• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

AT86 said:
Thorpe are currently running a ticket offer for £29pp from the start of the season until 26th April.

A guide to when they might be aiming to open Hyperia perhaps?

IMG_6127.jpeg
Click to expand...
26th April seems a little early to me given the current state of construction, but far stranger things have happened!
 
RicketyCricket said:
I hope they get this chap on the first train...


From: https://youtu.be/F53z2AdtaeU?si=BEdcyFSPLHUh87oo


Not usually a fan of the YouTube berks with their clickbait faces but in this case it would be a nice gesture from Thorpe. He's down Monks Walk pretty much every day and his enthusiasm for the park is infectious.
Click to expand...

Yeah he’s been putting in the hours that’s for sure. I met Dom at the IMAscore evening and he’s a genuine and incredibly friendly guy. Would be nice for him to get a lift hill walk or something in recognition.
 
Bowser said:
The early to mid 90s felt like a brief period where the UK was at the forefront of rollercoaster innovation.

Nemesis, The Big One, Vampire and Oblivion were all world or European firsts I think?

Since then it’s probably only been Thirteen that’s notable outside of the UK.
Click to expand...
Thirteen like you said for the first ever drop track, collosus and smiler for most inversions, smiler again for just how compact the layout is definitely a marvel of engineering, however I agree after our big 90's boom we've fell behind massively.
 
Ethan said:
Get out. We’re not comparing Nemesis to this absolute colossal beast of a ride
Click to expand...
Both will be intense and very similar in ride duration, I think hyperia will top every rollercoaster in the country for me although if it was just a tad bit longer I'd know without a shadow of the doubt it would be.
 
I think it’s a tad too early to be making such claims at present.

Am I very excited for Hyperia? Definitely. Do I think it has a chance of possibly being the most widely revered coaster in the UK? Definitely. From a personal standpoint, do I think it stands a decent chance of being my favourite coaster in the UK? Definitely. Is Hyperia generating foreign attention like few recent UK investments have? I’d argue that it is.

However, none of these things make it a dead cert that Hyperia will definitely become the UK’s most widely revered coaster. (I don’t use the term “best” because I think “best” is highly subjective)

If we cast our minds back 6 years, plenty of people were making similar claims about Icon. In fact, I’d argue that more people were possibly making similar claims about Icon, as Hyperia does seem to have a band of sceptics that Icon didn’t. Back in 2017/18, there was frenzied excitement from many enthusiast circles about how Icon would “finally top Nemesis”, be “one of the best coasters in Europe and the world”, and “annihilate the rest of the UK coaster scene by a country mile”.

Coming back to the present day, is Icon the UK’s most widely revered coaster, and the ride that finally annihilated the almighty Nemesis, crushed the rest of the UK coaster scene beyond recognition, and gave the UK a modern coaster to stand out on the world stage? Definitely not. As much as I personally love it, I have to admit that there is no way in hell that Icon even came close to meeting these expectations. The ride’s current reception 6 years on from opening is at best polarised, and even the ride’s few fans (myself included) do not rate it as highly as may have been expected back in 2017/18. It is my favourite UK coaster, but it definitely does not hold this title for me by the “country mile” that many believed it would back when it was being built. And I’m one of increasingly few people who actually awards it that title; many are apathetic towards Icon, and would not even rate it in their UK top 5.

Before I ramble on for too long, my point is; as good as Hyperia may look now, it is far, far too early to be making any conclusive declarations about how it will compare to other UK coasters. The proof is ultimately in how it rides, which we won’t know for a good few months yet. Besides, these things are wholly subjective anyway; it is absolutely inevitable that when the ride opens, different people will have different opinions on it.
 
Ethan said:
There should be no doubt already. This is one of Mack’s best ever creations just look at it.
Click to expand...
I absolutely agree the elements are just obscene definitely a Mack masterclass, only thing is I prefer a longer ride hence why I prefer smiler over nemesis hopefully when I come slamming into the brake run when this ride is open I'm going to be completely blown away with this ride.
 
Matt N said:
If we cast our minds back 6 years, plenty of people were making similar claims about Icon. In fact, I’d argue that more people were possibly making similar claims about Icon, as Hyperia does seem to have a band of sceptics that Icon didn’t. Back in 2017/18, there was frenzied excitement from many enthusiast circles about how Icon would “finally top Nemesis”, be “one of the best coasters in Europe and the world”, and “annihilate the rest of the UK coaster scene by a country mile”.

Coming back to the present day, is Icon the UK’s most widely revered coaster, and the ride that finally annihilated the almighty Nemesis, crushed the rest of the UK coaster scene beyond recognition, and gave the UK a modern coaster to stand out on the world stage? Definitely not. As much as I personally love it, I have to admit that there is no way in hell that Icon even came close to meeting these expectations. The ride’s current reception 6 years on from opening is at best polarised, and even the ride’s few fans (myself included) do not rate it as highly as may have been expected back in 2017/18. It is my favourite UK coaster, but it definitely does not hold this title for me by the “country mile” that many believed it would back when it was being built. And I’m one of increasingly few people who actually awards it that title; many are apathetic towards Icon, and would not even rate it in their UK top 5.
Click to expand...
The problem with Icon was that before we knew how it'd ride, it was given the "this will be the best coaster in the world" line from Nick Thompson, and has that "dare to ride" tagline which gave the impression we'd get an all-out thrill machine, basically like Helix on steroids. But it isn't, from what I can remember of the talk given at an event by their technical director, their target audience for Icon was family thrill, which is the reason it only has 1 (and a half?) inversions - as they felt a multi inverting double launch coaster might look too intimidating. I do like Icon, it's probably my second favourite coaster at BPB, but it doesn't feature in my top 10 - in fact, there are no UK steel coasters in my top 10, they are all European.

Coming back to Hyperia, it's obviously targeted as an extreme/thrill level attraction, and that's become more evident now we can see the track up and some of those elements. While there's no way to say "this will be the best in the country" ("best" is subjective) especially before anybody has had a chance to ride it, it is looking like it will be a very good (although perhaps short) coaster which I hope will break into my top 10.

Regarding theming, I'm not too bothered about this being more styled than themed - a coaster that is mostly low to the ground (e.g. Taron, or perhaps the Swarm) is much easier to surround with theming elements than something 236ft in the air. As long as those elements are amazing, and it's full of airtime, I'll be very happy with it.
 
Matt N said:
If we cast our minds back 6 years, plenty of people were making similar claims about Icon. In fact, I’d argue that more people were possibly making similar claims about Icon, as Hyperia does seem to have a band of sceptics that Icon didn’t. Back in 2017/18, there was frenzied excitement from many enthusiast circles about how Icon would “finally top Nemesis”, be “one of the best coasters in Europe and the world”, and “annihilate the rest of the UK coaster scene by a country mile”.
Click to expand...
Don’t think Icon disappointed tbh. It’s on a similar level to Nemesis
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top