Inferno

Really interesting - thank you for posting this! The very obvious and self-inflicted rise and fall of Thorpe Park, and the reputation damage following the Smiler crash are the standouts for me. Its also mad how erratic Alton Towers’ attendance has been over the years compared to the others. I echo what’s been said above - this is evidence that the public want to come and see new coasters and rides - NOT walkthroughs and stupid gimmicks. Semi-regular ride additions appear to increase attendance according to this graph.

This crept up! Have a great time - looking forward to hearing about it

To be honest I think they should cut their losses and abandon it now. Does it really draw anyone in to the park? Ultimately does it sell tickets and make any money for them? I very much doubt it - it must actually cost a fortune to run and staff. it doesn’t even really feature on any of the marketing material any more, which suggests it isn’t a draw at all. I don’t think it matters how much money they wasted on the experiment, it hasn’t worked, and it needs to make way for something that WILL attract a crowd and (what all businesses ultimately want) make them money. A great shame that the huge budget and project opportunity was wasted - but it’s in the past, so time to look to the future. Most companies have the occasional colossal mistake - Look at Windows 8 or even Apple’s home pod. Disasters - but instead of ploughing on regardless they moved on and all is now well. With Exodus coming soon, I suppose there wouldn’t be the budget to replace DBGT yet, but I think it should be considered as a spot for the next big thing. Perhaps closing in Exodus’ 2nd year to save money? Not many will even notice it’s gone. Good riddance to it I say - it’s an embarrassing ENORMOUS white elephant, and has no place in the middle of such a small park.

Could it be 2 of these side by side? Soarin’ (etc) have multiple rides in the same building to bring capacity up - perhaps the same?

It is interesting isn’t it. wonder if it’s fright nights related? If they’re having to partially reopen old town for creek freak, they need to do some work in the area first.

What a mess. that’s interesting the shop is near empty now. It really wouldn’t surprise me at all if it closed soon. Even just the shop for now, and the ride in a year or so.

I don’t understand it either. The tech has been blamed for many years, but if that’s the case why can’t it simply be fixed by a professional or replaced with something that works?

Interesting! I’ve only ever really seen this sort of thing happening on Slammer, where I believe they had to wait for the air pressure to build each time enough before it could dispatch - resulting in quite a lot of standing around and time wasting during the loading! There was also all the faff trying to balance each side of the arm with the other 🙄 nightmare. Clearly that isn’t the reason for Saw, but would love to know what that was about. out of interest, how many cars does Saw have, and how many usually run?

With Alton Towers also having a seemingly similar “audio experience” as their sole new addition to Scarefest, it looks like Fright Nights is where Merlin are spending nearly all of the scare season money this year. Really looking forward to Survival Games - getting all the Sub Species feels From this! Looks like it’s going to be a big maze too.

To be honest I can’t think of a good reason why anyone would object to an indoor ride, especially if the building can’t be seen easily from the neighbouring villages. It really is the ultimate compromise. A large building would also act as a sound barrier between the other rides and the park boundary, so even better really. Merlin have seriously changed gear since going private. So much going on! Towers and Thorpe might be in a bad way now, but the level of investment planned for the next few years is like nothing we’ve seen for many years.

Interesting times! Didn’t expect it, but great news it’s an indoor attraction. There is quite a lot of room back there isn’t there? I’d absolutely LOVE for this to be the next secret weapon coaster - something along the lines of Revenge of the Mummy at Universal would be the dream but who knows! The timescales feel right for the SW cogs to be turning. A flying theatre or other type would be cool too though. I can’t see the Dungeons sticking around - perhaps they could go soon to make more space? That would be a decent space for a secret weapon, and bring some life to a bit of a dead spot area of the park. interesting times!

That’s interesting that The Swarm has a couple of supports in the same flood zone. I guess the scale of this project blows that out of the (flood) water though. I have to admit I do kind of wonder if the EA would ever be that enthusiastic about any major construction on a high risk flood zone. I know there are housing estates up and down the country built on flood planes - wonder if the EA objected and were over-ruled there? No idea how to check. Will be interesting to see what happens.

Out of interest, does anyone know how long it ‘usually’ takes to build or retrofit a ride like this with a new ride system and theming? I assume they would want “Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back, The Return Of The Haunted House - Electric Bill’s Revenge” to be open from day one next year considering Nemesis will be closed. Whatever it turns out being, do we think they will keep the ride system? Would there be time to, assuming it opens in March?

