Marhelorpe

It takes some effort to make storm surge look good but this has done it with flying colours. At no other point in thorpes lifetime has the park looked completely directionless.

Flying Fish is a kiddie coaster rather than a "for all the family" coaster.
 
But regardless of who the park is targeting, X just isn't a thrill coaster.  It's a family coaster and marketing it as anything more will only lead to disappointment from thrill seekers expecting a thrill ride, and families who cannot ride a coaster designed for them in mind.  It's madness really considering the trains were redesigned just a few years ago to make the ride accessible to a wider range of people.
 
If Thorpe are aiming to be the "thrill park" then why did they install Angry Birds Land, I'm a Celebrity, the tacky flats near Loggers etc...  They literally have no sense of long-term investments and seem to decide everything on a whim whilst completely neglecting customer experience.
 
In addition, thrilling does not mean that everything has to be a dark, drab grey theme.  There are plenty of thrill rides with much nicer and more creative themes than just giving everything the same old boring "scariest ride ever" tosh.  Thorpe is such a depressing place these days with Saw, Derren Brown, Swarm and now this all with horror themes.  They market themselves as "the island like no other" but it looks like a derelict wasteland.
 
100% agree.  There are so many better things Thorpe could invest in which would benefit the park in the long run, and would have been far more beneficial than throwing money at flash-in-the-pan stuff like this.

If the same height restriction as previous was used for this retheme, along with no minimum age restriction, I would've actually given this a chance to deliver and see what it's like despite being against the whole TWD theme in general.
 
But it's because the park are intentionally going to make this out as their next big thrill machine I have a problem, as this is once again going to lead to false expectations and promises with guests. People naturally are going to think this will be an amazing ride with the OMG ANOTHER WORLD FIRST nonsense when in truth, the coaster just isn't great for the market Thorpe are trying to go for here. Therefore, a fair few people who do ride it are likely going to be disappointed as a result and you end up questioning whether this retheme was worth doing in the first place other than for IP bragging rights. X as far as I could see worked very well with it's target audience, this change I simply cannot see happening.
 
You know something is clearly very wrong here when for example a coaster like Helix with 2 launches, seven inversions, massive airtime and near-60mph speeds has a lower height restriction than this. Increasing a ride's height restriction based purely and only on it's theme is sheer stupidity in my view.
 
This is an enormous two fingers up to anyone in the 1m - 1.4m height category.

If the same height restriction as previous was used for this retheme, along with no minimum age restriction, I would've actually given this a chance to deliver and see what it's like despite being against the whole TWD theme in general.
 
But it's because the park are intentionally going to make this out as their next big thrill machine I have a problem, as this is once again going to lead to false expectations and promises with guests. People naturally are going to think this will be an amazing ride with the OMG ANOTHER WORLD FIRST nonsense when in truth, the coaster just isn't great for the market Thorpe are trying to go for here. Therefore, a fair few people who do ride it are likely going to be disappointed as a result and you end up questioning whether this retheme was worth doing in the first place other than for IP bragging rights. X as far as I could see worked very well with it's target audience, this change I simply cannot see happening.
 
You know something is clearly very wrong here when for example a coaster like Helix with 2 launches, seven inversions, massive airtime and near-60mph speeds has a lower height restriction than this. Increasing a ride's height restriction based purely and only on it's theme is sheer stupidity in my view.
 
This is an enormous two fingers up to anyone in the 1m - 1.4m height category.

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

The press event for the ride will be on the evening of Thursday 29th March, so presumably the ride will be opening on Friday 30th in time for the Easter holidays.
I have mixed feelings about this ride. I am intrigued to see what the ride is going to be like and whether it will be good or not. I do hope that it is actually scary. I don't mind The Walking Dead theme but I hope that this wasn't a last minute, rushed project like Sanctum clearly was. I also think it was a bad decision to remove X. It was the perfect ride for the younger thrill-seekers who don't want to go on the kid rides, but aren't tall enough to go on the major thrill rides. There isn't much for them to do anymore...
 

I have to say that I do think X really was the glue that gave something for the family/younger teenagers to do- so its loss will overall in the long-term hurt the park.
I think as a thrill ride X will seriously disappoint, the ride is a small Vekoma family coaster with a fairly tame layout due its constant break runs..
 
X as a family attraction honestly I think was the best years of its life as it actually had some fun in it.. Okay it wasn't amazing but it filled a huge hole in the lineup and it seemed popular with the public.
If they wanted to appeal to the thrill market they could of least maybe installed a new flat where Slammer was?
Or maybe give Colossus some new trains? Something that won't be 100% irrelevant in 5 years would of been nice..
 
When Angry Birds is the best investment to happen in your park in the past 5 years you know you have fu**** things up..
 
