2025 Season

[Vinlarr89]

I very much would have thought the demolition of two big structures for a rollercoaster would only be done when all other available land has been utilised for ride construction.
To recap there is the land behind swarm which is large, and if the hotel ever gets built where the planning permission was applied for there is another prime real estate plot at the front of the park which was identified for a coaster.
One day I’d like to see the pyramid come down and a brand new show building constructed there to house a new modern dark coaster.
However there are many many other issues to resolve first at the park  

[Cal]

Noticed they're open an additional day, Wednesday 23rd April was previously scheduled to be closed but it'll now be open

[Inferno]

 

A nice little behind the scenes peek at the winter maintenance etc.

 

Can’t help but notice that this is in a different format to similar videos over the last few years - it’s mainly stock footage (all be it new and very nice stock footage).

 

Also the familiar faces are missing?! I hope the people who used to do this stuff haven’t been made redundant?  
 

It’s also a month late, suggesting the remaining staff could be overstretched? 😬

 

I have to say though I really do love the new brighter and more colourful way in which this stuff is portrayed now. All of this new footage is more vibrant than before and is definitely looking good.

[Cal]

Went to the park last Thursday after grabbing an overnight stay deal on Black Friday for Wednesday (when the park was originally meant to be closed), breakfast included, plus unlimited FastTrack all day (including Hyperia) for just £72 total (£36 per person). I never usually stay over, but that price for unlimited FastTrack made it an absolute no-brainer.

 

I was pretty much on Hyperia for most of the day, and managed over 30 rides on it, as well as a couple of other rides too. Saw it testing before 9am and it was open for 10. Should be standard but nice to see they’re making the effort to get it running on time this season - it’s a big improvement over last year’s late starts.

 

As the day went on and the ride warmed up, I did notice it started to get a little jolty/rattly from around row 4/5. Might be down to the different wheel compounds they’re using, but honestly it wasn’t anything major and didn’t really take away from the ride experience.

 

Operations were absolutely flawless all day, the team were smashing the trains out and I didn't see it stack once, trains were even dispatched before the other hit the break run which I hadn't seen before.

 

There was a lot of people who had the same deal also lapping Hyperia, and with RAP usage on top, the main queue for Hyperia definitely took a hit. Bit of a problem when RAP and FastTrack is allocated for the whole park but people are just using it on Hyperia.

 

Since I was staying over, I was actually there for park opening for once (normally I don’t bother till the afternoon. I hate how they keep all the gates closed until 10am. Other parks like Chessington and Towers let you in the park earlier, not sure why this one can’t do the same. Back in the day, they used to open the gates earlier (around half 9) and if rides were ready, you’d open them before opening. Much better procedure than having a bottleneck and lots of people running in my opinion. This was on a quiet day too, can’t imagine what this is like on peak days.

 

Shame not to get on Stealth again, still not been on it this season yet. Didn't see any visible work going on last week but hopefully the issues will get sorted soon.

 

Rumba Rapids was testing and there seemed to be a lot of staff over there training, the ride availability page shows this will be open on late May now.

 

Vortex is running really well, and has done for the last few seasons. It still has its smoke machine from Fright Nights too, doesn’t have much effect without it being dark and the lighting etc but still nice to see.

[MattL28]

Just a general observation/thought.

 

I find my enthusiasm & excitement for Thorpe Park/ Merlin parks muted this year. It’s just simply “open”, no new things to do, no events to change things up every few months, no dramas or issues. 
 

No 2025 TV advert, no real advertisement. No communication from parks e.g passholder page.

 

Simply there’s nothing going on and nothing going to happen in the near future (excluding fright nights). There’s no evolving, it’s a difficult one as we had a period of investment and events. To simply going back to basics and providing what they have already. 
 

This is my first season since becoming a passholder which there has been no events or new attraction to keep it entertaining. I suppose what I’m asking, is this normal? Down periods in years gone by, with not much happening.

[Inferno]

2 hours ago, MattL28 said:

It’s just simply “open”

This is really weird that you should mention that.  I know exactly what you mean, and I’ve felt the same, even after a very good visit to Thorpe a few weeks ago.

 

I thought it was just me getting older and having other priorities going on in my time of life, but I do feel the same way. The Merlin parks just sort of… “opened” again… and that was it. 
I’m not sure what exactly they were supposed to do, in my head, but yeah. I don’t know.

