Inferno

Oooohhhhh - Very interesting! I wonder if these are the scenes in a new cinema style maze? Could they even be doing a series of 'tributes' to mazes from the past? That would help stop unfair direct comparisons to the originals. Beyond the chair - Something to do with the dentist chair in Containment maybe? Nightmare on Staines Street - Asylum vibes? Vulcan Voodoo - Vulcan Peak tribute? (why..) Ship Happens - The Curse tribute? Or Saw Alive throwback (as it was on a boat)? Hell Cell - Hellgate / exp10 combo? Or could it be referring to the prison in the walking dead? Seven Dolls - Got to be something to do with Se7en? Bozo's Playzone - The big top showtime type thing? Breakout at Brainsbury's - (love this) Maybe a supermarket zombie breakout themed maze? Very different!

Platform is a surprise - for some reason I thought last year was its last? I’d love to see a Studio 13 style throwback maze in the jungle building, packed with references to some of the best mazes from the past. A return of the Big Top would go down very well too I think! intrigued to see if they do anything special for the 20th, but I’m not holding my breath 🙄

Surely they need something with far more capacity than this (likely) single-train coaster is going to offer? Queues at Chessington can be unbearable with few high-throughput rides to offer any relief.

I wish they'd use the amazing "nee naw" IMAScore music that's sampled in this:

That's really, really interesting. Quite surprising to see that all 4 parks were all only up about a million(ish) visitors p/a in 2019 compared to their opening years. That's mad. Nearly all of the last 7 Thorpe "investments" are hilariously bad when you compare them to the last 7 of all the other parks. It's quite telling that they consider some of those to be "investments" when compared to the others. Bouncezilla is listed as an 'investment' for example, while no mention of the other inflatables & small things elsewhere 🙄

That's extremely disappointing that a couple of days in, it's already in this state. I hope not, but I fear Black Mirror might suffer the same fate before long. It seems that the most consistent UK attractions are the ones that don't rely on anything 'special' happening - the coasters for example: As long as the trains continue to run round the track, the experience is much the same. as soon as effects start coming in to play though, it's unfortunately all down hill from opening day.

Completely agree about the headsets. Extra cleaning or not, surely this is still a silly risk to take at the moment, pressing at the same sweaty plastic box against hundreds of people's faces every day? Ew. I'm just trying to imagine 'riding' DBGT without headsets... Surely it's literally pointless 😆 It's bad enough with them. An app sounds like a good idea. I guess it would rely on everyone's device somehow playing the video at the same time, which could be a challenge given the lack of signal on busy days. If they turned the queue in to a tech support troubleshooting session prior to riding it could work! I really just can't see the point of opening it again to be honest. This would have been a good opportunity/excuse to quietly close it down without too much fanfare. Unless maybe I'm wrong.. Do people actually enjoy it?

What's always baffled me about the entrance is how long it can often take to get inside the park. Alton Towers can get you through the turnstiles in minutes. Yes, the Monorail does drip-feed guests in a controlled manner, but even the queue for the monorail at the other end is nearly always much faster than queueing to get in at Thorpe. AT can process far more people, far more quickly. I kind of agree with Marc, for me the issue isn't with the buildings or how it looks (although yeah, wouldn't complain if they did something different..) It's more about how dreadful the first impressions often are. The big logo sign is pretty cool imo, and the screen is quite good. It's the queues and temporary "f*** it that will do for now" nature of everything that's the problem. Is it just a case of more throughput needed maybe (somehow)?

Well my first thought is "ugh please no", but considering Zodiac and Detonator were basically funfair rides, they fit in nicely.. I guess they could keep them (or similar) and try to make them fit in?

That could be cool - do we have any reason to think this may be something 'special'? It looks like a jetty to me.

This hasn't aged well, has it. Both of these things seemed better before 😐

Wow, same here for DBGT. I thought Covid would be a good cover story for closing it down for a second season, conveniantly phasing it out without drawing too much attention to the closure. Surely Ghost Train isn't bringing in any money, especially considering the number of staff it takes to run it, plus the additional cost of actors for Black Mirror? Does anyone even think of DBGT when they think of Thorpe, really? Good news Black Mirror is finally opening.

Good point, considering they can't have anything big, there's a fair amount there these days isn't there. They have a good few indoor attractions as well now. Hopefully that trend continues. I'd like to see a decent indoor family coaster in the future, something with good capacity to get through the queues. Considering Legoland is (shockingly) the UK's busiest theme park, do you think they'd look to extend their season through the winter in the future, even with a reduced lineup focusing on indoor stuff?

