ImLucifer

I did a Hyperia coaster climb this evening.
 
There was some chatter when it was made live about the cost being expensive (£120). It is, no beating around the bush. But it is worth it. My experience was about 3hrs all in, and included lots of time spent scaling the ride, time spent in the console and time spent around the turnaround outside the station, with lots of opportunities for photos, fabulous hosts and a great vibe. 
 
Find attached a variety of photos (of me). I'll write a proper TPM article later.

So to bring some additional clarity to the situation...
 
-The park are awaiting a part. This is evident by the fact staff aren't working on it actively. This means it'll be closed a while. Even when the part arrives, they will require time to test it. 
 
-It is likely a bigger / more expensive / specialist part, hence why the park didn't have one already. This takes time to acquire; it's not like they ring up Intamin and say "Can we have 1 [thing from catalogue] please?" and Intamin ship it out the next day from their warehouse either. 
 
-Time frame is unclear at the moment. How long is a piece of string. 
 
-Thorpe have no intention of getting rid of Stealth. 

we have all had enough of this thing.
 
 
nothing cryptic about it anymore.
 
 
it just doesn't work.

Just a post about some Thorpe Park history some people may not know.  In the early 2000's, the park installed its first fast track system, which was very similar to the ones used at Disney.  You would put your park ticket in the machine and receive a printed fast track ticket.  The system was free to use, and ran for about 1-2 seasons until they decided to follow Universal and charge for the service The machines were ripped out but you can still see remnants of the system today.
 
Tidal Wave:
 
The steel structure with the red roof covering the F&B kiosk was the original covering for the fast track machines
 

 
Nemesis Inferno had an actual area for the machines included as part of the design. You can see this to the right of the queue line entrance, where the retail kiosk is now located.
 

 
 
The ones for Colossus was located where the F&B unit at the bottom of the hill (near Samurai) is now located. 
 
Loggers Leap also had machines installed, and these were located next to the entrance to the queue line.
 
Hope this was some fun bits of information from the parks history!
 

Ding dong no
 
The sky is dark, the coast is rocky, the island mountainous. Construction is far away.
 
Wait bugger wrong account

So after doing Fright Nights a few times now, I'll give my review. 
 
Dead Beat
I did this for my first time yesterday. After seeing lots of mixed reviews I hadn't bothered with it before but kept it spoiler free for myself. But I was really pleasantly surprised with this, was my favorite maze last night by far. 
Its long, themeing is great, great smells, loved the soundtrack, lots of great scares (actors had some really good hiding places.)
 
The ending with the actor flying above your head was my favorite part by far. That got me good, never seen something like that in a maze before.
 
Survival Games
Did this on the opening night and last night. 
On the opening night it was great, pretty much the same as last year. It was having a lot of issues that night though and saw the area got evaced at least 3 times due to the fire alarm going off. 
Yesterday however, it wasn't so great. Absolutely no smoke in the main area which made a huge difference. Potentially due to the fire alarm issues? But they really need to sort that out. What made this maze great was that you couldn't really see where you where going in the main part and it was confusing. With no smoke, you can see everywhere you're going. Actors seemed very hands-off yesterday too. 
 
Stiches
Pretty much the same as last year. I don't know what it is but I feel like I've never had a particularly good run through in this maze. I want to enjoy it but its not for me and has never been one of my favorites unfortunately. 
 
Trailers
Another one where I've never been the biggest fan off. This year does seem consistent though, good amount of actors and its a decent length. Just always felt this has lacked scares though.
 
Bit cheeky calling them new scenes this year as not a lot has really changed. 
 
Crows
Decent scarezone, pretty much an outdoor maze. Not as strong as last year though unfortunately. Lots of security/staff visible throughout the walk really kills the atmosphere too. On the first couple times I went they were constantly telling us to keep moving which was annoying, less of that yesterday but still does kill the atmosphere having them visible everywhere. Hopefully they can improve on this next year or have a change up as Crows are getting pretty stale now.
 
Lucifers Lair and Creature Campus
Can't really comment on either of these as I haven't really spent any time in either of them. 
Luciers Lair is decent and creates a nice atmosphere at the center of the park.
I think its pretty cheeky calling Creature Campus a scarezone, its a dance show. I don't go to scare events to watch people dance to be honest, so not a bit of me. 
Not for me and I'd rather the budget was used for a different scare attraction instead, but I do understand the reasons for keep bringing it back as it does seem to be popular.
 
Everything else
Fright Nights will never be as good as it was in its old days, but overall its another strong year for Fright Nights. Yesterday in particular was great, got 3 mazes done in less than an hour. Operations across the park were great and didn't see a single breakdown or ride shutdown all day.
 
Park wide audio I'm really not a fan of this year. Disappointing they haven't bothered with individual ride audio again too. Was always one of my favorite things about Fright Nights.
 
Lighting looks great though this year, great to see so much permanent lighting. Best the park has ever looked at night. Theres still improvements that could be made though. Detonator for example had programmed lighting not long ago which seems to have disappeared. 
Would like to have seen them do more with Hyperia too. Imagine if the lights flashed as it went down the lift hill? Or flashed a different color even? 
 
There used to be a lot more smoke machines around the park as well which was cool, so would be nice to be see them return, especially with the new lighting. Vortex is looking great with a smoke machine, but other rides would benefit from this too. Samurai was always a good one. Stealths hasn't worked the last few times I've been which is a shame. 
 
