Thorpe Park 2020

[Kerfuffle]

2 minutes ago, Kyle R said:

I Heard at fright night that there won’t be any new rides for next season but the rapids will be having a major overhaul/rebuild and coming back with its Original name big thunder  river

[Coasterforce]

They really need to sort out Loggers, having that rotting away for another year would be insulting. It literally looks like the drop will collapse. 

[pluk]

Realistically - the entrance needs sorting out properly. I hate what they've done with it, it is a dreadful way to welcome anyone to anywhere let alone a theme park which should be a place of joy and escapism. 

It would kind of be OK if it left you feeling safe but security, it's primary aim being to keep out restricted items, is worse than it was previously as so long as you don't have a bag you saunter on through the middle with no checks at all. Yeah, I'm sure everyone keeps their knives, drugs and firearms in a bag! 

They need to make the entrance welcoming while achieving at least some level of security. I don't really know what the answer is, but the mess we currently have which achieves neither is not it!

 

Inside the park I'd just like it cleaned. So much of it is so grotty. Ride stations and shops especially are filthy. It's not much to ask and should be a basic but there is clearly no system in place to actually clean things.

[LukeP_8]

4 hours ago, pluk said:

Realistically - the entrance needs sorting out properly. I hate what they've done with it, it is a dreadful way to welcome anyone to anywhere let alone a theme park which should be a place of joy and escapism. 

It would kind of be OK if it left you feeling safe but security, it's primary aim being to keep out restricted items, is worse than it was previously as so long as you don't have a bag you saunter on through the middle with no checks at all. Yeah, I'm sure everyone keeps their knives, drugs and firearms in a bag! 

They need to make the entrance welcoming while achieving at least some level of security. I don't really know what the answer is, but the mess we currently have which achieves neither is not it!

 

Inside the park I'd just like it cleaned. So much of it is so grotty. Ride stations and shops especially are filthy. It's not much to ask and should be a basic but there is clearly no system in place to actually clean things.

I agree. Whenever ive been to american theme parks there are metal detectors, and full baggage checks upon entry. This makes the parks far safer and more comforting for families. 

There is no reason Thorpe park shouldnt do the same. Stop people bringing in knives and drugs.

[Kerfuffle]

4 hours ago, pluk said:

Realistically - the entrance needs sorting out properly. I hate what they've done with it, it is a dreadful way to welcome anyone to anywhere let alone a theme park which should be a place of joy and escapism. 

It would kind of be OK if it left you feeling safe but security, it's primary aim being to keep out restricted items, is worse than it was previously as so long as you don't have a bag you saunter on through the middle with no checks at all. Yeah, I'm sure everyone keeps their knives, drugs and firearms in a bag! 

They need to make the entrance welcoming while achieving at least some level of security. I don't really know what the answer is, but the mess we currently have which achieves neither is not it!

 

Inside the park I'd just like it cleaned. So much of it is so grotty. Ride stations and shops especially are filthy. It's not much to ask and should be a basic but there is clearly no system in place to actually clean things.

It's really easy to compare Thorpe with Efteling here for instance. Efteling has that beautiful entrance, along with its music playing right down the pathway leading down to it. I remember feeling so welcomed when I went back in July, which is why just listening to its entrance music never fails to cause goosebumps. Not to mention there's plenty of space to move around. At Thorpe however, you're literally FORCED through security whether you have bags or not (which, additionally, makes the entrance a lot more cramped) and generally it's just a really uncomfortable experience for a place that's claimed to be "happy and light hearted".

[08newmanb]

17 hours ago, Coasterforce said:

They really need to sort out Loggers, having that rotting away for another year would be insulting. It literally looks like the drop will collapse. 

I'D SAY WE FIGHT!

[Stuntman707]

I wish they had a new coaster coming. I don't care what tbh just a normal thrill ride like Inferno or Stealth.

