Stuntman707

Hi,
Long time lurker, 1st time poster.
Excuse the long post, there is an on-topic observation at the bottom
TP has been a big part of my life, from visiting the park in the late 80's to throughout the 90's.  I then worked there for 15 years (2000 - 2014), in a variety of departments.
Retail - some of the best times of my life (I've made life long friends from working in this department)
Park Development and Planning - one of the most rewarding jobs I have had to date (see below)
Facilities Management/Engineering - this is where my journey ended
 
Park Development and Planning - I was the project lead for the land expansion project, and was involved in some of the early design/planning activities on SAW The Ride, SAW Alive, Kobra (CWoA), The Swarm, and an early Ghost Train concept. Whilst working in this department I learnt some fascinating history about the park.  For example, did you know when the park was being constructed in the 1970's, RMC flew in an Imagineer from the States to help design the entrance and car park? 
 
Anyways, back on topic...
 
I visited the RTP's for the 1st time (since leaving TP) last year and noticed that the overall quality has dropped across all 3 parks (CWoA probably was my favourite park out of the visits last year TBH).  I noticed that at AT, unless you like roller coasters or kids rides, there actually isn't that much there.  Duel should have been removed and replaced, or even reverted back to its former scary self years ago, and Hex is a shadow of its former self.  I have never liked the Rapids since they removed the old boats.   
 
TP - DBGT - Ok this was not what I had originally envisioned for this plot of land.  I found it to be an interesting concept, however it was not delivered well. The queue lines design (or lack of) makes it one of the worst (if not the worst) queues I have ever been in.  I strangely found IACGMOH to be quite an enjoyable experience.   I think TP are now in a weird position where they have got to develop two large areas of the park - the island next to Swarm (Island A) or Loggers.  Which one do you do first?  Island A needs that development to remove the dead end at Swarm (Parks should never have dead ends, they need to be free flowing), or do you develop Loggers which is a dead corner of the park? Is the investment there?
 
CWoA seems to have flown under the radar a bit, and appears to have missed a lot of the Merlin clusterf**ks that have happened over the years.  However, the drop tower replacing Rameses is again lacklustre and screams of "cant be bothered to develop this park properly"...
 
Which leads me onto why I think these parks are suffering:
 
The Smiler accident - I should imagine the insurance premiums across the UK parks are now extremely high, effecting large scale investments As far as I am aware, Merlin did not operate any theme parks until acquiring Legoland and the Tussuad's Group.  I've noticed that all of the Merlin investments to date have either been lacklustre or poorly delivered (Ok Wickerman was good, however not too sure a pre-show was required - even though the show is good).  I think there is a lack of interest within the company (I found this out when I was working  at TP, and was shocked to find so many senior people not interested in the industry - a lot of them had never been to a Disney park... Its just a job to them) If you look at what parks around the world are announcing as new attractions, Merlin's UK offering is waaayyy behind everyone else.   One of the most heated discussions I had whilst working at TP was surrounding the lack of a decent family zone/area.  My argument was that parks such as Six Flags and Cedar Point (parks TP tries to emulate) all have decent (ish) kid friendly/family friendly areas. The answer from management was a return on the investment would not be possible as "how would they sell it"? Hopefully when (if) Paramount Park gets built, it will give Merlin a kick up the backside in getting there act together. Just my two cents...
M

Definitely agree about lack of fun/relaxing rides - when I’m at Thorpe after I’ve eaten I’m very limited as to what I can go on due to pretty bad motion sickness (which I take meds for).  Chessington have the animals and sea life and more gentle rides which are perfect when digesting food!
 
I know this is a post about Thorpe but going back to Chessie I recently took my younger sister and my 3 eldest nephews over the course of the past 3 weekends and they loved it - yes it helped that they are 8, 7 and 5 years old but even my niece and I enjoyed it - and we usually just do the coasters/Rameses/log flume.  One day we did Toadies Crazy Cars 3 times and still had a fab time.  Chessie is just more relaxed and for me at this point in time, a nicer atmosphere than Thorpe.  Heck I even enjoyed Howloween last year more than Fright Nights.
 
@Mer I’ll go with you if you want!

Halloween event fans be like:

TBF, given last year’s travesty at Fright Nights, I can see why. Let’s hope they do a better event this year.

I hate Thorpe Park but I suppose I'm still gonna go xoxox

Alton Towers: STARGAZING PODS, WICKERMAN, DUNGEONS, CUCKOO RE-THEME?
Chessington: CAROUSEL, TIGER ROCK + AREA RE-THEME, GRUFFALO, ROTB, NEW ROADS
Legoland: CASTLE HOTEL, NINJAGO RIDE, MAD HOUSE, JUNIOR COASTER
Thorpe Park: used flats, twd:tr, half day operational dbgt:rotd

Some short snippets of the new Big One soundtrack, sounds great and has that trance/club style feel to it, from the short part heard I like. Much better than IMAsnore!
 
 
 

Merlin should just sell Thorpe if they don't want to invest in it any more. Preferably while it still has value before they completely run it into the ground.

Alton Towers: STARGAZING PODS, WICKERMAN, DUNGEONS, CUCKOO RE-THEME?
Chessington: CAROUSEL, TIGER ROCK + AREA RE-THEME, GRUFFALO, ROTB, NEW ROADS
Legoland: CASTLE HOTEL, NINJAGO RIDE, MAD HOUSE, JUNIOR COASTER
Thorpe Park: used flats, twd:tr, half day operational dbgt:rotd

Alton Towers: STARGAZING PODS, WICKERMAN, DUNGEONS, CUCKOO RE-THEME?
Chessington: CAROUSEL, TIGER ROCK + AREA RE-THEME, GRUFFALO, ROTB, NEW ROADS
Legoland: CASTLE HOTEL, NINJAGO RIDE, MAD HOUSE, JUNIOR COASTER
Thorpe Park: used flats, twd:tr, half day operational dbgt:rotd

Hello guys, 
 
Been a regular of the forums for many years but decided to ask the burning question this morning... just what has happened to the park? 
 
