coasterverse

I also visited press night this year - will probably make a video on it at some point but just need a place to yap to compose my thoughts so feel like this is a great place to do so.

Rebel Ball
It's... fine? Very awkward, but fine. Events are really the magnum opus of Launchpad and Fright Nights has definitely given it some much needed purpose. It's nice to have a bit of a central hub for Fright Nights and Launchpad works quite well for it. The stage should be a permanent thing year-round as well imo as it really does transform that space, but that's a whole other conversation.

Lucifer's Lair
Now this feels very, very awkward this year. Perhaps it would've worked better at Launchpad and kinda had it revolving between the dance shows at certain points of the day? No stage setup, no real prescence - and especially during the press event where Ghost Train was closed, it felt very dark and almost out of place? No fire, no real lighting or anything from what I can remember. It kinda just feels like having roaming actors based around the food vendors rather than a scarezone. I think Thorpe could've done away with this this year to be completely honest. If it's planned to be the same scenario again in 2027, it's better to just can it imo.

The Crows
I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on this, but think its new space is really nice. It's really well themed, but obviously much smaller than the old site where Tenement is for this year. From a money making standpoint of course it makes sense for The Crows to be downscaled in place of an upcharge attraction - I really can't fault Thorpe for that. The Crows are still as impactful as ever and they've definitely made the most of the space under Inferno - much moreso than Deaths Doors ever did. As disappointing as it is on a whole to have one of the strongest things in recent years at Fright Nights be downscaled like this (I still think The Crows need a proper maze), I'm just glad that they've returned again this year and I really hope they continue to return indefinitely.

Purgatory Town
Again, this feels pretty awkward. It's nice to have an open scarezone for free interaction with scare actors, but this year compared to last year you can really tell that cuts have been made. Last year there was various bits of theming scattered throughout Big Easy Boulevard... this year, not so much. I get a lot of the theming last year was moreso to do with IT 4D (which obviously hasn't returned for this year's event, so makes sense to no longer have the Derry theming in BEB), but none of the theming has been updated to be in keeping with the new Conjuring 4D experience this year even. Something as simple as low-laying fog on the ground and a few hay bales would transform this area entirely.

Trailers
Really, really needs to go. I was a fan of Trailers in its first year, but became real stale real quick. No amount of new scenes will fix the real issue with this maze - the size. It's quite a big footprint, but even so, they're trying to pack waaaaaaay too much into it. You can take in the whole room in each scene the second you step into it, therefore you can easily see where the actors will lurk and jump out at you which makes this maze not even remotely scary. I don't think I jumped a single time this year, despite the actors best efforts. The new scenes stick out like a sore thumb too, because all the old scenes look really bloody tired. If you're going to add new scenes into the maze, spruce up the old ones too. A lick of paint here, a few bits of prop rejigging there. By all means keep the scenes the same if you really have to, but at least move things around to keep things interesting for returning guests. The weakest maze at this year's event - and not even just by a little bit either.

Stitches
Still pretty good, but missing a few elements this year by the looks of things. On my runthrough at least, the curtains were closed where the old bungee actor was - and there was a distinct lack of smoke/haze throughout the attraction. I say it every time, but it's more of an eerie maze for me personally rather than an overly scary one. A good maze, but not one that I would be particularly interested in queuing any significant amount of time for.

Survival Games
The second year of the linear version of the maze as opposed to the freeflow maze when it first debuted. Last year Survival Games felt super sloppy and disjointed - lots of the freeflow parts of the maze were still strewn around so it was easy to get lost and accidentally skip parts of the linear maze. This year it feels like it's been tightened a hell of a lot. I didn't get lost once, and the actors inside there are still not opposed to getting hands on whenever the opportunity arises. A bit of an unpopular opinion from me I think, but I personally prefer the medical storyline of new-era SG than I did the social media platform. The social media storyline was hideously cringe and a blatant Hunger Games ripoff, whereas the new version is a lot more typically horror maze themed. Granted, swapping out something unique for something generic is usually a bad thing, but I think it works in their favour in this particular case. I do think Survival Games is nearing the end of its life now though - again, it's a massive space that unfortunately is quite underutilised in this version of the maze. As a freeflow maze it was fine, but does a linear maze really need a space this big? Especially when for the most part the theming inside of there is quite sparce. If it wasn't for the actors making this experience much more intense, it would probably be even weaker than Trailers. Plus it's also a shame to have the cages and splitting up of your group being removed - that was the highlight of Survival Games for me when I first experienced it.

