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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

Even if it was an immersivley themed area containing 3 or 4 attractions, and a semblance of geographic features that resembled some sort of valley, it would still be a crap name. But they're actually naming a completely flat piece of land containing just one coaster and a queue line "Fearless Valley"?

Wow. When Merlin said they were going to be using AI as part of their future business strategy, I thought there would be more nuance to it than just tapping "can you come up with a name for a theme park area?" into ChatGPT.
 
Matt.GC said:
Even if it was an immersivley themed area containing 3 or 4 attractions, and a semblance of geographic features that resembled some sort of valley, it would still be a crap name. But they're actually naming a completely flat piece of land containing just one coaster and a queue line "Fearless Valley"?

Wow. When Merlin said they were going to be using AI as part of their future business strategy, I thought there would be more nuance to it than just tapping "can you come up with a name for a theme park area?" into ChatGPT.
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The World of David Walliams is half a street, not a world. Mutiny Bay is not a broad inlet of the sea, but has a bit of an artificial boating lake. Dark Forest doesn't have any trees, until you go on Th13teen, it's also pretty bright down there.

Not defending Fearless Valley at all (Find your fearless / fearlessness gate anyone?), but as far as nitpicking goes (and we're both very good at it) I think is a little far even for the both of us!
 
As theme park fans, surely we have a better ability to suspend reality? I've never seen such a bizarre reaction to a non-issue, you don't have to like everything you know.

Since everyone loves a bit of nitpicking, here are a few more to throw in the ring. Katanga, anyone seen a Canyon? Shipwreck Coat, where's the sea? Tornado Springs: no source of water in sight? Lost City, I know they say lost but was there ever a city? Hey, is Forbidden Valley even a real valley?

If you struggle with non-geographically correct names, don't go to Thorpe Park, and don't give the evil corporation Merlin your money - they'll soon learn that they're not allowed to name anything without consulting the world and Twitter first.

Personally, I love how Thorpe uses their pass holder Facebook group, does anyone know of any other parks that post so openly with so many regular and in-depth updates? If I were the park, I'd stop, why bother? They might as well go back to being a closed book as they just seem to get attacked, it's really sad to see.
 
I think people just laugh at the lack of attention to detail merlin has. Theme parks are not reality but a good theme park has a coheres storyline that ties rides and lands together.... roll on Universal!!
 
Hex_Fan_2000 said:
As theme park fans, surely we have a better ability to suspend reality? I've never seen such a bizarre reaction to a non-issue, you don't have to like everything you know.

Since everyone loves a bit of nitpicking, here are a few more to throw in the ring. Katanga, anyone seen a Canyon? Shipwreck Coat, where's the sea? Tornado Springs: no source of water in sight? Lost City, I know they say lost but was there ever a city? Hey, is Forbidden Valley even a real valley?

If you struggle with non-geographically correct names, don't go to Thorpe Park, and don't give the evil corporation Merlin your money - they'll soon learn that they're not allowed to name anything without consulting the world and Twitter first.

Personally, I love how Thorpe uses their pass holder Facebook group, does anyone know of any other parks that post so openly with so many regular and in-depth updates? If I were the park, I'd stop, why bother? They might as well go back to being a closed book as they just seem to get attacked, it's really sad to see.
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This so much. The negativity we so often run into on threads here keeps me from posting nowadays. Its almost comical at times.

Personally, I think it's great the park is so open on SM, and with the landscaping and greenery going into the area it should look great once it's all bedded in, as should the sign once it's finished. So what if it's not a literal valley, it doesn't detract from the ride experience nor is it remotely a big deal. It's a coaster loosely themed on a Greek mythological fairy goddess, it's okay to suspend reality and think a bit more abstract. Nobody will be going into the area thinking "Where are the vast embankments and rocky cliffs, Merlin?!". Those who do will have to process the disappointment and mince onwards. I actually sort of get it. Hyperia is meant to be a fearless goddess in flight - it makes sense to loosely place that concept within a valley, especially with the backdrop of trees and water around the area, the idea of taking flight, soaring to great heights etc.