[08newmanb]

1 hour ago, Stuntman707 said:

I wish they had a new coaster coming. I don't care what tbh just a normal thrill ride like Inferno or Stealth.

Even for my own, in such a custom made coaster. Like Vekoma.

[MattyMoo]

2020 SeASoN pReDicTiOns:

 

Slammer remains untouched

Loggers remains untouched

Green light on Stealth remains broken

Exclusive Thorpe only flavour added to the Freestyle machines #worldfirst

[JoshC.]

6 minutes ago, MattyMoo said:

2020 SeASoN pReDicTiOns:

 

Slammer remains untouched

Loggers remains untouched

Green light on Stealth remains broken

Exclusive Thorpe only flavour added to the Freestyle machines #worldfirst (remains untouched)

Fixed that for you

[StevenVig]

8 hours ago, MattyMoo said:

2020 SeASoN pReDicTiOns:

 

Slammer remains untouched

Loggers remains untouched

Green light on Stealth remains broken

Exclusive Thorpe only flavour added to the Freestyle machines #worldfirst

This is actually probably about 98% accurate, let's be honest

[lewisdewar05]

I think we should get a complete retheme of Old Town to Creek Woods 

 

we should also see some artificial grass go in at the Stealth plaza and next to Tidal Wave (front and side)

Colossus/stealth/inferno/rapids repaint 

 

The Walking Dead Living Nightmare Extreme return /CFM xtreme on set dates

 

roaming entertainment

 

return Bouncezilla/ events

 

retheme DBGT ROTD

 

fright nights 2020

Clowns

return all mazes/ re route platform 15 or new ending

roaming actors

new IP maze in I'm a celebrity

 

[JoshuaA]

What I want:

• February Half Term event returns- I remember when Thorpe used to do this and honestly it was super fun. With Brainiac Live and a handful of rides and coasters open it was super cool. 
• Easter Event- Thorpe did this for one year with a scavenger hunt-ish style thing across the park, it would be super fun to see them bring that back. Something light hearted and fun.

I would like the park to also cleanup across the park- especially Inferno's queue and Swarm's station.

 

For Fright Nights get the team who made Creek Freak and let them redesign some of the weaker attractions (basically all of them lol)

 

[Matt 236]

I want them to get an RMC like Untamed, but we all know that’s clearly happening soon.

[JoshuaA]

23 hours ago, Wicker Matt said:

I want them to get an RMC like Untamed, but we all know that’s clearly happening soon.

Is that going next to the B&M Strata?

[Matt 236]

1 hour ago, JoshuaA said:

Is that going next to the B&M Strata?

Yep, in that whole brand new area next to the Top Spin and Aquatrax coaster.

[JoshuaA]

36 minutes ago, Ivsetti said:

Let's be honest here they'd need to flatten the park and restart from scratch to do that. All the roller coasters are too short to be completely enjoyable especially after a lengthy queue, abysmal operations unnaturally inflate queue times anyway for a sub 1-minute ride and the flats are put on the weakest settings and then we look at Thorpe's counterpart parks in Europe and the USA and you just wonder how on earth Merlin can't correlate increased customer dissatisfaction with their subpar offering and actually dish out something worth visiting for. 

I'm going to be perfectly honest, if Thorpe Park wasn't as close to me as it is I'd probably never even consider making a trip there given how expensive it is for said subpar offerings.

Lets read what I said in full context.

On 12/8/2019 at 6:53 PM, JoshuaA said:

For Fright Nights get the team who made Creek Freak and let them redesign some of the weaker attractions (basically all of them lol)

 

I wasn't talking about the park, I was talking about mazes, Though I do disagree with some of the points raised.

40 minutes ago, Ivsetti said:

Let's be honest here they'd need to flatten the park and restart from scratch to do that. All the roller coasters are too short to be completely enjoyable especially after a lengthy queue

I disagree. I feel like Thorpe's coasters are actually the best part! The coasters are great, its just the non coaster-ry stuff that I think ruins the park. Inferno, Stealth, Colossus, Saw, Swarm. These are solid coasters, not anything that would crack Alton's top 3 but a decent lineup of supporting coasters. What lets down Thorpe down is a lack of a headliner and every decision after Swarm being utter bu**ocks.

