueline TVs on this year? 
 
Very strange decision to invest time and money getting them working again last year for them to be switched off a month later? 
 
I have a lot to praise about Thorpe in recent years, but their upkeep of any kind of effects has always been shocking. Not a single effect working on Swarm Island. The water by the fire engine is currently green and they haven't even bothered to fill up the area by the helicopter with water this year.
 
No Inferno mist effects or Stealth smoke effects on Sunday too. How hard is it to keep a smoke machine going 🤣

There was a post on LinkedIn from an BALPA event hosted at Thorpe Park.
 
This graph shows the direction they want Thorpe Park to take. It’s quite simple and fairly obvious but also I’m glad they are taking that direction in becoming the thrill park, nothing else.
 
The graph also shows the way they want to improve revenue and the way they’ve done it. A few things: 2021-2023 it says “event led strategy” and in 2025+ it says “event development” to me it suggest Thorpe management want to and the plan is to bring back events. It was never the plan to drop them from Thorpe’s side.
 
Also they state multiple times how they are keen to remove IP. I hope the management outlasts the cuts as when funding does come back, we need them to push forward with these goals as ultimately this is the correct way forward.

Just a general observation/thought.
 
I find my enthusiasm & excitement for Thorpe Park/ Merlin parks muted this year. It’s just simply “open”, no new things to do, no events to change things up every few months, no dramas or issues. 
 
No 2025 TV advert, no real advertisement. No communication from parks e.g passholder page.
 
Simply there’s nothing going on and nothing going to happen in the near future (excluding fright nights). There’s no evolving, it’s a difficult one as we had a period of investment and events. To simply going back to basics and providing what they have already. 
 
This is my first season since becoming a passholder which there has been no events or new attraction to keep it entertaining. I suppose what I’m asking, is this normal? Down periods in years gone by, with not much happening.

I've definitely noticed it's a little rougher and a bit jolty since the wheels have been changed in my opinion. 
 
I haven't been on since the support/braces have been added to the bottom of the seats but have seen some comments saying its made it even worse which is interesting? 
 
 
They have recently reinstalled the splash down which indicates it could come back in the future. It hasn't been seen working again yet though since it was turned off last season.

Well having it closed will do no 'arm to the line up.

I visited this park three weeks ago and I had some thoughts. You can tell this was a Disney park on a budget and was obviously planned in the days where Disneyland Paris was seen as a failure and budgets were tight. When it opened, its major rides were Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise and at a push, The many adventure of Winnie the Pooh. Investment has come with an outer ring basically built on the left side of the park with it starting at Grizzly Bear Mountain Railroad, into Mystic Point, Toy Story Land and finally Frozen Land. The right side of the park hasn't been left behind though with the removal of Autopia in favour of the Ironman Experience, Buzz lightyear re-themed to Ant-man and a rumoured Tower of Terror ride themed to Spiderman. 
 
I will say this, it is most definitely a one day park, maybe even a half day. The queues here are minimal (which is refreshing for a Disney park) and a lot of the rides are basically filler (again, quite refreshing). The longest waits are for the Duffy and Friends characters near the park entrances. If you aren't interested in queuing an hour to meet Lina-Bell, you have a problem. 
 
Grizzly Bear Mountain is the parks Big Thunder Mountain equivalent and It's a really good family coaster, it lacks the jank of thunder Mountain and its backwards section is pretty weak but the rest of the ride is great. The bears are used for comedy, one rubbing its bum on a points changer, another two setting of the dynamite in the mountains. The launch is pretty powerful and there's great forces on the turns through the valleys of the mountain.
 
Mystic Manor was closed. This absolutely sucked. 
 
Toy Story land is exactly the same as Paris's, just slightly bigger. 
 
Jungle Cruise is excellent. When we went you could wait for either mandarin or english skippers. Because the English was done in slightly broken English, it made it an absolutely hilarious time. The skippers were so fun and over the top. The finale is sublime and puts this as the best Jungle Cruise in the Disney parks. 
 
Frozen Land was fine. It still pains me that this Frozen Ever After is the big new hope for Disneyland Paris when at its heart, it's a very mid fantasyland reject and isn't really good enough. The Disney Sea equivalent is far superior. Onkens sleds is fine if a bit basic. Its best bit is the lift hilll animatronic. The rest of it is junior rollercoaster fluff.
 
