Matt N

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wouldn’t the Octopus Gardens rides likely be long gone by now? I could have sworn I read that Merlin either sold them or relocated them to a different Merlin property (I think I heard SeaLife Oberhausen thrown around, as that one has/had a theme park section?), and even if they had been retained by Thorpe, surely they wouldn’t have been retained for 11 years (or at least, not retained well enough to be in a usable state by 2021)? I’m not saying that it’s not possible by any means, as the likes of Flying Fish returning have shown that there is a precedent for Thorpe keeping old rides in storage for at least a short period, but I’m not personally too confident in the possibility of the Octopus Gardens rides returning, personally. I think they’ve simply been gone too long, and may not even be at Thorpe anymore.

Is this a teaser from the park that you’re relaying or something?

Out of interest, what do we feel the plan could be for Old Town as a themed area when this new coaster opens? Personally, my suspicion is that whatever this ride is, it will likely see Old Town replaced by a different themed area with a totally new theme. With Rocky Express and the two kids’ rides gone, as well as Loggers, Canada Creek Railway and Slammer, that leaves Old Town with only Black Mirror, Samurai and Saw, all 3 of which are quite debatable in terms of whether they properly fit into the Old Town theme or whether they’re even within the main body of the area at all; Black Mirror is a more technological theme that I wouldn’t say is overly Western at all, Samurai seems more like a Lost City ride (and I’ll admit I’m always surprised that it isn’t classed as being within Lost City given its proximity to Colossus et al), and Saw has always felt quite standalone to me (in fact, didn’t they actually used to say it was on “Saw Island” as opposed to in Canada Creek?). To me, it seemed like Canada Creek/Old Town as a themed area had a dagger through the heart when they removed Logger’s Leap and Canada Creek Railway, and I’d argue that the removal of Rocky Express put the final nail in its coffin. Admittedly, I didn’t first visit Thorpe until 1 year before Logger’s Leap’s removal and 3 years after CCR’s removal (it was 2011, wasn’t it?), but from what I can tell, those 3 rides were what made Old Town/Canada Creek in the form that most are thinking of what it is/was. I’m assuming that with Rocky and the 2 kids’ rides now gone, they will close off the main part of Old Town that really made it what it is and make that part of the construction site. Never say never of course (they could well retain the Old Town theme, for all I know), but with 2022 Old Town due to consist merely of 3 attractions whose link to the area is somewhat spurious, in terms of both location and theme (the actual Western/Canadian village bit will presumably be closed off entirely), my personal suspicion is that they’ll kill the theme off in favour of a new theme for that section of the park to suit whatever the new coaster is. Merlin have never traditionally tended to integrate new coasters/major investments into existing themed areas anyway, from what I can tell; when coasters are built on land already in use, they usually either opt for the area retheme route (e.g. Thirteen seeing Ug Land get turned into Dark Forest) or the standalone attraction/theme route (e.g. Wicker Man, Saw, DBGT). The only time I can think of where they did go with an area’s existing theme was Smiler. And with Old Town as a themed area kind of lacking its main body from next year, I’d personally guess that the chances of an area retheme for the new coaster are quite high.

Hi guys. Just as a heads up, I'm not posting anything I've created here yet, but I just wanted to let you all know that I am still working on stuff in Planet Coaster, and I've created this thread today to introduce you all to a park concept I'm working on that I'm very excited about; I would be really keen to hear your thoughts on it. After I finished Worlds of Globala a few months back, I started to ponder what I should tackle next in Planet Coaster. While I know I'm still working on Newman's Pleasure Gardens, my vintage park (I am working on that too, and more content will hopefully be coming soon from that one), I wanted a different park project to sink my teeth into when I finished Globala. And I thought that an interesting one to try would be an entirely horror-based theme park. It is pushing me out of my comfort zone a bit, as the game doesn't have tons of horror scenery aside from the stuff in the Spooky Pack and I'm not a horror aficionado in the slightest (I've never watched a proper horror film and don't especially like Halloween in the parks), but I feel that there's a gap in the market for a full-on horror park, both in terms of Planet Coaster (I've never seen anyone do one before) and in real life (I can't think of any real-life precedent for this kind of park, off the top of my head), so I thought it might be fun to give it a go. So with that in mind, let me tell you a little bit about my latest Planet Coaster pet project... Sinister Springs, the land where your worst nightmares come alive! Sinister Springs, as I implied above, will be a horror park, with each area telling a different scary story within the overarching theme of horror. It will very much be a thrill park aimed at older guests, with big roller coasters, as well as some other types of ride (for instance, I'm looking forward to exploring the dark ride possibilities that the horror genre has to offer). I don't know about you, but I think that the theme and subject matter of Sinister Springs would likely put families off straight away by its very nature, so I wasn't sure it was worth targeting families a huge amount. But you as guests aren't just coming to Sinister Springs for a fun, horror-themed day out, oh no; there's a full backstory as to why you're there in the first place, and it is as follows: "You got up this morning in pursuit of thrill and excitement to spice up your pitiful excuse for a life. In your search, you encountered the most beautiful woman you'd ever seen. Like many before you, you were drawn in by her stunning looks and charming advances. She promised you the thrill and excitement you were seeking. But little did you know that you'd been yet another to have been lured in by none other than Sinistra; the goddess of horror, the very embodiment of fear and torture itself. And now she's got you under her spell, she's ready to reveal her true colours. In reality, she is an evil temptress who has thrown you head-first into a trap; she wants to play a game with you, and it's your move. Laying ahead of you are many challenges concocted by Sinistra herself to induce ultimate terror and test even the most hardened adrenaline junkie. Each one tells its own unique story, and contains its own unique traps, with tests of both physical and psychological strength alike laying ahead. If you brave the challenges ahead and win the game, Sinistra will grant you your life. But if you lose... she will make sure that you rot away like a fly, and become nothing but a memory. So, it's time to show Sinistra how much you truly value your existence. Live or die... make your choice." (I know that's pretty heavily inspired by the Saw films, but as I said above, I'm not a horror fan myself, so the one horror film that has a coaster themed to it seemed like a fair source of inspiration...) So, I hope that's given you all a brief explanation of what Sinister Springs will be, and built the hype a little! While I've got nothing to show off in this post, I will leave you an image showing part of what I've done so far, just to give you a little morsel of what's to come: While the park (heck, even the initial entrance area I'm starting with) is far from finished, and this is only showing a very small section of the entrance area, this picture gives away more hints than you might expect if you look closely... So, that's a basic introduction to Sinister Springs, the horror park I've started in Planet Coaster! I apologise for the lack of any actual content in this post (I know you probably don't like that I'm being a tease, so sorry about that...), but I'll admit I'm very excited about the concept and couldn't wait any longer to tell you guys about it; I was very keen to know your thoughts! In terms of when I'll be posting content from this park; I wouldn't like to put a date on it, especially considering that I'll admit to being in a bit of a creative block in PlanCo at present, but I'm hoping it will be fairly soon that I'll be showing off Sinistra's Lair, the park's entrance area! What do you guys think? I'd be really keen to know your thoughts on the concept, or any ideas or suggestions you might have for the park!

