Cal

First visit of the year yesterday (10th September) as didn't manage to get a date that worked with my park buddy in April time and once it starts getting busy we CBA with the queues!

Anyway, my rambling thoughts
Got 3 rides on Hyperia - max queue all day was 50 mins, bottomed out at 15 minutes. We decided to wait for it to open in the morning, it opened around 10.30am. I know that it's an off peak day, but I think it's a valid point to say that as the headline (icon?) ride it really should be open for park opening. I appreciate that problems happen butit seems to happen too often. Our first ride was Row 1, second was Row 2 and last ride of the day was Row 10, so as someone who only visits once or twice a year, I was very happy with that. Row 10 is absolutely nuts. The force of being dragged over the first drop is just ridiculous. I don't care what anyone says, I adore Hyperia - I personally don't want another element, I like the fact it's compact, does just enough (in my opinion) to make it super thrilling without ruining your day. The area is looking far better now that the plants have started to bed in. Good to see station effects are all working too still.
Stealth is evidently upset that my love has switched to Hyperia 🤣 Ended up on one train operation, we suspected there must be a train issue from the up and down time (no pun intended) in the morning. Maxed out at a 40 minute queue on one train which really shows how painful it is when it's not at full capacity. Still had 2 good rides, but can I just say - those Stealth birthday flags were evidently bought on the cheap because they are all missing bar one, so you have barrels there with metal poles on and nothing at the top. I say close RIta now and use it all for parts to keep Stealth alive, please and thankyou.
Nemesis Inferno was INTENSE, I swear this gets more and more intense every year. Flies up the lift hill every time, and feels faster than ever, if you like that sort of thing. For me, it's a one and done really as I like to keep my stomach contents down. An advertised 15 minute queue ended up being more like 40 minutes though due to loading of guests with accessibility issues, which I understand and appreciate - but the whole thing seemed to take forever with two empty trains sitting there with no guests in sight. Empty trains were sent round also prior to this - not sure of the process they have to go through but I've never seen anything like it before.
Colossus was incredibly unpleasant.
Ghost Train was closed all day and then opened at 3.30pm approx, so fair play for them bothereing to do that. We didn't get to ride as didn't want to risk being stuck on it if it went down, as that seems to happen to us far too often. Have to wonder how much longer this has left in it, it must cost them a fortune in power and staff.
Quantum was shut until late in the day.
Samurai was closed all day and advertised as so.
Vortex & Zodiac both closed of course.
Walking Dead The Ride had a lot of downtime - when we did get on, a lot of the effects in the first half seemed to be inoperable, I'm guessing that's why they didn't bother opening? In the pre-show, they now have a tensar barrier infront of the board with the creator names "easter eggs" on, assume that's to stop people vandalising it but odd that's suddenly been done now as I haven't seen anyone do so prior. The walk through to the station was very dark (too dark?!) - they've turned off that car that honks all the time so that's good, especially when we had to wait to load in the station for 10 minutes or so for reasons unknown. Also, incredibly oddly, you can hear the Nemesis Inferno music INSIDE in parts of the ride?!
The Launchpad has all the F&B units there - closed, and the flower entrance sign/portal, minus the central sign - so just some flowers on some wood.
There were no staff in the car park directing you where to park, so went and charged my EV on the hotel charge points (as the ones in the "main" car park have a number out of action).
The entrance bridge looks tired after it's glow up with the rebrand - specifically, a lot of the flags with the new branding are again missing. Appreciate these are effectively small details, but that's the entrance to start (or finish) your day and to me speaks volumes.
We felt the staff in general were pretty downbeat/narked/didn't want to be there (which we totally get tbh, but still) - with the exception of a very cheery chap who was at the queue line entrance on Colossus who wished us a good time and an enjoyable ride (Colossus did not adhere to these wishes) and also a queue batcher on Hyperia who commented on my retro Stealth shirt (Human cannonball one). Tiny details but they help make the day more enjoyable. We spotted a ride op on Inferno leaning on the barrier where the train exits the station whilst waiting... now, I'm sure it's probably safe but I don't think I'd put my trust in that with the drop below and probably not in the ride handbook...!