 
 

If the same height restriction as previous was used for this retheme, along with no minimum age restriction, I would've actually given this a chance to deliver and see what it's like despite being against the whole TWD theme in general.
 
But it's because the park are intentionally going to make this out as their next big thrill machine I have a problem, as this is once again going to lead to false expectations and promises with guests. People naturally are going to think this will be an amazing ride with the OMG ANOTHER WORLD FIRST nonsense when in truth, the coaster just isn't great for the market Thorpe are trying to go for here. Therefore, a fair few people who do ride it are likely going to be disappointed as a result and you end up questioning whether this retheme was worth doing in the first place other than for IP bragging rights. X as far as I could see worked very well with it's target audience, this change I simply cannot see happening.
 
You know something is clearly very wrong here when for example a coaster like Helix with 2 launches, seven inversions, massive airtime and near-60mph speeds has a lower height restriction than this. Increasing a ride's height restriction based purely and only on it's theme is sheer stupidity in my view.
 
This is an enormous two fingers up to anyone in the 1m - 1.4m height category.

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

What a mess. They'd finally turned X into something fun and worthwhile that filled height restriction gap in their lineup that desperately needed filling, and have ballsed that work right up by inexplicably bringing us a kiddie coaster with a horror theme. Even if the ride experience itself is actually good (highly doubtful!), it's still an incredibly dumb decision.
 
I wonder if the increased height restriction might also mean the fill every seat rule can be dropped?
 
 

Stupid decision to make the only family friendly coaster inaccessible to families.  Seriously, what on earth were they drinking when they thought of this?!
 
Thorpe Park is in such a mess, it seems that nobody has any sense of direction for the park and the short term decisions like this show that all too well.

So there’s a 1.4m height restriction once again on a coaster which succeeded these last several years for welcoming those just 1m onto, along with a minimum age restriction that’s higher than Saw: The Ride?
 
I have one word for this and I frankly don’t care how nicely themed it might be when it opens:
 
FAIL

Wonder if we'll have a little "The Walking Dead The Ride Shop NOW OPEN" sign outside for a few months a la DBGTROTD.

This whole thing is the biggest joke since Storm Surge and DBGT Year 1

I wonder if anyone at the park has any idea what the park should look like in 10 years time. 

"It’s 15 out of ten on the scare scale.”
(John Burton, Thorpe Park)
 
Look forward to having a t-shirt with that printed on it in time for Ministry of Sound meet-up 

Can't lie but that's not half-bad looking in that video actually. Let's hope it can stay looking this good every single day it's operating, which I'm veeeeeeery certain it will!


I wish.

I wonder if they're going to announce a X re-theme?
Just a wild theory of mine... 

I think people aren't offering constructive criticism because the layout looks so lackluster and people are so fed up with Merlin's usual nonsense that they just don't care. Meanwhile you have the fanboys raving over the ride claiming it's the best ride to ever be made and swearing blindly that the effects and theme will be stunning when history tells us that is unlikely. 
It might be a very good ride with a theme that works amazingly well with the ride but I'll believe it when I experience it myself. Although that won't be anytime soon as if I'm traveling north I'll be going to Blackpool. 

Surely there must be some sort of understanding why some people are pessimistic about this and want to point out potential flaws?

Whilst I have no doubt this looks to be a good and fun wooden coaster once it opens that will appeal very well with families (despite the unsettling theme), it's the way this is being presented I have the biggest problem with. Why? Because Merlin are once again it seems building false expectations with the public and finding any means necessary to put the same old hyperbolic nonsense into their marketing material.

My concern more than anything is once again we have a ride which is going to be built upon the promise of having some working special effects and this is what I'm pessimistic about. Please tell me, can you honestly sit here and say with a straight face "Merlin take excellent care of their special effects"? The record they have built over the years suggests this to be the complete opposite and this is why I'm not at all interested in the "fusing wood with fire" nonsense, because we all know deep down the effects will stop working before the end of the first month! Whilst it might sound nice on paper and through the use of fancy night photography, I'm not at all buying it. I'm only interested in the coaster layout itself, nothing more.

Let me be clear when I disagree "nit-pick" with another's opinion - I think this will be a good coaster. I understand the limits the park has with building this. I want this to be a success with families. But what I'm not going to do is build any false promises or hope as it only leads to disappointment (example - DBGT).

Let's be honest here, the only "proper" visual effects we will get is it spurts a small fireball from the shoulders every 3 trains that passes by, some flickering red LED lighting inside the structure to give the illusion it's on fire, maybe some sound effects and a single smoke machine at the base that's as convincing and reliable as the laughing gas effect on The Giggler's arm.
 
And this is with the notion the effects are all still working after the first week of opening...