Glowing Transformation: Thorpe Park’s Winter Glow-Up

This winter has seen Thorpe Park’s biggest investment to date! Alongside building the UK’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster, Hyperia, we’ve also been carrying out a very exciting and vibrant Sparkle Project! From painting rides and revamping theming, to installing a new bridge at Tidal Wave; from giving the Stealth area a major glow-up, to laying fresh and vibrant new turf around the park – our Sparkle Project has been bursting at the seams to improve your experience and we can’t wait to show you what we’ve been doing over the past few months! 

Read on for a behind-the-scenes glimpse into our Sparkle Project! Buckle up, there’s a lot to get through!  

November

Paint work on Colossus is progressing well, you can see just how much more vibrant the track will look! 

The birds begin their migration in preparation for Big Easy Boulevard.  

New screens are being installed in SAW - The Ride, Stealth and Nemesis Inferno. These (plus The Swarm and Colossus) will also feature new pre-boarding information screens before each station to help improve loading speeds. 

December

Colossus painting continues. 

Big Easy Boulevard construction is underway with the removal of the existing portal and cinema fencing.

Major renovation work is taking place on the Tidal Wave bridge. 

Vortex is undergoing Winter maintenance. 

Colossus repaint continues. 

Here you can see the unfinished progress of our new Big Easy Bumpers car prototype, once this car is complete we move onto the other 21 cars. 

Work continues on Big Easy Boulevard, including the removal of Angry Birds Land theming, signage and queue areas. 

Colossus is really coming together, you can now see how much fresher the area looks. 

Work continues on the first Big Easy Bumpers car, the final ride will feature three colour combinations. 

The Tidal Wave bridge has been fully removed, ready to receive a new bridge. 

New lighting has been installed in the Inferno Shop, plus a new floor throughout and removal of the I'm A Celebrity slide (at last!).  

New floor being installed into Colossus Shop.  

Flock 'N' Shop is being gutted ready to be transformed into CandyPips SweetEasy. The Coca-Cola Freestyle machines will now face outward for easier access.  

Big Easy Boulevard toilets are progressing. This will include new colourful graphics, sinks, dryers and signage.  

The foot-push sinks in the toilets nearest Hyperia and The Swarm's block will be no more. We'd like to thank these for their services to entertainment over the years (if you know, you know). 

The Amity Artists unit has been removed to de-clutter the Cove for unobstructed views of the Tidal Wage Lagoon. The bridge has now been fully removed offering a unique (temporary) view.  

We've removed the mismatched fence and floor alongside Storm Surge and replaced them. 

The next few Big Easy Bumpers cars are being prepped for their Big Easy transformation. 

January

Work is progressing at quite a pace on Colossus, phase one of the track repaint is complete and theming repairs are now underway.  

Here we're in the process of repairing and repainting the tunnel rockwork, plus new fiberglass panels are being installed around the tunnel to bring the theme back to their 2002 heyday! 

We're also throwing some additional sparkle to the Colossus Shop and deep in the tunnel with new blue and gold celestial artwork. You can see some test patches on the shop front - we're going with a deeper, rich blue seen at the top.  

Work is starting on an upgrade to the Colossus ride entrance portal. 

Scaffolding is being constructed around Rush to get it ready for its repaint.  

Work here has started on Stealth's fresh new look, the ride station will feature a new red, blue, black and white colour scheme. 

Painting work is progressing in Big Easy Boulevard. 

The Colossus Shop front and lower parts of its tunnels are receiving a lick of deep blue paint, we'll then hand paint gold celestial markings over. Rockwork repairs are complete in the cobra roll tunnel, these will be repainted to the original red and sandstone textures.  

Our Landscape Team have been busy replacing the turf leading to the Stealth Speedway and within the support planters.  

Work in the Hyperia area toilets has started on the exterior and new interior walls have started to go up.  

The new floor in Inferno Shop is being laid here. 

Work on Big Easy Boulevard is starting to ramp up, Big Easy Bumper’s canopy supports have been removed and wrapped in a fresh new look. The queue line has received its first coat of red paint.  

All the area buildings in Big Easy Boulevard are receiving their first coat of new colourful paint.  

Work is continuing inside CandyPips SweetEasy, here you can see the new Coca-Cola Freestyle housing - the machines will now face outside the shop for easier access. 

The seats and foot trays at Rush have been refurbished, plus new harnesses are being installed across all seats. 

The Colossus area fencing is being repainted and the station theming is being repaired and repainted.  

