Beautiful photos, thanks for sharing. The Storm Surge plaza really does look insane now too.

9 hours ago, Marc said:

 

Surely surges station is far to short for that to work? Although haven't been on any others so no idea how they compare!

 

Hmmm might be the main issue, especially given that the boats aren't that easy to get in/out of and general guest reactions to flooded boats (something only Storm Surge seems to have issues with)...

Is it possible Thorpe could add a drain to each boat? Currently I'm surprised Merlin don't market it as the worlds first swimming pool to travel down a water slide.

I think boat drains is a brilliant idea. Can't see it having major issues, like deflating.

 

All I remember on that retched day was three hours of Cheryl Cole queuing up for my pass in the pouring rain, fun times. Didn't even get any rides as I had rehearsals that day as well, making it my worst trip on record (though had a few bad ones last year).

Have I completely lost the plot or did Storm Surge have an indoor station when it was in America?  Also drainage in the boats would be great - not sure how viable that would be though. 

On 1 December 2016 at 9:00 AM, Benin said:

 

Hmmm might be the main issue, especially given that the boats aren't that easy to get in/out of and general guest reactions to flooded boats (something only Storm Surge seems to have issues with)...

That's another issue I have with storm surge - I usually struggle to get in and out of the boats - sometimes I give up and just flop into it in a very unladylike manner

9 minutes ago, Han30 said:

Have I completely lost the plot or did Storm Surge have an indoor station when it was in America?  

Yes it did have one well kind of it was more like a shelter 

Drains probably wouldn't be viable in a raft, a water vacuum would be though!

I didn't know that Storm Surge was originally going to be built over Monks Walk. Naturally the dead objected to such a terrible ride on their burial ground and it was moved infront of X:\NWO.

I'm surprised they didn't just keep it there and market it as the world's first haunted water ride.

https://dailym.ai/2GUiQXj

9 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

I didn't know that Storm Surge was originally going to be built over Monks Walk. Naturally the dead objected to such a terrible ride on their burial ground and it was moved infront of X:\NWO.

I'm surprised they didn't just keep it there and market it as the world's first haunted water ride.

https://dailym.ai/2GUiQXj

It wasn't. It was a PR stunt to gain interest.

Just now, Mattgwise said:

It wasn't. It was a PR stunt to gain interest.

ffs, damn fake news. I have should have known coming from the Daily Mail.

Just now, Stuntman707 said:

ffs, damn fake news. I have should have known coming from the Daily Mail.

? Think you made a typo above! It's the Daily Fail!

So I guess in the second pic, they just edited in a transprent Slash or someone wearing a top hat? lol

1 hour ago, Mattgwise said:

It wasn't. It was a PR stunt to gain interest.

Not completely true  they had looked into it going in the area where Fungle Safari was - not sure why it ended up where it is now.

Just now, Marc said:

Not completely true  they had looked into it going in the area where Fungle Safari was - not sure why it ended up where it is now.

Well OK maybe it wasn't originally where it is now, but still not Monks Walk. 

This is one of those funny stories which has some truth, but was sensationalised by Thorpe to grab attention.

 

There's a lot more detail in this post about the original plan, but this picture summarises it nicely: 

 

These are all of the considered locations. There is one location which is essentially next and parallel to Monks Walk (pretty much the back half of Dead Creek Woods and first half of Blair Witch from last year). Obviously not an ideal location. The one next to it would have involved the removal of the carousel and Mr Monkey, and again wouldn't have been great either. Eventually, the current location was decided upon, to obviously redevelop Octopus Garden (an area which was very much out of place at Thorpe).

 

For some fun bonus info, the park did indeed have South West London Paranormal in (they've visited a few times in the past actually). Jim, who is quoted in the above article, was actually the examiner for my driving test and we spoke about it quite a bit (I also passed my test - woo!). Basically he said there was some stuff detected, some of the stuff he said was obviously used to play along with the story (since there was never any construction in that area, though they did explore the area next to Monks Walk). The group wanted to explore more on different dates, but the park refused, and I don't actually think they've been invited back the the park since..

 

Funnily enough, that was one of the best, far-reaching, pieces of marketing the park have ever done. It was picked up all over the world, with everyone wanting interviews with the park, wanting to know their next steps, etc. It just really captured the attention and imagination of everyone. And all of that for Storm Surge! 

 

It's why I always feel they should capitalise on the local history and mythology behind it more. The nearby Chertsey Abbey opened in 666AD. There's mythology of a headless monk haunting the town and Monks Walk. It practically writes itself for a dark ride or Fright Nights maze.

From a planning perspective, I think those locations were just literally all the locations the ride could physically fit, decided by someone from their desktop and maybe a few measurements on site. Probably to make the case for the only viable location being Octopus Garden, the best of 3 very bad locations.

Like you say I dont think any more was really considered. The PR stunt was totally a PR stunt, probably after somebody told the PR person what Monks Walk was and they threw out a story in 5 mins that went all over the world for some reason.

I think there is no doubt about it that the ride was 100% going where Octopus Gardens used to be, especially with the Amity theme. Infact, the park actually closed the Slippery Serpent ride quite early into the season.

