Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[Funcone]

A Re-charge Zone sounds like a sensible idea.

It'll mean that when people get angry about the Ride Access Passes they can send them to the Re-charge Zone go chill out.

 

[DiogoJ42]

The stylisation of "M£rlin" with a pound sign is a touch sixth form common room, isn't it? It suggests that profit seeking is a unique moral failing of Merlin Entertainments, rather than the legal fiduciary duty of every single corporation on the planet.

I feel like I might have been one of the pioneers of "M£rlin", back before some of our younger members parents had even met.
It was funny, back then.
Honest.

 

[owenstreet7]

Latest update from a reel from a creator

It has been stated on this that it's rumoured that new staff at Thorpe Park have been told that Rumba Rapids will not be reopening in 2026.

Take this with a grain of salt but this seems to be closest to confirmation that we've seen the last of Rumba Rapids in 2025.


From: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU582_bCOhp/?igsh=ZTVianEwNmxpZGh1

 

[JamesA]

It's a lacklustre rapids ride so I'm all for closing it... as long as it's replaced with something else and not just left to rot.

 

[Alfredo]

Should keep it open for another year and publicly announce it so people can have their last rides but Merlin will be Merlin

 

[rob666]

Latest update from a reel from a creator...

What?
They are rebuilding The Reel on the rumba rapids site?



I know.

 

[John]

Rumba isn't (wasn't?) a very good ride but it offered a huge chunk of capacity. Losing it further shrinks the park

 

[Hid]

Latest update from a reel from a creator

It has been stated on this that it's rumoured that new staff at Thorpe Park have been told that Rumba Rapids will not be reopening in 2026.

Take this with a grain of salt but this seems to be closest to confirmation that we've seen the last of Rumba Rapids in 2025.


From: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DU582_bCOhp/?igsh=ZTVianEwNmxpZGh1

Unless Parks factually states it I won't believe any creators.

However I think its time has come. Its the worst Rapids in the UK Adventure Cove River Rapids at least has some decent theming and interaction with Wave and Congo River Rapids has excellent landscaping, interaction with Runaway Mine Train and can get you wet. Rumba dossn't get you wet has little to no theming and doesn't really interact with any other rides.

I personally think Rapids are also the 2nd most dangerous ride to. Due to unpredictible nature of the ride and the amount of incidents resulted from Rapids.

And finally if they do close it hopefully will be at least 3 years before a replacent comes and in the mean time Slammer gets its replacement

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Unless Parks factually states it I won't believe any creators.

I suppose that Loggers Leap was definitely operating between 2015 and 2019 then, and that auction of parts definitely took place too...

 

[Hid]

I suppose that Loggers Leap was definitely operating between 2015 and 2019 then, and that auction of parts definitely took place too...

Well parks can still have auctions from old ride parts that have been replaced. I won a Troublesome Trucks Wheel at an auction and the ride still lives

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Well parks can still have auctions from old ride parts that have been replaced. I won a Troublesome Trucks Wheel at an auction and the ride still lives

There is a distinct difference between auctioning off a single replaced wheel from a kiddie coaster to clear some space in the workshop and auctioning off the boats and signage of a major water ride that hasn't operated in four years.

The park didn't "factually state" Loggers Leap was closed for good until 2019. It closed in 2015. If you waited for the official press release to believe it, you spent four years staring at a rotting trough expecting a miracle.

 

[Hid]

There is a distinct difference between auctioning off a single replaced wheel from a kiddie coaster to clear some space in the workshop and auctioning off the boats and signage of a major water ride that hasn't operated in four years.

The park didn't "factually state" Loggers Leap was closed for good until 2019. It closed in 2015. If you waited for the official press release to believe it, you spent four years staring at a rotting trough expecting a miracle.

Only time will tell if the content creators are right

 

[Alfredo]

Rumba dossn't get you wet has little to no theming and doesn't really interact with any other rides.

Doesn't it interact with stealth

 

[Hid]

Doesn't it interact with stealth

Not really, you see it but you can't really interact with the guests whilst on ride

 

[venny]

It's a lacklustre rapids ride so I'm all for closing it... as long as it's replaced with something else and not just left to rot.

I think the safe money is on “just left to rot”.


For a few years at least.

 

[John_P]

It's taken Merlin 2 1/2 years to apply for planning permission to to knock down an eyesore rapids people would see on every visit to Legoland. At Thorpe a few well placed walls with some vinyls on and they can pretend the Rumba Rapids didn't exist for decades.

 

[owenstreet7]

I'm betting you they'll just refurbish the ghost train again instead of reopening the rapids and do a coaster years later

Deja Vu

 

[Alfredo]

Not really, you see it but you can't really interact with the guests whilst on ride

You can't really interact with guests on the wave either

 

[Enter Valhalla]

You can't really interact with guests on the wave either

This really is closed season type chatter, but the point being made here is that the Rapids at Drayton Manor and Alton Towers come close enough to The Wave and RMT respectively that it adds an element of interaction to those rapids rides.

Yes of course you can’t interact with Wave riders in the sense of having a conversation with them or probably even wave (pardon the pun) at them due to the speed of the ride. But whilst riding the rapids, you get to see the train go round on The Wave, see the riders’ faces, watch it go through the inversions etc, and this adds another dimension to the Rapids ride experience. The same with Alton Towers Rapids and RMT.

The same comparison cannot be made between Rumba and Stealth. Stealth faces the other way, is behind a load of trees and can’t be seen for the vast majority of the time that you are on Rumba. To claim that Rumba’s interaction with Stealth is comparable to that of Congo River Rapids to RMT or Adventure Cove Rapids to The Wave, is frankly laughable.