coasterverse

Very sad to see, especially when you observe from a distance and see how much potential it had, but inevitable I suppose. It it doesn’t open again, I’ll be excited to see what’s next. What are we thinking? A retheme or a completely new attraction for a future season?

Not even just at the end of last season to be honest - I rode it both at the very start and near the very end and it was in a dire state both times. I really hope it's not "the end of the line" for DBGT - Thorpe really do need a good quality dark ride and the space is plenty big enough for one. Hopefully at the very worst it'll sit SBNO for a while and during a period of investment have the guts ripped out of it and a brand new dark ride installed in its place. As much as the ride itself won't be missed, I personally enjoyed it as a bit of a break from all the other thrill rides - it was a nice change having a dark ride to ride away from all of the coasters.

Sadly, it makes sense. The IP, I believe, was set to expire this year. I’d imagine Thorpe’s focus is 100% on Exodus at the moment so I doubt they’ve even thought about updating it to remove all traces of Derren - and as far as I’m aware even if Thorpe wanted to renew the IP I don’t think Derren wants anything to do with it. I think 2023 will be the year we see it SBNO all season, perhaps for the next couple of seasons, before the park decide what to do with it.

rip https://thorpepark-consultation.com/ 😔 although I guess it doesn't really serve any purpose now considering everything's been green lit.

Can we not bring the black track debate to here as well? It's painful enough on Towers Street 😭

I disagree - I think the Retro Squad rides are pretty obvious that they're only temporary, therefore it doesn't really matter if they look out of place as they're not sticking around forever. At the end of the day, the Retro Squad rides are built to be travelling rides, and Alton Towers have not tried to theme them to the area to hide this fact. Rocky Express however, was built to be a permanent ride. The theme doesn't suit the area, and retheming Rocky Express would be an expensive ordeal as the trains would need to be rethemed and the theming piece in the middle of the ride would also need to be changed. Of course, neither of those things need to be changed but Rocky would stick out like a sore thumb there - and the difference between Rocky and the Retro Squad rides is that at least Alton have the excuse of "They're only temporary, so who cares if it looks out of place?!" Also, almost certainly if Zodiac was taken from Thorpe and redirected to Alton, someone would've spotted it and posted about it. Someone would've spotted it being dismantled and taken out of Thorpe, someone would've spotted it on the back of a truck being hauled half way up the country, or someone would've spotted it arriving at the Alton Christmas event. But they haven't.

Ah yes, because Rocky Express totally wouldn't look out of place next to Rush, Quantum and Vortex...

Don't really see either of those points as too controversial tbh. Whilst I think the TWD is a good coaster and Thorpe having a coaster with a somewhat decent pre-show and pre and post ride theming (the theming on the actual coaster itself leaves much to be desired, but I personally love the engine stall sequence half-way through the coaster experience) is very nice to have as this is an area in which Thorpe tends to fail on. All that being said, the actual ride experience of the coaster is mediocre at best and to be honest I think your point about Black Mirror (and old Slammer site), arcades and TWD (and possibly even Ghost Train once they've decided upon the fate of that) will most likely make up the next site for a new coaster if plans to build on the land behind Swarm Island fail. None of those rides/ride experiences make up the staple that is Thorpe Park's ride/coaster lineup so when the time comes I definitely think that'll be the next spot for a big coaster... because I mean that makes up a huge plot of land and you could chuck something massive in there.

For those who might be interested, Derren's holding an auction for some of his weird and wacky artifacts in his possession... one of which being a doll's mask used for DBGT promotion material. To be honest it's a really cool collector's item and if I was in a financial position to bid on it myself I almost certainly would... but at a guide price of £500-£800, plus 30% auction fees... I reckon I'll be giving it a miss. https://www.wimbledonauctions.co.uk/catalogue/lot/e891afaae936fe6ae80d2c43efebbd55/e562cbe2371c9d8503618e869b5c97ef/derren-brown-the-selected-contents-from-illusionist-de-lot-28/

Thinking of potentially finally experiencing BPB next year. Has anyone been during opening weekend? I assume it's probably very busy, but just wanted an idea of average queue times during opening weekend. Or do you think it'd be better holding off until April and going mid-week?

Well, isn't this a sorry state of affairs! New post on Theme Park Guide showing the sorry state of the DBGT shop on the last day of the season this year... The covered up theming pieces combined with the construction wall (posted above) is really not painting a very positive future for DBGT... could this really be the end of the line?

