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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

About time I give my opinions on queue simulator 2000. Arrived at the park at about 8:10am and was in a queue straight away, then we waited. I then descovered where the budget for the rest of the layout went, two planes for a flyover... Then I waited again. Then we got to a massive cattle pen, and you guessed it we waited. We then got to the actual queue, which to be honest gives very good views of the coaster, and yup you're right we waited. Watched someone on a stage dance poorly for about 10 minutes while in the actual queue; then the ride broke down 3 times, and yeah I waited again, this time getting rather sunburnt. After 6 hours of waiting, which in Thorpe's defence was structured really well, we arrived at the steel box of a station. The effects inside weren't great at all, but it was a nice touch to try and save the feeling of a bland sqaure room.

My gosh though, all the waiting was worth it, as a relitivly new coaster enthusiast with no experince of coasters outside the UK (although that is going to change soon!), I can say that this was absolutely amazing. The first drop with the lap bar, insane and that dive loop stall thingy is so good! I got 2 rides throughout the day, first in row 7 and second in row 5; row 7 was definitly noticably faster even though it was a good 5 hours earlier in the day. Say everything you want about the ride being short, I'll even agree with you on some points, but my inner coaster enthusiast who hadn't really been on a big thrill coaster until 4 years ago thought that this was it. Straight to the top of my albeit small ranking the hyperia goes!
 
I popped over this evening to ride it. I used the single rider and waited 110 mins with maybe 20 of that due to downtime. It's a very good ride, you feel extremely free with the lap bars as you whip around. The elements are extremely fun and quite forceful. Kinda feels like a mix between icon and the big one if I'm honest (but with best of both). Couldn't say if it's my favourite in the UK (still really like nemesis) after only one ride but it's a hell of an addition!
 
Just before 22:30 for the last train - we weren't far off it.

All in all, the night ride was a drastic improvement over the daytime. For some rides, the difference in speed between a ride running at the start of the day and the end is all too apparent. For Hyperia, it's face-smackingly obvious.

The first drop is sublime. The best in the country. It has the feeling of a Premier Sky Rocket about it but far comfier, more refined and with buckets of air time. Absolutely addictive regardless of where you sit on the train.

The snappy whip on the immelmann straight into the dive is so fast paced, there's barely any time to catch your thoughts.

The outward banked turn wasn't too impressive for me, but the exit roll from it is an outstanding transition to give it that gleaming shine.

Then there's the hang time. Delicious. Every last drop of it. It's prolonged yet doesn't outstay its welcome. The superbly built Mack trains make the element comforting yet leave you suspended enough to be on the edge.

Then for me, the ride fizzles. The jamming on the brakes for the splashdown jarringly disarms the established momentum somewhat, before the limp wristed second outer bank turn lumbering back around to the brake run as the finishing act.

There is plenty of spots where Hyperia could be improved, don't get me wrong. Yet as it speeds up throughout the day, as day turns to night, and the clear illuminated skyline of London is accompanied on the lift hill by the perfectly synchronised audio, Hyperia makes a bold statement.

I did my best to ride without the rose tinted glasses for Nemesis, and the bias against Thorpe Park for having its miserable moments all too often. In doing so, I was left shouting and laughing the entire way round. Simply put, it's a delight. After a long 12 year wait since the park installed anything remotely interesting, Hyperia takes centre stage and rightfully commands the spotlight. It's fun. It's forceful. It's graceful.

Yes, the landscaping is unfinished. Yes, the exposed concrete and piping is a mess. Yes, the interior of the station looks like Pop World Staines. And yes, ostensibly, it is short. But it is a bloody good ride. I mean, really good.

Is it the best in the park? Absolutely.

Is it the best in the UK? I can see why some people would say it is. For me personally, that night ride very nearly had me thinking it was. I need to let the new ride hype die down first and experience it in different conditions to truly tell.

Is it the best in Europe? No way, but it's up there.

Is it the best in the world? Not even close, but it's a really solid, left field curveball from a park that has been long overdue something of this scale. If any park was going to pull it off, it would be Thorpe. Lift the ride from its log flume grave yard and slap it in a Six Flags car park, or dunk it in the Phantasialand theming toybox, the result would be that it is a bloody good coaster nonetheless.

Colour me well and truly surprised. Mack Rides. Take a bow.
 

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With regard to the reports of the ride “warming up”; is it like Icon is/was, where people used to say it was rubbish in the morning and only got good in the afternoon/evening? Or is it a case of the ride still being really good in the morning, but simply getting even better in the afternoon/evening?

I’m very encouraged by all of the positive reviews, though; I don’t think I’ve heard one bad or even particularly disappointed one yet!
 
My first ride in the morning was still UK best worthy in the second row. The last ride on the back row at 20:45 made me realise that I'm glad we didn't get the B&M hyper after all, and I was a big supporter for a B&M hyper. This ride is like a greatest hits mini album, yes it is short and could be longer. But the whole ride in to the break run is full of elements and an experiance no UK coaster has ever offered.
 
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