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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

I’m noticing as more people get to ride Hyperia, the less “best in the U.K.” and “new number one” comments appear on social media, especially X …

I wonder if the “exclusivity” artificially inflated the hype further? I anticipate it being pretty good but not cracking my top 10, for example
 
Generally "new ride hype" completely skewes perception. When something is new, the sheer excitement always outshines the actual quality of the product - look at Smiler for example, with many people calling it the parks best ride in ages - a lot of those people now hate the thing (Shane Sandwich is probably the most famous).

Every time a big new ride opens this happens. Perhaps by closed season, there'll be a lot more reviews that aren't just "omg new means good!".
 
It's fine, as expected. Very rarely will you get something that blows your head off or ruins your day, most rides are middling.
 
tayspru said:
I’m noticing as more people get to ride Hyperia, the less “best in the U.K.” and “new number one” comments appear on social media, especially X …
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I think that this was expected. It was similar with Icon.
 
Poisson said:
Honestly? It's unlikely to be going anywhere anytime soon, even with these issues. I wouldn't fret too much.
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I’m holding off till September now, park seems pretty poor in terms of operations in general and every day is likely to be busy for the next few months.

Waiting for things to settle down rather than face a day of uncertainty and multi-hour queues seems far more prudent if you have the choice of when you can attend.
 
tayspru said:
I’m noticing as more people get to ride Hyperia, the less “best in the U.K.” and “new number one” comments appear on social media, especially X …

I wonder if the “exclusivity” artificially inflated the hype further? I anticipate it being pretty good but not cracking my top 10, for example
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I don't know... I'm still seeing a fair few "best in the UK" comments from new riders.

Interestingly, this forum seems to be a lot more subdued on Hyperia than other places I've looked at. People on here don't seem to overly rate it, whereas the reviews elsewhere are a lot more positive, from what I can see.

Of course, "new ride hype" may have inflated it to a degree for some, but I don't buy that this effect is as pronounced as some make out. A lot of people who called Icon their UK #1 initially were doing so until very recently, or still are in some cases. 6 years is a long time for new ride hype to be in play for!

I'm aware that every time a new ride comes out, there's someone out there who thinks it's "the best in the UK". But with Hyperia, those comments seem a lot more prevalent than with any previous new ride.
Bowser said:
I’m holding off till September now, park seems pretty poor in terms of operations in general and every day is likely to be busy for the next few months.

Waiting for things to settle down rather than face a day of uncertainty and multi-hour queues seems far more prudent if you have the choice of when you can attend.
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I've got little else better to do for the next few months, I've got quite a bit of money (enough that I could possibly also return in September if I wanted), I'm very eager to get on Hyperia after being spited 2 weeks ago, and seeing as I had a very fulfilling day elsewhere in the park earlier this month, I honestly don't really care if I go and only ride Hyperia. I'm not going to go, say, next week, but I was thinking maybe a weekend in mid-to-late July might be something I'd be up for, as that gives a bit of time for things to settle down. If my mum and dad still want to go, I'll go with them, but if they don't, I might take matters into my own hands and book a trip for that sort of time.

That said, I can 100% respect the decision of those who want to hold off until after the summer holidays. Given I've got little else to do for much of this summer, I don't know that I'm personally quite that patient!
 
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I went on Weds/Thurs which was a bummer, but Hyperia being closed also meant every other ride became far busier which sucked too. Fortunately got a free ticket, so going back in August, let's hope my luck holds.

For me, I can easily see why Hyperia gets 'best in the UK' reviews everywhere, the elements are almost unheard of for a UK Coaster. It also doesn't help that most of the best UK Coasters have obvious negatives - like I enjoy Saw, the drops are great but it's a rattly headbanger and you feel like you've been packed in like sardines. For me Nemesis and it's little brother are probs the best overall rides (I've done) in the UK.
 
Matt N said:
Interestingly, this forum seems to be a lot more subdued on Hyperia than other places I've looked at. People on here don't seem to overly rate it, whereas the reviews elsewhere are a lot more positive, from what I can see.
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This forum is blessed with some well travelled regular posters who know what coasters can do worldwide, this probably adds to the subdue, plus is AT and EP centric so has been more focussed on Nemesis and Voltron.
 
At the end of the day the UK isn't entirely blessed with world class rollercoasters by modern standards so it's quite easy for something like Hyperia opening to have people immediately proclaiming it to be the best coaster in the country.
 
John_P said:
At the end of the day the UK isn't entirely blessed with world class rollercoasters by modern standards so it's quite easy for something like Hyperia opening to have people immediately proclaiming it to be the best coaster in the country.
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It’s the best coaster in the country, and I’m so ****** off about that
 
tayspru said:
To rephrase, I suspect there was/is some “this coaster is AMAZING and I have ridden it and YOU haven’t” at play, contributing to the inflated reviews
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Yeah, recency and exclusivity bias are definitely coming into play. I’d add that given how long it’s been since Thorpe’s last coaster, a lot was riding on this coaster being a UK #1.

The coaster influencer marketing strategy has obviously worked very well for the Merlin parks for the last few years, but I do wonder if the parks will at some point dump it entirely or pivot to different types of influencers - such as parenting influencers - who don’t pick apart every action they take in microscopic detail. Managing all these accounts pumping out info about Hyperia downtime must be fairly exhausting.
 
Poisson said:
This forum is blessed with some well travelled regular posters who know what coasters can do worldwide, this probably adds to the subdue, plus is AT and EP centric so has been more focussed on Nemesis and Voltron.
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A number of well travelled enthusiasts, including myself, are referring to Hyperia as the best coaster in the UK. I think the reason why this forum does not lump as much praise on Hyperia is because it's not an immersive coaster. Thing is, a hyper coaster does not need to be immersive, they are mostly about the ride hardware and what the coaster itself delivers as far as strong positive G's and weightlessness are concerned. It's a spectacular coaster, firmly in my top 5, but currently I'm not rating it above Taron, Ride To Happiness, Helix, Shambhala...

Nemesis is a great coaster to boot, it's firmly in my Top 10, but what makes a coaster stronger for me personally are not only how strong a coaster's elements are, but also whether or not the ride has more liberating lap bars as opposed OTSR's. Na Fianna Force's mix of elements and airtime with lap bars makes it my favourite invert, I rank that just under Hyperia.
 
Honestly I think the whole #1 discussion is unhelpful and kinda pointless, everyone has their own preferences. I much prefer themed rides that tell a story (both for the overall experience and I like to see how engineering and artistry are combined), so Hyperia won't come anywhere near the top for me.

Trying to force a consensus on "#1" and telling people they're wrong if they don't agree feels a bit snobby. Doesn't help that it's pushed by marketing teams.
 
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