MattyMoo

So far then: Glitch goes back to The Cellar New fire and dancers show/experience The Carving is basically now The Carving Backstory - called that one a mile off... Not exactly banging my gong, and that's from a Tulley's fanboi. Here's hoping the first actual NEW haunt is decent and original....

First visit of the year yesterday (10th September) as didn't manage to get a date that worked with my park buddy in April time and once it starts getting busy we CBA with the queues! Anyway, my rambling thoughts Got 3 rides on Hyperia - max queue all day was 50 mins, bottomed out at 15 minutes. We decided to wait for it to open in the morning, it opened around 10.30am. I know that it's an off peak day, but I think it's a valid point to say that as the headline (icon?) ride it really should be open for park opening. I appreciate that problems happen butit seems to happen too often. Our first ride was Row 1, second was Row 2 and last ride of the day was Row 10, so as someone who only visits once or twice a year, I was very happy with that. Row 10 is absolutely nuts. The force of being dragged over the first drop is just ridiculous. I don't care what anyone says, I adore Hyperia - I personally don't want another element, I like the fact it's compact, does just enough (in my opinion) to make it super thrilling without ruining your day. The area is looking far better now that the plants have started to bed in. Good to see station effects are all working too still. Stealth is evidently upset that my love has switched to Hyperia 🤣 Ended up on one train operation, we suspected there must be a train issue from the up and down time (no pun intended) in the morning. Maxed out at a 40 minute queue on one train which really shows how painful it is when it's not at full capacity. Still had 2 good rides, but can I just say - those Stealth birthday flags were evidently bought on the cheap because they are all missing bar one, so you have barrels there with metal poles on and nothing at the top. I say close RIta now and use it all for parts to keep Stealth alive, please and thankyou. Nemesis Inferno was INTENSE, I swear this gets more and more intense every year. Flies up the lift hill every time, and feels faster than ever, if you like that sort of thing. For me, it's a one and done really as I like to keep my stomach contents down. An advertised 15 minute queue ended up being more like 40 minutes though due to loading of guests with accessibility issues, which I understand and appreciate - but the whole thing seemed to take forever with two empty trains sitting there with no guests in sight. Empty trains were sent round also prior to this - not sure of the process they have to go through but I've never seen anything like it before. Colossus was incredibly unpleasant. Ghost Train was closed all day and then opened at 3.30pm approx, so fair play for them bothereing to do that. We didn't get to ride as didn't want to risk being stuck on it if it went down, as that seems to happen to us far too often. Have to wonder how much longer this has left in it, it must cost them a fortune in power and staff. Quantum was shut until late in the day. Samurai was closed all day and advertised as so. Vortex & Zodiac both closed of course. Walking Dead The Ride had a lot of downtime - when we did get on, a lot of the effects in the first half seemed to be inoperable, I'm guessing that's why they didn't bother opening? In the pre-show, they now have a tensar barrier infront of the board with the creator names "easter eggs" on, assume that's to stop people vandalising it but odd that's suddenly been done now as I haven't seen anyone do so prior. The walk through to the station was very dark (too dark?!) - they've turned off that car that honks all the time so that's good, especially when we had to wait to load in the station for 10 minutes or so for reasons unknown. Also, incredibly oddly, you can hear the Nemesis Inferno music INSIDE in parts of the ride?! The Launchpad has all the F&B units there - closed, and the flower entrance sign/portal, minus the central sign - so just some flowers on some wood. There were no staff in the car park directing you where to park, so went and charged my EV on the hotel charge points (as the ones in the "main" car park have a number out of action). The entrance bridge looks tired after it's glow up with the rebrand - specifically, a lot of the flags with the new branding are again missing. Appreciate these are effectively small details, but that's the entrance to start (or finish) your day and to me speaks volumes. We felt the staff in general were pretty downbeat/narked/didn't want to be there (which we totally get tbh, but still) - with the exception of a very cheery chap who was at the queue line entrance on Colossus who wished us a good time and an enjoyable ride (Colossus did not adhere to these wishes) and also a queue batcher on Hyperia who commented on my retro Stealth shirt (Human cannonball one). Tiny details but they help make the day more enjoyable. We spotted a ride op on Inferno leaning on the barrier where the train exits the station whilst waiting... now, I'm sure it's probably safe but I don't think I'd put my trust in that with the drop below and probably not in the ride handbook...! So all in all - the park is tired in places (as are the staff) - will we ever see a relaunch of the Sparkle Project because I feel the park needs it (Whilst I'm here - the Stealth tyre entrance is completely faded and unreadable again...). Hyperia still very good indeed and much needed for the park - getting queues of 40-50 minutes on a "dead day" is impressive. Will be interesting to see what 2027 brings, if anything, but it all just feels a bit stale and stagnant at the moment there, tired is the operative word and the state of the flat ride lineup (not that I really ride them, but they serve a purpose) with increased downtime ahead of the busiest time of the season is concerning, and indicative of the age of them all. It seems a done deal that Zodiac isn't coming back this year... Vortex is more of an issue as this is always popular. Hopefully Samurai is nothing too major considering it's work in closed season. One final thing - we actually saw SAW have a 5 minute queue at one point, which is normally unheard of, but for most of the day that thing still pulled in the crowds. Whoever signed that IP has a lot to be thanked for by Merlin.... PS. I await Parm Pap's thoughts on the above.

