Matt A

What's really odd is the pyramid outside isn't being painted or anything so they're not putting a huge amount of effort into this it seems.

First time I rode it the member of staff working at the entrance said they could only have a certain number of people inside due to h&s (most of the queue was outside at the time) so I'd imagine you're right.

Sorry forgot to do that! Here you go...

Article in The Times about Merlin today: https://www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/business/merlin-needs-to-cast-a-new-spell-lmvfw76mn It's share price has fallen significantly lately and will not make it's profit target this year. They're putting this down to a lack of visitors due to weather and terrorism (mainly for city centre attractions). There was also news towards the end too in terms of how Merlin plans to invest in the future: "Meanwhile, Merlin is in the middle of an intense period of capital spending — up to £390m this year — and is sitting on a debt pile that totalled £1.2bn in June. Varney’s new tactic is to shift spending away from existing sites towards more lucrative hotel rooms and new theme parks that increasingly revolve around brands such as Peppa Pig."

Moving it to what is currently the back would make sense if Slammer is also being removed as it would work well with the new space. Although I wonder if less people would go on the ride as it would be a long distance from the entrance of the park.

I hope they don't get rid of the current music and lights theme on X, quite like it personally. I'd be surprised if they did considering they just did improvements to it and gave it a unique soundtrack.

DBGT just won an award from the Themed Entertainment Association for its exceptional application of story plus various old and new show techniques: http://www.teaconnect.org/Press/Press-Releases/index.cfm?id=7154

5 mins for Sanctum though! That's either a lie or the throughput is insane

I'm wondering if perhaps the increased staffing costs had anything to do with its early closure this season. With the number of lifeguards on that ride, the staffing costs must have increased considerably, and I can see Merlin not wanting to continue to run the ride with such high costs as it isn't one of their flagship rides.

Just to add to this, I believe Merlin has specific graduate jobs in engineering available if you look on Merlin's website, not sure about pay though.

From the looks of it, I think the path to the side may just be a vehicle track so they can go around the maze without damaging the grass. If I'm thinking of the right spot this track is used by emergency services and probably some TP vehicles.

I'm pretty sure it does, it's the most accepted form of student ID from what I can tell.

Thorpe is teasing something happening on Tuesday...

Sounds like the most likely answer! It's a shame really, really limits the theme of the ride. What confuses me still is a number of people on the forums said it was very loud in the pyramid so I'm wondering if it has been turned down since because loud was not a word I'd use to describe it!

Went on X for the first time since the refurbishment. Came off quite disappointed, the improvements are very slight and my biggest problem with the ride (how quiet the music is) barely seems to be fixed, the music is a bit louder but nowhere near what it should be. The change of lights makes is a bit better than before and the new queue line stuff is nice. Still doesn't beat the first time I rode X in 2013 and the music was so loud you could hear it from outside!

Well done! All the hard work finally pays off!

I believe it's being used currently as a filming studio for a web series Fanta has been sponsoring, called Joe or something similar

It would certainly improve things but I can't think of any independent company which would have the money to do so or want to. FTSE100 companies such as Merlin will pretty much only ever sell their divisions off for big sums of money and the buyers are almost always companies of similar size who will operate the same way. It's rare for something to go from being owned by a large corporation to being independently owned, simply because the price is too high. It's a sad fact and I wish it could be different, a company that really cares about the theme parks could make such a difference, but I just don't see it happening. London Paramount seems to be the only viable competition to Merlin, although it's recently been announced that Paramount is pulling out and it's been delayed yet again to 2023. Merlin buy up everything so that they can make it how they want it without competition, although they can only change it so much before they lose customers.

That's only ever going to happen if the park is making a loss for them. And they'll just make constant cutbacks first.

Not sure about the kiosks but for the AP discount you just need to go to the Annual Pass or Advance Ticket Collection and show your pass to get a discounted ticket. More info here: https://www.thorpepark.com/annual-pass-holders

Now that a lot of the park has had it's music replaced by the Island Theme, does anywhere still play chart music or does everywhere have it's own soundtrack now? I remember the beach and flying fish always had chart music so I'm assuming it's changed there now.

I'm planning to go to the next MoS night at TP and I was just curious about a few things and was wondering if anyone here knew the answers... 1) What are the queue times for rides like on the night? 2) Do the rides all shut at 11pm or do they sometimes stay open longer? 3) Is the club running from 8pm or does it start later? 4) Which rides are usually open? (esp. DBGT as most of my friends are yet to go on it and really want to) 5) What are the drinks prices like in the club? Lots of questions I know! But I would massively appreciate any knowledge anyone can shed on the subject, thanks!

Minor spoilers for CITW below

Perhaps then UK law doesn't permit it? Just a thought that crossed my mind

Do any roller coasters in the UK which go upside down have lap bars? Just curious as all the ones I've been on have had over the shoulder restraints