Deadbeat
Ugh. I feel like I'm in the minority here when I say that I just do not like Deadbeat at all. It's a unique concept and the theming and scale of some of the rooms are impressive, but that's about where my compliments end for this one. Most of the rooms feel like copy-paste duplicates of other rooms previous, and the story is super tenuous. I don't know if Fright Nights have some sort of ban on actors using bungee cords this year, but the crawling actor on the ceiling also wasn't there in my runthrough which was disappointing, because again that was one of the best bits of the maze in previous years. Unfortunately as one of the newest mazes at the park I'm sure it'll continue to appear for at least another 3/4 years, but I wouldn't be opposed to it going entirely. Not a fan of this one whatsoever.

Tenement
Really, really bloody good. Packed with really cool illusions and effects and the usage of the torches and how they flicker and turn off at various points in the experience is really cool as well. Using audio and lighting triggers (very Halloween Horror Nights influenced, I see you Thorpe Park!!) as opposed to actors adlibbing their lines in this maze is really sweet to see as well and is really well done. The actors weren't 100% on the ball with the lines/timing on my runthroughs... but obviously this was at press night and before the event even began, so I'm certain as the event progresses this will no longer be an issue. I'd imagine the actors are kind of learning on the job with this one rather than being able to fully rehearse it in sufficient time. The exterior absolutely suuuuuuucks though, don't get me wrong. An attempt was made to theme the outside with a scrim, but to be honest it looks really tacky and I think I would've just preferred nothing at all rather than a half-assed inbetween thing. Maybe they're working on a better exterior like the one utilised over at Stitches to be implemented later on in the event - but even if not for this year, I hope we see something like that for next year's event when it inevitably returns. If there's still no proper exterior this time next year, it's just blatant laziness. It's a technologically ambitious effort from Thorpe Park and inevitably had its fair share of hiccups on the leadup to the event as a result, so I'd imagine no time was left to construct a better looking exterior (or to put a ceiling inside of the maze - being able to look up and see the roof of the tent is kinda immersion breaking too). But thankfully what it lacks in exterior theming and a lack of ceiling inside, it makes up for with its great effects, illusions and scares. By far the strongest maze at Thorpe Park (and probably my favourite maze I've ever done at the park!) and I think has significantly better staying power than mazes like Trailers where its age has clearly gotten the better of it.

I didn't get a chance to experience the new Creature Campus show or Conjuring 4D experience so far this year, but hopefully I find some time to check it out as some point this season.
With the new ents company fully taking over Fright Nights this year, you can really tell which areas feel lacking compared to others. Some areas are really high quality and some areas are the total opposite - opposed to previous years at Fright Nights where everything was sort of just 'alright'. A pretty good event on the whole, but certainly a lot of questionable decisions were made this year where the park kinda just threw everything into the pot when in reality some cuts probably should've been made (such as Lucifer's Lair) and reinvested elsewhere. Sometimes less is more, and I would much rather have not as many attractions but have them all be high quality and actually adding something to the event, rather than a few heavy hitters with some totally mediocre things thrown into the mix.

I also visited press night this year - will probably make a video on it at some point but just need a place to yap to compose my thoughts so feel like this is a great place to do so.

Rebel Ball
It's... fine? Very awkward, but fine. Events are really the magnum opus of Launchpad and Fright Nights has definitely given it some much needed purpose. It's nice to have a bit of a central hub for Fright Nights and Launchpad works quite well for it. The stage should be a permanent thing year-round as well imo as it really does transform that space, but that's a whole other conversation.

Lucifer's Lair
Now this feels very, very awkward this year. Perhaps it would've worked better at Launchpad and kinda had it revolving between the dance shows at certain points of the day? No stage setup, no real prescence - and especially during the press event where Ghost Train was closed, it felt very dark and almost out of place? No fire, no real lighting or anything from what I can remember. It kinda just feels like having roaming actors based around the food vendors rather than a scarezone. I think Thorpe could've done away with this this year to be completely honest. If it's planned to be the same scenario again in 2027, it's better to just can it imo.

The Crows
I've seen a lot of mixed opinions on this, but think its new space is really nice. It's really well themed, but obviously much smaller than the old site where Tenement is for this year. From a money making standpoint of course it makes sense for The Crows to be downscaled in place of an upcharge attraction - I really can't fault Thorpe for that. The Crows are still as impactful as ever and they've definitely made the most of the space under Inferno - much moreso than Deaths Doors ever did. As disappointing as it is on a whole to have one of the strongest things in recent years at Fright Nights be downscaled like this (I still think The Crows need a proper maze), I'm just glad that they've returned again this year and I really hope they continue to return indefinitely.

