Inferno

There’s definitely something up here isn’t there - during my recent trip (and in the random queue time checking in the weeks leading up to it) BTM went down for several hours every day without fail. Actually this and Space Mountain had dreadful downtime, lasting several hours, every day all week. Weird, and very impactful given how the park has been.

Do we know what actually happened to TT2?

It also feels fairly new to me. I know I’m old, but it really does feel like only a few years ago Wild Asia and Scorpion Express opened. In my mind they’re among the “newer” things at Chessington 🤷‍♂️ Perhaps there are other plans for the likes of Tomb Blaster tba? I agree with the comments about tiger rock - although they’ve only just tarted that up haven’t they 🙄

Wow, this was a bit out of the blue wasn't it! Great news. Hopefully the coaster has a good throughput. With all this and the waterpark hopefully coming soon, Chessington has a good few things to look forward to, as long as they can keep some rides open occasionally.

Zufari now says "Closed for the remainder of the season".

That's interesting that this is happening. I wonder if Merlin will weirdly benefit from Universal arriving in the UK? The likes of Disney, Europa and to an extent Phantasialand etc all have enough clout to attract people from abroad on their own. I don't think any of the UK parks are really able to do that at the moment. I think a resort like Universal might though - and I do wonder if their guests might take a trip to one of the Merlin parks 'while they're here' sort of thing? A bit like how people go to Orlando for the big parks, but visit Legoland 'while we're here', as you certainly wouldn't fly across the globe for a park like that on its own. I think as well it's worth mentioning that actually prices for everything, and the cost of living in general, must be playing massively in to it as well.... One thing I noticed on my recent visit to DLP was that the food and drink was cheaper within their parks than it was at Merlin's, and that was at Di$n€y. Also we very much made a conscious decision to cut back on these sort of things to enable us to go to DLP - I bet there are a lot of people in a similar position, sacrificing smaller treats like a day at a Merlin park to allow them to go abroad on holiday etc? I think really UK park visits have become a luxury for a lot of people here compared with how it was just a few years ago. For me personally, what used to be an "oh go on then, let's go to Thorpe at the weekend" decision has now become quite a planned landmark day (if you know what I mean) - it's not something that can really be done on a whim to the extent that it used to be. Whatever is going on here, Brexit and cost of living aside, closing attractions and winding down isn't going to attract more customers 🤷🏼‍♂️ Hopefully investment continues across the Merlin parks and things pick up, especially if Universal does go ahead - it would be amazing for the UK to become a bit of a theme park destination wouldn't it!

That’s good really. To be fair, they don’t seem to be doing this on weekends and it does seem to be limited to only the quietest days of the season. Hopefully that’ll be it after these next couple of weeks, because actually operations seem to have been great this year

See, this is an interesting one to me. I agree, the actual mazes themselves are a lot better in terms of theming, duration, and overall quality. But as guests, are we having a better time? I’d argue that no, we’re not necessarily. Yes, of course we are having a very good time, but better? The standout mazes from the past for me have been Experiment 10, Cabin in the Woods v1, and the beloved Big Top v2. While they were far simpler and shorter than todays mazes at thorpe, they were just utterly fab, and I thunk because they were at no additional cost there were no great expectations - it was just a good time with no stress, which you could also repeat several times if you wanted. I don’t know if I can put my finger on it, but something about paying this much for a single go at a maze just sets expectations higher than they need to be for what a scare maze is. I sort of think it’s all lost its way a little bit if you know what I mean? The Asylum for instance, while it was adored years ago, would risk being deemed a joke these days because it would lack all the backstory, “nods”, heavy theming and grandeurs that we now have - even though actually, it would still offer a very intense, disorientating, scary experience, full of jump scares, and would be included as part of your day. I also think mazes a few years ago used to feel genuinely scary, whereas now adays dare I say that parts of some modern mazes can sometimes feel a bit like a tour through a highly-themed set…… (I know this is quite the hot take, I’m sorry!) Anyway,, my apologies, 1. I’ve gone off topic. 2. I’m sorry for appearing negative - genuinely, I do think this year’s lineup looks amazing, and I am genuinely in awe of what the designers and actors achieve these days in such short spaces of time with limited budgets. There’s no denying that the scare industry is achieving amazing things! I’m just a bit sad that it’s all got this expensive that’s all, and I miss that it used to be simpler. I very much look forward to the reviews etc and seeing what comes next

