Matt N

We got the rusty logo in 2009 for Saw, which they brought back several times. Quite fitting to go with the rusting infrastructure!
 
And a sPoOkY white logo for DBGT
 
(pic from https://x.com/dg95official/status/1094600599860072448?s=46 )

Thorpe Park - now in my 30's I am free to travel further and even though its the closest to me, I have had very little appetite to visit for the last 10 years.
 
Hyperia may change that - maybe it will even entice me to not wait another 10 years!

I’m wondering whether the new logo might have some sort of coaster track or something in it.
 
I know it’s a well-worn approach for a theme park logo, but I would argue that coasters are one of Thorpe’s biggest selling points, particularly with the logo change coinciding with the opening of Hyperia.

Thanks to the wonderful Marc for this stunning update...
 
https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=pfbid02dPUmQbbJ1EiocwwYpsLCQHZ6NHCnr9WnKgeCcTEhB9uXzKJcL1UiyFJuvsb5nMVl&id=100063475932653

The park have said there will be a story, to some degree. I imagine that will mostly be communicated by videos / marketed. In terms of at-the-ride theming, I doubt it will be much beyond landscaping, stylising buildings, logos/images and not much else. The plans don't indicate any theming.
 
I don't think the ride needs much theming anyway. As said above, the height will do the talking. The location around the lake will add to the vibe. A good, long soundtrack will help create an atmosphere. Onboard audio hasn't been confirmed or denied yet, but could still happen, and would add a lot. I expect there could be actors during the first few days/weeks around the plaza, just to add a bit more to the area. 
 
In other news, here's a look at what's been built so far in terms of supports/track:
 
If absolutely everything goes to plan, then - according to the original scheme of implementation in the plans - the ride could be ready by mid-March. Obviously there's a lot of variables there, but I think there's a good chance the ride could open at the start of season.
 

The twisted outerbank dive is complete!
 
 
 

Slightly amended plans: 
 
 
In short, the existing building which was set to be retained, refurbished and extended will instead be demolished and rebuilt. This is on advice from the construction team, who believe it will be more efficient.
 
The exterior is also set to be slightly different too.

Some onsite photos:
 
 

Better late than never. Here are more photos of the site.
 

Pretty cool how clearly you can see the inversion from Staines Lane. Just walking to the site now to take some pics. 😁
 

 
 
EDIT: Extra track piece going in 
 

 
This part's gonna be so weird but thrilling 🤩

 
Other piece going in now 
 

 
Slowly but surely
 

 
Final photo before I post the rest. They positioned originally but then took it back down after. Looks like they're securing it into place now. 
 

The twist is going up...
 
https://twitter.com/ThorpeParkMania/status/1717167617008374160?t=YwUfuPXkXvJ28Rx_a1gyiA&s=19

Another one for the Port Aventura club. 
 
It has been six years since my first (and only) visit. With other trip priorities and the park’s countless operational faults, I’m still not overly convinced to return yet. Even with Uncharted. 
 
Oakwood is another one, 8 years so far. More likely to return there. 
 
It’s been almost 5 years since I did Mingo & LWV. The latter I doubt I’ll ever visit again. 

PortAventura.
 
It's been ten years and it would take a lot to get me to go back. 
 
After that it's Magic Mountain, Knotts Berry Farm and Discovery Kingdom which I last went to in 2014. 

Went today.
 
Mandrill is... fine. Rode it twice and its already bouncing along the track which is concerning.
 
The operations are meh. Wasn't especially busy today but I dread to think what the throughput was. Though ops across the park weren't that good so not the only one, but as the brand new addition comes under more strain.
 
The online thing borked up second go as the booking disappeared from the webpage. Fortunately the staff member could check and let us on.
 
As mentioned, the ride itself is fine. Floaty and the launches are fairly punchy. There's no fanfare to the ride kicking off which surprised me. The hangtime in the helix of forever was a bit uncomfortable as expected. 
 
If this hadn't been the first new coaster at Chessie in nearly 2 decades it would probably have a good role within the park. Its currently a very peculiar ride that doesn't really alleviate many of the current problems. 
 
The area doesn't look great. Might improve with the greenery but it just looks incredibly sparse. Though of course the focus feature of the jaguar head is a good element to centre around, but it just doesn't help set the scene much. The bazaar section is probably the best bit but is located in about 5 square foot of the entire area.
 
Didn't do the accompanying flats. 
 
Will pass more thoughts on the park later.

Seems as that I'm not going anywhere else new this year, its my favourite time of year.. the top ten 2023. And my oh my there's a lot of newness out there. 
 
With Nemesis closed it has reached golden status as my 0. 
 
