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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

There seems to be another increasing habit of repeated digs at influencers/other sites/Youtube accounts at the moment and it’s becoming a tad petty.

Firstly, please keep things on topic. As I’ve mentioned before, if you want to provide a proper counter argument to someone’s information then feel free. But simply posting to dig at someone/some site/Youtube channel/social media account isn’t relevant whatsoever to discussion about Hyperia. Read the post and respond appropriately or just scroll on by instead.

Also, another reminder of our member expectations

Respect for the wider community​

Just like our own members, we think other communities out there and their members should be treated how you’d like to be treated by them in return – courteously and respectfully. After all, we all share the same passion of loving theme parks and rides, we just all have a different way of showing it.

And that’s why we ask you to remain respectful and courteous towards other communities whilst on our forums, across our social media, or even on meet ups. Of course we know there will be discussion and perhaps even praise or criticism for others thoughts, ideas and ways – but we ask you to remain respectful and rational, otherwise you may see your posting rights affected again… and we really dislike doing that too, as it happens.

Just remember – treat people how you’d like to be treated, and you (hopefully!) shouldn’t go wrong!
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And finally, touching on posting rumours briefly too as well. Obviously social media is full of wild theories and guesses as to what’s going on at the moment, some of it ridiculously stupid and far fetched. If you are going to post a rumour, then please take time to consider how realistic said rumour is. Is it too daft to be true? Is there anything seen on park to back it up? Have others reported the same thing?

We don’t want to prevent people from posting rumours, but when it comes to a new ride that’s getting so much attention at the moment - just have a think before posting. Just a bit of common sense is all that’s required. Thanks :)
 
They should probably come out and give some sort of general idea of what is wrong. Just to settle the rumours and the scaremongering about safety. Unless of course it is something that is unsafe.

Doesn’t have to be specific, just more than the usual Merlin silence surrounding events like this.

Either way, what an awful start for the ride and awful couple of weeks for Thorpe which should have been the biggest in their history.
 
It would appear that Thorpe may be giving additional information soon on why Hyperia is closed:


On a separate note, a photo was circulating of drive tires being added to the top of the outer bank, but this has been confirmed to be fake. I just wanted to clarify that in case anyone posts it on here worried that they are slowing it down or something.

Let’s make it clear that they are not adding drive tires to the outerbank or making any other attempt to slow it down, to the best of our current knowledge!
 
Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I personally think the park owe safety first, and a degree of clear communication second to their visitors. They don't owe any enthusiasts a technical explanation as to what has unexpectedly gone awry with their new ride.

In lieu of having any good new rides to promote for the past twelve years, Thorpe have had to practice the technique of fostering a close relationship with their fans on social media. To be fair, they have managed this successfully enough, but the result of such a huge investment arriving after so long seems to be a weird sense of angst and entitlement.

I still think it would be funny if it now never opened again, with the 10000 or so people who ever rode it becoming the thoosie equivelanr of the fifteen people at the first Sex Pistols gig at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester.
 
Makes you wonder why they don't do soft openings for these kinds of rides. Chances are it breaks during them and they don't get the bad publicity and fake news surrounding it. You can still have an official opening day when it's ready. Just seems a rushed opening to me.
 
Plastic Person said:
Unpopular opinion perhaps, but I personally think the park owe safety first, and a degree of clear communication second to their visitors. They don't owe any enthusiasts a technical explanation as to what has unexpectedly gone awry with their new ride.

In lieu of having any good new rides to promote for the past twelve years, Thorpe have had to practice the technique of fostering a close relationship with their fans on social media. To be fair, they have managed this successfully enough, but the result of such a huge investment arriving after so long seems to be a weird sense of angst and entitlement.

I still think it would be funny if it now never opened again, with the 10000 or so people who ever rode it becoming the thoosie equivelanr of the fifteen people at the first Sex Pistols gig at the Free Trade Hall in Manchester.
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Completely agree. As much as I would be very interested to know the technical details of the problem, Thorpe shouldn't have to tell everyone and aren't obliged to. Think people are forgetting that Thorpe are as gutted as everyone that Hyperia has had to shut, and are desperately trying their best to get it back open as soon as possible.
 
