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Project Exodus at Thorpe Park; Current Layout (Mack) or Alternative Layout (Likely B&M)?

Project Exodus at Thorpe Park; Current Layout or Alternative Layout?

  • Total voters
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Matt N

Matt N

TS Member
Favourite Ride
Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Hi guys. Project Exodus, the upcoming hyper coaster at Thorpe Park, was revealed last December, and since then, it has well and truly divided opinion. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a starkly polarising new ride announcement; whereas people mostly seem to be fairly united on ride announcements, this one is well and truly splitting the community in two. I’ve heard comments along the whole continuum of opinions about it; comments I can remember include:
  • “It will definitely be one of the best coasters in the world”
  • “It looks like Icon, where it just twists about without really knowing what it’s doing and ends up achieving nothing particularly well”
  • “Definitely the best coaster in the UK; it looks truly elite”
  • “It looks like a souped up Sky Rocket II”
  • “This will be the UK’s Steel Vengeance moment; it looks truly world class”
  • “It does none of the things that make hyper coasters good. It has no long layout and no airtime hills”
  • “This looks nuts, and will get enthusiasts around the world looking at the UK in jealousy”
  • “I can’t believe its most distinguishing feature will be its insanely long brake run; where’s the second half of the ride?”
  • “It looks like Lech Coaster on crack; this will be truly insane”
  • “Over time, we’ve determined what makes rides good. This ride doesn’t appear to do many of them within its short layout.”
  • “The elements on this look insane”
  • “It’s too short and has too many bits that don’t seem to offer anything”
I could reel off every single contradicting comment I’ve ever seen about the ride, but my basic point is; Exodus has been incredibly divisive, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more marmite investment in all of my years as an enthusiast.

Another interesting element was added into the mix when the full planning application went in in March, and the park revealed an alternative layout proposal that looked an awful lot like a B&M Hyper Coaster. This layout looked very different to the final proposal from Mack, but it had the same base aim; to become the UK’s tallest roller coaster.

The interesting thing I noticed was that many of the key detractors of the current Project Exodus seemed a lot more interested in the alternative layout, whereas many of the current proposal’s key defenders seemed very apathetic towards it, and glad that Thorpe Park opted for the Mack Hyper like they did instead of going for the B&M Hyper.

So with the current layout and the alternative layout seeming to divide opinion in terms of which one people would have preferred, I’d be keen to know; are you on Team Mack (the current layout) or Team B&M (the alternative layout)? Which one would have been your choice had you been in charge of picking the layout?

To help you decide, here are some brilliant NL2 recreations of both layouts by Jamie Rogers. This should help those who are unsure of what I’m talking about.

Current Layout (Mack Hyper):


Alternative Layout (B&M Hyper):


Personally, I’m on Team B&M, and would vote for the Alternative Layout.

Perhaps controversially; having ridden Silver Star in April and had my love for the B&M Hyper ride type confirmed, I think I prefer the look of the B&M proposal to the ride we’re getting based on those recreations.

To me, it looks to have far more of an overt airtime focus than the Exodus we’re getting (while I’m sure Exodus will have airtime, don’t get me wrong, and quite strong airtime at that, I’d be hesitant to call it an overtly airtime-centred layout based on what we know), which would have fitted the UK beautifully, in my view (particularly seeing as the country lacks sustained airtime like B&M Hypers offer far more than it lacks brief airtime, in my view).

I also feel that the B&M proposal would have filled more of a gap within Thorpe Park’s lineup; a non-inverting, rerideable thrill coaster in the vein of a B&M Hyper Coaster is something that Thorpe and arguably the UK industry as a whole lacks at present, and Thorpe has no non-inverting thrill coaster aside from Stealth, whereas Exodus, as brilliant as it looks, will ultimately be another variation on a sit-down looping coaster. Granted, I’d imagine it’ll be quite a different variation on this trope to Thorpe’s other rides, but it will be a sit-down looping coaster with its elements almost predominantly consisting of inversions, like many of Thorpe’s other rides, all the same. The sit down looper trope is not exactly uncommon within Thorpe and the UK, which is something that Exodus can’t escape regardless of how unique its take on this trope may be.