 

I don’t think it’s necessary to have something new every year, but there does seem to be a lack of big stuff happening across Merlin in the UK, apart from the various bits for younger audiences.  There isn’t even anything up and coming that we can look forward to at the moment either.

 

Actually saying that - we had Toxicator didn’t we.  Which is fab.  I still have that feeling though and I can’t explain it!

 

Advertising has definitely been toned down.  In years gone by, you couldn’t move for Merlin ads. Supermarkets for example had Merlin imagery and offers in every aisle, and there were ads on TV, the tube and billboards.

 

It does feel like there’s been a change. Merlin have always been good at keeping at least some sort of interest going year on year across their various parks, even if just through events etc in the short term.

 

I wonder if part of it is that we’ve become a bit accustomed to big things happening? Hyperia and Universal for example eclipse basically everything don’t they.  Although saying that, I still find myself very excited for the things happening at DLP, and they’re not that epic… 

[Cal]

I do agree, does seem very stale this year across the board. Last year was high investment though with Lego, Towers and Thorpe all receiving major new coasters though so its to be expected I guess. Do wonder if there were any cuts though, was Thorpe meant to receive a flat on the Slammer site? 

 

I only bothered with a Thorpe pass rather than a Merlin pass this year. Chessingtons a dump and I have no interest in traveling 4 hours to get to Towers when they only bother to open 10-4 during the week. Toxicator will still be there next year.

 

In regards to adverts, I certainly get a lot of them on my phone across all social media platforms. Maybe theres been a shift towards that instead? Would certainly be a lot cheaper and I imagine they'll be able to get across to their target market.

 

Thorpe passholder group closure was a real shame. It was great to have inside insight into what they're working on, being able to ask questions and them actively ask and act on feedback. 

 

 

Although there isn't anything new this year at Thorpe I've still really enjoyed all my visits this season. Its still got its issues but I still believe its by far the best run merlin park and has the best opening hours. I personally haven't noticed any changes operationally apart from the reduced events? 

 

I've never specifically gone to Thorpe for their events except Fright Nights so the reduction in ents hasn't made any difference to me. 

 

This has definitely hit the other parks more though. For Towers Oktoberfest is a big loss. Always enjoyed the atmosphere on the lawns and extended opening hours in September. The Legoland stunt show has got to be the biggest loss out of them all. Stupid decision. 

[Mark9]

10 hours ago, MattL28 said:

Just a general observation/thought.

 

I find my enthusiasm & excitement for Thorpe Park/ Merlin parks muted this year. It’s just simply “open”, no new things to do, no events to change things up every few months, no dramas or issues. 
 

No 2025 TV advert, no real advertisement. No communication from parks e.g passholder page.

 

Simply there’s nothing going on and nothing going to happen in the near future (excluding fright nights). There’s no evolving, it’s a difficult one as we had a period of investment and events. To simply going back to basics and providing what they have already. 
 

This is my first season since becoming a passholder which there has been no events or new attraction to keep it entertaining. I suppose what I’m asking, is this normal? Down periods in years gone by, with not much happening.

 

Yeah pretty much. These are the years where you work out if you actually like the parks or if you just got into them because of a particular ride that hooked you in. 

 

Merlin are in a bit of a rut at the moment to be honest, the UK theme park market hasn't recovered like Europe has and I think they are vary cautious on any investment, only Chessington has anything in the pipeline and they are investing in the safest things possible. We do have Blackpool and Paultons but yeah.. troubling times. 

[Benin]

58 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

 

We do have Blackpool...

 

[/benderlaughingharder.gif]

 

The quiet years were always the years that visits were made because of the groups. The rides were always second.

 

Plus the stagnation of the UK in comparison to mainland Europe on top of often cheap access to those parks makes them far more exciting than heading to a Merlin park with a hope of a good visit rather than an expectation.

[MattyMoo]

Agree with the above comments (I've never had an annual pass of any type mind you), but I had my visit in April, just about got my ride on Hyperia by heading for it at 10am (as it was the day it valleyed), and managed to go on Stealth front row a number of times (before it died later that week) so I suppose that's a "win" in Merlin terms? I work Monday-Friday and live in Southsea so don't have the luxury of being able to go to Thorpe on a whim and lap Hyperia like some seem to.

