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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Looking at the work Drayton Manor has carried out on replacing there facades for its new area, it’s a shame Thorpe Park hasn’t followed a similar approach with replacing Angry Birds Land. Big Easy Boulevard does have some nice features and it’s clear the budget did run out, but what have merlin got against just replacing facades? Surely it’s actually cheaper and easier than continuous bodging, painting and repair. New facades fitted over the top in my opinion just look so much better, fresher and will stand the test of time better.

From seeing the original artwork of the firework shop and the cinema, these are a clear examples of are these an improvement…Yes but they could have been so much more. It’s a shame the new flooring didn’t get the go ahead in the end, it does feel incomplete again but perhaps a working project we will see.

Saying this I understand they’re upgrading many areas and it’s all welcome but sometimes it’s better to do a job well once, than twice & twice again.


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TroySmith1 said:
Looking at the work Drayton Manor has carried out on replacing there facades for its new area, it’s a shame Thorpe Park hasn’t followed a similar approach with replacing Angry Birds Land. Big Easy Boulevard does have some nice features and it’s clear the budget did run out, but what have merlin got against just replacing facades? Surely it’s actually cheaper and easier than continuous bodging, painting and repair. New facades fitted over the top in my opinion just look so much better, fresher and will stand the test of time better.

From seeing the original artwork of the firework shop and the cinema, these are a clear examples of are these an improvement…Yes but they could have been so much more. It’s a shame the new flooring didn’t get the go ahead in the end, it does feel incomplete again but perhaps a working project we will see.

Saying this I understand they’re upgrading many areas and it’s all welcome but sometimes it’s better to do a job well once, than twice & twice again.


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Drayton Manor have gone with a Wild West theme where wooden boarding suits the theme. For Thorpe’s New Orleans theme the buildings would still be rendered and painted so can’t as easily just put another layer on top. But most of what need replacing with Thorpe’s buildings was the windowsills and similar anyway, the render looks generally fine in pictures.
 
jon81uk said:
Drayton Manor have gone with a Wild West theme where wooden boarding suits the theme. For Thorpe’s New Orleans theme the buildings would still be rendered and painted so can’t as easily just put another layer on top. But most of what need replacing with Thorpe’s buildings was the windowsills and similar anyway, the render looks generally fine in pictures.
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I disagree here many parks around the world achieve this effect very well including Disney, regardless of what theme it doest have to be “wood” style theming? The end result looks cleaner, more professional, more immersive than botched years of painting old plaster. For another comparison you only have to look at Frontier Falls against The World Of David Williams, in my opinion it just looks miles better?

Benzin said:
I mean they didn't even put a facade over Det's photo shop anyway just painted it black with some tacked on fireworks.

Looks terrible.
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I agree I was expecting actual themed, custom made fireworks so it looked like a shop display window. Not just some store brought empty boxes in a painted shed, not really sure what happened to the fake brick facade, but what we was left with was abit of a messy project of a painted shed.

However there are some other details and theming I do really like in the area but it’s just not consistent and clean throughout. I think the park probably shouldn’t have shown us detailed concept art of different areas on there social media, getting our hopes up unless they could deliver that standard.


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TroySmith1 said:
I disagree here many parks around the world achieve this effect very well including Disney, regardless of what theme it doest have to be “wood” style theming? The end result looks cleaner, more professional, more immersive than botched years of painting old plaster. For another comparison you only have to look at Frontier Falls against The World Of David Williams, in my opinion it just looks miles better?


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But thats why it looks miles better, the theme is wooden wild west facades so wooden facades will look perfect.

One of the main reasons the World of David Walliams looks bad is because it was just more paint on top of paint, if they had stripped it back and re did the wood/render behind all the paint of course it would look better. Or putting another layer of facade over like Drayton have done. But bare wood wouldn't have worked there are bright colours is really the theme. Other theme parks do it well as again they strip back when rethemeing instead of adding more paint on top.
 
jon81uk said:
But thats why it looks miles better, the theme is wooden wild west facades so wooden facades will look perfect.