I apologise if this makes me come across as “bitter that my prediction was wrong” or whatever, and I don’t want to imply that I’m not grateful for the ride we’re getting or don’t think it looks great (I think Exodus has an awesome-looking layout, and it’s certainly very unique!), but having now seen this alternative proposal, I do personally think it looks more my cup of tea than the Exodus being built. When I came off Silver Star in April, I’ll admit I did think “wouldn’t it have been great if Thorpe was getting something like this?” (although as I said above, that’s not to say that the Exodus we’re getting doesn’t look great; I’m very excited for it!), and I actually think the proposed B&M Hyper layout looks pretty neat, myself!

But which layout do you prefer the look of? And what are your thoughts on Exodus in general? I’d be very keen to know!
 
The older layout looks a bit run of the mill to me. Not necessarily a bad thing as we all love a bit of sustained airtime, but what we're getting instead looks far more unique and will have an easier time putting the UK back on the coaster map, what with other zany coasters that have opened recently and more to open in the near future across the industry.
 
Nosferatu said:
The older layout looks a bit run of the mill to me. Not necessarily a bad thing as we all love a bit of sustained airtime, but what we're getting instead looks far more unique and will have an easier time putting the UK back on the coaster map, what with other zany coasters that have opened recently and more to open in the near future across the industry.
Click to expand...
In spite of my preference for the B&M layout, I don’t entirely disagree there. Exodus does look very attention-grabbing and unique, which is something that a B&M Hyper may have struggled more with, what with how many of them there are.
 
I would love to see a B&M hyper in the UK. But the B&M option for this ride doesn't look very interesting. It feels like the Dæmonen of hyper coasters. Shorter than any of the other hypers and with more dead spots.
The Mack ride actually has interesting elements. It's far too short and lacks at least one pure airtime hill but at least it'll be an interesting 30 seconds of ride.

Unfortunately with a bit more budget I'm sure they could have done a 180 instead of the splashdown and added an out and back airtime section along the old train line to the back of Inferno. Then we could have had the best of both.
 
Hmmmmmmm...call me old fashioned but i quite like the B&M layout. Simple, plenty of airtime, lots of fun. The only thing i would say with the B&M is that you just know that they are going to trim the fudge out of those airtime hills.

Could they not meet in the middle and go for an Intamin Hyper instead?
 
Probably the B&M layout. In terms of the comments people were making back at the start, I can’t see how anyone could’ve said “this will be one of the best coasters in the world” based off of plans. I don’t really think you can do that with ANY coaster from plans
 
I do like the b&m layout.....and actually think this would have been the way to go.

But exodus looks more interesting.....but too short. If they added half the length again it would be thr Mack hands down, but given the B&M looks to have more ride time I have to go with that.

In fairness both have their faults .... they almost need to have a baby together to make the perfect ride
 
I think the current one would be the best ride in the UK by a long shot if it had it's other half that it's missing with that half having a slightly stronger airtime focus then it would be world class.

Regardless those inversions and transitions look insane and I absolutely cannot wait to ride it (fingers crossed).
 
Apologies for bumping this thread, but now Hyperia has nearly finished its full season, I’d be interested to know; what are people’s opinions on this topic now that the ride has opened and most of us have ridden it? Has riding Hyperia convinced you that we got the right coaster, or do you wish they’d built the alternative, likely B&M, layout instead?

Personally, I think my opinion has changed slightly in some ways having seen it go up and subsequently ridden it.

In terms of personal preference; there’s a definite chance I may have personally preferred the B&M Hyper ever so slightly. I rode Shambhala a month or so after riding Hyperia, and that definitely won out over it for me. The raw sustained airtime, speed and smoothness of Shambhala is quite something for me, and those sustained straight airtime hills in particular are hard to beat, in my opinion!

With that being said, my opinion on the matter has definitely altered in numerous ways compared to some of my posts in this topic back in 2022/2023.