I'm about to do a post in the 2026 season thread about our visit yesterday, but Nemesis Inferno music was playing INSIDE The Walking Dead yesterday at certain points. No idea what's going on there.

Yes was "on park" yesterday and Stealth is our go-to as a ride that keeps our stomachs in place to fill the time - we love it and it never makes us feel unwell, so it was a touch gutting that Stealth was having problems yesterday. I was concerned that Stealth wasn't going to open all day with the downtime in the morning, so we were glad it did and got two rides, both with a 30 minute queue approx.

Bravo on that one 😆

Who in the name of Shane Sandwich signed this absolute monstrosity off. Cue the Merlin sycophants with "wELl ItS A GoOd OPpORtuNItY tO gEt MoNEy IN" No, No it's not. It makes your multi million pound investment look like total utter trash. Total garbage that speaks volumes. Could have even gone for "Flipz Valley", at least it starts with an F. Wonder if SLKSTN will talk this one up. I'm intrigued to see if ANY vlogger has anything good to say about this whatsover, or will they be too scared to lose their Press Night passes for Fright Nights? Well, I can think of a channel straight away that will rip it to shreds who don't have an invite to Press anyway... Alright dudes, keep those fins inside the fish....

Big screens not working at Thorpe Park is my hyperfixation. Increidble stuff. (Credit: Ride Comparisons)

No posts in this thread last year but anyway - Tulley's are going for four new haunts this year, however, two of those replace Glitch, which lasted 1 year (it was very poor to be honest) and The Carving, which lasted 2 years. I think The Carving rehash is going to be minimal to be honest, but interested what they do with Glitch. Thirteen haunts this year then - Four new ones, Coven, Creepy Cottage, Purgatory, Doom Town, Wastelands, Chop Shop, Haunted Hayride, Electrick Circus and, for reasons unknown, Hellements still exists. I guess the hood thing is scary for some people, I personally find it boring as hell but each to their own. New Haunt 1 - "Nothing Stays Hidden Forever" - rats in the photo also, underground burial vibes maybe... New Haunt 2 - "The Fire Is Rising" - looks like Roman style architecture from the photo, looks like more Hell themes New Haunt 3 - "Every Family Has A Beginning" - clearly the Carving rehash, abandoned farmstead time. New Haunt 4 - "Every Secret Leaves It's Mark" - thought they were flags in the photo but they're actually saw teeth/blades I think. Not sure on this one. Will these be anything hugely different to anything before? We'll see. I have to reiterate just how good Purgatory is and it was great to see them mixing it up with something completely different. Hopefully one of these new mazes has a similarly USP. "Glitch" last year wasn't it.

It's easy to forget that they did that, at what would have been an obscene cost as well. Oh the glory days of 2010s speculation....

I think what Thorpe need to do to spike interest is to get the Derren Brown IP back on Ghost Train. Thorpe is certainly entering an interesting/worrying (delete as appropriate) phase in it's timeline. There are a whole bunch of flats getting very old all at the same time, Stealth starting to become a bit of a worry, Slammer area empty (still).... then you have question marks over the longevity of TWD and what they do once that IP runs out, Ghost Train as a ticking time bonb that surely has SBNO written all over it sooner rather than later - and now Rumba Rapids rotting whilst they decide what to do next. If they suddenly decide to get a flat or two for 2027, when would we need to see planning permission? Next few months I assume?

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

Haven't been to Thorpe yet this year but I can't wait to get in and see that fire effect finally in action! 🙃

Feel like pure sh** man, just don't need this Stealth negativity in my life. Therefore I am happy to confirm that Stealth will be operational for FOREVER. Anyway, Colossus will be the first coaster to go 'cos turquoise paint is very expensive now.

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.

Love the nod/Easter Egg to the old entrance screen with some dead pixels on the BRAND NEW SCREEN.