Jack29

Rode Tomb Blaster today.
 
It remains bloody dreadful.
 
-Every train had at least one car not in use. One train had two cars not in use.
-The 'story' is beyond dull, with the voiceover being one of the worst-sounding, boring and grating things I've ever heard on a theme park
-The guns are rubbish
-Pacing of the ride feels so off. Partially because of the story they shoehorned in, but also just because the ride system feels like it's on its last legs
-Audio is either too quiet or too loud.
-Most of the screens in the on ride photo viewpoint were broken (not necessarily turned off, but physically broken).
 
Honestly, of everything that the park are doing, adding and changing, sorting out Tomb Blaster should really have been number 1 priority.

It is a weird one and I don't think we really know the answer to the question of "Why now?"
 
Obviously having an SBNO ride doesn't look nice. But it had been SBNO for ages, and stood right by a year-round attraction for a while. So it's not like now was the hot time to do it.
 
One point which people might not be aware of is that the park made use of the ride for staff training (work at height in particular) after it closed, which was in many ways more convenient than using another ride.
 
They didn't need planning permission to remove it (even if they did submit an application). 
 
I reckon there is some legs to the school of thought of a ride going there at some point. I wonder how much it actually cost to remove? I wonder if that extra cost proved to be a hurdle to adding a ride there in the past, so they ultimately decided to remove it now so when they choose again to add a new ride, it's slightly less expensive.
 
A new ride could still go there next year in theory, but I'd be surprised.

I know lighting wasn’t really made a big deal of from the park during the sparkle project but now it’s fright nights it’s the first real chance to see all the lighting installed and it’s really pretty impressive.
 
To start with it simply for the most part looks really good - most of the rides have color coordinated lights, what’s also nice is the new lighting seems to be able to do various effects such as around inferno the lights do some sort of flame effects shining onto the ride. On that point I believe this is one of the first times the parks actually lit up the rides too, of course Stealth and colossus have had lighting before but other than that most of the lighting was more there to light up just the paths, now themed lighting is directing up to the ride structures them selves which look great.
 
Finally not only looks good but there’s been some decent thought into how they work too - Vortex for example the lights are all white to start when loading, then when the ride cycle starts the lights all change to their “themed” status, also noticed when leaving at around 10:30 all the lights around the park lighting up the paths had changed to a standard white light, small things but nice to see some real thought has gone into how it all works, it’s clearly been a big investment and does make a difference!

I keep forgetting that we don't have a general "Thorpe Park 2024" thread, or an Oktoberfest thread. So I'll stick my review in here for Oktoberfest 
 
It's kind of apt too, as you'd think that Thorpe have forgotten they have an Oktoberfest event going on.
 
Oktoberfest came about in 2020 and whilst it was rough round the edges, it had potential. It's pretty much been the awkward middle child since 2021 though. It got better, but now it just feels a bit thrown together and rubbish.
 
The Oktoberfest area is basically to the left of Ghost Train's entrance, with the stage, the ski lift carrier turned benches (which are pretty cool) returning, as well as snow-covered...Christmas trees?
 
The event is leaning heavily on the more Bavarian Alps theme. By which I mean, it's the primary focus. The main Thorpe show revolves around it (the actors run a "fashion show" with what one of them should wear to go skiing). There's a set of roaming actors at set times who are "on skis".
 
And my god, the show makes me cringe. The dance elements are good for what it is. But the speaking. It feels like the actors were told to watch Allo Allo and just copy the German accents. It's grating.
 
Also, the Christmas trees. Why? The confused "Why is it Christmas?" vibe isn't helped by this song playing at the start of the family stage show:
Hilarious.
 
I should add: I believe in story, the actors are called the Furchtbar Gang. That's what it sounds like at least. "Furchtbar" is German for "terrible". So I guess the point is that they are terrible? Or meant to be terrible? But they're not - as I say, the dance elements make the grade. I don't get it. 
 