0. Nemesis - I think this will remain my favourite ride of all time. But as it doesn't exist anymore it wouldn't be fair to rank it against other rides.
1. Steel Vengeance, Cedar Point - Naturally moves up to the top spot. A sheer tour de force of an attraction and I'm looking forward to getting back on it next year. It was the second RMC I'd ever done but with 8 more added to the list, I wonder if it's really as good as I remember.
 
2. Ride to Happiness. Plopsaland - A revelation of a rollercoaster and one of the most reridable attractions Mack have ever made. I cannot put into words the sheer joy and excitement each ride gave me. It's ease of getting to from London makes it an easy must do for anyone wanting to ride one of the best rides in the world. 
 
3. Toutatis, Parc Asterix. People absolutely fall head over heels for Intamin and I never really have. Juvelen came close but that was a decade ago. No, it was Toutatis the ride that made me fall for this company. That launch section alone with some of the most aggressive air time out there really impressed me and I wanted more. This year I got to ride its close brother Pantheon and whilst good, the theming and story of Toutatis really pushes it all the way to third.
 
4. Wildcats Revenge, Hershey Park. This was completely out of the blew for me, really unexpected. I did not expect this to be the RMC that I would be placing so high in my top ten. But it was something else. Fantastically designed, well operated, efficient and brilliantly paced. There is not a bad seat on this fantastic ride. 
 
5.  Untamed, Walibi Holland. I don't want to be an RMC obsessed toad, but the reality is that RMC do not make bad rides. And Untamed is another excellent example of a well designed, well paced, breath-taking ride. I need to get back over to ride it as I've done several of similar size now and I'd be interested to see if its as good as I remember.
 
6. Blue Fire, Europa Park. This is a bit of an oddity as there are clearly rides that are better. But for me, an excellent ride is more than the ride experience. Ease of riding, efficiency and operations are equally if not more important. Blue Fire is this ride and to watch it on four trains, running flawlessly is something to behold. Blue Fire is the resurgence of rollercoasters as I think, without its revolutionary train, we would not see the outstanding Intamins, Vekomas and (hopefully) Zamperlas we are seeing today.
 
7. El Toro, Six Flags Great Adventure. I wouldn't say I completely enjoyed El Toro. Some of the roughness in there is borderline unridable. But, and this is a big but, I swear to god El Toro is one of the finest rollercoasters in the world with a pacing that no other wooden coaster can match. It evokes fear in me quite unlike any other in the top ten. It's not a passive experience and fully takes your breathe away. A ride that pushes you to your limits. Its outstanding even if it needs more work done to one of the downward turns.
 
8. Alpengeist, Busch Gardens Williamsburg. A B&M invert that is so massive, so dominant, there was no way I couldn't love it. I loved that sheer speed and scale of Alpengeist and how well paced that first half of the ride is. The second half is trimmed to severely to be as enjoyable but it is an absolutely fantastic old-school B&M Inverter. 
 
9. Batman: Gotham City Escape, Parque Warner Madrid. It's odd to describe this ride and I think it needs to be ridden because it is so unique. I was surprised by how much I like it, but its one of those rides that is full of surprises and variety.
 
10. Helix, Liseberg. A masterclass in building to the terrain with such aggressive air time that it begins to hurt your legs. With the advent of Taron and Intamins far faster launches, its always fun to return to Liseberg and remember just how good the Mack trains are and how great Helix is.
 
The following rides were so close but just not good enough to be in the top ten.
Iron Grawzi, Velocicoaster. Nitro, Twisted Timbers, Dominator, Superman de Acero, Abyssus, Zadra, Hyperion, Katun, Oz'Iris, Wildfire, Wodan

I think I've been sleeping on Hyperia, the more I think about it the more I'm coming round to it potentially being the best ride in the country. Nemesis I'm excited about but I'm concerned they might nerf it with a pre show and I don't think it will be running at the originals standard for a few years.
 
Don't know enough about Drayton's at the point to have any excitement.

Sorry to double post, but I’ve managed to find video confirmation courtesy of an Instagram reel from Dominic Gardner:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyLUqY_NUJG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Interestingly, it looks as though they’re starting with the huge outerbank into an inversion.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/968596764375367/permalink/1032895311278845/?app=fbl
 
Passholders group has more photos, seems they’ve got going fairly quickly.

Exciting! I wonder how much will be up by the end of the season...

Sorry to double post, but I’ve managed to find video confirmation courtesy of an Instagram reel from Dominic Gardner:
https://www.instagram.com/reel/CyLUqY_NUJG/?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA%3D%3D
Interestingly, it looks as though they’re starting with the huge outerbank into an inversion.

