Inferno

Wow, congratulations Dr Josh!! What have you been studying?

Really interesting to read this.. Thank you. I haven't been to Disney since Genie but it sounds like an absolute fiasco on top of existing cracks that are beginning to show. I must admit the pull towards Disney is beginning to wear off for me... Don't get me wrong, I very much look forward to going back, but I can't get onboard with all this pre-planning that now needs to happen before a visit. Genie, dining plans, dining reservations, magic bands, arriving hours early to see shows... I don't really understand why you now seem to need to plan and invest so heavily before even leaving for Disney. I understand that you can use quick service and standby queues etc (cringe at all this Disney lingo by the way), but they've 'imagineered' it so that you don't have as good a time as you would if you'd jumped through the Disney hoops and payed the extras. We're planning on going to Orlando in the next few years hopefully, and watching various videos and reading posts like @Mark9's above just stresses me out 😂 and really only makes me look more in the direction of Universal etc, where you can just book park tickets and have a great time. Remember those days? 🙄 Maybe I'm just becoming an old fart, but I just cba to get the degree in Disney planning that now seems to be required before a visit. When you search online/YouTube on Disney, it's all about planning/diningplans/reservations.. Ugh, who cares? Is it that worth it? I'm not sure it is.

Yes, yes please, yes, yep, absolutely and yes again. Please. Thank you.

As we approach the start of the 2022 season, I thought I'd do a few blog post ramblings on some nostalgic Thorpe memories I have. Let's start off with Dr Pepper Sun Scream! Launching way back in 2009 when Saw opened, Sun Scream ran every year for many summers at the park, bringing live music, silent discos, stunt displays, beatboxing, sideshows and festival vibes. In reality, Sun Scream wasn't much in terms of an event, starting off as simply a stunt show and some yellow t-shirts for the rides staff, it evolved as the years went on and new things were tried, but I do have a lot of good memories from my annual mid-summer visits in the sunny weather! The amazing Stunt Show The standout feature of Sun Scream for me was the incredible stunt show in the Arena in the centre of the park. This was one of the few times during the season that the Arena was actually used, but it was used well! I remember sitting in the stands watching the Red Bull Stuntriders going over jumps and performing in the small area, and it was very impressive! I do remember one year one of the riders came off his motorbike during one of the performances, and was luckily ok, but the show was very good and (other than fright nights and Thorpe Blast) was probably the best 'show' the park has ever put on in my opinion, even in later years when it was replaced by a BMX display team. Other activities There were some less than ideal 'activities' as part of Sun Scream.. I distinctly remember a silent disco was tried one year in the Colossus queue line. At a point early in the queue, everyone was offered a pair of wireless headphones which played music for everyone to jam to in the queue. The thing is, in a typically British fashion, very few people actually took the headphones, and even fewer took part in the disco. A nice idea, but didn't really work in reality. I also remember several performances, like a beatboxer one year.. Again, nice idea, but the crowd in front of the stage (in front of X) never really grew to more than about 10 people at any time despite the best efforts of the staff pulling people in. Late opening One of the great things about Sun Scream was the 8PM closing time. Being summer, this didn't really allow for night rides, but it was 'dusk' at least towards the end, and on the warm summer evenings it was great to stay late in the park after the crowds left. This no doubt paved the way for the Summer Nights event that followed years later. That 'Thorpe Park feeling' was at its strongest I'm not sure about what it was about Thorpe in the 2009 - 2012 period, but for me that was when Thorpe was at its absolute best. I always remember driving home from Thorpe, especially in the summer, with "that Thorpe Park feeling". I can't describe it, but it's the feeling you get when you've had a great day, you're knackered, aching and have a fuzzy head, your hair is a mess, and you stink... But you can't wait to go back and do it all again, preferably tomorrow. Sun Scream brought this feeling more than ever - it was such a positive and lively event, the sun was nearly always shining, the staff were lively and happy, and the park was always on top form. We also had a new ride in Saw, and The Swarm was under construction. The park was alive in this period and at its best. Dr Pepper Dr Pepper was the sponsor for Sun Scream, and as such during the event the staff handed out free little Dr Pepper cans. Because of this, I always associate the taste and smell of Dr Pepper with Thorpe Park, and every time I have it even all these years later, it takes me right back to "the good days" at Thorpe. __________ Does anyone have any memories of Sun Scream?

