Matt N

Forgive me for continually posting random pictures, but here's an overlay of the two plans, which is probably the clearest look at how the development area has been extended:



Now, time for some speculation:
If this for a layout change, I have an idea for what it could be. And I don't expect it to be anything drastic.

Many people noted that the ride takes a lot of speed into the suspected splash zone area, and that that area could be quite trimmed. And even if not, it does have a lot of speed and doesn't do a lot.
I expect that the short layout is, in part, a creative choice. The ride very much looks designed to be big, fast-paced and hard hitting. Rather than creating a long, drawn out experience, it seems to be a "throw everything at you as quickly as possible" experience, designed so that when you hit the brakes, you're left stunned, and begging for more in a good way. You won't feel short changed, but you'll want to go round again.

So a potential adaptation to the layout would be as follows:



Now forgive the crude drawing, but let me explain what this would achieve:

-A straight section post-splashdown, to include one or two powerful airtime hills.
-A new turnaround, which could be dragged out for some sustained forces, or be quirky / different (like the other turnaround)
-Give more space pre-brake run for another airtime hill, rather than the airtime moment post-turnaround as currently suggested.

My particular thought on the final point is that they could create a 'double down' airtime moment which is similar to Loggers Leap's drop. This would be in the exact same position as Loggers drop, and serve as a reminder/Easter egg/reference/whatever you want to call it to the ride (something that Thorpe and John Burton, the likely Creative Lead of the project, love doing).

This would address the concern which a lot of people had about the ride's ending, whilst keeping in line with the (what I expect to be) feel of the ride. May not be everyone's cup of tea or what people want, but it's what I feel would be most likely. Equally, I think this is a sufficient change to improve the ride.

Obviously, this is all speculation. But I don't see anything more significant than this.

Are changes a-coming?
 
A new document has appeared on a planning application related to Project Exodus, which shows a change in boundary...
 
Before:

After:

 
And to show this more clearly, here's the size of area that's been added, the green line is roughly the old cut off point:

 
The area now includes the Platform 15 route up to the bridge, as well as more parts over water, including the Loggers track over there.
 
 
Now I don't think this necessarily means that the layout could change. However, it's certainly possible.
 
If we look at the original plan, the coaster doesn't hit all the way to the boundary, but does come close. And I believe the boundary plan is just where they will do any sort of work. So it could be just for access during construction, or to create an engineering route.
 
For what it's worth, the document suggests this is due to a development in the design:

 
We won't know exactly what this means until the full plans go in, but for now, there's a slither of evidence to suggest that changes to the layout are possible.

Mingoland whenever I can be bothered to after/if the new coaster opens.
 
That aside. It's going to be a quiet year for parks. Malta unfortunately doesn't have anything interesting. 

I'm having a quieter theme park year with more emphasis on visiting places and finishing off things postponed from the last two years.
 
February - Florida
 
March/April - Disneyland Paris 30 year anniversary trip
 
May - Off to San Francisco and Hawaii with a small trip to Californias Great America planned in.
 
August - Tivoli Gardens followed by a cruise to Norway and Iceland
 
Definitely some Merlin parks and Blackpool thrown in as per. 

Hey guys and girls!
 
I used to be on these forums, years back and somehow drifted away. It says I joined in 2012. I also briefly worked at Thorpe Park in 2005! This all sounds so funny when your typing it up or saying it aloud. 
 
So Hi everyone!!! I didn’t say much on here before, so I don’t expect anyone to remember me, but it would nice to use this again and make some friends with similar interests. 
 
And lastly, I’m thinking of getting an annual pass so I can visit more! 

Hard to know right now, but Blackpool I’ve done. 
 
Merlin lot, Paultons and a return to Blackpool should be on the cards along with other uk parks maybe. 
 
Abroad wise, fingers crossed for Orlando in October and Disneyland Paris in May/June time. 
 
Would like to get to Plopsa for their new ride and maybe some other European perks. Would like to get back to Europa, Efteling and Phantasialand for sure. 

Bit weird to now have two Rocking Tug attractions in one park, but heyho. Investment in that area is good, and some small new rides won't do any harm. I worry about the queues for the Watermania thing, especially as Chessington are pretty thin on the ground with water rides.
 
