JoshC.

Contender for best theme park photo ever?

They usually have a 30 second and 15 second TV advert, so more likely a shorter one.

I like the advert, it feels reminiscent of the Colossus and Inferno adverts specifically too. I still find it odd they're not shouting more about it being the tallest UK coaster. That feels like something that would grab people's attention much more. But heyho, they're going a different direction with it and making that a more sideline fact. Hopefully it all works out.

Thanks, very informative 👌

Let's take stock for a moment. -The park have said on a number of occasions they will remove Slammer. The most recent suggestion was they would remove Slammer this upcoming closed season. Frankly, I won't believe it until I see it. -Whilst I admit Skybound fits in with Hyperia, there's no reason to believe it definitely will be. At the same time, the removal of queue line and such is interesting. It's also worth noting that there has been some removal of the interior of Black Mirror too. It could easily be space for Fright Nights, and the possible removal of Slammer ends up just opening the area up for picnic area / shop / restaurant. But, it certainly makes sense to replace that area with a new attraction, especially since it increases support around the brand the new ride. Assuming it is a new ride, and it is for 2025, it needs to be something that can be constructed reasonably quickly. Removal of Slammer plus construction of a new ride (to open no later than May, say) means we likely won't see an indoor ride or a more complicated ride. Some sort of Star Flyer or similar tower-based ride might work pretty well to be fair. Equally, if they choose to wait until 2026, they could build something a bit more in depth. So yeah. Cause for optimism, but cautious optimism for now.

The video in all its glory... Video is fine enough, but I agree with the mish-mash of directions. That backstory fits a themed ride area. A mountainous-looking station, being a cave that Hyperia took refuge in, would be a start, for example. Thing is, there seems to be a lot of want online for a backstory and a theme. There seems to be a common opinion these days, especially with younger enthusiasts and more casual fans, that "theming + story = better", and so they are necessary for a good ride. Of course, those things are good, but they need to be done correctly and in a worthwhile manner. Feels like Thorpe saw it as a box to check, and came up with something. We'll see how it all comes together. I'm not against either approach (light on the theme and just make it look nice vs theme and story), but it feels like they've tried to get the best from both and risk not hitting either.

The Burger King and toilets have been refurbed. All other Canada Creek buildings were demolished. I agree that there should be a wider, more cohesive, 'area', but everything has been touched.

Hyperia doesn't need theming, or a story or anything like that. Granted, the station exterior isn't the best looking. And it will take a while for the landscaping to bed in and grow. And things like the queue line fencing (and queue design in general) are bland. But at the end of the day, this is a 236ft tall monster of a coaster. The 'Find your Fearless' tag suits. The atmosphere will be upbeat. That's all it needs. Would theming be nice and add to it? Yes. Does theming not being present take away from it? I don't think so. Do agree with Benin that they need to stick with a direction.

Wonder how much someone could claim if that went wrong... Unsure. We can see during the human rider video that there's still one train on the track. But that doesn't mean they haven't switched and cycled out. I believe the park said on their passholder group that the tops just came loose; these things happen. Equally, it is also just a great way to empty them haha

It will be interesting to see what happens. I think a new modern water ride is needed at the park. A proper dark ride would be good too. But also, coasters are what work for the park, so who knows. Maybe they should sack off doing anything else and just stick in a bunch of coasters?

Looks good tho

Train looks lovely. Sleek, simple, all it needed to be. Hopefully testing starts very soon.

Maybe you should have spelled it out clearer, like Parm Pap

That is generally what roller coasters do, to be fair.

I don't particularly want to "do" Thorpe Park... Good to have a date, but it's a brave choice to announce it when trains have only just started arriving on park. So many variables which could impact completion. And we have seen issues like this affect Lego Racers coaster. I also wonder if it will therefore end up opening but not fully finished in terms of landscaping, etc. Ultimately, 24th May is the latest they could open it for it to be ready for the half term. Opening it mid-half term wouldn't be ideal. So I guess that was the aim anyways. In other news, the park have announced the Hyperia rooms, and that they're also doing a 'golden ticket' deal, where you can pay once and visit twice: once before Hyperia opens, and once after it opens: https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/day-tickets/golden-ticket/

Not that it makes a difference to your point, but Scorpion hasn't run since mid-2022, and is completely absent from the park's map now. Whether it's died a slow and painful death or just taking a hibernation, who knows...

