Matt N

I attended the opening day of Valgard yesterday, so let me take a stab at a longer review. Let me start with the area and wider theming...
The Area/Theming
Overall, I think they've done a lovely job with the area! The theming is all absolutely lovely, and they've finished it off very well! In terms of a few specific points of interest:
There are some very nice details around! One of my particular favourites was the sheep "powering" the lift hill for Drakon, but I thought that there was loads to look at!
As someone who wrote a post a few days ago remarking that Paultons' theming lacked theatre and pizzazz, I do have to concede that Drakon is somewhat of an improvement in this regard; I was particularly surprised by the pre-lift section, which is very nicely done!
People (myself included) griped for years about Cobra being unthemed and lacking atmosphere, and it looks a damn sight better now; they've done an absolutely brilliant job with Raven! Even just having the themed queue and station and little bits like the clock towers in the middle and the area around it has enhanced the overall atmosphere no end!
The Feasting Hall is an absolutely excellent indoor space, with some lovely details and a beautiful interior finish. I particularly liked the big fireplace and the big viking ship!
I didn't really notice The Edge not being cohesively themed in; as much as including it would have been nice, it's tucked away somewhat and I don't think it sticks out like too much of a sore thumb.
One minor gripe I would raise is that I think Drakon could maybe have used some theming that interacted slightly more with the ride and/or was slightly more visible to riders. When queueing, you can see some nice details in the ride area, including a shipwreck that lights up with some fake fire and some spikes, but I don't think these are terribly noticeable when on the ride; after the initial interaction with Raven, it does feel a tad like you're riding over some generic nice landscaping. I think more visible theming interactions from on-ride in the vein of Storm Chaser and Pterosaur in the same park or Raven in the same area, or Merlin coasters like Nemesis, Swarm and Wicker Man, might have been nice.
All in all, though, I think it's a lovely area and continues Paultons' streak of very nicely detailed and finished off areas. The park are certainly onto another winner alongside Lost Kingdom and Tornado Springs, and compared to an area like Drayton Manor's 2022 attempt at Vikings, I think it's absolutely night and day!

Let me now move onto the main event...
Drakon
I was highly critical of Paultons building a Gerstlauer Euro-Fighter and have made no secret of the fact that it was far from my first choice of coaster for the park. Having ridden it, I do maintain that it maybe wouldn't have been my first choice and it has not converted me to Euro-Fighters as a ride type in a drastic way, but I acknowledge that it is a good coaster and I think it will go down well with the audience, and that I was perhaps overly harsh at points in the build-up period. To raise a few specific points of interest:
The stall does offer some very good hangtime. I'm quite surprised that Paultons went for such a dramatic inversion on their first ever inverting coaster, but I'm a fan of it and think it works well (or would if it weren't for the restraints... more on that later).
I always like the drop on these Gerstlauer Euro-Fighters, and this one is no exception; it offers some nice airtime!
The ride is definitely much smoother than I'd feared it might be; the tracking was generally very smooth throughout on my rides with minimal rattle or headbanging, although there were still odd sections where my head made mild, brief contact with the restraints.
The ride is perhaps the least intense of the Euro-Fighters I've ridden, and I wouldn't call it an especially forceful or impactful coaster on the whole even if I think the layout is mostly good fun. For the park, I think this works well, but I thought it was worth pointing out.
The first hill going over Raven doesn't really offer any notable airtime, which I was a little disappointed by. I understand that it probably had to be a certain height to clear Raven, but Gerstlauer, for all their flaws, are often quite good at injecting surprise airtime pops into their thrill coasters and a small part of me was hoping that it would be another surprise airtime burst from Gerst!
The ride also doesn't really have any airtime more widely aside from the drop, so doesn't continue Gerstlauer's tradition of incorporating good surprising airtime moments. I wasn't necessarily surprised by this given the layout, but I do think this is something that Saw, Speed and Smiler do better.
The main flaw I would raise, and a criticism that I 100% stand by from when the ride was initially announced, is that I think the OTSRs impede the ride and I would have preferred it with lap bars. On my 3 rides, I found that the OTSRs crushed my thighs and made the stall in particular somewhat uncomfortable. I begrudgingly accept the reasoning for OTSRs, but don't necessarily agree with the logic and think that some nice lap bars, as I know Gerstlauer offer, would definitely have made the ride more fun.
All in all, then, I think Drakon, while not my first choice, is a fun coaster that will suit the park well. It's a very welcome step up in thrill from Paultons Park, and I think the younger guests will like it! In terms of comparisons, it's currently my highest-ranking Gerstlauer thrill coaster for the reason that it's more comfortable to ride than the others, although as I said, it didn't convert me to Euro-Fighters in a drastic way and I've settled on a 6/10 and #49/148 overall. I still personally rank Pterosaur, Storm Chaser and Raven slightly higher within the park.