We're getting the tallest, fastest coaster in the UK and it's a real whopper with those elements. It's okay to be enthusiastic thoosies sometimes! Can we not have designated moaning threads? :sweatsmile:
 
I thought the story was that she's trapped on an island?
It's not an issue, but there are are more story appropriate names they could have chosen.

I'm more exasperated that we are judging the colour of a piece of themeing that clearly hasn't been painted yet. And if the plan is to leave it unpainted (I highly doubt it), it'll be rust brown in a years time, and not silver. Think Wild Eagle at Dollywood.
 
Tim said:
I thought the story was that she's trapped on an island?
It's not an issue, but there are are more story appropriate names they could have chosen.

I'm more exasperated that we are judging the colour of a piece of themeing that clearly hasn't been painted yet. And if the plan is to leave it unpainted (I highly doubt it), it'll be rust brown in a years time, and not silver. Think Wild Eagle at Dollywood.
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To be fair, valleys do exist within islands so it still makes good sense if so.

Totally agree, they even stated in their post that it will be painted and yet people still love to kick up a fuss. Sadly, it's become trendy and 'edgy' to be negative towards Thorpe Park and 'sticking it' to Merlin seems to give people a sense of power. It's as though they want the world to know they're not brainwashed, yet they still visit and own an annual pass.

I can think of countless brands, products and businesses that I don't like, but I have the common sense to understand that I'm not their target audience. What I don't do is spend all my free time engaging negatively with these brands, that would be a waste of my time. Maybe it's just me, but it's starting to grate on me!
 
What's any of this got to do with some sort of social media passholder page or Twitter? I couldn't give a toss about what they say on there as I don't go on them. The name is the name, has nothing to do with any tangent about social media "openness" or whatever. I would have thought the name was crap regardless of that so I have no idea what that has to do with anything? Not all of us hang on every word of social media drivel.

At least some of the examples given make an attempt to be a Canyon, Valley, Bay or whatever through theming suggestiveness. This isn't even a themed area, it's a flat corner of the park with a very short but tall coaster and queue line on it. Why bother at all? It just seems to cheapen the whole thing further (if cutting back the landscaping, the paint job, and the second half of the layout weren't enough). The word Valley is there for no reason. It's lazy, generic, has no context, and looks like it's been made up by AI.

And who's to say I actually like all those other examples? Thorpe's "themed lands" thing is already a mess without having to make it worse by inserting more names for every single corner, pathway and toilet block contained within it. That whole shipping area at Chessington is also laughable, I've always wondered why the word Bay preceded the word Mutiny, and the less said about Walliams Cuckoo Dungeon World the better. All examples of Merlin crappiness in terms of names and cohesive themed experience creation. Lazy and formulaic.

Since Merlin are a private for profit organisation and not a charity who compete in a free market for peoples money, and last time I checked this was a discussion forum based around said businesses activities, I think we'll all keep expressing our opinions as we have done for many years thank you, as long as it's on topic and doesn't contain assumptions and generalisations about others for holding them (thanks for those, although you may want to read a little deeper before going for the social media angle next time). Anyone looking for happy clappy win win situation clouds unicorns and rainbows stuff, also fine. But I'll reserve my right to disagree ta.
 
Some of us have been negative to Thorpe for nearly 2 decades now. Its nothing new.

In terms of the naming convention situation, for Thorpe the issue is the constant fluctuations they have in terms of going for themed areas and then going away from them to then reverting back. The name as well just sounds so bland (in the same way the shop does) and almost like they had to come up with it for the deadline. It doesn't particularly come up with mental imagery in the same way that Swarm Island doesn't. As mentioned, it's that lack of fine details that often prevents the good things being great (the redone New Orleans area being a fine example here).

