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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

So I visited on Friday and had a good time but was not the best day, mainly because of over-full fastback queues (was not aware of Shark Cabin guests getting free platinum fastback at the time) and a lot of the kids on inset days.

Arrived at 9:30am, stayed until closing and managed Hyper twice (Once with MAP one shot), Saw, Ghost Train & Swarm. Didn't help that we queued 80 mins for Stealth whilst it broke down twice and ended up leaving the queue without riding. I also bought a one shot for Swarm and waited 45 mins in an advertised 50 min queue but I struggle to believe that it would have only been 50 mins, the queue was crawling.

Hoping to be back on an off-peak day soon!
 
Jordanc14 said:
So I visited on Friday and had a good time but was not the best day, mainly because of over-full fastback queues (was not aware of Shark Cabin guests getting free platinum fastback at the time) and a lot of the kids on inset days.

Arrived at 9:30am, stayed until closing and managed Hyper twice (Once with MAP one shot), Saw, Ghost Train & Swarm. Didn't help that we queued 80 mins for Stealth whilst it broke down twice and ended up leaving the queue without riding. I also bought a one shot for Swarm and waited 45 mins in an advertised 50 min queue but I struggle to believe that it would have only been 50 mins, the queue was crawling.

Hoping to be back on an off-peak day soon!
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You can’t complain about fast track users whilst not only using it yourself but purchasing an annual pass that gives you fast track every visit!
 
Mattie boy said:
Worth noting its only selected dates shark offer all day fastrack, otherwise its the generic 1 or 2 hours per stay. Unless its changed
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My main complaint is that it can split up groups if some of the party are in the hotel and the others are not due to lack of availability.

It can happen with RAP if the group exceeds 4 or whatever is booked.

I believe the all day fasttrack deal happened last year at one point around closure dates with the idea of guests having the full day, it's the same as that. Only key difference is they've added Hyperia to it. I'm sure Hyperia wasn't part of it before.

The at least one hour FT is whenever the park is open for two days and is on the second day.
 
We've got a all day deal booked for this year, and had one last year which included hyperia then. ( both September dates )
 
sillyrooster said:
Says a lot about the quality and novelty of hyperia Vs the other attractions if basically all fast track is routed to it.
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Yes, it seems to be the star attraction and what everyone goes to

It's to the point that Stealth has lost it's novelty a bit

Shows that we need more investment and modernisation for Thorpe Park
 
Big new record breaking coaster, usual thing that happens.
Only big queue on a quiet park, massive abuse of queuejump tickets on that ride alone.
Absolutely typical.
Nothing to do with quality, just a new record breaker...that is short on length, very much affecting quality overall.
 
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owenstreet7 said:
Yes, it seems to be the star attraction and what everyone goes to

It's to the point that Stealth has lost it's novelty a bit

Shows that we need more investment and modernisation for Thorpe Park
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Still only the third best coaster at the park for me, behind Stealth then Swarm at the top
 
owenstreet7 said:
Shows that we need more investment and modernisation for Thorpe Park
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Although did it actually work is the trouble? I'm sure I read somewhere that guest attendance had gone down in the year of Hyperia's opening. I'm sure they are making a killing on fastrack, and I do reckon in at some point we will see back facing seats on the back of Hyperia (or spinning ones - if Merlin doesn't want to open an Extreme spinner at any of their parks). My mate the new head of fastrack and add-ons could charge an absolute killing for it! Easy money for the park, I just dread to think how much it'll cost.
 
JAperson said:
Although did it actually work is the trouble? I'm sure I read somewhere that guest attendance had gone down in the year of Hyperia's opening.
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The TEA Global Attractions Attendance report included estimates for Thorpe Park's attendance figures for 2024, which is where that particular claim comes from.

It's important to note, however, that these are estimates / guesses only as Merlin Entertainments do not share their attendance figures with the TEA. They will occasionally include their own figures in planning permission documents, but we haven't seen them included for a few seasons now.
 
There was some uncertainty about whether the TEA report definitively proved that Hyperia was a flop, because Hyperia opened late in the year and then kept breaking down (during busy periods), which may have affected attendance

Hyperia is surely more popular than the old log flume, though, and so a worthy addition to the park?
 