With a new Pirate Ship and a drop tower last year, investment is going in the right direction.
 
But if we're being truly honest, these investments follow from years of neglect and years of rethemes which had been aimed at fixing that neglect. So there's an air of 'It's about time!' that these things have happened, and I hope that this investment can continue, and the quality is of a good standard.
 
 
It was weird, I visited the park yesterday and walked right through the area these rides are going. Little did I know it would be the last time I'd walk through it, and probably the last time I'd walk through Pirates Cove.
The planning application says construction would start in March and the rides would open by June.

So I'll be doing the UK Merlin quartet and Paultons Park again this year. I'd like to do a bit more UK stuff too (Pleasurewood Hill maybe), but we'll see.
 
As for international stuff, after a break of not going abroad (due to Covid rules and finishing a PhD), this is what I have planned concretely:
 
April
Heide Park and Hansa Park
 
June
Six Flags Great Adventure
Hersheypark
Kings Dominion
Busch Gardens Williamsburg
+a selection (or all) of Six Flags America, Knoebels and Dorney
 
Also planning to return to Phantasialand and finally ride Fly, as well as go back to Plopsaland and Walibi Belgium for their new rides. I'd also like to do the Gardaland/Movieland Italy duo and a couple of parks in Denmark, butttttt those plans are a bit more up in the air at the moment.

Nothing international planned at the moment but expecting a trip to:
Blackpool Pleasure Beach (march) Alton Towers (likely October) Tulleys (October) Thorpe (at some point I'm sure) Also going to sandcastle water park (again on this hen do) if that counts...
 
edit: adding Siam Park to this list  

Has there really not been a post here for over a year, even with Velocicoaster opening. Wow. 
 
So I managed to get over to Florida after a two year delay and part of the trip was to give Universal a bit more time to enjoy. I usually give the whole resort a day to do everything but this time each park got a day. Which I think is more than enough as with good planning you can get on everything you want really easily. 
 
Whilst everyone rushes to Hagrid's and Velocicoaster, we started with Hulk, Spiderman, the Seuss rides, Forbidden Journey and Jurassic Park before 10:30. Which is the ideal order as it covers over half the major stuff before going into the longer waits. Baring in mind, the last time I went, the Dragons had only just stopped duelling so majority is new.
 
So:-
 
New Hulk- Rides better then the previous version and the soundtrack really adds to the ride. I still maintain that the last third of the ride are a complete waste of time but the first two thirds are so snappy, precisely paced and hit after hit that I am more forgiving than I was in 2012.
 
Spiderman is great, still remains a revolution in dark ride design and is a lot of fun.
 
Seuss land is nice.
 
Forbidden Journey has aged really well. It is a lot of fun and now that it doesn't command an hour queue at a minimum, its so much easier to ride and a lot less is hanging on the ride experience to deliver. My fiancé doesn't understand a thing about Harry Potter but appreciated the effects and ride experience.
 
I'm completely biased in saying River Adventure is one of my favourite rides at the resort. I love dinosaur themed attractions, I love Jurassic Park and I love the variation and story telling of this attraction. It's so much fun and the physical precense of the dinosaurs really adds to make this a 10/10 attraction. So there.
 
So to start..
 
Velocicoaster. So this is one of the best rides in the world. I think we all saw this coming but it further refines the successes that Intamin have had with Maverick, Taron and Taiga and I think adding this in a Universal park, one that commands huge attention  in the theme park industry will bring Intamin a lot of success. We got four rides in various rows and it delivers in every seat. It feels like what would happen if Taron were more refined. Thats not to say that I think its better then Phantasialands ride (The jury is still out on that front) but the two are very similar in terms of sensation and pops or airtime litter both rides. Pacing is important to me and this ride has it in droves. The theming is okay, I think the story itself is a bit forgotten the moment you complete the first launch and it just becomes another rollercoaster albeit this has a beautiful location over the lake.
 
Next Hagrid's motorbike thing. We waited an hour each for both of our rides and this ride is okay. It throws every Intamin trick in the book at you and its frankly a miracle that this works. I don't think its the greatest ride in the world because the Harry Potter implementation is a tad too weak for a Hogsmeade ride and frankly a lot of it is just a bit meandering. I admire the ambition if nothing else.
 
