Cal

From experience, the first Sunday and Friday are usually the best days to go for low crowds

He says "You're stuck in a mechanical device that will crush further into you as you go round. The twisted metal is desinged to give you concussion around the unnecessarily tight elements. If you make it to the end, trust me you're gonna need paracetamol."

🥱 🥱 🥱

@RobF what happened to the original Fish? I hope it was sold not scrapped.
 
 I think if Scorpion Express did return it would be a case of replacing everything. It’s an old and unreliable Rollercoaster. Scorpion Express has been rumoured to be leaving Chessington for about 3 years. Every time Scorpion Express emerges from the Closed Season it’s a bonus. I suspect the fire is the final nail in the coffin for Scorpion Express. I could be wrong.Chessington gave many people a happy surprise in 2002,when The Vampire reopened. This ride much like Scorpion Express was knackered. Vampire was even stated to be leaving. Fast forward 20 years and the ride is not leaving anytime soon. Another reason why Chessington would have a lack of reluctance to close Scourpeon Express is the new Rollercoaster opening in Project Amazon. This would technically mean Chessington have no less Rollercoasters than now. In addition Chessington stated on their long term development plan that the area would be redeveloped. If Chessington used the plot of Scorpion Express,the queline,former queline they could construct a Rapids Ride with a similar footprint to Viking River Splash. If Chessington opted for a bigger ride they could utilise the picnic area on the former Rodeo/Flying Jumbos site. If you don’t know which Picnic area I mean it’s behind Croc Drop. I believe this picnic area is called Ramasis’s Picnic Area in memory of Ramasis Revenge,the Huss Topspin that formally stood where Croc Drop is.

I've always much preferred the original Colossus and Inferno tracks so also welcome the change back to the originals.
 
Just frustrating you can hardly hear Colossus' whenever I've been as its playing nowhere near as loud as it used to be.
 
Interested to hear the important reasons it was replaced though?

So let's talk Carnival, the park's other new event for 2022.
 
The event is split into two areas. There is 'the' "Carnival" area, which is in the Lost City area (where various FN mazes have been) and there is the "Junkyard" area, which stretches alongside Ghost Train up to Trailers. 
 
The Carnival area is the main one, and features a stage, photo op point, some F&B places and a couple of extra sideshows (magician's tent and fortune teller). Things kick off from 12 and there's pretty much always something going on, or getting ready to happen, from then till park close (which is 7pm for the event!).
 
There's a Ringleader show, showing all the acts, a mime troupe show, a set of singers, and also some circus/carnival acts (fire breathers, trapeze artists / balance performers and the like). The Junkyard area features some "carnival rejects", who are basically just a bit more shoddily dressed, treated like outcasts, and a bit more 'crazy'.
 
All in, there's a real good variety of acts, and it's all just light hearted fun. And it does so without being cheesey or corny, which I felt the Mardi Grad stuff did too much of. I'm sure things will get polished up during the event too. The circus acts are external acts too, so are specialists in what they do.
 
One thing I wasn't keen on was the singing aspects of the performances. It would be harsh, and wrong, to say the singing was bad, but it certainly wasn't something I would call 'good'. Obviously this is a difficult thing to do, since as people we can hear amazing singing in a couple of clicks on our phone, but it does mean there's a high bar to meet. I think the performances would be better without singing, but then again, maybe the wider audience disagree. 
In any case, I think if the park want singing incorporated into these acts, they should broaden their horizons and look to people with as much experience as possible.
 
 
Now, onto the thing which I guess people are most interested in: Trailers - Breakout at Bozo's.
This...is a thing. And it doesn't know what sort of thing it wants to be. Is it trying to be a fun and funny attraction set inside a spooky setting? Is it trying to be a scare maze which doesn't take itself seriously? Is it trying to be a scare maze which has been toned down? I don't know. And I don't think Thorpe really know what they want it to be.
 
From what I understand, the plan was for it to be something which wasn't that scary, didn't take itself seriously and something you could have a laugh with. But then when it wasn't received all that well, and senior management realised it wasn't scary, they've tried to tweak that. Which adds to the confused nature of it.
 
