Thorpe Park 2022

[LukeKenno]

Ah yes didnt they used to tweet out daily closures a few years ago. Transparency is definitely good if they can do it.

[MattyMoo]

Blimey, I'm pleasantly surprised with this development! Fair play Merlin.

[Mattgwise]

Probably the Thorpe management rather than Merlin, or else it'd be standard at Towers too where Enterprise has been shut all year and Hex most of it. But yes a good thing to have! Takes me back (Sorta) to the old scrollers on the website where you could almost always guarantee something (usually Samurai or Slammer) would be unavailable! 

[Mark9]

22 hours ago, LukeKenno said:

Nice addition to the website, long overdue but helps with planning. PS appologies for now a triple post albeit different topics 😅

https://www.thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/resort-information/ride-availability/

 

The cynic in me wants to know why a seasonal theme park needs 'scheduled closures' but I like the transparency of letting us know what planned maintenance is coming up.

 

[Matt 236]

Mixed bag today, on my second visit of the 22 season.

 

Despite the very warm weather, ride reliably seemed reasonable, with just Colossus experiencing any proper down time. It reopened after a while. Samurai was on form and my ride on Saw was probably the smoothest of recent years. 
 

Carnival seems a fun event, although execution seems a bit hit and miss in places. Breakout at Bozos was surprisingly fun and better than expected. The  themed announcements are a nice touch, although the rear of the event feels largely overlooked.

 

Operations could’ve been better. Rush on one swing, Tidal Wave 2 with stacking and Inferno & Swarm we’re stacking a little too. Colossus had the worst operations by far, so many broken seats with dispatches where having one train wouldn’t have been much slower. 
 

Music and audio was shockingly bleak in many areas of the park such as Amity, Jungle and Lost City. This definitely weakened the atmosphere. Closed F&B units along with ‘thinned’ stock levels in shops was also noticed, a sign of the times maybe? My pizza pasta was one of the weakest I’ve had so far. 
 

What’s more, leaving the park is still absolute nightmare. It took my at least 15 minutes to leave when only 8-12 cars were infront of me. The ANPR setup needs to seriously improve because no one is able to leave without pressing the help button. 
 

May do a Fright Nights if there’s time, but we shall see. 

[LukeKenno]

Yeah I agree I liked the Carnival event especially the Carnival area itself, didnt do the maze but Junkyard area needed something more atmosphere wise even though the acts were still good.

 

The music is so frustrating like yourself I think the music is a big part of the day and atmosphere but its been really lacking on my 3 visits this year, I do like the return of the Colossus and Nemesis old tracks but I think the constant swapping and changing of area music and volume adjustments as ruined the flow at least with just Imascore everywhere it was consistent. Also dont get how so many RCF speakers are broken or off after just a couple of seasons of being put in.

 

These barriers are annoying my number plate is registered to my pass and has only worked once in the 3 times ive visited to make it worse the barcode on the pass doesnt scan either so ive had to read out my number on the help intercom. Until they get on top of it they need to man the barriers again at closing instead of the help button I'm surprised they havent done this as they must know its an issue guess its down to cost/ staff head count why they havent.

 

Ive had 3 good trips overall this year and they have done some good things but do wish the park would sort the smaller issues out that make a big difference especially over halfway in of the season.

 

[JoshuaWAHH3]

I went recently and experienced the carnival event and overall- I liked it.

I usually slate Thorpe Park, but besides some bugbears, I was impressed.

 

The carnival section itself is fun- I love the popcorn and candy floss on sale, all the performers and interactions. I believe some of the roamers were really getting into it.

I do believe potentially it would be good to have some more spread out across the park, as having all the actors in one spot kind of limits the interaction possibility. It also is a bit of an obscure section of the park to walk through.

I had to really 'detour' to go through it.

 

Ride ops were good, Nemesis Inferno impressed me the most by a long way. The trains at one point seemed to not even stack at all, literally as soon as you're near the holding break the other train just flies away. The crew on their deserved a medal that day.

 

I decided to give Trailers: Breakout at Bozo's a go, and here is some thoughts.

 

I wasn't really fully sold on the original Trailers- I loved the concept, but it never seemed to hit the spot with me. I think for me it was the maze seemed to lack impact scares, and also a bit of a 'kick'- it just did not get anything out of me. The sets were brilliant though, and the actors were lively. It just was missing a 'spark', it did not give much humour to be funny, but it didn't scare me in the slightest either barring a moment or two. I felt more like I was observing actors at points rather than being in a live experience with actors.

 

Breakout At Bozo's completely turned this round for me- the maze has adopted a very silly tone, it does not take itself seriously- I love it. Anyway here is some spoilers

 

Quote

Breakout At Bozo's having a clown in every room is truely an awesome move in my opinion. In many ways it reminds me of Twisted Clowns in tone. It is fun, silly, and packs in some smart impact scares to keep a element of scariness. I did it twice and I could of done it all day- the actors truely dove into being interactive and full of improv-y witty comments. It simply for me made me think that I kinda wish Thorpe do a similar maze in the future? Make a maze that is like Twisted Clowns in tone- a little bit silly, and not really fully focused on scares. This maze I think perfectly balances comedy and fear, and for that I love it.