Stealth’s existing bag store and photo units are fully painted, plus the station painting is almost complete. You can also see the WWTP megaphone painting has also started here. New graphics have been installed on the station and photo kiosk, and the main 0-80mph in 1.8 seconds sign is now correct. Did you know we had the original 2006 scenic artist back to paint a new mural on the photo kiosk wall?! 

The Tidal Wave lagoon is being cleaned and ready for a full repaint.  

The Landscaping Team have been laying new turf in Amity Cove. 

February

Work is progressing very well at Colossus, however it's almost time for our scenic teams to down tools ready for testing to begin. This does mean some areas aren't as sparkly as others, but fear not, we'll be back to finish the good work as soon as possible.  

Work is progressing well both inside and outside the Colossus Shop, with just a few finishing touches left outside to tie everything together.  

The Lost City pillars are sporting a fresh new look and will be topped with the new theming elements. 

The lower areas of the Colossus cobra roll pit are being worked on here, these will feature the same gold celestial patterns seen on the Colossus Shop, plus we've added some extra sparkle to the queue line tunnels.  

The new bridge at Tidal Wave is being installed here, once finished this will feature the original 'Pier 13' text from the year 2000. The lagoon is being painted and we've started work to replace the station roof.

The Stealth station paintwork is now complete and finishing touches are being added. The Sparkle Project will now extend even further to include the bunker.  

Big Easy Boulevard paint work is progressing well here and is looking super vibrant! Here you can also see work on the third and final Big Easy Bumpers blue car. Next, we'll start work on theming and signage installation. 

Things down the Boulevard are looking bright! Most buildings are now painted, we're now in the process of applying second coats and repairing/ replacing any old windows.  

Scenic painting at Detonator is coming along, plus we've removed the old shutter ready to create a themed fireworks shop window!  

Big Easy Bumpers are looking fresh with their new car wraps and canopy design. Dobble Tea Party is ready to receive new graphics following a refurb.  

CandyPips SweetEasy is looking sweet with new brick walls, lighting and ceiling beams ready for scenic painting.  

The Burger King near Hyperia is getting a full refurb inside and out. Plus, the Dome’s Coffee Shack is getting a little spruce up of its own.  

The new toilet block in the Hyperia area is coming along nicely. Inside the new walls are now in place and outside the new facade is underway.

Lots of repaints are taking place across the park, including the admissions archway and the bridge. You can also see the new roof panels for the Tidal Wave station being themed and ready for installation. 

New themed signage has been installed around the Stealth Speedway and the bunker building has been restored. The large green drum is due to be moved out of sight soon.  

Work continues on new external cladding to the Burger King and toilets in the Hyperia area to complement Hyperia’s theming. 

Big Easy Boulevard work continues and foundations have been laid for the new Detonator facade.  

The Colossus entrance portal has been painted ready to receive new theming details. Tidal Wave's new bridge is progressing well and new themed roof panels are ready for the station. Finally, Nemesis Inferno's queue line is having additional repair work. 

Dobble Tea Party now has its new (bolder) graphics installed which are taller than the previous version.  

New theming details are being added to the Colossus entrance portal to inject some extra colour and sparkle (work in progress).  

The two side towers of Rush have been painted in a metallic grey, work is continuing on the rest of the ride.  

Burger King and Hyperia toilet cladding is being prepared here. The Pier 13 roof graphics are almost ready to return to Tidal Wave and the final foot pedal sink has been removed from The Swarm toilets – hurrah! 

Dobble Tea Party is complete and testing ready for its riders.  

Over at Big Easy Boulevard we're installing signage, painting murals and re-pathing outside Sunset Cinema. The steel framework is being installed for Detonator's new factory facade.  

The Samurai floor is being repainted, then the ride itself will get a fresh lick of black and red so it’s nicely in keeping with the theme of its neighbour, SAW - The Ride.  

Colossus's entrance portal has been given some golden sparkle – oh how it glimmers in the sun!  

Finally, work continues on the Burger King and toilets in the Hyperia area. Tidal Wave's new roof has been installed and work also continues on Nemesis Inferno's queue line. 

And with that, the behind-the-scenes glimpse into our Sparkle Project comes to a close. We're keeping our final sprinkles of sparkle a secret for your next visit, so you’ll just have to book a Thorpe Park visit to come and witness it all for yourself! We can't wait for you all to see a very fresh Thorpe Park, a new era for the brand has well and truly begun! Be sure to let our teams know what you think of the changes using our on-site touchscreen surveys, it really helps us to continue the good work. 

Until next time👋    

Charlotte