Next Roller Coaster

[JoshC.]

1 hour ago, Han30 said:

As for Thorpes next coaster - I’d love to see a woodie on the loggers site - well I’d love to see loggers return but that ain’t going to happen!  And with it being wood they could call it loggers leap and brand it as a worlds first coaster named after a former ride which has been sat neglected for 3 seasons.

I still feel like they should have called Lumber Jump Loggers Leap. Perfect fit for the ride. 

 

Would have been even better if they made a big deal about it and said 'Loggers Leap now open' on social media, with a photo of the logo proudly placed on top of the ride, but not showing said ride.

[Mark9]

What competitors? STOP TALKING BRITAIN DOWN CREEK

[Stuntman707]

Would/have Merlin ever considered buying a custom Mack coaster? That's what I want to know.

[pluk]

It's best to remember that is quite an old document now, while that is an obvious place for future development (and almost certainly will be one day) there are other options beyond what they were thinking when that was drafted. Old town/flume site being one of the most obvious, something incorporating a complete redevelopment of the dome/Neptune's area being another.

 

I'm still thinking wood, although the powers that be may want to protect Wickermans uniqueness for another investment cycle yet, especially as whatever they do next in wood will almost certainly be a better bit if hardwear.

[JoshuaA]

I think with Swarm the near misses and theming make it probably one of the better wing-riders out there, sure its length is awful but other than that it was a great investment IMO.

I think Swarm and X were the last good investments in Thorpe's recent history, everything 2014 present has ranged from awful to meh IMO.

 

For the next ride I want something with no gimmicks, no stupid themes, just a coaster with a good layout that is full of airtime and a theme that is not horror or drab..

Theme wise I would love something colorful, Smiler I think stands out so much due to its brighter colors and more playful tone.

[Martin Doyle]

The next Thorpe Park coaster??

 

What I hope for - an RMC with an original theme.

 

What I expect - a Pinfari wacky worm themed to Insidious!!

[Hethetheth]

Does every post from you need to be essay length? XD

 

Thorpe DID do a world record coaster in Colossus back in 2002, and it did put them on the international map.

 

I also think it's wildly presumptuous to say all positive reviews are people coerced into being positive. I can complain about Thorpe whilst still enjoying a day there. I just have things that bother me about it. 

 

The things that bother me are things like maintenance, weird choices in new experiences and queue management rather than coaster quality.

[JoshC.]

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

The Swarm, just like the park as a whole, compared to the world is very very bad. It is the worst B&M winged coaster on the planet. It's 5 custom elements put together by an amateur which B&M reluctantly decided to smoothen into something passing a ride purely because Thorpe Park had the money. Its drop probably wasn't even designed by Thorpe Park considering how many other rides have it. And it shows. It's the single good element on there. 

The first inversion was designed between Thorpe and B&M. Merlin and B&M still have a good working relationship even now thanks to the work they did together at Towers with Secret Weapons. The reason the wing over drop has been mimicked on most wing coasters is because it looks iconic and makes the best use of the seating arrangement.

 

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

 

And the theming. The theming is also "good". Nice. So ask Joe Public what the ride's about? "Uhhh.....?" IDK? Correct. The only people that know it's meant to be an alien invasion are the ones who've researched this online. So it's not good theming. It's confusing theming.

Personally I think enthusiasts sometimes overstate the importance of a ride's story. You use Swarm as an example, but the exact same could be said of Nemesis at Towers. And if we look further afield, Taron at Phantasialand for example. These rides have stories attached to them, but no one will really know what they are unless you look online. And arguably Swarm does it's storytelling best since it spells the story out in the queue...

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

 

A similar story is seen on Nemesis Inferno - the worst B&M Invert on the planet. And Saw - the most painful Gerstlaeur Eurofighter. Colossus - A below average coaster.

These sorts of hyoerbole (along with your Swarm one) means nothing. I'm guessing you haven't ridden every wing, invert, Eurofighter, etc. for starters. And even if they are the worst examples of their respective types, does it matter that much if they're good rides in their own right?

 

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

This is also important to become an extremely well-known brand that is noted for its excellent operations because soon they will be having a competitor that will threaten all Merlin parks in the UK - The London Resort - opening in a mere decade which will be worth and raking in billions (I.e. truly international level), not the millions that Thorpe Park currently operates at. Then people will really see how short-changed they've been by Merlin parks for the last 2 decades. 