 

[JoshC.]

11 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

All the roller coasters are too short to be completely enjoyable

Disagree. All things considered, Thorpe's coasters deliver a great thrill for their length. More importantly, I don't think the likes of Colossus, Inferno and Saw would be improved with a longer length. Stealth is designed to be a short and sweet ride, and with its restraints, I don't think a particularly longer ride would add much. The only major coaster that would benefit from being longer is Swarm, but even then, I don't think it's *that* much of an issue.

 

Also, fun fact: Smiler aside, the major coasters at Towers are, on average, the same length as Thorpe's. And their length is rarely complained.

 

10 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

What lets down Thorpe down is a lack of a headliner and every decision after Swarm being utter bu**ocks.

 

I don't think Thorpe lacks a headliner - Stealth fits that role perfectly. The trouble is when we look at big parks across the world which have added major attractions over the past 5 years or so, they've added in fantastic new investments which make use of technology which simply wasn't available 10 years ago. And then these new rides just naturally fit the bill of being a new headliner.

 

So it's not that Thorpe lacks a headliner - for the majority of people who don't know what's out there, they'll still Stealth as a major draw. But when you follow the industry or know it further, you realise that because of the lack of investment for the past few years, the park simply hasn't kept up with modern trends like major parks have.

[Mark9]

12 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

Let's be honest here they'd need to flatten the park and restart from scratch to do that. All the roller coasters are too short to be completely enjoyable especially after a lengthy queue, abysmal operations unnaturally inflate queue times anyway for a sub 1-minute ride and the flats are put on the weakest settings and then we look at Thorpe's counterpart parks in Europe and the USA and you just wonder how on earth Merlin can't correlate increased customer dissatisfaction with their subpar offering and actually dish out something worth visiting for. 

I'm going to be perfectly honest, if Thorpe Park wasn't as close to me as it is I'd probably never even consider making a trip there given how expensive it is for said subpar offerings.

 

Thorpe Park's problems aren't the rides that are already there. If you have Thorpes satisfaction scores, that would be an interesting thing to look at. 😁

[JoshuaA]

8 hours ago, JoshC. said:

I don't think Thorpe lacks a headliner - Stealth fits that role perfectly. The trouble is when we look at big parks across the world which have added major attractions over the past 5 years or so, they've added in fantastic new investments which make use of technology which simply wasn't available 10 years ago. And then these new rides just naturally fit the bill of being a new headliner.

 

So it's not that Thorpe lacks a headliner - for the majority of people who don't know what's out there, they'll still Stealth as a major draw. But when you follow the industry or know it further, you realise that because of the lack of investment for the past few years, the park simply hasn't kept up with modern trends like major parks have.

To the GP yes, Stealth is one of the tallest and fastest in the UK so obviously to them it is a good headliner attraction.

For us enthusiasts though, its nothing more than a decent coaster. Its layout is anything but unique, it has the terrible plastic intamin OTSR, and it just isn't something people will travel to ride.. People travel far to ride the likes of Nemesis and Smiler, Stealth not so much..

 

[Mark9]

6 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

To the GP yes, Stealth is one of the tallest and fastest in the UK so obviously to them it is a good headliner attraction.

 

 

That's all that matters if we're brutally honest.

[Coaster]

I fully agree that Thorpe's coasters are too short and not impressive enough, but it is true that as enthusiasts we have a very different outlook than most visitors.

 

I really rate Nemesis Inferno, it's a ride I have really come to appeciate more in the last few years.  It's intense, forceful and just feels like pure quality from start to finish.

 

Stealth - Too short and not impressive enough to justify it (again, more of an enthusiast thing as it is impressive to most guests).

