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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

flyingguitar said:
Sigh, back with the magical all knowing mechanics.
The important question is what went wrong, from what it sounds like it is the lift hill, I don't think they had maitsnence constantly watching the lift hill yesterday seeing if it was working well my guess is that something is wearing quicker than expected requiring investigation this would only happen if you saw the components something which happened each day to all the rides.
I am at the park today and I have no ill will, I traveled far but it is a new ride and after it's first day with the public something went wrong. Can't really be helped
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The racket the lift hill motor was making yesterday could be heard from the cattlepen next to where Saw Alive used to be. When you were stood near it, it was almost deafening.

It wouldn’t surprise me in the slightest if it was related.
 
I think today highlights the benefits of having a soft opening period. I understand the pressure from a financial POV to get the new asset open and bringing in the money ASAP - but today's events shows how things can go wrong and have an impact from a reputational, guest experience and financial perspective too.

If they had been able to run the ride in for longer and unearth today's issue during a soft opening for example the impact on guests would have been far less damaging.
 
Graeme said:
They don’t actually need to give out anything to anyone or refunds. I think people are forgetting that.

I thought I was reading the FB annual pass holders page.

Annoying - Yes.
Do I have sympathy? Yes.

Jeez though, there are some over reactions. Would people prefer it was opened when not safe to do so?

Also the closure of Hyperia was announced prior to park actually opening.
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They don’t need to do anything but what they have done is massively in their interests anyway.

If you give people free tickets, okay you lose a bit of money as some of the people you’re giving free tickets to would have come back and paid, many wouldn’t have come back at all so there’s no loss there so long as the park doesn’t reach capacity meaning paying customers can’t get in (very unlikely).

When people are in the park they spend money, I’d guess an average spent per person at Thorpe is about £20 and that’s conservative.

I’ve said above that it isn’t the parks fault assuming that there isn’t anything they’re not telling us but they really should be offering a refund or a free day, yes I know they don’t have to but the reason that they’ve got a packed park even more than usual is because many came for that ride - I haven’t been there in 5 years as last time I went I’d just had enough of it, crap operations, dirty etc etc, I didn’t think I’d leave it 5 years but the point is it’s not a coincidence that I’m now up for going - it’s because of the ride.

Yes things happen and it isn’t the parks fault but from a PR perspective the absolute bare minimum is offering free return visits.
 
Ethan said:
audacity to make this announcement at 9:30 when some people have likely travelled hundreds of miles. Enough with this crap free return deal too if you live far away you’re not just going to come back. Also what about pass holders? Why do Merlin never consider the loyal fans that buy passes and don’t get any compensation when this happens
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@Shaggy_Dog_ I literally mentioned people travelling for the ride in the first post do you not read the discussion
 
AT86 said:
I think today highlights the benefits of having a soft opening period. I understand the pressure from a financial POV to get the new asset open and bringing in the money ASAP - but today's event shows how things can go wrong and have an impact from a reputational, guest experience and financial perspective too.

If they had been able to run the ride in for longer and unearth today's issue during a soft opening for example the impact on guests would have been far less damaging.
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I do agree with this, actually. It doesn’t seem to be a terribly British thing to do “soft openings”, with it being more common in America, but I do think that this is something we could do with porting from across the pond and making more common in Britain. Soft openings or technical rehearsals would have helped to iron out some of the kinks.

As an example, look at Valhalla last year. The initial version that opened in technical rehearsals got starkly negative reviews, but it was reviewed much more positively and had some of the kinks ironed out by the time it “officially” opened.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Perhaps though there’s a difference between just mentioning something as a point to bash the park with and actually, you know, showing genuine sympathy for guests, empathy and all that.
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I think if someone had explained to Boris Johnson that showing empathy and not just using other people’s misfortune to strengthen your own argument was a thing that we’d have had a better time of the last few years
 
Robinsonhtid said:
Thorpe twitter is saying to people who have posted to them asking them if it's opening today, they are doing their best to get it open, not sure if that means today tho but Impiles it
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If the ride does open can you imagine the mad rush there will be to get to it once people notice on the app that it’s back on again? It could be chaotic.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Perhaps though there’s a difference between just mentioning something as a point to bash the park with and actually, you know, showing genuine sympathy for guests, empathy and all that.
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I think it’s fair to say not having your newest ride operating on just its 2nd day deserves a bashing. This whole project seems rushed to me. Exact same thing with Top thrill. If a ride isn’t ready then don’t open it until you’re confident that nothing significant will instantly pop up
 
Hi, first time posting. Does anybody know where the steel was sourced for this coaster, was it of European or South East Asian origin? I know Mack is German but doesn't mean they used European steel necessarily, thanks.
 
Robinsonhtid said:
Thorpe twitter is saying to people who have posted to them asking them if it's opening today, they are doing their best to get it open, not sure if that means today tho but Impiles it
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Would honestly be suicide for the staff to open it later on.

