March 13Mar 13 comment_324237 12 hours ago, Cal said: 20% AP discount accepted at all 3 outlets 10% discount, which would suggest that the Harbour isn't being run by Aramark. I know Doughnut Time now broadly has had some financial issues and closed several stores, so that might be why they've changed providers. Am I also right in thinking other Merlin parks (Towers in particular) have used Planet Doughnut recently?
March 13Mar 13 comment_324239 RIP to the Apple Fries. Underrated but apparently unloved. I rarely have a SWEET TREAT to quote Shawn Sandwich, but I did like those. I'm planning to visit THE ISLAND on 31st March as I'm neither a friend, nor family, nor influenza.
March 13Mar 13 Author comment_324241 7 hours ago, JoshC. said: 10% discount, which would suggest that the Harbour isn't being run by Aramark. I know Doughnut Time now broadly has had some financial issues and closed several stores, so that might be why they've changed providers. Am I also right in thinking other Merlin parks (Towers in particular) have used Planet Doughnut recently? On the app it shows 20%, and Magic Money accepted which would imply Aramark but maybe thats a mistake then? I've seen Project D Doughtnuts being sold at Towers (in the coffee shop on Towers street) but unsure about Planet Doughnut.
March 13Mar 13 comment_324242 No they went bust. It’s amazing how many of these overpriced “instagram” donut places there are. Especially given how many of them are/were struggling 🤷♂️ What happened to a good old bag of those little oily hot donuts that the parks make themselves! Although they’re nearly as expensive these days aren’t they 🙄
March 14Mar 14 comment_324246 11 hours ago, Cal said: On the app it shows 20%, and Magic Money accepted which would imply Aramark but maybe thats a mistake then? Ahh yes. When they were first listed it was 10% discount but it's since been changed, so 20% likely right. 10 hours ago, Inferno said: It’s amazing how many of these overpriced “instagram” donut places there are. Especially given how many of them are/were struggling 🤷♂️ I too was surprised when I learnt how many there are! There's clearly a place and a market for them, but part of the issue now is it's such an over saturated market that there's bound to be struggles. I also expect they naturally have a limited interest with people; very few people will regularly get them.
March 14Mar 14 comment_324249 On 3/12/2025 at 10:46 PM, Cal said: 20% AP discount accepted at all 3 outlets. I'll stick with my sweaty hot dog in a flask and rancid old lidl hot dog bun thank you very much.
March 14Mar 14 comment_324250 WE HAVE A FENCE! 😮 Also - they might want to repaint that column again on the right considering the paint is already coming off after 1 year...
March 14Mar 14 comment_324251 The fenced side looks really nice and really good! Definitely what they needed. I just find it strange the area where the stage was hasn’t been touched and looks ugly. Also the F+B side to fearless valley still has wood chips, everyone was using that to cut through to Hyperia. Ideally that all needed fencing and turfing too
March 14Mar 14 comment_324252 Fantastic - it’s almost looking… Dare I say… finished! Still some work to do but hopefully it’s on the way. This could have been filmed a while ago
March 14Mar 14 comment_324253 10 minutes ago, Inferno said: Still some work to do but hopefully it’s on the way. This could have been filmed a while ago The SilkyBoi said it was a nice mix of woodchips and grass now, implying that the F&B side isn't getting anything else added imminently anyway. Odd that the stage bit has had nothing done to it at all, agreed - not sure what that is about, looks like a very dead bit of space.
March 14Mar 14 comment_324254 As predicted the new attraction for 2025 is landscaping which should have gone live a hyperias mid season lunch. Is there any point of going to the park this year?
March 14Mar 14 comment_324255 30 minutes ago, Glitch said: Is there any point of going to the park this year? To be fair Thorpe looked probably better than ever last season in a lot of places, the operations were very good in general, and they have got a (still) brand new coaster. It rarely gets much better than this, <1 year after opening a new coaster of Hyperia's scale. I do agree though that it's a bit ridiculous that the new area has been left unfinished for all this time (and possibly in to this season). The stage area and splashdown debacle do seem to reveal some questionable choices during the planning. Given how difficult it is to run a theme park in the UK at the moment I'd say things are looking pretty good at Thorpe. All rides are still open and running well, which is more than can be said for most of the other UK parks, and the park is looking very fresh in a lot of places following the re-painting and rebranding from last year.
March 14Mar 14 comment_324256 I hope that being friends and family, they are understanding and caring today...
March 14Mar 14 Author comment_324260 Sounds like Hyperia has had its fair share of issues today. Credit where credits due though, they seem pretty on it maintenance wise this year. Can’t remember the last season all rides have opened at the start. Still 2 weeks till main season starts too. Saying that I have no idea how many trains the coasters were on. Still good to see though none the less.
March 15Mar 15 comment_324274 Stealth and Hyperia are currently closed at this other preview event at the moment, unsure on whether they'll be open tomorrow or not...
