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Couldn’t they just aim the high points of the ride away from Staines and towards the back corner of the park? If they did that, surely that might overcome some of the problems? I’ve often heard it said that Thorpe could run a hyper around the back of the park from Old Town/the Logger’s Leap site, with the main body of the ride itself running along the service road around the back of the park. For what it’s worth, John Wardley even said that a hyper would be doable within Thorpe’s planning restrictions. In terms of where Wardley said this, it was a comment made within Making Thorpe Park regarding a B&M Hyper that Wardley and B&M had strategised for a 2012 coaster instead of The Swarm. The source was cited as an interview with John Wardley himself conducted as part of the research for the book (the source is cited as “Interview with John Wardley, 20 July 2020” in the book’s bibliography). Here’s the exact comment; the relevant part is in bold: “When [B&M] was approached to suggest ideas for the first of the new development islands, they were strongly against using the new Wing model. The flat piece of land didn’t really play to the strengths of the concept, and Wardley felt that a different B&M option should be used instead. His preference was a Hyper Coaster, a tall ride that offers high speeds and massive airtime. Having good knowledge of local planning restrictions, he was confident that permission would be agreed and it would be the perfect complement to the four major rollercoasters already in operation at Thorpe Park.” For context, this would have been a few years after Stealth, perhaps around 2009-2010. Thorpe’s height ceiling is 500ft, apparently, with structures over 200ft needing to apply to the CAA for approval (due to Heathrow being close by). While I’ll admit that a 500ft coaster seems like a long shot in terms of approval, I don’t see them struggling too much with a hyper in the 200-250ft range, personally. As much as Stealth may have required special permission at the time, I’d argue that it may well have set a precedent for the minimum height that Thorpe would be allowed to build a coaster to; if a coaster of Stealth’s size or a little bit taller encountered issues, then the park could quite feasibly say “We’ve operated Stealth at 205ft for 15 years with no issues” to defend themselves and make a case for the approval of a hyper coaster.

Yeah it's a real conundrum isn't it? In an Ideal world they should of left Bubbleworks alone and when the new proposed coaster would open in the current picnic area would be the perfect time to bulldoze transylvania (minus trees) to get ready for a new dark ride. Could also plan on getting rid of Tomb Blaster as well as that's been on its last legs for a while now.

Latest Valhalla previews from BPB; Source: https://twitter.com/Pleasure_Beach It's not a lot to go off, but nice that they're starting to build a little bit of hype. I do hope they go big on the marketing for its reopening - time will tell I guess.

Welcome to the forum Matt. I'm loving your discussion points at the moment, thank you for teaching this old man something. I had no idea a B&M hyper was once considered where The Swarm is. And I've been on Thorpe Park forums for nigh on 18 years.

Hi there! I’ll probably be a familiar face if you’re a frequent reader of TowersStreet or CoasterForce, but for those of you who don’t know me; I’m Matt, I’m 18 years old and I’m a theme park enthusiast from the Forest of Dean! In terms of my own history with Thorpe; my first visit was back in 2014, when I was 11, and I’ll admit that even though I didn’t visit Thorpe at least once every year as a child in the same way that I did Alton Towers (the bulk of my Thorpe experiences have certainly been quite recent, unlike Towers where I have a plethora of childhood memories), I have grown a real soft spot for the park over all my visits since then, and I always enjoy a day there! My favourite Thorpe ride is The Swarm, but I’ll admit that Nemesis Inferno has really grown on me in recent years and comes a very close 2nd these days; it’s a smashing coaster, in my opinion! In terms of other theme parks and rides; my current coaster count is 79, my current favourite roller coaster is Mako at SeaWorld Orlando (I last rode it in August 2016, but my goodness do I remember the airtime being brilliant!), and my favourite theme park is Universal’s Islands of Adventure (the theming and general sense of immersion is just spell-binding, in my opinion, and the rides are excellent too; it really is the full package!)! So, that’s a brief introduction to me, for those of you who don’t already know me! I apologise if that’s a little more than you wanted to know (I’m not the best at concise writing…), but that’s some stuff I thought you might find interesting!

Had a great time at Efteling this past week. It's funny reading the Max and Moritz conversation, 18 months on as I liked the ride. The green was definitely the better side but to be honest, with zero queues and multiple re-rides, it ticks the correct boxes that Bob never could. Lets face it, beyond history, Bob was a tired old ride with a terrible throughput and could not shift the numbers that a park like Efteling needs. Max and Moritz go way beyond that, introducing an entry level coaster that can get through close to 2000 people an hour. It's not perfect, but it does a lot right. On another note, even with the pre-show not working properly, Baron 1898 has jumped into my top five. Whilst on a ride level, its as near basic as they come, but there's just something about it that brings me untold levels of joy. It has drama, and attention to detail and so much that I personally appreciate about theme parks.