Purgatory Town
Again, this feels pretty awkward. It's nice to have an open scarezone for free interaction with scare actors, but this year compared to last year you can really tell that cuts have been made. Last year there was various bits of theming scattered throughout Big Easy Boulevard... this year, not so much. I get a lot of the theming last year was moreso to do with IT 4D (which obviously hasn't returned for this year's event, so makes sense to no longer have the Derry theming in BEB), but none of the theming has been updated to be in keeping with the new Conjuring 4D experience this year even. Something as simple as low-laying fog on the ground and a few hay bales would transform this area entirely.

Trailers
Really, really needs to go. I was a fan of Trailers in its first year, but became real stale real quick. No amount of new scenes will fix the real issue with this maze - the size. It's quite a big footprint, but even so, they're trying to pack waaaaaaay too much into it. You can take in the whole room in each scene the second you step into it, therefore you can easily see where the actors will lurk and jump out at you which makes this maze not even remotely scary. I don't think I jumped a single time this year, despite the actors best efforts. The new scenes stick out like a sore thumb too, because all the old scenes look really bloody tired. If you're going to add new scenes into the maze, spruce up the old ones too. A lick of paint here, a few bits of prop rejigging there. By all means keep the scenes the same if you really have to, but at least move things around to keep things interesting for returning guests. The weakest maze at this year's event - and not even just by a little bit either.

Stitches
Still pretty good, but missing a few elements this year by the looks of things. On my runthrough at least, the curtains were closed where the old bungee actor was - and there was a distinct lack of smoke/haze throughout the attraction. I say it every time, but it's more of an eerie maze for me personally rather than an overly scary one. A good maze, but not one that I would be particularly interested in queuing any significant amount of time for.

Survival Games
The second year of the linear version of the maze as opposed to the freeflow maze when it first debuted. Last year Survival Games felt super sloppy and disjointed - lots of the freeflow parts of the maze were still strewn around so it was easy to get lost and accidentally skip parts of the linear maze. This year it feels like it's been tightened a hell of a lot. I didn't get lost once, and the actors inside there are still not opposed to getting hands on whenever the opportunity arises. A bit of an unpopular opinion from me I think, but I personally prefer the medical storyline of new-era SG than I did the social media platform. The social media storyline was hideously cringe and a blatant Hunger Games ripoff, whereas the new version is a lot more typically horror maze themed. Granted, swapping out something unique for something generic is usually a bad thing, but I think it works in their favour in this particular case. I do think Survival Games is nearing the end of its life now though - again, it's a massive space that unfortunately is quite underutilised in this version of the maze. As a freeflow maze it was fine, but does a linear maze really need a space this big? Especially when for the most part the theming inside of there is quite sparce. If it wasn't for the actors making this experience much more intense, it would probably be even weaker than Trailers. Plus it's also a shame to have the cages and splitting up of your group being removed - that was the highlight of Survival Games for me when I first experienced it.

Deadbeat
Ugh. I feel like I'm in the minority here when I say that I just do not like Deadbeat at all. It's a unique concept and the theming and scale of some of the rooms are impressive, but that's about where my compliments end for this one. Most of the rooms feel like copy-paste duplicates of other rooms previous, and the story is super tenuous. I don't know if Fright Nights have some sort of ban on actors using bungee cords this year, but the crawling actor on the ceiling also wasn't there in my runthrough which was disappointing, because again that was one of the best bits of the maze in previous years. Unfortunately as one of the newest mazes at the park I'm sure it'll continue to appear for at least another 3/4 years, but I wouldn't be opposed to it going entirely. Not a fan of this one whatsoever.