Perhaps surprisingly given the events of the last few months, the bosses have confirmed that they intend for the park to start construction next year, in anticipation of a 2024 opening: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/uk-disneyland-go-ahead-next-25603300.amp I must admit, I’m slightly surprised that they’re still pressing ahead what with the major setback of the SSSI designation, but I must admit that their resilience does give me a sense of optimism that they’ll get it off the ground! Being realistic, though, I’ll admit that a 2024 opening seems like an extremely tough target to meet at this point, and prior to today, I genuinely thought that they’d delayed it to 2025/2026 (I’m by all means open to surprises, but I’ll say that they’d have to be phenomenally quick to get this thing open in 2024 given that it’s nearly 2022 and the council haven’t even started assessing the application); assuming everything goes smoothly from here (and that’s far from a given, what with the last few months), I could maybe see 2025 or 2026, but 2024 seems like one heck of a tight deadline to meet. They’re going to have to get a real wriggle on to meet 2024; that’s only a little over 2 years away. Assuming examination starts in 2022 and the application is approved in 2023, 2025 would fit with their previous construction timescale, but I’m unsure whether the SSSI designation means that they’d have to follow different construction methods (more sympathetic to the wildlife) that slow the process down, thus making 2026 a more attainable target? I’m certainly cautiously optimistic that this thing could eventually happen, though… I’ll admit I’m perhaps less confident than I was a year ago when stuff was progressing so well, as something like an SSSI designation is a pretty big hurdle to overcome, but I do remain cautiously optimistic!

Part of this is going to sound like a strange request, but the simple thing that I hope for from this ride is that it's fun and rerideable as opposed to out and out intense, and for the strange part, I actually hope it's something smooth. I feel that something that's just pure fun and easily rerideable is something that Thorpe lacks at present. Something that's smooth, nice and floaty (or just airtime-filled), thrilling but not too intense, and just purely fun as opposed to some brain-draining out and out force machine. That's why I would love for this to be a B&M Hyper; I remember Mako ticking all of these boxes, hence why it's still my all-time #1 5 years on! I used to think that Swarm filled this void, but a few things have happened with that one over time that have made it lose this status for me; the sustained g's in that helicopter helix are beginning to make me grey out for a sustained period of time most times I do it (which I don't especially enjoy), I'm growing to not be too keen on the restraints, and I also think it's getting a bit rougher. Not rough by any means, but in September, I had a back outer ride that really juddered quite a bit, and even the inner seats are beginning to develop a bit of a grind/rattle that the ride never used to have; it certainly seems to have lost that silky smoothness it once had for me. (Has anyone else found this, as I feel like I'm going insane here; most others still refer to Swarm as silky smooth and not intense in the slightest?) Don't get me wrong, I still like Swarm a lot; these are quite minor niggles in the grand scheme of things, and I think the ride's high points are still amazing enough to keep it in my top 10 (I do love its sensation of speed, and the speed of that first drop and huge negative g's of that final inversion are just absolutely spectacular!), but it's certainly becoming less my kind of thing, and is slipping down the top 10 for me (it's #8 currently, whereas it has been as high as #3 within the last year or two, and I reckon Europa next year could well move it out of the top 10 entirely, what with their big 3 aligning directly with my current top 3 in terms of ride types; we'll have to wait and see on that one. To be honest, based on my rides last September, I'm quite tempted to push it down to #9 or #10 and consider Inferno my favourite Thorpe coaster; Swarm currently just edges Inferno, but to be honest, I'm reconsidering that, in hindsight... Inferno has grown on me a lot). Before I go off on too much of a Swarm tangent, I was going to lead on to say; the reason I'd like something smooth is because I actually think that Thorpe has a surprisingly rough (or at least, not smooth) selection of coasters given that none of them are that old. From my experience, while Swarm and Inferno are not especially rough by any means, none of their coasters are nice and silky smooth in the way that I personally really like in a coaster; Inferno is probably their smoothest, and Swarm isn't a rough coaster by any means, but Stealth is feeling quite jolty these days (the ascent in particular really bashed me around a fair bit and gave me a headache on my rides in September, and the descent also bounces you about a fair bit towards the back... but again, I never hear this brought up about Stealth, so I must ask; am I the only one who's noticed this?), Saw, while it has been feeling smoother and growing on me a bit lately, is still quite rough in places, and Colossus... I don't think that one warrants an explanation from me based on many comments about it in the community. Let's just say it's among my least favourite coasters and keep it at that... I should preface the above by saying that my roughness tolerance is quite low, but my point still stands. Of the 3 major UK thrill parks (Alton, BPB and Thorpe), I'd say that Thorpe is the only one that doesn't have something that fills that fun, floaty/airtime-y and effortlessly rerideable void. From my perspective, Blackpool has Icon to fill this void and Alton has Wicker Man to fill this void, and both of those coasters are in my top 3. From a personal perspective, I really hope that Thorpe's 2024 coaster, whatever it ends up being, fills this void for them.

Interesting... are there any local enthusiasts living near enough to Thorpe to qualify? I do understand why Merlin want to limit it, though; locals might feel a bit intimidated and unable to raise their genuine concerns if it's overrun by enthusiasts. This is all very exciting, though; feels great to be discussing a new major investment at Thorpe again! Even though it was only in 2014, DBGT's early planning stages feel like such a long time ago!

Question; is it known whether Thorpe are holding actual in-person meetings for this consultation where the plans will be formally revealed, or are they merely dropping the plans onto the website when the calendar hits 10th December?

