tactic

Oh yh, I forgot about that. That is very true.

I think thorpe have just tried too much with the themed rooms. They tried to make their hotel feel like a resort by adding the theming, but the rooms are way to small for anything major to be added. I think the first focus for the park if they want to be classed as a resort is to build a proper hotel, then they can start theming the rooms.

Cool, hope you got everything sorted! Enjoy the park.

I don’t know that much abt RAP at Thorpe but I’d definitely assume that they would accept a photo. If you explained to them that it was too much of a risk taking in your passport I’m sure they would 100% understand. Like I said I’m not the most knowledgeable about access cards so might be best to get someone who knows a bit more about them advise you, but I assume it would be ok.

I thought when they got the approval from the council they could just go ahead and build the coaster. I don't know how planning works so do they have to get new planning everytime they want to move to a new part of construction. And does this mean that the vertical construction could in theory not be allowed, and if so then what happens?

Does anyone actually know if there is any track on park yet or are we still completely in the dark about how long this will take? I seem to remember seeing Thorpe reply to a comment on instagram about a week ago saying 'Colossus will open late spring, not long now!' or something like that. That could be taken in 2 ways really; either it's opening very soon as they said not long now, or it's going to be end of may opening as they said late spring. I'm inclined to believe the latter though as if it was opening soon, I assume we would see track on park and maybe even have the ride testing by now.

Cool, I'll definitly get some extra trips planned in Oktoberfest and FN so I can see the coaster being built! Shame about the opening date, but then the whole schedule was messed up by the disagreements with the environmental agency I assume. Better a slightly later opening than no coaster at all though.

What do you mean by 3 months for foundations, does that like count as ground pins and supports or do the supports count as track construction. I’m just really keen to see some of the coaster being built lol Also sounds like the rain has had a bigger impact that I thought unfortunately, but then I guess the great british weather is what it is. Hopefully the park can maybe make some of that time back so exodus can open for the start of the 2024 season!

Just been watching Jack Silkstone’s construction update and he was saying that we are in a period where no construction can really happen until the track and supports arrive on site from Germany. Does anyone know/have an idea on when those arrive as I’m kinda curious when we will start to see vertical construction on the coaster?

That is very true. The park is a questionable place.

Oh yh, that makes sense. I don't see why they use wood to be honest; plastic would be cheaper too. Then I guess plastic fencing does give off a cheaper feel though and the park don't want their new investment to seem cheap.

Plastic fencing would have led to the same thing though. People will still bring markers and draw/engrave stuff into the queue lines regardless what material it is made of or what colour it is. I don't really see any way the park can stop it either as it is all down to people having the decency to not graffiti which is never going to happen. If the park try and inplement a harsh sanction (kicked out of the park) for anyone doing it and actually enforce the rule the graffitti may slightly decrease, but like queue jumping I think it's a thing we will always see due to the park just not having the resources to stop people.

It will probably be a scare zone in my opinion, cause I don't really see the space for a maze there (unless it has a very linear design). Maybe they are just evaluating the area so they can see how much space they have to work with for the crows due to their now being more space as the saw alive queue is gone. A new ride would be great, but I think that is too ambitious with ghost train and exodus both being big adittions this season and next season. Also due to the fact that the Colossus retrack will be taking place near that area over the next few seasons, it might be difficult to install a new ride on that path while that is going on. The most likly thing I see the park building in that area is a new food and beverages unit to compliment the seating area, just like a small kiosk that sells snacks and stuff.

No I totally agree, I mean in theory it is vandalism so they should definitely get kicked out. However, it would be very difficult for the park to monitor and that’s how people keep getting away with it and that’s why I think it’s never going to change.

Oh yeah, I forgot that the park said the ride had been in the works for over a year, I was thinking that the project had only been in the works about for about 4 months. But even so, with them getting rid of the vr and other parts of the ride, major changes are going to have to be made to make it interesting. I do genuinly believe that the ride system may have to be changed in some way to accomodate the fact that there is no vr, which is what worries me a little as there hasn't really been enough time for major changes to be made. Maybe I'm just being pessimistic about Thorpe though, they have been a lot better recently (we'll ignore Colossus for the minute) so they may have been able to pull off some major changes or have managed to make something increadable with the infastructure they already had.