One of the main reasons the World of David Walliams looks bad is because it was just more paint on top of paint, if they had stripped it back and re did the wood/render behind all the paint of course it would look better. Or putting another layer of facade over like Drayton have done. But bare wood wouldn't have worked there are bright colours is really the theme. Other theme parks do it well as again they strip back when rethemeing instead of adding more paint on top.
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I understand what’s your saying but I don’t think you understand what I’m saying? I meant putting another facade over the old, nothing to do with the overall finish looking like wood or not, even if it does suit Drayton theme well.

New facades allow more flexibility of a required illusion for any certain themed. Bodging, painting, unnecessary, expensive, rendering onto years or existing building suited to a different theme just isn’t working for them.


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TroySmith1 said:
New facades allow more flexibility of a required illusion for any certain themed. Bodging, painting, unnecessary, expensive, rendering onto years or existing building suited to a different theme just isn’t working for them.
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I mean removing the old facade/render and replace it completly rather then adding yet another layer in front.
 
jon81uk said:
I mean removing the old facade/render and replace it completly rather then adding yet another layer in front.
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Majority of Alton or Thorpe aren’t facades so you suggesting removing the entire buildings? In an idea world yes but I can’t see that being cost effective or necessary to achieve a certain look. The idea of brand new facades in front is you won’t see anything behind, this way you can add more depth and have more flexibility to build any desired theme In front. Which I feel Drayton have achieved this look very well, Removing plaster to rebuild plaster just doesn’t have the same flexibility & is costly I Just don’t see the point?
 
TroySmith1 said:
Majority of Alton or Thorpe aren’t facades so you suggesting removing the entire buildings? In an idea world yes but I can’t see that being cost effective or necessary to achieve a certain look. The idea of brand new facades in front is you won’t see anything behind, this way you can add more depth and have more flexibility to build any desired theme In front. Which I feel Drayton have achieved this look very well, Removing plaster to rebuild plaster just doesn’t have the same flexibility & is costly?
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Depends what they are trying to acheive, if it is like Drayton Manor and the style of the building needs to change complelty to be wild west, then a new facade in front makes sense. If it is like Walliams World and the look/shape of the buildings is fine for the theme but the issue is the underlying building is too old then the solution is to re-plaster/render the building. If there is deeper structural issues rather than just bad plaster/render then replacing the building would be needed (like the Edge arcade at AT).

Each problem needs a different solution.
 
If anyone is interested, Theme Park Worldwide have filmed a video walking around Thorpe Park with Russ, the park’s operational manager, and documenting some of the changes that have taken place as part of the Sparkle Project over the off-season:


Some interesting details from the video include:
  • The return of Tidal Wave’s fire effect is planned, but Russ could not give a concrete timeline.
  • The return of The Swarm’s fire and water effects is also planned. At least one of those will be ready for the start of the season, but I can’t remember which, off the top of my head.
  • Samurai will not be opening at the start of the season, as it is being refurbished and its repaint is still ongoing.
  • The reason for Colossus not being fully repainted this off-season is that a full repaint would have resulted in the ride not opening until later in the season, which Thorpe Park did not feel would be ideal.
  • Colossus’ entrance paint job is going to be altered further. Thorpe Park has taken on board the feedback about it being too yellow.
  • Saw’s chainsaw blades over the drop will be spinning again for the first time in a number of years in 2024.
I have to say, the park is looking brilliant! Everything looks very fresh, Big Easy Boulevard looks really nice, Hyperia is looking awesome, and overall, I am thoroughly excited for this season at Thorpe Park!
 
Matt N said:
If anyone is interested, Theme Park Worldwide have filmed a video walking around Thorpe Park with Russ, the park’s operational manager, and documenting some of the changes that have taken place as part of the Sparkle Project over the off-season:


Some interesting details from the video include:
  • The return of Tidal Wave’s fire effect is planned, but Russ could not give a concrete timeline.
  • The return of The Swarm’s fire and water effects is also planned. At least one of those will be ready for the start of the season, but I can’t remember which, off the top of my head.
  • Samurai will not be opening at the start of the season, as it is being refurbished and its repaint is still ongoing.
  • The reason for Colossus not being fully repainted this off-season is that a full repaint would have resulted in the ride not opening until later in the season, which Thorpe Park did not feel would be ideal.
  • Colossus’ entrance paint job is going to be altered further. Thorpe Park has taken on board the feedback about it being too yellow.
  • Saw’s chainsaw blades over the drop will be spinning again for the first time in a number of years in 2024.
I have to say, the park is looking brilliant! Everything looks very fresh, Big Easy Boulevard looks really nice, Hyperia is looking awesome, and overall, I am thoroughly excited for this season at Thorpe Park!
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I’ll be there on Saturday, so I shall see for myself. I give you my thoughts Saturday evening. (Nope! Definitely not making that mistake again.)
 