No one is having a go at their social media presence beyond concerns of them being too open in some cases (the fallout from the new branding being up there), which could be problematic in the future in terms of what people demand or expect. Fickle fans are throughout the world.

"Fearless Valley" just sounds crap. "Find Your Fearless" does as well. Nonsensical marketing speak which would make a lot of marketing departments cringe.
 
I don’t really get the issue with the name Fearless Valley, personally. If you were to critique area names based on the actual geography around them, there are many other area names that would come into the firing line. What else could you call it? I can’t think of anything better.

Besides, Thorpe don’t even show the area names on the map, so it won’t really be reflected in the actual product or affect anything, really. Thorpe is never a park I’d have associated with having properly cohesive themed areas anyway; they have some very well-themed rides, but I’d never have said that the park had an overly strong focus on themed areas.

I am starting to think that the ride doesn’t really need the story they came out with, however. It’s good that they came up with one, and I’m aware that it probably won’t manifest within the physical product in any meaningful way, but I don’t really think that the ride needs the elaborate backstory. It’s not a heavily themed coaster, and knowing the backstory won’t really give riders any further appreciation or understanding of the ride experience.

In this case, I think a very basic “fearless goddess taking you on a fearless flight” story would have sufficed, rather than the more elaborate lore the park has come up with. And that’s if they needed a backstory at all.
 
Hex_Fan_2000 said:
To be fair, valleys do exist within islands so it still makes good sense if so.

Totally agree, they even stated in their post that it will be painted and yet people still love to kick up a fuss. Sadly, it's become trendy and 'edgy' to be negative towards Thorpe Park and 'sticking it' to Merlin seems to give people a sense of power. It's as though they want the world to know they're not brainwashed, yet they still visit and own an annual pass.

I can think of countless brands, products and businesses that I don't like, but I have the common sense to understand that I'm not their target audience. What I don't do is spend all my free time engaging negatively with these brands, that would be a waste of my time. Maybe it's just me, but it's starting to grate on me!
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I like to think that more often than not, I'm fairly positive about Merlin developments and I do remain excited for Hyperia (believe it or not)! That said, I think a lot of people (myself included) are slightly frustrated at the fact that certain aspects of this project had potential to be better.

Not only is it Thorpe's first coaster in 12 years, it's set to be the UK's tallest and fastest! That's such a brilliant set up for a triumphant return to form for the park, and alongside the rebrand it feels like they're framing its opening as the start of a new chapter for the park. That said, whilst it all sounds great in theory I can't help but feel some nervousness about the execution of it all.

I know the layout is divisive and I'm not sure I've got a fully formed opinion on it yet myself, but I'm sure we can all agree that such a major coaster for the park reaching such huge heights could've done a bit more and lasted a bit longer. On top of that, it's 'stylised' not themed. That's not my preference but fine, I get why. That said, from what we've seen so far of the boring box station, muddy brown 'gold' and cattle pen queue, I'm not feeling optimistic about the final presentation and feel that their attempt at a 'style' has been something of an afterthought. This area should be beautifully landscaped (think Air concept art)! I know the park have recently promised that this is coming, but less than a month out I worry they're running out of time to implement anything substantial.

The recent preview of the sign coupled with the (in my opinion) clunky area name marked yet another minor disappointment to me. I know the sign isn't painted / finished, but it's clearly not going to be more than 'Hyperia' on a metal frame with some small wings either side. Like I say - that's fine, but it could've been a real spectacle! Of course none of this matters until we see the final product and I reserve some hope that in a month's time, we'll all be agreeing that Thorpe have a brilliant new attraction on their hands. That said, for now I get the sense that Hyperia will be 'just fine' when it could've been something really special.
 
I actually really like the "find your fearless" approach. It's good to see a ride lean into the idea that it is big and scary but once you've done it you'll feel like you've really achieved something.

Also it's not a dark, secret organisation, or post-apocalyptic theme. That's got to count for something!
 
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