Your Thorpe Park

[Whatever]

On 1/18/2019 at 8:03 AM, holtjammy16 said:

you'd need new supports which would defeat the whole reason it got a minimal support structure

you'd probably need the radius to be wider to fit the train on the inside of the track

 

I'm pretty certain it couldn't physically happen without tearing down most of the track and changing the launch power etc at which point they might as well start a new coaster from scratch

some of y’all really need to buy a sarcasm detector huh 

[Matt 236]

That’s bonestly such a pity really, because there’s so many things they could clearly do at the park.

 

Like Turn Colossus trains backwards, make Vortex and Rush do a whole 360 and whilst we’re at it, rebuild Phantom Fantasia.

[holtjammy16]

On 1/23/2019 at 8:53 PM, Whatever said:

some of y’all really need to buy a sarcasm detector huh 

I've seen serious posts suggesting worse so you never know huh ?

[ste193]

2020: Loggers leap is replaced with an Intamin water coaster that simulates the former rides layout an indoor drop but with a banked turn and large saw cutter near miss and splash down, a helix drop surrounding a native American totem similair to before and splash down and meandering around to a replica of loggers former double dip drop and returns to the station to make it more appealing in colder weather free waterproof macks are on offer as long as they are returned 

 

A new flat ride replaces slammer and this ride now gives Canada creek more appeal and appeases the loss of Loggers Leap with the princess Diana Memorial plaque remaining

 

2021: Rumba rapids is rethemed god knows it needs an update and general upkeep needs to be the priority parkwide

 

2022: A new coaster and flat ride to open on the island behind swarm giving the park a much needed buzz

 

[Project LC]

I am all for the public waking up to Merlin's dominant position in the market and forcing change on the company but negative press attention won't bring about that change. As people go elsewhere Varneys nonsensical business strategy kicks in where he treats the exercise as damage control and limits spending. 

 

The best way I see the parks getting better is Varney being kicked out and that will not happen while the shareholders and the board support him. What is needed is a a potential successor to be on the board while confidence is destroyed in his leadership. Unfortunately its an unlikely scenario. 

 

A likely change heading our way is an increase in competitors quality and new competition popping up. I think an unexpected consequence of the death of the high street will be the rise of smaller attractions taking advantage of reduced rent in large empty shops and warehouses. A market that Merlin will likely end up being pioneers of. Hopefully it results in improvements to the resorts as they end up competing with new comers, improving smaller parks and even themselves as they try and attract people out of cities. 

[JoshC.]

2 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

It won't be missed in its current state and I doubt any staff working there care enough about a group of people known as customers for us to think it will improve.

Oh don't be so melodramatic.

 

Plenty of the rides will be missed at the very least. And there are plenty of staff there who care.

2 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

If someone can point out 1 new positive thing about the park introduced after 2013 I'd be surprised. Most good points about the park come pre-2013.

1) X:\No Way Out to X retheme

2) Big Top (2016/17 versions)

3) Ghost Train at it's prime was genuinely hailed as a fantastic experience

4) The uniqueness of Swarm backwards (and the sensibility to reverse that decision when the fad died away)

5) IMA Score

 

Again, don't be so melodramatic.

2 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

Luckily for us, there is a GP journalist who had the fortune (for us) to be caught up in October's half term FN failure and will be publishing an article on Merlin's greed (he/she supposedly writes for The Mirror). Soon enough customers will realise just how short changed they've been and very quickly we will see the GP vote with their feet catching up with the enthusiasts and then will we see real pressure on the park to change (or more preferably close down).

Link to guy claiming to have a journalist friend:

https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/thorpe-park-general-discussion.8/page-290

That post was made in October. If it was real and was going to happen, it would have happened by now.

[Stuntman707]

4 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

Luckily for us, there is a GP journalist who had the fortune (for us) to be caught up in October's half term FN failure and will be publishing an article on Merlin's greed (he/she supposedly writes for The Mirror). Soon enough customers will realise just how short changed they've been and very quickly we will see the GP vote with their feet catching up with the enthusiasts and then will we see real pressure on the park to change (or more preferably close down).

Link to guy claiming to have a journalist friend:

https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/thorpe-park-general-discussion.8/page-290

If the journalist felt so strongly about their terrible experience, they wouldn't have taken Thorpe's VIP bribe package and agree to not writing an article until after they had their special treatment from the park. Now FN 2018 is long gone with the only negative articles I can see from some youths fighting in the carpark. Nothing negative about the event itself. The Mirror in fact promoted the event.

[JoshC.]

9 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

They claim to have received a VIP entry. I'm guessing that means they'll receive it in the 2019 season (as they got a reply from the park on the 30th Oct apparently so park closed by then). Obviously they haven't visited the park yet and they didn't reveal when in the year they'll visit the park. Guessing maybe end of 2019/ early 2020 we'll see the article.

