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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
djtruefitt
TS Team
It’s a shame towers couldn’t refurbish their toilets the way Thorpe do. They have literally demolished the whole inside of the ones near Hyperia to start again.
siralgenon
TS Member
If Towers demolished the inside of theirs the building would fall down around it.It’s a shame towers couldn’t refurbish their toilets the way Thorpe do. They have literally demolished the whole inside of the ones near Hyperia to start again.
Absolutely brilliant news from Thorpe though, it's great to see a UK park getting the love it needs. I've always like the areas at Thorpe so this can only enhance them more. It's seems as of late they know what they're doing (minus the logo

GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
You're misremembering, there was never any fire.I was hoping they were going to restore the fire to tidal wave. That hasn't been working since stealth was installed, right? I could be misremembering though.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
There was definitely a fire blast effect which went off every 30 mins or so.You're misremembering, there was never any fire.
Ran for many years. Roughly until Merlin took over funnily enough.
jon81uk
TS Member
The gas tank was removed to add The Swarm. Nothing to do with Merlin merging with Tussauds.There was definitely a fire blast effect which went off every 30 mins or so.
Ran for many years. Roughly until Merlin took over funnily enough.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
Oh right, thanks. Assumed it was Merlin being tight.The gas tank was removed to add The Swarm. Nothing to do with Merlin merging with Tussauds.
Ian
TS Team
Wasn’t one of the effects on Tidal Wave turned off after bats took up nesting inside the set piece? Can’t remember if it was the gas sphere or the chapel tower, but I’m sure one of those was affected by wildlife which ultimately led to the effect’s demise.
djtruefitt
TS Team
The swarm fire effect was then removed a few years back and Thorpe said they were adding a new fire effect to tidal wave, it’s like a weird petrol pump near the side. But covid happened and it never actually got set up/used. They keep saying it will come but of course it hasn’t yet.
I’ll rather they bring back swarm fire effect and the other effects on the ride
I’ll rather they bring back swarm fire effect and the other effects on the ride
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
Clearly I misremembered, I can't ever recall seeing it, but I was a gosling with a 12 year gap between Thorpe visits.I found this, which is possibly what @hogofwar is referring to.![]()
Dave
TS Founding Member
It is definitely in need of a repaint, but at least Thorpe Park keeps and maintains their flat rides unlike another Park...
I don’t think Thorpe have been particularly focused on maintenance of the flat rides. It’s just their flats were purchased in the early 2000’s rather than the 80’s and 90’s like the other park.
I think if Merlin had continued on their Varney strategy then we would have seen an exodus of flats from Thorpe in the next 10 years. Hopefully that has now been avoided.
Matt N
TS Member
I partially agree with this. The younger age of Thorpe’s flats definitely works to their advantage.I don’t think Thorpe have been particularly focused on maintenance of the flat rides. It’s just their flats were purchased in the early 2000’s rather than the 80’s and 90’s like the other park.
I think if Merlin had continued on their Varney strategy then we would have seen an exodus of flats from Thorpe in the next 10 years. Hopefully that has now been avoided.
To be fair, though, they did invest a fair amount of energy into keeping Slammer going before it gave up the ghost.
That ride was unreliable for years before it went, and they could easily have given up on it much earlier (indeed, Six Flags New England gave up on theirs a lot earlier than Thorpe gave up on Slammer), but Thorpe did persist with Slammer for a fair amount of time.
hogofwar
TS Member
Oh, didn't know they turned off the swarm one too. What other effects are turned off?The swarm fire effect was then removed a few years back and Thorpe said they were adding a new fire effect to tidal wave, it’s like a weird petrol pump near the side. But covid happened and it never actually got set up/used. They keep saying it will come but of course it hasn’t yet.
I’ll rather they bring back swarm fire effect and the other effects on the ride
Are there any pictures of that new tidal wave petrol pump thing?
Dave
TS Founding Member
I partially agree with this. The younger age of Thorpe’s flats definitely works to their advantage.
To be fair, though, they did invest a fair amount of energy into keeping Slammer going before it gave up the ghost.
That ride was unreliable for years before it went, and they could easily have given up on it much earlier (indeed, Six Flags New England gave up on theirs a lot earlier than Thorpe gave up on Slammer), but Thorpe did persist with Slammer for a fair amount of time.
Towers had Ripsaw undergoing maintenance when the call came to get rid of it. The idea that Towers never maintained their flats is just laughable, they did. The issue was they didn’t have a plan to replace at end of life.
James
TS Founding Member
Towers too have persisted with maintaining flat rides right up to their dying breath. I disagree that Towers simply did not bother maintaining flats whereas Thorpe did, complete nonsense. Most Thorpe flats have been on life support for a long time.
Hopefully there will be a change in attitude toward flat rides from Merlin in the coming years and we should see flats in a better condition at Thorpe, and new ones at Towers.
Hopefully there will be a change in attitude toward flat rides from Merlin in the coming years and we should see flats in a better condition at Thorpe, and new ones at Towers.