Inferno

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.

Hyperia will be closed for a few days towards the end of September. Wonder what this could be? Perhaps an adjustment to the speed at which the trains enter the station, ahead of the busy Fright Nights? Fingers crossed.

This is so lovely Matt ❤️ Brought back fond memories of my Grandad Keep making memories Matt. I hope you’ve got an ORP with him!

It’s a bit of a weird one this, because it’s not like Thorpe to close a queue before park closing time. Historically they’ve always been really good (and very open) about closing the queues at closing time, not the rides. It’s a point that they themselves have made many times in their “tips” sort of posts, and blogs etc. What’s not helping is that I expect the entire reason for many people’s visit this weekend was to get a night ride on Hyperia, which was then unexpectedly ruined… I suspect basically everyone in the park was planning on joining the queue in the 10 mins prior to closing, which would have resulted in a long queue, pushing the opening hours later and later. It wouldn’t only affect the ride team, there would be engineers, security, admissions, and all sorts I would imagine. All I can think is that the staffing situation is such that they have people working really late and needing to then be in again early to open up again? It wouldn’t be good to have staff going home at midnight for instance, then having to get up again to be in for 8AM - yes I know this happens, and does at my own job, but putting things in place to look after staff is a good thing, if that’s what this is about. I can’t imagine the park is awash with staff at this time of the season, given that September is a quiet time. I suppose Thorpe’s staffing structure also isn’t really setup to deal with late nights either is it, other than Fright Nights, where extras are brought in and special measures are in place, etc? Staff rostering is a nightmare at the best of times, let alone when there’s a sudden change like this. Whatever it is, it’s crap for everyone. But at least it’ll only be while hyperia is new. Would everyone have preferred it if from opening time Hyperia’s queue was advertised as closing 1hr before park close?

It’s a bit of a shame about the late openings being poorly attended again - it seems to be in line with Merlin’s expectations though and it does demonstrate that, as much as we all hate it, staying open until late outside of Halloween isn’t really necessary. It must cause a headache staffing wise, and of course cost more to keep the park open later. As for Rumba closing from the 9th - hasn’t this happened before? I think I recall Rumba being weirdly expensive to run? In which case, since the weather is turning and crowd levels will drop off (bar Halloween) it makes sense to close it I suppose. A bit of a shame though that we lose a ride from the lineup even if it’s quiet

What does everyone think of Saw’s new queue structure? I think it’s a great step in the right direction. Plenty of shade in the summer, and shelter from the rain. I’m surprised this hasn’t been done on any of the other rides to be honest. Especially Hyperia where something generic could have gone down well. Saw’s new one is very rough and ready, but I suppose they can get away with it given the theme. I think on any other ride it would need a different approach. Great to see positive steps being taken still even mid way through the season.

Stealth really can be good for getting people through can't it. I do feel for the people who bottle it when they get to the station! I hope they changed their mind and went on in the end!

That's a bit of a shame - I wonder if this is the onset of the late-season "urgh" that seems to come about towards the end of Summer... The little things like this seem to slip a bit at Thorpe as I imagine staff grow more tired with managing it all day in day out! On the subject of TWDTR - TPG have uploaded a lot of photos from inside the building, with layouts of the corridors and rooms etc - very interesting! I've always wanted to have a free-wander around that building to see what it's all like. https://themeparkguide.co.uk/archive/The-Walking-Dead-The-Ride-Behind-The-Scenes

Love the new website - looking forward to having a bit of a trip down memory lane when all the Fright Nights archives are on!

What a bizarre situation this is… you can buy a NameDrop? I’m baffled.

Matt N: "Virginia Reel 1 was too intense for me" 😁 I didn't like it either Matt. Great post as always, and you had some great weather!