JoshC. Posted May 5, 2019 Report Share Posted May 5, 2019 The 40th anniversary merchandise has its own separate area though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted May 5, 2019 Report Share Posted May 5, 2019 Glad to see the 40th Anniversary merch is popular. It might be money spinner but definitely sends vibes of nostalgia from the park in the 90’s when it featured much charm and character. During the 90’s and noughties, the park was in a position to develop and progress into the thrill park it was however like most things, you can only have so much growth before you hit a glass ceiling. Something the park reached around 2011/2012 time. Most parks (unless they have noticeable expansion room) intend on maintaining visitor numbers rather than increasing them, however Thorpe and Merlin are still intent on riding them and if a major attraction doesn’t achieve this it is deemed a failure. Thorpe realistically won’t ever really surpass much higher than 2M visitors a year and should aim at continuing investment to maintain these figures. The stagnation during the last few years (combined with the failure of DBGT) has only lead to the park’s gate figures to drop noticeably over the recent years amongst other factors. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/thorpe-park-general-discussion.8/page-324#post-258574 Credit to ThisGuy on Towers Street, the tent / coverings over the Wilderness bar (formerly Sticky Sisters) has been taken down. Unknwown if it is permanent or just for cleaning perhaps? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 Just bring back Calypso BBQ tbh. By far the best theme park food I've ever had and the prices were reasonable too. Thorpe's food offering really is awful these days, it's not like they had closed season to sort out their catering outlets either.. Oh wait, they did. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted May 10, 2019 Report Share Posted May 10, 2019 Tbh weve lost the pulled meat company which tbh was one of the better in house options, the BBQ, fins no longer serves lunch..... so pizza/pasta mexican by rumba. Kfc/bk or hotdogs and kebabs.... oh wait doughnuts...... There are multiple empty units across the park, and the options are worse than 15 years ago... #progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 I believe they're replacing / upgrading the roof. Something to make it look nicer, easier to clean, etc. A nice thing to do, yes, but you do have to wonder why this couldn't be done during winter or closed days. JoelAllen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 11 hours ago, RobF said: Tbh weve lost the pulled meat company which tbh was one of the better in house options, the BBQ, fins no longer serves lunch..... so pizza/pasta mexican by rumba. Kfc/bk or hotdogs and kebabs.... oh wait doughnuts...... What. You're kidding me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 11, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 32 minutes ago, Mark9 said: What. You're kidding me. Fins definitely were open for lunch a few weeks ago - the menu was limited but they were open.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Fin's menu is terrible now. Just a few burgers and some sides. What happened to the themed menu they used to have? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottYalloP Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 Fins has gone down hill massively, went the other day. Extremely limited menu with poor choice and high price over £12 for a chicken sandwich?! Ordered the garlic bread which was 3 pieces of the cheap frozen garlic baguette. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 On 5/10/2019 at 10:38 PM, Stuntman707 said: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/thorpe-park-general-discussion.8/page-324#post-258574 Credit to ThisGuy on Towers Street, the tent / coverings over the Wilderness bar (formerly Sticky Sisters) has been taken down. Unknwown if it is permanent or just for cleaning perhaps? The timing of this suggests it's probably closer to have fallen down than been taken down! Why would they do it now, and with such temporary looking fencing looking so crap unless they really had to? Ringo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted May 11, 2019 Report Share Posted May 11, 2019 12 hours ago, Marc said: Fins definitely were open for lunch a few weeks ago - the menu was limited but they were open.. We were told It wasn't serving food when we went... on the may bank holiday weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 6 hours ago, RobF said: We were told It wasn't serving food when we went... on the may bank holiday weekend. What time was that? They don't start serving lunch until 12, but sometimes that changes and it's a bit later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 On 5/11/2019 at 11:45 AM, Marc said: Fins definitely were open for lunch a few weeks ago - the menu was limited but they were open.. We were told It wasn't serving food when we went... on the may bank holiday weekend. 8 hours ago, JoshC. said: What time was that? They don't start serving lunch until 12, but sometimes that changes and it's a bit later. We were told it was down to staff shortages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobF Posted May 12, 2019 Report Share Posted May 12, 2019 On 5/11/2019 at 11:45 AM, Marc said: Fins definitely were open for lunch a few weeks ago - the menu was limited but they were open.. We were told It wasn't serving food when we went... on the may bank holiday weekend. 8 hours ago, JoshC. said: What time was that? They don't start serving lunch until 12, but sometimes that changes and it's a bit later. We were told it was down to staff shortages. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 17, 2019 Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2019 Popped in for abit today - good to see the park continuing to run well - quiet day, rides running full capacity with minimal queues - Inferno team in particular were running it well with trains not staking. Matt A, Mattgwise and JoelAllen 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted May 18, 2019 Report Share Posted May 18, 2019 Great to see that the Saw main ride sign has finally been repainted. Happy 10th! