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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

Honestly I think the whole #1 discussion is unhelpful and kinda pointless, everyone has their own preferences. I much prefer themed rides that tell a story (both for the overall experience and I like to see how engineering and artistry are combined), so Hyperia won't come anywhere near the top for me.

Trying to force a consensus on "#1" and telling people they're wrong if they don't agree feels a bit snobby. Doesn't help that it's pushed by marketing teams.
 
Agreed. There’s a lot in play - not only personal preference and experience, but also body type and sensitivity and all sorts of other things. Fine to say why you think something is #1, but if someone else disagrees that’s their opinion and not right or wrong, just different to yours.
 
tayspru said:
The irony that they have ranked Shambhala - a hyper with immersive theming - higher !
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Shambhala has the unthemed cattlepen, but its plaza is themed, which does't make Shambhala an 'immersive' coaster. Iimmersive rides cast you, the rider, as a character in a more immediate story, Uncharted is an example of an immersive coaster (just not a very good one at the 'immersive' part of course). :)

There is a good argument that Hyperia's station is slightly immersive given the show sequence.
Shambhala's plaza has more theming than most hyper coasters do, but the majority of them are not themed. Shambhala's ride area is not themed, apart from the tunnel.

Admittedly, I've also had the luxury of lapping Shambhala more than Hyperia, I've ridden it at least eight times, so naturally I tend to rate coasters higher when I've had more than two rides on them. 😜

I do agree that Hyperia could have done with more stylistic detailing and enhanced landscaping around its queue line and area. Fearless Valley is very flat, it would've felt more authentic as a naturalistic area with a mix of berms, water features, statues etc.. which wouldn't have made it a themed coaster, but it would have been a lot more presentable in a way that would bring it more in line with some of the most well presented coasters in Europe.
 
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Pharaoh said:
Yeah, recency and exclusivity bias are definitely coming into play. I’d add that given how long it’s been since Thorpe’s last coaster, a lot was riding on this coaster being a UK #1.

The coaster influencer marketing strategy has obviously worked very well for the Merlin parks for the last few years, but I do wonder if the parks will at some point dump it entirely or pivot to different types of influencers - such as parenting influencers - who don’t pick apart every action they take in microscopic detail. Managing all these accounts pumping out info about Hyperia downtime must be fairly exhausting.
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It was interesting how Towers didn't invite coaster/theme park vloggers to Nemesis' press night, but just more mainstream "lifestyle" Instagram/YouTube influencers. I guess that was to get the word out to the wider audience as it would've been pointless inviting enthusiasts - after all you're not a true enthusiast if you didn't know Nemesis was being retracked!

Perhaps Thorpe could've done it that way with Hyperia instead of looking on YouTube for any vlogger with a Thorpe Park video and inviting them!! That would've taken a lot of the exclusivity away in enthusiasts circles (admittedly that was only magnified because of the 1 day of operation on opening weekend!)
 
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I obviously haven’t done it yet, but personally, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see Hyperia end up as my favourite UK coaster. I think it’s got quite a good chance.

Coasters over 200ft generally tend to be a winner for me (of the ones I’ve ridden, the only notable exception to that is The Big One… even Stealth, my 5th favourite out of the 6, is still my #11, and the other 4 are all in my top 10), and coasters with good airtime/negative g’s also tend to be a real winner for me, so I’d like to think Hyperia might have a strong chance at ranking highly for me! It is probably one of my most anticipated new-to-me coasters this year, and I’m heading in with reasonably high hopes!

For reference, my current UK favourite is Wicker Man at my #8 spot (although it was Icon until a recent series of sublime rides on Wicker). Nemesis Reborn is #15 for me, being my UK #6 and my Alton Towers #3.

While some say that Hyperia’s lack of heavy theming is a detractor for them, I don’t think it will particularly bother me. I tend to rank coasters more on their track and train ride experience than their theming; if you look at my top 10, plenty of rides in there don’t have overly heavy theming or storytelling. Iron Gwazi, Ice Breaker and SheiKra certainly don’t, and Mako, Silver Star and Icon only have incredibly loose theming/styling.
 
I think for the park inviting enthusiasts and theme park vloggers to press nights ensures the trains will be going round filled with excited people whilst any interviews with Merlin types and invited celebs are filmed in front of the ride.

Invite a load of people who vaguely like theme parks and they might go on it once before heading back to the free drinks and food.
 
John_P said:
I think for the park inviting enthusiasts and theme park vloggers to press nights ensures the trains will be going round filled with excited people whilst any interviews with Merlin types and invited celebs are filmed in front of the ride.

Invite a load of people who vaguely like theme parks and they might go on it once before heading back to the free drinks and food.
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But doesn't that say something about Merlin's/ Thorpe's potential lack of confidence in the ride at that point? Especially when Towers did the exact opposite with Nemesis just 2 months previous?
 
Steve74 said:
But doesn't that say something about Merlin's/ Thorpe's potential lack of confidence in the ride at that point? Especially when Towers did the exact opposite with Nemesis just 2 months previous?
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Two different parks that are clearly currently looking at capturing different markets with who they invited to the media nights.

If anything surely it showed Thorpe Parks belief in Hyperia them inviting so many theme park youtubers to the media night.
 
One moment I liked about my first ride that's just come back to me is that first drop experience. Any steep drop on any coaster I've ridden usually have some shiny aluminium tread plate in the carriage ( sometimes at a 45 degree angle). I usually get my feet as high as possible on it so when I go over it's like I'm standing on something. As I went to the top of the Hyperia lift hill my natural instinct was to put my feet on something. I looked down and realised that I was dangling 😂 It's little things like that make me enjoy the experience a lot.

