[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

[Manchester1894]

Am I right in saying it's now ran on every day of the week for the first time?

I take full blame for this. Jinxed it haven't I?

 

[QTXAdsy]

Going to like how the Mack fanboys are going to defend Mack's honour now, haha.

For all those who bashed Icon for being crap...that thing thing works when it needs go do without fail for the most part and speaking of which, I bet PB are pissing themselves with laughter that they can boast to having the UK's tallest and most reliable coaster.

I'm telling you, you laughed at me when I said that the ghost of GT was out to prevent Hyperia from working properly, now look at what's been happening...there is an almighty spirit out to rain terror down on Merlin (even if they deserve it depending on who you ask.)

 

[dave___]

If the issue is not enough speed going into the outerbank turn, how is this something that could be even resolved? I can't see anywhere that they would be able to add any extra momentum unless they slapped a ballast cart on each train or something.

 

[Manchester1894]

Going to like how the Mack fanboys are going to defend Mack's honour now, haha.

For all those who bashed Icon for being crap...that thing thing works when it needs go do without fail for the most part and speaking of which, I bet PB are pissing themselves with laughter that they can boast to having the UK's tallest and most reliable coaster.

I'm telling you, you laughed at me when I said that the ghost of GT was out to prevent Hyperia from working properly, now look at what's been happening...there is an almighty spirit out to rain terror down on Merlin (even if they deserve it depending on who you ask.)

I bet Mack are hurting badly. The order sheet for their hypers just got smaller. Whereas the orders for Voltron type strykers has probably gone through the roof.

 

[Plastic Person]

I bet Mack are hurting badly. The order sheet for their hypers just got smaller. Whereas the orders for Voltron type strykers has probably gone through the roof.

Voltron has also stalled, albeit just before the official opening. And having ridden it, it is undoubtedly having engineering problems of it's own, given that at least one train is still battering passengers.

Still, the booster launch is superb. Perhaps Mack could retrofit one here?

 

[Josh555]

What is it with the "not ready to be opened" line coming in for a stall situation. Plenty of coasters have stalled once or multiple times in their live.

If running for a length of time without breaking was where things have opened too early Towers might as well have nothing open.



Not like B&M have had their rides have long term issues or stalled. This could foreseeably happen with many ride manufacturers.



In terms of booster wheels, with RtH the track in question is flat for most part. With this inverting turn that makes it far more difficult to implement.

It comes from the fact that of the almost 4 weeks of it being open it’s managed about 6 days of operation, plus an hour.

 

[Mykeprime]

If the issue is not enough speed going into the outerbank turn, how is this something that could be even resolved?

Rockets.

 

[Benzin]

It comes from the fact that of the almost 4 weeks of it being open it’s managed about 6 days of operation, plus an hour.

Week and a bit of that was the first breakdown, which was discussed at length at the time. And I don't think it bears any repetition of the discussion either.

It would never have opened to the public if testing wasn't completed to the degree required.

 

[Poisson]

Going to like how the Mack fanboys are going to defend Mack's honour now, haha.

For all those who bashed Icon for being crap...that thing thing works when it needs go do without fail for the most part and speaking of which, I bet PB are pissing themselves with laughter that they can boast to having the UK's tallest and most reliable coaster.

I'm telling you, you laughed at me when I said that the ghost of GT was out to prevent Hyperia from working properly, now look at what's been happening...there is an almighty spirit out to rain terror down on Merlin (even if they deserve it depending on who you ask.)

Spirits don't exist.

Back in the real world, Icon stalled as well. With coasters getting closer and closer to the cutting edge, I'm not surprised we are seeing stalls

 

[Mick]

I think with Hyperia it’s not so much the train stalling that’s a problem, but more the perception of one thing after another.

It had its big issue after one day of operations, following that reopened last week but on the Saturday (the first chance most would’ve had to return) it only ran for the first hour, and now this.

Each thing in isolation might be pretty common for a new coaster, but it’s been pretty relentless for a first month.

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

Spirits don't exist.

Back in the real world, Icon stalled as well. With coasters getting closer and closer to the cutting edge, I'm not surprised we are seeing stalls

What I have noticed is, there is an absolute fascination with new coasters trundling through elements at a point of almost stalling deliberately. On RCT we would normally lower the hill or raise the lift to get them through faster.