 

Thorpe really impressed me with this maze- I love what they did with trailers, and the cast were stunningly good. Funny, fast witted, and also smart with grabbing scares in between fits of laughing.

[Theme Park Fanatic]

On 8/13/2022 at 10:26 PM, Matt Creek said:

Mixed bag today, on my second visit of the 22 season.

 

Despite the very warm weather, ride reliably seemed reasonable, with just Colossus experiencing any proper down time. It reopened after a while. Samurai was on form and my ride on Saw was probably the smoothest of recent years. 
 

Carnival seems a fun event, although execution seems a bit hit and miss in places. Breakout at Bozos was surprisingly fun and better than expected. The  themed announcements are a nice touch, although the rear of the event feels largely overlooked.

 

Operations could’ve been better. Rush on one swing, Tidal Wave 2 with stacking and Inferno & Swarm we’re stacking a little too. Colossus had the worst operations by far, so many broken seats with dispatches where having one train wouldn’t have been much slower. 
 

Music and audio was shockingly bleak in many areas of the park such as Amity, Jungle and Lost City. This definitely weakened the atmosphere. Closed F&B units along with ‘thinned’ stock levels in shops was also noticed, a sign of the times maybe? My pizza pasta was one of the weakest I’ve had so far. 
 

What’s more, leaving the park is still absolute nightmare. It took my at least 15 minutes to leave when only 8-12 cars were infront of me. The ANPR setup needs to seriously improve because no one is able to leave without pressing the help button. 
 

May do a Fright Nights if there’s time, but we shall see. 
 

 

@Matt Creek is Rocky Express still SBNO in Old Town? I ask as I’ve heard it’s still owned by Thorpe Park and in storage. I think that over the coming months Thorpe will announce the return of Rocky Express. It wouldn’t be the first time a Thorpe Park ride has had a reprieve. In 2007 The Flying Fish was brought back after a couple of years.

[JoshC.]

7 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:

@Matt Creek is Rocky Express still SBNO in Old Town? I ask as I’ve heard it’s still owned by Thorpe Park and in storage. I think that over the coming months Thorpe will announce the return of Rocky Express. It wouldn’t be the first time a Thorpe Park ride has had a reprieve. In 2007 The Flying Fish was brought back after a couple of years.

 

Rocky Express remains untouched since the end of last season. 

It is not coming back.

[ML27]

Visited Thorpe Park today

 

It was an off peak day with limited capacity on Colossus and Saw.

DBGT was not operating (due to lack of actors I assume).

 

it being so quiet, made me take a non-event day in. 
 

The park lacks consistency, music all over the place. The place looks dire everywhere aging, the overcast weather didn’t help. But certainly everywhere looked so old and dirty.

 

This closed season, I really want them to focus on making the park consistent. Repairs to paint/wood work and theming.

 

If I visited once a year on this day, I’d feel like Thorpe didn’t care and there was no atmosphere 

[coasterverse]

2 hours ago, ML27 said:

Visited Thorpe Park today

 

It was an off peak day with limited capacity on Colossus and Saw.

DBGT was not operating (due to lack of actors I assume).

 

it being so quiet, made me take a non-event day in. 
 

The park lacks consistency, music all over the place. The place looks dire everywhere aging, the overcast weather didn’t help. But certainly everywhere looked so old and dirty.

 

This closed season, I really want them to focus on making the park consistent. Repairs to paint/wood work and theming.

 

If I visited once a year on this day, I’d feel like Thorpe didn’t care and there was no atmosphere 

 

Weird, I visited today too and having lots of 30/45 minute queues (although obviously not as busy as the summer days - I only ever tend to visit mid-week and typically most rides are only ever 5-10 minute queue times at most... maybe I just get lucky), I would definitely not say the park was 'quiet' by any means 😂 I saw lots of schoolkids running about, but the last hour of the park was extremely quiet and was nice to get a few re-rides in before heading home.

 

DBGT seemed to be operating inconsistently throughout the day (I managed to get two rides on it... I hate how that ride gets worse and worse with every re-ride. I'll write a more thorough review on that in the topic shortly).

 

The way they were batching people at SAW was interesting to say the least. Bit of a free-for-all in the queueline (nobody on the actual door batching people into the building) and only directed up the fast-pass stairs. No doubt about it being reduced capacity, it was ridiculously tedious.

 

TWD had no actors in, but then again that's totally to be expected on a mid-week day in the very off-peak season.

 

The SAW audio was very, very nice. They seem to have gotten rid of the constant, blaring SAW theme playing 24/7 and only playing the snippet on dispatch. Means that the Billy pre-show can be heard pretty much perfectly, which is an absolute bonus.

 

Detonator was operating very, very well today to be fair. The operator seemed to absolutely love his job, and was holding people at the top for multiple minutes at a time!

 

Definitely agree that the park needs quite a bit of TLC over closed season, lots of areas of the park are in dire need of a bit of loving.