There are some fun moments in there, don't get me wrong. But none of it feels very right. And it's all just a bit of a mess, and doesn't quite flow. I also feel for the actors: it's running on minimal numbers, and only one per main scene. When most scenes were designed for at least 2 actors, and almost always had those numbers last year, it means they have a lot to do, and in weirder circumstances. Can't be easy.
 
I don't see it being very popular now the initial enthusiast rush has died down. But with the minimal operating hours and minimal staffing, and being upcharge, I expect it will make money, and so ultimately be a plus for the park there. But still, this stinks of a decision made my people in an office with little understanding of how it would work and the consequences, leaving the Entertainments Team to just deal with it.
 
 
Anyway, I don't want to leave things on a bad note. Carnival is a really cool, fresh-feeling event. It's fun, vibrant and adds an upbeat feeling to the park. At the same time, it doesn't impede on those who aren't fussed: it's a nice, harmless addition. I hope it works out well for them, and that it's something that can continue and be improve upon in the future.
 
On a side note, with these events happening, and being a mainstay, and with shows being a thing at the park again, it's a shame there isn't an arena-like space for them to be housed, and for more work to go into them. Funny world ey.

Such a shame to hear of the system in such disrepair and in such a dire state. 
 
Even more so when there is a (admittedly very small) team dedicated to maintaining this infrastructure. 
 
What has always been ridiculous about the way TP is managed, is that whoever fancies making a decision about what plays where has the ability to do just that. It’s not governed by the park, by marketing or by Merlin. So whoever it was who asked for Carly Rae Jepsen, slip a little card in the suggestion box and you’ll probably find it happens tomorrow.
 
As for Inferno’s canons, the infrastructure is entirely capable of their continued use. It’s just lack of maintenance that stops them from doing what Bose had installed them to do in Infernos heyday. 

Different colour flags and they rename the food stands 🙃

I haven't counted rides for a good few years now but I'd say these are the top 3 I've done in a day.
 
Nemesis: Back when it had single rider and it was right next to the exit. It never had a queue and most of the time you got on the same train you came off if you were quick enough. Used to love lapping this. 
 
Inferno: On a very empty annual pass day a good few years ago we stayed on this for an afternoon. No idea on a number but easily 20+
 
Stealth: Quite a few times last year on offpeak weekdays they just left the gate in the station open so you could re-ride, most of the time getting on the train in front. Unsure on ride counts but easily 20+ a couple of times.
 
I've also rode Slammer for pretty much a whole day before but wouldn't have been a high ridecount due to how long it took to load. Used to do Detonator quite a bit in a day too.
 
 
They do yes. I find Thorpe are definitely the most lenient with re-rides out of the merlin parks. Alton isn't even worth asking.

So it seems a number of people have had it confirmed from the park on Saturday that Apocalypse will be removed at the end of this season. As a big fan of drop towers, loosing in my opinion the UK's best is a big shame. 
 
I do think this is an odd decision, I understand they're moving towards a family theme park, but in my opinion you still need thrill rides, and I feel apocalypse fit in well with sit down having a height restriction of 1.2m.  
 
 
On a more positive note, Draytons new Viking area opened on Saturday and looks great. Another solid new area.

Bizarre name not a fan of that. Must admit though I'm exited to ride this, being a fan of Colossus.

Also seems strange that they've spent £18m on this but absolutely no marketing whatsoever? Crazy amount of money to spend on a ride that no one knows about

I understand your fascinating with the ride, and your want for it to return in some way. But your question has already been answered...
 
 
Rocky Express will not be returning to the Thorpe Park ride line up. It will not open anywhere else. It is time to accept that you will not be able to ride it again.

Its in the middle of the park and got an awful throughput. I guess its also fairly popular with it being a ride a family/group can all ride together too.

I haven't counted rides for a good few years now but I'd say these are the top 3 I've done in a day.
 
Nemesis: Back when it had single rider and it was right next to the exit. It never had a queue and most of the time you got on the same train you came off if you were quick enough. Used to love lapping this. 
 
Inferno: On a very empty annual pass day a good few years ago we stayed on this for an afternoon. No idea on a number but easily 20+
 
Stealth: Quite a few times last year on offpeak weekdays they just left the gate in the station open so you could re-ride, most of the time getting on the train in front. Unsure on ride counts but easily 20+ a couple of times.
 