I think they don’t really deserve the bad rep when it comes to dark rides. Not anymore at least. They have clearly tried hard recently to improve the situation. - Hex is still absolutely brilliant. - Skylion is outstanding. - Griffalo holds up really well. - Walking Dead, although a bit meh, was an improvement and fairly well done considering it was only a minor project. - Duel is going to be improved soon. I think one problem is that Merlin very publicly s*** themselves with DBGT though. A lot of effort and money wasted on a white elephant. It was however done with good intentions - they set out to achieve a truly great dark ride, but unfortunately missed the mark horribly. I think the reputation is improving tbh. It’s a lot of the older rides that have been letting the side down. Duel and Tomb Blaster for example.

I agree - nice to see something different being tried again. Cabin and Exp10 were ‘different’, and we’re fab! I do wonder though.. That’s now 2 quite ‘different’ main attractions in this year’s FN. Having an audio experience AND an experimental multi-door scare zone feels slightly risky. I know I don’t speak for everyone, but I quite like the ‘usual’ concept of a scare maze. Scare zones and other experiences are cool, but it’s the “real” scare mazes I love. I’m just cautious because Thorpe can be very hit and miss with their risky experimental attractions. I hope they can pull them off this year. Looking forward to trying some new stuff!

Oohhhh - very good shout! Exodus does mean leaving after all. Leaving earth seems to fit the bill.

The long-time Thorpe fan in me half expects this to be a darkened shipping container containing a few rows plastic garden chairs, where everyone sits and listens to a scene play out through some noise cancelling headphones for 10 minutes. However….. If I remove my musty old ‘The Passing’ hood and put my shiny new optimistic hat on for a second, that trailer looks absolutely amazing. LOVE the storyline idea! Really hoping for the theming shown in that video to be part of the experience. I’m getting Sub Terra vibes from that - the panic and urgency the evacuation sirens and lights created in there were GLORIOUS, and so need to be part of a scare maze

😂 It is funny how the same things seem to go round and round isn’t it. I’m sure the same discussion has happened on here several times over the last 20 years. I agree though - if they want to actually make single rider work, they need to make some real changes to the queues and stations. Every time this gets trialled, it’s well received but ultimately fails because it’s too chaotic without the appropriate fencing / queues etc. Hopefully this time will be different and they’ll spent a little money on it. Merlin’s whiplash management isn’t really suited to this sort of thing though, because give it a few months and someone will ask “why are we spending money on batchers”, and away the position will go, along with single rider again… Similarly to what happened with the Detonator photo kiosk, and the Inferno queue line shop for example 🙄

I must admit, although I enjoyed it, Scarefest last year did feel in need of a big overhaul. Adding new “Scare experiences” is all well and good, but it’s the mazes that most really care about. It’s well past time for Mine Tours to make way for a new maze at least. £32 + admission for the mazes is also a bit ridiculous. Disappointed considering it’s the anniversary.

A couple of posts up, I mentioned that Duel at Fireworks last year was like riding a parody of a bad ghost train. it was embarrassing how dilapidated it had become. Duel has been a disgrace for a few years now, but I am a little sad to see it go… Or at least the idea that a nostalgic ride will be going anyway! It’s one of those rides that doesn’t spring to mind when you think of Towers, but it usually does feature as part of the day. It would be nice to see the enormous show building and amazing facade get the attention they deserve. It’s all wasted at the moment. Wonder how big a job this is? I suppose they will keep the ride system and re-do the theming?

I wasn’t even aware that Natural England had an issue with the plans. I wasn’t even aware of Natural England at all tbh. Good news though I suppose. Now for the Environment Agency to withdraw their complaint…

Love the simplicity of the back to back seats idea. The only other thing I can think of is to simplify the restraints - no seat belts maybe? Wouldn’t save much time but every little helps on a one train wonder

My first thought was that the farm would be too far a walk from the main park, but really it’s no further than you’d walk elsewhere, even at Towers, and it would spread the crowds nicely. Is there any evidence so far suggesting that the farm could be on the cards? Hopefully whatever it is, it’s indoors.

Very nice Josh! Hope you had a great time in the US. Such a shame about the last minute re-planning, but I imagine that was a good move? America is a BIIIG place isn’t it. looking forward to reading more!