Finally, I'll briefly touch on Vild Swing...
Vild Swing
I'd never ridden one of these ART wild swings before, so I was interested to get on one for the first time. All in all, I'd say it was OK, but nothing to write home about as someone who's not a big fan of flat rides. The swinging is quite good fun, and early on, none of the sensations feel overly intense, but I would say that the cycle was maybe a bit long for me and I was starting to wear of the repetitive rotating motion by the end. If you’re keener on flats than I am, though, I think you’ll like it!

So all in all, then, I’d say Valgard is a great addition to Paultons Park! The theming is delightful, Drakon is overall a fun coaster that will suit the audience well, and if you’re more of a fan of flat rides than I am, then I think you’ll enjoy Vild Swing! I also think Serpent’s Curse looks like it will be a fun addition for next year!

To close out the review, here are a few photos I took throughout the day:

I’ve definitely noticed a massive improvement in operations in the last few years. Especially on off peak days (or the season it was on during one train for awhile), throughputs were terrible.

They dispatch much quicker nowadays and that queue just keeps moving. In general, Thorpe’s operations are something they should be proud of!

Launch pad looks near complete and a new screen has been installed. I imagine this area will be open before 10am and they'll do some kind of countdown for park opening in the morning?




I'm certainly not complaining, but not sure how viable these last minute openings are, as the park was deserted today. First time I've seen Hyperia walk on and able to re-ride on empty seats throughout the day.

Spent my afternoon lapping Hyperia and Stealth. Great atmosphere, particularly on Stealth as it was full of enthusiasts re-riding. Someone I spoke to had done over 80 laps 🤣

Operator was clearly just feeling generous, unless they run 5 laps as standard now.

But they do usually adjust laps based on queue time.

If anyone’s interested, I have a few throughput timings and insights from my Thorpe visit last Monday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains) - 786pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 770pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026), 763pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 1,023pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars) - 854pph (unknown number of cars, average of 8, 13th April 2026)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 827pph (2 trains, average of 9, 13th April 2026), 860pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains) - 946pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026), 1,022pph (2 trains, average of 5, 13th April 2026)
Overall, then, I would have said ops were pretty good, but perhaps not as high-end as I have seen in a couple of cases. Colossus was doing pretty well in my brief snapshot by that ride’s standards, and Saw was smashing it! Inferno and Hyperia were also doing well.

Some others were still good, but perhaps not as high as I have seen. For example, Stealth, consistently attaining slightly below 90s between dispatches, seemed somewhat slower than on my last visit back in September, where the staff were pumping out trains at a rate of knots and attaining nearly 1,000pph. Swarm also seemed slightly less consistent. That is me being persnickety, though; operations were generally good, and ride availability was also strong throughout the day!

One thing I did notice is that Inferno was batching at the station entrance, which I found a bit odd… I wonder why they’ve changed this for 2026?

Never seen that before, and it hasn't been like that all of this year. Could just be because the weather was nice and staff wanted to more be outside. Could be they're trying it there to advise people of potentially long waits for front row (it holds a lot of people). Could be a security thing. Will be interesting to see if they carry on doing that; it's certainly a bit further away from the rows so harder to see

If anyone’s interested, I have a few throughput timings and insights from my Thorpe visit last Monday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains) - 786pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 770pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026), 763pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 1,023pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars) - 854pph (unknown number of cars, average of 8, 13th April 2026)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 827pph (2 trains, average of 9, 13th April 2026), 860pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains) - 946pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026), 1,022pph (2 trains, average of 5, 13th April 2026)
Overall, then, I would have said ops were pretty good, but perhaps not as high-end as I have seen in a couple of cases. Colossus was doing pretty well in my brief snapshot by that ride’s standards, and Saw was smashing it! Inferno and Hyperia were also doing well.

Some others were still good, but perhaps not as high as I have seen. For example, Stealth, consistently attaining slightly below 90s between dispatches, seemed somewhat slower than on my last visit back in September, where the staff were pumping out trains at a rate of knots and attaining nearly 1,000pph. Swarm also seemed slightly less consistent. That is me being persnickety, though; operations were generally good, and ride availability was also strong throughout the day!

One thing I did notice is that Inferno was batching at the station entrance, which I found a bit odd… I wonder why they’ve changed this for 2026?

The operator can control the amount of laps, so it usually runs between 2-5 laps.

3 laps is pretty standard, 2 when its very busy and then 5 when its quiet. I've personally not seen more than 5.

