Thorpe Park Resort

[Dom]

WE NEED PLANS!!! Hopefully that will make Thorpe submit them :lol

But yeah, social media replies aren't always the most accurate thing to rely on. They have a habit of trolling. But You never know. Could be true, but take it with a pinch of salt. 

[theparklifekid]

Been doing some digging and found out that Swarms final planning docs were filed on the 10th February 2011. So my guess is if we are in fact going to be seeing something major in 2020, It would have to be unveiled within a week or two.

Honestly not expecting anything to happen. Thorpe haven't really had major investments pay off for them within the past few years. So there could be a chance Merlin won't fork over the money for a major addition. Just because they said 'Project 2020' doesn't mean it will happen, a project is after all just a plan and plans change all the time. They might have just announced it at the event as wishful thinking and manufactured hype, so they could sneakily let merlin fork over the money. It does annoy me that I always see these harmless posts that are put out by the park, that most likely mean little to nothing, yet people say these things like 'Wow they never show loggers area and the island behind swarm, project 2020 location confirmed!'

I know I'm sounding like a downer, so I'm sorry, trust be I'd love to be wrong and it could just blow me away. But who said this project had to be a coaster? I'm almost quite confident that it could just be a hotel. So all I can say is don't get too hyped up, because sometimes it can lead to disappointment.

[Morgan]

The application idea is a valid point and I hate to rain on your parade, but wasn't Swarm hinted at in an earlier LTDP? That may have been why it was submitted merely a year before opening seeing as the Council would've been expecting it. There's currently no LTDP (that we know of) that states a large scale ride in 2020.
It's frustrating as I feel like we'd have seen at least a project outline by now, so I'm not expecting a major investment for next year.

[Swarm Chris]

For sure, time is running out for a roller coaster in 2020. The only indication something could be happening is the apparent removal of Sticky Sisters and Burger King from the Old Town area, plus IMAScore tweeting about that area a few months back.

In terms of alternatives to a roller coaster, well we can be fairly sure it won't be a dark ride. Ghost Train has probably destroyed that idea across the parks for a little while. This would leave the installation of new flats, which wouldn't be a bad thing, but again not a particularly strong investment given the time since a fully new attraction. A hotel should be coming, but I suspect this would be budgeted from the Merlin hotel fund and be independent of other investment. Opening a new hotel without adding a new attraction for a good few years, well that's certainly Merlin management logic, but hopefully not what will happen.

Edit:

Separately, Merlin and Thorpe are currently challenging a residential planning request that would be near the Thorpe Farm side of the park. Beyond regular noise concerns, they make specific mention of the last mid-term development plan and the principle of a 50m high roller coaster going on the site behind The Swarm. Whilst the reference is most-likely being made to assert potential developments the council is already aware of, it does show that Merlin considers this site and the mid-term plan as still being valid, despite being fairly out-of-date now compared to their original intention.

In addition, they make no reference to development permitted at Thorpe Park but not yet built, including the latest MTDP. This is a material consideration, most importantly because it established the principle of a 50m high rollercoaster on Area A, an island of land in closer proximity to the Cemex House site than the rest of the developed area. On the basis track noise including rollercoaster cars are currently audible on site, with significant noise levels recorded, a new rollercoaster in closer proximity will clearly effect the noise environment in this location. To restrict Thorpe Park’s capacity to invest in the park’s development would jeopardise its future. The Council will be well aware that the Park relies on the introduction of new rides and attractions to maintain its position as a leading regional theme park. 

Source

[Bert]

Wait, Aren’t Cemex the company who bought out the original owners of Thorpe?

[Htjc_]

No I think that was Ready Mix Concrete. They are now defunct.

[Chris]

No I think that was Ready Mix Concrete. They are now defunct.

Cemex bought Ready Mix Concrete (RMC lol) and obviously still own the site mentioned above, which was not included the sale of the majority of land to the Tussauds Group.

[Dan]

As posted on SouthParks social media; THORPE PARK Official have updated their website with the theme park opening times for the 2019 season.

All off-peak weekdays will see the Resort open 10am-5pm, with opening times at weekends being 10am-6pm. The Resort will be open 10am-6pm during the Easter, May Half Term and Summer holiday periods. Whilst there does not appear to be a return of summer late night openings, the Resort will be open 10am-8pm on Thursdays to Saturdays between 25th July & 31st August.

FRIGHT NIGHTS returns on 28th September, and this year sees the event run for the highest number of days since its inception in 2002. Once again, the Resort will be open 10am-10pm on all FRIGHT NIGHTS dates.

There are a number of off-peak closed days over the course of the season, with the Resort being closed for 19 days, a reduction in the number of closed days compared to 2018.

Are you looking forward to returning to the island like no other?

[Swarm Chris]

Decent operating hours!

Hopefully the slightly reduced late night hours during the summer will mean all attractions are ready for opening the following day, unlike a few times last year.

[Ladyofthelake]

Those hours are better than I was expecting. It's good to see fewer closed days in 2019, and that FRIGHT NIGHTS has been given a longer run again. I do think it's the right move to have 10am-8pm openings during summer weekends, it allows for them to make the most of the peak summer periods, but also balances the need for the required overnight maintenance. I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the 10-6 hours extended on a day by day basis too - especially if we get another hot summer.

Hopefully this is a sign that Thorpe is gradually making progress in the right direction.

[Dom]

Not to shabby. Hopefully there will be reasons to want to stay at the park later during the summer and not just a redo of the tacky Love Island Lates

[Swarm Chris]

Winter track inspection, by u/davethefish.

With the wind at the moment, this is not a job I would want to be doing!

[Wagstaff04]

Sorry, me again. I’m having trouble looking at the prices for a day ticket, as when I click on the link, it just takes me back to the generic tickets page. Could anyone tell me the prices or 2 adult day tickets and 2 child day tickets?

[Swarm Chris]

Sorry, me again. I’m having trouble looking at the prices for a day ticket, as when I click on the link, it just takes me back to the generic tickets page. Could anyone tell me the prices or 2 adult day tickets and 2 child day tickets?

Current online prices are £33pp in advance, for all persons aged 3+.

[Wagstaff04]

Thanks!

[Michelle]

Ooh nope! Cool picture though.

[Justin]

It always amazes me how they can walk the track with little to hold them on. It must be an awkward job though, unhooking between each strut!

[Muppet738]

Herd this on my local radio https://www.eagleradio.co.uk/news/local ... e-complex/

[Swarm Chris]

The latest Thorpe Park Winter Update covers Colossus.

A key change this year is that the water under Colossus has been removed and the area will now be entirely hard standing. The engineer in the video reports that this will allow easier daily inspections of the support structure.

Reading between the lines, I think Colossus is heading towards its end-of-life. We already had a seemingly unplanned closure of the entire Colossus complex last year, to presumably perform structural checks on the ride in that area. This change to specifically make daily inspections easier, suggests to me that they are having to check things now that they weren't previously having to check with such regularity.

[Justin]

This is a picture I took last year of said area...



I did initially wonder if it was because of the swans and birds nesting, which we know has caused problems for the ride in the past.

It has also been suggested it is down to issues with the supports, and possible sinking!