 

Haha, not going to lie, but it still makes me laugh when people think this will happen. It's experienced so many delays, the cost of it keeps rising, and management has changed hands so many times. It's not going to happen.

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

 

Merlin have stated IP's is their future. The next coaster WILL have an IP. It WON'T have a good layout. NO ONE IN THE WORLD that comes to Thorpe Park from outside the UK considers ANY of  Thorpe Park's rollercoasters any good.

Can I have Saturday's lottery numbers please, since you seem to own a crystal ball?

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

 

The Wickerman's layout was going to be worse than it currently was were it not for the expert guidance of John Wardley pulled in at the last minute. Who after not being initially included for the SW8 project probably refused to work for the 2020 coaster. Who is currently the best rollercoaster designer at Merlin. Whose Thorpe Park rides have been consistently deemed average or below by the GP (Colossus and Nemesis Inferno).

John Wardley is retired. Wickerman is a different ball game because Wardley had fought for so long to get a wooden coaster at Towers for so long, and still has contact with many people who work for Merlin. It would have perhaps been more a gesture of courtesy to, in the early planning phase, contact him to say "we're planning a wooden coaster, and we'd love your input". He was contacted too late for him to do anything of note.

 

He wouldn't be involved in any future projects for Thorpe. He's retired. He didn't have as much involvement with Thorpe as he did with Towers. There's no reason for him to be involved.

8 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

I say all this in anticipation so that we as a community don't become disappointed. I look forward to being proven wrong in the future by Thorpe Park and Merlin. I look forward to a stunning world-class coaster in 2020 that will take Thorpe Park off the "nation's thrill capital" map and place it on the international map. I look forward to it, but don't expect it. And neither should any of you.

Thorpe don't plan on being an international park though. None of Merlin's parks do. I don't agree with that - Merlin should absolutely try to make Thorpe more of an international destination given its location. But for whatever reason, they don't want to. So why you'd consider that thought I don't know.

 

Doesn't mean they can't still add high quality additions. Don't see why it needs to be "world-class" though. As long as it's good quality and good fun, does it matter if it's a Top 10 ride or whatever? Not really.

 

Sounds like you're just setting yourself up to be disappointed to be honest.

[Project LC]

The fundamental issue with Thorpe park is that it doesn't get the basics right. It is completely irrelevant if you have a great "brand" attached to a ride if the ride itself isn't fun. Thorpe Park sell fun, end of. No fun, no customers, no money. It is a simple problem that Merlin time and time again blame on external factors. 

 

Merlin's board is obsessed with branding and marketing. Varney is very cautious and branding obsessed. It has resulted in "safe" investments for years with stupid sellable gimmicks and typically an IP attached. The park will continue to make the same mistakes while he is incharge and he needs to go. 

 

The next coaster will likely be amateur layout at best trying to be the scariest ride ever (useless interpretation of survey results to blame for that one) and likely will have an IP attached. My only hope is that this years poor performance has been a wake up call and they change the boring formula but I seriously doubt that is going to happen. 

[Coaster]

I mean, if they're going to insist on constantly referring to their park as "world class" on social media then it does need to be world class.

[Matt 236]

Next Coaster:

 

Hopefully 2020, not 2022 (or later). Thorpe desperately needs a new major attraction to (try and) bring visitor numbers back up amongst a complete review of everything else, such as customer service, landscaping and appearance, direction and image.

 

Sure they had the Ghost Train a couple years ago, however this has not benefitted the park due to it’s poor reliability and not being overall successful. 

 

What I would like their next coaster to be:

1/ RMC Hybrid- Would perfectly fit within the park. However given the minor issues they’ve had, I doubt Merlin will take the risk.

2/ GCI woodie- a bigger Wickerman style ride would be great. But with Wickerman still being fresh for a few years, it may be unsurprising they hold off a woodie at Thorpe for a while (or forever sadly).

3/ B&M Hyper- The one thing Thorpe lacks is airtime. Something like this would resolve that.

 

What they may realistically add:

1/ ‘Taron style’ intamin multi-launch

2/ B&M Dive Coaster 

3/ A hyper (not from B&M)

 

 

[08newmanb]

My suggestion: bring the Knightmare roller coaster from the abandoned Camelot theme park, to the island, and place it, behind Swarm Island.

