MattyMoo

Just cos you're an influenza M8 and have been on it already and had your golden moment....

I was waiting for some PP insight, much appreciated.
 
Will my visit for 11th June be OK, in the form of a song please?
 
One would imagine that if Hyperia is not planned to open on Thursday, they'd be announcing that by park close today?

SAW remains closed tomorrow, ride availability page has been updated.
Those chancing it for Saturday will be getting nervy...

Just cos you're an influenza M8 and have been on it already and had your golden moment....

As will those hoping to ride next Tuesday, ey Matty?

Was off to the Northern line m8.
 
Yes - was thinking the same - surely they will have to pull adverts or reissue with extra text that says "Opening soon" at the bottom...
 
Feel like we need a statement from our Queen, Alice, to quell the rumours and explain what's going on. This is the only way the situation can be fixed.

Just announced - they cannot commit to opening before 8th June. Yikes!
 
Most definitely not a sick one. What an absolute disaster - and I don't think that's an exaggeration.
Still, will give them a chance to put more plants in.
 
 

Was off to the Northern line m8.
 
Yes - was thinking the same - surely they will have to pull adverts or reissue with extra text that says "Opening soon" at the bottom...
 
Feel like we need a statement from our Queen, Alice, to quell the rumours and explain what's going on. This is the only way the situation can be fixed.

I was waiting for some PP insight, much appreciated.
 
Will my visit for 11th June be OK, in the form of a song please?
 
One would imagine that if Hyperia is not planned to open on Thursday, they'd be announcing that by park close today?

The advertising is in full force on the Underground too....

Just announced - they cannot commit to opening before 8th June. Yikes!
 
Most definitely not a sick one. What an absolute disaster - and I don't think that's an exaggeration.
Still, will give them a chance to put more plants in.
 
 

The advertising is in full force on the Underground too....

Its incredibly unlucky for them, I mean look at Swarm, it didn't have a full day closed in years. I know its not something that merlin ever do, but soft openings could be a good idea in the future. Something like this could've happened and been ironed out before official opening.
 
Anyway, here are my thoughts from opening day. 
 
Got to the park for about 1:30ish and first ride I got really lucky and only waited 1.5 hours. I waited in the main queue until the Hyperia toilets. The host asked me if I was a single and put me in the single rider queue which was overflowing. I waited in this queue for around 20 minutes, and realized how long it was and it wasn't moving, and I also just read on the AP group how people were waiting 7 hours in the single queue. So, I asked the host if I could switch to the main queue instead as I knew that would be around 90 mins - 120 from this point. I believe there was some miss-communication and the manager didn't want to put me in the main queue for some reason, so they put me in Fasttrack instead and got straight on, row 9. 
 
Second ride I got in the queue at 7:45 got off around 10:15 so 2.5 hours, row 2. 
 
- I came of my first ride thinking that is easily the best air time I've experienced in the UK. I came off my second ride saying quite comfortably that is my favorite ride in the UK.
- The outer-bank turn was easily my favorite element. Chucked out of your seat, especially on my second ride on row 2.
- Actually quite liked the queueline. I was initially worried when we saw the prison style fences, but the queue is nice and none of the cattlepens are particularly long. You get some nice views of the ride.
- The station does look pretty bare during the day, but looks so much better at night. I love the dispatch lighting/audio, and as well when the train returns to the station.
- The trims were much more noticeable on my second ride towards the front of the train, but still took the last 2 elements with good speed.
- Ride team were doing a great job at sending the trains out all day. The train does return to the station very slowly though, and I do wonder if they could get a higher throughput if this was sped up? 
 
I was initially quite disappointed when the layout got revealed, and even seeing the ride testing. Yes the ride is on the short side, but I really didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'm so glad they went for something different here, and we finally have an airtime machine in the UK. This is exactly what Thorpe needed. I can't wait to go on an offpeak day and ride it all day.
 
This was my first time going on a coasters opening day and was easily one of the best days I've had at Thorpe, great atmosphere all day right up until leaving the park at 10:30. They did a great job organisation wise, being asked in the queue if everyones okay and need water filling up etc.. Didn't queue more than 10 minutes for anything else on park, Stealth in particular was running great as always, both times I went on they were running down the platform checking restraints, beating the countdown timer on the platform every dispatch.
 

I believe management were at the front of the queue throwing Fastracks at people.
 
Probably no one passed the information to the plaza or were prepared to divert everyone. A manager only turned up to Tacotaria after we found out and were moving away.
 
Happy to lap up the adoration but when it goes wrong nowhere to be found. Sounds very familiar. Think they were fortunate that a number of guests Saturday were goons who had already ridden as Guest Services wasn't rammed.
 
One thing positive is that they're still standing firm on the pre-booking RAP. Whilst we were sorting our official complaint there were a few chancing their luck and none were given out. Shame that the staff weren't always signing the cards properly still.

So if I don't write my review tonight, I probably won't at all.
 
Equally, I am very tired and have an early start tomorrow, so forgive me if this is patchy or brief.
 
