Fright Nights is back for 2004 at Thorpe Park and is certainly pulling in the crowds. The park reached maximum capacity almost every day in the last week, which shows the increasing popularity of the event. This season, mazes opened at 4pm each day which has caused some long queues. [...]
Land clearing has started at Thorpe Park for the installation of the Sky Swat ride, which has revealed the remains of Trappers Trail, a children's playground attraction originally removed during Colossus construction. Heavy advertising for both the new S&S rides can be found all over the park. Hopefully this will [...]
Thorpe Park have applied for planning permission to build two new rides from manufacturer S&S. The first new attraction proposed is one of the largest flat rides in existence; the Sky Swat. This monster of a structure reaches heights of 105ft when in motion. The prototype opened at Six Flags [...]
Despite the miserable weather, rehearsal day 2004 at Thorpe Park was a success. Samurai looks great in its new Lost City colours, but needs to warm up as it's not running as fast or as intense as it was at Chessington. Along with having its own soundtrack, notable improvements have [...]
Pictured below is a scan of the Thorpe Park newsletter, sent to all employees. Samurai is currently at Mondial's factory in Holland undergoing a complete refurbishment. The ride has been stripped down, with all parts serviced and NDT tested for any defects. The existing paint will be removed by shot [...]
Back for a second year, Thorpe Park has now launched Fright Nites 2003. Both mazes have been improved upon for this year, especially the Freezer, which has new theming and is now a full walk-through instead of having the lower capacity maze type layout. Freakshow 3D returns again, and is [...]
At Thorpe Park, Calgary Stampede has recently closed for the season and is being deconstructed in preparation for the installation of Samurai from Chessington. Signs have gone up on the entry bridge advertising the relocated ride, which remains nameless for now. Notice the fairground style control box that was disguised [...]
On 20th August, Thorpe Park submitted a Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) to Runnymede Council. The plan sets out the vision for development at the park until 2009, and provides the framework within which more detailed planning applications will follow. Attraction Source explores the main features of the plan and [...]
Despite various rumours over the last couple of years, it is now confirmed that Samurai, the Mondial Topscan from Chessington will be moving to Thorpe Park. The ride will replace the ageing Calgary Stampede and be themed accordingly with the Lost City. This controversial move strengthens the target markets of [...]
The Premier Screaming event and opening day were both a huge success. Friday evening was much busier than last year, and Saturday attracted over 11,000 people to the park. Nemesis Inferno's waiting time peaked at an hour and a half, while Colossus had over a three hour queue due to [...]
As the opening of Nemesis Inferno and the 2003 season approaches, here is a pre-season update. The new Extreme Games area is under construction, built on the former site of nice landscaped pirates eating area. Some of the tallest supports on Colossus have been power washed to remove the oil [...]
Colossus at Thorpe Park has recently experienced lengthy periods of downtime We believe that there must have been an incident involving clearance. Temporary looking metal plates have been added to the sides of the trains to stop guests extending their legs out. The plates do not affect the ride experience, [...]