 

Colossus - 10 loops crammed into a short(ish) layout for the sake of it, trains are horrendous.  Used to have a good presence with all the landscaping, now a concrete mess.

 

Saw - Poor quality ride experience and can be very uncomfortable.  Lots of missing effects, lighting and theming.

 

Swarm - Too short and lumbers around the inversions, doesn't pack a punch.  Theming gone to ruin.

 

Walking Dead - Perfectly good as a family coaster, but unsuitable theme makes it inaccessible to families!

[Glitch]

Gosh enthusiasts are hard to please arn't they. Lucky there in the visitor minority.

[JoshC.]

15 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

To the GP yes, Stealth is one of the tallest and fastest in the UK so obviously to them it is a good headliner attraction.

To 95% of the public (plus the group of enthusiasts who genuinely rate Stealth), it's a good headliner attraction. That's a good thing, no?

15 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

For us enthusiasts though, its nothing more than a decent coaster.

There's plenty of parks out there which don't even have a decent coaster. For Thorpe to have 5 decent coasters (regardless of personal opinion, it's hard to argue that any of Thorpe's major coasters aren't "decent"), that's a bloody good job tbh.

15 hours ago, JoshuaA said:

 

Its layout is anything but unique, it has the terrible plastic intamin OTSR, and it just isn't something people will travel to ride.. People travel far to ride the likes of Nemesis and Smiler, Stealth not so much..

Plenty of people in the past travelled far and wide for Stealth. This comes back to the issue I mentioned in my previous post - the park haven't kept up with the times of the industry to have that modern headliner, nor have they had a world class coaster that has remained timeless (or even just a record breaker). 

8 hours ago, Coaster said:

I fully agree that Thorpe's coasters are too short and not impressive enough, but it is true that as enthusiasts we have a very different outlook than most visitors.

Not impressive enough in what context? Because there's better coasters out there?

[JoshuaA]

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

To 95% of the public (plus the group of enthusiasts who genuinely rate Stealth), it's a good headliner attraction. That's a good thing, no?

I rate Stealth too, its a good coaster. But its not something I would go out my way for, especially when Dragster, Ka, Xcelerator, Red Force, and many other better coasters with a similar layout exist. Its a good coaster but by no means top 10, I would rank it similarly to Oblivion at Alton towers, a good ride but nothing worth shouting about.

 

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

There's plenty of parks out there which don't even have a decent coaster. For Thorpe to have 5 decent coasters (regardless of personal opinion, it's hard to argue that any of Thorpe's major coasters aren't "decent"), that's a bloody good job tbh.

Yeah the lineup is solid, 2 middle of the road B&M's, a decent Intamin launch, a low tier Gerst, and a okay Intamin looper. The last three all have clones..

The lineup isn't bad, but it needs a ICON or a Nemesis to make its lineup truly complete. 5 decent coasters is good, but when you have 5 decent coasters and 3 elite ones a few hours away... I would ride Alton's top 3 over any Thorpe coaster.

1 hour ago, JoshC. said:

Plenty of people in the past travelled far and wide for Stealth. This comes back to the issue I mentioned in my previous post - the park haven't kept up with the times of the industry to have that modern headliner, nor have they had a world class coaster that has remained timeless (or even just a record breaker). 

Sure Tina from tooting might of spent her child maintenance money on getting the train to Chertsey to ride Stealth, but in enthusiast's eyes, its just a smaller version of Ka and Dragster and a much worse version of Xcelerator, Thats the harsh reality. Nemesis and Smiler are rides you can't find anywhere else, some of the best rides in the country (if not the best).

 

You also have the fact of the park not building a coaster since 2012. Smiler and Wickerman have gone to Alton since then, and both coasters have really improved the offering. 

Thorpe's coaster lineup has been stagnant for seven years which has perhaps has highlighted how none of their coasters are anything worth putting in your top 10.