The Walking Dead: The Ride - Speculation and 'Construction'

[Saw-Swarm-Smile]

Yeah, I curious too. If they're getting a ride themed to WD, is it possible that they build the maze into the building so that it's always there, and they don't need to set it up every year? Kinda like Saw Alive, but inside of the same pyramid as the ride? That would be pretty cool and mean they could put some awesome effects in.

[Theme park Fanantic]

I don't think it will be a walk through maze life Saw-Alive as I'm pritty certain that I read somewhere that the rollacoaster structure itself was staying and just being rethemed just like Chessingon kept the Bubbleworks boats and layout but just rethemed the scenery to become Gruffalo themed.

[1729]

living nightmare is already built into the building.  it uses the old indoor queue lines for X/: no way out

my suggestion is they adjust the queues so after the new bag drop you go to the entrance of the maze and when you exit the maze you enter a small cattle pen then the entrance of the coaster part of X

not sure how they would theme the coaster though

 

still have to see. Thats just a educated guess of how it could work from a operations persepctive

 

if someone had a floor plan of X that would work wonders for working out if a route was possible

[Saw-Swarm-Smile]

I don't mean that the attraction will be a maze, I meant that the preexisting maze will get permanently installed along with the new attraction as well. 

[RobPHolt94]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't DBGT have a watchtower in the original plans but didn't actually make it to the finished idea?

 

Just a thought there that this could be somehow linked to the demon inside of DBGT.

[Mitchada04]

It'll be Walking Dead. It's in the project name in the plans- "Thorpe Park Resort/  X:\NWO WD"

 

Plus, they can market it as the worlds first Walking Dead coaster.

[Marc]

1 hour ago, RobPHolt94 said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't DBGT have a watchtower in the original plans but didn't actually make it to the finished idea?

 

Just a thought there that this could be somehow linked to the demon inside of DBGT.

There was some sort of tower your right which didnt make it into the final ride, i think it was meant to be in the middle plaza bit opposite its entrance, but as said above cant see it being related to DBGT.

[RobPHolt94]

Mitch makes a good point, I completely forgot 'WD' is in the project name - Walking Dead it is.

 

Interesting move for the park, I always felt like with Angry Birds Land that Thorpe were finally starting to get to grips with appealing to families, but turning a family attraction into a horror-based IP is peculiar. Mind you, the new family attractions in Old Town more than make up for the lack of family attractions in the park; especially if Loggers Leap is ever to make a return.

[Benin]

WD could mean anything though:

 

Wall Dump

 

Wealth Drain

 

Wrangling Dumbs

 

Wenger Danger

 

W*** Decisions

[RobPHolt94]

WGruffalo Dride

[Benin]

Just realised Wallet Drain would be a better option, oh well...

[TPC]

Walt Disney: The Ride

[Marhelorpe]

Sorry, but Timber Tug and Lumber Jump are not worthy subsititutes for X’s replacement. If Loggers Leap was to reopen the same year as this re-theme of X, this may all be manageable but no indication suggests this to be the case at the moment. So as things currently stand, the lineup for families is likely going to be reduced for 2018 and this is where the problem lies with me.

 

If this Walking Dead theme for X is going to result in a new height/age restriction imposed, what coasters are those between the 1m - 1.4m height bracket going to be left to ride in the park other than Flying Fish? Nothing. At least with Chessington and Alton Towers there is a wide variety of coasters which appeal to this market, as well as older audiences such as Vampire, Dragon’s Fury, Spinball, Runaway Mine Train, Thirteen and hopefully Wicker Man soon.

 

X might have spent the majority of it’s life so far since 1996 with a 1.4m height restriction, but I consider these last 4 years to be the better years of the ride since it finally stopped pretending to be an extreme thrill and started to welcome kids as young as 5 onto it at long last, whilst appealing to the young adults at the same time.

 

If it happens, why would the park want to reverse this decision and theme it on a horror TV show, other than to plaster an IP over it with another hyperbolic “world first” claim? It makes no sense other than for marketing reasons.

[Whatever]

This news has been making the rounds at school at the moment, and most people are annoyed about the change, even TWD fans.

It could be interesting how they incorporate the coaster itself into the attraction - could the maze be the first section, and the ride a form of 'escape' from zombies?

I haven't watched the show; do any fans know of something that would fit?

It is obviously annoying that they're taking an innocent enjoyable ride away and replacing it with some more scary, abandonded crap... maybe the park looking like this is a metaphor for my will to live abandoning me whenever I hear about Thorpe's new attractions. But I'm also just intruiged on how they're gonna pull this off (probably badly tbh).