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted May 19, 2019 Report Share Posted May 19, 2019 Absolutely excellent operations across Thorpe today, despite the park being quiet the rides were all on capacity with urgency being shown to get the trains moving. Really makes all the difference and I just hope they're able to keep it consistently this good. Amazing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 1 hour ago, Ivsetti said: Happy 40th Birthday to the best park in the UK! Did all the other parks close down? JoshC., Coaster, Matt 236 and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshuaA Posted May 24, 2019 Report Share Posted May 24, 2019 2 hours ago, Ivsetti said: Happy 40th Birthday to the best park in the UK! Paultons, Blackpool and Alton Towers all say hi! Chessington also recently just said hi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Tuckwell Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 I have to say, today was the best I think I have ever seen Thorpe - in both appearance and operations. It is clear that they have really pulled their socks up! Mist effect was working on Nemesis Inferno - a lot! Fire on Swarm (skimmers still missing though) Smoke effect on Stealth's launch Squirting water on Saw's body (plus the lights and hammers) Operations were spot on.. Even Colossus was quicker than usual. Swarm was often leaving the station before the previous train had returned - resulting in a walk-on from around 1pm There was a really great buzz on park today too. It was clear that they had prepped for it to be far busier than it was.. but that didn't stop there being a great vibe around the place. pluk, Coaster and PJ. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 I think the park have performed well so far on all my visits this year, I do find crowds seem exceptionally low so far this year, lower than last year even. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted May 25, 2019 Report Share Posted May 25, 2019 Happy 40th Birthday to a park like no other! It might not be my top park right now, but the place has a strong array of history and one of the first theme parks I ever visited. It’s crazy how much has changed and developed over the years! Had a lovely visit, hosted by the wonderful Memories Of Thorpe Park team, which also featured a tour from British Theme Park Archive, delivering an intruiging insight into the park’s history. BritishThemeParkArch 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 26, 2019 Report Share Posted May 26, 2019 Luna Cinema had its first of two nights last night, Saturday 25th May. Or was it Friday 25th May? Guess we'll never know.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Portvls Posted May 30, 2019 Report Share Posted May 30, 2019 So me and my other half have just got back from a 4 day trip - one day at Chessington and three at Thorpe. Very mixed trip which I’ll summarise in bullet points. - Operations at Thorpe were (for the most part) very, very good. Two trains on all the major coasters (and TWD) every day and rapid dispatches. Chessington really needs work in that area though! - Our ride on DBGT wasn’t bad, pretty much all of the effects were working well and it had hardly any downtime whilst we were on park. Only reason we went on though is because we had an hour of fast track for it included with the hotel stay, otherwise we wouldn’t have bothered. It’s bad that, for a ride that was supposed to be so re-rideable, we see pretty much absolutely no reason to go back on anymore. It needs to go. - BounceZilla is a complete and utter monstrosity and we thought it looked mortifying for all involved. I’d imagine it’s probably quite fun, yes, but this should not be at Thorpe Park imo. - Jungle Escape has flopped harder than anyone could have expected. We didn’t see anyone queuing or going in, or even glancing at it, whilst at the park. Considered giving it a go, but didn’t think it was worth the £10pp upcharge for what seems to more or less be IAC in sheep’s clothing. - Went in GameFX for 45 mins or so when it was raining yesterday and was moderately impressed. Good variety of consoles and games, and plenty of them to go around. The VR experience also looked good fun. It was pretty quiet though, on a busy day when it was pouring down outside. Evidence that maybe people don’t want to go to a theme park and play video games? ? - TWD:TR has improved since last year imo. Not sure why or how, but I enjoyed it a lot more this year. Much better experience with live actors than without for me personally as well. - Quantum still looks a week or two away from finally opening this year to me. We watched it being worked on and it was tested a few times (that we saw), but it isn’t making a great sound when sent on it’s full cycle ? - Best ride on Vortex that I’ve ever had, it’s running so well this year. - Old Town looks as sorry as ever. I’m not going to even bring up SBNO rides as everyone already knows the situation! - I’ve always had a soft spot for Thorpe Shark, however after this visit I think the park desperately needs a proper hotel. We stayed in a tiny Travelodge room after Chessington and it felt so, so, so spacious compared to the shipping containers. - I’ve not been to Chessington before but I think I preferred it to Thorpe, which I didn’t think would happen considering the target markets (not that anyone, including Merlin, knows what Thorpe’s really is). Better theming, better atmosphere, better maintenance. However Thorpe definitely wins on the operations front. - Impressed with the 40th anniversary merch on offer. They should be doing more to commemorate it than selling new stuff though. - We left 2 hours early today due to the queue times. Our fault for (mistakenly) booking during half term but there you go! Apologies for the long post! Just some thoughts on what will probably be my only visit this year. My second to worst visit that I’ve ever had unfortunately. ImLucifer, pluk, JoshuaA and 5 others 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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