Mattgwise

👋

As you’ve no doubt noticed we have updated the forum software to the latest version which does have a number of visual differences.

You’ll notice it also finally supports dark mode and will be based on your phones / computers setting - something I know a few people have asked for!

Our old skin is not compatible but we will work on this over the next few weeks to make it feel less generic.

One change you will notice is you can no longer login with your username and must login with your registered email - if you have any issues with logging in please feel free to reach out over social media or you can email contact@thorpeparkmania.co.uk

Let us know any feedback here also!

VID_20211016_121210~2.mp4

No most don't but a small minority but have found it useful to know alongside! 

New water feature in the Hyperia queue 
 
 

Definitely recommend checking out Vibes Bar and Kitchen in the dome. Genuinely shocked at how tasty it is considering the mess of food a the parks the last few years. 

Definitely recommend checking out Vibes Bar and Kitchen in the dome. Genuinely shocked at how tasty it is considering the mess of food a the parks the last few years. 

I was lucky to experience a valley on Mandrill on Sunday, we just came to a stop at the boost launch area before the helix. I found it quite exciting as we would have to experience the rides swing launch to get it going again. I really enjoyed it as well. Mandrills launches are quite punchy as it is so going back and forth through the section was pretty satisfying.
 
I am actually quite a big fan of Mandrill tbh, I've heard all the arguments about it being the wrong fit and whatever, however every time I go on it, it gives me a lot of joy and the queues for it never seem crazily unreasonable.The team always seem really on it when it comes to batching, loading and dispatching. It also has the B&M quirk of being incredibly reliable, 3.8% downtime for the last 7 days, and beaten only by Nemesis Reborn. 

To be fair Thorpe looked probably better than ever last season in a lot of places, the operations were very good in general, and they have got a (still) brand new coaster.  It rarely gets much better than this, <1 year after opening a new coaster of Hyperia's scale.
 
I do agree though that it's a bit ridiculous that the new area has been left unfinished for all this time (and possibly in to this season).  The stage area and splashdown debacle do seem to reveal some questionable choices during the planning.
 
Given how difficult it is to run a theme park in the UK at the moment I'd say things are looking pretty good at Thorpe. All rides are still open and running well, which is more than can be said for most of the other UK parks, and the park is looking very fresh in a lot of places following the re-painting and rebranding from last year.

Ghost train will still have a cast of actors. Some people have just been appointed the role.

I'll balance it out by saying I thought Ride to Happiness was an incredible ride and any park should want a model. 
 
Absolutely outstanding. 

Looking back at Slammer - my god it was bloody terrifying wasn't it?
For a long time it was one of the only remaining rides (apart from drop towers) that made me feel genuinely scared!
 
I don't think I will go as far as saying I miss it, because to be honest it was never really open long enough to be a major part of the park in my eyes at least, but it was definitely an iconic and very unique ride.
 
You could be stood basically anywhere at Thorpe Park, and you'd occasionally see the huge paddles soaring through the air (when it was open at least) - it certainly made itself known when it was running! It was absolutely enormous when it was spinning.
 
The ride experience was so different to anything else - I remember the very genuine screams of fear from fellow riders when the ride would first start turning, especially on that first forward swat. The restraints also really amped up the fear factor, as they were so open and free. You were very much hanging out of your seat, against those wobbly shoulder restraints!
 
Comfort levels were not a priority for Slammer were they? The rush of blood to your head throughout the entire ride, and the weird restraints were certainly interesting, and riding it in the rain was an ordeal to say the least.
The long delays between dispatches towards the end were very tedious when queueing, and I remember being stuck at the top unable to lower back down to the ground many times, either in the freezing cold or in the baking sun (the awful smell of those sun-baked shoulder harnesses is still hot on the back of my nostrils after all these years).  But none of that really mattered, because it was one of those rides that was just there to be as thrilling as possible - and it bloody was.
 
It was good having a ride like Slammer at Thorpe.  Hopefully something equally as unique will replace it one day!

Regardless of thoughts, we can't deny Thorpe has by far been the best run Merlin park this year. It has been a disaster at Towers and CWoA most the year!

Regardless of thoughts, we can't deny Thorpe has by far been the best run Merlin park this year. It has been a disaster at Towers and CWoA most the year!

Tonight - BEST FRIGHT NIGHTS EVER
 
Tomorrow - where did all the actors go?!

1/ A great group can make an average park day a great one
I started attending meets on this forum in early 2013 and have had the privilege of attending meet ups at parks around and beyond the U.K.
 