[Martin Doyle]

1 hour ago, Martin.C said:

 

If it happens, why would the park want to reverse this decision and theme it on a horror TV show, other than to plaster an IP over it with another hyperbolic “world first” claim? It makes no sense other than for marketing reasons.

 

 

I believe this might answer that question!!

[GetEchoes]

I don't get the big deal with this TBH. People are up in arms about the loss of a family friendly ride and then debate about how this would work. I think Thorpe should focus on the older thrill market - yeah there is something to be said for another apocalyptic scare attraction, but just up the road is Chessington which is the young to pre teen market. Thorpe is quite small in relation to Chessington and Alton, so focusing this on thrill I think is the best option, after all they used to be the Nations Thrill Capital. 

 

It wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of the beach in the next few years. 

 

People will always be upset with a ride loss or retheme - but changes always happen, and have to to keep the park interesting to the occasional visitor. Its just a wait and see as to what will happen. I personally think a Walking Dead rollercoaster will be pretty naff. The only thing I can think with X (if my memory serves correctly) is that back in the day when it went backwards it stopped at certain points. There could be a element there that would fit with the safe zone or the walker thing from TWD. I have only been on once since it was X (as it seemed to always be closed when I went) but if the slow/stop sections are there still, that might be where the zombie thing will come in. That and the dark environment with some projections throughout. 

 

It is all about money, as Thorpe Park and Merlin are a business. They need to try and get more people through the gates. Hence all the world first - we all mock it but if attendance is up when they do a world first why wouldn't they??  If The Walking Dead got a good reception at Fright Nights it might be a obvious choice from a business perspective to capitalise on that and try and improve attendance. 

 

Its a Theme Park, but also a business and often thats what drives development - making money! 

[RobPHolt94]

Can't help but agree with QzzB. Thorpe are marketed as the 'Nation's Thrill Capital', so with the exception of Angry Birds Land & parts of Old Town, I'd say Thorpe's target audience is more for adults and thrill seekers than families. Alton seems to be more family-orientated these days with the on-going development of CBeebies Land.

[Marc]

I agree there definitely needs to be a balance between thrills and family - with that said Thorpes most successful years were at a time when it was certainly thrill thrill thrill! (2009/10) 

 

Since then in the Family Ride category we’ve gained Storm Surge, Dodgems, Angry Birds 4D, Timber Tug and Lumber jump, at the same time we’ve lost CCR, Loggers Leap, Carousel so it’s not as if they’ve not been totally ignoring the family market.

 

With X I’d be surprised if it went all the way back to 1.4m a height restriction, but I guess time will tell. Like others I’m quite interested to see how they pull it off, AMC certainly had high standards, the theming in Livingn Nightmare is some of the best we’ve had at the park, so in that respect quite looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

[RobPHolt94]

2 minutes ago, Marc said:

I agree there definitely needs to be a balance between thrills and family - with that said Thorpes most successful years were at a time when it was certainly thrill thrill thrill! (2009/10) 

 

Since then in the Family Ride category we’ve gained Storm Surge, Dodgems, Angry Birds 4D, Timber Tug and Lumber jump, at the same time we’ve lost CCR, Loggers Leap, Carousel so it’s not as if they’ve not been totally ignoring the family market.

 

With X I’d be surprised if it went all the way back to 1.4m a height restriction, but I guess time will tell. Like others I’m quite interested to see how they pull it off, AMC certainly had high standards, the theming in Livingn Nightmare is some of the best we’ve had at the park, so in that respect quite looking forward to seeing what they do with it.

I feel so out of the loop. I've missed the last 2 years of Fright Nights! I need to see this Living Nightmare theming for myself, I hear great things!

[GetEchoes]

1 minute ago, RobPHolt94 said:

I feel so out of the loop. I've missed the last 2 years of Fright Nights! I need to see this Living Nightmare theming for myself, I hear great things!

There are a few POV on YouTube that shows some of it off. Theming was amazing, but think it could of been a bit better with the actors and story - especially the ending. Suppose next year it will get better - look at Platform 15

 

 

[RobPHolt94]

4 minutes ago, qzzb_uk said:

There are a few POV on YouTube that shows some of it off. Theming was amazing, but think it could of been a bit better with the actors and story - especially the ending. Suppose next year it will get better - look at Platform 15

 

 

Looks good, thanks for sharing! What's Oli Sykes doing in the maze though at 3:25?

[JoshuaA]

9 minutes ago, qzzb_uk said:

I think Thorpe should focus on the older thrill market - yeah there is something to be said for another apocalyptic scare attraction, but just up the road is Chessington which is the young to pre teen market. Thorpe is quite small in relation to Chessington and Alton, so focusing this on thrill I think is the best option, after all they used to be the Nations Thrill Capital. 