Just take a step back and think about what you've said here.

 

It's November 2019, an article appears in the Daily Mirror: "I had a bad day at Thorpe Park over a year, I went back and had another bad day!" Who will actually care? No one

 

OR it'll read "I had a bad day at Thorpe Park over a year ago, I went back as a a VIP and had a good!" Again, who will care? No one

 

Stories like that will be published in the heat of the moment, else they lose all interest and credibility.

[Martin Doyle]

New for 2020

 

The Thorpe Park Dungeon!! - “A Dungeon like no other!”

 

a 20 minute journey through 500 years of Surrey’s dark history!!

 

* a separate £10 ticket is required for this attraction

[Mark9]

17 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

 

Luckily for us, there is a GP journalist who had the fortune (for us) to be caught up in October's half term FN failure and will be publishing an article on Merlin's greed (he/she supposedly writes for The Mirror). Soon enough customers will realise just how short changed they've been and very quickly we will see the GP vote with their feet catching up with the enthusiasts and then will we see real pressure on the park to change (or more preferably close down).

Link to guy claiming to have a journalist friend:

https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/thorpe-park-general-discussion.8/page-290

 

I mean, this is already happening hence why Thorpe has been completely directionless for years. 

[JoshuaA]

My Thorpe Park would be the following..

2020: Merlin goes bankrupt, Paultons and BPB become the main parks in the UK and the Merlin Parks change ownership.

 

 

 

 

[SteveJ]

They look like they can't wait to see a fun and creative theme park industry in the future

 

[Matt A]

Anyone who hopes for Merlin to go bankrupt (which isn't going to happen anytime in the distant future) seems to be missing the fact that whoever would buy up their assets would need to be a company of similar size or larger, and so would likely function in a similar way. It wouldn't suddenly mean that all the parks would see masses of investment, the new company would likely behave in a similar manner to Merlin.

 

People also forget that Merlin's theme parks are not loss-makers, they may make less money than the mid-ways but are not losing money. I would speculate too that they are a strong reason for people to purchase MAPs.

[JoshuaA]

1 hour ago, EpicSmatty said:

Anyone who hopes for Merlin to go bankrupt (which isn't going to happen anytime in the distant future) seems to be missing the fact that whoever would buy up their assets would need to be a company of similar size or larger, and so would likely function in a similar way. It wouldn't suddenly mean that all the parks would see masses of investment, the new company would likely behave in a similar manner to Merlin.

The bankrupt statement was really more of a exaggeration and a joke than anything.. Like Merlin is going to ever go bankrupt? How anyone would take the time to analyse that and respond to like I'm being 100% serious.. If Merlin did go bankrupt they have a million expendable attractions before Thorpe would get the cut. The comment was made because of the current hopeless hole our industry is lying in.. Majority of Merlin Parks are a punchline, you just have to visit Thorpe once to understand that.

 

The main part I was actually being kinda semi-serious was BPB and Paultons becoming more prominent to give Merlin competition and somewhat knock them off owning the Monopoly..

1 hour ago, EpicSmatty said:

People also forget that Merlin's theme parks are not loss-makers, they may make less money than the mid-ways but are not losing money. I would speculate too that they are a strong reason for people to purchase MAPs.

No shi* sherlock. Merlin's parks make money, nobody is debating that. They also are a large reason for people buying MAPS, we know.

[SteveJ]

1 hour ago, EpicSmatty said:

Anyone who hopes for Merlin to go bankrupt (which isn't going to happen anytime in the distant future) seems to be missing the fact that whoever would buy up their assets would need to be a company of similar size or larger, and so would likely function in a similar way.

Id also say that anyone who buys the parks off Merlin (if the resort theme parks are sold as people want them to, even me in the past) would probably only end up the same situation as Merlin. I'd much rather Merlin changed their attitude, change the way the parks are run and how theyre developed, how they market the parks' futures, than for Merlin to sell them off.

Or at least sell off their RTP division is a new company or something, than flog the parks to highest bidders. Look at what happened when Pearson sold Tussauds, it changed hands few more times, saw underwhelming investment and decine, and ended up with Merlin.

[Matt A]

11 minutes ago, Wumbamillio said:

Id also say that anyone who buys the parks off Merlin (if the resort theme parks are sold as people want them to, even me in the past) would probably only end up the same situation as Merlin. I'd much rather Merlin changed their attitude, change the way the parks are run and how theyre developed, how they market the parks' futures, than for Merlin to sell them off.

Or at least sell off their RTP division is a new company or something, than flog the parks to highest bidders. Look at what happened when Pearson sold Tussauds, it changed hands few more times, saw underwhelming investment and decine, and ended up with Merlin.

