Matt N Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 Hi guys. Slammer has not operated at Thorpe Park since 2017, but as of late, some developments have occurred that lead me to believe that we may be seeing development on the Slammer site. The first thing to note is that Thorpe Park have said for a while that they intend to remove Slammer by the end of the year. Now this is not a smoking gun on its own, and I accept that, but my thought is; why would they remove it if they didn't intend to replace it at some point? It's been there for 7 years; what harm would a few more do if they aren't intending to put something there? That is not the only piece of evidence I cite by any means, however. Or even a particularly compelling piece of evidence compared to some others. Another piece of evidence I cite is a recent trademark application by Merlin's trademarking company. In recent days, Merlin's trademarking company have filed a trademark for the name "Skybound", with all of the usual uses listed: https://www.facebook.com/AttractionSource/posts/830235939140659?ref=embed_post This would indicate to me that Merlin are planning to install an attraction somewhere within their estate that is to be named Skybound, but I can't think of any currently known Merlin plans that would fit this overly well. I don't see this name being very befitting of Project Ocean at Alton Towers, and I think this is too soon to be for Project Horizon at Alton Towers. However, it is worth noting that the Slammer site is within the area that Thorpe Park is now coining as "Fearless Valley", the new area surrounding Hyperia. And I don't know about any of you, but given that Hyperia's theme/style centres around flight, Skybound sounds to me like it would be quite a fitting name for an accompanying flat ride addition to Fearless Valley... Finally, Thorpe Park have now begun clearing the old queue of Slammer with machinery, as per Thorpe Park Mania on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thorpeparkmania/posts/958603549598834?ref=embed_post If they're clearing the queue, I reckon they must be intending to do something with it... Could all of this potentially be pointing towards some sort of new development on the old Slammer site? I think it's very possible... although I'm not saying that this is confirmed by any means or even much of a rumour. This is purely me linking a few things together and offering my thoughts on what they could potentially mean. I could well be adding 2 and 2 and getting 5 here, but I think that these pieces of evidence could well suggest some sort of new development on the former Slammer site. What does anyone else think? Cal and Inferno 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inferno Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 Could well be! That’s exciting if it is! I suppose the queue clearance could be with fright nights in mind, because I think a couple of weeks back weren’t they clearing out the Black Mirror stuff? The trademark application is interesting! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 4 Report Share Posted May 4 Do think maybe something in this, if they were planning to put a maze in black mirror it makes sense to keep slammers old queue to use that, with slammer removed it’s a fairly large area, with the age of lots of Thorpes flats it would be nice to see something new on this front. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 Interesting! Agreed it would make sense to keep Slammers queue and use that for a FN maze so it does seem like something is being planned, and Skybound definitely sounds like a name of a flat that would fit Thorpe in that area. Sounds silly as its been SBNO for years but I'll actually be sad to see Slammer finally go 😢 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 Let's take stock for a moment. -The park have said on a number of occasions they will remove Slammer. The most recent suggestion was they would remove Slammer this upcoming closed season. Frankly, I won't believe it until I see it. -Whilst I admit Skybound fits in with Hyperia, there's no reason to believe it definitely will be. At the same time, the removal of queue line and such is interesting. It's also worth noting that there has been some removal of the interior of Black Mirror too. It could easily be space for Fright Nights, and the possible removal of Slammer ends up just opening the area up for picnic area / shop / restaurant. But, it certainly makes sense to replace that area with a new attraction, especially since it increases support around the brand the new ride. Assuming it is a new ride, and it is for 2025, it needs to be something that can be constructed reasonably quickly. Removal of Slammer plus construction of a new ride (to open no later than May, say) means we likely won't see an indoor ride or a more complicated ride. Some sort of Star Flyer or similar tower-based ride might work pretty well to be fair. Equally, if they choose to wait until 2026, they could build something a bit more in depth. So yeah. Cause for optimism, but cautious optimism for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted May 5 Report Share Posted May 5 What about one of these? https://www.mondialrides.com/avalanche/ Could be fitting to the Skybound name if it even is Thorpe Park? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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