I'm not going to lie, the events (other than FN, and SunScream actually) don't really do anything for me.. But I'm glad to see them again as I know a lot of people enjoy them. This means there's an event running for most of the season - more days will have an event running than not!

Hmmm..... X?

I'm like a broken record here, but whatever.. Loggers Leap?

Wet Wet Wet would definitely be the ideal place for those kids rides. I wonder if it would even be worth selling those rides? They're all at best second or third hand now. Surely it's barely worth the effort of selling and transporting, and would be better keeping them for now?

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Black Mirror Labyrinth (5) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (2) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (6) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (6) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (4) Vortex (5) Zodiac (5) Timber Tub Goat - Rush +

I think it's quite interesting actually to think about this.. It's not something I've ever given much thought to, but F&B is actually quite an important part of the overall experience isn't it. I think the days when people just wanted a hotdog out of a 'hole-in-the-wall' outlet are gone.. Now it seems that more and more people want a proper sit-down restaurant with a decent meal in a nice environment. Also with the accommodation options growing, dinner and breakfast are also part of the experience, especially in the 'better' restaurants like Secret Garden, Crooked Spoon and Zafari. I think now more than ever F&B needs to be of a good standard, it's a bigger part of the experience than it was years ago when really a hotdog stand and donut stall was enough. Catering is a whole industry on its own, with its own challenges etc.. Perhaps outsourcing it will be a good thing? This is a big contract for Aramark so I'd imagine they'd want to get this right.

Hi there! They say that 51 inches is their maximum chest size - are you able to measure yourself to see if you fall within that? If you do, you should be ok. Each ride has a test seat and restraint outside the queue entrance. You can sit in the seat and pull the restraint down to test if it will close and be comfortable. Some rides have better restraints than others. For example Colossus is quite restrictive, but Nemesis Inferno and Stealth seem to offer more space. Nemesis Inferno also offers larger seats in one of the rows. This is the park's official answer to this question: https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001178391-How-restrictive-are-the-restraints-on-the-Rides- If for any reason one of the rides isn't suitable, or you're not comfortable in the test seat, I would advise queueing with your Nieces, then when you reach the station you can decide not to take a seat and wait for them by the exit, that way you'll still be able to spend the day with them. I hope you'll be ok, and you have a great day!

According to Theme Park Guide, Merlin have outsourced the food and beverage operations (in all of their UK parks and hotels) to Aramark. This is one of the companies who do the food for schools, hospitals and prisons. There are some cheap jokes to be made here because of the industries they're in, but actually I've always had good experiences with hospital food, and the food at my school at least wasn't bad! (no idea if it was Aramark though) It looks like F&B staff at the Merlin parks and hotels will be employed by Aramark from March, similar to how HB Leisure run the games etc on Merlin property. I think this is potentially good news. The food offerings at Merlin parks have been declining for a few years. Alton Towers' food options are beyond ridiculous, especially around Halloween/fireworks season, there simply aren't enough restaurants and the food they serve even in the 'higher-end' places is terrible. Thorpe and Chessington's food isn't quite as bad, but I hear Legoland's is DIRE and extortionately expensive. I think it's a bit of a shame that Merlin can't run their F&B like they used to. The food in their hotels was quite good until not too long ago, and the likes of Woodcutters and PizzaPasta weren't bad for theme park outlets. It's gone severely downhill since those days though. I wonder what, if anything, will change? And will Thorpe continue to run the KFC and Burger King franchises, as I assume they are Merlin employees working at the franchise brand? Time will tell.

I'm off to New York in a couple of months, and we're just looking in to things to do. The Coney Island Cyclone has always been on the 'must do' list for me, but I must admit I've felt a little disappointed this week when I looked Luna Park up. I've had a look at @Coaster's Blog and it sounds worth the visit, but other reviews I've read have been than enthusiastic! Anyone had any experience with this park? Is it worth going? Is it worth the journey from central Manhattan? Any tips, etc?

Much the same with me really - I quite like screens on dark rides, especially when properly combined with physical sets. I do understand people's issue with screens though. Some rides really do rely too heavily on them, and I do sometimes think they can take away from what a dark ride should be. I haven't been on Skull Island, but it looks almost as disappointing as Fast and Furious, which was an absolute joke. When used subtly though they're great - one ride that impressed me was Revenge of the Mummy - that uses physical sets and fire etc, along with subtle screens that are only used briefly to simulate scarab beetles coming out of the cracks in the wall - brilliant.

Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Black Mirror Labyrinth (5) Colossus (5) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (4) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (6) Quantum (5) Rocky Express (5) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (5) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) Zodiac (5) Nemesis Inferno + Derren Brown’s Ghost Train -

Loggers Leap?

Surely this just simply isn’t going to happen.. right? As Benin has pointed out, this has been going on for years and the entire thing has literally just been vague fantasy drawings and blue-sky concept art, with occasional “news” of some ‘rich folk’ talking business and apparently chucking money around… It’s all rubbish. I’ll happily buy a London Resort souvenir hat on opening day and eat it if this opens as anything near resembling what they are talking about, but I just can’t see this ever getting anywhere.

Amity Beach (2) Angry Birds 4D Experience (5) Black Mirror Labyrinth (5) Colossus (4) Depth Charge (5) Derren Brown’s Ghost Train (5) Detonator: Bomb's Away (5) Flying Fish (5) King Pig's Wild Hog Dodgems (5) Lumber Jump (5) Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (5) Nemesis Inferno (7) Quantum (6) Rocky Express (6) Rumba Rapids (5) Rush (5) Samurai (6) Saw - The Ride (5) Stealth (5) Storm in a Teacup (5) Storm Surge (5) The Swarm (5) Tidal Wave (5) Timber Tug Boat (5) Vortex (5) Zodiac (5) Nemesis Inferno + Derren Browns Stupid Ghost Train -

I can’t help but think this ride is going to do more harm than good. The queues are going to be horrifying on anything but quiet days.

Seriously though that's really positive that they're planning on opening it this Summer.

It's interesting isn't it. There can't be too many parks in the world who will have the dilemma of most of their rides becoming 'old' around the same time. I hadn't even thought to mention the ageing flat rides. Good point. I'd be very interested to find out how much it would cost to re-track a coaster vs demolish and build something new, and I suppose in reality this is what decides it. If it's 20% more expensive to get rid and build new, surely there isn't a lot of point in re-building any of Thorpe's coasters when their time comes, when they can build and market something totally new? As for Colossus - yeah, it was Thorpe's first biggie, and it's certainly still a good ride, especially if they re-tracked and had new trains to solve the horrible issues in the station.. But is that money well spent when they could build something new? I'm not so sure. To put it in to perspective, picture the hoards of 17 / 18 / 19 year olds driving to the park this year - Colossus was open and running before they were born.. It could now be seen by a lot of Thorpe's audience as 'pretty old' - scary but true! It also doesn't seem to have the wow factor / legendary status that Nemesis does, which is also a factor I suppose.

With the recent news of Nemesis being re-tracked after almost 30 years of service, it's got me thinking about the fate of Thorpe Park's ageing coasters. If we take Nemesis' life-span as a guide, and apply it to Thorpe's coasters, it means they might need major work doing sooner rather than later. Colossus - 8 years from now Nemesis Inferno - 9 years from now Stealth - 12 years from now Saw - 15 years from now (supposedly, although I think it'll need doing far sooner) I'd imagine that Colossus and Saw might need retiring/re-tracking earlier than Nemesis. The reason I bring this up is that this could leave Thorpe in a bit of a pickle.. They had an unusual few years where they invested heavily in new coasters and rides almost back to back, which was great at the time, but it does mean they are all ageing together. Could this mean that Thorpe will soon enter a difficult period where some of their major rides need to be either removed or overhauled? And what would this mean financially, could it affect investment in new attractions again? I might be completely wrong to assume this, but thought it was worth a discussion!

Fingers crossed they don’t use the new style vest restraints if this is a rebuild

Wow. It looks incredible. The consultation period is over now isn’t it? I assume it won’t be too long now until we see the actual plans.

I was just thinking about this coaster the other day - it's interesting isn't it, you'd think the majority of the expense has been spent already considering it's all built.. Maybe naively I'd have thought it's almost just a case of opening it now and wait for the crowds to show up, but I guess it's more complicated than that. Perhaps it's not actually been fully paid for yet considering Covid wiped them out? Or maybe they're waiting until they can be as sure as they can that they'll open it during a season when as many people can attend as possible, with low risk of having to shut or reduce capacity? It does seem a massive shame that they've clearly spent quite a lot of money to but it and get it built, and it's just sat there with no sign of life.