Inferno

That TPM article is a really good overview. I really feel for the staff at Thorpe, and the people at Mack who did all the complex work on the layout. This is clearly not what anyone wanted at all. Mistakes and unforeseen problems happen all the time. It’s unfortunate that this one has such an impact and is is so costly. I think it’s fair to say though that this has become quite urgent, and can’t continue for much longer. As has been mentioned above, brand reputation, for both Thorpe and Mack, is now on the line. Does anyone know if the train has been recovered yet?

Oh…. It stalled this morning? Come on now. Getting a bit embarrassing. I’ve worked for companies who have made legal ultimatums with suppliers for reputational damage, for lesser things than this. Management asking staff to try to stop photos being taken is evidence that they are trying desperately to protect their brand. It can’t go on like this for much longer. I’d say really it’s reached the point that it’s become too big an issue to tolerate. I agree with Pap (!) - ultimately Merlin have been sold a very expensive product that just isn’t fit for purpose. I really hope this is actively being worked on urgently, because theme parks can’t really afford cock ups these days. Big investments have to hit the mark and bring in the money reliably and consistently. Being closed or on half capacity regularly, with negative publicity every few days, is unacceptable for such a huge investment. I hope Mack are taking responsibility and working on a solution…. If not I can’t imagine Merlin to be a company who will play nice if they have been screwed.

I think I’m right in thinking the main (and most crippling) issue since opening has been the stalling / near stalling, and the resulting delays with loading / unloading dummies etc. For all we know that issue could be being actively worked on. Something like a new ballast zero car will take designing, manufacturing, testing, redesigning, manufacturing, installing and testing some more - taking many months, not to mention the legal conversations and negotiations over who pays for the fix exc! Hopefully a proper fix is on the way behind closed doors. Fixing that single (all be it very large) issue will remove a lot of the pain day to day, and would probably mean Hyperia would open on time every day - that alone would be a huge step forwards. The recent problems with the lift hill could be just down to pure bad luck, and something that could happen to any ride at any time, but it feels so much worse on Hyperia because it’s on top of the existing ongoing problems. Either way, it’s not a good look for Thorpe or Mack is it… and I agree, perhaps a B&M would have been the better option after all… But who was to know. I am hopeful that the pacing issues will be resolved soon, and Hyperia will just operate reliably. - - - On a separate note, I’d be really interested to see what the conversations look like between Mack and Merlin around all this. I’d hope that Mack are doing all they can to solve this at no additional cost.

This is dragging a bit now isn’t it! Hopefully there will be an announcement one way or another soon. Temporary heras fencing has been put up along some of the perimeter of the site now - surely that is a good sign isn’t it. If a decision is made soon, I wonder how long realistically it will be before any meaningful work begins? I would imagine there would need to be some lead time - it’s not like there are loads of construction companies out there each with a big cupboard full of people stood there ready to start building the project - it wouldn’t surprise me if some companies have already been approached with some provisional timescales and requirements. I’m surprised we haven’t heard some news through leaks etc by now! (Which is a good thing of course but the point still stands!)

Oh dear, that’s not good to hear that about their finances. It puts some of this year’s closures in to perspective doesn’t it. I suppose they have no choice but to make cuts on spending, so they can go all in on the transformation phase they’ve mentioned. Gulp. BPB may not be my go-to park, but I really do hope that their plans pay off and things turn around. I recon this new Gyro Swing is a good move though. Drayton Manor’s smaller version is very good, and this larger model will certainly be imposing at pleasure beach. Good luck to them. It’s certainly not a great time to be running a leisure business in the UK is it

So much for the “we’re unapologetically authentic and totally transparent” bit of the rebrand then 😂

Yeah that’s a good thought - manually override the lift speed when there’s an empty train. Either that or they make some sort of retrofitted water ballast tanks under the trains somehow that can be filled with a hose pipe and easily emptied? That’s got to at least be better than loading dummies… Not great though is it having a bodge fix like these Loading and unloading dummies every day for ever more isn’t very good on a brand new ride though. Removing track and replacing it with a slightly lower outer bank in the ultimate solution I suppose. Huge faff and expense though isn’t it - although you could argue it’s worth it if the ride can then run properly for decades afterwards 🤷‍♂️

It’s a worrying time isn’t it. They seem to be really pushing the engineering apprenticeship, which is associated with JCB. I assume that a lot of the reliability issues recently have come partly from a lack of engineers? It would make sense given the remote location especially. Apprenticeships like this might be something they’re looking at to try to improve the situation in the long term I suppose. I do feel for the people who show up for work every day and work hard to try to improve things. Hopefully whatever he issues are they’ll get to grips with it all very soon. I still think there’s a good chance things will be better once the staff have settled in, and Skyride and Hex are open again. As for the food…. Well I’m not so sure - hopefully people will just stop buying it and they’ll have to make changes

I'll be honest I'm surprised they're carrying on with it at all considering Merlin are in the middle of cutting back on entertainments. Still looks good though doesn't it. Much better use of space than what's there now.

It’s an odd and unfortunate situation at towers, because they’re pouring a lot of money in to things, but to “the GP” really they’re treading water and there’s nothing truly new happening… Realistically, despite the bits of investment over the last 5 years, you’d struggle to argue with these statements: - Ripsaw has re-opened - The same Nemesis is still there but is now black and red - The same Skyride is still sat there but is broken - Same old Hex has been sat there for years but is broken - The haunted house ride is still there, but has had a refurb. Don’t get me wrong, this is all money well spent in my opinion and was badly needed and overdue, but really I think AT needs something truly new. There is little that they’ve done since Wicker Man that truly offers something new. As much as I think Toxicator is a fantastic addition, it’s arguably yet another “re-opening of something that closed” if you know what I mean.