What would you think of my suggestion? Comment if you like it. You can ask for a retheme if you want to. XD

[Mattgwise]

Simply transporting it and putting it in place would be sufficient enough! Would certainly fit the abandoned, run down theme Merlin/Thorpe love!

[Stuntman707]

16 hours ago, 08newmanb said:

My suggestion: bring the Knightmare roller coaster from the abandoned Camelot theme park, to the island, and place it, behind Swarm Island.

What would you think of my suggestion? Comment if you like it. You can ask for a retheme if you want to. XD

Yes

[JoshuaA]

Theme it X factor and you have yourself a Merlin addition.

[Matt 236]

Let’s not forget:

1/ VR

2/ Pre-show

3/ cattlepens 

4/ shipping containers 

5/ ‘another variation of the Island theme’

6/ Another disaster/abandoned/horror theme/story

 

Boom! 

 

I will see myself out 

[Martin Doyle]

30 minutes ago, Cedar Creek said:

Let’s not forget:

1/ VR

2/ Pre-show

3/ cattlepens 

4/ shipping containers 

5/ ‘another variation of the Island theme’

6/ Another disaster/abandoned/horror theme/story

 

Boom! 

 

I will see myself out 

 

You forgot “brave it backwards”, the green screen merlin photo op and “WORLDS FIRST!!”!! ?

[daboywunda]

I'd love to see a Lech-style Vekoma coaster at Thorpe. It's pretty compact, fast and from reports is smooth.. That would fit quite nicely if we aren't going to see an RMC or GCI...

[08newmanb]

On 12/10/2018 at 9:36 PM, Mattgwise said:

Simply transporting it and putting it in place would be sufficient enough! Would certainly fit the abandoned, run down theme Merlin/Thorpe love!

But what about refurbishing it?

[Hethetheth]

Knightmare has been exposed to the elements for 6 years without maintenance and was already old before reaching Camelot and would require higher maintenance costs compared to most coasters and for these reasons. I'd have thought the cost of deconstructing, transporting, reconstructing and refurbishing a coaster like that also wouldn't be remotely worth it.

 

Even if a brand new coaster costs more in the immediate short term it's going to be less arduous in the long run to maintain, especially compared to a ride that's been unmaintained for 6 years.

[08newmanb]

On 12/27/2018 at 7:45 PM, Hethetheth said:

Knightmare has been exposed to the elements for 6 years without maintenance and was already old before reaching Camelot and would require higher maintenance costs compared to most coasters and for these reasons. I'd have thought the cost of deconstructing, transporting, reconstructing and refurbishing a coaster like that also wouldn't be remotely worth it.

 

Even if a brand new coaster costs more in the immediate short term it's going to be less arduous in the long run to maintain, especially compared to a ride that's been unmaintained for 6 years.

Or how about, build a brand new coaster in style of Knightmare, of course, with the exact layout. Maybe Vekoma, or mack, or intimin, or zierer.

 

Knightmare is 80 feet in height and has no inversions.

You can change the top height or number of inversions, if you want to.

 

What do you think?

[JoshC.]

Build a brand new coaster that isn't Knightmare would be my option.

[Matt 236]

A brand new roller coaster without a ridiculously far-fetched and pointless gimmick would be highly adequate in my books. 

[Stuntman707]

On 12/27/2018 at 7:45 PM, Hethetheth said:

Knightmare has been exposed to the elements for 6 years without maintenance and was already old before reaching Camelot and would require higher maintenance costs compared to most coasters and for these reasons. I'd have thought the cost of deconstructing, transporting, reconstructing and refurbishing a coaster like that also wouldn't be remotely worth it.

 

Even if a brand new coaster costs more in the immediate short term it's going to be less arduous in the long run to maintain, especially compared to a ride that's been unmaintained for 6 years.

We're talking about Merlin who let Nemesis be exposed to the elements at Towers for 21 years before repainting it. I'm sure it would fit right in if Merlin got it back into working order at the minimum.

[Hethetheth]

There's a big difference between not painting it for 21 years and doing no maintenance at all for 6 years. The latter is far more substantial.

 

But why bring it back anyway? Why resurrect an old ride like that which was second hand when it got to Camelot? It's not particularly marketable to anyone other than a theme park enthusiast.