Just drop me off the top of the lift like Nemesis does and go through them with some speed. I have no desire to hang upside down slowly, find it uncomfortable on most rides anyway.

 

[Dave]

There must be a lot of regret starting to creep in with the higher ups at this point. Enthisiasts were screaming out for a B&M hyper before a Mack was on the table, said B&M would have fulfilled the brief and undoubtedly wouldn’t have Thorpe in this position of constant closures

I can imagine Merlin taking less if any risks when it comes to ride hardware going forward

B&M have plenty of downtime with new installs.

I don’t think Mack are going to worry too much about all this, as has already been said if stuff like this impacted the order sheets then Intamin would have gone bust years ago.

 

[Coaster]

Wind gusts were just 14 mph this morning

 

[Josh555]

Week and a bit of that was the first breakdown, which was discussed at length at the time. And I don't think it bears any repetition of the discussion either.

It would never have opened to the public if testing wasn't completed to the degree required.

Yeah a week and a bit of it was for the first breakdown, which happened within 24 hours of it being open, I’m not sure how that detracts from the point?

I cant personally remember a ride having this amount of downtime this soon after it’s opened, I think it’s reasonable to at least ask the question as to whether it was wise to open it at the point that it was opened.

 

[IanB]

Its an interesting discussion who is to blame for these issues.

Merlin have made a decision here to get the tallest ride in the UK, which has compromised the track length. Hyperia is half the length of notable HyperCoasters such as Fury325 and Millennium force. Even compared with the other Mack HyperCoasters this is the shortest they have built. It is also the tallest and fastest.

The questions that I have in my head is who designed the layout, and who signed it off? What discussions took place between Merlin and Mack during this process. Was the original plans that Merlin took to Mack for a longer ride, and when the cost came back, parts of the layout were cut to meet budget restraints. Could Mack of warned Merlin at this point that there could be issues and Merlin choose to carry on anyway, or have these issues come as a surprise to Mack due to the speed the train is going and the shortness of the track?

The Mack HyperCoasters have been around since 2016, so its not like it is brand new to Mack. Does anyone know if the Flash, DC Rivals HyperCoaster or Hyper Coaster (Lands of Legends really using their imagination on the name for that one) had any issues during their opening month?

We do not know the details of what went on in those discussions, so I do not think we can blame Mack or Merlin as being responsible. There is probably fault on both sides. There is every possibility Mack might not want to work with Merlin after this, as there is with Merlin not wanting to work with Mack, but I am sure they will collaborate in the future. I suspect in a couple of months once these issues are ironed out, they will be forgotten, and everyone will be happy we have a modern Mini HyperCoaster in the UK.

 

[Bennobo]

Maybe if we peel back that gold paint, it was called Icarus all along...

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

Train 1 on Hyperia hasn't returned to the Mack Hyper Coaster yet!

Check whether it is stuck or has stalled

 

[Smiley]

Poor design, possibly due to cost. Plain and simple. There is so much tech at their disposal, they could easily have installed a couple of LIMs if this was remotely an issue. Sensors could have detected the speed and given it a "push". On-board GPS could have predicted a stall before it happened.

Something has gone seriously wrong in the design, and I can't see any easy fix. They might crane the cars off and re-open (it will take a few days knowing Merlin). But if it stalls again, that's "GAME OVER" for quite a while. In the meantime I've sent a message to my friends Fred and Barney to see if they have any ideas!

Maybe if we peel back that gold paint, it was called Icarus all along...

Well if you name your park after "Thor" - the God of War and Thunder........

 

[tayspru]

B&M have plenty of downtime with new installs.

I don’t think Mack are going to worry too much about all this, as has already been said if stuff like this impacted the order sheets then Intamin would have gone bust years ago.

They struggle with their prototypes (I’m old enough to remember Air!), but as far as their hyper installs the only issue that comes to mind is the cracking on Fury (which was caused by the fabrication company) I don’t think any B&M hypers have ever stalled either.

I know people love Mack, but we simply would not be in this situation if they had gone for the full length B&M instead of the cut down layout we ended up with

 

[Islander]

On-board GPS could have predicted a stall before it happened.

This is surely not a thing lol, when speed can be so easily determined off-train.