Thorpe 100% - but what a year it will be, followed by Alton Towers new Horizon the following season as well.

Completely forgot the Legoland coasters were happening.
 
Excited more for Nemesis because I can get there in a day and not need to stay over. Thorpe is more effort these days. Also Nemesis.

Definitely Hyperia by a large mark. 
 
Not only is it the tallest uk coaster but also the first coaster at Thorpe for 12 years! Plus another Mack hyper. 
 
Also very excited for Nemy’s return though. Plus it’s nice to see Drayton finally get a new coaster and Legoland getting those duelling coasters. 

Officially been revealed as “Hyperia-Find Your Fearless” 
 
It’s starting to seem this is a stylised coaster with a tagline like that.

Rode Ghost Train twice a couple of weeks ago and even though I still don't think it's nearly as bad as people make it out to be, I still do have a fair few gripes with it. Firstly, I'll list some of the changes that I noticed since my first runthrough on opening day:
The actor doing the batching into the preshow gives more of a talk at the start now - you know, your usual health and safety stuff really. Don't touch the actors, turn your phones off, etc. Not a huge fan of it and prefer the more simplistic approach that they had on opening day of the batching person just telling people to "keep moving, keep standing", but understand that this is needed because of morons unable to grasp the fact that you should never touch an actor. Got held in the second preshow space in both runthroughs, and although not a new feature, this is something I didn't get to experience in my first go as we were just all ushered straight through onto the train. I like it, I wish more time was made so that everybody can experience is regardless if there's a delay or not, but again I understand the reasons for this not being the case. The runner in the crypt that reveals the spirit has finally been painted black! Makes the reveal a lot less obvious now... however on my second runthrough of the day, the curtain hiding said spirit was open - so if you knew what to look for, you could literally see it sat there ready to come flying out. But on the other hand, the lighting for this still really is atrocious. It's a total blink-and-you-miss-it moment. I took my friend on it for his first ever runthroughs of it, and I still don't think he noticed it after even our second go to be honest. The lighting either needs a rework, or the effect needs to be totally stripped out and re-looked at over closed season to be more effective. I personally think if they removed the rails that make it fly overhead and perhaps make an even bigger model (think the size of Emily Alton in the final jumpscare in The Curse, maybe even bigger) come out from the wall? Could probably be done via some retractable arm - that way it can be a big jumpscare moment that stays in place for long enough for guests to actually notice it, rather than having it whiz over the top of guests heads and risk them not even seeing it. The audio on the train seemed better, but still needs more work to be genuinely scary in my opinion. It's still far too quiet for any of the jumpscare sound effects to be genuinely impactful - I think the main issue is a real lack of bass. The nun costumes are significantly better now - actual robes and face makeup rather than the god awful Tesco halloween costume junk they were using beforehand. Not sure if it was a quiet day for actors then or if the park have reduced the actors in the attraction (already), but we only had one nun on the train in both our runthroughs that day which does significantly dampen the scare if you're on the wrong side of the train... which we were. Twice. The fake shop ending is still pretty decent and the new costume they're using for it is miles better than the Thorpe Park blue fleece they were using on opening day - although is nowhere near as impactful as the demon from Derren's heyday. Yes, I'm still salty about that. On our first runthrough we also experienced a breakdown on the train after the crypt scene - the actors were doing their best to keep up the breakdown monologue as to not disrupt the experience, but the breakdown lasted long enough that you could notice the audio loop which got a bit awkward after a while.
 
Really got to feel for those actors as they need to be on their A game 110% of the time - if you've got lacklustre actors, the attraction falls completely flat on its face (which, to be honest, is not something we had trouble with. All of the actors did an incredible job - especially the lady called Becca, who's the current face for Fright Nights. She puts all her energy into this attraction and it really pays off).
 
We also had the fake shop finale actor come out about 30 seconds too early on our first runthrough which totally spoiled the scare - they came through the fake door before the lights and projector even turned off, so you could see everything. They then just stood there looking around waiting for the lights to go off so they could do the usual scare thing of just lurching at people from behind the fence. A real shame as it totally ruined the experience for a lot of us when the very last thing of the attraction (which usually provides an amazing scare tbh) falls flat on its face.
 
I really hope they put a little bit more time and energy into Ghost Train over closed season, things I'm longing for are:
Something over the windows to simulate movement - perhaps curtains or LED strip lights like on Sub-Terra's elevator section Fogger in the crypt to absolutely cover the floor in a thick fog to sell the illusion that you're in a crypt Everything else works for what the attraction is to be honest, it just needs tidying up and some effects need enhancing to really sell the complete package.