Will Thorpe Park be removing Rumba Rapids?

Rumba Rapids at Thorpe Park originally opened in 1987 as Thunder River and has been a staple at the park ever since, undergoing a rebrand to Ribera Rumba Rapids and eventually becoming known as Rumba Rapids as the sponsorship ended. However, over the last couple of years the ride has operated for less of the season and become more of a non-eventful raft ride rather than rapids.

In this blog I want to go over this classic ride at Thorpe Park, share it’s current state and speculate as to what could happen.

Rumba Rapids History

I’ve been going on this ride at Thorpe Park since 1994 when I first visited as a child, old video found recently reminded me of just how ‘rapidy’ the ride used to be with big waves, water effects and the steam-filled tunnel in the middle. It was a ride that could get you very wet and was a lot of fun.

Some reports suggest that it was originally a ride with rougher waters and that the water effects I remember only got added when the rapids themselves were tamed down.

Rumba Rapids Now

For the last couple of years the rapids have only operated during the summer months and this year, they will close on the 1st September for the season. With the UK weather this could make sense were it not for the existence of Tidal Wave at the park which continues to operate (the thought of which is probably the most terrifying thought at Fright Nights!)

When I visited earlier this year the rapids (despite their extended winter maintenance) felt abandoned, unloved and were much closer to being a gentle raft ride.

The water effects that used to soak a guest in the wrong place at the wrong time have long been switched off since the tragic death of an 11 year old at the Drayton Manor rapids in 2017 and lifeguards have been present around the ride.

So, what could be happening with the rapids?

Cost Cutting

The rapids are an expensive ride to run, have become less popular at Thorpe Park over the years and it’s no secret that Merlin are trying to cut staffing costs so financially, it makes sense to close a ride that requires more operating staff and lifeguards during the colder months in the UK.

But the rapids take up a big footprint in the park and alongside that, Merlin have got a track record of abandoning rides before something ‘big’ happens to them, so, let’s speculate.

Option 1 – Rapids Revamp!

The Rumba Rapids are tired, in need of a paint throughout, some actual water effects and a re-theme so we can forget about the weird Ribera Sponsorship.

I’d love to see Thorpe Park seriously invest in revamping these properly and restoring them to their ‘Thunder River’ theme. It could be a chance to enhance the theming, add mist back into the tunnel and embrace the ‘loggers leap’ style theming missing from the park…you could even put actors in the tunnel during Fright Nights season!

However, much as I’d like to see this happen it’s unlikely, I think option 2 is more likely…

Option 2 – Goodbye Rapids!

As the rapids are less popular and expensive to run I think it’s more likely that the rapids will be removed and I wouldn’t be surprised if 2026 will be their last operating year.

Alongside that, their location in the park next to Stealth creates a huge area for a potential new, record-breaking roller coaster in the future and I think this is what could happen…here’s why:

Hydraulic Launch Coasters are failing – Stealth has one of the best launches on any coaster in the world but hydraulic launch coasters are getting old, becoming more unreliable and parts are harder to source. Both Stealth and Rita (Alton Towers) have had blocks of downtime this year and their days are certainly numbered.

Universal Great Britain – It’s widely speculated from the concept art that Universal Great Britain are going to build a big, possibly Back to the Future themed roller coaster and, for BTTF coaster to hit 88mph (because it really should!) then it’s going to be the tallest coaster in the UK. If Thorpe Park took the space where the rapids and Stealth are they could build something massive and get the record back!

What do you think?

At the end of the day, all this is just speculation and Thorpe Park could be planning to leave Rumba Rapids in it’s sad-state for a while, only operating for part of the season but, when they’ve spent a lot of time glowing up the park over the last few years I wonder if something could be coming? I guess we’ll be waiting on planning submissions!