Though some better than others, a great group of enthusiasts on trips can really make a mid-tier visit a great one. Whether it’s game about asking what people’s chosen coaster is, fun banter and excitement or any other reason. The thorpe park ministry of sound nights were certainly a crazy time indeed.
 
2/ There are different types of park enthusiasts 
The depths of this could honestly be endless, but you have so many different factions on this area. The ones who know literally everything about rides, the ones who just ride coasters, the ones who are more about the experience or those that are there mainly for the social element. In large meet-ups such as the European Coaster Club etc., you are naturally going to get others such as the other halves are just the plus one but ok to be there. 
 
3/ Every enthusiast has different expectations and opinions 
To one person Efteling will be the most magical theme park in the world, to another it will be the most mundane thing to exist. To one person Hyperia will be the best coaster in the country (if not the world). To another it will be an underwhelming experience. 
 
Every enthusiast has a different opinion about rides, parks, expectations and everything else and can say I know some from different circles with similar opinions of the above. At the end of the day, being an enthusiast would be a more boring place if we all shared the same opinions there. 
 
4/ A return park can visit can hit different, in the best and worst ways 
Parks and people, 

sometimes we visit parks 6-8 years ago and find ourselves absolutely amazed and blown away by these places, only sometimes to have a more recent visit and whilst still pleasant, those same wow factors from that previous visit seem missing. 
 
I think this is often down to a number of factors, that wow factor from that first visit has just worn off, you are not the person you were when you went before or the park has declined somewhat. The last 5-10 years have certainly been unkind to the park industry.
 
Contrary to that, I’ve also revisited a number of parks and have felt feelings nothing short of joy. Walking through Europa’s entrance one bright sunny day, forgetting just how mesmerising Phantom Manor is or the amazement of everything random and wonderful in Energylandia. Feelings and emotions can be a strange thing. 
 
5/ Your expectations change over time 
we change through our whole lives, so naturally our expectations to being an enthusiast can and will too.
 
Ten years ago, I was that enthusiastic desperate to travel to as many parks in the whole and do everything physically possible, whilst perhaps trying to vlog like one of those famous YouTubers. I physically wanted to do everything in a park. 
 
Over the years I’ve gone through phases of wanting to visit places based on their coasters, dark rides and even landscaping. But today, I like to value a well rounded park. I would rather value a handful of decent rides than lapping one until I’m tired and nauseous. 
 
As more and more parks gradually get ticked off our lists, through time it becomes more valuable with who you visit these parks with, rather than where you go. Some enthusiasts who you can call your mates.

Earlier in the day, I promised to write a longer review of Hyperia when I got home. Well, here it is!
 
While it's not exactly the aspect of the project I was most interested in, I'll start by giving a few cursory thoughts on the theming and the area...
The Area
One aspect of Hyperia that has been heavily criticised is the theming and the area. I have to say that I did not personally get the hate for this; the front-of-house areas look fine to me. It's nothing breathtaking, but I think it's functional and looks perfectly fine. I quite like the black and gold aesthetic, I quite like the station, I quite like the plaza, the queue landscaping is nice enough, and the queue is by no means terrible (although not anything overly inspiring either). In terms of some aspects I would critique, however:
The queue could maybe have had a more interesting and less contained layout. I would have loved it if the queue had wound around the ride Wicker Man-style and offered various different vantage points. The ride area itself is quite unsightly at present, particularly the area around the splashdown. The lake with all of the weeds in it looks quite ugly, in my view, and I don't think the actual splashdown area is particularly pretty either. The rust-coloured splashdown track in particular does not look good at all. However, you don't notice this too much on the ride, and the ride area will probably grow to look better with time. Speaking of the splash effect, the whole splashdown is an idea that had such promise, but has turned out to be a complete damp squib. It seems to have completely died only a couple of months into operation, but I did see it working on my visit 2 months ago, if I'm remembering correctly, and I think it's a completely redundant effect even when it works. That sort of effect is designed primarily for visual appeal for non-riders, so when it's hidden behind a 7ft fence and no one can see it properly, it completely loses its purpose. If I'm being pedantic, I'm not a huge fan of how the maintenance shed looks and I would have preferred for it to parallel the style of the station. That is an extremely pedantic point, however; it's not really a big deal. Overall, though, I wasn't too displeased with the area and theming. It's not some spectacular theming extravaganza by any stretch, but I think it overall looks nice, clean, stylish and perfectly functional. I think the style works well for the sort of ride Hyperia is, and I was never expecting heavy theming from a hyper coaster.
 
