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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

It’ll be funny seeing the amount of people freaking out over going upside down with only a lap bar holding you in on such a scale as Hyperia. Especially those in the south who may have never ridden Icon or Sik and have been conditioned to OTSR all their lives.

I can’t wait for all the media attention, this is going to be huge.

I wonder if they’ll defrost Konnie Huq for a pre opening ride!
 
Matt878787 said:
It’ll be funny seeing the amount of people freaking out over going upside down with only a lap bar holding you in on such a scale as Hyperia. Especially those in the south who may have never ridden Icon or Sik and have been conditioned to OTSR all their lives.

I can’t wait for all the media attention, this is going to be huge.

I wonder if they’ll defrost Konnie Huq for a pre opening ride!
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Hopefully it has the ol' Skyrush effect. Short queues all the time because everyone is terrified of it.
 
Matt878787 said:
It’ll be funny seeing the amount of people freaking out over going upside down with only a lap bar holding you in on such a scale as Hyperia. Especially those in the south who may have never ridden Icon or Sik and have been conditioned to OTSR all their lives.

I can’t wait for all the media attention, this is going to be huge.

I wonder if they’ll defrost Konnie Huq for a pre opening ride!
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I actually reckon that the restraints being overhead could possibly give off the illusion of the ride having an “over the shoulder restraint”, even though it doesn’t have OTSRs in the traditional sense.

Besides, we have things like Icon and Sik, and a little further South, we did once have G Force. We also had a number of looping Schwarzkopfs without OTSRs in the 1980s and 1990s.

I don’t think the average guest will be as fazed by the lack of a traditional OTSR as some think they might be, personally.
 
Personally, I reckon that the matter of people not responding well to a coaster that inverts without OTSRs is similar to how Merlin said for years that the public wouldn’t respond well to a wooden coaster.

My thought is that people wouldn’t give it as much thought as is made out. If people were shown an inverting ride without OTSRs, like Hyperia, then I think they would respond very positively and view it like any other ride. Icon and Sik haven’t had issues with this, to my knowledge.
 
I'll say what I said when they were building the Smiler, I honestly think no one will care! The first time they'll notice the restraints are different to the other rides at Thorpe Park is when they realise how much better they are!

Edit: Just like Matt said above, there was years of hysteria about wooden coasters not being popular. Then they built one, turns out no one actually cared.
 
I think a psychological element also comes into play. My father and brother won't go on a coaster with OTSRs, but they will go on coasters with lap bars. For them it's a psychological thing. "If I need to be bolted into my seat, can it really be that safe?".
 
Purely anecdotally I went to Orlando last year with a few friends and the fact that Velocicoaster has several inversions and a top hat element but only lap bars was something that two of the three other people that went on the ride with me both commented on and both said how they felt less secure and preferred OTSRs.

I suspect it's something that will become less and less of an issue in the UK as the technology becomes more common place but other than Icon, I'm not sure if there are any other large inverting coasters which don't have OTSR's? Meaning that you'd need to have been abroad to be familiar with them which the majority of people who are not enthusiasts will often not have done.

I think the feeling which most people feel uncomfortable with is the airtime/hangtime elements where you can feel the full weight of your thighs can be felt pressing against the restraints.

I can't imagine it will have enough of an affect on people's view of the ride to make a noticeable difference to the number of people wanting to ride it, however, but I do think it will be something that you hear commented on a lot in guest feedback as I suspect it will surprise a lot of people given the height and style of the ride.
 
Josh555 said:
I suspect it's something that will become less and less of an issue in the UK as the technology becomes more common place but other than Icon, I'm not sure if there are any other large inverting coasters which don't have OTSR's? Meaning that you'd need to have been abroad to be familiar with them which the majority of people who are not enthusiasts will often not have done.
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Sik at Flamingo Land is a clone of Colossus but with only lap bars.

I much prefer lap bars to OTSRs as I feel more free and less cramped. I have to admit the lap bars were very uncomfortable on Velocicoaster though, much preferred Iron Gwazi's lap bars, considering both coasters throw you about a lot.
 
Josh said:
Sik at Flamingo Land is a clone of Colossus but with only lap bars.

I much prefer lap bars to OTSRs as I feel more free and less cramped. I have to admit the lap bars were very uncomfortable on Velocicoaster though, much preferred Iron Gwazi's lap bars, considering both coasters throw you about a lot.
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I actually really like Velocicoaster's restraints, I think they're fine and far prefer them to OTSRs.

My point was more relating to the GP perception, which I suspect will be one of surprise that its a lapbar for such a large coaster.
 
I agree with Matt and Tim, I doubt the GP will care as much as we’re lead to believe. People may comment on it, but I imagine very few (if any) will refuse to ride it based on the restraints. Most people won’t realise until they are sat down!

At most there will be some hysterical Daily Mail article covering the horror of a lap bar.

This ride will be a hit regardless.
 
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