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WTF Merlin?

Wasn't the parking charge initially brought in to cover the cost of that bypass? Then it quietly got dropped while the parking cost went up and up
 
Dar said:
Wasn't the parking charge initially brought in to cover the cost of that bypass? Then it quietly got dropped while the parking cost went up and up
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I read that somewhere whilst trying to dig out the story... I don't remember it being advertised as such, but quite possibly. When I worked there it was still the parking coins / tokens, and it was part of our job at guest services to sell them, especially when we were dotted around in the 'Information Booths.' So I'm surprised I don't remember that detail, but it could still be true.
 
So it's been confirmed that for opening day that at Alton Towers they will be a lot of ride closures. RMT, Congo Rapids, Skyride, Monorail, and Battle Galleons, and potentially Sharkbait Reef will be closed. They pin it on maintenance usually, but let's be honest it is cost cutting..
 
MackMan said:
So it's been confirmed that for opening day that at Alton Towers they will be a lot of ride closures. RMT, Congo Rapids, Skyride, Monorail, and Battle Galleons, and potentially Sharkbait Reef will be closed. They pin it on maintenance usually, but let's be honest it is cost cutting..
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I can't remember a recent season where Rapids and Skyride were open at the start of the season. Battle Galleons isn't really a surprise either, it's way too cold at this time of year for water rides.

RMT is a shock, that's a family favourite and often actually our first towers ride of the season for some reason. I do wonder how long monorail is for this world, in it's current form. Surely it needs replacing or major upgrades by now. But Sharkbait Reef is the real shock... I just don't understand that at all, it will hardly save them loads of money as many of the staff will still be required to care for the exhibits. Weird. I wonder if there's some surprise works / renovations happening?
 
I think I was wrong about Sharkbait Reef, my bad. But yeah RMT is a really bad closure in my opinion, I hope they have it open soon! It's such a pivotal attraction in the lineup, I feel like the park struggles with kids who are too old for Cbeebies, and too young for Wicker/Spinball, it's an awkward gap.

Galleons/Congo are set to open in May, which I think is a bit late. I know it's cold but Alton needs as many support rides as it can get. Even a Easter weekend open would be more acceptable in my opinion. Congo and RMT closed together will make that whole area a big dead spot on the way to the back of the park.

But yeah honestly let's hope this is not a recurring issue. Skyride seems to be always closed lol.
 
Sorry to double post, but it has been confirmed that Rumba Rapids at Thorpe is being removed. Honestly I get it, it's a ageing model and probably expensive to run, but it does feel annoying that Storm Surge is outliving it.. The park has a lot of water rides, but I feel Rumba really brought the capacity.

Storm Surge probably is a lot cheaper to run I guess. It also seems like the park is now more unattractive to families with smaller kids than ever.. No Rapids, no X, Amity beach is gone now, you literally have Flying Fish, Banana Ride, the bumper cars, the cinema, and high striker now.. The park needs family friendly rides like mad in my opinion if they want to even try to appease any younger folk.
 
Rumba hasn't run wild in years though, whilst not as bad as Drayton's which got nerfed to the point of becoming a gentle boat ride, it has been a long time since it actually ran like it used to.
 
Video from the park:
www.instagram.com

Jack Silkstone on Instagram: "After 39 years of soaking thrill seekers, Rumba Rapids at @thorpeparkofficial has now permanently closed. Join me as I take a trip down memory lane to look back at the history, rethemes and memories of one of Thorpe Par

1,869 likes, 109 comments - j_silkstone on March 12, 2026: "After 39 years of soaking thrill seekers, Rumba Rapids at @thorpeparkofficial has now permanently closed. Join me as I take a trip down memory lane to look back at the history, rethemes and memories of one of Thorpe Park’s...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I hope unlike loggers we are not waiting 10 years for a replacement and is that island behind swarm ever going to be used 😅
 
The thing is, I can't even be excited for the removal, because if Logger's and Slammer are anything to go by, it's going to take almost a decade before we even see any movement towards removing it, much less action towards a replacement for it. Slammer closed in 2018 and the most usage that plot has ever seen was for a scare maze.

