• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

2026: General Discussion

Thorpe Park has also put every day of the season up to £66… seeing as the website still advertises £32, I’m going with some sort of centralised glitch rather than a sudden stealthy hike of the prices!

Someone should really have deployed to test before making a change to the booking system… this seems like the sort of issue that may have been introduced by a change!
 
Slightly off topic, but regarding pricing overall.

A book of thrill ride tickets at the Beach around 1990 was £20...roughly.

That would be £60 at today's prices...

But now entry is around thirty quid.

And you only get on half as many rides.
 
rob666 said:
Slightly off topic, but regarding pricing overall.

A book of thrill ride tickets at the Beach around 1990 was £20...roughly.

That would be £60 at today's prices...

But now entry is around thirty quid.

And you only get on half as many rides.
Click to expand...
Which is one of many reasons why it still baffles me that the old-school Pleasure Beach fans are so desperate to get rid wristbands and go back to the PPR system. What’s in place now is clearly better value.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Which is one of many reasons why it still baffles me that the old-school Pleasure Beach fans are so desperate to get rid wristbands and go back to the PPR system. What’s in place now is clearly better value.
Click to expand...

But might explain why quality has dropped across UK parks.

If BPB was taking on average the equivalent of £60 a head in 1990 and now takes £30 a head today then something has to give.

Although weirdly according to the Google god Towers was £15 a ticket in 1994 which is only around £30 in today’s money so a think profit greed is more to blame there.
 
This opening the gates business at 9:30 is chaotic- already about 9:10 this morning the plaza was full. All of the queues are now maxed out and the flow of people from the entrance road entry point isn’t being controlled.

I’m sure lots of people would buy a coffee if they were allowed to enter- Merlin are losing money here!

Not at great first impression - especially if you’ve come in on the rail replacement bus

Edit: almost as if they’ve heard the pitter patter of fingers of my keyboard they’ve opened they’ve let some people through the security checkpoints as they likely saw it was getting very crowded
 
Last edited:
VerticalLoop123 said:
This opening the gates business at 9:30 is chaotic- already about 9:10 this morning the plaza was full. All of the queues are now maxed out and the flow of people from the entrance road entry point isn’t being controlled.

I’m sure lots of people would buy a coffee if they were allowed to enter- Merlin are losing money here!

Not at great first impression - especially if you’ve come in on the rail replacement bus

Edit: almost as if they’ve heard the pitter patter of fingers of my keyboard they’ve opened they’ve let some people through the security checkpoints as they likely saw it was getting very crowded
Click to expand...

The big issue with the drive in is people turning right into premium parking. They should send premium parking up to the traffic lights then right into coach park and down to avoid the right hand lane on the drive getting clogged up.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Which is one of many reasons why it still baffles me that the old-school Pleasure Beach fans are so desperate to get rid wristbands and go back to the PPR system. What’s in place now is clearly better value.
Click to expand...
Not at peak times it isn't!
Used to turn up, pay £20, and actually go on half a dozen rides each as a couple in an hour or two, every last time.
Then go and play out elsewhere.
Impossible now.
That same process now takes all day, any day that isn't quiet.
Never a queue of more than ten minutes apart from "the big new ride" for decades.
Then pop arrived, operational incentives nosedived, queues doubled overnight, and income to bring in new rides, every year(!), was lost.
 
Last edited:
Spend the Easter holidays reminiscing whilst staring at all these closed rides...



I've seen an Alton Towers TV advert the last few days, which also shows Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids. RMT train, you could excuse it as it might be unexpected, but it's poor to advertise a ride (CRR) that you have planned not to open for the first quarter of the season. I know T&Cs cover their arses, but it's pretty misleading.
 
James said:
I've seen an Alton Towers TV advert the last few days, which also shows Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids. RMT train, you could excuse it as it might be unexpected, but it's poor to advertise a ride (CRR) that you have planned not to open for the first quarter of the season. I know T&Cs cover their arses, but it's pretty misleading.
Click to expand...
At least the TV advert probably isn't specific to Easter, many people would be booking for the summer. Whereas the Instagram/Facebook advert specifically infers that you can make memories on those attractions at Easter.
 
The only forgiveable ride down is Runaway Mine Train its 34 years old without any major overhaul. Stood the test of time it has.

Actually thinking about it, is Runaway Mine Train the least changed ride since its opening in 1992
 
Hid said:
The only forgiveable ride down is Runaway Mine Train its 34 years old without any major overhaul. Stood the test of time it has.

Actually thinking about it, is Runaway Mine Train the least changed ride since its opening in 1992
Click to expand...

It had some new carriages after it crashed I suspect.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top