One thing I later grew to realise about the hypotheticals of building a B&M Hyper at Thorpe Park is that looking at the Hyperia we saw materialise, as well as the proposed B&M Hyper layout, I’m not certain that a B&M Hyper would have lived up to the wet dreams of a British Shambhala that myself and others espoused in the ride’s early rumour phase. B&M Hypers are a ride type that require space, length and money to do well, and Hyperia has proven that none of those things were available in abundant supply at Thorpe Park. With this in mind, there’s a chance that a B&M Hyper could have ended up being the poor relation to equivalents abroad in terms of critical reception, which quite a few UK rides already are. Hyperia, on the other hand, is at least unique and quite unlike anything else.

The other thing that has changed my opinion is that having ridden it, Hyperia is a truly sublime coaster. It has a lot more weightlessness, and sustained weightlessness at that, than I was personally expecting when it was initially announced, and the sequence of big elements on the ride hits and hits hard and is really quite unlike anything else in the world. For my own personal taste, I would maybe have liked a couple of straight airtime moments to complement the big elements, but that’s just me being wildly pedantic and perfectionistic. It’s a phenomenal coaster that sits proudly within my top 10 and 10/10 tier, and definitely sits as my favourite coaster in the UK. Yes, my top 10 would suggest that I may have fractionally preferred the B&M, but when the ride we have is still this good, I don’t see the point in complaining! Hyperia is my #6, so it still ranks very highly for me, and I’m so glad that we had this wonderful ride brought into the world. B&M Hypers, as much as I love them, exist elswehere, whereas Hyperia is truly one of a kind and phenomenal in its own right, and I’m very glad that Thorpe Park brought it into the world.

So on balance, I think they did make the right choice, having ridden Hyperia. I think the ride suits Thorpe Park very well and has gone down a treat, and it’s an exceptional coaster that’s really unlike anything else out there!
 
I would've hands down said the B&M hyper before. I didn't like the look of Hyperias layout and thought it looked way too short,

But I love Hyperia, so i'm happy we got this over a B&M. Yes its short, but its very unique and we're lucky to have it at Thorpe.
 
Definitely glad we have hyperia.

I’ve also been lucky to ride shambhala, and it is a fantastic world class coaster - BUT, like you said, the proposed B&M layout would have been half-baked, and underwhelming when compared to the others.

Hyperia tried something new and has had a much greater reception than the B&M would have. Hyperia has caused a lot of international theme park goers to attend, due to its unique and thrilling elements.

Personally, I also prefer ejector to floater, so I think hyperia excels in what I like in a coaster. Albeit it is a bit short and could have benefitted from a few straight airtime hills, but overall the ride makes a huge statement and Thorpe gave us one of the best first drops and inversions (kremer roll) in the world
 
I still would have preferred a hypothetical B&M over what we got, since Hyperia lacks any straightforward moments of airtime and most of it isn't sustained (although Hyperia does contain a decent amount of airtime).
 
Matt N said:
I’m not certain that a B&M Hyper would have lived up to the wet dreams of a British Shambhala that myself and others espoused in the ride’s early rumour phase.
Click to expand...
Almost spluttered my coffee out when I read this, that surely had to be the most un-Matt thing Matt has ever said on here!

But joking aside, Hyperia is absolutely fantastic until the ride suddenly fizzes out and ends just as you are expecting what should have been the final third of the ride to happen. It’s frustrating because the greatness is there with its design but it’s such a pity that there just isn’t a bit more of it. It’s good but it’s no Shambhala (not that it was trying to be that of course). Personally I’d rather have had the B&M I think but I do appreciate the elements here that Mack gave us.
 
A B&M Hyper would've been a lot nicer to re-ride too.

But the uniqueness is a draw and it's very different. Just will always have that lack of half the layout and thus feel a missed opportunity.
 
All B&M Hypers are solid, even Raging Bull. I'm glad we got something more unique though.

I do love Hyperia but will always see it as a missed opportunity. It's great but m£rlin could have built something truly special if they spent just a little bit more money on it.
 
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