Odd they were doing 5 laps if it was busy though 🤣

Colossus getting a higher throughput than Hyperia

I do hope they consider throughput for their next big coaster. No matter how hard the staff work you can't really achieve a high throughput on it and when its the most popular ride on park, with a huge RAP and Fasttrack allocation it struggles on the busy days.

If anyone’s interested, I have a few throughput timings and insights from my Thorpe visit last Monday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains) - 786pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains) - 770pph (2 trains, average of 4, 13th April 2026), 763pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 1,023pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars) - 854pph (unknown number of cars, average of 8, 13th April 2026)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains) - 827pph (2 trains, average of 9, 13th April 2026), 860pph (2 trains, average of 6, 13th April 2026)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains) - 946pph (2 trains, average of 10, 13th April 2026), 1,022pph (2 trains, average of 5, 13th April 2026)
Overall, then, I would have said ops were pretty good, but perhaps not as high-end as I have seen in a couple of cases. Colossus was doing pretty well in my brief snapshot by that ride’s standards, and Saw was smashing it! Inferno and Hyperia were also doing well.

Some others were still good, but perhaps not as high as I have seen. For example, Stealth, consistently attaining slightly below 90s between dispatches, seemed somewhat slower than on my last visit back in September, where the staff were pumping out trains at a rate of knots and attaining nearly 1,000pph. Swarm also seemed slightly less consistent. That is me being persnickety, though; operations were generally good, and ride availability was also strong throughout the day!

One thing I did notice is that Inferno was batching at the station entrance, which I found a bit odd… I wonder why they’ve changed this for 2026?

Love that Hyperia is lit up red this year for Fright Nights, rather than bright white. Looks brilliant 😍

https://www.facebook.com/thorpeparkmania/posts/pfbid026Rwstrftd6WfrWixrpci43qLc6PCPfHZrQTEve5Dyyrd12rC2fFvyDURntJCsK6Cl

I have some throughput timings from my trip to Thorpe Park yesterday that I’d like to report!

I managed to grab the following timings in the park yesterday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains): 717pph (unknown number of trains, average of 3, 20th September 2025)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains): 833pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 977pph (2 trains, average of 5, 20th September 2025), 1,024pph (2 trains, average of 4, 20th September 2025)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations): 742pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 10 singular cars, 20th September 2025), 788pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 20th September 2025)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains): 975pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains): 1,046pph (2 trains, average of 9, 20th September 2025)
In terms of some specific insights:
Stealth had possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on there; these operations were phenomenal! The staff were sprinting down the platform, and they were very frequently outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform, something which I’d largely thought redundant in previous years! 70-75 second dispatch intervals were being hit very consistently, and the slowest I saw was about 80s, which is incredible!
The Swarm was also operated very well given that it seems to have been a tad inconsistent as of late. When I was in the area, the ride was consistently achieving minimal to no stacking, the staff were efficient, and I saw some dispatch intervals as quick as 90s or below. Great job!
Hyperia was operating well, and seems to have improved compared to its opening year, with 80-90 second dispatch intervals being attained pretty consistently where closer to 100-120 seconds seemed par for the course in 2024. From what I could see, the ride was consistently not stacking and was very often dispatching before the train in front hit the brake run; at its quickest, I saw them dispatch when the train in front was negotiating the final outerbank after the splashdown. I do think the slow brake run on here makes throughputs slower than they could be when the ride isn’t stacking; if the brake run was faster, I think it would shave at least 10 seconds off the dispatch interval!
Nemesis Inferno seemed to be operating well, with minimal to no stacking being quite frequent. I noticed the staff were trying to hurry people along on here.
Overall, then, I thought operations were broadly very good at Thorpe yesterday! Stealth was phenomenally operated, I also thought The Swarm was particularly well operated, and overall, most things seemed to be doing well! I’ve given up hope of Colossus ever attaining a particularly decent throughput at this point, but even that didn’t appear too slow by Colossus standards.

I have some throughput timings from my trip to Thorpe Park yesterday that I’d like to report!