Secret Weapon said:
There was some uncertainty about whether the TEA report definitively proved that Hyperia was a flop, because Hyperia opened late in the year and then kept breaking down (during busy periods), which may have affected attendance

Hyperia is surely more popular than the old log flume, though, and so a worthy addition to the park?
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Could it be possible that the numbers were possibly skewed?

There is surely no way that Hyperia was a flop in Merlin's eyes, quite the opposite in my view.

The factors surely was that it had a start not too dissimilar to that of the Smiler in the first few years.

Nowadays whilst it does have it's downtime, it is no less reliable than Stealth.

I don't think it's fair to compare it to Loggers Leap, of course Hyperia would be incredibly popular but Loggers Leap was also very popular amongst guests. I'd say that pulled more guests than Rumba Rapids did in it's last few years.

That ride had a premature death when it needed refurbishment at the time of Ghost Train flopping and Merlin going through a lot of cost cutting as a result of the Smiler Crash.

I'm sure Hyperia is a overwhelming success considering that it's consistently pulling queues at the park. It might be modest growth in the eyes of Merlin but it definitely isn't a flop.
 
I wonder why The Swarm was considered a flop, when attendance in its opening year wasn't necessarily better than Hyperia during its opening year? (It dipped both times, although The Swarm was open for the entire year)

I heard that part of the reason for closing the log flume was due to a leg injury suffered by a girl as she left the boat, but - as you say - maybe this boarding issue could have been fixed with enough determination
 
Secret Weapon said:
There was some uncertainty about whether the TEA report definitively proved that Hyperia was a flop,
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The only uncertainty are the TEA's numbers, because they don't have attendance data. They were entirely an estimate.
Secret Weapon said:
which may have affected attendance
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It may have done, but we don't know, as we don't have accurate attendance data.
owenstreet7 said:
Could it be possible that the numbers were possibly skewed?
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It's not just possible, it's a certainty, because (as I have now said for the fourth time) the TEA don't have attendance data for Merlin attractions. They were entirely an estimate.
 
Matt N said:
Hyperia was specifically highlighted as a success by Merlin in their 2024 financial report, for what it’s worth.
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Maybe part of the issue is that the park had experienced rapid growth throughout the 2000s and so they expected it to continue indefinitely (until it came screeching to a halt in 2012, which is why they blamed it all on The Swarm), whereas the expectations in 2024 were perhaps a little more sober and realistic because it had been 12 years since their last coaster, and - in the meantime - they had endured such setbacks as the Ghost Train, post-2015 Merlin cuts, Brexit, COVID, and general poor performance of their international parks?

TL;DR : Maybe Merlin's definition of success was lower in 2024 than it was in 2012
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
The only uncertainty are the TEA's numbers, because they don't have attendance data. They were entirely an estimate.

It may have done, but we don't know, as we don't have accurate attendance data.

It's not just possible, it's a certainty, because (as I have now said for the fourth time) the TEA don't have attendance data for Merlin attractions. They were entirely an estimate.
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I'm going to take my chance and ask my now yearly question, do we actually know the TEA figures are estimates? Every year this is stated, but every time I've ever asked how we know this, now one seems to know.

I'd be happy either way, as all attendance figures are skewed one way or another. But I'd really love to know how we know that Merlin don't supply any information to TEA.
 
Based on my data (#VIBES from 15-20 late afternoon visits in each of the last two years, 95% in the Hyperia queue) - 2024 did feel fairly quiet for a new coaster year. Had multiple days where it had a 5-10 minute queue, even in the peak of summer. I think a lot of people didn't want to risk a visit with the various issues Hyperia had early on.

2025 was a completely different story, the park was consistently busier and the Hyperia queue was a nightmare. Those 5-10 minute waits would be at least half an hour on a good day. The whole queue was full for a lot of summer days and Fright Nights was just a write off.

As well as general reliability I guess it took a year or so for word of mouth to spread, and return visits from the previous year because airtime = good.
 
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