Tenement
Really, really bloody good. Packed with really cool illusions and effects and the usage of the torches and how they flicker and turn off at various points in the experience is really cool as well. Using audio and lighting triggers (very Halloween Horror Nights influenced, I see you Thorpe Park!!) as opposed to actors adlibbing their lines in this maze is really sweet to see as well and is really well done. The actors weren't 100% on the ball with the lines/timing on my runthroughs... but obviously this was at press night and before the event even began, so I'm certain as the event progresses this will no longer be an issue. I'd imagine the actors are kind of learning on the job with this one rather than being able to fully rehearse it in sufficient time. The exterior absolutely suuuuuuucks though, don't get me wrong. An attempt was made to theme the outside with a scrim, but to be honest it looks really tacky and I think I would've just preferred nothing at all rather than a half-assed inbetween thing. Maybe they're working on a better exterior like the one utilised over at Stitches to be implemented later on in the event - but even if not for this year, I hope we see something like that for next year's event when it inevitably returns. If there's still no proper exterior this time next year, it's just blatant laziness. It's a technologically ambitious effort from Thorpe Park and inevitably had its fair share of hiccups on the leadup to the event as a result, so I'd imagine no time was left to construct a better looking exterior (or to put a ceiling inside of the maze - being able to look up and see the roof of the tent is kinda immersion breaking too). But thankfully what it lacks in exterior theming and a lack of ceiling inside, it makes up for with its great effects, illusions and scares. By far the strongest maze at Thorpe Park (and probably my favourite maze I've ever done at the park!) and I think has significantly better staying power than mazes like Trailers where its age has clearly gotten the better of it.

I didn't get a chance to experience the new Creature Campus show or Conjuring 4D experience so far this year, but hopefully I find some time to check it out as some point this season.
With the new ents company fully taking over Fright Nights this year, you can really tell which areas feel lacking compared to others. Some areas are really high quality and some areas are the total opposite - opposed to previous years at Fright Nights where everything was sort of just 'alright'. A pretty good event on the whole, but certainly a lot of questionable decisions were made this year where the park kinda just threw everything into the pot when in reality some cuts probably should've been made (such as Lucifer's Lair) and reinvested elsewhere. Sometimes less is more, and I would much rather have not as many attractions but have them all be high quality and actually adding something to the event, rather than a few heavy hitters with some totally mediocre things thrown into the mix.

I went on the behind the scenes tour a couple years back and allegedly Thorpe never wanted the fake shop in the retheme because the illusion was already done in the previous iteration, but the guys in charge of the refurb wanted to keep it - so that's what ended up happening. Kept the ending to appease the creatives for the first year (or two I can't remember how long it lasted for) before being removed once it was out of the limelight as the park's newest attraction.

I've seen videos of them testing it in the morning, mind you... so never say never.

Personally I'd like them to add a new ending to the attraction - because as much as the 'say it, see it, sorted' ending is brilliant - I feel as though it does need one final scare. I thought one final jumpscare after a bit of comedic relief was brilliant because the guests guards were totally let down at that point, but I would be very very surprised if we saw any additions or changes to this attraction before it goes forever.

I was pretty certain we wouldn't see Ghost Train come back again this year (tbf I say that every year... unfortunately I do think its on borrowed time at this point), but with Rumba closing and no replacement attraction in the pipeline for the foreseeable future by the looks of things, I think it's pretty safe for now. Once the Rumba replacement is open though, I definitely do think Ghost Train will be the plot of land Thorpe will be eyeing up next.

Thorpe - just don't build a coaster there please. I know it's daunting, but give a dark ride another crack when the time comes - I beg. Learn from your mistakes and go for something more traditional this time.

I think the whole project was a shame really. They tried something different and have a great themed show building but it just has never worked and retheming it to ghost train or anything else would have never saved it. It’s demised has been written since 2016.
 
It would have been 10 years next year since its opening and it wouldn’t surprise me after 10 years that they think it’s ok to scrap it.
 
Thorpe have just got rid of all SBNO rides, so it will be sad seeing a massive one hidden in a building again. I’d rather have it open 

Wouldn't even remotely be surprised if this was the outcome (even as potentially one of Ghost Train's very few genuine fans) - I think its days were numbered when they stopped running the fakeout finale and just chucked ride staff in front of it to guide guests in the other direction instead of bringing it back or at the very least redecorating the fakeout finale room to be something different so that the original exit route is retained even if the fakeout was cut.
 
I said at the start of the season that I reckon Ghost Train had maybe 2 seasons left in it at most. I will genuinely be sad to see it go - but even more so if it goes without a plan for its future. It may be a bad attraction on paper, but I'd rather take something rather than nothing any day of the week. I just hope that whatever comes next isn't a demolishment of the building and another coaster built there.
 
Thorpe are crying out for a good dark ride - I love the Ghost Train building and is definitely sizeable enough to fit something else in there - the only issue would be getting the motion platform out and the new ride system in. There's many more much more appropriate locations for a new coaster when the time comes. For the love of Christ keep it as a dark ride, but do it more traditionally this time.
 
I'd love to have seen how DBGT could've gone if it weren't for the VR gimmick and Derren had been given full creative control...