Let's now move onto the far more interesting aspect of the project; the ride itself...
The Ride
Now Hyperia has been a ride that I've been excited for for absolutely ages. I watched its build process with great anticipation, and I had high expectations for the ride. But the question is; did it live up to those expectations? Well, dear reader, my answer is; yes, it definitely did! I had 3 rides today, one in row 8 and two in the back row, and Hyperia is an absolutely sublime coaster experience, in my view!
 
The negative g-forces are absolutely absurd; the ride advertises 14.8 seconds of negative g-force, and let me tell you, I can fully believe that figure! They've designed this ride for weightlessness and I think it delivers; you seem to spend most of the ride duration pinned out of your seat in some capacity!
 
The speed is also absurd; it's easy to forget just how fast Hyperia is, but let me tell you that you're quickly reminded of just how fast 81mph is when you're actually on the ride! The sense of speed in parts of Hyperia's layout is ridiculous!
 
 For me, an element-by-element walkthrough of Hyperia goes something like this:
The first outerbanked turn out of the station before the lift hill is utterly pointless; I don't know why this couldn't have just been a regular turn. The outerbanked version seemingly serves no purpose other than to be mildly awkward and uncomfortable. The lift hill is very fast. I liked the views from the top! The first drop is absolutely unhinged, and probably my favourite part of the ride! I'm a fan of a big first drop, and Hyperia's is truly wild; the ejector airtime is absolutely sublime and surprisingly sustained, and the 180 degree twist adds a really interesting additional sensation! It's definitely right up there as one of my favourite first drops I've ever done, alongside those of Mako and Iron Gwazi! The Immelmann is also absolutely sublime! I love the sheer sense of speed you get going up into it, and the sustained ejector airtime you get coming out of it is absolutely top-dollar! You're pinned out of your seat for a good couple of seconds, and the airtime is absolutely sensational! The Immelmann is another element that's right up there as one of my favourite elements on the ride! The outerbank into an inversion was a very hyped up element of Hyperia, and I have to say that it did not disappoint; it's absolutely insane! The sustained sideways ejector here is absolutely wild; you are pinned sideways out of your seat for what feels like seconds and seconds, and the negative g-forces are fairly strong in terms of force here as well! I'm not entirely convinced that I prefer sideways airtime to good old straight airtime, personally, but this element is absolutely brilliant nonetheless! The zero-g stall is an excellent element, but definitely weaker than the other three big ones for me. With that being said, you still get some very fun hangtime, and it is probably the most convincing example of a zero-g stall I've yet done (the other two stalls I've done are VelociCoaster and Iron Gwazi). I dare say I still find the zero-g stall a slightly overhyped element type based on my experiences of them, but this one did convince me of the merits of the zero-g stall a little more than VelociCoaster's or Iron Gwazi's did; it is a very good element with some excellently fun hangtime! The stall is fun, but not quite up there as a standout moment of Hyperia for me. With that being said, it has very tough competition in this regard; if this element were not on a ride as stacked with brilliant elements as Hyperia, it would probably stand out more! The splashdown trim is quite noticeable. I didn't find it uncomfortable enough to significantly detract from the ride, but the braking force is strong enough that it does seem to contort your face a tad... The outerbanked turn after the splashdown was a surprisingly excellent element for me! It seemed to start with you getting some really decent sideways floater that then transitioned into a surprisingly strong pop of ejector, and I found that really interesting and fun in terms of how it rode! The airtime hill into the brakes is an excellent way to finish with a bang; that hill provides a lovely pop of good, clean, surprisingly strong ejector airtime! On this coaster, every single element hits and hits hard; there is a strong selection of standout "wow" moments on Hyperia. The first drop, the Immelmann and the outerbank into an inversion are all absolutely world-class elements, and that whole first sequence is just perfection! The other elements also hit well and provide good thrills and weightlessness, and I don't think there's one bit of Hyperia that doesn't deliver. Well, other than maybe the trim, and that weird turn before the lift hill...
 
As per usual with Mack Rides, the trains with overhead lap bars are immensely comfortable. I think Hyperia's are perhaps the most comfortable example of this train style I've experienced. In terms of smoothness; there is a rattle. It's noticeable. But it wasn't strong enough that it massively bothered me. It was more that I could feel a bit of a shaking sensation rather than that the rattle was actively hurting me or massively detracting from the experience. It's no worse than the mild rattle of, say, Stealth. The ride was overall very comfortable and enjoyable for me, and there were no severe jolts or anything (roughness-wise, I tend to find myself more sensitive to sudden jolts than rattling).
 