March 16Mar 16 comment_324289 So thoughts and notes from yesterday, which was a "VIP preview" for the season, where the park was open 10-3. -We're light on changes. A couple of tweaks to F&B is really all that is "new" -Repaints for part of Colossus and Depth Charge look nice. The small side of the Beach looks nice, also repainted, but it highlights the grime of the large side. -Hyperia grass is nice. Could be extended more. They've added benches to the plaza which isn't a bad idea, but they're atop the wings on the ground, which irks me a bit. -Many new pieces of merchandise, which are the usual high quality we've come to expect -Hyperia had issues yesterday, in large part due to the cold. Hopefully better today. Stealth had an issue during testing and didn't open. -The park usually stumbles during first day or two of opening, and yesterday wasn't any different, with the cold affecting weather, and reliability being a bit on the weak side, but it did improve. I've been to significantly worse first days. -There's a few other bits and pieces around the park. Solar panels atop Ghost Train (but you only see them if you look for them on other rides). Walking Dead has had creative tweaks to the post-ride section. Some speakers seem to have been fixed. Tweak to end of day of audio. If 2024 was Thorpe's year of improvement, 2025 is their year of stability. That's not a bad thing. But after a couple of years of multiple changes, it will have a different 'new season' vibe to it. The kicker for the park this year will be the quality and reach of marketing. That will be what makes or breaks them this year, with little to shout about in the way of new things
March 16Mar 16 comment_324302 To be honest, given how poorly nearly all of the other UK parks are doing right now, a year of stability sounds like exactly the right aim for Thorpe. Hyperia’s near stall and ongoing downtime however is getting worrying now that we are heading in to season 2. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a reliable workhorse does it… I really hope that they can get to grips with it. Surely they can’t keep going on like this every time it gets a bit chilly… The solar panels on Ghost Train are slightly interesting in that they’d only be installed on a structure that they intend to keep for a decent amount of time. I guess the building is here to stay, even after the ride is gone (which probably won’t be too long let’s face it).
March 16Mar 16 Author comment_324304 Agreed, as much as a new flat in Slammers space to compliment Hyperia would've been nice, a year of stability isn't a bad thing. Especially at a time of other parks making cuts and removing rides. Nearly didn't bother with passholder day today after seeing Stealth down and Hyperia on 1 train yesterday, but glad I did. Great day, most rides didn't have a queue all day apart from Hyperia. Unfortunate about Stealth, I think the only other ride that was closed was Zodiac, which was pretty much cycling all day by engineering. Hyperia had a lot of shutdowns (I saw 5+) with trains stopping on the lift throughout the day. They were all dealt with very quickly and most of the time was back up again within 10 minutes. One thing I did notice today is they no longer send empty test trains on Hyperia after a shutdown. Once engineering attended and it was back in operation they just started loading trains again. Think we all know why that is.
March 17Mar 17 comment_324310 9 hours ago, Inferno said: The solar panels on Ghost Train are slightly interesting in that they’d only be installed on a structure that they intend to keep for a decent amount of time. I guess the building is here to stay, even after the ride is gone (which probably won’t be too long let’s face it). Yes, this decision troubles me greatly 🙃 Selfishly, am of course hoping Stealth is sorted for my visit in 2 weeks!
March 17Mar 17 comment_324315 Keep the building, gut the innards and put something worthwhile in there.
March 17Mar 17 comment_324317 To be honest whatever happens to ghost train, flattening the building after 10-15 years of operation would be ridiculous quite frankly. Can see the building being repurposed for a complete new ride system one day. Even the possibility of combining it with the area of the walking dead when that goes. All that being said, the walking dead ride building also has solar panels adorning it, I don’t foresee that being there for another 10 years, however I’ll caveat all of that by saying this is Merlin, and there are far more areas requiring attention before removal and replacement of rides, including new areas ready for development.
March 17Mar 17 comment_324321 There is always the point, that just because solar panels are there, doesn't mean they are actually working, of course.
March 17Mar 17 comment_324322 4 hours ago, Vinlarr89 said: To be honest whatever happens to ghost train, flattening the building after 10-15 years of operation would be ridiculous quite frankly. Can see the building being repurposed for a complete new ride system one day. Even the possibility of combining it with the area of the walking dead when that goes. All that being said, the walking dead ride building also has solar panels adorning it, I don’t foresee that being there for another 10 years, however I’ll caveat all of that by saying this is Merlin, and there are far more areas requiring attention before removal and replacement of rides, including new areas ready for development. Yeah agreed I would have thought they would remove the ride hardware and replace with something else. However it will be a challenge as I think that building was specifically designed to hold the current ride system, (I.e. the shape of the building). Regarding Walking Dead, I would like to see them rip out the coaster (its 30 years old next year!) and putting another dark ride in there. Would think its possible, and would certainly save on building a new structure if they were to go down this route. Don't think Thorpe needs another coaster yet, and if it they were to build another coaster I would prioritise the island next to Swarm or replacing Colossus. Regarding the island next to Swarm, I think a good way to do it would be to put a flat ride there first, and build the necessary infrastructure to connect the island as part of that project. They could then invest more money into a decent sized coaster there rather than having to split it with infrastructure as well (just a thought). I even had the thought that they could move Rattlesnake over from Chessington and putting it on the island as a supporting coaster, as I don't think it fits the Chessington line-up that well anymore (particularly with the 1.4m height restriction).
March 17Mar 17 comment_324325 Has anyone considered a knockdown of X and ghost train and then using that bigger space to build a new rollercoaster? That would be cool. Also I find it really lazy that the park can’t be bothered to take down the fright night signs…. When’s dead beat opening?
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