This is actually really exciting to hear. I never for a second even considered the fact that they might be repurposed - my mind just jumped straight to them being thrown on the scrap heap. Really excited at the possibility of other people being able to enjoy what once was, allowing Canada Creek to live on in some way or another!

It's just not going to happen. Thorpe Park have always had history with Flying Fish - considering it was their very first rollercoaster investment, it makes perfect sense that it should be preserved for as long as possible. Rocky Express is just a generic Mack flat ride that - yes, has been around for a long time - but was never a significant investment to the park, and therefore I can't imagine anyone from the management team really caring about its fate. The area by Wet Wet Wet would benefit much better from a new permanent stage setup than it would a relocation of Rocky Express, especially considering the park's intentions to keep Mardi Gras, Carnival, Oktoberfest and Fright Nights as their staple event lineup. More events means more entertainment, and at the moment the park is seriously lacking a permanent stage setup and the best place for that stage at the moment is looking to be the old Wet Wet Wet location. Alternatively, unlike its other flatride partners from Old Town, Rocky Express requires a hell of a lot more operational headache to move than its counterparts Lumber Jump and Timber Tug Boat. For a start the ride is embedded in the ground unlike the other two which can just be picked up and moved. Additionally, the other two rides are essentially just one unit which makes them super easy to just pick up and relocate. Rocky Express would need to be totally dismantled into multiple different parts, relocated elsewhere, have another hole dug in the ground, rebuilt inside of the hole, add new theming etc. It just doesn't make logistical and financial sense to move it, when they can just get another brand new flat ride and install it elsewhere in the park for significantly less money. More logisitical headaches moving the ride means more people that Thorpe would need to employ to get the ride moved, which brings the cost of the ride relocation up even more. It's not happening. Rocky Express is dead and buried, and will very likely be demolished within the upcoming weeks/months.

I really can't see it being SBNO. As much as it probably makes sense for it to be SBNO or the entire project shelved for something else, I honestly think that the execs at the top of Merlin just simply wouldn't allow it. It was the biggest investment the park's ever made, and for it to be shut down a mere 7 years after opening would be a disaster. My opinion, they'll re-theme it for a few years (probably until it's 10 or some sort of milestone like that) and then cut their losses if it still doesn't garner enough attention. But, in all honesty, I can't see them wanting to pump more money into DBGT at the moment with Exodus, the Colossus retrack and any possible new ride additions come 2024 to support Exodus' launch. I really can't see them wanting to put more money into an old attraction when they could utilize that money elsewhere on something else brand new. Who knows. Maybe we'll see it SBNO, at least for a while, until other investments elsewhere in the park come to fruition.

I'm in two minds about it - on one hand, I'm sure the massive drops would've built up a tonne of speed and would've been incredible (although not very re-rideable as it would've certainly been a one-trick-wonder) - but on the other hand, I've just got a feeling that it would've aged terribly. Advancements in woodies have come along leaps and bounds since 2003, and I feel like Wicker Man came at a perfect time for longevity. I reckon the cross valley coaster, if it did open, would either have already closed and been replaced (or just sbno) by now, or incredibly rough and notoriously Alton's worst coaster.

Seeing as though the Thorpe Park thread went down nicely, thought it might be fun to do one about Alton Towers too. Again, I’ll go first: The original Haunted House wasn’t that great, and people only hold it in such a positive way purely because of nostalgia and if it were to be recreated 1:1 today would be a flop.

Couldn’t imagine this being true considering that Rumba Rapids operates the exact same way - so if Rumba’s allowed to operate with it, Loggers would be allowed too.

Ooooooh that's a good one - I'm a big fan of TWD:TR. It's very creatively well done. The pre-show is good (not great, but nice to have!), the walk to the actual coaster is atmospheric and pretty cool and having a post-ride experience is also crazy cool (especially when the actors are in there!) I can't believe it gets slept on so hard.

It's sad that this is a controversial opinion these days, but I agree - despite all its flaws, on paper it is a really good coaster.

Give me some of your most controversial Thorpe Park opinions. I'll go first... Logger's Leap was a mediocre log flume and the only reason why people miss it is because they're afraid of change.

I wonder if this 'manager' at Alton Towers is @Theme park Fanantic