So all in all - the park is tired in places (as are the staff) - will we ever see a relaunch of the Sparkle Project because I feel the park needs it (Whilst I'm here - the Stealth tyre entrance is completely faded and unreadable again...).

Hyperia still very good indeed and much needed for the park - getting queues of 40-50 minutes on a "dead day" is impressive.

Will be interesting to see what 2027 brings, if anything, but it all just feels a bit stale and stagnant at the moment there, tired is the operative word and the state of the flat ride lineup (not that I really ride them, but they serve a purpose) with increased downtime ahead of the busiest time of the season is concerning, and indicative of the age of them all. It seems a done deal that Zodiac isn't coming back this year... Vortex is more of an issue as this is always popular. Hopefully Samurai is nothing too major considering it's work in closed season.

One final thing - we actually saw SAW have a 5 minute queue at one point, which is normally unheard of, but for most of the day that thing still pulled in the crowds. Whoever signed that IP has a lot to be thanked for by Merlin....

PS. I await Parm Pap's thoughts on the above.

I came across this which I found quite interesting https://creativepool.com/merlinentertainments/projects/hyperia-experiental-award-for-merlin-entertainments?utm_source=chatgpt.com

It’s Merlin’s entry for Hyperia in the 2025 Creativepool Awards, a few things I found particularly interesting:
Hyperia was specifically designed with teenagers in mind, with Merlin saying one of the aims was to 'reignite the passion' of teenagers for Thorpe Park
Within just a few months, Hyperia had achieved a 9.6/10 Product Score, while Thorpes Net Promoter Score increased by 12% year on year
46,154 Hyperia merchandise items had been sold, with the shop generating £698k. This was £385k more than expected
The queueline shop generated £240k, making it the best performing queueline shop on site
Merlin says Hyperia directly contributed to increased visitation, with many guests specifically saying Hyperia was the reason for their visit

Seems as though you're right Cal, though nothing officially confirmed...

Couple of extra bits:
Only available as a one shot ticket (£12-£14, so £2 more expensive than the other one shots) or VIP packages
Actors will touch you and you will be split up.
It's a cool concept and I'm intrigued by it. It feels slightly...un-Thorpe like? Which I mean in a positive way. That probably makes sense given RWS are more in charge this year.

Throughput will be an interesting one. Lots of darkness, being split up, plus the presumed torches. Some mazes that have used Haunted Lantern have gone for very small groups (eg Purgatory at Tulleys), others keep group size the same. But I'm not aware of any that have split groups up before.

So yeah, intrigued and excited.

Hyper Coaster is probably not talked about much as it isn't that ridden. Looks like a solid ride all round though.

I really enjoyed Batman GCE, but it didn't hot the upper echelons of my list. I can't describe why really, as it has lots of what I like. I'd love to have ridden it more, but my god the throughput is rubbish.

Updating my 10 top as I don't currently have any more trips planned this year, new entries in bold.

1) Batman Gotham City Escape
2) Toutatis
3) Untamed
4) Kondaa
5) Shambala
6) Hyperia
7) Ride to Happiness
8) Taron
9) Balder
10) Hyper Coaster
Helix and Zadra now both fall out of my top 10.

Batman has always intrigued me, but I didn't expect to like it as much as I did. Every element hits no matter what seat you're in. The tophat works, the ejector airtime is insane, and it's easily my favourite stall I've done on a coaster.

I never really see Hyper Coaster talked about, but it's a solid coaster. Pretty traditional hyper layout with an insane first drop and a crazy zero g roll.

I believe they own that stage and have done since the mid 2010s (when they purchased it for the Thorpe Sounds event... I'm getting deja vu...)

I don't think on-park announcements or advertising will work all that much.

I agree that using the screens around park to make it clear what time the park closes is not a bad thing. But if people are oblivious to the closing time, think it's 6pm (say), and then rock up and find out at 2pm it's actually 9pm, I don't think that will encourage that many people to stay.

I think there's two things to keep in mind with later opening hours.
You need to give people a reason to stay. Fright Nights is always packed until close, because there's a reason to stay (scare stuff and night rides). Summer Lates had a DJ and maybe one night ride if you join a queue late on. For many, that's not enough to get people to stay.
You have to accept that people will leave early. At similar sized parks (and bigger), people leave before park close, especially when there's late closing. Just as a recent example: I went to Dollywood last month, 10am-9.30pm opening hours. All day, Lightning Rod had 45min+ queue, except in the last hour where it dropped to 5mins. People leave early. And that's fine, so long as you're busy enough during the day and people who stay late get their money's worth.