Small World is the best of the five and was in good condition. All figures and effects are working.
 
Hyperspace Mountain is the same as the Disneyland version and is pretty fun if unremarkable. Its permanently hyperspace mountain so does need a proper refurbishment.
 
Antman and the Wasp is dull. All the sets are just grey and brown as you are shrunk down to destroy micro-chips. This leaves you with a very bland experience. Iron Man experience is pretty good, a more modern version of Star Tours. I personally.. prefer star Tours as it feels more mechanical and less fluid. However there's no denying it is a fun and unique experience.
 
When we went there was no parades or special entertainment as the trip was during the parks off-season. The only offering was the fireworks display at the end of the night, called Momentous which was fantastic and a beautiful display. I was pretty emotional towards the end.

It’s been 10 years today since the horrific Smiler collision.
 
BBC News are running coverage about the accident, but for some reason are glossing over the fact that the 2 injured riders raising this are doing so to raise money for the air ambulance charity who helped save many lives that day.
 
I still can’t get over that it actually happened to be honest. I remember seeing the footage on the news and feeling devastated that it happened at Alton Towers of all places - somewhere many people cherish as somewhere filled with joy and happy childhood memories.
 
I also remember visiting in the week after the park re-opened, and how empty and weird it felt being there after what happened.  A very sad time for everyone involved, and for all the staff.
 
I can’t help but wonder what Alton Towers would be like today if this incident hadn’t happened.  To this day, their reputation is damaged, and they certainly took a huge hit in the months and even years after the incident.  Perhaps the park would have been prosperous if this hadn’t happened, or perhaps an incident was waiting to happen anyway given the shortcuts that were being taken.

Great day at Paultons today. I hadn’t been to the park for over 10 years, before the likes of Peppa Pig world so it was great to see how much the park has changed for the better since then. 
 
Ghostly Manor is a great addition to their lineup, fits the area perfectly and is finished to a really high standard. 
 
Seeing the coasters behind the scenes was really cool, particularly enjoyed watching Storm Chaser in the op cabin while it was being operated for the ERT. 

A little disappointed they went for a Gerst Eurofighter for their 2026 addition, but I do think it will be a great fit for the park. I think there are definitely better options out there, but think they chose this for budget reasons more than anything. 
 
Particularly disappointed that it will have OTSR’s rather than Lap Bars (the boos from the crowd were hilarious), and I do think that is a mistake. I understand their thinking, that they want it to be as accessible as possible and they feel like OTSR’s will be seen as safer by the GP, especially for their first inversion coaster. But ultimately, Lap Bars are more modern, and I think this will impact the overall guest experience and enjoyment of the coaster.
 
New water ride teased for 2027 and then the accommodation is planned for 2030+. Great to see them investing so much and I do hope the 2026 addition is a success. 
 
They made it clear they are slowly increasing the thrill level rather than big jumps, so it seems this is very much a test. They seemed to keep repeating that this is their tallest coaster ‘yet’ and ‘to date’ so will be interesting to see Paultons future.
 
 
Magma is going, they mentioned its staying in the UK so will be interesting to see what park has bought it. 
 
My understanding was that Edge will be staying where it is but just won't be part of the Vikings area.

Its been back on 2 trains since Friday  

I saw somewhere that Mack were on park having a look at it and will tomorrow while the park is closed, planned to be back on 2 Thursday. Not sure how much truth is in that though.

Its definitely noticeable now, it's a little rougher and jolty in my opinion, especially as it warms up and from row 4/5 onwards, but doesn't detract from the ride experience too much.
 
I do wonder if this is a long term solution or just temporary?

I got on Helix on the weekend just gone for my first time, which is over 10 years old and it was glass smooth in comparison.
 
Also, watching the ops on Helix makes me so glad we don't have seatbelts on Hyperia 🤣

Just to make it clear, Intamin have in no way stopped providing support for their Accelerators. Whilst it's true they don't offer the model any more (or at least, no one has considered doing so for over a decade), it in no way means they've washed their hands of it.
 
Thorpe/Merlin and Intamin maintain a respectable working relationship, and that is also related to the current issue(s).