At the moment it’s the worlds tallest (and fastest!) white elephant.

Just finished my first ever visit to Thorpe, was booked as a Xmas present so way in advance of the opening date being announced so I’m not too disheartened at missing out on it although of course would’ve loved to ride.

The one thing that will be the absolute worst for PR is if that date keeps being pushed back, it might’ve been better if they gave a more vague ‘for the foreseeable future’ or ‘expected to be closed until mid June’ etc
 
Benzin said:
I believe that award goes to TT2.

They'll never explain in clear terms what the actual issue is. They don't have to. And most people wouldn't understand technical jargon and it would potentially put more damage onto the park's reputation.

Don't need anymore armchair engineers.
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Yep fair point 😂

And agreed, also to the disappointed park- goer who had a wasted trip it doesn’t really matter if part A or part B failed, they still missed out on riding it.

As said, I’d have probably gone even vaguer than they have by not specifying a target date, that’s only setting themselves up for more criticism if there’s a further delay or unforeseen issue. It’s had its grand opening, now it should just reopen when it’s ready on the day, imo.
 
It's an interesting discussion. They don't have to explain what's happening, but should they? I honestly don't know. I don't spend much time following parks on social media so I don't know how normal that would be. The one that comes to mind is Oakwood, where they used their blog and social media channels to provide quite a bit of information about what was happening with Speed when it had a problem:

Speed's Speedy Recovery Plan | Oakwood Theme Park

Speed is a little under the weather at the moment, here’s a sneak peak behind Speed’s rehabilitation programme
www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk

That's never been Merlin's style, but aside from the Oakwood example I've mentioned, how much information do parks and operators typically provide about why their rides aren't working? When parks have provided more information about why a ride's having problems, has it been well received on social media, or has it created more problems? Like I say, I don't use social media to follow parks, and PR really isn't my area. But if anyone has expertise and actual examples, it'd be interesting to have the comparison.
 
Mykeprime said:
I think they owe a full explanation for the people that booked trips for it if nothing else. Once they're certain what it is of course.
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I believe Alice is in the process of recording a new information video to address the closure. Maybe it will cover the issue itself or offer an apology/visual explanation of what to do if you need to cancel or... all of the above!
 
I think a general video to apologise and explain the reasoning for the delay is sometimes a good option purely from a communications/customer service perspective. But I certainly wouldn’t expect them to go explaining say x part has worn out/been damaged so it needs replacing - that can create more questions than answers. There’s a very fine line between providing just enough information to calm people complaining/questioning, versus adding more fuel to the fire for the rumour mill to keep on churning.
 
Funcone said:
It's an interesting discussion. They don't have to explain what's happening, but should they? I honestly don't know. I don't spend much time following parks on social media so I don't know how normal that would be. The one that comes to mind is Oakwood, where they used their blog and social media channels to provide quite a bit of information about what was happening with Speed when it had a problem:

Speed's Speedy Recovery Plan | Oakwood Theme Park

Speed is a little under the weather at the moment, here’s a sneak peak behind Speed’s rehabilitation programme
www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk www.oakwoodthemepark.co.uk

That's never been Merlin's style, but aside from the Oakwood example I've mentioned, how much information do parks and operators typically provide about why their rides aren't working? When parks have provided more information about why a ride's having problems, has it been well received on social media, or has it created more problems? Like I say, I don't use social media to follow parks, and PR really isn't my area. But if anyone has expertise and actual examples, it'd be interesting to have the comparison.
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It is an interesting question, and I guess the question is what is wrong and how hard would it be to explain to your average guest, if the park are open and say what happens, it could go really well and people accept the problem and understand why it happens, but it could also turn into a problem since people may think the ride is problematic or unsafe since it broke so early, it isn't but it is the perspective that it may.
 
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