CineramaMax

The Future of Thrills (in the UK ‘cos we’re so bloody far behind)

So less the Future of Thrills, and more the Present of Thrills?

Rocky Express was not a popular ride. It never had a queue. It would very rarely have a full cycle. The only time people really paid any attention to it was when it was rumoured to not be returning.
 
Don't get me wrong, Rocky Express and rides like it are fun and enjoyable. But it simply wasn't popular at Thorpe.
 
Comparing it to Seastorm, a ride which is in a park with less thrill rides and has a completely different target market, doesn't show how popular Rocky is or would be.
 
 
Whilst it may look in immaculate condition, it isn't. The simple fact of the matter is the ride was turned off on the last operating day of 2021 and left untouched. It's had no winter maintenance (which it would have needed) or any engineering checks. And the longer it is left, the worse condition it will get in from a mechanical standpoint. The reason it has been untouched is because there's no need to touch it yet. It's not returning, or being sold or moving on, so they only need to physically remove when it's time to.
 
There certainly feels like a chance the current plans could be rejected. But whatever happens with the roller coaster project, Rocky will not return, for the reasons listed above.
 
If the current Project Exodus plans are rejected, it's likely that the park wouldn't be able to build any coaster there (not impossible, but I don't see it happening). I wouldn't say no to Thorpe building a Maurer spinner (or indeed, any spinner...Mack Xtreme Spinner for example), but it would need a much higher throughput than Spinball at Towers to cope with the demand it would no doubt get.
 
I agree Thorpe could do with more family / family-thrill rides. But a coaster like that at Chessington (a launched wingrider) is very low down on that list for Thorpe imo

Ah yes, the old "posting lyrics from a song used in a scene of a film related to the IP" gimmick, even though the IP is not exactly a well-kept secret at this point...
 
 

PLANS HAVE BEEN SUBMITTED.
 
Some highlights:
-The ride will feature trains of 20; 10 rows of 2. The trains will have lapbars.
*Not too surprising, but nice to know.

-No manufacturer is confirmed; this is not of interest for planning permission, but it is acknowledged it is of interest to roller coaster enthusiasts. Equally, the application just mentions ride comparison are done to a 'similar ride in Europe'

-The ride will reach a maximum speed of around 130km/h (though this is not definite)

-The ride will have a light track colour high up, similar to Stealth
*This was mentioned in the consultation period. I haven't found confirmation of *what* the colour is for the high points, or the low points. This is usually contained within there somewhere.

-The ride's highest points are: 72m, 50m, 48m and 43m
*This puts to bed an initial thought I had that the park might try to go for the world's tallest inversion record.

-Lots of trees will be planted around the station building

-During construction, the lake will be infilled partially. Originally, the supports were meant to go into the lake, but it looks like they will go into a small part of land within the lake. I guess this is a compromise between having a nice looking lake and ease of maintenance.

-The expanded construction area appears to just be for the *full* demolition of Loggers Leap, as opposed to just the bits in the way. So no extended layout.

-Construction should start late this year, and the whole process should last 16 months. So Spring 2024 opening

Now some more photos:


An interesting look at an alternative layout


Trees





In past applications, we have gotten a look at the design of buildings, etc. But I can't find any of that. Usually we'd even get fencing plans, saying the style, height, material of every fence in an application. Again, doesn't seem to be here. Interesting, in a geeky sorta way. All I can say about the station is it has walls and a metal roof (a roof shouldn't be taken for granted). So there's no clarity on theming, style, colours or anything.

Random note: the transfer track is after the station and at the start of the ride, as opposed to at the end of the ride / before the station. Somewhat different.

It seems like Toverland are set to introduce some sort of permanent camping-like accommodation from next year, with a Greek theme, following the success of temporary pop-up options over the past couple of years.
 
https://www.looopings.nl/weblog/19060/Toverland-wil-permanent-verblijfsresort-openen-in-2023.html
 
It doesn't sound like a full hotel, which has long been part of their masterplan, buy definitely a step in the right direction.

Ding dong??......the witch is dead??
 
MAGGIE THATCHER THE RIDE!!
 
Its a sequel to Baron 1898 where she shuts down the Barons mine!!

If it's good enough for Disneyland Paris, then it's good enough for Thorpe Park.

Some new concept art has emerged of a very Joris En De Draak looking dueling woodie.

 

It's true that this and Colossus will be similar, in that they are coasters which will have 'standard' trains and a 'standard' lift hill (assuming, of course, there's no surprises like spinning cars or whatever)
 
I wouldn't be surprised if this is being geared up mid-to-long term as a "like-for-like" Colossus replacement. When Old Town and the island behind Swarm are eventually taken up, you're not left with much room for expansion, so do have to consider removals and replacements, and Colossus would be the first choice in terms of major coasters.
Project Exodus would be a similarly iconic coaster for the park, and similar in terms of maintenance. (If anything, probably easier to maintain, given the problems the park have had with Colossus' supports around the lake)
 
At the same time, it's not hard to imagine Colossus staying for a good while yet. It is *the* coaster which put Thorpe 'on the map'. It's still pretty popular. And who knows, with a retrack, it may become smoother (and be a cheaper alternative than completely ripping it out and building something new).
 
So yeah, it's very 50/50 - I genuinely would not be surprised either way if we see it here or not by the end of the decade.

Last day of the consultation today!

It's loggers, isn't it? 😄

Going back to the name, I hope we see a simple, crude name that milks the height.
 
There's the likes of Fury 325 and Intimidator 305, for example, which have their height included in the name. This exists in part to take the UK height record, something which is very hard to envision being broken any time soon (after all, Big One's record will have stood for 30 years by the time this opens).
 
Something along the lines of Rampage 236, Bolt 236 or whatever. Just a simple noun followed by the height to get it across. It's not something that lends itself to a heavily themed ride, but then, this isn't the type of ride that needs that.
 
 
It's funny, because in the past, I've never liked the ideas of names like that. But I dunno, it just feels like it fits for this.

Sorry to double post, but unsurprisingly, the opening has now been officially pushed back to 2025: I think they’ve got a far better chance of meeting 2025 than 2024, personally; 2 years seemed like a phenomenally short amount of time to build a new park from the ground up, whereas 3 years seems perhaps more achievable, in my opinion.   On a side note, it would appear they’ve altered the concept art a fair bit; the British and French flags from the huge dome buildings are gone, for a start! Could this be the altered concept coming out of the SSSI designation?

Welcome to TPM @CineramaMax!

Hellooo I'm Max! Long time lurker but was once a member as a teenager as 'Coaster XTREME', so it's good to be back with a slightly more mature username xD.
 
I'm a filmmaker/film geek and long time coaster/theme park enthusiast.
 
I've been going to Thorpe Park since I was very young and I run some of the biggest theme park groups on Facebook..