Marhelorpe

Hopefully the last year too, just in case £33 entry minimum isn't enough for guests this year. So the only 'new' stuff for 2019 is the following: • A temporary upcharge giant HB Leisure stall. • Vulcan Peak: Escape Edition. • Not-unique-to-a-theme-park gaming tent. • The return of an event which last year made Dead End Terror Zone look terrific in comparison. What a year to look forward to. Then again, I suppose this is all better than nothing...

I can just see it now: "The future for rabbits across the world" with "over 1,000 bucks involved to create this experience". Exciting times ahead!

I'll rephrase what I said: "To the management at Thorpe, are you deliberately trying to annoy your customers here?" It's not so much the fact it's an event that I have a problem with here, it's that getting corporate sponsors and IPs involved to promote themselves for a big chunk of their 2019 season is just sheer laziness and lacks any proper thought or vision in my view. I mean, isn't the whole purpose of visiting a theme park supposed to be to escape everyday life and just have a fun time for those hours? Last I checked, playing on a dedicated games console for 45 minutes is not something unique only to a theme park and the majority of youth in 2019 own such a device in their homes which they handle daily. Why fork out £33 minimum entry for something they can do at home? I just don't understand. By all means, let the event happen, I just expected better than this from the "nation's thrill captial" who are owned by a business still classing themselves "2nd to Disney", that's all. The park can frankly do much better.

There's not enough love on here for Liseberg right now, so I figured I'd fix that with a press release I somehow completely missed back in November 2018 hinting at an exciting new investment which is scheduled soon and no, it's not the hotel and water park. It's a dark ride (finally!) scheduled for completion in 2020. http://www.mynewsdesk.com/se/liseberg/pressreleases/liseberg-satsar-200-mkr-I-utoekat-kaninland-2020-2791561 Here is what the article says translated as best I could: So yeah, £17m is being invested into an entire new section of the park for 2020 and recent imagery suggests the dark ride will be located in the old Liseberg Hall (large indoor building next to north entrance) which, to my understanding, is presently being knocked down in preparation for all this. I swear, Liseberg is being absolutely relentless right now with new, worthwhile and sometimes amazing investments every year popping up with Helix, Mechanica, AeroSpin, Loke, Valkyria and now an expensive permanent dark ride. This is all reminding me of Thorpe in the early 2000s. Honestly intrigued by this project and can't wait for more details to be revealed soon!

A lack of pride in their image and loss of dignity is what's happening. Granted, this is only an event one might say where you aren't being forced to attend it and lasts for just a few weeks. But come on, after Love Island Lates last year and now this? To the management at Thorpe, are you deliberately trying to push away your customers here?

But isn't that what Merlin for the most part are experts at - incorporating IPs which are on the downward trend with public popularity? Wouldn't surprise me one bit if all this is hinting at a silly Fortnite IP for 2019. Arguably not as bad as Love Island last year, but still... Imagination and originality at Thorpe really is dead currently.

I don't know why everyone thinks an RMC is gonna happen over Loggers Leap. We forget the 5 golden rules with any new permanent Thorpe attraction these days: 1) Must have an IP and world-first. 2) Must be a dark theme. 3) Must be a short-term investment. 4) Must involve actors. 5) Must be naff. An RMC or hyper-coaster would break most, if not all these rules; stuff Thorpe clearly doesn't dare want to compromise on!

Is this just an amazing coincidence given the timing this was posted on Instagram, or are Liseberg being proper trolls to Thorpe right now? Either way, I love it! And just to remind everyone, Liseberg's FlumeRide is now 46 years old and still looks and runs better than any remaining log flume left in Britain......

Course! I've got a good feeling my 46th attempt at getting that perfect, flawless and reliable run-through is finally gonna occur this time, at long-last after 2.5 years of trying! 30th March 2019 will be the day Ghost Train finally operates 100% as intended I reckon. I'm veeeeeery certain nothing will go wrong this time!

OK, I'm in and will hopefully not forget to attend this one like the last one!

Once Icon gave up, we quite literally had nothing!

A paying customer should expect a product to be delivered in return for their money no matter what day/time they visit. Generally at a theme park, one would hopefully expect operational rides, good ride management and preparations for crowd levels thanks to sunny weather. Today, almost none of that was present which is what made it horrendous and a real contender with TP's 2011 AP day as the worst visit at a theme/amusement park. I visited today purely because from previous years I had heard from many sources despite new season technical problems and cold weather, they were still great weekends with short queues which are definately worth attending. So I figured I'd give it a try. What a huge mistake.

So after I spent over £40 in petrol, 9 hours in total of driving, £60+ for a hotel room and £20 for admission, you're saying "Put up or shut up. It's normal and you should live with it"? Try telling that to the thousands of other people today who like me have had one of the worst visits to a theme/amusement park since Thorpe Park's 2011 Annual Pass Day...

I'm at the Pleasure Beach right now with @Kerfuffle and this is his first visit to the park too...... I feel so sorry for him currently. Saying today has been horrendous is a massive understatement. Driving 6 friggin hours for a park with less than 50% of rides open is the biggest mistake I've made since declaring DBGT was the "best dark ride in the country" when it had just opened. Anyone fancy a 2 hour queue for Big One on 1 train; engineers giving up on reopening Icon; Valhalla operating like a Windows 98 system and a Vekoma SLC being the most reliable ride at the park for the day?