There's a couple of the pop up food places alongside Ghost Train's queue, which will no doubt stay through Fright Nights, and a bratwurst grill in Amity. There's a pitiful-looking bratwurst pizza available from Pizza-Pasta.
 
In truth, Thorpe's Oktoberfest has never done it for me. Maybe I just don't like fun. So maybe this is doing the job, getting good reactions and there's a wider audience who love it. But it does feel like its been scaled back the last 2-3 years, and as nice as it is to get an extra boost during September, maybe it's time to lay it to rest.

Shambhala was on one train operation last weekend with the other two sat dormant in the maintenance area. Three hour queue. 
 
It goes to show even if you have three it doesn't mean they will be used, even on peak days. 
 

Shambhala was on one train operation last weekend with the other two sat dormant in the maintenance area. Three hour queue. 
 
It goes to show even if you have three it doesn't mean they will be used, even on peak days. 
 

And here's an issue I have with the park at the moment.
 
They have been great at sharing updates geared towards geeks and those who are interested. The collaborations with Jack Silkstone over the years (pre-season videos, for example) have given a great insight into what to expect, some of the park's thinking, etc.
 
But they're almost being too open.
 
We go back to Tidal Wave's fire effect returning. That was announced for, what, 2021? And yet here we are, no fire effect in sight.
 
Their communication about SRQ has been good. They trialled it on Saw last year (after a push to trial it from a Rides Team Leader), and expanded it to a couple of flat rides. They've said they intend to put it on Stealth too. But that was many months ago, and the official line has just been 'it's coming soon'. How long does it take to set up? I genuinely cannot understand why it is taking so long, especially since Stealth was designed to have a Single Rider Queue, which still exists.
 
If they hadn't have said anything until it was confirmed and all but in place, it wouldn't have caused any issues. Even if they said "We're looking at putting it on more rides if possible - watch this space", that would be fine. But by announcing it, with no clear idea of when it could happen, it's created this situation which frankly could have been avoided.
 
Hopefully they've learnt from that, and choose to be more selective with what they talk about. And they get SRQ up and running.
 
 
I don't see Stealth's life as limited.
 
Hydraulic launches are fine. Yes, Top Thrill Dragster had issues, and that's why they've changed that. Hydraulic launches are still not the most reliable and parks do still have issues with them. And yes, hydraulic launches are old hat now, with LSMs the launch of choice now (and rightfully so). 
 
But at the same time, Thorpe have got Stealth down to a tee. Yes, it's had a bit of downtime recently (a few days I believe). But aside from that, it's been reliable, rarely has a rollback, and is incredibly popular still.
 
Okay, it's not going to be the tallest ride on park. But that's not big issue, when the tallest ride is only a bit taller and faster, and on the other side of the park. It still has a huge selling point and draw. People still lap it up.
 
Thorpe aren't short on space, so don't have a need to remove it yet. And frankly put, there's other coasters which would be higher up on the list to be removed in my opinion.
 
Doing a Top Thrill feels a bit unnecessary at the moment. It would have to be turned into a swing launch in all likelihood, which would require a significant rejig of the station. The whole process would be incredibly costly at a point when, again, that money could be better spent elsewhere.
 
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

I'll be intrigued to see if Detty gets some crazy queue times just because of the new area. Such a good little flat, one of Thorpe's most bang-for-their-buck additions.

The memorial was moved to Sunken Garden before works started!

The blue painted shop is giving me Sea Life Centre vibez.

Bring back the original Detonator soundtrack. 

That's all I ask. 

No. I would have been more critical if that was the case.
 
There's nothing wrong in hoping for originality. Icarus would have been a much better choice. 
 
In a post IP era it would have been great to see the creative team come up with something more imaginative. 
 
However I do think that the gold track looks great & I'm looking forward to riding next season. 
 