Right then, globetrotters; our expedition draws to a close here! 8 countries and 46 rides later, we've explored all that Worlds of Globala has to offer! Let's take a brief moment to summarise the park and our expedition together... Firstly, here are two aerial overview shots of the entire park in its finished state. The first is a daytime shot: And the second is a nighttime shot: As well as two video overviews of the entire park (these were filmed on my new PC, so have notably improved FPS!): https://youtu.be/GjA-ezmVB3U https://youtu.be/d5HSYma11NE In summary, the finished Worlds of Globala park contains 8 countries, with 46 rides overall. These include 11 rollercoasters, 5 dark rides and 4 water rides. In terms of the operational side of the park, I decided to opt for opening hours of 9am-11pm, and I decided to go for a full entry price of £40 (£5 per country), with a family ticket costing £20. If you feel that the opening hours are too short, or if you feel that the entry price is too expensive, do tell me; I'm not great at the in-game economics & operations, I'll admit! Also, do you feel that there's anything that the park is missing rides-wise, or more generally, for that matter? I can sense the park will probably be a bit too barren on dark rides and a bit too heavy on coasters and flats for the liking of many, so I apologise for that, but I guess I just love building coasters, so they're what I usually reach for when building major rides; I was personally quite pleased to have built a full park with 5 dark rides, as the most I've managed before is 1! I tried to make the lineup fairly rounded in terms of different thrill levels & ride types on offer, but do you think I've succeeded there? But in conclusion, all I can say is; thank you for reading, members of TPM! I hope you like the finished product, and I would very much appreciate any feedback you have, good or bad! I have uploaded the park to Steam Workshop as an unlisted park (I was unsure whether to go fully public with it), so if you want to download it, play it, or build anything within it, then feel free! Here's the link: https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2564868607 And if you want to look back on our adventure in one quick hit, here's the entire WoG playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLYhVl5AToqbgmS3ic4UgaQpYpG_KDnQIX I really hope you've enjoyed our global adventure together! I hope to bring you some more Planet Coaster content soon, but that's goodbye to Worlds of Globala; I really hope you like the completed park! I know it's not overly impressive compared to some people's creations in game, but I'm personally very proud of it, and I really hope you guys like it! As I said above, any feedback you may have would be much appreciated; do you have any major gripes with the park, or anything you really like? What are some of your favourite rides and areas, or rides/areas you don't like so much? Be completely honest with me here; anything at all is hugely valuable to me! P.S. Sorry if this huge content drop is a bit much to digest in one go; on TS and CF, I did this park over a year and 3 months as opposed to a couple of hours, so I sincerely apologise if the whistlestop tour approach doesn't work well for you!

Well, globetrotters; it’s been an amazing expedition, but we’ve finally reached the end of our global adventure, as the 8th and final country of Worlds of Globala is on the horizon! In terms of where in the world this country is, we’re returning to Europe for this final country; welcome one and all to Germany: In terms of what kind of vibe I went for with this area, I did use the Bavarian buildings within the World’s Fair pack, but I’d actually say that a number of different styles are present within the area. I tried to make the vibe of the central section of the area be that of Germany in the midst of Oktoberfest, with lots of banners, festival tents, and a couple of singers around, but the area also has a bit of a steampunk vibe in some areas, as well as an almost fairytale-style vibe in others; basically, it embodies a number of different styles that all fall under the overarching theme of Germany! In terms of rides, the area contains 4 of them, and they are as follows (I should clarify that the ride shots of Oktoberfest and H&G were shot prior to the area's completion, in order to try and get my computer at its maximum FPS): Oktoberfest: Brewery Bonanza, an enclosed Mack spinning coaster that is 77ft tall, 2,941ft long and reaches a top speed of 44mph. The ride features two lift hills, some dark ride sections and various helixes and turns to induce spinning, as well as triggered effects that trigger when the train hits certain areas of the layout. I'll admit that when I created this ride layout, I hadn't actually ridden a Mack spinner, so I'm unsure how realistic the ride looks; I watched a few POVs of Mack spinners to gauge an idea of how the ride type rides, but I'm unsure how realistically I've made this Mack spinner compared to some real examples. In terms of the style of ride I was going for theming-wise, I was kind of going for something akin to Professor Burp's Bubbleworks, but in coaster form; you may even recognize the Bubbleworks music in the POVs! The ride’s storyline is as follows: "From the exterior, the Bavarian house you see in front of you may look fairly normal, but it is actually the home of Poppington's, one of Bavaria's finest family breweries! Its current owner, Augustus Poppington III, has opened the brewery to guests for the first time because he needs your help to get the drinks out on time for Oktoberfest. Augustus has calculated that adding your mass to the Barrelator 3000, his amazing new drink-making machine, will make for the optimal blend, so hop on board and help Augustus make some drinks!": I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/-DhzlrxkpBE https://youtu.be/dqAVrsJST9o As well as a queue line walkthrough, as I tried to go for a rather in-depth themed queue for this ride (I apologise for the length; I wasn't anticipating a 30 minute video when I started recording!): https://youtu.be/CsOCZdVcELU Hansel & Gretel's Hunt for Crumbs, an interactive dark ride themed to the Brothers Grimm fairytale Hansel & Gretel. At 1,154ft long, the ride is the park's second longest dark ride, and it's actually the first interactive dark ride I've ever built in the game. The basic premise of the ride is that it takes riders through the story of Hansel & Gretel while also giving them the opportunity to "collect crumbs" (shoot targets) as they go round the ride. The storyline is as follows: "Cast away from their home by their stepmother, Hansel & Gretel have found themselves in the clutches of a bloodthirsty witch who wants to eat them whole! To help them find their way home, Hansel & Gretel have laid crumbs throughout every stage of their story, and your job is to collect those crumbs. Will you collect enough crumbs to help Hansel & Gretel escape the evil witch and find their way home?": As Hansel & Gretel's Hunt for Crumbs is an interactive dark ride, I filmed a non-shooting POV so that you can take in the ride's scenery & story: https://youtu.be/8k4ZCHsDDaI As well as a POV of me shooting the targets, so you can get an idea of how the interactivity element works (as well as to feast your eyes on how dreadful I am at interactive dark rides...): https://youtu.be/tRAsOpv4tGc Kraftwerk (German for "power plant" or "power station"), a suspended top spin adorned with steampunk theming and special effects including fire, smoke bursts and electricity. I apologise if the premise for this ride sounds a little odd, but I've basically themed it to an Oktoberfest ride that doubles as a power generator for the event, with riders' screams & laughs providing the necessary energy. The storyline for this ride is: "Hans Kraft has invited you to try out his newest invention; a power generator that doubles as the perfect Oktoberfest thrill! That's right; while you ride his awesome new ride, all of your laughs & screams are generating enough power to power the entire Oktoberfest! Don't mind the odd pop or bang here and there while you're riding; they're just the biproducts of converting scream energy into electricity, so there's nothing to be worried about! So hop on board Hans' new ride and have fun; every bit of fun you have helps to power Oktoberfest!": Oompah Express, a caterpillar/musik express style ride themed to German dancing. The ride is encased within a canopy, and features an animatronic band playing beside it as well as a number of different musical instruments & Oktoberfest stalls. The storyline is as follows: "That time has come again; it's time to dance! Every year during Oktoberfest, the locals take one day of the year to simply dance to their heart's content, and this year, they're inviting you to do the same! So hop on board the Oompah Express and show off your best Oktoberfest dance moves!": I also took overview shots of the area in the daytime: And at nighttime: As well as a video overview of the entire country: https://youtu.be/CaHSWweWVQk So, that's Germany! I really hope you like it, and I hope it serves as a fitting conclusion to our global expedition! I will shortly be dropping a post summarising the park and concluding our global expedition together...