My first thought is that it's quite embarrassing that the UK's "number one theme park" has to hire in a load of fairground rides to keep themselves going. I really hope this screams to Merlin how bad things have got over the past few years. Saying that though, this is better than nothing isn't it, and I can understand they will want to sell as many tickets as possible this year to get the most from the season after last year. Also weren't Detonator and Zodiac temporary fairground rides that stuck around? 🤔

Good to see the tidal wave refurb going on, and even better to see the entrance plaza getting a bit of work done. The last few years they’ve been doing a fair amount of small improvements haven’t they - looks like the same this year too.

Hey guys, I don't know about you, but I am fed up of seeing all the negativity out there about Thorpe Park. Sure, it's far from perfect, but this is the Thorpe fan site - If you're reading this forum, you must love the place to some extent? So why not share why?! Let's bring back some of the glassy eyed excitement we all used to feel when using these forums Please let us all know what are your 3 favourite things about Thorpe Park. Why do you love the place? I'll start. My favourite things about Thorpe are The atmosphere. I don't know what it is about Thorpe, but it has a certain atmosphere that you don't get anywhere else. I can't put my finger on it, it's just "that Thorpe feeling" you get as you walk over the bridge in to the park - it's the same today for me as it was when I was a kid back in the early 2000's! I think it's that it doesn't take its self too seriously, and it's certainly rough around the edges, but it's just got a chilled, fun vibe. It's quite a unique atmosphere in my opinion. The park has stayed humble as well which I like - it's not pretending to be more than it is. Fright Nights. It's not the best horror event out there anymore, and yes some of the recent attractions have been a bit lack lustre, but Fright Nights is almost its own 'thing', and is a must-do at Halloween. The familiarity and "at home" feeling. A lot of people say walking in to Disney is like coming home. Now, I wouldn't say that about Thorpe, but it certainly has that kind of vibe for me. I think it's because it's always been my "home park", and I sort of grew up with it over the years. It's by far my most visited park, so feels like "my place" if you know what I mean? I bet there are a lot of people that feel that way

It's a great shame that there's rarely ever any real 'news' anymore isn't it. I do miss the excitement of a new Thorpe coaster, like the 2011 buildup to the Swarm (seriously how is that 9 years ago now...) - there was such a buzz watching it go up throughout the year. When Thorpe get a new coaster it's going to be so well covered by Jack & co, especially these days with Monk's Walk offering such a good view and drones being easily available. The fanbase for this sort of stuff is definitely there too judging by the views! People love a coaster construction site! Will be interesting to see where the next big thing ends up. The island by Swarm is crying out for attention, after spending the money on reclaiming it they must be wanting to make use of it? On the other hand though making use of "the woods" around Canada Creek would be really nice, and could bring guests in to a bit of nice natural woodland scenery, which Thorpe doesn't have a lot of being an island.

Considering they have recently had a massively publicised crash that literally the entire target audience knows about, this is a very good result I think? Interesting to hear the CEO’s opinion on esports.... Judging by the feedback on social media, the public don’t get it either... Hate the continued “copy and paste” approach these days but I guess that’s what makes the money. Do we know how well Thorpe / Towers / Chessington are doing specifically? I’d be interested to see if TP’s lack of anything has actually had much affect on revenue

What...... o.0 What is happening to Thorpe Park?

What? I thought they’d got away from all this nonsense? Surely the ride should be good enough / exciting enough to advertise on its own merits? Things like this make the place look like a joke.

I’m not sure about this cashless system... Even looking back 2 or 3 year’s ago, trying to even pay by card was a nightmare - when producing a card you got a roll of the eyes from the staff, and then got sent down to the other end of the counter where there was a single card machine... I've always made an effort to get cash out when I go to Thorpe because of this - and also so I can leave all my cards and wallet in the car (hate leaving valuables in the bag storage on the station)

This bodes well... usually when a Merlin attraction gets a year round horror maze it’s a sign of a very long and successful future..

? if I’m being honest I plan to spend as little time with Merlin as possible.... I am pretty sure it’s the lacklustre Merlin attitude of late that put me off theme parks for a while in the first place. But actually having a couple of new coasters being built in the UK, and seeing the potential of Fright Nights it has sparked my interest again ——————— Guys seriously thank you so much for all the tips This is all so useful to a novice like me. It’s likely to be Phantasialand this time, then Perhaps a combined Disney / Paris city break trip later in the year. Mixed thoughts on Phantasialand it seems though?!

Thank you guys - car hire seems to be a good tip even if it’s just to get to and from the park from the airports etc Will check out the various hotel options Is Disneyland Paris easily doable from staying in a hotel in central Paris?

Thank you so much