I've also rode Slammer for pretty much a whole day before but wouldn't have been a high ridecount due to how long it took to load. Used to do Detonator quite a bit in a day too.
 
 
They do yes. I find Thorpe are definitely the most lenient with re-rides out of the merlin parks. Alton isn't even worth asking.

https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/newsroom/news-releases/2022/merlin-entertainments-nick-varney-chief-executive-officer-to-retire/
 
CEO of Merlin, Nick Varney, and CDO Mark Fisher, have announced that they intend to retire over the next 12 months.
 
Nick has been CEO of Merlin since it was formed in 1999, and Mark Fisher might not be a name everyone is familiar with, but he's played a significant role in Merlin as well. Both leaving the company at a similar time could lead to some pretty big changes.

I love being wrong. 

Drilling has started around Old Town and the old scare mazes have been removed!! 
 

 
Lots of photos at theme park guide
https://themeparkguide.co.uk/news-page/Ground-Works-Begin-On-Project-Exodus

Lower Dome toilets have reopened and look very nice:
 


 
Couple of highlight features:
-Lights above cubicles indicating if someone is in there
-3-in-1 sinks featuring soap, water and hand dryer in one location 
 

Some more plans for Exodus have been uploaded, showing the theming for the entrance and other areas. 
 
Looks like they're going for an abandoned forest plus mountain exploration theme. I guess the idea is that the forest hides the lake, and climbing the mountain allows you to find the tranquil lake?
 


 
All of the new plans are over on TPM!
 
EDIT: If you weren't fooled - and if the link didn't give it away! - this was an April Fool's. The images were hastily mocked up by yours truly using images from Ghost Train's and Swarm's planning applications, and are not real.
Glad I caught a few people out though

It was like this the whole of last season, maybe even 2020 too but I'm not certain on that. So seems like a permanent change to me.
 
I've heard people say they don't notice the difference but I personally don't think its anywhere near as forceful as it once was which is a shame, as you say the forcefulness is what made Detonator so great.
 

Audio is a a bit of a mess at present. There's a High number of broken speakers and areas silent (though these speakers seem to work after hearing announcements), or playing incorrect audio. It's quite concerning given the almost parkwide overhaul of the speakers with the RFC replacement. 
 
- Nothing down the jungle area and outside Old Town BK
-Angry Birds playing across most of Jungle and half of Amity including SiaT. 
- Detonator audio not working, some great staff interaction though
- vortex queue playing Lost City Imascore cuts in and out
- no music working at Saw (speakers work for announcements)
-only one speaker appears to play the Rush queue audio. 
- Swarm queue no music
-extension area of Stealth not working (these have never worked since the overhaul) 
 
Theres probably more but just some I've noticed in my couple of visits this last week and a bit. 
 
Many of these speakers are looking a bit worse for wear as well with rust and stuff on them

Swarm had its jets by the helicopter fixed for AP days and soaked the riders. Since then mist has appeared from the helicopter but the jets are near enough not working with them struggling to even reach 2 or 3 cm as it zooms past. 
 
That said there is now mist working at the fire truck and the jets work just after the train passes. 
 
Am I optimistic these will last? No. Every time over the last 4 years or so they've tried to repair effects they last a week or two. 
 
Swarm Shop is also back open. 
 
VID_20220327_140753.mp4
 
 
 
 
 

Mist has been very reliable the last two seasons or so and nice to see, but it hadn't worked for the start of this season. However today whilst queueing half way through day it just came on, so was guessing it just wasn't switched on. But nice it's back, makes a difference. 
 
 

Interesting article. I've always had a soft spot for Colossus and couldn't imagine Thorpe without it. Will be interesting to see what happens to it when the time comes
 
As much as I like the Imascore track I would love the old music to make a return. Also I've found the speakers in the station have never been as loud since they changed from the Bose ones and doesn't have the same atmosphere as it did before

Interesting article. I've always had a soft spot for Colossus and couldn't imagine Thorpe without it. Will be interesting to see what happens to it when the time comes
 
As much as I like the Imascore track I would love the old music to make a return. Also I've found the speakers in the station have never been as loud since they changed from the Bose ones and doesn't have the same atmosphere as it did before