Thorpe Park a few years ago was arguably the best park in the UK, it was going from strength to strength in terms of investments and then all of sudden we get IACGMOOH, bouncezilla, the year of the walking dead etc 
 
They even pulled The Big Top off the Fright Nights bill which from what I understand was a favourite by many
 
I assume 2020 will be just as poor in regards to the parks line up / investments as no planning has been put through for a coaster or even a new flat ride...  
 
Any information regarding the reasons behind the decline of the park would be interesting to hear... 

Why does it have a rectum? 🤣

Pretty much confirmed now that they are building a Colossus clone.
 
 

Agreed. If the attraction used physical sets and scares that weren't just through a VR lens then that would radically make this thing more fun.
I think what makes this thing so un reridable is that all the scares in the VR section are always gonna be the same thing, if you have rode this ride then you know exactly whats gonna happen and when its going to happen, ruining any tension or fear to be had. Scare mazes are lucky in a sense with actors being variables. Actors tend to make every run through different and interesting, something that the Ghost Train lacks IMO.

They should cut their losses, close it and turn it into a real ghost train / scare maze. After doing a handful of VR attractions now, I'm not convinced it belongs in a theme park. I get more thrills and immersion from really well produced theming, artwork, lighting, effects, audio & animatronics. Save the money for a long overdue coaster. It may be the first time next year Paulton's start bringing some competition to Thorpe with Tornado Springs being more thrill focused from the predominantly family friendly park. Simply put, new coasters draw in the crowds and last longer than VR attractions like Galactica or DBGT:ROTD. (And they don't take up to 12pm to get them operational!)

This is exactly what I think it should be! A real ghost train.

Why does it have a rectum? 🤣

Good on you for being positive! Far more generous than I'd have been! 😂

So... I went on this for the first time on Friday and was simply astonished by it. Astonished that somebody, somewhere, signed off a huge sum of money to build this. I went into this with an open mind and not knowing what to expect, but it was quite simply, terrible. I believe that the ride has already been here for a couple of years, I can't see any way that this thing lasts longer than maybe another couple, even with enhancements and changes, the concept is just poor. They'd be better off ripping down whats inside and making this into a scare-maze. 

New Tidal Wave horror IP retheme:
 
 

The work on Loggers is only for Fright Nights.

Maybe it's a 14 year old horror game IP? https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0488536/
Cheap and no longer relevant, just how Thorpe likes their IP's. Like a bargain, knock off Resident Evil.

Only visited Thorpe 3 times this season and went today - it was a nightmare.  When we go we always leave to get there later than opening in hope that the majority of the bag search is done and this is usually the case.  Not today - arrived and it was heaving to the point where I had a panic attack and spoke to a staff member whilst crying like an idiot - credit to him as I explained that I have anxiety and RAP so he asked to see the RAP card and then sent us down a different queue with about 3 people in.
 
Got into the park - Tidal Wave shut, Inferno shut, Stealth shut, Walking Dead shut and the queue to get RAP was ridiculous - we walked around for about 40 mins (didn’t get on anything as the queues were pretty long) then went back to RAP queue which had got even longer.  So yeah, first time I’ve visited Thorpe and only used the toilet - my niece and I decided we’d have a better time going shopping so we walked an hour to Staines.
 
I don’t like to be negative but today just made me dislike Thorpe even more - my first visit this year I didn’t enjoy, the last 2 were ok but today was just terrible.  I’m grateful that the guy at the queue for security let us go into a quicker queue but the whole place just feels shambolic at the moment.  Massive queues for bag searches, massive queues for the poor sods buying day tickets, massive queue to get RAP.  Yes I get that at this time of year it will be busy but surely the park can manage the queues a bit better?  More staff doing bag checks, more ticket kiosks open, maybe split the RAP queue between where it is now and Island help.  Oh and the cash machine at the front now charges you to take money out which is nice ?
 
If I were a day guest paying full price (if anyone even does) or BOGOF I would be narked - having to spend a large chunk of time just to purchase a ticket is a joke.
I fully agree with bag checks but they just need more people doing them to speed up the process - the queue today for bag checks at an estimate must have been at least an hour (probably closer to 90 mins) as the queue was actually coming out of the queue and snaking around.
 
I used to enjoy visiting Thorpe and maybe I’ve just visited the place too many times over the past 6 years but it just feels meh - no new rides this year - the confirmed loss of Loggers and now Saw Alive and in return we get an inflatable obstacle course which frankly looks hideous, naff gaming events and a pay for escape maze.
 
I love the rides at Thorpe (most of them) so I’m in no way slating them but the place just doesn’t have the same feeling that it used to - would love to see it turn around and I get that a lot of people will feel differently but for me recently the main enjoyment I get out of a day there is spending time with my niece 

Hopefully Merlin ditch the short term profit making for long term prosperity. Surely after seeing what Europa Park are building, big new attractions when done right bring in the visitors. They can charge a premium, because the quality matches the price and the demand is there.

Food outlets and kiosks around the park (but not inside the Dome) now serve Illy coffee, from freshly ground beans. No more disgusting Nescafé!
 
Also pleased to say that most of the Coca Cola Freestyle machines offer water for free. Goes through the same filter and chiller as the other drinks so tastes great.

I find it funny they're asking the GP for ideas. Just sums up Thorpe right now - they're so undecided about what to do with the place.