MattyB

Just returned from my very first Wintertraum event. Was very impressed with the park decoration, and it was busy, but not too busy. We stayed in Charles Lindbergh. Arrived around midday, after some shenanigans with delayed flights and an hour queue for passport control at Cologne airport. Checked in and one of our rooms was ready so we went up and chucked all our luggage in there. Noticed that a FLY train was stopped on the first launch (empty). They started doing test runs as we were walking down from the room. Managed to get a walk on straight away as it just reopened as we entered the park. When we came off, the queue was 40 mins. Managed a back row ride on this, and it was crazy! Did Taron front row in the rain which was a painful experience haha. Had our first go on Mystery Castle - wtf!! This thing is insane. Braved Chiapas in the cold (stayed on and did it twice). Got soaked and had to go back to the hotel to dry off. Did a night ride on Black Mamba and found this way better than the last time I rode it. Thought it was a bit tame originally, but it was hauling in the evening! Fireworks were decent in the evening. Had a better nights sleep this time around (as last time I couldn't get comfortable in the small cabins). All in all was a good trip, got to do the majority of the park, probably should have booked an additional night. Also shout out to the thoosies we met at breakfast (think they were from the midlands). Was great chatting coasters over coffee and bacon!

Booked a visit for over the Xmas period. Can't wait to get back there! Danse Macabre is an amazing attraction!

Happy Halloween!

Been looking at old videos of Chessington back in the 80's/90's as well. These parks had so much character and charm

Thorpe Park 1989 Promo | Thunder River, Phantom Fantasia, Space Station Zero, Farm Fascinating video of Thorpe in 1989.

Epic Universe - Blue Sky - Celestial Park Really interesting Blue Sky concepts for Epic Universe

NEMESIS at Alton Towers Documentary | Building Europe’s First Inverted Coaster Brand new documentary courtesy of Euro Theme Park Archive. Really good!

LIVE from the Blue Carpet! Universal Epic Universe Grand Opening Celebration Live feed starts at 10:45 tonight!

Yeah I think a new gen Intamin log flume would be a good shout. However I would like to see a water coaster at some point in the UK, which would be a UK first. Think a water coaster would work really well at Thorpe. Ghostly Manor looks really good! Think they have done an awesome job.

Looks good! Been wanting to see one of those ART Swings in a UK park now for a while. They look really fun!

NEW "World Premiere" - FULL TOUR Disneyland Paris 2025 New entrance to Studios opened today. Looks pretty decent!

Really cool post I found on Reddit, where a users dad manufactured the original Vampire trains (read the comments for more info). Some awesome pics! [Bat] hand and fabrication of cars at Arrow

Disney and Miral just announced a brand new resort park in Abu Dhabi. Looks like they have gone down a different route and are doing something different to the usual castle park(judging by the concept art) Disney and Miral Announce New Seventh Theme Park Planned for Abu Dhabi Disney Announces Plans for New Theme Park and Resort with Miral in Abu Dhabi

So finally manged to get Hyperia today. First ride was back row, and it was insane! 2nd ride was towards the back. Also did some rides I haven't done in years. Got 5 laps on Flying Fish, did Vortex & Zodiac ( which I immediatley regretted - getting older and lots of spinning do not go hand in hand), Quantum and Rush. Tidal Wave was a godsend today. Also did Swarm, SAW and Nemesis. We ate at Vibes which was very good, and price was reasonable. I also took some travel sickness tablets with me today which made the difference! More thoughts on Hyperia: Was surprised how much you are out of the seat. Didn't think it needed to be much longer, maybe a helix or additional bunny hop. Queue line leaves a lot to be desired, also think they need some sort of screening on the lift motor as its very loud. Surprisingly quite busy. Colossus broke down and was stuck on the lift when we arrived. Assuming it moved to one train operation as the queue was 60mins for a lot of the day. Stealth was out all day.

THE MOST ADVANCED RIDE IN THE UK?! 👀 | Ghostly Manor Construction Update #6 👻

I would expect a lot of the Merlin staff are probably eyeing up a potential move over to Universal at some point. Considering the redundancies the company is going through, I wouldn't be surprised.

Post from the BBC - Bond and Paddington set to star at Universal park They mention Bond, Paddington and LoTR which is interesting.... Also says that Harry Potter will not be making an appearance

Much excitement!!!!!

Found an interesting YouTube channel by Disney Imagineering. Latest video here: We Call It Imagineering | Let's Ride

So didn't manage to get Hyperia today 😔 Had a surprisingly smooth ride on SAW. Nemesis is awesome and has aged like a fine wine. Did Stealth and Swarm, had a Burger King and a pint, and then went home. I do feel for the park, they have had issues with their last two installations (Derron and Hyperia).

Fingers crossed they can get the train off and reopen for tomorrow 😬

Damn I'm there tomorrow. Not looking good. 😔

Just been checking the app. Does the park not have quiet periods anymore? Just seen Colossus at 70 min, and the other coasters around 40-60 min.

Damn haven't been to the park for a couple of years now, and have booked for Thursday. Hope its up and running

Just a post about some Thorpe Park history some people may not know. In the early 2000's, the park installed its first fast track system, which was very similar to the ones used at Disney. You would put your park ticket in the machine and receive a printed fast track ticket. The system was free to use, and ran for about 1-2 seasons until they decided to follow Universal and charge for the service The machines were ripped out but you can still see remnants of the system today. Tidal Wave: The steel structure with the red roof covering the F&B kiosk was the original covering for the fast track machines Nemesis Inferno had an actual area for the machines included as part of the design. You can see this to the right of the queue line entrance, where the retail kiosk is now located. The ones for Colossus was located where the F&B unit at the bottom of the hill (near Samurai) is now located. Loggers Leap also had machines installed, and these were located next to the entrance to the queue line. Hope this was some fun bits of information from the parks history!