Right then, globetrotters; the 7th country on our global expedition awaits! And this one is our first Latin American country; welcome one and all to the mystical land of Mexico: https://I.ibb.co/zfDwSFt/Mexico-Area-Entrance.png Now, in terms of where I wanted to go with this land, I thought it might be quite fun to build upon the country’s rich Aztec heritage, as well as focusing on the more traditional Mexican town-type vibe in places. So quite a few of the rides in this area (actually, it may quite possibly be all of them to some degree) utilise the Adventure Pack and the relevant scenery. In terms of rides in Mexico, there are a total of 6, and they are as follows: El Conquistador (Spanish for “The Conqueror”), a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster that stands at 217ft tall, reaches speeds of 75mph and has 6,006ft of track, making it the park’s longest roller coaster. The ride also has 9 inversions, making it the coaster at the park with the most inversions, a vertical lift hill, a beyond-vertical drop, 3 launches (well, one proper launch and two that are just boosters to give the ride a little additional oomph), and numerous dark ride sections. In terms of how I’d describe this coaster, the best way I can think of to describe it is the love child of Takabisha and Karnan, but I’d say it’s possibly one of the most grand-scale themed attractions I’ve ever built in this game, in spite of it being a massive thrill coaster. Let me tell you; I'd like to think there's more to this ride than meets the eye from the exterior. In terms of the storyline for this ride; “You’re going on an archeology tour with Aztec Adventure Tours, to the legendary Temple of Imota, which has lain undisturbed for thousands of years. However, just as you enter, Imota (the Mexican conqueror who once ruled the temple) awakens once again and possesses your ride car, taunting you in all kinds of ways, and trying to get you to join him, or face his wrath. Will you escape from Imota’s clutches?”: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/2O9dgHvtpAQ https://youtu.be/fYwc9vDSoZI Expedition Yucatan, a motorbike coaster that stands at 54ft tall, reaches speeds of 47mph and has 1,944ft of track. As the name implies, the theme of this ride is that you are escaping from the ancient temple city of Yucatan: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/guw6bM_NPrg https://youtu.be/q-L6q8gymQM Doomsday Temple, a Tower of Terror-style drop tower dark ride. The storyline for this ride is as follows: "Marco De Rico has been Mexico's most successful antiques seller for years, but he wants to get his hands on the priceless treasure that allegedly lies within the Doomsday Temple so that he can make even more money. However, he is not the first to try and get his hands on this, and reports of disappearances have left him too scared to explore the temple himself, so he has enlisted volunteers to go on his behalf; you. Your job is to explore the temple, and find the priceless treasure that Marco De Rico wants so badly, but be warned; the temple has numerous mechanisms in place to fend off those in search of what doesn't belong to them, and its inhabitants will go to any lengths to protect the temple and its assets, so getting this treasure won't be easy. Will you get the treasure, or join the long list of those who died trying?": I also filmed a POV; due to the very FPS-sensitive nature of the triggers on this ride type, I pasted the ride into a separate map and redid the triggers in order to film this, which is why the FPS on this video are markedly faster than on all of the others. I also apologise if some of the triggers are slightly off: https://youtu.be/pAn2YGe-QBs Azteca Explorer, an aerial track ride. This is a similar sort of thing to Squirrel Nutty/Get Set Go (it'll always be Squirrel Nutty to me...) at Alton Towers; a gentle, panoramic ride for younger guests. The theme of this ride is that you have hired a truck from the Azteca Archeology Company, and are going on an adventure to explore all that Mexico has to offer: I also filmed a POV: https://youtu.be/R3znl4Z8anA Totem Twister, a second-generation Huss Condor similar to Fatamorgana at Tivoli Gardens. Totem Twister is 30m (approx. 98ft) tall and has two different types of seating; floored or floorless. The theme of this ride is that the Mexican townspeople have repurposed one of the old totem poles in the town, alongside some of the old archeology equipment (hence all of the cogs and machinery around) into a homemade observation tower-style device (with a bit of a twist) that offers views of Mexico and the surrounding area, and have opened it to you as tourists to try it out: Mayan Time Warp, an enterprise named to reference the Mayan calendar: Finally, here's some area overview shots, both at daytime and at nighttime: As well as an overview video I filmed: https://youtu.be/o85_oDGKSBM So, that's Mexico here at Worlds of Globala! We're now rolling towards the end of our global expedition together, with only one country left to visit that will be dropping shortly... to end the expedition, we'll be returning to Europe, where we started...

Aloha, fellow globetrotters! We meet again, for the 6th country of Worlds of Globala is on the horizon! And this one is another Asian country; welcome one and all to Japan: Now, Japan has 5 rides on offer, and even though elements of it may look very similar to China, I tried to make them as different as possible. So, without further ado, the rides in Japan are as follows: Sakura Falls, a Mack Rides water coaster. This coaster is 88ft tall, reaches speeds of 47mph and has 3,438ft of track, and it is themed as though you are on a shipping boat with the Sakura Shipping Company, but the journey goes a bit wrong, and as such, you are taken on a wet and wild journey through Japan! Have a few pictures: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots; in a first for my Planet Coaster videos, the POV is shot at nighttime due to the ride's dark ride sections: https://youtu.be/dy4JVpahdWo https://youtu.be/-0EYLhaVzQE Izanagi's House of Beasts, a dark ride themed around some of the various mythological creatures in Japanese folklore. In terms of size, this is the smallest dark ride at the park, with 671ft of track, and I was sort of trying to make it akin to something like Snorri Touren or Gangsta Granny in terms of size. The reason for it being so small is because I actually built it on top of the indoor sections of Sakura Falls in order to save space (which is also why you may notice a bit of light and scenery bleed in between the two rides; in hindsight, putting Izanagi on top of Sakura Falls perhaps sounded better in my head than it turned out to work in reality). In a first for this park, I actually aimed for this ride to be a little bit educational as well as fun, with the theme being heavily rooted in Japanese folklore; in case you're wondering, the ride is named after Izanagi, the creator deity in Japanese culture: I also filmed a POV, but before watching, I'd advise that you read this link for some context on my theming choices, as some of them look very bizarre without context: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZIv2IwjF6HcXye9APEslaj6E8S8V7wIIVw9nKAZZZT0/edit?usp=sharing POV: https://youtu.be/jh4i5E3BtJg Furaribi, a Gerstlauer Sky Fly themed to a different Japanese beast; this ride is themed to Furaribi, "a creature engulfed in flames that flies around aimlessly" (as pulled from Wikipedia). There are some triggered fire effects on this, but I'm not sure whether or not they show in my photos or videos: Views from Mount Fuji, a flying island: Swirling Sushi, a waltzer/tilt-a-whirl style attraction. As the name implies, it is themed around the Japanese fish delicacy sushi: The area also contains the final station of the park's Globetrotter monorail system. That's all on offer in terms of rides in Japan, but I did take day and night aerial views of the area: As well as an area overview video that I filmed: https://youtu.be/Hsm_1mgPH9I So, that's Japan! As with China, the area was very much open for business when I filmed these videos; I did have trouble baiting the guests round there before I fully connected up the loop around the lake! I really hope you like Japan, and the next country is dropping imminently... this time, we're exploring our first Latin American country...