I'm pretty sure they added IAC and Angry Birds as a pivot back to the family market as the thrill market wasn't bringing in enough people..

I think with all good parks having a balance of rides for both markets is necessary, and having rides that everyone can enjoy is something that every park needs.

 

I think a GCI or a middle of the road type of ride is desperately needed at the park, and without X the family lineup is thinner than ever.

If they wanted a thrilling addition a new flat ride would of been a MUCH better long term investment than this tacky IP..

23 minutes ago, qzzb_uk said:

It is all about money, as Thorpe Park and Merlin are a business. They need to try and get more people through the gates. Hence all the world first - we all mock it but if attendance is up when they do a world first why wouldn't they??

I think these investments like IAC or this next year are good in the short term (for like a year or two) but then after that they collapse, their ridership collapses, and the park overall starts to neglect ride before (like Sub Terrible) the ride closes down and overall it ended up to be a waste of time and money.

 

Heck, even parks like Paulton or Pleasure beach are spending their smaller budgets way wiser than Merlin are right now with the majority of their parks..

Skyforce, Lost Kingdom, or Icon are good examples of a actual good long-term investment that won't fizzle out in a year or two..

 

I think as soon as the new ride hype fades away with this addition next year, I think the ridership will slump horribly.

[Marhelorpe]

22 hours ago, RobPHolt94 said:

I feel so out of the loop. I've missed the last 2 years of Fright Nights! I need to see this Living Nightmare theming for myself, I hear great things!

Don't worry, you didn't miss much. It might look all pretty inside but everything else was dismal, just like I'm a Celeb.

 

If this retheme keeps the same 1m height restriction and no minimum age required, I'll be interested in giving it a chance then. But when you consider the track record where attractions like Sub-Terra, DBGT, Saw and all the mazes require you to be at least 12+, I ain't expecting this to be any different, especially for a ride in the dark.

 

I've always wanted X to get a retheme at some point if it wasn't planned to be demolished and I'm not against change if it means for the better. For instance, I believe Gruffaloworks is miles better than Imperial Leather's Bubbleworks and that was a step in the right direction for Chessington this year as it didn't start turning away their existing target market. 

 

But when it's change for the sake of change which could result in a smaller/narrower audience, that's where a line is drawn. I simply cannot see this being a winner for both the thrill and family markets.

[JoshC.]

2 hours ago, qzzb_uk said:

I don't get the big deal with this TBH. People are up in arms about the loss of a family friendly ride and then debate about how this would work. I think Thorpe should focus on the older thrill market - yeah there is something to be said for another apocalyptic scare attraction, but just up the road is Chessington which is the young to pre teen market. Thorpe is quite small in relation to Chessington and Alton, so focusing this on thrill I think is the best option, after all they used to be the Nations Thrill Capital. 

 

This whole thing takes us back to the position that Thorpe were in 7 or 8 years ago though.  Thorpe still catered for families enough up until 2009/2010, and then solely focused on the thrill / teenager market from then.  It worked at first, but wasn't profitable enough, nor sustainable enough, hence why they reverted back to trying to attract families from 2013/2014 onwards.  By turning X back from a family friendly ride to a scare ride is a complete u-turn on what they've done on the past few years.

 

That's where people are having the problem.  The park have been trying to get the family market back and make things more balanced, yet they've done this, which seems to undo all that.

 

2 hours ago, RobPHolt94 said:

Can't help but agree with QzzB. Thorpe are marketed as the 'Nation's Thrill Capital', so with the exception of Angry Birds Land & parts of Old Town, I'd say Thorpe's target audience is more for adults and thrill seekers than families. Alton seems to be more family-orientated these days with the on-going development of CBeebies Land.

Thorpe have strayed away from the Thrill Capital line over the past 3 or so years, instead opting for the 'Island Like No Other' brand (indeed, 2017 essentially saw that rebrand come into full effect).  It's still very thrill focused, but there's no reason they can't be thrilling and attract families!

[Saw-Swarm-Smile]

3 hours ago, qzzb_uk said:

It wouldn't surprise me if they got rid of the beach in the next few years. 

 

2019 - Amity Beach WD

 

On a serious note, I think that the ride will be a rollercoaster where it's like your in a car, driving away from the zombie apocalypse, exiting one safe zone to go to 'another'. That would make most sense taking in the fact that is it a rollercoaster and the setting. Also, since it's an inside ride, they might be able to do something interesting in terms of setting, which would be rather interesting. Say what you want about the ghost train, at least it had good theming. That train is beautiful and it would be interesting to see if they do some grand set for this too!