In terms of some comparisons; Hyperia is comfortably my favourite coaster at Thorpe Park (it was previously Stealth), comfortably my favourite UK coaster (it was previously Wicker Man) and also comfortably my favourite Mack ride (it was previously Icon). In terms of my overall rankings; out of 123 ridden coasters, I've conservatively settled on the #5 spot, behind Mako, VelociCoaster, Silver Star and Iron Gwazi (in that order).
 
If I were to offer up some pedantic hair-splitting critiques that explain why it's not my #1, and why it's not higher than #5:
The rattle. Hyperia's rattle didn't overly bother me at all, but the coasters above Hyperia have a more perfect blissfully smooth feel to the point where it's almost an active positive attribute in itself. The trim. I didn't find it overly uncomfortable, but it is quite noticeable, more so than on Mako and Silver Star, and as I said, it does sort of contort your face a bit from the braking force, which isn't the case on Mako or Silver Star. The fact that the ride lacks straight airtime hills. As sublime as Hyperia's sideways and inverted airtime elements are and as plentiful as the sustained weightlessness is, nothing quite beats a good old straight airtime hill for me, and Hyperia does have somewhat of a shortage of traditional straight airtime moments. I know those are very pedantic points, and pretty much entirely based on personal preference, but when you're talking about the top 5 and determining exact placements, I think I can afford to get pedantic! When the coasters in question are this good, it gets competitive at the top, and I have little choice other than to split hairs!
 
One legitimate critique I will offer of the ride itself is with regard to the capacity. It's not the highest for a brand new major ride, at 700-800pph, but I think a key reason for that has nothing to do with the park's operations and may have something to do with the brake run. They were operating brilliantly, and stacking was very rare, but the train seems to take a very, very long time to return to the station and moves along the brake run track very, very slowly. This results in more idle time in the station, and if they were able to speed up the train's movement through the brake run, it might improve the capacity. Hopefully this is something the park can look into in the future.
 
But overall, I absolutely loved Hyperia! It's my favourite coaster at Thorpe Park, my favourite coaster in the UK and sits in my top 5! The weightlessness is sublime, the sense of speed is absurd, the elements are absolutely top-drawer, and all in all, it's just an absolutely sublime coaster! What a brilliant investment for Thorpe Park and the UK theme park industry!
 
On a side note, here are a few photos I took of the ride:

After 5 rides today, it's certainly my top UK coaster and even high up in my European rankings to. We really are lucky to have this in our own country and for many of us down the road. 
 
It's a great coaster in any row TBF which is rare.

I went to that Attraction Source event. Was a good day, first time on Hyperia and fit in about 7 rides with the ERT as well. Was really interesting how they designed the layout with influence from other manufacturers like RMC. With the goal of max airtime from Merlin, it's created one heck of a good hypercoaster in terms of layout. Just think they could have done more with the area & theme.

Apparently it's been decided as too costly.

We all know that isn't true but being misconstrued for the ride shutting all of next year to be modified to included LSMs and a spike in a major project by Zamperla. 😂

I think if the park advertised say a £17-£23 priced ticket to visit 4pm-9pm they'd gain some interest and people would then visit for the evening.

Apparently no other investment can be put forward until they have an answer to the water park so literally all decisions including Scorpion Express are supposedly on hold. It is all very strange as there still isn't a decision and planning went in late June/early July last year (13 months ago)

My apologies for bumping this thread, but as I posted in it with university woes at an earlier stage, I feel I should offer an update…
 
I’ve had my final degree award confirmed this morning… and I got a First Class Honours, with my final award mark being 82.85/100!
 
That means I am now a degree graduate, with a BSc in Computer Science from the University of Gloucestershire!
 
My journey through university has not been plain sailing, but I’m happy I did it, and I’m pleased and relieved to finally have a degree!

Single rider can vary due to a number of factors, but generally I have found on 4/5 attempts it has been between 20 and 30 mins from about 2/3 of the final straight towards the stairs, but on one occasion that same amount was over 40 mins. It seems to have been quiet pre 12 on my visits before getting longer. 

Single rider can vary due to a number of factors, but generally I have found on 4/5 attempts it has been between 20 and 30 mins from about 2/3 of the final straight towards the stairs, but on one occasion that same amount was over 40 mins. It seems to have been quiet pre 12 on my visits before getting longer.