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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

The optimist in me is a bit disappointed with that post, Matt - Merlin certainly could afford it if they wanted to. They are throwing entire Legoland theme parks up around the world - they can totally afford a huge hyper, and change Thorpe’s future with further investment afterwards if they really want to.

The realist in me though agrees with you.
I think we need to manage expectations slightly, as party-pooper as that sounds.
A world class B&M hyper at Thorpe (next to bloody Saw), going up against the best in the world, does seem a little far fetched doesn’t it, and you’re absolutely right about the UK’s strict planning laws and lack of space being an obstacle US parks don’t have. Also I can’t even begin to imagine how expensive it would be to build a really long coaster now - no doubt Merlin will be trying to keep track length as short as possible to keep the costs down, which to be honest is fair enough.

Don’t get my wrong - I think this will be fab! I just agree that we need to remember there are limitations here that other parks don’t have.
It will be extremely interesting to see what this turns out to be!

My money would still be on a hyper I think, and it being the UK’s tallest.
I’d also bet there will be some sort of theme ‘twist’ making it “world class”, but that’s not really a concern to me - weather it’s world class or not is subjective… they aren’t going to say “meh it’ll be pretty good for the uk, but not as good as other parks” - they’ll always over state it!

An RMC would certainly be easier to market as world class however, and it wouldn’t have to be as long or as tall… And that would fit nicely in the woods!

This could be anything though couldn’t it. Maybe even a family coaster out of left field!

As long as we don’t end up with another low capacity, single-train shuttle coaster like Chessington, it’s a new coaster at Thorpe, which can only be a good thing!
I think this is going to be really, really good for Thorpe!
 
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What the hell do I know anyway. "World Class" is subjective, you could say that just having a B&M hyper is world class if you like. The very phrase is just marketing flim flam.

I just think it's important to not get carried away with what they claim - whatever this thing turns out to be. Could be any type of coaster, even if it was a second hand Pinfari they'll be telling everyone how awesome they want you to think it is.
 
Matt.GC said:
What the hell do I know anyway. "World Class" is subjective, you could say that just having a B&M hyper is world class if you like. The very phrase is just marketing flim flam.

I just think it's important to not get carried away with what they claim - whatever this thing turns out to be. Could be any type of coaster, even if it was a second hand Pinfari they'll be telling everyone how awesome they want you to think it is.
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This is true. Merlin are experts at turd polishing.

I certainly wouldn't be disappointed with a B&M Hyper but I'm still hopeful for a massive RMC.

Wickerman has proven to Merlin that wood is good and a hybrid coaster would give them a lot to play about with from a marketing perspective.
 
RicketyCricket said:
This is true. Merlin are experts at turd polishing.

I certainly wouldn't be disappointed with a B&M Hyper but I'm still hopeful for a massive RMC.

Wickerman has proven to Merlin that wood is good and a hybrid coaster would give them a lot to play about with from a marketing perspective.
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Well indeed the only reasons we're talking so much about a B&M hyper is because we know that they can't build one at Chessington or Towers, so if the UK is ever to have one then Thorpe is the only place realistically. Also that "reliable source" YouTube video - you know the one that suggested a (I'm chortling to myself typing this) cross valley coaster at Towers?

Wouldn't surprise me to see something from B&M but would they be missing a trick with it? Wickerman has gone down well so why not a woodie or hybrid? With a B&M hyper, the GP likely won't see it like we do. Will a potential height record be enough or will it just be seen as a tall steel coaster? With wood on the other hand they have something that truly sticks out at Thorpe and lends itself to all sorts of themes. They can even build one with a lower height restriction if they want to. Plenty of space there for a truly great airtime filled woodie.
 
Although wouldn’t wood take up more space than steel. A steel coaster would be much easier to build on some of the thin bits of land the railway used to run on towards the farm and over water would be far more suited to steel.
 
Matt.GC said:
Wouldn't surprise me to see something from B&M but would they be missing a trick with it? Wickerman has gone down well so why not a woodie or hybrid? With a B&M hyper, the GP likely won't see it like we do. Will a potential height record be enough or will it just be seen as a tall steel coaster? With wood on the other hand they have something that truly sticks out at Thorpe and lends itself to all sorts of themes. They can even build one with a lower height restriction if they want to. Plenty of space there for a truly great airtime filled woodie.
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I think a potential height record would be enough, personally. History suggests that records, even national ones, do really sell in this country, and I think height is one that could be very marketable, personally.

Also, why is it that people find a cross valley coaster at Towers such a funny suggestion? I know that the park has considered using the valley at least twice (once in 2003, environmental reports suggest that SW8 was originally planned to use the valley pre-Smiler incident, and the park also put a “Cross Valley Ride” in the 2010-2019 MTDP), so would it really be the most obscene idea for them to at least consider it again?
 
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Certainly in the UK, 'world class' is just a phrase they can put out there that 99% of the public won't have any reason to disagree with. I've been riding coasters since I was a teenager and even I have put very little thought into what constitutes a world class ride.

I agree that they could really milk a hybrid in the marketing- knowing Merlin they would probably imply that it's something incredibly unique and unlike anything else in the world, knowing that most of the public won't know that's not the case.
 
Matt N said:
I think a potential height record would be enough, personally. History suggests that records, even national ones, do really sell in this country, and I think height is one that could be very marketable, personally.
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I have to agree: records just seem to work and grab people's attention in this country. Something like the height record hasn't been beaten since the big one and a good amount of the public are well aware of this. Most of them know that the big one is the tallest in the UK and something beating that would be seen as incredible and something you've got to try.
I personally think that if Thorpe did take the height record it would be a big success for the park and increase attendance by a decent amount.
 
