Inferno

Oh, no stage? Although this is basically just an open space, it is an open space near the entrance which is a good thing. It's also a bit of a blank canvas for the future if they want to make it in to a sort of 'Main Street' of sorts. My hope is that this momentum extends across the bridge and over to the entrance plaza in the next couple of years.

It's a shame it's now back to the usual chaos. Hopefully they can come up with another way of applying restrictions. Unfortunately the sort of people who are bold enough to abuse a system like this will be the ones who shout the loudest when they can no longer do so. I expect there will always be a backlash no matter what Merlin do. I agree about the annual pass situation - in years gone by it used to be that Merlin made all their money from selling things to people inside the gates, but now thanks to the silly prices etc that income has melted away and the old strategy of just getting people inside seems a little redundant. It seems they need to start focusing on making money from every visit rather than getting them in and hoping they'll spend once in.

I wonder if it’s something that became a victim of its own success, and because of that just spiralled out of control over the years. Many parks can be busy but still have fast moving queues, and actually to be honest if theoretically Merlin somehow abolished RAP (and fastrack) all together, you could almost argue that queuing would barely be an issue for anyone at all, even on busy days, because the single queue would simply just keep moving at a pretty fast pace, at least on the high capacity rides anyway. I wonder if the issue is that over the years RAP and Fastrack have made standby queues at UK Merlin parks appear unbearable on peak days, causing RAP to appear more essential…. Which in turn causes queues to worsen…. Which in turn causes RAP to appear even more essential… and so on. Just a thought. But I do think this idea that standby queues on peak days can be silly might be the reason RAP is relied upon by so many.

Ah so that’s what this is about. I’ve seen the topic come up a few times on social media but didn’t really know what the reason was. Please forgive my ignorance - I mean no offence at all by any of this. I’m just interested and intrigued by it all. I also fully accept that not everyone’s needs are visible, and I’m privileged enough to never have needed to use a RAP. RAP absolutely baffles me. One thing that has always come to my mind is that there simply can not be that many people who find it impossible to wait in the normal queue because they can’t handle crowds. There just can’t be. I know nothing of the subject, but I really struggle to accept the sheer number of RAP users are genuine. The percentage of RAP users seems incredibly high compared to non RAP users. People who have difficulty with crowds would still have to deal with the worst crowds throughout the day - entrance, security, food, pathways etc. queues often offer a break from the busy and chaotic crowds. Of course there will be a good number of people who struggle with queueing etc, and I’m very pleased that arrangements are in place for them, but I’ve always been baffled at the sheer number of people who qualify for the pass. I’m convinced that the system has been utterly abused by selfish people who claim to have priority over others. It just has to have been. And that isn’t fair on the other customers, especially those with a genuine need to use the RAP. I have to say that, although I don’t fully understand the subject, I am pleased to see changes being made. I really hope it’s for the best, and it goes some way to fixing the system which is very clearly not working. Enforcing something like this must be very difficult. I really hope whatever they have done has weeded out some of the abusers and doesn’t affect the genuine RAP users. As Benin said - it can’t go on like it has been.

What does everyone think about Rumba's fate then? There have been people saying the rafts are still stripped down and lined up along the fence in their usual winter spot. I thought this was always the case around this time of year, and nothing out of the ordinary, but I suppose it could be the end for Rumba? With all the cost cutting, I suppose it would make sense to ditch an old ride like Rumba given the number of staff it needs, and apparently the amount of energy required to run it. That said, if they were planning on ditching it, why go through the effort of removing all the boats and stripping them down? I expect it'll be open again this year, even if it is on reduced hours and only during the summer months (except school trip season). They might as well keep the capacity there while there's nothing lined up to replace it, unless money is just too tight.

Does anyone realistically think this project will ever happen now? I’m starting to think it might be unlikely considering the ongoing issues at Merlin. I’m also unsure how popular the area would be. Stage shows have never really been all that popular throughout the years at Thorpe. Now that entertainments aren’t a priority for Merlin, perhaps this development has been reconsidered. Clearly the plan was very much in place for it all. The plans were drawn up in detail and the application went through the council. The park even teased the “last beach party” as being in 2025 on that cryptic poster. You’d think the development would have started by now wouldn’t you… although I suppose it could still happen during the open season. I can’t help but think though that the money would be better spent by putting it towards more of a proper “Main Street” sort of setup. A bigger and nicer investment that will stand the test of time. Not specifically a Main Street, but that sort of thing. Rather than this more low budget development.