I agree with you on that one, I feel Merlin needs some sort of incentive to invest more in their parks but I'm not sure what would cause that. I personally don't feel like the other UK theme parks can compete with Merlin's offerings in the near future, maybe distant future if they had large investments, but they're just not on the same scale as say, Alton Towers is. The London Resort park would be a big competitor if it's ever actually built, but until then, who knows?

[Stuntman707]

- Replace Angry Birds Land with Goat Simulator Land.

- End every marketing phrase with "Like no other."

- Half paint another rollercoaster.

- Save money and make no investments in new attractions for 2020.

Whatever you do, don't build a Mack Mega launch coaster to rival the likes of Icon or a Mack Xtreme Spinning coaster like Time Traveller but the first in the UK. ???

Also, close another attraction permanently but don't replace it.

 

[mrmonkey]

Thorpe's almost too far gone for me! there's so much I'd want to scrap and start again lol! So much of it isn't my taste anymore.   Thematically and stylistically I'd go for something between Toverland and Hansa Park,  and re-instate a more Nautical aesthetic 

 

Remodel and extend Rhumba Rapids - using some of land/lakeland area behind it towards the old  treasure island site - It would be super themed and include a drop - and would be the first rapids in the Uk to feature a drop, think infinity falls at Seaworld - but engineered to be not so wet for this British climate!

 

Scrap tidalwave and build a PULSAR (Walibi Belgium) clone in its place with an old victorian waterworks steampunk/industrial theme. Retheme Stealth to a steampunk, rocket/teslar theme

 

Get rid of the 4D theatre and install a themed funhouse in its building aka Hotel Tartuf/Fiasco  

 

Scrap Colossus, walking dead, DBGT and storm surge, samurai, detonator, Angry birds land, jungle escape, Quantum etc etc.

 

  Replace Colossus with a new-gen Vekoma such as Lech coaster! 

 

Re-theme the old Canada Creek area to 'Sherwood forest' re-open loggers leap, create a medieval village, re-theme SAW to a castles and turrets/torture Chamber theme like Fluch Von Novgorod at Hansa Park, also install a next gen steeplechase coaster themed to jousting, as well as a high ropes course themed to Robin hoods hideout etc. 

 

Re-theme Swarm to 'dragon-fly' with a huge thatched station - with a much more 'natural' and whimsical themed area, taking inspiration from Toverlands 'Avalon' area and taking advantage of the lakeside setting!

 

Build an out-and-back B&M hyper-coaster that extends over the bridge and along the the side of the car-park skirting the lake and back - in a similar way Silver star does 

 

Build an RMC at some point! 

 

Finally build that hotel on the lakes edge where the old cement works used to be including a waterpark similar to Plopsaqua 

 

 

[mrmonkey]

3 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

Good idea this but sadly a) The residents and therefore the council won't allow it, b) Building coasters over water is extremely expensive (due to the supports needing to be quite well entrenched in the water) and therefore won't pass Merlin's bean counter and also c) The water is used by an existing business which will no doubt be strongly against having a massive multimillion pound machine blocking its path.

Well I know - but as Everything I'd like to see is so Pie-in-the-sky and unlikely anyway I thought I'd go all out with the fantasy! 

[Lewis.]

OLD TOWN 

 

As much as I’d love “the next big thing” to happen at Thorpe I really feel like adding a substantial family attraction should be their top priority at the moment. So I’m going with the obvious Old Town overhaul… with a lot of the rides telling a story of how Old Town is now run down and neglected due to the logging company closing down at the hands of the corrupt, money grabbing people (cough, cough) running the town and the residents retaliation in trying to save their beloved town by themselves. Notable theming elements would include the CCR train abandoned and derailed somewhere but also lots of flower beds, painted buildings that still look slightly derelict - lots of little things suggesting the residents of Old Town have taken it upon themselves to make the place look nice again. 

 

Loggers Leap: The Legend of Diamond Creek

Long after the logging company closed down the residents of Old Town, facing ruin set off on an adventure to look for the never seen before diamond creek. On the journey you will encounter bears, rogue hunters and a strange cave filled with a mysterious gas that will make you “hallucinate” a musical number featuring animatronic animals, all camp as tits and totally out of place. You eventually end up falling down a “waterfall” into diamond creek itself, the end curves surrounded by rocks and all sorts of colourful diamonds and jewels and whatnot. 