Leaving now. The organisation at opening was piss poor and put a bad day on it all as a result. Given everyone going on about how well organised things were yesterday its hilarious how quickly Thorpe reverted to type. Needed management to stand outside and verbally announce to us in the entrance plaza and on the bridge. Basic customer service.
 
LDEWAR said:
Hi, first time posting. Does anybody know where the steel was sourced for this coaster, was it of European or South East Asian origin? I know Mack is German but doesn't mean they used European steel necessarily, thanks.
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Have a look at this article, it’s a few years old but it mentions a German company in Düsseldorf producing the steel for Mack Rides. It does state Blue Fire in that article for example so perhaps they do the hypers as well.

Vallourec accredited supplier of new Mack Rides coaster - Vallourec

Mack Rides is a leading designer and manufacturer of rollercoasters and other types of amusement rides for leisure parks all over the world.
www.vallourec.com www.vallourec.com
 
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Benzin said:
Needed management to stand outside and verbally announce to us in the entrance plaza and on the bridge. Basic customer service.
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I don’t know. We might end up with an emperor montezuma moment there…E6A2C4E2-53D7-4DDC-A93C-B7FD80D0E9AD.jpeg
 
I’m just annoyed that Derek Acorah didn’t convey it being shut from the grave via someone’s ouija board


‘Don’t go to Thorpe park tomorrow, I’ve got a feeling sometbing golden and very important might not be opeen’z
 
Went yesterday and ended up getting a single ride after queuing for nearly 5 and a half hours

It met my anticipations. It's a fantastic ride but way too short and I still stand by the fact that this is not what I would have wanted from a hyper coaster at Thorpe. However I still really enjoyed it and the day overall, yesterday had a wonderful atmosphere and seemed very well organised for how many people there were. It honestly feel strange going to the rest of the park after riding it and seeing Stealth and Inferno with 5 minute queues or Colossus with a half empty train while surrounded by hundreds of other people in the holding pen

The only major flaw I have with Hyperia, aside from the length, is the themeing. It's awful. The entrance sign felt no grander than the balloon arches throughout the extended queue and the boxes for the station and maintenance feel really cheap. I don't buy into this "Thorpe is like Six Flags" argument because 1. They present themselves a theme park and 2. they've shown in the past they can make wonderful themeing (Swarm), great landscaping (Colossus) and nice presentation (Stealth). Here's hoping they can add some more, they did it with Swarm!

I was impressed as well to see how quickly they managed to get it back up and running when it went down, but I do wonder it has caused a bit of wear from operating it for 12 hours yesterday? Hopefully they can sort it for the half term week

Overall though, a fun day! I don't think I'd do an opening day again though unless the new ride was really interesting and even then I'd have to have a think about it. Hyperia is great, but I do think I need a few rerides to avoid recency bias but I can see it maybe being a top 20 coaster out of just over 300 for me, which ain't too shabby!
 
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Ethan said:
I think it’s fair to say not having your newest ride operating on just its 2nd day deserves a bashing. This whole project seems rushed to me. Exact same thing with Top thrill. If a ride isn’t ready then don’t open it until you’re confident that nothing significant will instantly pop up
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It definitely has not been rushed as a project from start to finish. It quite clearly was ready to open or it wouldn't have operated at all. It's a new ride, and something's obviously come up. It's not like it's exactly rare for this to happen to new rides.
 
Rode Hyperia yesterday.

Here are my thoughts...

The good:
  • The airtime is out of this world and the best I've experienced on any UK coaster
  • Outside banked turn, first drop and the stall are my favourite elements on any ride I've experienced
  • It strikes the right balance of enjoyable weightlessness and intensity
  • The station's interior is much better than I was expecting and comes with a very neat dispatch lighting/audio sequence, which creates a real sense of theatre. The station's interior looks much nicer in person, photographs and videos don't represent it in the best light... the styling in the station suits what is clearly a 'forge' for steel
  • The ride's duration doesn't feel too short given that its elements are superb
The not so good:
  • Chunks of Hyperia's styling look very cheap, the shop's exterior, Hyperia's station exterior and the bolted on and very flat looking Hyperia lettering on the entrance sign especially
  • 'Find Your Fearless' is just a bit... cheesy? The slogan would work better as "Find You're Fearless"
  • The coaster has a slight jiggle at the base of each of the larger elements, your body noticeably moves at these points, but it's not an overwhelming rattle or a sign of discomforting roughness, and it could be an after effect of the layout's profiling and intense forces
  • Fearless Valley's landscaping is too flat and generic for my liking.. a Valley could do with changes of ground elevation, some pleasant water features and specially created berms to bring a more naturalistic looking environment to life...
I am willing to overlook some of the ride's cons given just how good a coaster it is. Instantly a UK classic and my personal favourite at Thorpe Park and the UK as a whole. It has also entered the #5 position in my world Top 10 coasters.
 
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