Right then, globetrotters; who's ready for some more global exploration? Because the 5th country of Worlds of Globala is now on the horizon; without further ado, may I give you all a very warm welcome to China: Now, China is quite a large country again, with 6 rides on offer in total. They are as follows: Inferna, a B&M inverted coaster that is 154ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 62mph and has 4,035ft of track. The ride contains 6 inversions; a dive loop, two vertical loops, a cobra roll and a corkscrew. I also tried to put in a few little pockets of airtime, as well as triggered effects, near misses with theming and interaction with the area, as well as a Nemesis Inferno-inspired pre-lift section. In terms of theme, it's themed as though you are riding on a fire dragon named Inferna: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/Gxb09lu47UU https://youtu.be/m4DuGyKe-wc Flight of the Fire Dragon, a B&M family inverted coaster that is 73ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 40mph and has 1,736ft of track. The ride contains various different drops, helices and turns, and I'm quite pleased with how it turned out as far as family coasters go! In terms of theme, it has a very similar theme to Inferna: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/dneBTu3gFBk https://youtu.be/x-D2v0D8g-4 Fire Dragon's First Breath, a kiddie coaster that is 17ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 16mph and has 487ft of track, although the ride does two laps, so traverses 974ft of track in total. I admit that the layout isn't the greatest, but this ride was very much intended for the very smallest guests, and I found it quite hard to build a layout that made it the entire way round on that sort of scale. The ride is themed around riding a baby fire dragon; I admit that my coaster storylines are not the most creative in this country: I also filmed a POV and cinematic shots, although I merged them into one video for this ride as it does two laps: https://youtu.be/PU6cEH729Ao Force of Feng Shui, a pendulum ride themed around the Chinese belief of feng shui, which is apparently the belief of making you at one with your surroundings. This ride does also contain some triggered fire and water effects during the cycle, but I'm not sure whether they're shown in any of the videos: Boating in Beijing, a small family boat ride themed as though you are taking a sedate cruise around some Chinese sights. The ride is 839ft long and contains various triggered effects and pieces of Chinese-themed scenery; think of it sort of like the Chinese equivalent of Britannia Tours, but replace taxis with boat cruises and make the "sights" less specific and you've got the idea: I also filmed a POV: https://youtu.be/TMQ_39w9B68 Now, I've purposely saved the ride that I'm personally most impressed with in this area until last, as I feel that it is potentially the most complex attraction I've ever built in Planet Coaster, and it is also the ride in the park with the highest Prestige rating according to the game. I tried various times to build this ride type before, but this was the first time I've ever succeeded in finishing one. So, without further ado, may I present Zodiac Palace, a trackless dark ride. This dark ride is 1,995ft long, lasts just over 5 minutes (according to the game) and has 33 different trigger points, with 623 different triggered objects (I did tweak it slightly after taking these shots, which bought it to 35 trigger points and 631 triggered objects). Some of you may remember that I built a dark water ride called The Tales of Arthuria earlier on in the project, however there are certain things that I feel I improved upon from this ride, most notably in the area of lighting, as I added triggered lighting within Zodiac Palace following feedback on The Tales of Arthuria. Now, I must admit that in the POV, some of the triggers did not work quite as I'd intended, and I did later go back through and change those. Before I show the ride off to you, I should probably explain the plot, as some of my theming choices may look peculiar without context. Basically, the ride is themed as though you are on an archeological expedition through a Chinese palace, but things are inexplicably going wrong, and strange things are happening. The cause is discovered to be down to the dragon statues dotted around the ride, and it's discovered later in the ride that the statues have actually come to life and begun wreaking havoc (hence the dragon animatronics). But some helpful spirits come along to tame the dragons in the nick of time and all ends well: I also filmed a POV, which I should point out is filmed in night cam in order to show off the triggered lighting I put in: https://youtu.be/54NwOOAPF48 That's it in terms of rides here in China, but I also captured some aerial views; one in the daytime and one at night in order to show off the area's lighting: As well as a video overview; I should apologise in advance, as I don't think this one is quite as good as the others due to the fact that I could not bait any lucky guests into China in order to get their viewpoint! I tried a number of tactics in order to try and lure people into the area, but none worked, and unfortunately, you cannot drag and drop guests as you could in RCT3: https://youtu.be/mUlCtijNzUA So, that's China! I should point out that the area was open, even though it looks like a ghost town in all of my shots; for some reason, nobody wanted to go into China, no matter what I did, which is also why I had to run all of the rides in testing mode in order to film the ride footage! But aside from that, I really hope you like China, and the next country will be dropping shortly! This time, we're visiting another Asian country...