That’s really interesting - thank you Josh. All of those numbers are lower than I expected. It’s a good point about the “busy days” being generally less busy these days, and good overall that crowds have equalised a little throughout the week. I wonder if their efforts to encourage people to visit on off peak days have played havoc with staffing etc? In years gone by they could run with minimal staff all week then scale up for the weekends - now I suppose they need consistently larger numbers of staff. I have noticed in more recent years that the park just can’t handle a crowd like it used to. I seem to remember in the SUPER busy days (2009 2010 ish) the weekends were extremely busy, but the queues seemed to move fast enough as far as I remember, and it was still a good time. Even at fright nights, the busier nights were very busy, but not as unpleasant as they are of late (it could be that I’m less tolerable now! But I’m sure it’s because like you’ve said the park were just used to big crowds and it was no big deal) I’m surprised that max capacity is 15,000. Some days it feels more like double that when walking around.

Yeah I totally agree. It’s the same for me tbh, we could go, but that’s just too much money for what it is… FN is always a very hit or miss event. I know they’re LONG gone and never coming back, but I do miss the days where the mazes were included with entry.

Something I’ve wondered on and off over the years… Does anyone happen to know the sort of figures that visit Thorpe per day? For example, how many guests are usually there on average? What is the capacity crowd levels on the busiest sell-out days? How many people are there on the quietest of September weekdays? I’d be interested to see how the numbers compare to things like stadiums etc, as it’s so hard to visualise since people are spread out across the park.

Naa, it would be one of those new-fangled “seasonal attractions”, so would only open in August, and that would be from 14:30 👌🏼

Intrigued to hear about the new maze - looks like a very interesting concept! It does look a good lineup this year with quite a variety. Unfortunately my broke ass will not be in attendance, as that price is just absolutely hysterical for a day at Thorpe Park, fright nights or not.

Oh, definitely... Zufari is, and always has been, dreadful. I totally get why this would be towards the bottom of the list of 'rides worth running' (apparently such a list actually exists for Merlin's parks). Ditching the animals is an odd one, as it's quite a big part of the whole theme. One of the main selling points for the hotels is the views over the animals and all that sort of stuff so that'll take some doing to still make it unique and appealing (if they're bothered about that sort of thing anymore, who knows). It would be expensive and awkward to move away from all that, and re-theme things, but SeaWorld are managing it well. Not long ago the idea of SeaWorld not having any killer whales would be a ridiculous concept, but it's happening.

Oh dear, that is worrying - they haven’t even said it’s til the end of the season or “until further notice”… Zufari would be an odd one to close permanently because all the animals are there anyway, they might as well have an attraction showing guests around for what it’s worth? It was odd enough closing this on off peak days this year as it was! I know it’s been around for a long time now but Zufari still feels like a new attraction to me somehow. And actually quite a staple attraction, given the theme of the park with the animals etc. Will be odd if that goes. Are Merlin in a lot of financial trouble? They seem to be shutting up shop.

It does seem odd doesn’t it - I’d guess it’s down to choosing the rides that would have the least impact. Nobody goes to Thorpe to ride Vortex or Samurai realistically, but they do go to Thorpe to ride the likes of Inferno and Stealth - I suppose it’s less disappointing if at least the coasters are running 🤷‍♂️ While people might go home with a poor impression overall, at least they’ll have done the big rides? (Because bare minimum has always been and apparently always will be Merlin’s goal) That list Matty posted there is not good though is it. Scheduled openings in the afternoon? Embarrassing. It will be interesting to see what happens at Fright Nights when things pick up. I imagine all of a sudden they’ll be fully staffed and open again from dawn til dusk - I assume many of those staff are on reduced hours throughout September?