Wouldn't even remotely be surprised if this was the outcome (even as potentially one of Ghost Train's very few genuine fans) - I think its days were numbered when they stopped running the fakeout finale and just chucked ride staff in front of it to guide guests in the other direction instead of bringing it back or at the very least redecorating the fakeout finale room to be something different so that the original exit route is retained even if the fakeout was cut.
 
I said at the start of the season that I reckon Ghost Train had maybe 2 seasons left in it at most. I will genuinely be sad to see it go - but even more so if it goes without a plan for its future. It may be a bad attraction on paper, but I'd rather take something rather than nothing any day of the week. I just hope that whatever comes next isn't a demolishment of the building and another coaster built there.
 
Thorpe are crying out for a good dark ride - I love the Ghost Train building and is definitely sizeable enough to fit something else in there - the only issue would be getting the motion platform out and the new ride system in. There's many more much more appropriate locations for a new coaster when the time comes. For the love of Christ keep it as a dark ride, but do it more traditionally this time.
 
I'd love to have seen how DBGT could've gone if it weren't for the VR gimmick and Derren had been given full creative control...

I agree that would be a real shame. Hopefully they can keep it that way.
 
I’ve been having a think about all this….
 
It’s weird that so many of us seem to share the same “meh” feeling towards Thorpe & Merlin at the moment, especially with Thorpe, because actually when you break it down they’re really doing very well.
As has been mentioned, there are no SBNO rides, which is unheard of in recent years. They have a fantastic line up, including a brand new massive coaster. There are no silly cheaply-made mazes anymore, and they’re even continuing to run their notoriously expensive and less popular rides, like ghost train and Rapids.

In fact, the park is in very good shape: the decor looks better than ever, reliability isn’t too bad, the food is quite good considering how it is elsewhere, the new brand is working nicely, and the park feels fresh, modern and clean for the most part, especially when you consider how poor the rest of the Merlin parks are. Thorpe seems to be very well run to be fair.
 
It’s also not like there has been new ride after new ride over the last decade, and now that’s stopped. There hasn’t! Arguably, when it comes to new stuff, now is an excellent time in that regard, right off the back of Hyperia opening.
 
An odd one for sure.
Perhaps it’s more a general ill feeling everyone has towards Merlin? Or a side effect of the Universal news overshadowing the “business as usual” at Thorpe? Or maybe it’s an extension of the general doom and gloom shrouding seemingly everything in the country at the moment.

Perhaps if we are honest with ourselves, we all take the likes of Thorpe for granted these days?  I think I do to be fair, because it be beyond devastated if it suddenly had to close for some reason.
 
I even think of Stealth for instance.  If that reached a point this summer where they were forced to make a decision to close it at the end of the season, I know for a fact I’d be up there riding it, and thinking to myself “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” 😂  

Fingers crossed for a @Parm Pap update soon.

Why not go the whole hog, take the lift hill down increase the angle by a couple of degrees and add 5-8 ft to the top of it. 
Should do the trick 😉
 
All seriousness though, a zero car with a ballast tank built in? Fill it during downtime then empty it before sending first riders around. Seems the cheapest solution. 

I was at a Ghost Train behind the scenes tour last Tuesday with the initial presentation taking place in the hospitality tent thing - Fright Nights rehearsals were taking place next door and they were definitely rehearsing to the Big Top theme which I believe is used in the Big Top room in Trailers, so that seems to suggest it'll return this year.
 
Hoping that the scenes that remain inside Trailers are modified in some way too - Trailers was really showing signs of aging last year and was looking really, really exhausted.

I was at a Ghost Train behind the scenes tour last Tuesday with the initial presentation taking place in the hospitality tent thing - Fright Nights rehearsals were taking place next door and they were definitely rehearsing to the Big Top theme which I believe is used in the Big Top room in Trailers, so that seems to suggest it'll return this year.
 
Hoping that the scenes that remain inside Trailers are modified in some way too - Trailers was really showing signs of aging last year and was looking really, really exhausted.

Completely agree with the comments re Octoberfest this year. Wouldn't surprise me to see this go next year, and personally wouldn't bother me as I've never really thought it adds anything to Thorpe anyway.
 
I've been to the Towers one a lot over the years and have always really enjoyed it. They really benefit from the area they've got on the lawns. The location is a big plus too, the entertainment goes on for an hour after park close and this obviously means people leaving and see it going on may go over to the lawns and stay for a bit too. 
 
I've never thought its worked as well at Thorpe, whether that be due to the location of the stage or different target audience I'm not sure.
 
 
They've not even changed the entrance music this year which is surprising, could help making people aware theres actually an event going on etc.. 
 