Before I even start speculating on what could replace it, it feels like a matter of whether or not they even will in the first place.
 
Niles said:
Video from the park:
www.instagram.com

Jack Silkstone on Instagram: "After 39 years of soaking thrill seekers, Rumba Rapids at @thorpeparkofficial has now permanently closed. Join me as I take a trip down memory lane to look back at the history, rethemes and memories of one of Thorpe Par

1,869 likes, 109 comments - j_silkstone on March 12, 2026: "After 39 years of soaking thrill seekers, Rumba Rapids at @thorpeparkofficial has now permanently closed. Join me as I take a trip down memory lane to look back at the history, rethemes and memories of one of Thorpe Park’s...
www.instagram.com www.instagram.com

I hope unlike loggers we are not waiting 10 years for a replacement and is that island behind swarm ever going to be used 😅
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My biggest fear is that we see Stealth disappear first, and then they use both areas combined for a replacement. :/
 
Can’t say i’m surprised, last time I rode Rumba Rapids it was “please remain seated the ride”

They even had staff members on deck chairs with a megaphone ready to shout at anyone who moved/stood up.

I guess H&S eventually killed it.

Look forward to seeing what replaces it in 2036!
 
Nicky Borrill said:
My biggest fear is that we see Stealth disappear first, and then they use both areas combined for a replacement. :/
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I really hope not as its probably the coaster that means the most to me but that hydraulic launch has only got so much time left.

In my dream very unlikely world i see as legoland and Chessington have these plans and investment before 2031 (Universal) Merlin look at investing also into Thorpe too. For Thorpe call Intamin and get a deal, for 2029 the parks 50th get a Blitz on the rapids site and then a bit later refit Stealth to a muti pass LSM spike like TT2.

Completely unrealistic......yes but i really hope Stealth stays around in some form for years to come.
 
Rumba has been a shell of itself for basically a decade now. Expensive to run and likely not well received meant it was always on borrowed time. I believe there's been more than one conversation over the last few years about closing it down.

The situation is very different to the likes of Slammer and Loggers Leap. Slammer closed due to spiralling maintenance costs and limited support from S&S. They literally tried everything they could, but they had to give up. Loggers required more money to fix up than they had available so they genuinely closed it with a plan to reopen, but then costs spiralled.
Rumba is a clear and conscious choice of "we don't want to run this any more".

The big thing is there's no reference to a replacement planned. It's just been closed. Sure, it can be hidden reasonably well, but it's closed and nothing looks to be on the horizon.


MackMan said:
The park has a lot of water rides,
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Not any more, really. They've got Tidal Wave, which as an oversoaker and only worth it on the hottest of days, Storm Surge, which is a gentle splash, and Depth Charge, which is just a slide. Before the closure of Loggers, they had a good, varied water ride line up. Now it feels severely lacking.

And the point of Tidal Wave brings me to my next point: some people say we don't have the climate for water rides. They are only seasonal rides. Yet that's never stopped water rides here being open March-November in the past. Tidal Wave, which dumps 2.7 bathtubs of water on each person, is open all season. Why can't we run a rapids or a log flume?

As for the future. I think a new, modern, water ride should take its place. They can have restraints to help ease the Merlin H&S concerns. They have adaptability with how wet you get. And there's lots of options out there.
-Something like Amazonia from Bellewaerde.
-An Intamin flume (where Intamin offer all crazy extras now)
-Mack Rocking Boat
-Mack Water Coaster
Plenty of other options too.

Obviously they could just do the coaster route too.

Something that people have noted is 2029 is the park's 50th anniversary, so suggestions they could do something big then. And obviously with Universal coming in 2031, it'd be ideal to have something big and new around then. But I hope we don't have to wait that long for Rumba's plot to be used...
 
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