The Walking Dead: The Ride - Speculation and 'Construction'

[Stuntman707]

I think Thorpe Shark is really going to suffer when Premier Inn in Staines upon Thames is completed. Arguably superior purpose built spacious double rooms and unlimited breakfast at literally half the cost of Thorpe Shark a stones throw away from the park with restaurants around the corner is a no brainer for people looking to stay for a few days at Thorpe.

[Marc]

12 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

I think Thorpe Shark is really going to suffer when Premier Inn in Staines upon Thames is completed. Arguably superior purpose built spacious double rooms and unlimited breakfast at literally half the cost of Thorpe Shark a stones throw away from the park with restaurants around the corner is a no brainer for people looking to stay for a few days at Thorpe.

It don’t think it will - just like travelodges in Chertsey / staines / egham don’t affect Shark.

 

The hotels around the area charge a significant amount more during the season because of Thorpe, Premier inn won’t do any different. Shark also has a tonne of advantages, especially to those who don’t have an annual pass, you can get som me real good value deals, being on site and the hour fastrack really help too.

 

I’d quite like them to get a full scale hotel, and keep Shark making it the budget option, think would work quite well.

[Matt 236]

I would still say Thorpe has noticeably more hotels around it though compared to Chessington, Towers and Legoland though, given there are no major chains nearby to the latters and just a smallish Premier Inn round the corner for Chessie.

 

The Shark Hotel isn't perfect but is more than sufficient for the park, at least until they build a large permanent hotel. My visit in May was enjoyable enough, with good customer service. The food at Fins for dinner and breakfast was reasonable and the atmosphere comparatively more relaxed than the day time. The entertainment was a little flat, but I'm sure they will fix that eventually.

 

I think a TLC scheme would greatly benefit the park, as presentation is very important at parks and leads the consumer to have a noticeably more enjoyable day leading them to purchase more. Rides like Colossus, Tidal Wave and walkways in general could benefit greatly from this and especially bring back life to rides which looked fantastic in their opening years.

 

Rumba needs some work doing too, as with the right effort they could turn it into Something special if they really wanted to and put the effort in the right places too.

 

Loggers returning would be a good move for the park is it would return a popular ride, staple and something for smaller guests to do (Thorpe needs more 0.9-1.2 attractions), but I cannot see that happening 2018. Slammer just needs to be taken out as it's just a sad eyesore currently. I cannot see the entrance structures getting updated for some time now, at least the turnstile area at least. 

 

Who knows what the 2018 attraction will be, but it's very possible it will be Walking Dead based and perhaps utilise a retheme of sn existing ride. We will just have to see. 

 

 

[CallumSyxr]

This is from what I have been told from staff members and other people, so it may not be 100% true but;

2018 TP:

-Removal of Slammer (Been going around the staff room for 2018)

-X Closure (Rumour from most people, but recently had its retheme/paint job so imo I think it will stay)

-Logger Leap Reopening (According to staff Logger Leap work was going to start this year if they did not get the AMC deal and around the staff room it has been said many times construction should start on it)

-TWD Mazes Permanent attraction or themed ride? (nothing has been said within the Thorpe Staff team has been said apart from the twitter post that is all we know but it is possible for something to happen with this IP)

-General improvements

-Swarm VR (Although the theming will be pointless this rumour has been going around for a long time)

-Possibly Announcement or clues for 2020.

 

Yeah so thats what my friend staff member has told me and the rumours that have just been flying around.

 

[Coaster]

^ If the above has any truth it, I think Thorpe really need to sort their priorities out! 

[Whatever]

Swarm VR, are they having a laugh? No thanks. 

[Marc]

2 hours ago, Coaster said:

^ If the above has any truth it, I think Thorpe really need to sort their priorities out! 

Out of interest what on that list would you be against?

 

Not saying it’s true, but...

Slammer removal would be good, it’s not reopening.

 

X seeing some sort of retheme, again not a bad thing, depending on the quality of course.

 

Loggers reopening / Work starting, would you be against that?

 

Walking dead open all year round - no issue with that, on busy days the park needs all the capacity it can get.

 

Only bad thing on there id say was Swarm VR.

[MustafaAkyz]

Swarm's theme is already amazing.. No Vr Please..
 

[Marhelorpe]

If it does turn out to be true and the park are considering having The Walking Dead maze(s) open year-round, maybe I'm looking at this wrong, but wouldn't that devalue the need to attend Fright Nights a little, especially now that the franchise are involved in an annual event? If you exclude Living Nightmare as a Fright Nights only attraction from next year onwards, what exclusivity is there left for Fright Nights other than Big Top and Platform 15, both of which aren't sponsored by AMC in the first place? It seems both bizarre and unlikely to me that's going to happen unless a new maze is going to fit somewhere else in the park or replace either one of Platform 15, Saw Alive or heaven forbid Big Top.

Not fussed about Slammer being removed since it's not returning. All I ask is please build something decent there Thorpe at some point. Don't do a Ripsaw and build another inflatable HB Leisure stall, we have had enough of them thanks.