Good to know they are getting somewhere with ghost train, hopefully it is finished soon. The only worry I have is that they don't seem to have been working on it for very long, making me think that not much would have changed and the attraction won't be amazing. But then I suppose towers turned duel around in a short space of time and from what everyone has been saying about that I suppose something great can be done in such a short time period.

I do feel the enthusiasts do slightly ruin the build up of a new coaster. I know Thrill Riders mentioned this in a video too but I do truly agree that everything being leaked online by people with drones or people going down monks walk then sharing photos all over the internet almost kills the hype. Think about what towers did with Oblivion, keeping everything a secret until they were ready to reveal to the public what theme and ride they were building. I feel parks just cannot do this these days as if they tried to keep stuff a secret it would look poor on their hald with it being posted on social media. To counter this the parks then have to reveal everthing to the public first, meaning there is no secrecy at all when it comes to new coasters, ruining some of the hype. Hopefully with Exodus, Thorpe try and keep the theme to themselves as long as possible so not everything is ruined before the ride opens.

I really do hope that the park decide to theme exodus, it's a dissapointment if they don't to be honest. No theme to the ride will ruin the impact it has on the park for sure, two of the most popular rides for the GP are Saw and Swarm which is partly due to the fact that both coasters are themed brilliantly. The fact that exodus is the tallest coaster in the UK alone will not be enough to attract the number of the visitors the park would be happy with. About what themes could actually work with exodus is an entirely different question. I feel with the water feature the range of possible themes is definitly diminished; but then Merlin have been very good with theming in the UK (I'm looking at you especially Towers) so I feel they could definitly pull something outstanding off.

What are everyones opinnions on all the giverways thorpe seem to be doing at the moment. I've seen two in the space of 3 days, the Inferno one posted everywhere and the one with creams cafe which isn't on twitter but on instagram instead. I know the park are wanting to boost ingagement on their content, but I feel the giveways, however nice of a gesture it seems, is just a way to get more people to look at their posts with the having to tag the 3 friends to be entered. I'd like to hear others opinnions on this as to me it seems a bit odd for a massive entity like Thorpe to be picking winners out of a comments section on an instagram post.

That does make sense, I always thought thrope were in control of their prices but it would be logical that the comany who does the food choses. Do thorpe get any say over how much they would want an item to be sold for or is it all completely up to Aramark with no input from the park at all?

Pizza pasta has always been reasonably good in my opinnion. I've never not like the buffet cause you know, the more food the merrier and I've always found that the quality of the food isn't awful (I'd take it over something like KFC every day), but then it's also not great either . The only issue is, even with the MAP discount, it is getting rather expensive nowdays, and I don't really feel like spending £17.50 (£14 with discount) on just lunch, when I could bring my own food in for absolutly nothing. To be honest, that's where I've got to on all theme park food at this point, it's all just starting to become a too expensive for food that reasonable at best. I know that Thorpe can't help having to up their prices due to the state of the economy at the moment, but I feel like they have taken it a step too far. Also don't get me started on the refill cup now being £9 to reactivate. At £5 it was a perfect, at £7 I was a bit more concerned about the pricing but would bring my cup occasionally, but now at £9 I fell like it's not worth it at all.

Oh, that's a shame, I have always said that spring probably means the end of May in the parks mind, but was hoping I might be able to go on it before my exams. I guess they have only been working on the ride for about 4/5 months (I think I cant remeber when they started the work) so it's best they take their time so the attraction is the best it possibly can be.

Do we have anymore updates on how the park are getting on with Ghost Train? I really want to try get down to the park when it opens but I have exams in May and June and probably cannot get to thorpe in that period, does anyone think it will be open before then?

I thnk that the park have kinda messed up making it a first come, first served system, they are setting themselves up for massive queues for the spa. I know there was probably no other way to do it, but I really feel the spa just doesn't fit in the park and I have no clue why thorpe though it was a necessary addition. The park are probably going through another identity crisis, cause a spa definitly doesn't satisfy the teenage thrillseeker demographic they used to push for so much.

I don't think anyone knows when it's going to be completed to be honest. The park and Taziker both seem to be having issues unfortunatly, casuing delays to the retrack.