I managed to grab the following timings in the park yesterday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains): 717pph (unknown number of trains, average of 3, 20th September 2025)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains): 833pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 977pph (2 trains, average of 5, 20th September 2025), 1,024pph (2 trains, average of 4, 20th September 2025)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations): 742pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 10 singular cars, 20th September 2025), 788pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 20th September 2025)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains): 975pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains): 1,046pph (2 trains, average of 9, 20th September 2025)
In terms of some specific insights:
Stealth had possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on there; these operations were phenomenal! The staff were sprinting down the platform, and they were very frequently outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform, something which I’d largely thought redundant in previous years! 70-75 second dispatch intervals were being hit very consistently, and the slowest I saw was about 80s, which is incredible!
The Swarm was also operated very well given that it seems to have been a tad inconsistent as of late. When I was in the area, the ride was consistently achieving minimal to no stacking, the staff were efficient, and I saw some dispatch intervals as quick as 90s or below. Great job!
Hyperia was operating well, and seems to have improved compared to its opening year, with 80-90 second dispatch intervals being attained pretty consistently where closer to 100-120 seconds seemed par for the course in 2024. From what I could see, the ride was consistently not stacking and was very often dispatching before the train in front hit the brake run; at its quickest, I saw them dispatch when the train in front was negotiating the final outerbank after the splashdown. I do think the slow brake run on here makes throughputs slower than they could be when the ride isn’t stacking; if the brake run was faster, I think it would shave at least 10 seconds off the dispatch interval!
Nemesis Inferno seemed to be operating well, with minimal to no stacking being quite frequent. I noticed the staff were trying to hurry people along on here.
Overall, then, I thought operations were broadly very good at Thorpe yesterday! Stealth was phenomenally operated, I also thought The Swarm was particularly well operated, and overall, most things seemed to be doing well! I’ve given up hope of Colossus ever attaining a particularly decent throughput at this point, but even that didn’t appear too slow by Colossus standards.

I have some throughput timings from my trip to Thorpe Park yesterday that I’d like to report!

I managed to grab the following timings in the park yesterday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains): 717pph (unknown number of trains, average of 3, 20th September 2025)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains): 833pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 977pph (2 trains, average of 5, 20th September 2025), 1,024pph (2 trains, average of 4, 20th September 2025)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations): 742pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 10 singular cars, 20th September 2025), 788pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 20th September 2025)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains): 975pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains): 1,046pph (2 trains, average of 9, 20th September 2025)
In terms of some specific insights:
Stealth had possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on there; these operations were phenomenal! The staff were sprinting down the platform, and they were very frequently outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform, something which I’d largely thought redundant in previous years! 70-75 second dispatch intervals were being hit very consistently, and the slowest I saw was about 80s, which is incredible!
The Swarm was also operated very well given that it seems to have been a tad inconsistent as of late. When I was in the area, the ride was consistently achieving minimal to no stacking, the staff were efficient, and I saw some dispatch intervals as quick as 90s or below. Great job!
Hyperia was operating well, and seems to have improved compared to its opening year, with 80-90 second dispatch intervals being attained pretty consistently where closer to 100-120 seconds seemed par for the course in 2024. From what I could see, the ride was consistently not stacking and was very often dispatching before the train in front hit the brake run; at its quickest, I saw them dispatch when the train in front was negotiating the final outerbank after the splashdown. I do think the slow brake run on here makes throughputs slower than they could be when the ride isn’t stacking; if the brake run was faster, I think it would shave at least 10 seconds off the dispatch interval!
Nemesis Inferno seemed to be operating well, with minimal to no stacking being quite frequent. I noticed the staff were trying to hurry people along on here.
Overall, then, I thought operations were broadly very good at Thorpe yesterday! Stealth was phenomenally operated, I also thought The Swarm was particularly well operated, and overall, most things seemed to be doing well! I’ve given up hope of Colossus ever attaining a particularly decent throughput at this point, but even that didn’t appear too slow by Colossus standards.

I have some throughput timings from my trip to Thorpe Park yesterday that I’d like to report!

I managed to grab the following timings in the park yesterday:
Colossus (Theoretical: 1,300pph on 2 trains): 717pph (unknown number of trains, average of 3, 20th September 2025)
Hyperia (Theoretical: 1,050pph on 2 trains): 833pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
Nemesis Inferno (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains): 977pph (2 trains, average of 5, 20th September 2025), 1,024pph (2 trains, average of 4, 20th September 2025)
Saw: The Ride (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 8 cars/2 stations): 742pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 10 singular cars, 20th September 2025), 788pph (unknown number of trains/2 stations, average of 4 dual dispatches, 20th September 2025)
Stealth (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 2 trains): 975pph (2 trains, average of 10, 20th September 2025)
The Swarm (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 2 trains): 1,046pph (2 trains, average of 9, 20th September 2025)
In terms of some specific insights:
Stealth had possibly the best operations I’ve ever seen on there; these operations were phenomenal! The staff were sprinting down the platform, and they were very frequently outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform, something which I’d largely thought redundant in previous years! 70-75 second dispatch intervals were being hit very consistently, and the slowest I saw was about 80s, which is incredible!
The Swarm was also operated very well given that it seems to have been a tad inconsistent as of late. When I was in the area, the ride was consistently achieving minimal to no stacking, the staff were efficient, and I saw some dispatch intervals as quick as 90s or below. Great job!
Hyperia was operating well, and seems to have improved compared to its opening year, with 80-90 second dispatch intervals being attained pretty consistently where closer to 100-120 seconds seemed par for the course in 2024. From what I could see, the ride was consistently not stacking and was very often dispatching before the train in front hit the brake run; at its quickest, I saw them dispatch when the train in front was negotiating the final outerbank after the splashdown. I do think the slow brake run on here makes throughputs slower than they could be when the ride isn’t stacking; if the brake run was faster, I think it would shave at least 10 seconds off the dispatch interval!
Nemesis Inferno seemed to be operating well, with minimal to no stacking being quite frequent. I noticed the staff were trying to hurry people along on here.
Overall, then, I thought operations were broadly very good at Thorpe yesterday! Stealth was phenomenally operated, I also thought The Swarm was particularly well operated, and overall, most things seemed to be doing well! I’ve given up hope of Colossus ever attaining a particularly decent throughput at this point, but even that didn’t appear too slow by Colossus standards.

