Project LC

It is very disappointing it wasnt given a proper send off. Long live the king. There is now an absolutely massive space left behind. The world record launch coaster coming in 2026 to replace it will have to be one hell of a ride to make up for that loss. Hopefully it doesn't turn out to be the tower coaster being asked about in surveys a while back.

I did caveat that with "may". I'm pretty sure this ride has been rushed in to distract from TT2 and if anything I think it indicates even 2025 may be missed. Siren was originally meant to be coming to six flags Mexico, which itself was originally meant to open as cliffhanger in energylandia.

Its looking like Cedar Point may have 2 new rides opening in 2025 with top thrill 2 and another new coaster, as they have just announced Sirens curse which is a Vekoma Tilt track. Have to say I wasn't expecting a vekoma tilt track to be on the cards.

Rumours are confirmed to be a LSM launch with a 420ft spike being added. The ride will launch forward, roll back and launched up the spike before being launched forward again up and over the top hat. The ride will have new trains, worryingly only 3 trains of 20 riders. I sure hope the trains aren't like icebreakers at SeaWorld as they were some of the most uncomfortable trains ive ever been on.

Thorpe would have got a company to supply a design for the track segments. Taziker would produce fabrication drawings which the designer would check. Taziker would then manufacture to the fabrication drawings. The steel would be inspected at the factory and then delivered to site. It is possible that it is Tazikers fault as working with them previously we have had errors (no more than any other supplier). I think its more likely the survey or design was wrong.

Taziker like most steel suppliers will work to the date that is agreed with the client. The date will be based on the clients programme and Tazikers supply chain. Construction will be arranged around that ageeed date. Typically the client and supplier will inspect the steel before delivery, if they picked up any issues like undercut welds then it will be rejected and repairs or replacements made. Its possible something like this lead to a small delivery delay. Steel installation doesn't take that long so it doesn't surprise me if this was arranged close to the end of closed season. If the track doesn't fit then that will either be a fabrication issue or a survey/design issue. Its not possible to say if that is Tazikers fault or not. I would also like to point out there could be a whole host of reasons in why the track was sent back.

Generally speaking this shouldn't take long to build. There isnt significant earth works, steel construction is rapid and there isnt any significant foundations or buildings. If I had to organise that site I wouldn't attempt to start in December or January due to weather. To keep costs down you want as short of a programme as possible. Especially as an awful lot of construction workers and plant at the moment is being used up on HS2 pushing prices up. I suspect what is limiting the construction at the moment is actually future crane hire. Its not easy to get a 250ft cran in the UK, the waiting list is literally years. That aside a multi million pound investment during a cost of living crisis and the start of a recession. It would be prudent for Merlin to reassess the return on investments.

The rumour mill has been saying for a while that top thrill dragster is likely to undergo a modernisation. Converting the ride from its hydraulic cable winch to a LSM system like that of Red Force in Porta Ventura. I suspect they might also change the end of the ride so they have something to market.

The SSSI designation I would say has made it pretty much dead in the water. Regulations about SSSI's are incredibly tight and to even get permission to do anything on them requires comprehensive environmental management plans. Adding further costs to planning, construction and operation. Meanwhile the raw material prices are sky rocketing and the new covid landscape calls into question the projected visitor numbers. The flashy renderings will be a far cry from what we actually get now, if we get anything at all. Also to mention completely new theme parks don't tend to perform too well. I was all for this going ahead but at this point I just dont see what was once promised being delivered.

Id argue f&b has moved more to the grab and go concept lately. So theoretically hot dog stands should be doing well. However what the theme parks never attempted or even really acknowledge was the changing tastes. Merlin continued to provide the same incredibly poor standard burgers and hot dogs across the parks. While generally tastes became more varied. Mexican grab and go should have been added years ago. The burger places should have started doing various things with chicken like the McDonald's wraps. Not to mention the vast move to healthy eating and vegi/vegan options. Meanwhile the sit down places should have been offering a higher quality product so that spending more there felt worth it. I don't see how contracting out the food operations is going to help the feeling of overpriced food and drinks in the parks but I guess we will have to wait and see.

From an engineering perspective it is likely to be mandated that the structure survives 25 years. Where the pieces of track are deemed replaceable. Non replaceable parts will be designed for atleast 50. Fatigue issues in steel start occuring at 2x10^6 load cycles which rollercoasters will start hitting around 25-30 years old. So if we assume 240 operating days a year at 8 hours. In that time lets assume perfect capacity for nemesis of 37.5 dispatches an hour. It would result in a lifespan of 27.7 years. Time to hit 2,000,000 cycles. Colossus - 24y Nemesis Inferno -29y Stealth - 19y Saw - 21y* You can design for more cycles. The eurocodes permit allowances up to 5x10^6 but it requires the stresses in the steel to be low. Saw can probably get away with that hence it not being 8 years. I cant be bothered to work out allowable cycle ranges so for saw I assumed the maximum and the other coasters the minimum. Basically Thorpe park would have an expensive few years coming up if you couldn't extend lifespan in other ways. It would just come down to is it worth extending. Unfortunately for Colossus I think the answer is no.

An important note in the application is that the track that is being installed will be sand filled. So nemesis will be loosing her roar.

Pretty sure I got it. Too short ride! In reality though Id prefer for it to not be doctor who related or any IP for that matter. An original idea about time would be interesting to see but I would hope the budget is there to retheme the buildings in old town.

Now we have a POV in no limits I'm now also concerned with the rides pacing. The third element seems too large and ends up having some slow hang time at the top and then the "splash down" has to take out huge amounts of speed so it can go round the outer banked turn. In my opinion the ride is wrong in pretty much every aspect. It will still be decent but I am in the belief a vastly better layout was possible on the site. Thorpe will be able to sell it but it sure isn't what the park needed.

The drawing of the layout is S3 which means "for comment/review" usually internal review. The next stage (S4) would be for stage approval which is what is usually handed over to the client (thorpe/Merlin) to approve which would then go to consultation. So while its not quite as developed as a normal situation its still unlikely to change much from that. The layout will be pretty much fixed subject to engineering changes and only minor changes to the support structure (such as the 2 absolutely massive footers by the lake) as well as paths/trees. For sake of clarification I was excluding launch coasters from the list of shortest length hypers. Also when I say splash down I mean that in a very loose term of "area where the ride clearly needs braking so it can take the next corner at human level g forces with added water effects" down.