I was on park both Fridays and staying late felt worthwhile. If it translated into people spending money and giving better KPI scores it's worth it.

The park just need to come up with a way of making staying later more appealing, and advertising that a bit more.

I arrived at 6 for the evening on Saturday and the number of people leaving was insane. I also believe there was nothing in park or at the entrance telling people the park was open until 9pm which I think is half the problem. Not everyone physically looks at the opening times and assume it shuts at 6. They really should add a closing time sign at the entrance or perhaps the bigger queue time boards.

Summer lates were great, really hope they build on them and we have more of them next year.

I normally completely avoid Thorpe during July and August but I went last Friday and yesterday for the afternoon/evening.

Last Friday seemed to be the quietist of the 4, but I think a lot of people left/were put off due to the heat. Yesterday a good amount of people stayed till the end which is good to see.

I do think they could do a better job of advertising it though. I don't think theres enough (anything?) on park telling you the park is actually open until 9.

I got sent a survey the other day about the event, asking about reasons for visiting, rides being open late, the food stalls, DJs and what time of year is best for rides in the dark. So it's good to see they're at least considering expanding on it.

Not usually.

Most of Thorpe's IP contracts, to my knowledge, have been on 3 or 5 year contracts which can then be renewed for certain periods of time. All very flexible.

It appears they haven't given up with Zodiac just yet - quite surprised to see all the doors from the gondolas seem to have been removed.

It appears they haven't given up with Zodiac just yet - quite surprised to see all the doors from the gondolas seem to have been removed.

shush

In a similar fashion to Alton Towers, Thorpe now have a selection of street food stalls, all in The Launchpad.


The stage is set up for Thorpe Lates, and a lot more seating is available (I think some of it moved from the old Saw Alive path now that construction is taking place there).

The area was the most alive I've ever seen it, and definitely how it should be used.

Wildest reaction to launch yesterday. A young woman alongside me flung her arm out (still attached to her body) grabbing me almost by the throat in terror, so intense that I had to check she hadn't ripped my shirt, wow! She did apologize afterwards.

The tent has been covered. It is 5 roof panels wide; Stitches is 6, so it's a bit smaller (but still very big).

Vortex (and Zodiac) look like they'll be down for a fair while longer as their entrances have been fenced off to allow for Fright Nights construction to pass through.

They wouldn't need fences that far forward if the rides were open, so it's likely to stop people going so far unnecessarily.

When DeadBeat was introduced, Thorpe had a 3-maze package (of the returning 3 mazes), and the 4-maze package too. So I guess it's not totally unheard of for them to do something like this.

My hope would be that this 5th maze is something different to the current norm. Paying £40 odd on top of entry for 5 "Thorpe mazes" where you're batched in a group, have a pre-show, wander round well-themed sets as actors jump out at you just feels a bit overkill to me. Yes it helps with capacity, but I'd question whether it improves the quality of the event.

What "something different" looks like is of course a different question. My personal preference, once again, would be an alone experience. I don't mind spending more on something like that. But if there's not a market for that, which I accept there might not be, something which is done in smaller groups, and just 'feels' different to the norm. Tulleys had success with that with Purgatory, for example.

My biggest criticism last year was how all the mazes felt the same, just dressed differently. I hope they can avoid that.
I also hope that they have the finances and the numbers to man 5 mazes plus shows and zones adequately.


On another a note, a tent has been set up today on Saw Alive's pathway:
Whether this is the new maze, or perhaps Stitches relocated there, currently unclear.

In addition to the above - I have to say I really do miss the almost obsessive fan culture that used to exist around Thorpe.

Not so long ago there would be something to read about online every few days, even if it was just little things like new signage appearing, a change of audio somewhere, things that had been fixed etc.
Closed season as well - we would always have detailed updates from many sources (including the park themselves) about what was going on.
All that stuff still happens at Thorpe of course - but I suppose we’ve all moved on from sharing about it online!