To be honest, given how poorly nearly all of the other UK parks are doing right now, a year of stability sounds like exactly the right aim for Thorpe. Hyperia’s near stall and ongoing downtime however is getting worrying now that we are heading in to season 2. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a reliable workhorse does it… I really hope that they can get to grips with it. Surely they can’t keep going on like this every time it gets a bit chilly… The solar panels on Ghost Train are slightly interesting in that they’d only be installed on a structure that they intend to keep for a decent amount of time. I guess the building is here to stay, even after the ride is gone (which probably won’t be too long let’s face it).

Toxicator re-opened a while ago apparently, so hopefully things aren't too bad. There must be some defeated people working at Towers to be honest. It seems that a lot of effort is being put in to things, despite the budget cuts and redundancies, but they're constantly plagued by bad luck and the mess left for them to fix by previous 'leadership'. To be fair they are passengers when it comes to things like the sewage leak... Nobody could have foreseen that. What awful timing though. Also opening days can often suffer a little from slow operations because of new staff etc. It's worrying... but I'm still hopeful that things will still improve at AT this season. The staff will become more at ease with operations within a few weeks, and things like Hex and Skyride will re-open shortly which will help in general.

Oh dear, that doesn’t seem very promising at all does it. Fingers crossed it’s not going to have another year of terrible reliability and multiple stalls 😬 I had hoped last year’s endless problems were down to it being so late and needing to just be open, with things being sorted during the closed season…

To be fair Thorpe looked probably better than ever last season in a lot of places, the operations were very good in general, and they have got a (still) brand new coaster. It rarely gets much better than this, <1 year after opening a new coaster of Hyperia's scale. I do agree though that it's a bit ridiculous that the new area has been left unfinished for all this time (and possibly in to this season). The stage area and splashdown debacle do seem to reveal some questionable choices during the planning. Given how difficult it is to run a theme park in the UK at the moment I'd say things are looking pretty good at Thorpe. All rides are still open and running well, which is more than can be said for most of the other UK parks, and the park is looking very fresh in a lot of places following the re-painting and rebranding from last year.

Fantastic - it’s almost looking… Dare I say… finished! Still some work to do but hopefully it’s on the way. This could have been filmed a while ago

No they went bust. It’s amazing how many of these overpriced “instagram” donut places there are. Especially given how many of them are/were struggling 🤷‍♂️ What happened to a good old bag of those little oily hot donuts that the parks make themselves! Although they’re nearly as expensive these days aren’t they 🙄

Would Hex realistically need winter maintenance though? It operated for literally, what, 2 weeks? After a full refurb. Maybe something’s gone wrong. Or they’re struggling with recruiting?

Interesting to look at it in detail isn’t it! (I love this sort of stuff on this forum!) Honestly I think they’re doing really well and trying very hard to make a difference using what they’ve got. They seem to be trying to bring this stuff in because it’s seen as a positive thing by lot of people, and it’s something they can do with their very limited budget. I think it’s the same with Rumba etc. clearly they’ve got a low budget, but they’re making the best of it and prioritising keeping the main rides running well all year. It’s a lot better than having coasters on one train on quieter days, or opening some of them later in the day everyday. I can’t imagine running a theme park is an easy task at the moment - I’m trying to see things differently this year if I can.

That’s really good! Although I agree a bit odd for Toxicator. Skyride, Congo and Hex will open in April. I can understand Congo to be honest given the costs involved. Rapids are becoming seasonal now really aren’t they and I think that’s it. Shame about Skyride, but I suppose if it’s running over that can’t be helped - communication about the opening is a good step as well. Hex however - wtf is going on? It only opened for 25 minutes all season last year, so what on earth could be the issue now?

I really think Rumba’s days are numbered to be honest… It’s not even that good either is it… I really think it will be gone before too long. Of course I don’t want to see it close, but I’d much rather the budget be used elsewhere, and eventually the space used for better things, especially considering there’s also a huge amount of space on the island behind it.

Does anyone know if there’s been any mention of why Kingda Ka closed? It’s not like it was in need of repair, it was operating well on its last day. I assume just reliability and cost to run and maintain? 🤷‍♂️

Realistically does anyone think there’s a chance it could be bought and reopened? I expect that’s the end of the road for it now. As beautiful as the location is, it’s not ideal for a theme park - it’s just too remote from most of the population. I also think Aspro have squeezed everything out of the place like a tube of toothpaste, and I imagine many of the rides need maintenance etc… not to mention the investment needed to bring in new things to draw people in. I worry for a few of the other smaller parks in the UK - but on that point, if we do lose a couple more, I expect any potential buyers would be more interested in those than poor Oakwood.

That’s a good point Josh - it’s not a lot of investment. Sadly I think that’s true of many of the Aspro attractions. I was at one of their aquariums last week and thought it seemed incredibly run down, clearly hadn’t had any money spent on it for many years. What a shame though about Oakwood. Not so long ago I’d have thought Merlin would be interested in buying it and push some accommodation, but now I’m not sure. My heart goes out to the staff. What a time to find this out, just before opening really. Awful. It feels to me like the publics expectations of a theme park has changed. It seems that, aside from family parks, the appeal of a small regional park is fading away. The idea of a smaller day out now is less attractive, whereas the likes of Disneyland Paris etc are thriving. I think a lot of people would rather save up and go on a bigger trip, rather than have lots of smaller days out like we all used to. It’s certainly true of me at least. Interesting times.

I think that given how much of the park will be closed now, there needs to be visible construction taking place on both sites asap. If Wild Asia is left in situ with everything closed for several months, it’s shameless cost cutting. If it’s actively being worked on however, I think people will see the positives in that there is a lot of work happening to improve.

The sign for Zufari featured in a social media video today from Chessington while they spoke of ride upgrades etc. Perhaps there has been some work?