 

Cows & Aliens 

One of those Gerstlauer things - similar to Firechaser Express (or perhaps go to Intamin as I'm assuming Merlin wouldn't consider Gerst these days). Using the wooded area beside loggers and meandering over to the Slammer site along the old train track where the reverse/switch happens and the train launches backwards along through the old train station site. The ride being themed to a cow farm that you guessed it - is home to a lot of alien activity! You could even have it so that the cows and aliens have started making babies (imagine the cute little alien cow babies) - and the residents of Old Town are now selling the “super healthy alien cow milk”, with some sort of weird milkshake parlour (think Shakeaway - lots of crazy options) kind of messed up I know but I’m trying to be original ?

 

 + show Rocky some love, actually make an effort to incorporate the newer kiddie rides into the Old Town theme and also possibly do the same for Samurai. Also add a Vegetarian and Vegan diner, specialising in fake meats. Vegetarianism/Veganism is a massively growing trend at the moment and meat free options have made tons of progress in terms of quality in recent years so it could do very well. 

 

As for the "next big thing", Vekoma gets my vote. Whatever they want to build, give them a maximum height to work with and let them go mad ? 

 

(P.S haven't read this thread in years so sorry of I'm stealing anyone elses ideas - everything I've written to me seems like pretty obvious things to go for so I wouldn't be surprised if someone already has!) 

[ste193]

Old Town wooden coaster

 

Ambush:

 

Starts of in the old saw mill at 50ft climbs a 80ft lifthill to reach 130ft turn back round and then drops 130ft into w steep banked turn against the saw mill that passes a metal mesh viewing area

 

The ride then climbs an enclosed hill of 80ft with chainsaw sounds with spinning saw blades hanging from ceiling as you exit drop tunnel the ride then performs a double helix around the a remake of the loggers totem pole but larger with chanting sounds played

 

Heading back on itself the ride then climbs a large 60ft hill and as tribute performs the loggers style drop then meandering around behind the old mill under bridges to enter the mill used as headchopper effects

 

The ride then travels along side the lift hill performing a series of large bunny hops under and over the queue line bridges for the ride before making another steep banked turn through the woodwork for headchop effect

 

The track then tilts 45 degrease left then right passing a large reaching bear figurine and the right side burned/cut trees and a deer nuzzling a dead deer and then climbs a lift hill that turns into the old mill.

 

Slammer is replaced with a sky fly themed around old american planes to fit with the old town area theme and give another more family friendly thrill ride

[JoshuaA]

21 hours ago, ste193 said:

Slammer is replaced with a sky fly themed around old american planes to fit with the old town area theme and give another more family friendly thrill ride

Have to admit I hope we do get a skyfly at a merlin park sometime soon, those things are bloody good fun!

Re-ridable too, Skyforce is probably my favourite flat ride in the UK. Such a brilliant idea for a flat.

[Matt 236]

Sky Fly is too low capacity IMO unless they built two or an extra large model. After RAp and Fastrack have spoken, you’ll be looking at 3-4 people from the main queue each cycle!

 

The Park just needs an RMC, I know some people say they are overrated and seen as the bees knees in the enthusiast community, but I personally love them! They have airtime, inversions and are just relentless. 

 

I honestly just wish they’d build one either where Loggers/Old Town is/was or on that empty island as it would really add something to the park. 

 

The rest of the place needs ride/investment but also some TLC too. Make the paths, buildings, rides look nice. It’s amazing just how better parks look when paint, clean and jet wash areas. I think they should try and be a mini U.K. version of Cedar Point. But that will never happen!

[Stuntman707]

New Tidal Wave horror IP retheme:

 

 

[ste193]

• Hellevator:

           Indoor tower dark ride 

           Set inside an 100ft Asylum building covered in hippie-esque rainbow patterns, flowers and peace signs etc on the island behind swarm

           Entering through the lobby which is patterned and lasers and subliminal videos of "therapy" on screens, station is the induction hall

 

          Ride travels backwards past cells with large subliminal projections being shown to mannequins in chairs, with hear gear to force eyes open

          Ride then locks into the tower and tilts up to face the ceiling where a hanging body is illuminated and launches up 80ft towards body when huge bloody laughing face is              illuminated on the ceiling around it

          The ride then goes to pitch black with sound effects of laughter and creaking and drops 70ft and tilts front facing to see a man being given electric shock therapy by a                  mad doctor and the ride then launches up and down the tower passing

          Floor 1 - pair of hands shaking bars with huge scary face painted behind

          Floor 2 - huge hypnotic red spiral and chanting

          Floor 3 - red demonic eyes and roars

          Floor 4 - Large cell door where huge arm reaches out of cut out

          Stopping at the top floor with a screen showing man in straight jacket rocking in corner screen flickers and blinks as suddenly full screen face and goes pitch black ride tilts to the ground illuminating a demonic face painted on floor with the ride dropping 70ft going up and down with flashing lights till the ride returns to the floor and tilts to normal and returns to the station

 

         The Canteen-

         A themed restaurant experience where you are served by "inmates" is also located in the building