 

I'm amazed that people are paid good money to come up with this 😂. Hmm what is it? A hyper coaster. What already exists in Europe? Hyperion. We better not use the same name so let's just change a letter or two. 

Been over a decade without a 3rd train.
 
Wouldn't be surprised if the constant stacking and change of focus on 'good' operations caused far more problems and they probably decided to cannibalise it.

The third train was used for parts, many reasons lead to this, but 3 train vampire is no more.

I don't like to be negative, but I hate it for that adverse camber nonsense straight out of the station. Pack it in.
 
Overall though it looks alright I suppose, which seems like some mental apathy for the height record in the UK. It just seems that everything I'd want from a hyper isn't there. A straight ahead killer drop, multiple airtime hills, and length. This is like a greatest hits of elements of other coasters they already have, just a bit bigger.

Isn't the idea of building a tall hyper coaster to actually use the speed gained from that height for a long and adventurous layout?
 
I think this looks like it will have a couple of fun elements, but will hit the break run before it really has a chance to do anything.  It looks like a post-lift duration of less than 30 seconds, which is unfathomably short for a hyper coaster.
 
It looks like a hyper coaster by definition, but really, not a hyper coaster.  It's compact, doesn't take you anywhere outside of its self-contained area, and very very short.  I was hoping for a ride that actually takes you somewhere, on a journey, with a decent length and some tall hills.
 
As well as it not really fitting the bill of a hyper, the other issue is that Thorpe really needed a long and impressive coaster to balance the short coasters already at the park.  This adds to the problem as it will potentially have a shorter duration than even Swarm?
 
It feels like this is the bare minimum Thorpe could have gotten away with to get the UK's height record.  It looks like a layout that's been designed just to get the height record, rather than to be a decent coaster.

I really do wonder why they've chosen to go for (seemingly) a launched, shuttle B&M wingrider. 
 
If we take a look at it from the marketing perspective, this coaster ticks the following boxes:
-Chessington's first coaster with an inversion
-Chessington's first launch coaster
-The world's only multi launch / swing launch wing coaster
-The world's only shuttle wing coaster
-Potentially first Jumanji coaster / land
 
That's a lot for the Merlin higher ups to get their motors' running.
 
So the question is, how did this come about? Was it:
1. "We're finally going to invest in a new coaster at Chessington. It's been a while, so chuck as many firsts into it as possible, and the people will come! ... A launched, shuttle, B&M wingrider with a big IP with multiple firsts, plus being the first inverting coaster at the park...brilliant!"
2. "We're finally going to invest in a new coaster at Chessington. It's been a while, so let's do a TON of market research and see what the people want. ... Wait, you want a launched, shuttle wing coaster with an IP...o-okay?"
 
The thing is, neither option would surprise me.
But, if it's the former of those option, it's a huge risk. And every single cautiously concerned comment highlights that, and could very well be echoed with a wider audience.
If it's the latter, that's much more interesting. It's still a huge risk, and something on paper that sounds good doesn't always translate to success in real life. But it could also show that us as enthusiasts simply over-think these things too much. If that's really what the wider audience are saying they want, then so be it, right?
 
 
In any case, I'm still amazed and confused by the choices here. I have a hundred questions, and only time will be able to answer them. One thing of note is that concept art for Legoland Sichuan also suggests that a similar style ride could come about. Are Merlin and B&M working together on something weird and different? Who knows. 
 
Still, in any case, this is projected to have a maximum theoretical throughput if 720pph. It won't get that, and will probably end up averaging around the 500pph mark. That's simply not good enough for what one should hope to be a new headline attraction for the park. 

That's it! Thank you so much, had it stuck in my head for so long! 

Guru Josh Project - Infinity (2008) I think that's the one mate!
Noticed this ride was just using trains 1 and 4 today. Am I right in thinking this still has/can operate with five trains at once?

Station and outside queue, one is 'Welcome to X a journey of light and sound' and the other is a more lengthy safety related announcment.