Oh and lastly, I'll keep saying this every year. But 10pm closes are missed as there isn't enough time in the dark. Even if it means doing 11-10 or 12-11. Or as Josh has said before, even keeping the mazes and coasters open till 10 would be good.

Vortex has been consistently running so well ever since it got its new PLC a couple years ago. Noticed the cycle slightly changed too, it stops spinning midway through so more seats reach full height, rather than the same seats all cycle. 
 
My favorite flat at Thorpe flat at Thorpe now. Nearly 25 years old and looks and runs as good as new. 
 
Its also looking amazing at night. Lots of coloured permanent lighting added and they've got a smoke machine under the floor which goes off as the floor is going down 🥰
 

It must be an absolute nightmare for the staff to have to haul all those dummies around every time it needs to test .

Ahh man, we've had so much peace and quiet, but you've ding dong done it

We all know that 2025 is reserved for hyperia updates and theming (perhaps removing the bog).
Who knows what’s in store for 2026 perhaps a new rollercoaster or flat ride central at the beach…..
 
Perhaps @Parm Pap could shed some light…..

2, 3 and 6 are definitely in them.

The closure was very much for maintenance checks and nothing else. Due to large equipment being in the plaza, I expect that logistically it wasn't practical / H&S-advised to also do things like work in the queue line.
 
But yeah, it's a real shame to see it in such an unfinished way. I didn't expect it to be perfect (the ride area side of things moreso), but the queue line section is bland and sad. That really should have been dealt with. We can only hope they sufficiently add to that over winter.
 
The ride area side I'm happy for them to let bed in. Many ride areas have been like that. Colossus is a Thorpe example. But even rides abroad like Baron 1898 (Efteling) and Fenix (Toverland) started off a bit bland and muddy, but grew into it naturally over time. I think the ride area for Hyperia will be the same. I noticed yesterday that the lake has 'returned' a bit more now, with the final remaining land that connected the two sides of land together now submerged (thanks to the rain). I'm sure over time things will slowly progress.
 
 
The splashdown is verging on being the biggest waste of money if the park can't / don't reintroduce it. Whatever the reasons are for it not operating, it's not good that it lasted a couple of months before stopping. Doesn't help that, despite being 'okay', it wasn't a special splashdown in any way.
 
Feels very much like a design choice which didn't appreciate the operational practicality. 
 
 
 
 
My biggest concern for Hyperia, right now, though is it stalling again.
 
Yesterday, I saw it shutdown a couple of times. When it did test runs, empty, it was going through the outerbank twisted dive (and even the stall loop) quite slowly. I was getting serious déjà vu from a visit a few days before it stalled.
 
This wasn't a case of it needing to warm up either. One instance was just after 5pm. It had been running reasonably consistently throughout the day, and then had a short (5-10min) shutdown. Both test cycles were worryingly slow through the outerbank. Yesterday was cool, but certainly nowhere near as cold as we're going to see over the next month. 
Should stress that with riders, it didn't struggle, but was slower than other rides I've had.
 
I don't know how Macks run and if they have winter / cold-weather wheels. But if they do, it feels like Thorpe need to put them on now if they haven't already.
 
A second valley would not be a good look or ideal for the park, especially in their busiest period of the year.

From what I understand, it was actually just a typo, and was always set to be just the 4 days.
 
So ladies and gents, boys and girls, make sure to proof read your work!

On the topic of Make Your Mark / putting your own Easter Eggs in mazes, I think we can thank/blame @Glitch:
 
  
 
 

I'll stick it in this thread. It looks like Rumba, despite closing early, is returning next year:
 
 
 
Whether this is cost cutting or to start on a renovation, who knows.

Nonsense.
Taziker are doing it after their successful work on the COLOSSOS RIDE at the Thorpe Park Resort.

More insight than an endoscopy. Thanks as always Parmesan.

As far as I know, it's only done once a season. I don't know if there's a number, but it also makes sense to do it around now rather than July / August simply because the park is quieter and it affects less people. Doing it in summer would cause bigger issues / complaints

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

what has happened, you may ask? well, there was a mix up internally. opening day was marketed, and taken literally by the operations of the teams. friday of the 24th of the may was hyperia's opening day, but on any other day, the ride can not operate. it could only run on friday on the 24th of the month, because that was its OPENING day, where the ride is allowed to open.
 
 
oh it's sad, it's so sad, well it's sad, really sad, so sad, bom bom bom, pom pom pom, (angrier) bom bom bom, POM POM POM, bom bom bom, bombom bom bom, pompom pom pom, bom pom, bom pom pom, bom bom bom, pom pom PPPOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM
 
 
it's new, the ride that I've got and it's ooh, whoa oh, it's a closed coaster, it's cool, that's what I tell 'em no rides in breakable heaven, but ooh, whoa oh, it's a closed coaster
 
 
it's cool, that's what I tell them no cash, in be

It's purely aesthetics

Finally, after thousands of launches over several years, the one thing I never wanted, I had a rollback today. Within a couple of hours of telling several people that I never wanted one, it happened. The power of the launch failed about half way down the run and we barely rose three quarters up the vertical. 
 
Still they could not get me a cuppa..........and after rolling us back to the platform, we were off within fifteen minutes.

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):

I feel like there must have been a bet on how many times they could say "scan" in a video.

Thanks, very informative 👌