I think for me this sort of thing is what’s missing now. It seems to me that that level of enthusiasm doesn’t exist for Thorpe anymore, or if it does then it looks different now.

Perhaps there’s a gap in the market for this since Mr Silkstone has moved on from all that, and the traditional forums are no longer busy. Because actually when you look at other parks, namely DLP and the upcoming Universal UK, there is quite a fan base already following the developments in microscopic detail.
Thorpe just doesn’t seem to have that active fan base anymore for some reason outside of big projects like Hyperia.

After last weeks annoyance of the Service, a new cable and train 3 refurbished, yesterday Stealth ran really well and the team were pushing the trains through quickly, even in the high temperatures.
Both trains had also been cleaned.

Not sure whats up with it, but it has been testing on and off so hopefully nothing too serious.

Personally my favourite flat at the park in recent years so hopefully be back soon!

I do agree. The buzz we had with Hyperia and the Passholder Group has certainly gone, and we're technically 2 rides down with Rumba Rapids permanent closure and Zodiac being SBNO for over a year.

I'd love to see some new flat rides to bring some excitement back into the park, but there are also some pretty significant issues that need addressing, such as the security/entrance procedure and the Ghost Train.

One thing I will say though, is that although we've had nothing new and not much excitement, it's still the best run Merlin park in the UK by far in my opinion, and it continues to have the best opening hours. Operations are always on point whenever I go, and I always have a pleasant day. I can't say the same for most other parks in the country.

I usually avoid the park most of July and August but will certainly be going to a couple of the 9pm closes in August.

I do agree. The buzz we had with Hyperia and the Passholder Group has certainly gone, and we're technically 2 rides down with Rumba Rapids permanent closure and Zodiac being SBNO for over a year.

I'd love to see some new flat rides to bring some excitement back into the park, but there are also some pretty significant issues that need addressing, such as the security/entrance procedure and the Ghost Train.

One thing I will say though, is that although we've had nothing new and not much excitement, it's still the best run Merlin park in the UK by far in my opinion, and it continues to have the best opening hours. Operations are always on point whenever I go, and I always have a pleasant day. I can't say the same for most other parks in the country.

I usually avoid the park most of July and August but will certainly be going to a couple of the 9pm closes in August.

There's a few contributing factors I think...

-Post-big investment lull. As Benin mentioned, there can be lulls after big investments at parks. Not every park, but it is common. It's funny because historically Thorpe was good at avoiding that by having some marketing gimmick for the year after a big investment (Stealth's "upgrade", Saw with Saw Alive, Swarm's Brave it Backwards, DBGT and Rise of the Demon). Hyperia didn't have that, and there's not been anything to follow up. It happens, but it's very bland, yes.

-'Time thing'. I assume by this Matt you just mean getting older, and that does play a part of it too I reckon. You get older, and busier, and times just change. And also ties in with what Benin says about the world being general a bit rubbish right now.

-Lack of updates. There's things happening at the park, whether it's little touch ups here and there or bigger things behind the scenes. Admittedly right now that is minimal, but it is there.
But there's less noise about it all now. The Passholder Group on Facebook closed down. Jack Silkstone, who has been the main source of such things for a few years now, has moved into a more professional capacity so isn't making the little update videos. Fansites (like TPM) have succumbed to the time thing. And there's just very few places providing general updates.

-Lack of anything to be excited about. There's no plans to the council for anything new. There's no rumours of anything new coming. Other parks in Merlin are getting things and Thorpe aren't. We're kind of just ticking on by. It makes it hard to have the same enthusiasm.

On a personal level, I found 2024 to be such a huge buzz of a year for Thorpe. New coaster, obviously, but the Sparkle Project invigorated lots of other parts of the park. There was optimism for the future and such a positive. Since then, they've followed that up with a much-needed open space by the front of the park (although that execution has split opinion), and nothing else. The park is effectively exactly the same as it was 2 years ago, even down to food outlets.

With seemingly nothing new on the horizon, there's only so long one can revisit the exact same place before a bit of burnout hits.

4 ‘Thorpe Park Lates’ dates have been announced for 2 Fridays and Saturdays in August.

14th / 15th and 21st / 22nd once again staying open till 9pm.

Sounds like they’ll be making use of launch pad with live DJ sets.

Great to see!