Islander
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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
Bowser
TS Member
More profit for Merlin then, everyone wins.
jon81uk
TS Member
More profit for the debt collection companies really.
I don't think more parking charge invoices is a good thing. The current ANPR system that integrates to the website is the best option and it worked for me, so they just need to ensure it is working for everyone. Or just add a contactless card reader at the barrier.
jon81uk
TS Member
I'd suggest the bus service to Thorpe should also be free if they go down this route.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
Given that Thorpe Park’s attendance allegedly declined in 2024 – in spite of the launch of Hyperia – does this somewhat exonerate The Swarm for also failing to prevent the attendance decline in 2012 ?
According to the book “Making Thorpe Park”, the visitor decline in 2012 was partially blamed on Merlin’s decision to build a wing coaster (on flat land) rather than taking John Wardley’s advice of building a hyper coaster instead, but now that a hyper coaster has also failed to boost attendance, does this prove that John Wardley’s advice at the time was wrong? (It’s also worth noting that he wanted to build a wooden rollercoaster instead of Saw, but Saw ended up being a huge success; of course, it’s possible that the wooden rollercoaster would have been even more successful).
I stated on the forum last year that the wing coaster concept was unfairly blamed for the attendance decline, in my opinion, and that part of the issue was simply that Thorpe Park had become saturated with so many rollercoasters by 2012 that adding (m)any more was unlikely to make too much difference – especially as, in my opinion, The Swarm was too similar to Nemesis Inferno (I specifically said that The Swarm would have been a huge success if it had opened in 2003 instead of Nemesis Inferno, and that Merlin had unfairly blamed The Swarm when they stated that they would never build another wing coaster afterwards – especially given the success of Raptor in Italy the year before).
According to the book “Making Thorpe Park”, the visitor decline in 2012 was partially blamed on Merlin’s decision to build a wing coaster (on flat land) rather than taking John Wardley’s advice of building a hyper coaster instead, but now that a hyper coaster has also failed to boost attendance, does this prove that John Wardley’s advice at the time was wrong? (It’s also worth noting that he wanted to build a wooden rollercoaster instead of Saw, but Saw ended up being a huge success; of course, it’s possible that the wooden rollercoaster would have been even more successful).
I stated on the forum last year that the wing coaster concept was unfairly blamed for the attendance decline, in my opinion, and that part of the issue was simply that Thorpe Park had become saturated with so many rollercoasters by 2012 that adding (m)any more was unlikely to make too much difference – especially as, in my opinion, The Swarm was too similar to Nemesis Inferno (I specifically said that The Swarm would have been a huge success if it had opened in 2003 instead of Nemesis Inferno, and that Merlin had unfairly blamed The Swarm when they stated that they would never build another wing coaster afterwards – especially given the success of Raptor in Italy the year before).
Bowser
TS Member
Can add that one to the sea of broken promises.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
It was mentioned later in the book that Merlin did in fact build more wing coasters afterwards (e.g. at Legoland Germany, and Chessington).
The statement that they would "never build another wing coaster" irritated me when I read it, as this was simply one person's (wrong) opinion (taking it upon themselve to speak on behalf of an entire company), and - as I mentioned above - unfairly scapegoated The Swarm, given that Raptor had clearly been a success.
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owenstreet7
TS Member
I believe this was harsh of the Merlin management of the time to blame The Swarm for not bringing in the guests in 2012. Especially during a wet weather summer and an Olympics one too.
For 2024 with Hyperia, I'd say that the extended closure and the bad press every time it gets stuck on the lift hill was the contributing reasons for it's declining attendance.
I hope Merlin decides to invest further in Thorpe as it has a lot of potential.
AT86
TS Member
I think the big caveat here is that the declining attendance for 2024 is sourced from the TEA report, which has been proven to be consistently wrong when it comes to Merlin park attendance.
Therefore there is no reliable info that Thorpe did see a drop in visitors or not last year.
Therefore there is no reliable info that Thorpe did see a drop in visitors or not last year.
owenstreet7
TS Member
I don't wanna speculate too much but with there being a pause on new B&M coasters built at Merlin parks between Heide Park's Wing Coaster, Flug der Dämonen in 2014, Oblivion the Black Hole at Gardaland in 2015 and the more recent set of B&M coasters starting with Maximus and Mandrill Mayhem in 2023
Could Merlin and B&M have potentially had a pause in their working relationship which may be why the Thorpe 2015 coaster got cancelled/changed to Ghost Train?
This could explain why Thorpe didn't get a coaster for 12 years.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
Interesting; I did not know that there was supposed to be a new rollercoaster in 2015? Do you have any more information about this?
According to "Making Thorpe Park", Merlin had actively decided not to build another rollercoaster immediately after The Swarm, as they wanted to invest in more indoor dark-rides which could be left open throughout the winter (co-inciding with the launch of their new hotel, which ended up not being built).
"Making Thorpe Park" said that one of the reasons why they chose to build The Swarm was that they liked working with B&M; maybe you are correct that this changed after John Wardley retired? (this is pure speculation on my part)
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
There was a longer "pause" between Nemesis: Inferno's construction in 2003 and The Swarm's in 2012. I wouldn't ready anything into it.
owenstreet7
TS Member
Ohhh... That's a fantastic point and might not point to relationship fatigue or anything.
We did have Raptor and Krake a year earlier in 2011 although definitely slightly longer than the mid to late 00s pause.
The original plan in the MTDP from 2010-2016 at the time was to build a coaster on the island where Swarms final turnaround is. This was intended to link Stealth over to Swarm with a pathway as well.
I'll link in the Planning Application for this.
One thing I've noticed is that the unbuilt coaster seems to have a layout that is like a B&M Dive Coaster although it could be something completely different.
Bowser
TS Member
I think Swarm is excellent, it's top 3 of the UK coasters i've been on (WickerMan and Mandrill Mayhem being the others). Can't wait till my son is tall enough to go on it. Very much can wait till he's tall enough to ride Saw and Colossus.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
Thinking about it: if this was true, could Thorpe Park still have built the 2015 rollercoaster, but with a different manufacturer (instead of abandoning it altogether)?
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owenstreet7
TS Member
Possibly although it could've been a slight shift in strategy as Ghost Train was built in lieu of the 2015 coaster.
The theme park only opens for 7 months of the year so Hyperia opening late May lost then 2 months where I imagine attendance was low as guests waited for the new ride. Then came all the problems with the ride which again probably put guests off. The end of the season saw sell out days as it does most season with Fright Night's however this won't have caused a higher attendance as they sell out every year.
They need to come up with more events that bring in the numbers. Maybe they could do some late nights at the start of the season like Towers did this year as night rides are incredibly popular, or even their own end of season fireworks as there shouldn't be too much overlap between the 2 parks.
I generally feel that this season has seen improved operations and the park has seemed busy every weekend and school holiday. I would say wait for this year's numbers to see if Hyperia has been a success. They have probably paid for the coaster twice over just from the Fast Track sales at £20 a go anyway.