So thats IoA for another decade. A great visit.
26F85C4E-CCD9-4EB2-801F-3CFE4F83D57B.heic

The app has high striker's new location updated already on the map, going on the pathway between storm surge and the beach basically in front of Doughnut factory. I though they would of put it next to flying fish either way good its staying.

April - Phantasialand
May - Cedar Point/Kings Island
August - Energylandia/Legendia
October - FLORIDA!!
 
Also be having a few visits to Blackpool as I now have a pass for it and may also try to squeeze in Plopsaland for RTH and Walibi Belgium for Kondaa

Lumber Jump is now in Amity.
https://www.facebook.com/thorpepark/posts/10159696666915867

Depends on the attraction.
 
I always find the best dark rides try to entice you into particular settings. Whether that’s the ballroom in Symbolica, the battle scene in Pirates. Or the likes of attractions such as Rise Of The Resistance or Forbidden Journey, which I’m yet to experience.
 
Screen-based rides can be great when done right and the best ones use scenery, effects and even animatronics in order to achieve this. However they can come across as a cheaper (cost cutting) alternative to classic rides, where cheap screens are plastered over the ride instead of building set pieces. 
 
Hopefully the future of dark rides will involve a combination of screens, set pieces and animatronics. 

The best dark rides combine screens with physical effects and animatronics. I find rides that are screen based only incredibly lazy (even though I know they technically aren't). Whereas something like Forbidden Journey or Rise of the Resistance really appeal to me because they use all areas of technology to create the experience.
 
 

Iron Gwazi is open now for Busch pass holders and opens next month for the public!!
 
This video shows this thing to look absolute nuts!! I can see a lot of Zadra in this. The intensity looks there, the pacing looks there and my lord that death roll looks like its trying to rip you from the seat. Also promising how it slams into the breaks Zadra style.
 
Seriously can not wait to ride this AND Velocicoaster!!

The park have announced 2 new events: Mardi Gras and Carnival. Mardi Gras takes places in May/June, and Carnival in July/August. These accompany Oktoberfest (September) and Fright Nights (October):
 
 
The descriptions for the new events do sound reasonably similar. And with Oktoberfest too, it is 3 events which sound incredibly similar at heart, just dressed with different colours.
 
It's good to see the park diversify and include more events. But hopefully they are sufficiently different and worthwhile in their own right.

New promotional picture.  Still no re-opening date, "summer 2022" is the official line at the moment.
 

Thinking about this made me realise that most (possibly all) of the screen-heavy dark rides I've done have been interactive (ie shooters). And as I enjoy shooters, I've got positive experiences with dark rides with screens.
 
But at the same time, the ones which are better are the ones where the use of screens is justified and is blended in with real world environments.
 
I certainly think that more traditional dark rides can benefit from screens if done correctly. I would be more cautious to experience a dark ride which is screen, blank, screen, blank. 

Things like mouse au chocolate / ninjago as they are interactive its fine, but I wouldnt like a screens that are for non interactive purposes

Much the same with me really - I quite like screens on dark rides, especially when properly combined with physical sets.
 
I do understand people's issue with screens though. Some rides really do rely too heavily on them, and I do sometimes think they can take away from what a dark ride should be. I haven't been on Skull Island, but it looks almost as disappointing as Fast and Furious, which was an absolute joke.
 
When used subtly though they're great - one ride that impressed me was Revenge of the Mummy - that uses physical sets and fire etc, along with subtle screens that are only used briefly to simulate scarab beetles coming out of the cracks in the wall - brilliant.

That is a sound suggestion that makes a lot of sense… I didn’t think of that.

I haven’t ridden the ride yet, I hope to in March. But perhaps it’s for accessibility reasons and to prevent sensory overloads although a flying cinema probably already does that.

Merlin are just trying to bog down their opponents with paperwork to delay them whilst they build their own 2023-2024 attractions. I don't think they expect their attempt at this to be successful however considering the government has taken an interest in it.
 
Matt N's link above is the same as this: https://riderater.co.uk/9543/merlin-calls-for-withdrawal-of-london-resort-plans/

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.