ML27

Surely they would have questioned it whilst the maze was being built? Considering the amount of involvement and NDAs signed. It’s hard to imagine they didn’t know, but it’s still possible.

Thorpe overusing the word vibes is very cringey.

I just feel like Thorpe will want to try and hold onto the maze or if not the maze. The I.P at least, it’s original and it “worked” for them. You make good points which I hadn’t thought about, I just assumed they would want to hold onto it for as long as possible.

Not too keen on them preserving creak freak massacre for just this season. Scare mazes shouldn’t prevent them from cracking on, should just close old town and keep it closed. Feels like they will want to keep it for a few seasons, so should try to move to a new location this year.

Tbf, I wouldn’t be suprised if they installed fun fair rides this year with their new Carnival Event as suggested in the survey.

Surely can’t just rely on events the next few years until Exodus… can they??

Last day of the consultation today!

On that same survey, it said about “fun fair rides”. Wouldn’t be surprised if we seem them next year and could market it as new rides. I really hope Exodus isn’t the next ride investment. 2 years is still 2 years…

Ride Rater went to the online consultation and a few good points were made. Full credit to them, article linked below. “ Poulter added that the removal of existing rollercoasters was not part of planning for the new ride, but that details of the removal of the retired Slammer ride would likely be released prior to the start of the 2022 season.” Good to see that slammer should be removed by the time this new area opens. Much needed and also opens up the possibility to more attractions in that area. This also hints at the possibility that the Old Town Burger King area could still be refreshed to fit in at a later date under a different planning application before the coaster opens. “ Poulter said that Thorpe Park’s attendances had reduced in the past decade, an issue made worse when new investments were not made in the Surrey attraction. He added that that the theme park was not looking to return to the 2-million-plus attendances seen previously. “The objective is not to return to the high points of 2009-2011,” he said.“ Again, good to see them being honest with themselves about the situation. It’s sad to see they are not aiming high anymore. link : Blog Post

I’m worried this coaster won’t be themed. I’m already sensing an amusement park styled area for this coaster. Merlin are clever with theming but the plaza isn’t big enough to have Swarm styled theming. The coaster has a very messy layout to have a wickerman/ swarm styled interaction. Again, I’m not too clued up if they can change exteriors of buildings to retheme them without planning permission.

Unfortunately not, positioned perfectly behind Burger King tho!

I can’t help but think how random the Burger King and Toilet Block will look with that semi western theme. That’s Thorpe tho, a mix of the old and new.

That post was a great read! You’ve made some great points. I think every enthusiast should try to take that view point and see how they feel. It’s a clever coaster for the space. I wonder once the surprise has settled, everyone will grow to like it… I mean everyone will on opening day. I think the fact of the matter is that the U.K. does not have the space to have an out and back coaster. If they were to build an out and back coaster from old town to swarm island. It would be logistically challenging and also take up a lot of space for one coaster. Leaving the island and area next to swarm island free is a great idea. It means potentially we get two different coaster types than one big hyper. Within the next decade, will we get two major coasters…..

Could it have spinning cars? Like The ride to happiness? my opinion on this ride is pretty much opposite to all of yours. I loved it at first but when I see people picking into it, my love has became less. There was no space for an out and back coaster, you can’t close a public footpath easy, and they wouldn’t get support for that. Expectations were high because it’s thorpe and haven’t had a huge investment. I still feel like Merlin are holding the wallet tightly, I can see there was a budget.

It’s clear they are now going down the Older Family/ Thrill route. Hopefully, this is the start of a clear direction. Still all could change and questionable if the thrill route is profitable especially after the loss of 2 family rides in order for this to happen.

*Sea Life Weymouth In regards to Creek Freak, I loved it but I’m against any theme-park holding back development because they want to keep it. I can see it being moved, but I wouldn’t know where due to lack of indoor space (Thorpe Farm would be ideal 😉). If not the brand could be kept and changed to an outdoor maze. If not, might go back to fright nights where mazes are constantly updated.

Hoping this means it’s a thrill coaster, not a family 🤞🤞

The “here we go” Gif was posted as soon as theme park Twitter found out… So its pretty likely, it’s related. I saw a video (Merlins Beard I think…) “winds in the east” = east =old town. Think of that, what you will…

They are waiting for a new pump, they ordered one but they received the wrong one

This maybe shocking to some people but I personally feel like Thorpe are starting to come to terms with the branding and direction they want to go towards. A modern simplistic experience, in the main communal areas (e.g Dome) with high quality themed experiences else where. - If you want to go to a land and experience an alien invasion (you ride the swarm). - If you want to experience the horrors of torture, (you ride Saw) - If you want to get lost in a futuristic high tech confusing labyrinth (black mirror) The modern additions don’t coexist with each other, just singular rides/attractions you go to which provide a themed experience. Clearly they aren’t a theme-park, black mirror and DBGT and Colossus are pretty much next to each other and have nothing to do with each other. if they become a park which has a range of different experiences and focus less on making sure everything fits in with each other (e.g bin the areas) then that’s quite exciting. There’s not many U.K. parks with a range of types of attractions each individually with a different theme, that’s a good thing. Yes it needs to be an all round start to finish experience. They are getting there with that, I just think the direction is more complexed then deciding whether it’s a family park or teen park.

It’s almost like he saw this forum with the “areas on signage” question! Areas- I kinda get his answer to that, most people won’t care about the areas, they just want to get on the ride they want. It’s not like the areas are themed either! Should just drop the areas now in my opinion. Branding - I personally love the new branding. More modern and futuristic and associable with Thorpe park rather then the previous standard blue cladding thing... or even the tacky font thing years back.. Tidal Wave- At first the removal of the rusty ball made me confused as it was a great theming piece. Looking back at last seasons photos, it didn’t fill as much space as I thought. It was old, decayed and possibly getting a bit dangerous. new theming is a quite clever idea, shame boat isn’t a little bigger. Looks a bit too small to me. Overall: nice infrastructure improvements and nice constant refresh of stuff each season.

I pretty much agree with you there, you touched upon this but indoor queuing is not much different to queuing inside a shopping centre. However, I think/hope at the Merlin parks for stations like saw. I hope they make people wait outside until it’s clear to board in the station. I don’t see much harm in that, if people are in and out of the building and not lingering. Indoor attractions such as dark rides should not open, I don’t agree with Blackpool opening their indoor attractions whilst all the other parks are keeping them closed. It’s unfair and at the end of the day, dangerous and irresponsible.

Vampire at Chessington is open... maybe at least 50% of the attraction is outdoors it’s allowed to open? So including the actual track, it would be more then 50%..... Not sure tho..

Your not really meant be going onsite at all, It’s private property and that video goes past the entrance gates. Not the best of influences, everyone’s gonna try and go in and scale the gates to have a peek 😂 I’ve seen many people driving down to go and have a look at the van..... it’s a bit strange tbf I don’t get it. Just wait a week or two and see it then 😂

If they stay away from the different park areas from now on and separate them by intensity, then it’s no bother. I personally think the entrance area is getting better, they’ve modernised the signage and painted the security huts in the slightly new blue and orange branding. They just need to get rid of the temporary marquees and repave the entrance area... I don’t like how simple the new WWTP truck is, like the red speakers which used to be on there are gone but I suppose it’s one less thing to get vandalised.