How has the launchpad been since it opened?

I haven’t seen it yet, but from the photos I was expecting a lot more seating, making it a place people could go to around lunchtime etc. It also seems very exposed with little shade or rain cover.

Interested to see how the update has been

To be honest, I think its a wasted opportunity at the moment.

- No comfy seating

- Lacks shade / shelter

- Theres a small retail unit which just sells icecreams I believe but I think its mad not have a bar + food unit there

Will be interesting to see how it develops and what the area is used for in the future, but I think it says a lot that hardly anyone seems to be using it and sitting in other areas instead.

I think my biggest issue with it is the fact they've marketed it...like at all.

In its current guise, it's an area with some seats and more space to spread out at start of day / evening. That doesn't need any marketing, videos, etc. The fact they spoke about it being a place to watch Football World Cup games when the majority of games take place outside of opening hours (and even overnight) shows it's a desperate ploy to just get people talking.

Its potential is great, with space for a stage, etc. The idea of using it to show big TV events is good too. But right now, the potential isn't bring realised.

That's not necessarily a bad thing, just a thing...so long as they do eventually realise said potential.

So yeah, in its current guise, it won't be used much. That's fine. It's a space to open up that part of the park and be a bit quieter. And that didn't need as much pushing as it got.

Let's just hope they can utilise it in the future.

The fact that the retail unit there sells just ice cream is absolutely mind boggling.

Get some cocktails/mocktails for sale, and some street food like Cargo at Alton Towers recently and they'd be laughing.

On 6/5/2026 at 9:19 AM, MattyMoo said:

The fact that the retail unit there sells just ice cream is absolutely mind boggling.

Get some cocktails/mocktails for sale, and some street food like Cargo at Alton Towers recently and they'd be laughing.

You'll be pleased to know they sell Haribos and packets of crisps too 🤣

But yeah I agree. Would be a good location for some food, a bar and some comfy seating.

School trip season has well and truly started today, with most coasters reaching 2 hour queues. I've seen pictures of Hyperias fasttrack queue overflowing today.

I wonder if some trips got moved from last week with the heat wave?

Unfortunately Vortex, Quantum and Zodiac were closed all day leaving that corner of the park very dead. Samurai has spent the last few days closed but they did manage to get it open for the last 90 minutes or so.

Will be interesting to see what happens with Zodiac, its been closed a year now. Although there was clearly intention to open it has stopped testing.

Would love for Thorpe to invest in some new flats though.

4 ‘Thorpe Park Lates’ dates have been announced for 2 Fridays and Saturdays in August.

14th / 15th and 21st / 22nd once again staying open till 9pm.

Sounds like they’ll be making use of launch pad with live DJ sets.

Great to see!

PRESENTING SLKSTN LIVE!!!!

It's a vibe.

Nice idea and advertised far enough in advance.

Hope it works out for them!

Hopefully the weather plays ball. Feel like they were unlucky with the weather in the past causing less attendance.

2024 the weather was crap and more recently in May it was too hot.

Can't wait to see those colour coded entrances that SLKSTN loved so much finally in use for an event. Sick!

my favourite part about all this is the nespresso machine. you always know where you are with that. no matter how un-affable the weather is, or how much the spanners get into the works, you know you can pop in your lovely nespresso pod and enjoy a luscious, tasteful refreshment. it really is the best thing about the park of the thorpe of the park, and if I had my way, we would be introducing nespresso machines at the entrance to every ride tomorrow. sadly, I do not often get my way. budgets are tight, you see. the benefit of introducing a nespresso machine at the entrance to each ride would be measurable, but it would not be practical to do on a small budget. there is a lot to think about, such as, if the machine broke would the experience actually be worse than it was before? the thorpe park visitor would then know there was something 'missing' as they would not be able to enjoy the refreshing warmth of a nespresso pod whilst queueing. whereas if we do not introduce the nespresso machines, there will never be anything missing. apart from to me, because I know about nespresso. I know about the potential, the huge benefits and the sheer beauty of the nespresso pod. once you have discovered this for yourself, there is no going back and thorpe park will never feel the same again without nespresso.

This might be a time thing but I’m not sure but does everyone else think the excitement from 2021-2024 has died down now at Thorpe Park. Nothing really happening throughout the year, nothing really to look forward to.

I think if Fright Nights stays the same this year, I think maze wise it will. Then it’s quite a boring year and much of the same for next year. There used to be quite a big fan base active on social media but I think that’s completely gone now

Typical lull after big investment really.

Not helped by general world malaise and not much activity going on at the parks.

There's a few contributing factors I think...

-Post-big investment lull. As Benin mentioned, there can be lulls after big investments at parks. Not every park, but it is common. It's funny because historically Thorpe was good at avoiding that by having some marketing gimmick for the year after a big investment (Stealth's "upgrade", Saw with Saw Alive, Swarm's Brave it Backwards, DBGT and Rise of the Demon). Hyperia didn't have that, and there's not been anything to follow up. It happens, but it's very bland, yes.

-'Time thing'. I assume by this Matt you just mean getting older, and that does play a part of it too I reckon. You get older, and busier, and times just change. And also ties in with what Benin says about the world being general a bit rubbish right now.

-Lack of updates. There's things happening at the park, whether it's little touch ups here and there or bigger things behind the scenes. Admittedly right now that is minimal, but it is there.

But there's less noise about it all now. The Passholder Group on Facebook closed down. Jack Silkstone, who has been the main source of such things for a few years now, has moved into a more professional capacity so isn't making the little update videos. Fansites (like TPM) have succumbed to the time thing. And there's just very few places providing general updates.

-Lack of anything to be excited about. There's no plans to the council for anything new. There's no rumours of anything new coming. Other parks in Merlin are getting things and Thorpe aren't. We're kind of just ticking on by. It makes it hard to have the same enthusiasm.

On a personal level, I found 2024 to be such a huge buzz of a year for Thorpe. New coaster, obviously, but the Sparkle Project invigorated lots of other parts of the park. There was optimism for the future and such a positive. Since then, they've followed that up with a much-needed open space by the front of the park (although that execution has split opinion), and nothing else. The park is effectively exactly the same as it was 2 years ago, even down to food outlets.

With seemingly nothing new on the horizon, there's only so long one can revisit the exact same place before a bit of burnout hits.