I'll preface this with my usual press night statement: I know some people will say "oh, you're opinions are biased, you have a vested interest to be positive" or "you're a Thorpe goon, of course you'll only say positive things. My review will be as honest and truthful as positive, based on my experiences. I've been at pretty much every Thorpe press event since Swarm's back in 2012. In the past, I've told managers to their faces when I think something is rubbish. I've congratulated people for successes. I've said when something has disappointed me, surprised me or just 'not been my cup of tea'. 
 
I was able to get 3 rides during the course of this evening. All of them were back row, and one of them was a night ride. I wanted to mix it up a bit - especially to get a front row experience - but it's just the way it worked. 
 
I will say I found the evening a bit frustrating, with the initial opening being a bit chaotic, although I appreciated the effort for an opening ceremony. I'm sure tomorrow will be smoother, as the set up and organisation is a bit different, but tonight was a bit clunky.
 
So anyways, the ride.
The lift hill is quick, especially in comparison to Big One. But it still feels like an eternity going up. And seeing the park beside you and how you tower over it, is really something. And when you're stood very close to it, you realise: this is tall. The drop. My god the drop. It feels like you're being thrown out to the ground at the top. You stay out of your seat during the twist, which adds to the feeling you're just going to die frankly. The non-inverting Immelmann is fab, giving a nice pop of airtime. The outerbank dive is fab. You are genuinely out of your seat the whole time, as you slowly twist upside down. Such a weird sensation, but so very cool. Quickly going into the stall, you're again left hanging (literally).  The water splash effect does have trims which does notably slow you down, but it doesn't slow you down so that you feel like you're going significantly slower. Think of it as a "gentle press on a car's brake" type of trim, rather than a "harsh car brake" trim. Towards the back, if you stick your hands out, you get a bit wet. The outer banked airtime afterwards offers some surprising ejector. After my first ride, this was actually a highlight, for how surprising it was. After multiple rides, it's not the highlight, but still definitely a highlight.  The airtime into the brakes is fine. Maybe not the strongest ended, but still a nice pop The brakes roll the train into the station very slowly For me, this is my favourite UK coaster I think. I still need time to digest, and I'd like to ride it in other rows too. I also hear the front row is a completely different beast (a lot "floatier" rather than "intense / aggressive"). But yeah, this is a fantastic ride. It doesn't feel too short, as it packs a lot in, and hitting the brakes is that sort of "omg" moment, as you process it all. Could it have had another element after the water splash, perhaps to negate the need for a trim altogether? Possibly, but it doesn't harm the ride.
 
I didn't notice a "Mack rattle" during my rides. However, I do think it has the potential to do so, and could end up riding rough in the future. That will come down to how this type of Mack ages, and what Thorpe do to look after it.
 
There is a neat little dispatch sequence as the train leaves the station:
https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1793709598886822387
 
Other bits:
Mack employees are naturally very happy with the result, and generally and genuinely all love it The ride warms up a lot during the day. During testing phases, it could be take 42 seconds to complete the circuit in the morning, and then drop down to 31 seconds by the afternoon / evening Operations are good on two trains. They removed one to help alleviate pressure on engineering for tomorrow. There were a few shutdowns this evening, partially due to some issues with gates, and also due to someone flying a drone around the ride. Operation on one train is slow. The plaza looks quite nice. It needs some polishing off, but it's good. The ride area, however, is definitely unfinished. It needs tidying up, planting to go in, etc. But in any case, it was always going to be a couple of years before this really looked nice. There will be an opening ceremony / shows for the first few days as a minimum. It's a nice little thing There's some boards around the ride area telling the story of Hyperia, sort of. They're nice, but the backs of them are plain and easy to see around the area, and stick out like a sore thumb https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1793701505725530465
 
Overall, Hyperia is a fantastic addition for Thorpe Park, and for the UK. It's exactly what the park needed. I really enjoyed it, and it's a "Top 10%" coaster for me. 
 
I'll leave you with my first ORP (me on the left):

Seeing it from the M3/M25 junction today did make me more excited.
 
Doubt any competition members would honestly believe they'd be the first riders. Public maybe, but given Merlin's love of a "celeb" night and the boy's club Thorpe is becoming was never gonna happen.

They do like to try and announce things when Merlin do - Tulleys have 3 question marks on their website. Appears Circus of Horrors and The Island/Colony has disappeared, so would suggest 2 are replacements for those and one new haunt. Wastelands extension/haunt 2 finally happening?

Credit to dean8001 on Twitter for photos from today.
Hurry hurry construction team, the cast of Love Island from a couple of years ago are due in 30 hours!
 
Just spotted that the bottom photo has queue line fencing in waiting to go in still!
 

I heard there might also be some kind of restraint. 🫣

Don't be so negative, setting up the stage whilst tarmac is still being laid and finished at the other end of the plaza was definitely the construction plan.

Our Queen in a gold hi-viz has spoken 🫡

12 days?

The advert is here... thoughts?
 
 

The advert is here... thoughts?
 
 

10am-8pm opening now confirmed for 24th & 25th May.