Never stopped this fella though did it? Ed Euromaus is literally everywhere inside Europa Park and is featured heavily with the park's brand. Phantasialand have their dragons and Liseberg have their green bunnies, so I would argue every park no matter the size or background has room for a mascot somewhere: Personally, I would be happy to see Thorpe being given a mascot should it ever occur, as it's something besides the rides you can associate the park with for guests, similar to Henry Hound ages ago which my older family members still remember very well to this date. However, I do not want the park to bring back the Rangers or any ex-mascots, as it will only look like to me like a half-a**ed attempt to try and make themselves look cool and appeal just to their fanbase who remember them from days gone by. Gotta move onto something new and fresh, hopefully not an IP (for once)...... Anyway, isn't this the IAC topic?

Even if they were not the most popular ticket option for guests, removing them entirely is not a solution, it only creates a new problem. Yep, that £40 quote was the average child/adult price for a 2-day ticket last year I remember. For Thorpe, I can kinda let them off this given I presume the majority of their guests only visit for 1 day anyway. But Alton Towers though? Really? That'a a 2-day park minimum for families. There should in my view still be an option for a 2-day park ticket as some people simply do not want to be tied to an annual pass, they just want a single weekend together at a park for the year, that's it. This to me seems like an easy way for Merlin to push people into buying their season pass instead to gain more money, nothing more but that.

Something I've also just noticed which I honestly cannot believe hasn't been picked up yet is Thorpe Park & Alton Towers are no longer offering a 2-day ticket for their parks for the 2019 season according to their FAQs, which I find astonishing and incredibly naughty money-wise. Here is your proof lads: https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360001150291-Do-you-offer-a-2-day-ticket- https://support.altontowers.com/hc/en-us/articles/360000657131-Can-I-buy-a-2-day-ticket- And to confuse things even more, Chessington and Legoland DO still offer 2-day tickets: https://support.legoland.co.uk/hc/en-us/articles/360000918932-Do-you-offer-a-2-day-ticket- https://www.chessington.com/plan/faq/360001631191/do-you-offer-a-2-day-ticket.aspx This is clearly an incentive for people to get a season pass and one might argue "oh, but for £55 you can get a season pass instead for a little bit more and get unlimited access all year with it", but do remember that for families who can only afford to visit somewhere like Alton Towers once a year (e.g. - my family), going from a 2-day ticket price of approximately £40 each to £55 minimum is quite a substantial increase wouldn't you say? A family of 4 could be paying as much as £50 more in tickets alone for a 2-day weekend now. This doesn't sound fair at all to me...

Treating their paying customers with contempt? How classy. Keep it up Thorpe. Watch your feedback and rating score on TripAdvisor fall even further this season if you keep up with that attitude!

If they were to show more behind the scenes footage of it, they may as well go the whole hog and show all the content which didn't make it into the final product, like the alternative ending and the supposed 12 different experiences. I just cannot see this attraction being updated much more other than technical fixes from here onwards. Merlin have invested too much money in it already to a mixed reception, so doubt they will keep it feeling fresh any longer.

So it appears from a recent tweet from the park's account earlier today that Premium MAP holders will NOT be given free entry into the Alton Towers' Dungeon this season: https://twitter.com/altontowers/status/1088049984426176513?s=09 However, those with a new Premium Alton Towers only Season Pass will get one free admission per visit according to TowersStreet....................?! How very M£rlin. Still, better than nothing I suppose.

The extra cost will be relative to the quality of the experience itself however, so that £5 is still questionable. Given we already know it's going to utilise the trough from Charlie, it has potential, but the 5 live-action scenes will need to match or surpass the quality of the ones used in London. Biggest problem I see is it's gonna be situated in a giant (and echoey) warehouse with flat flooring and no change in elevation, so aren't expecting anything amazing here. All the other dungeons to my knowledge have much more confined rooms and change in elevation in each scene, which adds a good illusion you are travelling deeper underground. And given it's at the furthest point in the park, it wouldn't surprise me if it opens at midday on weekdays and closes at 3:30pm too. It's simply the wrong type of attraction at the wrong time for this park.

Definately gonna be attending this trip as it will be great to get on Taron once again! Only slight difference is myself and @Kerfuffle are arranging a twin room at the K+ hotel, but might take a flight to Cologne from Heathrow with Eurowings instead of Stanstead purely for cost reasons, since Stanstead is one heck of a trek for the pair of us petrol-wise. If however a potential Toverland bonus is added on the last day before flying back, we might look back into Stanstead again. Will be booking flights this weekend hopefully.

It's a big maybe from me right now, as whilst the pricing is fine, it's one heck of a drive from Southampton to Southend-on-Sea for me! Will update by end of January if I can attend.

I'm down for this, though might skip Sandcastle Waterpark and instead would prefer the Merlin attractions for cost reasons. As for hotels, I haven't booked anything as of yet but will do soon, most likely at said Travelodge.

Down for this. Unlimited bowling is right up my alley.