[jom222]

I know this has been said time and time again but it’s great to see that Merlin are investing in getting new attractions for their parks with the likes of Exodus and Jumanji, but I feel that this effort so often goes to waste with upkeep. 

 

Went to Thorpe Park yesterday and the state of some things in the park were shocking! Part of the wall in the station for The Swarm are rotten and graffiti everywhere. Gutter covers on the floor missing in the queue for Vortex. Whole bricks missing in the queue floor for Stealth in two different areas. This is along with so many other things in the park either not working or just looking extremely old and worn out. 

 

It’s all well and good getting new rides to bring people in, but the whole experience doesn’t make you want to rush back again. 

[JoshC.]

Thorpe are doing a survey about their current logo, what people like and dislike: https://t.co/WRV4QQPYYq

 

I know in the past it's been discussed about changing the logo (on a number of different occasions), so this could be a step into that direction. In the past, they've obviously lent onto the infinity symbol (with polo shirts featuring just that, the Infinity Bar and Grill, etc), so wonder if they're thinking of going with that more, or something more drastic.

[Matt N]

I don’t personally see too much of an issue with the current logo myself. In my opinion, it’s fun, original and inviting.

 

Admittedly, it might not be the most reflective of the park’s current brand identity, but I quite like it myself, and I’m not really sure what better logo they could replace it with…

[JoshC.]

1 hour ago, Matt N said:

Admittedly, it might not be the most reflective of the park’s current brand identity

 

As a genuine question here, what is the park's current brand identity? Because I honestly could not say, and don't think Thorpe could give you a straight answer either!

[Cal]

I personally quite like their logo and wouldn't want them to change it. Don't fix what isn't broken 

[Mattgwise]

1 hour ago, ThorpeAddict said:

I personally quite like their logo and wouldn't want them to change it. Don't fix what isn't broken 

Agreed, exact words I would also use! 

[Inferno]

Interesting!

 

I think the logo is a little dated, but it’s instantly recognisable and I’m not sure it really needs changing.

 

I wouldn’t be against a new logo though. 
I think they should definitely keep the infinity symbol though - maybe just sharpen it up somewhat?

[Matt 236]

The logo is fine if I’m honest. Maybe fine pick it in some places but nothing extremely drastic.

 

The track record of recent logo redesigns in U.K. parks in recent years has been mostly disappointing. Drayton and Light-water’s for example are bland and characterless, unlike their previous designs. 

[Theme Park Fanatic]

Hi now the 2022 season has ended and Old Town is being cleared is there an update on Rocky Express? Last season Thorpe Park announced Rocky Express was exploring its retirement options. I interrupted this as Thorpe Park being unsure whether to relocate Rocky Express or not. I hope over the coming months Rocky Express is removed from Old Town,and relocated to another part of Thorpe Park. Rocky Express is a brilliant and beloved Family Ride. Family Rides are sparse at Thorpe Park. Retaining this amazing,iconic and reliable ride would be an amazing idea. You will probably say there’s a ride identical to Rocky Express down the road at Chessington,in saying this you’d be wrong. The ride I’m referring to is Seas Storm. Sea Strorm at Chessington is a Mack Seastorm this means that the carriages/boats spin on an axis. While Sea Storm at Chessington is a Mack Seastorm Rocky Express at Thorpe is a Mack Peter Pan. This means Rocky Express spins faster and the trains stay in one position rather than spin as the ride goes round.

[JoshC.]

Rocky Express remained untouched all this year. It will now not be viable to try and reopen it elsewhere. 

 

Rocky Express is not reopening at Thorpe Park, or any other theme park.

[coasterverse]

[Benin]

I was certain post of the year was mine too. 😔

[MattyMoo]

Rocky was still there when I visited on Sunday, untouched and looking very sorry for itself indeed. 

 

I think Thorpe should be looking to spend the few hundred thousand pounds it'll cost to rebrand on more pressing issues to be honest...

 

I concur with comments above re: Swarm station. Who would have thought that having a station made mostly of wood, exposed to the elements, would start to rot....? SO much graffiti in the queue lines on Sunday, but appreciate it's end of season. The handrail on the far side of the station was completely hanging off the wall too. Suffice to say, the steel beams in the station that were once cladded and themed, are still bare, despite noises about them being returned to their previous theming.

 

Rush has a section of queue line fencing removed and replaced with temporary barriers - and spotted near the ops booth, some subsidence as the brickwork floor has caved in/sunk.

 

Still at least the new Tidal Wave effec.... oh. 

 

[JoshuaWAHH3]

1 hour ago, MattyMoo said:

I concur with comments above re: Swarm station. Who would have thought that having a station made mostly of wood, exposed to the elements, would start to rot....? SO much graffiti in the queue lines on Sunday, but appreciate it's end of season. The handrail on the far side of the station was completely hanging off the wall too. Suffice to say, the steel beams in the station that were once cladded and themed, are still bare, despite noises about them being returned to their previous theming

 

Honestly the graffiti has been bad all season- maybe for years. The amount of snapchat plugs, phone numbers advertising selling drugs, and the "call steve 4 a good time" is actually more thrilling than the ride itself. I do wonder if they'll ever fix the station.