Inferno

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?

Chessington have put out a social media video to address the development coming soon, and part of that video was about the fact Wild Asia will be closed this season.

It’s not great is it… However Merlin strikes me as the sort of place that employs just about enough people to keep the wheels turning on a day to day basis… it could be the staff are simply saying “no more” if they physically don’t have the time or budget to deal with this sort of thing. I get the impression that this sort of stuff relies on good will to get it sorted - with the redundancies and general shocking management at Merlin of late, good will is probably in short supply. If I put myself in their shoes for a moment - think about how Hyperia was handed over from the project team - it was shambolic. Late, unreliable, and a huge burden in its first year, not to mention the fact that the area was completely unfinished. It looked to me like a bit of a ‘dump and run’. I would be very annoyed if I was in operations and expected to take it on, on top of running the rest of the park. It seemed a battle to just get and keep Hyperia running each day, so this poorly thought-out and unreliable water effect that only worked for five minutes could be the cherry on top I suppose. Either way - what a load of rubbish…

A shame to see the Hyperia’s area is still a mess, even now. Yes it’s better with the turf, but really fences are needed all the way around the plaza… and there are still swathes of dirt shrouding the queue on the video there. Interesting to hear that they’re deciding on the future of the splashdown shortly. Progress is progress though I suppose. Overall though the park looks good! Pleased to see Colossus all painted (well mostly!) Thorpe seem to be a long way ahead of the other Merlin parks when it comes to presentation and upkeep at the moment.

Have they left the queue in place? I can’t tell. It leaves a surprisingly big space actually now that it’s cleared. Such a shame that this central location hasn’t been used for anything for so long, especially with Hyperia next door.

That’s exactly what towers needs though to be fair. More of that.

Toxicator is looking good. Fountains also present! Also confirmed to be opening on opening day too. This will no doubt be a very welcome return of a flat ride. Skyride has also been shown on video by the park recently to have a lot of the gondolas on the layout, and testing. No mention of an opening date for that yet, but hopefully it’s also going to be working on opening day. Either way it’s encouraging to see movement there finally. In other news apparently Blade has been removed and the pit now sits empty. Again a positive bit of news there in some ways, to see that it’s been removed and not left in situ. I wonder if any work has happened on the Monorail after spending all last season on much reduced capacity? I feel quite apprehensive for Towers going in to their new season with all the budget cuts still unfolding. Hopefully this is a better year for the park despite the cuts, and the reliability improves. I think they stand a good chance of turning things around this year. Nemesis is still fresh, they have the new topspin, new Cebebies ride, Skyride and Hex will be running again. I know some events have been dropped, but if they can consistently keep the rides running throughout the year and finish with a strong Scarefest and fireworks, hopefully it should be better. I know there’s more to improve, but by simply having the rides open again I’m hopeful that this will at least be the baseline that can be built upon, as they didn’t even have many of the rides open last year…

I’m wondering if Thorpe are avoiding some of the cutbacks to be honest as they’re a very small team compared to Towers etc. And perhaps they have been more profitable than other parks recently so are being left alone a little more? 🤷‍♂️

That’s interesting - is this a Merlin report? Fair points about the impact of brexit and the VAT scheme - but really I think (unless of course the international tourism that the London midway attractions for example lap up has taken a really really crippling hit) it would be a bit of a cheek to suggest that either of these could be more of a factor than the fact that they are simply charging too much now for too little. Merlin themselves have said that the “in park spending per guest” that that used to rely extremely heavily on has dried up. They’ve shot themselves in the foot with this by totally out pricing themselves and wildly over-estimating their worth. Even if guests do spend in the food outlets for example on their visit, many will be (quite literally) left with a bad taste in their mouth and think twice about buying food from them again in the future. Not to mention the fact that many returning guests, especially to most of the parks, will experience a reduced offering compared with previous years. I’m not suggesting that dropping prices and sacking Aramark will fix everything - but I do think they have got a bit big for their boots. Merlin are charging more than Disney for food in many places, Disney being a true destination that people save for and are ready to spend money at. Merlin’s parks are not, and never have been, proper ‘destinations’ like that, and I think things like their restaurants (as one example) should be at least ‘good’, so that people actually want to go and spend their money in there after already paying or tickets etc. I also strongly suspect that tourism has changed - I don’t think the likes of Madame Tussaud’s or Shrek’s Adventure have the same appeal now as they perhaps used to - they have become slightly tacky. Perhaps social media etc has changed people’s views on city travel? The queues outside them all don’t seem anywhere near what they where when I was a kid

😂 Dear oh dear. It’s all a bit bleak isn’t it. The fat cats across Merlin have been ringing the company out like a sponge for years, to the point that there’s now no sponge left - just tatters left on the ground by the top execs and CEOs who have since left for other roles, for huge salaries no doubt. I do feel for all the staff involved in the redundancies; and those who will remain. I’ve worked for a couple of big companies now who have had mass redundancies like this, which I have luckily survived down to pure luck, and on both occasions the remaining staff have been so downtrodden and overworked that really it was a case of “last one out turn off the lights”. Merlin declined in to a dreadful company a few years ago. I sincerely hope it can be turned around, and the existing established parks will be shown a bit more respect, rather than continue to be seen as cash cows that should be squeezed to distraction to extract every last penny. The problem they’ve got of course, is that so many of their assets need massive investment just to simply tread water… One thing I am feeling positive about however is Universal. It’s about time we heard some good news.