At this stage, I've given up on Loggers Leap and not expecting it to return again. Even if there is work taking place on it right now this winter or next year, I still can't see it returning. Why would it have taken two entire seasons to finally get round to it? That should have been a bigger priority for the park than getting AMC involved in Fright Nights.

X's removal I still have doubts will happen because it would be one of the silliest decisions I have seen the park make since they thought building Storm Surge was a good idea back in 2011. Why do it now? It's old yes, it's tatty yes, it's dated yes, but it still serves a purpose with those between the 1m - 1.3m height bracket and removing it would alienate this market further with no viable alternative coaster in the park except for Flying Fish for crying out loud. A replacement coaster for X or a complete theme overhaul targeted for this market however would be very welcome.

And as for Swarm VR, the less said the better. Thorpe, you temporarily ruined it between 2013-2015 with brave-it-backwards, don't do it again please.

[MarkC]

Slammer will be moved and the Bush BBQ kitchen will be moved up to that location 

[Coaster]

1 hour ago, Marc said:

Out of interest what on that list would you be against?

I'd be against the following;

4 hours ago, Callum_ said:

-X Closure (Rumour from most people, but recently had its retheme/paint job so imo I think it will stay)

Closure of a perfectly good family coaster.

 

4 hours ago, Callum_ said:

-Logger Leap Reopening (According to staff Logger Leap work was going to start this year if they did not get the AMC deal and around the staff room it has been said many times construction should start on it)

Prioritisation of an IP deal over starting work on restoring one of the park's staple family rides.

 

4 hours ago, Callum_ said:

-TWD Mazes Permanent attraction or themed ride? (nothing has been said within the Thorpe Staff team has been said apart from the twitter post that is all we know but it is possible for something to happen with this IP)

Permanent TWD maze or attraction.  Saw Alive failed, Sub Terra failed, why would this be any different?

 

4 hours ago, Callum_ said:

-Swarm VR (Although the theming will be pointless this rumour has been going around for a long time)

Don't need to elaborate on this one, VR on Swarm would be terrible and would undermine the investment that went into creating the theming and near misses originally!

[Marc]

I Agree on X if closing it, retheme on the other hand I wouldn't be against. I doubt Loggers reopening is in anyway affected by the AMC deals, Fright Nights will have totally separate budgets than money to work on loggers leap.

 

As for TWD being permanent, I hear a lot of people say Saw alive / Sub Terra failed, but these attractions didn't close due to them being unpopular, they closed in periods of the respective parks having to save money, NST was just one of 5 closures last year?

[JoshC.]

5 hours ago, Callum_ said:

This is from what I have been told from staff members and other people, so it may not be 100% true but;

2018 TP:

-Removal of Slammer (Been going around the staff room for 2018)

-X Closure (Rumour from most people, but recently had its retheme/paint job so imo I think it will stay)

-Logger Leap Reopening (According to staff Logger Leap work was going to start this year if they did not get the AMC deal and around the staff room it has been said many times construction should start on it)

-TWD Mazes Permanent attraction or themed ride? (nothing has been said within the Thorpe Staff team has been said apart from the twitter post that is all we know but it is possible for something to happen with this IP)

-General improvements

-Swarm VR (Although the theming will be pointless this rumour has been going around for a long time)

-Possibly Announcement or clues for 2020.

 

Yeah so thats what my friend staff member has told me and the rumours that have just been flying around.

 

 

The Loggers rumour is the best one.  So the rumour goes that if Thorpe didn't get a contract with a company for a couple of Fright Nights mazes (and potentially a short term, year-round maze), they were going to instead spend the money on sorting out Loggers Leap?  Even though they will be completely separate budgets and departments, and Loggers would require significantly more money than a contract with AMC...  lol

 

Slammer removal will happen sooner or later.  If it doesn't happen this winter, I'm sure there will be a rumour amongst staff next year it's being removed next winter.

 

X closure / retheme is something which has been doing the rounds very recently.  Though it seems to crop up most seasons, so who knows..

 

A permanent Walking Dead maze makes sense in many ways.  It is a huge brand, and other parks that have had the IP have always had a permanent attraction shortly after signing the contract, so it could even be something that AMC require to get on board.  Yeah, there's questions of whether scare attractions work in theme parks outside of Halloween (ultimately, Saw Alive was declining in popularity, even though the decision to close it was based on costs), but it'd likely be popular in the short term.

 

A coaster getting the VR treatment will probably be thrown around for a couple more years.  It's an easy way to get a new attraction, which is obviously something Merlin love.  I reckon it's something which has been thought about, but hopefully it's a dead idea now.

 

So yeah, always take rumours from staff with a HUGE pinch of salt of course.  The Loggers rumour is hilariously off the mark that it makes me take any of the above with a bucket load though, sorry.

[Benin]

Sub Terra didn't close due to budget cuts, mainly some H&S issues especially post Smiler...

[Mega-Lite]

Please hurry up and remove Slammer, I know I won't be visiting at all next year but the sight of the poor thing just sitting there this year broke my stone heart.