We meet again, globetrotters, for the 4th country of Worlds of Globala is on the horizon! And for this one, we're jumping across the Atlantic Ocean to an expansive land of liberty; welcome one and all to the USA: Now, there are many different theming routes I considered taking for the USA, however the style I ultimately opted for was a New York City-style theme, with lots of skyscrapers, city theming and landscaping throughout, with quite a few items from the Studios pack coming in handy. Some of the rides take a more central city theme, whereas others have a park-style theme and take on a more general USA theme. In terms of rides, this is the park's largest country, with 7 rides on offer in total. They are as follows: Skyline Screamer, a B&M hyper coaster that is the tallest and fastest coaster in the park. In terms of stats, the ride stands at 250ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 83mph and has 5,537ft of track, and its layout has plenty of airtime and thrills throughout, while also speeding through a bustling city landscape, with various pieces of theming scattered about, huge skyscrapers and effects! In terms of the theming for this ride, I actually got quite heavy inspiration from the Manhattan Express in Las Vegas, with the huge skyscrapers that the ride intertwines its way through: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/FiYrKCwaUBE https://youtu.be/KyxTBemeows Empire State Thriller, an Intamin gyro drop tower. This is the tallest ride in the park; I built a coaster station next to the top of the tower to see how tall it was, and it's 332ft tall! You can also see Sunnyside Diner, a restaurant themed as a diner that sells quite simple American food: Washington's Dipper, a family coaster. This is just meant to be a nice relaxing family ride through some nice landscaping, and in terms of stats, it's 33ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 27mph and has 827ft of track, and it also does 2 laps of this track in total: I also filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/IL_Wr0l1DhU https://youtu.be/Ec08Yk0FDOE Central Park Tornado Chaser, a Zamperla Disk'O Coaster themed around a group of scientists who have noticed strange weather occurrences in New York, and have set up shop in Central Park to investigate: Wagon Wheel, a mini ferris wheel: Liberty Flyers, a flying scooters ride: Great American Auto-Rama, a dodgems ride themed as though you have been invited to test drive some classic American cars: That just about covers everything in terms of area rides, however the area also features the 3rd station of the Globetrotter monorail system as well as the other station for Globala Lake Cruises: There are also numerous relaxing city street areas within this country in order to add to that New York-style vibe, as well as a more upmarket American restaurant named The Skyliner: Another thing that makes the USA unique that I'd like to show you all is that it was the first country for which I really put a focus on nighttime lighting; I focused on this more in the park's later countries: And finally, as with every country I've built, here's an aerial view: As well as a video overview: https://youtu.be/d0I-bLwtpGg So, that's the USA; I really hope you like it! The next country is dropping shortly, and this time, it's something a little more oriental...

I hope you're ready for adventure, globetrotters, because the 3rd country of Worlds of Globala awaits, and it's our first country outside of Europe! So without further ado, may I give you all a very warm welcome to Morocco: Now, this area has almost an adventure-type vibe to it, with a focus on landscaping and buildings like the other areas, however I also used quite a few items from the Adventure pack as well as quite a bit of rockwork in Morocco. In terms of rides, the area contains 4 rides in total, as well as the 2nd station of the park's Globetrotter monorail system. So, without further ado, the area rides are as follows: Black Mamba, an Intamin LSM Launch Coaster with 2 launches, one to 60mph and the other to 80mph. The ride stands at 203ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 80mph on that second launch and has 5,932ft of track, as well a top hat (the point where it hits that maximum 203ft height), and 3 inversions; a vertical loop and 2 zero-g stalls. I was inspired by Taron at Phantasialand in terms of the style of ride I wanted to go for (so in that sense, I've drawn inspiration from 2 Phantasialand rides in one, what with the name!), although I also drew inspiration from Taiga at Linnanmaki in a few places as well, namely the top hat and drawn out zero-g stalls. I must admit I think I may have made the final 2 or 3 elements a touch too intense: I did also film a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/Dzg4jTTi170 https://youtu.be/zB-ijW7MHm0 Moroccan Queen River Expedition, a rapids ride themed around a river rafting expedition through the Moroccan desert. The ride contains a few animatronics, various water effects and a drop of around 30ft: I also filmed a POV: https://youtu.be/4mfEIST07hQ Serpent's Sky School, a Zamperla Air Race themed around an explorer teaching you how to fly a plane: Casablanca Flyers, a kiddie balloon ride themed as a relaxing hot air balloon flight over Morocco: That just about covers it in terms of rides, but as with every area, I've included some more relaxing areas, as well as a restaurant serving Moroccan food named The Marakesh. I also took the usual aerial view of the area: As well as a video overview: https://youtu.be/a_JJ-33A3DQ So, I hope you all like Morocco! The next country will be dropping imminently, and this time, we're headed across the pond...

Greetings once again, globetrotters! Our global expedition together has bought us to the second country of Worlds of Globala, so without further ado, I would like to welcome you all to Spain: Now, this area has many Mediterranean-style buildings of different colours; buildings are far more heavily used in Spain than in Britain. However, the onus on landscaping also remains, with some areas having a bit of a jungle-type feel to them! In terms of rides, Spain has 6 rides on offer, including the park's first 2 roller coasters. The rides in Spain are as follows: La Corrida (Spanish for "The Run" or "The Bullrun"), a GCI wooden coaster. In terms of stats, the ride is 121ft tall, reaches a maximum speed of 52mph and has 3,670ft of track, with various banked turns, drops and moments of airtime throughout. I did base the layout off of Wodan at Europa Park in a sense, in terms of how it starts off with a high element and then stays low-to-the-ground for the rest of the ride. In terms of theme, the ride is themed as though you have been invited to experience a classic Spanish bullrun and have the opportunity to ride on a bull, and I've put various triggered effects and buildings throughout the ride area: Also, have a POV and some cinematic shots that I filmed of the ride: https://youtu.be/qrXquIQWMe0 https://youtu.be/eRFqYIqzLjk El Torito (Spanish for "The Little Bull" or "Bull Junior". Well, something along those lines, anyway.), a smaller GCI wooden coaster targeted towards the younger families. This coaster is 42ft tall, reaches speeds of 35mph and has 1,152ft of track, and it interacts heavily with La Corrida. In terms of theme, it's very similar to that of La Corrida, but obviously aimed at younger guests. I must apologise for the photos of El Torito, as I must admit that it's quite a hard ride to photograph: Again, I filmed a POV and some cinematic shots: https://youtu.be/9SOd8n9mMD0 https://youtu.be/054eS_EGnxM The Spanish Armada, a pirate ship. As the name implies, this ride is themed around the Spanish Armada, and it gave me a good opportunity to use some of the Pirate theming in the game. In the shot below, you can also see El Restaurante Soleado, the area's main restaurant: Costa del Sol Splash Tours, a small log flume. This ride is around 21ft high, and has one drop. It's themed as though you're taking a relaxing boat tour of the Spanish coastline, but in typical theme park fashion, something goes wrong! Things start to look fishy when you see smoke, fire and a wrecked tour boat in front of you, and you later discover that there are sharks living in the water. The sharks then appear and briefly attack, but you are taken to safety in the nick of time: I also filmed a POV: https://youtu.be/55uGB7VVyW4 Sombrero Salsa, a Polyp-style ride. As the name implies, this attraction is themed to the classic Spanish Salsa dance: Flippin' Flamenco, an Intamin Tourbillon themed to another classic Spanish dance, the Flamenco. In this shot, you can also see that I included another secluded alleyway with some facilities in it like I did in Britain; I aimed to include some more relaxing areas as well as places with loads of rides: That just about covers it in terms of rides, but I did also capture an aerial view of the entire area: As well as a video overview: https://youtu.be/PIvLOb-_WPo So, I hope you guys like Spain! The next country on our global expedition will be dropping shortly, and this time, we're venturing outside Europe...