Yes it’s been implemented from today I believe

It had the issue of slowing on the brakes before that last turn quite a lot at the start of last year. They did correct and I haven't noticed any issues since. Hopefully not starting to happen again.

The vests had tweaks done a couple of years ago I believe to stop the locking/tightening.

Stealth has been run very well the last two seasons! 1:13 is not the best they have done as I have seen plenty of launches around the minute mark and on occasion even 40 seconds!
You can see near 40 seconds on this video I took on my Tik Tok page (would be great to get a few follows guys)

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZNdpHUhut/

You turned down a rollback 😱


Stealth and Hyperia are both operated exceptionally well most of the time, they have great teams.

For comparison, I’ve just got back from a few days at PortAventura. They were averaging about 1 min 30 secs a dispatch on Red Force, 480 people an hour. They have no seatbelts to check and less seats.

One thing I did notice though, they don’t advance the train from offload into load until the train has cleared the top hat. On Stealth they advance it as soon as it’s ready.

That's good news Matt. It always amazes me when someone who's been queuing for ages gets to the platform, then delays getting on, annoying.

For those interested in such matters, I have to say that Stealth is operating phenomenally this morning; my throughput average across 10 readings was 975pph, or a train every 1m 13s, which is as fast as I’ve ever seen on here! I’ve been witnessing dispatches as fast as 70s or lower, and quite frequently, the staff have been outpacing the 40s dispatch timer on the platform (something which I’d have said was largely redundant in past years gone by). 80s is a slow interval today!

It’s way faster than I’ve ever seen Rita operate, and it made an advertised 40 minute queue fly by in 15 minutes!

In the current absence of Hyperia (it’s on a “delayed opening”), it’s also definitely my favourite coaster at Thorpe, so as I liked it so much and the queue is moving so quickly, I’ve decided to hop straight back in the queue for another go!

We did run it with 5 trains a few times back in 2014. Our rides manager at the time was really pushing for it, but the ride kept going down daily with various issues. Because of that, he decided to scale it back to 4 trains permanently, or 3 on off-peak days. After that, it never operated with 5 trains again during the time I worked there.

Could hit 1k pph if it had 5 trains on.
 
Which I've no idea when last happened.

Rode Tomb Blaster today.
 
It remains bloody dreadful.
 
-Every train had at least one car not in use. One train had two cars not in use.
-The 'story' is beyond dull, with the voiceover being one of the worst-sounding, boring and grating things I've ever heard on a theme park
-The guns are rubbish
-Pacing of the ride feels so off. Partially because of the story they shoehorned in, but also just because the ride system feels like it's on its last legs
-Audio is either too quiet or too loud.
-Most of the screens in the on ride photo viewpoint were broken (not necessarily turned off, but physically broken).
 
Honestly, of everything that the park are doing, adding and changing, sorting out Tomb Blaster should really have been number 1 priority.

Thorpe top this for me for reasons similar to the above. Rides are often operated well, especially the likes of Stealth & Hyperia and reliability has been better than from previous years. 
 
Towers contrary though has seen a noticeable decline in operations and reliability lately. Some rides like Thirteen still smash it but it’s not like how it was. 
 
Chessington is hit and miss, but I’ve seen some poor operations lately, with rides like Rattlesnake operating so badly now and too many rides on low or reduced capacity now. 
 
LEGOLAND is ok, but I still find it exaggerated where staff have to say “you’re secure” after checking a simple door or restraint once or even twice. It’s the most safety exaggerated park out there I’ve done!