It is expected construction will commence soon, firstly with the removal of the 6 remaining rides in the area, following Slippery serpent, removed earlier in the year.

See below for images of Octopus Garden in its last moments of operation.

The Dr Pepper Stunt Show Head over to the arena to see the parks most extreme stunt show, there are sure to be plenty of extreme moves to make you wow.

The Pete Box In the Showcase Thorpe Park will be presenting "The Pete Box" ,an incredible human beat boxer who claims he will take you on a journey of real time music production. You will also have the chance to get involved and help orchestrate your very own beatbox songs with the man himself.

Soul Mavericks Head Stealth side and see the Soul Mavericks dance crew, busting their moves to the live Stealth DJ, and that's not all, why not take them on yourself and learn from the boys themselves in a dance stage battle.

And that's not all, right across the park there will be plenty of going on's from cheerleaders to American footballers! And if none of that interests you, don't forget the parks open until 8pm giving you the best chance to take on all the parks most extreme rides. So make sure you don't miss out and head down to Thorpe Park between the 21st and 31st August.

Details on which area the ride will be in or theme are yet to officially confirmed.

See below for the plans which were submitted by Thorpe Park, These may take some time to download over a slow connection.

In line with the THORPE PARKs Medium Term Development Plan that was submitted early this month, application for full planning permission for a new water ride opening in 2011 has been submitted to the Runnymede Borough council.

At a height of 19.4metres, the new ride will be located in the area currently occupied by Octopus Garden and will help establish the Park within a very competitive industry, appealing to both our core audience of 16-34 year old thrill seekers and families.

The decision was made to close the attraction due to the fact that for a ride of its nature, Slippery Serpent had unrealistic maintenance costs and the ROI (return on investment) for the business was not viable.

"We are constantly researching and looking to develop our product offering and this removal ensures that we are continuing to develop the Park's overall objective to establish its brand positioning within the very competitive industry, as the nation's Thrill Capital. Any future developments can be found here on Thorpe Park Mania.

Full of features the app will be a valuable tool to anyone visiting the park with live updates on both ride availability and the latest queue times across the park.

Full Press release:

THORPE PARK, the nation's Thrill Capital, is the first European theme park to launch an official, dedicated iPhone App. As of today, THORPE PARK Official is available to download free of charge, from the App Store, for all iPhone and iPod Touch users. This easy-to-use, interactive application is designed to maximise guests' enjoyment on their day out by providing navigational tools, fun interactive games, promotional offers, information on rides and retail units, as well as live queue times - keeping them one step ahead of the crowds.

"This App enables THORPE PARK to take communication and interaction with our guests to a new level" said Vicki Smith, THORPE PARK's Marketing Director. "It's the perfect accompaniment to a visit to the Park providing navigation, information and insane fun at the guests' finger tips, helping them to maximise their enjoyment on a day out."

Sitting within the Entertainment category on the App Store, the application offers a variety of innovative features* to help guests make decisions prior to their visit, as well as keeping them entertained and informed while at the Park.

*Augmented Reality - Point and discover! Point the phone around the Park to see what's close by in regards to rides, restaurants and retail units. Plus check out live queue times digitally overlaid on top of what you see through the camera feature.

*Park Map - Interactive Park map shows guests their exact location in relation to the rides, food and retail units, cash points, toilets and lockers..all via the iPhone's GPS capability.

*Ride Information - Allows guests to see all the extreme thrills awaiting them on their favourite rides, as well as videos and photos to really get the adrenaline pumping in anticipation.

*Offers - With the introduction of Eagle Eye technology at the Park being implemented in the very near future, a later version of the App will provide guests with exclusive discounts and promotions to the Park as well as at the retail and food units.

*Insane Fun - Includes 'Find the Fathead' game, 'THORPE PARK Quiz', random facts, queue line games and more.

*Park Info - Providing information on THORPE PARK, including: opening times, upcoming events and directions to the Park.

Not only that, the park have confirmed that during opening hours all the most important games will be shown live at the park, giving you the chance to enjoy the park without missing the footie!

Full press release:

THORPE PARK, the nation's Thrill Capital, have created the fastest England flag in the country by turning Stealth into an 80mph St George's Cross, preparing England supporters across the country for the World Cup and a rollercoaster ride of emotions.

From Friday 11th June, and for as long as Stevie G and the boys are still competing in the tournament, THORPE PARK are offering patriotic fans half price entry* when wearing official England replica shirts - giving them the chance to ride Stealth, one of Europe's fastest rollercoasters, and the country's fastest national flag.

Vicki Smith, Marketing Director said: 'We know how supporting England can feel like you're on a rollercoaster ride at times, so we're asking fans to substitute it for the real thing at THORPE PARK. Everyone at the Park is going football mad, we've even turned Stealth into our very own 'Goal-ercoaster'!