Right then, globetrotters; the first country of Worlds of Globala awaits! And it's one that many on this forum are particularly familiar with; welcome, one and all, to Great Britain: Now, I went for a castle-style architecture with this area, with some Victorian-style buildings as well. In terms of rides, there are 4 in this area, and they are as follows: Royal Tea Party, a teacups ride. This is Britain; there had to be something to do with tea in there somewhere! This is themed as though you're attending a typical British garden party, with lots of landscaping and various types of biscuits and sweets assorted around the queue: Britannia Tours, a car ride. This ride is supposed to be themed as though you are taking a taxi tour past various London landmarks; I'm not sure how accurate they are, but the various theming pieces on the ride are supposed to be the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, The Houses of Parliament and the London Eye (the waterwheel was the closest small theming item I could find to a ferris wheel!). Each theming item also triggers some effects as you drive past: Here's a POV of Britannia Tours: https://youtu.be/cXrj3vWSZXs The next ride is The Rack, a double inverter-style attraction. This is themed as a Medieval torture device: The final ride in the area, and what I'd probably say is the main attraction, is The Tales of Arthuria, a dark water ride similar in style to Pirates of the Caribbean at the Disney parks. Now I must confess that dark rides are not my strong suit in Planet Coaster, so I'm not sure how good this ride is in comparison to other dark rides you've seen, but I did add theming & triggered effects until ride scenery was listed as "Very High" and queue scenery as "100%", so it's clearly good in the game's eyes. The ride has various effects and Medieval theming pieces throughout, and it does also feature a drop, which I think is about 20ft high from memory, but don't quote me on that. Have a few pictures of the building exterior and queue: Here's the Tales of Arthuria POV: https://youtu.be/3QzUrcwiAq8 So, those are the rides in the British area! However, it's not only rides on offer; here's a picture of two of the buildings I installed. Now I must confess; unlike the rest of the area, which I built myself, these are blueprints from Frontier that I thought would fit nicely. The left building holds a Sugary Emporium outlet and the right building holds Britannia Bites, the area's main restaurant: I should point out that one thing I aimed to do in each country was to have it serve that country's native cuisine, so for example, Britannia Bites serves British food. I thought that this would add to the authenticity of the park's theming somewhat. One thing I also wanted to do was to have some more secluded areas in each country, so here's a little alleyway I built that just has a few facilities in it: Finally, have an aerial view of the entire area, as well as a video overview I filmed: https://youtu.be/NIXDv1PAUY8 So that's the first country in our global adventure here at Worlds of Globala! I hope you like my take on Great Britain, and keep your eyes peeled for the next country, which is coming shortly...

Welcome, globetrotters, to the start of our global expedition together! Before setting off on building countries, I started with the most logical starting point for any theme park; the entrance! So, without further ado, may I welcome you all to the park entrance area; Explorer's Plaza: Here's a little close-up view of the entrance to the park: Now, the large structure you see looming over the entrance area is Hotel Globala. I was inspired somewhat by Disneyland Paris in having a hotel above the entrance, but the building itself is actually more inspired by the Alton Towers Hotel. This is actually a functioning hotel, with 94 rooms in total (79 standard, 15 luxury). Standard rooms are currently £30 and luxury rooms are currently £60; people don't seem to be complaining, so I assume that's an OK price, especially considering the hotel has quite a high prestige rating and many perks. The seating areas you see outside and on the roof of the building are unfortunately not accessible to guests; they are just for show. I should probably move on to the attractions now, then! In terms of rides in this area, there is: Explorer's Flight, a Waveswinger with water jets; these were somewhat inspired by the likes of Monkey Swinger at Chessington and Phantasialand's waveswinger: Global Revolution, a carousel: The initial station for Globetrotter, a monorail ride that runs around the entire park and has stations in Morocco, the USA and Japan, as well as right here in Explorer's Plaza. This is held inside the large structure you see at the end of the street. The initial boarding point for Globala Lake Cruises, a boat ride that takes guests across the park's large central lake to the USA and offers views of the different countries: I did also take a photo of what the area looks like from guest level, looking up towards the end of the street: There aren't really that many rides in this area, but it's more intended to ease you into the park, with various different restaurants and facilities. I intentionally built the buildings in the area quite high so as to hide the rest of the park, so there's a lovely (in my opinion) grand reveal once you exit the main street portion of the area: I did also capture a video to show off the area (I apologise in advance, as it's perhaps the most abysmal in-game capture footage I've ever seen, but I hope it shows off the area OK): https://youtu.be/U3S6z3821a8 So, I hope you all enjoyed this little snapshot of the first area of Worlds of Globala! The first country on our global adventure is coming shortly...

Hi all. Sorry if this isn't deserving of its own topic, but as well as being a fan of real-life theme parks, I am also an avid Planet Coaster fan. I've been playing the game since 2017, and while I am often unable to dedicate as much time to it as I'd like, I've built a lot in the game over the years, and I'd like to think I've improved a fair amount as a builder over that time. The park I wanted to show you in this thread is one that I actually finished quite a few months back now, having started it in April 2020 as a lockdown pet project; I finally finished it in August 2021. However, it's easily the park I'm most proud of that I've built in the game, and even though TowersStreet and CoasterForce saw this park as it was being built, I wanted to run some of my work past a fresh set of eyes here on Thorpe Park Mania to see what you guys thought! So to give you a little context before I start showing off the park itself; this park is named Worlds of Globala, and it is a World's Fair-style theme park with 8 different countries on offer; Great Britain, Spain, Morocco, USA, China, Japan, Mexico and Germany. In terms of ride count for the park, it ended up at a total of 46, which includes 11 rollercoasters, 5 dark rides and 4 water rides. I'll show off the areas in the order in which I built them; I started with Explorer's Plaza, the entrance area, the first country I built was Great Britain, and I finished with Germany. I'd like to think that I progressed a fair amount between the start and end of this park, but I'll let you guys be the judge of that! OK then, that's the backstory of this park over and done with; I'll make a separate post in here showing off each area individually, with an explanation of each ride along with some pictures (as well as video in the case of tracked rides), as well as a video overview of the general area. I do apologise in advance for the FPS of some of the videos; apart from the final park overviews I did at the very end, all of the videos were filmed on my old laptop, which did struggle to cope with the park once it got bigger! I really hope you guys like what I created, and watch this space for some posts showing off each area! P.S. Sorry in advance for numerous successive posts as well as a bit of a content dump.