They didn't bother with ride overlays last FN too which was a big shame. Hope they do this year as it really makes the event in my opinion. 
 
 
Have seen this a few times last week on Vortex, Big Easy Bumpers, High Striker, Fish, Rapids. Seems to be happening on off peak weekdays so I imagine its unofficial cost cutting or they're struggling with staff at the moment? 
 
I guess it doesn't matter too much at the moment with the off peak weekdays being very quiet but still not ideal.

I see today Thorpe has "scheduled late opening" for some attractions, except... none of the attractions were scheduled to open late in the app or online...
 
At 1pm, Flying Fish, Zodiac and Detonator are "scheduled late opening" and WDTR hasn't opened yet today.
 
Are they low on techies so prioritising opening each day? What's going on?

The issue with the train crash sequence (and why it was removed for the 2018 season) was that it just didn't work. Completely temperamental, had a mind of its own, and they just couldn't get it right.
 
As cool as it was, it was also another effect that made it a "one and done" type ride. And, given its temperamental nature, when it didn't work, anyone who was expecting was more disappointed.
 
I maintain my original standpoint with this version of Ghost Train: the concept is the best they could have done with what they had to work with. There's issues (transition to crypt, the shop exit, etc), but given the hand they were dealt, it's not bad.

Just cos you're an influenza M8 and have been on it already and had your golden moment....

I was waiting for some PP insight, much appreciated.
 
Will my visit for 11th June be OK, in the form of a song please?
 
One would imagine that if Hyperia is not planned to open on Thursday, they'd be announcing that by park close today?

This might be controversial, but I have to say that I really don’t see the point of heavily promoting the “story” for Hyperia. If there was ever a ride where an in-depth backstory was pretty much redundant, I think this is it. The ride has next to no theming, and unlike many Merlin rides, it pretty much doesn’t appear to focus on theming or storytelling at all.
 
If I were Thorpe, I’d be ditching any major focus on the theme or story in marketing and just going all in on the coaster itself. Just hammer home that silhouette of the layout and its giant elements and hammer home the records, with only the very vague “find your fearless” imagery present as an indication of the theme/style. To be fair, I think they’ve done that pretty well up to this point, but the marketing seems to have taken a bit of a weird turn in the last couple of days.
 
Granted, I’m no marketing expert by any means, but the approach of the last couple of days is certainly not how I’d approach marketing Hyperia. The coaster itself is the key strength of this project, so why not play to your strengths? I fear that this sudden focus on the theme and “story” of Hyperia will only invite criticism regarding the very minimalistic nature of the actual ride theming.
 
I’ve never objected to Hyperia being minimally themed. I think it’s par for the course for a coaster of this size; rides of this size speak for themselves, they’re very hard to theme heavily, and even parks known for heavy theming (e.g. Europa Park, PortAventura) have themed their hyper coasters very minimally. However, I think that if Thorpe want Hyperia to be a minimally themed ride that focuses solely on the coaster itself, I think they need to stick to that in the marketing. I think this “backstory” marketing sets people up for a heavily themed ride that doesn’t exist, and I fear that it will draw attention to the ride’s minimal theming and away from the massive coaster itself, the main strength of the project.

Not being funny but if it takes 20 minutes to get up the lift hill the queues are going to be horrendous and in my view this is just another way of Merlin exploiting fasttrack sales.

this project has turned out to be one questionable decision after the other to be honest - don't get me wrong - I absolutely cannot wait to ride - but everything from the station building, planned landscaping, lack of a viewing platform, queueline etc has been pretty disapponting thus far.
 
I also personally find thorpe's generous (putting that lightly) overuse of the gold colour super tacky. if it was used as a highlight colour against a black station, it would look so much more elegant. also a little confused by the black and gold colourscheme of the station, queue etc but the actual coaster itself is white and gold? wouldn't a white and gold station have fit the aesthetic better than a black and gold one..?

God the capacity is gonna be crap.
 
 

As the OFFICIAL DG95 DOMINIC GARDNER would say. A WORLD EXCLUSIVE…
 
 
trains delivered

^ I mean this is basically what I was trying to say to be fair 🙃

Yep, Detonator really looked nothing like the concept art did it... Oh wait.

I love it when Jack comes back every year or so to complain about Fastrack at Thorpe.

It's like when Steve posts every now and then to tell us how **** Merlin are. It's like a comfort blanket. 

Just turn the ruddy thing off 
Credit Coastersnaps on Twitter or "X" as no-one calls it.