So I’ve just been having a look around at prices etc for trips this year, and have noticed something about the prices Merlin are charging for their “short breaks”. It looks like the prices aren’t quite as ridiculous for some dates this year, but I think they’re still too much. Having done my usual bits of spot checking etc, I’ve just done a quick comparison test on a super off peak 1 night / 2 day stay on the cheapest dates I can find, and for 2 adults and 1 toddler to stay at ATH on 22 March it’s £368. That’s very good for Alton Towers, but considering that’s the super off peak price I still think it’s a lot for what it is. By comparison with the notoriously expensive Disney, if you go end of Jan next year it’s £419 at Santa Fe, although to be fair AT aren’t booking that far in advance, so for fairness sake if you go start of Feb this year it’s £477 to stay at Santa Fe. Bearing in mind this is entry to 2 parks until well in to the evening too, and the prices per night improve if you stay longer. I have always struggled to understand why Alton Towers hotels are so expensive even in super off peak, and have yet to stay in one during the open season. Does anyone know what the occupancy rates are at AT? It would be interesting to know if they regularly sell out, or if their prices are kept high despite low occupancy.

Something that I often find weird is how much the height restrictions can differ between similar rides at different parks. For example, to ride Marauders Mayhem or Dobble Teaparty you have to be 1.1M tall, but Mad Hatter’s tea party at DLP, essentially the same ride, can literally be ridden by a newborn baby as there are no restrictions. That same newborn baby could also ride Pirates of the Caribbean with its drops and spooky scenes, but would have to wait until they’re 0.9M to ride Curse at Alton Manor. Similarly Runaway Mine Train at Alton Towers has a min height of 1.3 meters, but the likes of the far more intense Wickerman and Big Thunder Mountain is only 1.2. Although Wicker does have individual restraints rather than the single bar between 2 people on runaway and BTM Tower of Terror can surprisingly be ridden by someone just 102CM tall. So most 4 year old children can ride that before they’re allowed on the teacups at AT & TP. Is anyone else aware of any bizarre height restrictions, or any of the reasoning behind some of them? For the record I’m not arguing against any of these restrictions, clearly there’s a reason for them, I just find it an odd and interesting quirk.

Although I’ve been excited for this since the rumours started all those months ago, I think it’s only just hitting me now that we are actually getting a Universal park here at home… I cannot wait to see it all take shape. It’s an interesting time for the UK theme park industry isn’t it - what terrible timing for Merlin to be on the ropes.

I agree it is a huge shame that there is quite literally nothing going on. Although to be fair over the last decade there has been a lot of rubbish advertised as “new” - the various year-round mazes and some of the events for example. The absence of those sort of things isn’t that bad in my opinion, and realistically something new isn’t needed every year. Not many parks do that do they. In recent years they have also made a lot of improvements to the areas other than the rides - the toilets to name one example. Thorpe is probably one of the (if not THE) best Merlin park in terms of general upkeep. I agree though that it is a shame there doesn’t appear to be anything at all happening again. It’s been a few years now since they’ve been able to boast anything notably new. I wonder if Colossus will finally be finished in the next couple of months at least? Despite all the cuts to spending at Merlin I’d at least expect that to be done before opening, as well as Zodoac getting sorted. I wonder if the beach project will ever happen now? I can’t help but think the money would be better put towards a larger project.

I’m wondering if maybe they’ll hold out for X to finally be removed. Its plot combined with Slammer’s one is quite large. It becomes even larger if they also decided to remove the tent restaurant area, and becomes massive if they also demolish the Ghost Train building. That would leave a huge space right in the middle of the park for something big.

YES ! I love it too! I really don’t understand why it’s so overlooked 🤷‍♂️ Fantastic ride that doesn’t get the love it deserves!

Ah love these. Unfortunately my lists are very short nowadays, but I've had a fair year theme park wise (considering how life is now!) Thorpe Park x1 Alton Towers x1 Legoland Windsor x1 Disneyland Park Paris x3 Walt Disney Studios Paris x2 I do miss the days when I had huge lists, and I was at Thorpe & Towers 10-20 times each! Sad to have not been to any fireworks events or halloween this year, for the first time in... I don't know how long. Still, could be worse. Paulton's next year for the first time in 20 years!

The security queue is an interesting one. I've had some thoughts on it - I always wondered how other parks, DLP for example, can handle vastly larger crowds everyday with minimal queues of just a few minutes. Yes I know they have a far larger budget, but the point still stands. I think it's got to be because parks like Thorpe only actually need the security point staffed for a couple of hours each morning. After 11am the workload drops off almost entirely. It's not feasible to employ a large team of security for 2-3hrs every morning. Other parks have a steady flow of people throughout the day outside of the 9-10 peak, so a large team is justified and can be working throughout the day. I think Thorpe are limited in that they only actually need staff there for a couple of hours, which realistically isn't something they can recruit for, so they're settling for a small team. I preferred the old system of spot checks, but I suppose after the spate of violence and the stabbing that happened a few years ago it has become more needed. To be fair, even DLP's security is purely theatre. The bags go through scanners and you walk through the detector, but realistically it is very much a quick in-and-out. Perhaps they can gear it up if required, but keep it relaxed most days? (could be an option for TP going forward).

There is apparently a poster inside Trailers with an image of Ghost Train, with the wording “Ghost Train - The last train” underneath. I assume this means it will close at the end of the season. Time will tell I suppose. Photo from Theme Park Guide’s live blog - https://live.themeparkguide.co.uk/?live=FN25