I would hope that this sort of thing would still go ahead. I can’t imagine it’s going to be expensive. Hopefully someone high up at Merlin knows that entertainments are on and off like a light switch across the company. One year it’s “entertainments” galore, and the next they’re cut completely - and repeat. This space will work well when entertainments are back in a couple of years 🙄

On one hand it’s a shame given that the new brand is all about transparency etc, but on the other hand if there’s nothing to share then there’s nothing to share I suppose. I expect there will be one or two videos over the next couple of months before opening - maybe just to show off Colossus and Hyperia’s finished area (hopefully), and any winter ride maintenance maybe.

It’s a good point actually - compared to last year, there has been absolute silence from the park on what they’re up to. I suppose there’s a good chance that’s because there isn’t really anything to speak of. Colossus is being painted, but with the stage area project on hold for now I suppose there isn’t much of an update to give.

Totally agree, the amount of time available to enjoy the rides is fleeting, and sometimes it’s only when rides are gone that you realise how much you love them! Loggers is a big one for me. But even the rides that do remain, the memories made are done and can’t be re-done, not really. It’s so important to go and do what you love, and make those memories and keep enjoying what you love doing. You never know what’s round the corner. As for what I’ve learned about being an enthusiast over the years - I think it took me a while to realise I was even an enthusiast. Just because I don’t go to parks every weekend, count creds, collect merch, have a YouTube channel, do big coaster trips, or even visit THAT many theme parks in the grand scheme of things, I am still an enthusiast and still very much enjoy calling it one of my hobbies. There are so many different types of enthusiasts out there, but really we all share that common love for the parks, even if we all have different ways of enjoying them. Secondly for me, I think I used to be all for the rides, but now I’m in my mid-thirties I’ve very much come round to appreciating theme parks rather than just the rides. I’ve never appreciated Disney as much as I do now, especially DLP as it goes through its transformation. Funny how things change isn’t it

A recent TPG update shows that the Colossus is continuing at the moment. https://themeparkguide.co.uk/news-page/Behind-the-Scenes-at-Thorpe-Park-A-Sneak-Peek-into-2025-Season-Preparations

It’s like that time I googled how American football works. All the words are there, but I just can’t understand what it all means.

There’s no reason this couldn’t be the start of the next big thing in the works. I’m sure there’s a fair amount of forward planning going on with Universal making their appearance. I wonder if logistically they need to get the ball rolling and get things planned in and on the calendar with the manufacturers and those who actually build these things? I would imagine they need to “book their slots” before Universal “book theirs” - because they will hoover up quite a lot of the manufacturer and construction people’s time for a few years I guess. Merlin won’t want to be forced to wait until universal is built before they can build something! Just guesswork, but I can’t imagine there are many companies out there who do this sort of stuff… and they’re going to be fully booked for a few years

It does seem strange. I understand that Postman Pat is dead in the water (hopefully not literally, and he’s enjoying his retirement) - but this is an odd replacement

It’s good they’re staying on top of Cebeebies land with new stuff now and then. It’s up there with the best of the kids lands in the UK. Horizon is well and truly shelved isn’t it

It seems that the logo has been added to somewhat. This has made an appearance on a lot of the social media posts and marketing emails over the past couple of weeks. I have to say I’m not sure this is a step in the right direction. I know the logo has been controversial, but this busy new animated park skyline element sat on top of the existing logo doesn’t fit in with the new sleek and minimal branding. It feels a bit like an addition that’s been made as an afterthought, by someone other than the original designers of the branding. I think it’s a bit of a shame that the brand overall is already becoming muddy after just one year, and it’s being strayed from quite a lot, even with something as important as the logo. Aside from that, I’m not sure what on earth they were thinking by having this as their app icon instead of the “Thorpe” text that was there before This really bears no resemblance to the park or the brand at all. Nowhere in the branding is this standalone T referred to at all, and it isn’t an icon that’s used anywhere to symbolise Thorpe Park. imagine a brand like British Airways having this as their app icon… Ridiculous. If it’s iconic enough, like Virgin’s red V or easyJet’s lowercase orange e for example, that’s great - but BA’s B, and certainly Thorpe’s T, aren’t. Again, I think the idea behind the new TP brand design has been lost a little. I know it was controversial, but this can’t be what the designers had in mind at all. We now seem to have quite a messy crossover between the sleek and colourful branding, and efforts made by others since it was designed. I think the logo text was deliberately simple, and was always supposed to be either intertwined with the squiggly bits as shown in the reveal videos, or overlayed directly on to bold images as shown on the sample posters.

After being retired, reinstated, retired, and reinstated again, the recently retired area names have been reinstated on the map on the app. I wonder how long this will last before they are retired. Interestingly ‘The Jungle’ name has been retired, and the previously retired ‘Calypso Quay’ name has been reinstated.

I absolutely love the Inferno, Stealth and Colossus carnival posters - but alas, I am poor. As much as I'd love all the proceeds to go to charity, to be fair I don't think that should be an expectation - other businesses sell their unused stuff and it isn't expected of them.