[ste193]

A retheme of X would be interesting if they turned it back around to backwards in the dark with VR now that would be a worlds first  

[ProudToServe]

7 hours ago, Callum_ said:

 

-Logger Leap Reopening (According to staff Logger Leap work was going to start this year if they did not get the AMC deal and around the staff room it has been said many times construction should start on it)

 

The two things are completely different projects, and in no way would AMC or Loggers affect each other's future  

[CallumSyxr]

21 hours ago, ProudToServe said:

The two things are completely different projects, and in no way would AMC or Loggers affect each other's future  

I get that I was told this by my friend who is a staff member and I agree completely different projects.

 

We will just have to wait and see for future announcements or construction.

[1729]

Some rumours may be false but theirs nuggets of truth is always possibly there

 

X removal is unlikely due to popularity and the fact it got a extra refurbishment this year. but a refurbishment of the lights and soundsystem inside the main ride be good

 

Slammer is going, heard a while ago it was up for sale but with no buyers. Regardless as much as I loved the ride is going to go

 

Loggers leap is a interesting one, the manager wants it open (its one of his favorite rides) but its at the point where almost complete replacement is needed (the drop is held up by the poles you use to hold walls and structures up temp) , last I heard they where seeing if partial or complete replacement is nesassry

and the whole can you still use lake water argument still prob happening

I say hold your breath until someone walks down monks walk and work is being done. personally love to see it again if it ever reopens, it might not of been the most popular ride but it was a good one

 

TWD permanent maze, I assume referring to living nightmare. sanctum no, cant be done due to how to get to the maze (walk right past the swarm workshop). but it be a risky move, but I could see it work as a peak thing (similar to I'm a celeb but maybe with reduced dates so peak summer months)

 

Swarm VR, please no. its not been successful and the swarm is a throughput machine (only saw beats it on how fast a coaster can move people). putting a big sign outside of the dome saying swarm this way prob get more people on the ride ;p

 

2020 clues bit early but never know. I hold out for treasure island to make a return in some form. (RMC out and back hybrid from treasure island to loggers going above the service road behind Nemesis inferno and rumba be my crazy suggestion)

 

And General improvement. I can 100% predict that is true in my opinion

Thorpe may not have TLC scheme but they still doing good improvements.

 

see how it goes

 

 

Though I personally say if Thorpe read the forum I would suggest putting up signposts around the park of how to get to the main rides as Thorpe isnt the best layed out theme park and some guests do alot of doubling back trying to find the main rides e.g. trying to get to swarm via sunken garden

 

 

[Project LC]

7 hours ago, 1729 said:

Swarm VR, please no. its not been successful and the swarm is a throughput machine (only saw beats it on how fast a coaster can move people). 

Saw does not have a higher throughput than the swarm. Saw is one of the worst throughputs of the coasters on the park.

[streetmagix]

8 hours ago, 1729 said:

Though I personally say if Thorpe read the forum I would suggest putting up signposts around the park of how to get to the main rides as Thorpe isnt the best layed out theme park and some guests do alot of doubling back trying to find the main rides e.g. trying to get to swarm via sunken garden

I agree with this. People can see SWARM but wander around the Stealth plaza unsure how to get there. If I overhear them walking about SWARM I try and direct them but it isn't actually that obvious. Ditto with people trying to leave the park at the end of the day and trying to get back into the Dome. With my MAP and Lanyard of pinbadges I get asked a lot, I guess because people think I'm staff.

 

If/when they use the bit of land behind SWARM/Stealth I hope they build a connecting walkway between the two. Or just get rid of the beach and open that entire area up and maybe move Flying Fish again.

[Matt 236]

Right, so with prospects of Slammer getting removed and X rethemed (again), surely the following will also happen:

 

Top Spin replacement (Slammer)

A New Show

Return of the railway

Loggers reopening with fixed tunnel 

Tidal Wave's fireball to be repaired 

Colossus repainted 

 

I'll leave now

 

swarm gets 1000 PPH BTW and Saw it's just under 900.

[1729]

3 hours ago, Project LC said:

Saw does not have a higher throughput than the swarm. Saw is one of the worst throughputs of the coasters on the park.

 

swarm does have a higher throughput. but swarm can run on quiet days on one train while saw will run with 6-8 small trains. may not be a higher throughput but a much more consistent throughput.

In theory it moves less people but it will almost always move the same amount of people regardless of time in season

 

 

[MattyMoo]

Jart's continual silence = nothing new in 2018.

Thread closed.

[Theme park Fanantic]

I think that Thorpe Will carry out the Rumba retheme and also Refurbish and possibly rethehene. I also hope Canada Creek Railway Returns as the have some track and the trains are in Storage so if you read between the lines this could mean thier considering bring it back. As why keep engines and track without entending to reopen it. I also would hope that they will remove Slammer as with it not being in use or even operational Thorpe could utilise this space for something better for instance Peeking Hights from Chessington as if would fit the space and used to be at Thorpe under the name Eclipse.