I think you’re probably right… I find it a bit alarming that there are so many cuts like this though… it doesn’t feel like something a company would be doing if they weren’t panicking, literally closing rides and reducing hours like this etc at the end of the season. It’s a good point made above about the inherited problems though - vast amounts of money needs spending on things that won’t give them a direct return - sky ride and Hex for example. It must be bleeding them dry playing catch up on the things that should have been done years ago. I don’t mind cuts like no longer needing staff stood at ride entrances (without redundancies I would hope), as that really is a “nice to have”, but closing rides for multiple years, mid season closures, staggered and late openings, and part-seasonal rides feels like a bit of a panicky move. It all feels a bit like when you’re playing RCT and you’ve buggered up by spending all your money too soon and can’t earn it back fast enough without demolishing everything!

I think that is a very bizarre statement coming from the UK’s biggest attraction operator, especially as Universal are saying quite literally the opposite about opening in the UK, and quite frankly dare I say making Merlin look a bit stupid at the moment? They have the UK sewn up, it’s entirely in their control to change things, as they own and directly control most of the big attractions anyway. If “tourist dollars are moving elsewhere” perhaps they should try to address that instead of hiding away and pointing fingers? To say that he may not have decided to do nemesis reborn is a mad statement to make - is he implying that he’s looking to let the Merlin estate just rot away with no investment what so ever? It sounds like it to me…. Not the sort of thing a leader of a company should be implying in my opinion, and certainly suggests a very bleak outlook for the future of the company, at a time when external companies are literally moving in next door, eying up Merlin’s entire customer base. I can never understand this mentality that if you’re not making as much money as you want, might as well start shutting up shop… really I think instead of winding down during quieter days, Merlin should be looking at maximising the ticket sales, offering heavy discounts and incentives to draw people away from peak days and on to quieter ones - maybe even offer “bounce back” tickets again during the summer? I really do hope Universal go ahead with their UK project, and it’s a success. We really do need competition in the UK. When Merlin came off the stock market and had all the changes recently things looked really good with investments and improvements etc, but as time goes by it looks like the same old Merlin is very much still there.

Do you mean it was just too intense on that second ride, @Benin ? I do see what you mean. It is a lot. The amount of time and the force at which you’re pushed away from your seat is unbelievable in quite a lot of places. I don’t think it’s too intense necessarily, but it is definitely not an easy or “natural” thing to ride. I could ride a lot of coasters for hours, Inferno for example I’ve done huge numbers of back-to-back rides many times over the years - but I don’t think I could do that on Hyperia 😂 (as much as I love it)

Oh that’s better - bringing it down to 4 days, avoiding other ride maintenance days, and avoiding weekends, is less painful now.

I agree, why on earth are we seeing planned maintenance popping up during the open season at seasonal parks? This is also happening at Alton Towers - several rides closing for avoidable planned maintenance (like adding single rider queues and re-doing stations) during open season. Disappointing that Inferno will be down for 2 weeks. I know it’s a slow period at the end of Sept, but the park is very much still open and many customers will specifically plan to visit during these times to avoid crowds, something that the park actively encourage as it spreads the load throughout the year for a steadier stream. If this planned maintenance on Inferno can wait several weeks from this point, can it not wait another month and just be done during the off season? I hope this isn’t a sign of things to come across Merlin…

Yeah it’s definitely a good think that this sort of thing is being thought about - yes it’s the end of the summer, but for decades they haven’t bothered at all with this sort of thing, so going forward the hot summer days will be more comfortable thankfully. I’m really hoping all these temporary fences will be replaced with proper ones over closed season. It’s a shame to see such a big new ride looking in such a dreadful state. Hyperia’s area has been a bit embarrassing I think.

Wow that’s really great news about the misters - they seem to have put quite a bit of thought in to this sort of thing, and shade and shelter, this year.

Deary me, some of Hyperia really is a right mess isn’t it. Hopefully they’ll properly finish it off over closed season.

Yeah I agree really. As much as I don’t like to see rides closing, it must cost a lot of money to run Rumba, and honestly it’s a dreadful ride now anyway - a shadow of its former self, and even at its best would still lag behind when compared to a lot of modern Thorpe. Even if they did an extensive retheme, the ride system would still be the same - lacklustre, expensive to run and old fashioned. I think it’s run its course now. In a park where space is limited, there are many ways to use this space much better than Rumba.