Due to the worst weather Hyperia has had during that above episode, I couldn't see for getting whipped in the face by rain and I think I was wetter than Tidal Wave. I felt in shock but probably had the most unique ride anyone has had.

The second time I did it, the weather was gorgeous and hands were up. However the stall did make me do a squeeze with my legs (like me clinging on with them for dear life). When I got off I felt like my hammy's were a bit sore. This was another bizarre experience to that made me laugh.

It'll be interesting seeing people's opinions later on this year that ride it in 40MPH winds and or very low temps towards winter.
 
The parks are obsessed with influencers across the board. Can be the only reason 90% of their Instagram stories are reposts of some random visiting the park.

Shocked the "new ride is the best" has come to pass. Like every other ride in the world.
 
I’m in the somewhat unique position (at least on this forum) in that I haven’t been on any rollercoaster opened in the UK since around 2006 with a height restriction over 1.3m (I have been on everything up to Stealth but haven’t been on anything from Oblivion onwards).

Hopefully when my son is tall enough I’ll be able to do them all in quick succession and give a fairly unbiased view.

Unfortunately that’s probably a few years off, thank you for your patience in this difficult time.
 
Bowser said:
I’m in the somewhat unique position (at least on this forum) in that I haven’t been on any rollercoaster opened in the UK since around 2006 with a height restriction over 1.3m (I have been on everything up to Stealth but haven’t been on anything from Oblivion onwards).

Hopefully when my son is tall enough I’ll be able to do them all in quick succession and give a fairly unbiased view.

Unfortunately that’s probably a few years off, thank you for your patience in this difficult time.
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May I ask - how come ? Long time without a coaster ! :)
 
This conversation around UK #1s, biases and such is quite an interesting debate, as I think there are really so many factors that play into it.

For starters, it all depends on what sort of ride you like. If you’re into airtime-based experiences and love a good hyper (like me!) then I’d like to think that Hyperia has a fairly good chance of being your top UK coaster. But if you’re more into positives, then something like Nemesis is likely to still be more your cup of tea.

Biases is also an interesting point to consider. Someone further up the thread mentioned that this particular site leans pro-Alton and pro-Europa, which I think is an interesting point to consider. This is not a bad thing, and not through the fault of any individuals by any means, but I think it’s fair to say that this site, being an Alton Towers and Europa Park fan site, may not necessarily have an entirely unbiased view on some rides, to some degree. While TS seems more subdued than other internet sources on Hyperia, I’d say that it isn’t on Nemesis Reborn and definitely isn’t on Voltron. My point is that you may have less folks on here raving about Hyperia and declaring it their new UK #1 because there may be more nostalgia and love around these parts for Nemesis, for example, than there is elsewhere on the internet. Like I say, this is not a bad thing and not the fault of any individuals on here, but I think it’s just inherent in the fact that we are a site centred around two specific parks (Alton and Europa). If you go on, say, Thorpe Park Mania, that will probably lean the other way to some degree, as that site is bound to have a bit of a pro-Thorpe bias from being Thorpe-centred.

It is interesting how it varies so much; I’ve seen a good few saying that they prefer Hyperia to Voltron (not so much on here, but definitely elsewhere), and I’ve seen others saying that Hyperia isn’t as good as Icon, or The Big One.
 
Matt N said:
This is not a bad thing, and not through the fault of any individuals by any means, but I think it’s fair to say that this site, being an Alton Towers and Europa Park fan site, may not necessarily have an entirely unbiased view on some rides, to some degree.
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This is very much a thing. It's not necessarily bias based on "my park is the best and everything else is crap" - I think it's based more on what being a fan of AT or Europa says about what the enthusiast values.

I'd argue that a fan of either park is most likely a fan of themed, complete-package experiences, with limited interest in height, or speed etc.

The "UKs Number 1" thing is all a bit pointless anyway. It's not really measurable. All you can ever really know is how other people individually rate it...which tells you nothing about how you, or anyone else will.

People get a bit obsessed with their being a "best" everything, best TV show, best game, best film...and often seem a bit shocked when there isn't a clear, 100% consensus. It's like they haven't had that moment of realising they're an individual, and everyone thinks, perceives and feels differently to how they do.

It can get a bit tedious - it pops up often on here - "I don't believe anyone can like x y or z" surrounded by posts of people going "I like x y or z". Some people simply won't like Hyperia, some people will think it's the greatest ride on earth. There'll be lots of people in-between.

It isn't a failure of Thorpe to not convert the entire population, it isn't unfortunate that it isn't universally adored. It's all fine.
 
Believe it or not, 1 month since official opening day. By the looks of it, Thorpe Park aren't opening Hyperia until midday today (app and in-park screens). Worth keeping an eye to whether this becomes a trend this week given recent issues and for queue management.
 
Jb85 said:
May I ask - how come ? Long time without a coaster ! :)
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Once I stopped going on family holidays I didn’t really go to many theme parks, not because I stopped enjoying them but other interests and life took over. It’s only since having my son and his love for them that my childhood passion has been reignited (though I did go to Thorpe Park for my stag do hence got on Stealth and Nemesis).

So now we go regularly but I’m limited by his height restriction. Have a fellow dad in a similar situation and as we are both MAP holders we are planning to sneak to TP just for Hyperia if we can find a quiet moment this year.
 
Nervous of the late opening.

Heading down south for hyperia on Friday,

My plan was to go to thorpe AM, do hyperia then head to Chessington. Would I be better doing chessie first then head to thorpe in the afternoon? Poop.
 
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