Inferno

Well done Matt and good on you for going solo. Glad you had a great day

🤣 Great news it's back tomorrow! Can't wait to get on this. Will be there in a couple of weeks.

I've seen on Instagram that engineers have been riding it today. That's got to be a very promising sign! Could realistically be open tomorrow I suppose? Even if it opens mid-way through the day.

I've just read it actually sold out by 12:01. How on earth do people have this much spare money to burn.

To be fair, they don't have a crystal ball, and it's certainly not in their interest to have it closed! I'm interested to hear what you would have said if you were given the task of writing the statement? Because I can guarantee you, you wouldn't please everyone! 😂

To be fair, they initially said they couldn't commit to it opening before the 8th, which definitely doesn't say "It will re-open on the 8th". There really isn't anything they could say (or could have said) that would make things any better. It'll open when it's fixed 🤷🏼‍♂️ That's all there is to it. It could even open on Sunday to be fair - but it would be suicide for Thorpe to suggest that, in case it doesn't happen. Hopefully it'll be soon - it's such a shame that all the excitement has stalled a little! It'll all be worth it when things get going though. I'd love to know what happened. I suppose we'll never know.

Out if interest, does the water make any difference to the ride drop, or is it purely for athletics? As long as there's water at the bottom I suppose it doesn't make a lot of difference, otherwise that turn in to the station would be a bit sharp! Loggers occasionally didn't run any water down the drop, and to my mind it always seemed a lot faster (it was like a bloody rollercoaster going down without it). Could very well be my imagination though!

I think the the baggage holds were always a bit daft on Saw, and it was the same with Stealth. They're too close to the batching area, meaning all of a sudden everyone has to get to the bag window then immediately be batched. It is always too much of a rush and too much going on at once. on the likes of Swarm and Wickerman they were built in a better place, because there's plenty of time between bag faff and station faff. So it could all get delayed at the bag window, but there wouldn't be any effect on the station.

I don’t know about that - she apologised several times in that video.

I do feel so bad for everyone involved. They got it over the line (just) on time, and launched it perfectly - now this… Hopefully they’ll get it back up and running soon.

Is there any inkling of what might be wrong with it?

Oh dear - all day as well…… hopefully it’s a quick fix and it will be back tomorrow. wonder what it is?

I’m a bit disappointed, but not surprised, that they’re offering Fastrack already. But I suppose no business is going to turn down anyone who is prepared to give them £20 for opening a gate 🤷‍♂️ A little worrying that even at this very moment the site is under construction too, just a few hours before media launch…. This is all so exciting though - can’t believe it’s actually time to open! After all this time Thorpe are opening a new coaster! Looking forward to seeing the live blogs etc tonight. Will TPM be there?

It definitely feels very down to the wire doesn't it 😬 A lot left to do in a short period! I'm surprised the lake hasn't been re-flooded yet - I guess this will be a last minute quick job? Still - how bloody exciting. Can't believe this is about to open at Thorpe!

Well done to Thorpe for setting all this up. People are animals unfortunately, and a stampede is the last thing anyone needs. I'll be waiting a week or two before visiting I think! I wonder what the queue time will be on opening day?

There are loads of Hyperia billboards on those digital screens you see on the sides of the road, all over London at the moment. looks like there’s quite a bit of marketing going on at the moment!

Cooooool I like the ad! We're so close now - I can't believe how much work there still is to do though on the queues, pathways and landscaping 🫥

Could well be! That’s exciting if it is! I suppose the queue clearance could be with fright nights in mind, because I think a couple of weeks back weren’t they clearing out the Black Mirror stuff? The trademark application is interesting!

I agree - it’s all gone a bit weird. This recent weirdness and the prison yard queue have been quite disappointing. Don’t get me wrong, the ride is going to be amazing - I just think they’ve missed a few opportunities 😬 What happened to the “Everest” style teasers we were getting at the start? Shame they didn’t go down that road. I suppose it wouldn’t be Thorpe without a bit of head scratching would it 😂

They’ve re-uploaded it now It’s all a bit wtf. Feels like a real “doing your homework on the school bus” situation. Hopefully this disappears soon as honestly it cheapens the whole thing. They’ve made the decision not to theme the ride - I think just go with that. It’s too late to have this AI generated stuff tacked on, it really takes away from what they’ve built I think.

Wasn’t there some mention a while ago that this project came about and was all agreed under “old Merlin”, so the theming etc was left at the time? I suppose a “retheme” is possible at some point later on. Because as has already been said they do seem to value theming everywhere else, and Merlin have even said recently that they are going with immersive attractions going forward. I do agree thigh that Hyperia doesn’t really need a strong theme at the moment. It would have been nice, but it’s ok. I hope going forward though they do stick with theming their rides

Great news. I was wondering if anyone knew if the second train has tested yet? Also I've seen some videos of the trains going around with the water dummies 'open', letting all the water come out around the circuit. Does anyone know what would be the purpose of this? I'm assuming simply that it's easier to empty the water this way than take the dummy out of the seat and tip it over! But wondered if there was another reason?

Wow that’s really good to hear for an off peak day. I assume this is all in prep for the onslaught for the rest of the year when Hyperia opens? I’m assuming some of these staff will go to that now that they’ve done some similar work on the other rides? Things are really looking up at Thorpe

I agree with what's been said really - a new flat of some sort on Slammer's site would be great. A dark ride to replace the stupid Ghost Train would be good too. I understand the shop in there (which is brand new) is now empty? I wonder if it's flopping (again)... Ghost Train replacement might be on the cards at some point? I guess it depends on how the numbers look when Hyperia opens. Coasters really are the crowd-pleasers for Thorpe, so maybe another coaster in the next 4 years? There's plenty of space for one over on the very expensive bit of land they created behind Stealth ages ago! However, what I'd REALLY like to see! Personally, in the longer-term, I'd like to see Walking Dead and the entire pyramid building disappear, along with Slammer, the megastore and Storm Surge. That would clear a lot of tacky dated crap from the centre of the park, for a pretty big ride and central area there. I think it would make a nice central plaza with either a coaster or a big water ride, with shops/restaurants. Whatever happens, I think we will see some serious investment across Merlin over the next few years if Universal gets the go ahead. They're already investing heavily in Thorpe (finally) with all the sparkle improvements and Hyperia. With the new brand they've also promised a vibrant new future, so hopefully this is a sign of great things to come.

I don’t at the moment. I was a pass holder for I think 15 years and stopped a few years ago because of having kids. Will pick it up again soon I think though, it’s still great value even though I’ll need to buy it for all the family this time 😬 I do miss it.