Unbelievable the amount of work that has been carried out this close season! I feel slightly bad on some of my earlier comments now, as they clearly demonstrated recently they do care for guest satisfaction including: better food offering, upgraded audio, WiFi coverage, improved permanent lighting, external effects fixed, Themed Que line screens, additional theming to areas/guest immersion, upgraded guest facilities inc toilet facilities…the list goes on!

This year appears to be a big milestone for the park. So much has happened in a single closed season is just unheard of for any Merlin parks, whist offering what appears to be a new world class rollercoaster. This definitely feels like a new Era for Thorpe Park and I’m really excited to see all these changes and the future of the park.

It really feels like Merlin as a whole are changing in a new direction with there parks, maybe since they became more independent or the potential Universal Park on the horizon? Whatever the reason for the sudden shift, I’m sure is very welcome amongst enthusiasts and the general public who deserve that special day out without having to fly to European/international parks!
 
TroySmith1 said:
It really feels like Merlin as a whole are changing in a new direction with there parks, maybe since they became more independent or the potential Universal Park on the horizon? Whatever the reason for the sudden shift, I’m sure is very welcome amongst enthusiasts and the general public who deserve that special day out without having to fly to European/international parks!
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The change in ownership, management and going from a PLC to private will be the reason for the shift. Universal was only announced in December, and it's a long way off from happening (if it ever does), these 'new' Merlin projects will have been in development for the past few years.

Merlin is a large organisation with lots of moving parts. They can't 'move fast and break things', to quote startup tech mentality. They can't afford to be reactionary and they're not built like that.

I'm not a fan of the "Universal is why" explanation for things, certainly not yet. It feels lazy, but it's also a bit disingenuous and takes away from the care and passion 'new' Merlin are demonstrating. It's not because they have to get their act together because they fear competition, it's because they want to strive for better, because they know they can and that improving guest experience is the real way to guarantee long term success.
 
The whole Universal thing will be being monitored by Merlin, but not a single decision will be being made until spades go into the ground. Businesses like certainty, and any potential Universal park is anything but at the moment. It's a land acquisition and exploration project, not the forgone conclusion that you'd be forgiven for thinking if you skimmed over the Universal thread.

The investment going in is an interesting subject matter. Although I don't think the work being done is anything ground breaking at Thorpe, it all looks like pretty run of the mill (and at times quite uninspiring) stuff to me, just condensed in to such a short space of time makes it interesting, certainly a wildly different gear to what we're used to.

Not being beholden to the pressures of being a PLC can make for very different investment decisions. It still smacks of a tart up and sell-up or refloat job to me.
 
Matt.GC said:
The whole Universal thing will be being monitored by Merlin, but not a single decision will be being made until spades go into the ground. Businesses like certainty, and any potential Universal park is anything but at the moment. It's a land acquisition and exploration project, not the forgone conclusion that you'd be forgiven for thinking if you skimmed over the Universal thread.

The investment going in is an interesting subject matter. Although I don't think the work being done is anything ground breaking at Thorpe, it all looks like pretty run of the mill (and at times quite uninspiring) stuff to me, just condensed in to such a short space of time makes it interesting, certainly a wildly different gear to what we're used to.

Not being beholden to the pressures of being a PLC can make for very different investment decisions. It still smacks of a tart up and sell-up or refloat job to me.
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I'd almost agree with you, if it weren't for KIRKBI also owning The Lego Group.

We could see them spin off the other assets into different companies though. Varney's original Merlin midways and Tussaud's attractions being folded into a new company, or even two distinct ones again.
 
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