I've had my suspicions all but confirmed in that Stealth's and Rita's are indeed unrelated.
 
Thorpe will do their utmost to keep Stealth going, and I don't think we're anywhere near the point where they're considering getting rid of it.
 
For those old enough to remember, Thorpe literally clung onto dear life with Slammer. It was closed more than it was open for a couple of years. S&S stopped manufacturing parts, so Thorpe sourced things elsewhere. They dedicated a lot of money and man hours into getting the thing running. Only once it had absolutely gone past the financial point of no return did they give up the ghost.
 
And Stealth is obviously different; it is still such an iconic ride for the park, is a genuine reason that people visit, and generates money from merch sales.
 
I'm not saying to take Stealth for granted, but at this point, there is no reason to think Stealth is facing an imminent closure in the next couple of years.

Skyride planned to open tomorrow now. 
 
If it was just down to the heat then they should've said that, instead of "working hard to create a truly magical experience", there isn't a lot magical about a transportation ride 

No, they aren’t even selling FastTrack for most coasters tomorrow or the weekend. 
 
They can add/remove FastTrack allocation at any time so I wouldn’t look too much into it. 
 
They normally update ‘one shot’ FastTrack availability daily. 

Went to the park last Thursday after grabbing an overnight stay deal on Black Friday for Wednesday (when the park was originally meant to be closed), breakfast included, plus unlimited FastTrack all day (including Hyperia) for just £72 total (£36 per person). I never usually stay over, but that price for unlimited FastTrack made it an absolute no-brainer.
 
I was pretty much on Hyperia for most of the day, and managed over 30 rides on it, as well as a couple of other rides too. Saw it testing before 9am and it was open for 10. Should be standard but nice to see they’re making the effort to get it running on time this season - it’s a big improvement over last year’s late starts.
 
As the day went on and the ride warmed up, I did notice it started to get a little jolty/rattly from around row 4/5. Might be down to the different wheel compounds they’re using, but honestly it wasn’t anything major and didn’t really take away from the ride experience.
 
Operations were absolutely flawless all day, the team were smashing the trains out and I didn't see it stack once, trains were even dispatched before the other hit the break run which I hadn't seen before.
 
There was a lot of people who had the same deal also lapping Hyperia, and with RAP usage on top, the main queue for Hyperia definitely took a hit. Bit of a problem when RAP and FastTrack is allocated for the whole park but people are just using it on Hyperia.
 
Since I was staying over, I was actually there for park opening for once (normally I don’t bother till the afternoon. I hate how they keep all the gates closed until 10am. Other parks like Chessington and Towers let you in the park earlier, not sure why this one can’t do the same. Back in the day, they used to open the gates earlier (around half 9) and if rides were ready, you’d open them before opening. Much better procedure than having a bottleneck and lots of people running in my opinion. This was on a quiet day too, can’t imagine what this is like on peak days.
 
Shame not to get on Stealth again, still not been on it this season yet. Didn't see any visible work going on last week but hopefully the issues will get sorted soon.
 
Rumba Rapids was testing and there seemed to be a lot of staff over there training, the ride availability page shows this will be open on late May now.
 
Vortex is running really well, and has done for the last few seasons. It still has its smoke machine from Fright Nights too, doesn’t have much effect without it being dark and the lighting etc but still nice to see.

Went to the park last Thursday after grabbing an overnight stay deal on Black Friday for Wednesday (when the park was originally meant to be closed), breakfast included, plus unlimited FastTrack all day (including Hyperia) for just £72 total (£36 per person). I never usually stay over, but that price for unlimited FastTrack made it an absolute no-brainer.
 
I was pretty much on Hyperia for most of the day, and managed over 30 rides on it, as well as a couple of other rides too. Saw it testing before 9am and it was open for 10. Should be standard but nice to see they’re making the effort to get it running on time this season - it’s a big improvement over last year’s late starts.
 
As the day went on and the ride warmed up, I did notice it started to get a little jolty/rattly from around row 4/5. Might be down to the different wheel compounds they’re using, but honestly it wasn’t anything major and didn’t really take away from the ride experience.
 
Operations were absolutely flawless all day, the team were smashing the trains out and I didn't see it stack once, trains were even dispatched before the other hit the break run which I hadn't seen before.
 