I had a thought; I’m not sure if you guys would agree, but even if this coaster doesn’t end up being a hyper, I reckon the Thorpe hyper is now becoming almost as notorious (for lack of a better word) as a hypothetical ride concept as the Towers woodie was prior to Wicker Man’s construction, so given that Thorpe can technically build higher than Stealth (after some research, they are apparently outside Heathrow’s inner surface), I reckon it will happen eventually, even if not 2024! Given enthusiasts wore Merlin down enough to build a wooden coaster, which they literally said even only a few years prior that they would never do due to them being unmarketable, I’d suggest that a hyper would take far less convincing! My personal thought is that this new coaster could very well be a hyper (my personal prediction prior to the consultation is B&M Hyper that will steal the UK height record), but even if it’s not, I think we will see one eventually…

I don’t know about you guys, but I honestly reckon we could learn a fair amount about Thorpe’s coaster from this consultation. For instance, I’d expect that we’ll at very least discover a broad description of the ride that limits the scope of our guesses down to a much greater degree than it was previously; to use Chessington’s initial consultation in May as an example (given both are Merlin properties, I’d imagine that Merlin would want to keep procedures fairly consistent), the initial consultation they did revealed most of the key info. For instance: It was revealed then that it would be a “family thrill” shuttle coaster with a potential inversion and a 1.4m height restriction. The basic ride layout was also confirmed, as well as a rough idea of scale. The big theming structure and the land with the 2 additional filler rides was also confirmed at the initial consultation. I even remember the winged seating being thrown around by people who’d been to the consultation back then, although I’m unsure if winged seating was expressly confirmed at the initial consultation. The only things the full planning application for Project Amazon a few months later really confirmed that we didn’t already know were the finer statistics (e.g. exact height, track length), the finer details of the land, and that B&M was officially confirmed as the manufacturer (although B&M had been thrown around as a very strong rumour ever since the initial consultation). So from this consultation, I’d imagine we should expect: A broad description of what the ride is and what it does. A manufacturer may or may not be confirmed, but I’d imagine we may be able to take a fair stab based on what the park says about the ride. In terms of what I mean here; if the ride were a hyper coaster, for instance, the park would probably say that they were building a tall out and back coaster with lots of large airtime hills. A basic overview of the layout. Even though they probably won’t delve too much into specifics, they’ll probably show the footprint the ride will take up, the basic layout and the essence of what it does, the rough scale they expect (we expect the ride to be around [x]ft tall with [x] high points). With the site being picked, I’d also imagine that Thorpe may specify what’s being removed in terms of rides, infrastructure, trees etc. We may also get some hint at the theme, such as any theming structures being included. Chessington’s consultation revealed the basic jungle style theme, as well as the big theming structure. Of course, this is all conjecture on my part, but I’d personally say there’s a fair chance that we’ll get these sorts of things (or at least, something similar) revealed on the 10th based on what Chessington’s consultation for Project Amazon was like. Isn’t all this very exciting, though? I’m certainly optimistic that this could be something to really look forward to!

Wow, exciting stuff! So much to think about! Firstly, I’d be very, very surprised if this is a prank. It looks pretty official, and most pranks probably wouldn’t go quite this elaborate; printing out loads of flyers to send to locals and making a website that is a spitting image of Thorpe’s current one would be a huge amount of effort for a simple prank conjured up by a local prankster! This isn’t like that Project Zer0 thing that loads of people (myself included) thought could be teasing a new coaster a few years back, where it was just some cryptic YouTube videos, a random website not affiliated to Thorpe at all and a load of 0s randomly appearing around Thorpe; this looks pretty official, and I think telling residents to look at a consultation website on 10th December if there was nothing to show would lead to some harsh consequences for the perpetrator… Secondly, I think the choice to go for a full-blown consultation is very interesting on Thorpe’s part, and this is a very premature start to planning compared to usual if Thorpe’s next coaster does come in 2024 as rumoured. Could Thorpe possibly be trying to get the locals on side early so that they can build something that might have a tougher time getting through planning… like a hyper, perhaps? I’m certainly optimistic that this could be something to get really excited about myself; my personal bet is a B&M Hyper Coaster, but regardless, I think it’ll be very exciting!

I wouldn't rule out a Vampire retrack; both Colossos at Heide Park and Shaman at Gardaland had like-for-like retracks funded by Merlin, and given that Nemesis is rumoured to be receiving the same treatment within the next few years, I certainly wouldn't put it past Merlin to greenlight this for Vampire, especially given that they can't replace it with anything of equivalent size. Admittedly, Vampire may be a little more challenging given that Arrow no longer exist, but given that Shaman was retracked by CSM (a Dutch steel fabrication company) as opposed to Vekoma, as well as the fact that Vekoma and S&S (both common servicers of Arrow coasters, particularly S&S) build very similar models, I think Merlin would be up for the challenge!

This is an interesting question, but Big One dwarfed the rest of BPB in a similar fashion (if not to a greater extent, given that their next tallest coaster in 1994 was only around 60-70ft tall) when it first opened, and that never caused any issues for the rest of the park's rides. So I guess it raises the question of; why couldn't Thorpe make a hyper work in a similar way to BPB? I actually think that a huge coaster like that would work well. It would give further gravitas to the inevitable "UK's tallest coaster" marketing campaign, and reinforce the record, as well as the ride's status as a park icon, in the eyes of the average visitor. Not to mention that it would grab people's attention immediately without too much heavy lifting, which is surely what Thorpe needs at this point in time?

From what I can tell, Chessington is stuck between a rock and a hard place with Vampire. The ride is aging, and parts are likely getting harder to find, but Kingston Borough Council have also forbidden them from replacing it with anything of equivalent size, so unlike many other parks with Arrow suspended coasters, they can’t just rip it out and bung a new family coaster onto the site. If/when it goes, they really are stuck in regard to replacing it. Personally, I think the ride will either have been refurbished or removed by the end of the decade. As much as it is iconic, it’s also getting on a bit now, and the new coaster in 2023 may well set the wheels in motion for making Vampire a less integral part of Chessington. It’s a tough situation for them to be in…