skelly

Appreciate it thankyou for the insight.

Just to chime in on this as I was involved with this project.  The trucks used to deliver the material and the excavation machinery were used to compact the earth as it was filled in.  I seem to remember we handed over the SAW island to the project team pretty much a couple of months after we had finished infilling.  Same with SAW Alive.  For The Swarm, think it was about a year, maybe 2 after infilling completed that they started on construction for that project.  Any ride structures foundations actually go through the infilled material and into the bedrock below.  From memory think the SAW foundations go to 50m

End of season 'I don't give a toss anymore' settling in probably. 

Seems to be a quick fix for now. If the ride stops at the top of the lift hill, there's no guarantee it can reach that increased speed in time.
 
Also think that moving forward it's only something they're doing on test trains (which tbf, is when there's problems).
 
But yes, good news that it's back on 2! I believe today is one of the busiest days of the season, so very much needed!

Nah, the land behind Swarm is fine and ready for a coaster, unless there's something seriously wrong with it.
 
You don't need that long for the land to before you can build on.
 
If we take a look back in 2005, none of the infilled land was present. That includes Saw, Saw Alive path, Swarm, island behind Swarm and the road linking up the old Treasure Island to the Engineering area, plus Hyperia's infilling. 
 
2005:

 
Google Earth allows you to look at 3D models of current buildings too. It's not accurate, but gives a rough look:

 
Fastforward to 2008. The land for Saw was infilled and settled (completed by 2007). The park are starting on Saw Alive pathway, and the two islands.
 
What's noteworthy is that Saw's had been completed and constructed on between 2005-2008, and neither Swarm nor the other island are complete yet.
 
2008:

 
Go again to 2010 (annoying Google Earth doesn't have yearly looks). Saw open, Saw Alive pathway being used. Swarm island complete. Adjacent island almost complete.
 
2010:

 
2012. Swarm opens and Thorpe flops, apparently. Tidied up of Swarm island land. The adjacent island is now completely infilled, even featuring some of Swarm's layout. All is golden.
 
2012:

 
I also haven't mentioned the building of the hotel. We see nothing in 2008, the land almost complete in 2010, and by 2013, the hotel exists.
 
We can also see with Hyperia, some supports were built on reclaimed. Compare 2024 vs 2022.
 
2024:

2022:

 
 
The island behind Swarm has been complete since 2012. Whilst no doubt there is a level of needing the ground to settle, it will be settled by now. If not, there's major integrity issues and the park would either be actively doing work to resolve that, or not be considering the area for rides at all.
 
However, before Swarm's failure, a coaster was planned there for 2015. A coaster was considered there for 2020. The project that ultimately ended up with us getting Hyperia was considered for there. The park have actively considered rides there, and as I understand, it's the front runner location for the next major investment.

I deeply regret this throw away comment 😂
 
For what it’s worth, as someone who can barely run a bath, let alone a theme park, I think Thorpe are handling this really well and they’ve been smashing it this season, and nothing I would do would be any better.
 
However, why they can’t just dust off that spare XNWO train and get it on Hyperia as train 3 is beyond me

Someone told me on Friday that the SRQ took an hour, good luck if intending to ride it.

Tonight - BEST FRIGHT NIGHTS EVER
 
Tomorrow - where did all the actors go?!

Yes it was the same today.  There seemed to be a long pause before any restraints are checked each time. Weird.

rode hyperia on the 11th.
amazing ride. lift hill was very fast, restraints were super comfortable and the drop was out of this world
my favourite part had to be either the drop or the outer bank.
its nice to see hyperia has also had a positive impact as ops were better overall and queue times were lower than a day last year with a similar amount of guests

rode hyperia on the 11th.
amazing ride. lift hill was very fast, restraints were super comfortable and the drop was out of this world
my favourite part had to be either the drop or the outer bank.
its nice to see hyperia has also had a positive impact as ops were better overall and queue times were lower than a day last year with a similar amount of guests

Pacing will alter significantly as testing continues. Firstly the train literally crawled over the crest of the lift hill, in a couple of weeks it will be going significantly quicker over the top as Mack lifts are normally fast. This won’t dramatically alter the speed at the bottom (probably only a couple of mph) but that will mean a significant amount of additional kinetic energy is being carried by the train. Secondly the friction will reduce as the ride beds in and warms up so the speed will be maintained throughout the layout. This will probably mean more airtime but less hang time 

train reveal
 
I think they look very good

Don't worry, I'm not back, just briefly returning to the forum to highlight what I feel is a very important talking point.
 
In a recent government report, Merlin Entertainments have been listed as a company who have not paid minimum wage.  The company failed to pay minimum to 1,100 employees, equating to £43,000.
 
Source: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/over-500-companies-named-for-not-paying-minimum-wage
 
Ride Rater have published a further breakdown of all the available info:
 
https://riderater.co.uk/11561/merlin-entertainments-failed-to-pay-minimum-wage/
 
Flamingo Land are also named here for failing to pay 4 workers the minimum, following a previous report from Blackpool Pleasure Beach who had failed to pay 12 workers the minimum.
 
In 2018, the CEO of Merlin Entertainments took home a salary of £1,493,000.  In contrast, the £43,000 owed to 1,100 employees would have still left £1,450,000 for the CEO.  Staff rely on being paid at least the legal minimum to live off, to pay their bills.  It's shameful that this has been allowed to happen.
 
Source: https://www.erieri.com/executive/salary/nick-varney-8ydw
 
I feel that as enthusiasts/people with an interest in theme parks, we have to pay attention to this and demand better for the staff who make our hobby possible.

Sparkle Project update here, courtesy of Jack Silkstone's Twitter - lovely to see an easter egg of a mini replica of the Swarm station being installed outside Tidal Wave 🤩

Hopefully it will be used to show replays of live streams where YouTubers say a ride name 50,000 times.

Slammer, the track’s going down
Slammer, I’m watching it rise
Slammer, lots of people around
Slammer, Slammer please come home
 
 
 
They’re singing “build it tall”
but there’s no budget left at all
I remember when you flipped here
And all the fun we had those years

A look at the wider Thorpe Park rebrand. Do really love all the patterns, colours and applications!
 
https://www.robyeodesign.com/thorpe-park-rebrand

I can't wait to find out the real reason why rides have broken down then.

Same vibe

Tegridy Farm will be the new land for 2024, confirmed by the manufacturers of the Tidal Wave new flame effect in leaked Whatsapp Message. 

Yes. 😔

I can't believe after all this time we've finally got a coherant response from Parm Pap themself!

The only person who knows what the new logo looks like is @Parm Pap

The twisted outerbank dive is complete!