There was a lot of people who had the same deal also lapping Hyperia, and with RAP usage on top, the main queue for Hyperia definitely took a hit. Bit of a problem when RAP and FastTrack is allocated for the whole park but people are just using it on Hyperia.
 
Since I was staying over, I was actually there for park opening for once (normally I don’t bother till the afternoon. I hate how they keep all the gates closed until 10am. Other parks like Chessington and Towers let you in the park earlier, not sure why this one can’t do the same. Back in the day, they used to open the gates earlier (around half 9) and if rides were ready, you’d open them before opening. Much better procedure than having a bottleneck and lots of people running in my opinion. This was on a quiet day too, can’t imagine what this is like on peak days.
 
Shame not to get on Stealth again, still not been on it this season yet. Didn't see any visible work going on last week but hopefully the issues will get sorted soon.
 
Rumba Rapids was testing and there seemed to be a lot of staff over there training, the ride availability page shows this will be open on late May now.
 
Vortex is running really well, and has done for the last few seasons. It still has its smoke machine from Fright Nights too, doesn’t have much effect without it being dark and the lighting etc but still nice to see.

Went to the park last Thursday after grabbing an overnight stay deal on Black Friday for Wednesday (when the park was originally meant to be closed), breakfast included, plus unlimited FastTrack all day (including Hyperia) for just £72 total (£36 per person). I never usually stay over, but that price for unlimited FastTrack made it an absolute no-brainer.
 
I was pretty much on Hyperia for most of the day, and managed over 30 rides on it, as well as a couple of other rides too. Saw it testing before 9am and it was open for 10. Should be standard but nice to see they’re making the effort to get it running on time this season - it’s a big improvement over last year’s late starts.
 
As the day went on and the ride warmed up, I did notice it started to get a little jolty/rattly from around row 4/5. Might be down to the different wheel compounds they’re using, but honestly it wasn’t anything major and didn’t really take away from the ride experience.
 
Operations were absolutely flawless all day, the team were smashing the trains out and I didn't see it stack once, trains were even dispatched before the other hit the break run which I hadn't seen before.
 
There was a lot of people who had the same deal also lapping Hyperia, and with RAP usage on top, the main queue for Hyperia definitely took a hit. Bit of a problem when RAP and FastTrack is allocated for the whole park but people are just using it on Hyperia.
 
Since I was staying over, I was actually there for park opening for once (normally I don’t bother till the afternoon. I hate how they keep all the gates closed until 10am. Other parks like Chessington and Towers let you in the park earlier, not sure why this one can’t do the same. Back in the day, they used to open the gates earlier (around half 9) and if rides were ready, you’d open them before opening. Much better procedure than having a bottleneck and lots of people running in my opinion. This was on a quiet day too, can’t imagine what this is like on peak days.
 
Shame not to get on Stealth again, still not been on it this season yet. Didn't see any visible work going on last week but hopefully the issues will get sorted soon.
 
Rumba Rapids was testing and there seemed to be a lot of staff over there training, the ride availability page shows this will be open on late May now.
 
Vortex is running really well, and has done for the last few seasons. It still has its smoke machine from Fright Nights too, doesn’t have much effect without it being dark and the lighting etc but still nice to see.

A nice little behind the scenes peek at the winter maintenance etc.
 
Can’t help but notice that this is in a different format to similar videos over the last few years - it’s mainly stock footage (all be it new and very nice stock footage).
 
Also the familiar faces are missing?! I hope the people who used to do this stuff haven’t been made redundant?  
 
It’s also a month late, suggesting the remaining staff could be overstretched? 😬
 
I have to say though I really do love the new brighter and more colourful way in which this stuff is portrayed now. All of this new footage is more vibrant than before and is definitely looking good.

Try not to laugh in first 15 seconds challenge:
 
https://youtu.be/0RyqNJamtpE?si=zCpnRAN5XGgW7ZUh

Shots fired!
 

 
I mean they aren’t wrong are they!
 
It seems that Universal are planning on arriving and very much staking their claim as THE theme park resort in the UK.
 
There are also suggestions in local council meetings that there is talk of extending the Eurostar line to Bedford - which would be absolutely massive for the UK as a whole to be honest.