 

I guess I won't visit now until September for a quiet day, perhaps - last year I did a 2 day trip (1 night at the Shark) which to be fair was superb value.

 

Other than that, Fright Nights is a rip off so I might finally get myself to SLKSTN UNLOCKED and be able to experience the mazes like the influencers do instead of spending £10 a pop to be batched with 20 people and see 3 actors.

[Inferno]

I think that’s a good point about fright nights in particular.  It used to be something I’d very much look forward to all year, but in recent years it has become, as you say, a rip off, and nothing more.

Without that around the corner, for me at least, it does feel odd that the Merlin parks are sort of not really on my mind anywhere like they used to be.

 

Merlin do seem to very much be in a rut don’t they…  it’s all very worrying to be honest, especially given that Paultons and others are accelerating while Merlin continue to decline. 

 

It will be interesting to see what they manage at scare season in the short term at least, and looking longer term, what they will announce over the next 12-24 months…  

[MattyMoo]

2 hours ago, Inferno said:

It will be interesting to see what they manage at scare season in the short term at least, and looking longer term, what they will announce over the next 12-24 months…  

 

Definitely - I wonder if Project Pivot will go ahead for 2026 - and if it does, that's not a draw to get people through the gate. Is there any point to it if there's only going to be one event a year? (this year at least).

 

If it does go ahead... Slammer site flat ride for 2027? If it doesn't go ahead... new flat ride next year? 

I feel like we're at a bit of crossroads now for the next development - one would assume TWD IP is nearly expired (and it's not relevant anymore anyway)... questions over Ghost Train what with the disappearing shop and merch - then if you get rid of Ghost Train AND TWD you have a massive space - but would they really want to remove a building that'll only be 10 years old next year?  Questions over Rumba Rapids, as we all know it costs a lot to run in terms of power and staff...

 

Interesting times. What would be disastrous is attractions are removed/SBNO without anything replacing them, but to be honest - that's the way I think it will head.

[Cal]

Agreed with Fright Nights. Although quality has improved the last couple years, I do the mazes once on a quiet night and that’s it really. I’m not paying to stand in a queue for a chance of a good run through when there’s rides with no queues.
 

Mainly just go for the extended opening hours but even that’s been cut back, loosing the 9-10pm is a shame.

 

Ghost train is interesting. Sooner they close and stop pumping money into that the better but closing it also means spending money for something else. Doubt they’ll want to keep that SBNO being in the centre of the park. 

[MattL28]

Currently Thorpe has no SBNO attractions and they did well to make it that way over the past couple of years. 
 

Hopefully sbno attractions don’t happen again! 

[Inferno]

I agree that would be a real shame. Hopefully they can keep it that way.

 

I’ve been having a think about all this….

 

It’s weird that so many of us seem to share the same “meh” feeling towards Thorpe & Merlin at the moment, especially with Thorpe, because actually when you break it down they’re really doing very well.

As has been mentioned, there are no SBNO rides, which is unheard of in recent years. They have a fantastic line up, including a brand new massive coaster. There are no silly cheaply-made mazes anymore, and they’re even continuing to run their notoriously expensive and less popular rides, like ghost train and Rapids.

In fact, the park is in very good shape: the decor looks better than ever, reliability isn’t too bad, the food is quite good considering how it is elsewhere, the new brand is working nicely, and the park feels fresh, modern and clean for the most part, especially when you consider how poor the rest of the Merlin parks are. Thorpe seems to be very well run to be fair.

 

It’s also not like there has been new ride after new ride over the last decade, and now that’s stopped. There hasn’t! Arguably, when it comes to new stuff, now is an excellent time in that regard, right off the back of Hyperia opening.

 

An odd one for sure.

Perhaps it’s more a general ill feeling everyone has towards Merlin? Or a side effect of the Universal news overshadowing the “business as usual” at Thorpe? Or maybe it’s an extension of the general doom and gloom shrouding seemingly everything in the country at the moment.

Perhaps if we are honest with ourselves, we all take the likes of Thorpe for granted these days?  I think I do to be fair, because it be beyond devastated if it suddenly had to close for some reason.

 

I even think of Stealth for instance.  If that reached a point this summer where they were forced to make a decision to close it at the end of the season, I know for a fact I’d be up there riding it, and thinking to myself “you don’t know what you’ve got til it’s gone” 😂