Although I think it's very unlikely we'll get an RMC, I wouldn't be too hung up on the height record. An RMC would also be the UK's first hybrid AND first inverting woodie and I think it would be far more interesting from a visual stand point to the general public and practically themes itself. I just think it would capture the publics imagination much more than just a big tall lift hill.
 
Matt N said:
I think a potential height record would be enough, personally. History suggests that records, even national ones, do really sell in this country, and I think height is one that could be very marketable, personally.

Also, why is it that people find a cross valley coaster at Towers such a funny suggestion? I know that the park has considered using the valley at least twice (once in 2003, environmental reports suggest that SW8 was originally planned to use the valley pre-Smiler incident, and the park also put a “Cross Valley Ride” in the 2010-2019 MTDP), so would it really be the most obscene idea for them to at least consider it again?
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my thoughts entirely

the valley gives AT an opportunity to go for height (well drops actually) without the need for height. I think a hyper is get more likely st AT than Thorpe

that said, it would shock me if we saw hypers at both parks. They will be completely different experiences
 
Jb85 said:
my thoughts entirely

the valley gives AT an opportunity to go for height (well drops actually) without the need for height. I think a hyper is get more likely st AT than Thorpe

that said, it would shock me if we saw hypers at both parks. They will be completely different experiences
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There is definatley the potential to have the hyper model at both parks as they would be so incredibly different. Many parks have got two B&M hyper models that do different things although they are actually similar that what Thorpe and Alton would build. I'm still convinced that Merlin has done a multi-ride deal with B&M and I've been saying it for a long time. It makes perfect sense that both parks would add a B&M as they are brilliant rides for both the rider and the park.
Do I think we'll get hypers at both parks? Well I don't know but I think we'll definitely see B&M at both parks perhaps whatever the surf coaster is could work at Alton. We know it's a custom launch coaster so some form of launch into the valley would be really cool but I think it's all a waiting game. But I am definitely looking forward to seeing how this all unfolds as it all seems to be happening quite quickly. Although I think it'll be some time before we see what might happen at Alton as I think it's looking increasingly likely we won't see a big new ride there for a while with a nemesis re-track in between.
 
Jb85 said:
@JAperson hke do we know AT’s will be a custom launch
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I don't I was suggesting that I believe merlin have done a deal with B&M I'm just not sure Alton Towers will get a hyper (even though I'd like to see it and there's definitely the potential for it). There is a B&M concept, which we know little about, called the surf coaster. The bit of information we do know is it's a custom launch coaster from B&M and I was merely suggesting that something like that is quite possible at Alton towers.
Jb85 said:
I actually think we’ll see the AT coaster in 2025 - the year after Thorpe and Chessington
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That's possible although if that's the case I'm not sure when a nemesis re-track would happen. Of course we don't even know if it will but I personally suspect it'll be part of the deal with B&M. I suppose we could see it at the same time as Thorpe's coaster in 2024 and then they open SW9 in 2025 which would be a double smash hit for the park but I'm not sure Merlin would be up for pushing that much money into Alton at once.
 
A re-track in 2023 COULD happen but then they'd have to make sure they got it started early enough to be back open in time for the big 30th anniversary the following year in 2024.

New coaster in 2025 so soon after a huge Nemmy re-track would be awesome but maybe slightly ambitious.
 
Benjsh said:
A re-track in 2023 COULD happen but then they'd have to make sure they got it started early enough to be back open in time for the big 30th anniversary the following year in 2024.

New coaster in 2025 so soon after a huge Nemmy re-track would be awesome but maybe slightly ambitious.
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I personally think Nemmy will close next season for this to happen
 
On the subject of Thorpe I think we can be quite certain this new coaster will be in 2024. Obviously 2022 is too close and I don't think they'd want to take away from Chessington in 2023 so I think we can be certain it's 2024 for Thorpe. So in that regard they really are starting the public consultation quite early which I think as has already been stated is probably due to the sort of ride they are building which will likely effect local residents.

I wonder what information we'll actually find out on the 10th, I don't think it'll be like Chessington where they have basically revealed most of the plans and then had a further consultation revealing the rest. I think they'll want to keep as much secret as possible and I think we'll get fairly minimal information on the 10th with possibility more coming throughout 2022.
 
JAperson said:
On the subject of Thorpe I think we can be quite certain this new coaster will be in 2024. Obviously 2022 is too close and I don't think they'd want to take away from Chessington in 2023 so I think we can be certain it's 2024 for Thorpe. So in that regard they really are starting the public consultation quite early which I think as has already been stated is probably due to the sort of ride they are building which will likely effect local residents.

I wonder what information we'll actually find out on the 10th, I don't think it'll be like Chessington where they have basically revealed most of the plans and then had a further consultation revealing the rest. I think they'll want to keep as much secret as possible and I think we'll get fairly minimal information on the 10th with possibility more coming throughout 2022.
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I get why you’d think that, but I think the thing to remember is that this is not a PR campaign, but rather a consultation designed for local residents to air their views and see what is being built.

To a point, I’d imagine they’ll have to be fairly explicit about what exactly they’re building; while Merlin may be keen on secrecy from a marketing standpoint, and the average enthusiast might like a bit of secrecy and hype-building, I wouldn’t think that 78-year-old Barbara from Thorpe village would be too thrilled if Merlin/Thorpe suddenly sprung on local residents that they were building some huge monster that they didn’t initially say about…
 
I imagine we will get a very good idea of what they are looking to build on the 10th as surely the local residents interested in attending and knowing the details will want to know the height and noise limits etc
 
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