The team may be thousands of miles away, but supporters will feel every high and low, and with views of Wembley from the top of Stealth, THORPE PARK is a great place for fans to sport their shirts and support their team.'

With Capello's team starting the group stages on Saturday, fans are able to take advantage of half price entry to the Park in a bid to tackle some of Europe's most extreme rollercoasters. Kick off with the ten-looping Colossus, shoot from 0-80mph in under 2 seconds to the height of 205ft on Stealth and finish the hat-trick on Nemesis Inferno, the 4.5 G-Force experience. And if there's any extra time, England fans will be able to face their fears on the world's most terrifying rollercoaster, SAW - The Ride before braving SAW Alive, the world's most extreme live action horror maze.

After all that, the highs and lows of an England match won't seem so bad and with games being shown live at the Park**, there will be plenty of time to experience both the ups and downs of the match and the rollercoasters!

We believe that it will be an initial fee of £2 for cars and similar Alton Towers charge, free for all Annual pass holders.

Imagine experiencing forces of a terrifying 5.5 Gs, whilst trying to hold down your dinner and answering questions all at the same time - is your stomach churning yet?

Each show features two contestants paired with a celebrity to form two teams. They will compete in a series of hilarious challenges all of which take part ON the rides themselves - for a potential prize pot of £5,000.

See the likes of Ben Shephard, Katie Price, Matt Willis and Suzanne Shaw (plus many more) as you've never seen them before - no one can look glamorous when hurtling at 115mph in the air!

Scream if You Know the Answer! will feature a wide selection of extreme games, including: "Retch-A-Sketch", a hilarious drawing game which sees both team members riding together in a bid to win points; "Easier Said than Spun", where contestants describe objects for the celebs to guess while enduring 5Gs on the notorious Samurai or Slammer rides. The tasks are simple - but trying to complete them whilst upside down and moving at high speed is another thing!

It's an adrenalin packed programme with lots of twists and turns - a must see for all thrill seekers.

Starts 7pm, Sunday 2nd May, EXCLUSIVELY on Watch (Sky 109, Virgin Media 124)

Tickets are available from £28 on the Thorpe Park Website by Clicking Here, along with seeing your favourite stars perform, ticket holders will get 1 hour ERT (Extended Ride Time) on the parks most thrilling attractions, Saw - The Ride, Stealth, Colossus and Nemesis Inferno!

And if that's not enough, Britain's Got Talent stars, "Flawless" will take the stage in the Arena showing off some of their most inspirational dance acts! To make sure you don't miss out on any of the fun Thorpe Park have extended opening hours for these dates, opening at 9:30 and staying open right the way through till 7:00pm giving you plenty of chance to have a fun filled day!

Dont forget to let us know what you think on the Mania Hub Forums!]]> Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:17:05 -0700 http://thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/173 Thorpe Park opened its gates to Annual Pass holders today to give us all an exclusive peak at the park before opening to the public on Thursday and we were there to bring you an exciting update!

As you already know, for 2010 the park has undergone a huge rebranding, love it or hate it there's no denying the park has clearly spent a lot of money, and it does show with much signage across the entire park being replaced to either fit in with the new brand, or just to neaten things up with gets a big thumbs up from us!

Along with this, from walking around you can tell a lot of time has gone into freshening up the park, the entire park has been "de-gummed" over the closed period, theming, which is often a hot subject between the parks biggest fans has been worked on, replaced and looking nice and fresh again. It's also nice to see many buildings and rides across the park have been repainted, giving the park a real fresh feel as you walk around.

But we don't expect you to take our word for it! Take a look below from photos from the weekend!

There have also been changes on park, many areas and rides have had a lick of paint or have had some work to improve the presentation, the parks audio system has been worked on and is sounding as good as ever, new theming has also appeared, most notably in the way of a huge shark being erected at Amity Cove KFC!

Click Here to see our closed season archive for all the images from the day!

Thorpe Park have stated on their official facebook page they expect all rides to be in operation, and that annual pass holders have a chance to bring up to 2 friends who are not annual pass holders, for a fee of £15 each. The park will be open from 10:00 - 17:00

The site features a whole new branding image for the New Year, with a huge concentration on the parks target audience, Thrill Seekers in a nicely designed clean and easy to use layout. The site is due to be updated with more information on the upcoming season in the next couple of months in the run up to the new season!

Take a look for yourself on www.thorpepark.com.

This year we see new benefits including unlimited coke capsule refills for only £10 for the entire season at selected attractions & 50% off entry to the International Merlin Attractions.

In addition, look out for the image of Saw -Alive, the new horror maze opening at Thorpe Park in 2010 which is currently being themed.

The image shows the re-themed Thorpe Belle which will house the attraction along with some general theming around the area, similar to Saw - The Rides.

We look forward to bringing you more exclusive information and images from Saw Alive in the new year!