Update to this; the park are keeping these for a further 10 years whilst they work on a permanent hotel:

All things TPM reported here and on social media a couple of weeks ago, without having to watch a 40 minute video with ads Thanks for rounding up the key things from the video Matt; appreciated as always!

I'd imagine with Nemesis there would be some sort of grandfather ruling where because it's the same ride, they can keep the same station / airgates set-up. Which begs the question further why Detonator had tweaks.

Very...curious. H&S is the only logical reason why they would do it, but...why? It's been fine for 20+ years. I know there had never been an incident of someone jumping into the ride area from the queue a few years ago, so unless there's been one recently, it seems like a change for the sake of change almost. I do hope they manage to jetwash that floor before proper opening too!

Swarm for me I think. Dive drops are just lovely

Big agree on the paving across the park. It's a detail which can make the world the difference. It's like the old Ranger County white patches on the path alongside Ghost Train and near Banana Ride. They fit the style back in the 90s/early 00s, but these days just look out of place. Even if the paving is just replaced with consistent, plain concrete, it will just look smarter and less distracting

I went on the BTS tour of the park today. Great tour it should be said; it was headed up by Russ, who is a fantastic speaker. I did mean to ask about the screen, but honestly forgot. It does seem like it won't be fixed for start of season (I believe the park said this in the passholder group a few weeks back too). A real shame. Hopefully they can hide the dead pixels with whatever they put on the screen. Okay, now time for some updates. Everything is still a Work in Progress it should be stressed Toilets Loo enthusiasts rejoice. All the toilets have received some love. Swarm toilets. The walls have been painted green (originally white), and no more foot pedal sinks Megastore toilets are nicely themed Tidal Wave The rebuilt bridge, with the original Pier 13 style. The fire effect is proving very tricky to implement, but is being planned still Big Easy Boulevard Stealth Colossus The park have released that the entrance is a bit flat, and so are looking to add more colour/depth to it, although this will happen mid-season. The shop front looks nice. In terms of the rest of the repaint, and indeed a Sparkle Project continuation, the park hope to do that either next closed season, or the closed season after. The park want to do it regardless, and recognise they need to keep up appearances - literally - now that they've started to do this. Personally, I hope it happens next closed season, as it does look a little jarring in places. The park is looking lovely though, with the Hyperia area coming along and looking smart. There's other small updates too, such as KFC getting refitted and other new food places. Some parts of the park are still a bit tired looking / haven't really been touched. Rumba/Inferno is the big example I would say. And the Sparkling up does highlight how tatty some parts of that area, and the likes of Swarm and Saw, look. I do wonder if this means that, come opening, some enthusiasts will focus too much on those and not the fab stuff that we've seen heavily documented and shouted out about. But yes, it's clear to see the park have put time, effort and money into things this winter, and they're taking strides in the right direction. I'm excited to see what will happen and hope their plans pay off!

https://www.facebook.com/share/v/qYvdQjjYxTWAvauW/ Ready Player One: 4D Experience will be showing in the 4D cinema this year

You'll have to forgive a bit of a link dump, but during a BTS tour I got to see a bit more of Hyperia and some fun facts... https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1766791884666544449?t=c96RATcXM8UrrzRA8-7ObA&s=19 Some views of the site. SRQ is confirmed. The ride will be complete in the next day or two, weather dependent, with trains arriving on site this week. The exterior of the station building is complete. It was heavily suggested there will be some cool dispatch sequence in the station. https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1766797980240109858?t=0xMAcaISYwT5khd0YDG80Q&s=19 No on board audio https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1766874159068455258?t=PDHRqEdLGuNipTVLBcEG_w&s=19 Hyperia is easily seen across the whole resort. There will be a backstory to the ride. Not clear whether it's just a short piece they've written to appease geeks, or whether it will be conveyed in the area / queue line. It's fairly basic. I can't share what it is sadly, but yeah, it's a simple story. The ride doesn't need it anyways. In terms of the viewing area. This was planned but has been cut because it was later realised that it would require a lot of fencing which would ultimately distract from the whole area and the view. The ride's camera point will either be at the bottom of the first drop or prior to the splash effect. One final thing. The early thoughts for Hyperia were coming together in April 2020. The ride was approved by the old Merlin exec (ie Nick Varney, etc). This means that Hyperia is a sort of hybrid of Merlin philosophies, old and new. Had it been a 'new Merlin' project, it's possible that things might have been a bit different, with more theming / styling present.