 

The ride is probably located in the least terrible location, but more work could’ve been carried out to perhaps improve the aesthetic appearance. Monks walk was definitely ‘fake news’!

This is one of those funny stories which has some truth, but was sensationalised by Thorpe to grab attention.
 
There's a lot more detail in this post about the original plan, but this picture summarises it nicely: 

 
These are all of the considered locations. There is one location which is essentially next and parallel to Monks Walk (pretty much the back half of Dead Creek Woods and first half of Blair Witch from last year). Obviously not an ideal location. The one next to it would have involved the removal of the carousel and Mr Monkey, and again wouldn't have been great either. Eventually, the current location was decided upon, to obviously redevelop Octopus Garden (an area which was very much out of place at Thorpe).
 
For some fun bonus info, the park did indeed have South West London Paranormal in (they've visited a few times in the past actually). Jim, who is quoted in the above article, was actually the examiner for my driving test and we spoke about it quite a bit (I also passed my test - woo!). Basically he said there was some stuff detected, some of the stuff he said was obviously used to play along with the story (since there was never any construction in that area, though they did explore the area next to Monks Walk). The group wanted to explore more on different dates, but the park refused, and I don't actually think they've been invited back the the park since..
 
Funnily enough, that was one of the best, far-reaching, pieces of marketing the park have ever done. It was picked up all over the world, with everyone wanting interviews with the park, wanting to know their next steps, etc. It just really captured the attention and imagination of everyone. And all of that for Storm Surge! 
 
It's why I always feel they should capitalise on the local history and mythology behind it more. The nearby Chertsey Abbey opened in 666AD. There's mythology of a headless monk haunting the town and Monks Walk. It practically writes itself for a dark ride or Fright Nights maze.

The DBGT team ran around like headless chickens when designing the ride if that counts?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

5 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

I just want to know why you think the park does everything in a rushed manner without a single person putting that much care or thought into it?

You've misinterpreted my post a bit, this is always the nature of planning in its earliest stages, it's not rushed or low effort if its just a desktop study. I was just pointing out that a picture on a map doesn't necessarily mean that much in planning terms. At most they would have visited Monks walk to check the measurement of the site. It was probably only included to show that Octopus Garden was the best out of some very poor locations. It would be an obvious (I hope) nonstarter having Storm Surge placed by Monks Walk.

Although I'm hopefully not as negative as you make out, yes, I think that many things  Thorpe Park have done in recent years have been rushed and amateurish.  I do try to only post about things I've had some perspective on (ie not talking out of my bum!) but am always open to hearing from others if they have a different point of view.

I'm always open to them changing their ways but I've watched Thorpe Park go from one of the best to the dumbest parks in the UK that's for sure. Would love for it to be more professionally run, but I doubt that will happen through Merlin.

Storm Surge remains a beacon of total naffness for the park and I will never forget the hilarious day it opened.

Why would a location on the park's border be worse than Octopus Garden?

 

It's been said it would've been a bad choice to put it there but no reasons as to why (unless I'm missing them somewhere)... Surely it would've been a better option than the middle of the park plopped downness it currently is...

17 minutes ago, Benin said:

Why would a location on the park's border be worse than Octopus Garden?

 

It's been said it would've been a bad choice to put it there but no reasons as to why (unless I'm missing them somewhere)... Surely it would've been a better option than the middle of the park plopped downness it currently is...

One issue is the fact that area is used for access for vehicles and such. Using the area for Fright Nights is okay as it's only temporary (though not ideal). It would have had a big effect on back of house operations. It also would have made the construction of DBGT significantly more difficult for example. So in that sense, it wouldn't have been ideal.

 

I also imagine that issue of having a ride right next to Monks Walk would cause extra issues when people try and enter the park from there (ride areas, etc).

So more it's just less ideal from a back of house perspective. Also a tearing out OG meant there wouldn't be more rides to operate; I imagine OG and Storm Surge were equally labour and staff intensive, making that location more preferable.

Wouldn't thought there'd have been some workarounds there, but it would certainly frustrate me less if it was on the edge of park rather than slap-bang you know?

 

Making DBGT harder to build would've been a benefit too  

2 hours ago, Benin said:

It's been said it would've been a bad choice to put it there but no reasons as to why (unless I'm missing them somewhere)... Surely it would've been a better option than the middle of the park plopped downness it currently is...

It would be behind the bins, access road and maintenance areas, not a great site. It would be mostly hidden from view (well, maybe thats a good thing but not for ridership!)  and that old Miss Hippo space could be put to much better use. Octopus Gardens needed redevelopment. Or if it went the other angle as on the plan, it would ruin views of Inferno which is actually one of the better parts the park.

I'm probably going to get hate for this but I find Storm Surge quite enjoyable. Sure, the queue times aren't great, it's a quick experience, but it's just nice to have a water experience that looks - reasonably - colourful. It could do with more of a splash though. 

I get that appeal, but really does Storm Surge have that? When I think of my rides on it, I remember tarmac, gravel, dirty primary colours, sitting in a puddle... Oh god I'm getting flashbacks