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[2024] Thorpe Park: Hyperia - Mack Hypercoaster

GooseOnTheLoose said:
The main issue with IP is longevity. The majority of evergreen IPs have gone and it's extremely difficult to predict the next big one. You've used Jumanji as an example and rightly pointed out it's rather a weak choice, which it is, considering that the last film in the franchise was quite a bit ago now (5 years ago). When the World of Jumanji was being designed and consulted on though it was a hot IP. It takes many years from concept to realisation and with how flash in the pan a franchise can be IPs are always risky and you end up with areas, or rides, that seem dated. Angry Birds would be a good example.
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There is a new Jumanji film be to released in late 2024/ early 2025. It’s far from a dead franchise and probably one of the more relevant IP’s Merlin have been able to get hold of. Like you say, Angry Birds was dead before they opened it.
 
AT86 said:
There is a new Jumanji film be to released in late 2024/ early 2025. It’s far from a dead franchise and probably one of the more relevant IP’s Merlin have been able to get hold of. Like you say, Angry Birds was dead before they opened it.
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They secured the rights during the first reboot film, when Sony announced that it would be a three picture pickup. 2017, 2019 and 2021. Unfortunately COVID happened and production sort of faltered on everything. The current hold up is a clash with Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson's shooting schedule (according to screenrant).

It's worth noting though that Jumanji 4 doesn't have a title, a release date and hasn't even started filming yet. I'm sure that the film will come at some point, but it's been out of the zeitgeist for a while. Whilst it's not dead in the water, without the churn of recent films to keep Jumanji alive in the mind of fickle people with short attention spans, it's already a bit dated.

With all of that said, none of that was Merlin's fault. When they signed the deal for the attractions there was every plan to keep churning out Jumanji films, but it does nicely show that IPs aren't always guaranteed smashes.
 
Things like Angry Birds, Derren Brown and Jumanji are such obviously short term IPs you have to wonder what they were thinking. It would be the equivalent of making Hyperia a Fortnite ride. Jumanji at least has history and the theming can remain relevant. Peppa Pig World meanwhile is in its 13th year and as popular as ever, to the point that it probably single handedly determines the parks fortunes. And of course Legoland is a park entirely built on a very versatile legacy IP.

But i do think strong original theming can be almost as powerful, you only have to look at the likes of Nemesis or Vampire and how beloved they are. Very difficult to replicate with a hypercoaster of course.
 
AT86 said:
I struggle to see how they can make the business case for a full blown hotel stack up at Thorpe Park.

The fact the park is shut for nearly 5 months out of 12 with no other draw for people to stay out of season it would struggle to pay its way.

The traditional option of pushing corporate events during quiet times has significantly reduced since covid, that market has dropped a lot because companies just do a giant zoom call now.

Since Merlin are planning on spending £30million on a new water park at Chessington only 10 miles away I can’t see there being enough demand for 2 water parks in such close proximity, so that rules out that option.

I think they are just better off focusing on being a solid day park, with a few rooms for the minority of guests that have a desire to stay over.
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True, and of course Chessington originally partnered with Holiday Inn to try and get more out-of-season business. I expect if Thorpe did go for a full hotel then it would just be shut when the theme park is closed over the winter, which then makes staff retention harder.

It would be better for them to re-look at the current accommodation offering and improve it or maybe add some glamping type options. Even just keeping the beach area open into the summer evenings for those staying on site to enjoy would add more reason to given them the money instead of another hotel.
 
I said at the time and stick by it now that Jumanji was a stupid IP Idea. It's not whacking some incredibly cheap theming up like Angry birds, that you can just slop primary colours all over (which is exactly what they are doing) when the IP runs out. They've incorporated it into the whole build of the area Jumanji land. The foliage hasn't even fully grown yet and it's already an IP that's in its twilight years. If they do make a fourth movie, by the time it's on terrestrial TV it'll likely be dead.

I don't think you can go wrong with the likes of Julia Donaldson, Cbeebies, or Peppa Pig. They'll probably stand the test of time with a few updates here and there. Cbeebies Land has a Postman Pat ride, an IP that I know well from when I was a toddler in the 80's!

That said, Thorpe have been incredibly lucky with Saw which seems like there's no end to it. Saw X came out in the Autumn and Saw 11 is in the works. The irony being that it's probably one of the easiest Merlin IP's in the UK to remove from an existing ride once the cheap paint job has dried on Angry Birds land.
 
As others have said, I don’t see Thorpe ever becoming a true resort. That’s covered by AT and Chessie.

It’s definitely a day trip park, which I would assume relies mainly on people from the London area visiting regularly.

It doesn’t have a great rep, aside from coasters there ain’t a lot going for it (less than AT!) - and as an enthusiast it just doesn’t get me going.

It’s certainly the weakest of the Merlin offering and I can’t see that changing soon. For me it’s the one park they are most likely to dispose of.

Bringing it on topic, I can’t see Break Run changing much. Yeh it’s a UK record holder but i have to be honest, i am not arsed by it. For me as an old man now it’s a long way to travel to a park with no soul to be around morons.

AT, for now, seems to have less morons and still a bit more atmosphere and I think will get better. We are seeing the improvements. Chessie last season was a vast improvement, still a long way to go though.
 
I can get beer and kebabs without the travel.

Each to their own, and the thought of kipping in the Volvo is a tempting one. But this ride just doesn’t do it for me.
 
Bowser said:
Things like Angry Birds, Derren Brown and Jumanji are such obviously short term IPs you have to wonder what they were thinking. It would be the equivalent of making Hyperia a Fortnite ride. Jumanji at least has history and the theming can remain relevant. Peppa Pig World meanwhile is in its 13th year and as popular as ever, to the point that it probably single handedly determines the parks fortunes. And of course Legoland is a park entirely built on a very versatile legacy IP.

But i do think strong original theming can be almost as powerful, you only have to look at the likes of Nemesis or Vampire and how beloved they are. Very difficult to replicate with a hypercoaster of course.
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Sorry but Jumanji is an IP that has existing for over 30 years, how is it short term? You don’t need active films being released for an IP to be successful on the theme park stage.

Even Derren Brown is a long standing brand, that ride failed because the ride was bad not because DB brand was poor.

Angry Birds is a good example of getting an IP after the shine has gone however.
 
Dave said:
Sorry but Jumanji is an IP that has existing for over 30 years, how is it short term?
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Maybe short term isn't the right phrase but it was essentially a dead brand till the recent reboot, not an ongoing franchise with spin-offs or a "universe" and will very likely return to that when/if the final film of the planned reboots is released. I think it's very unlikely in 10 years time that children will be clamouring to visit Chessington because they have a Jumanji area.
 
Bowser said:
Maybe short term isn't the right phrase but it was essentially a dead brand till the recent reboot, not an ongoing franchise with spin-offs or a "universe" and will very likely return to that when/if the final film of the planned reboots is released. I think it's very unlikely in 10 years time that children will be clamouring to visit Chessington because they have a Jumanji area.
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No ride has people clamouring to visit 10yrs after its installation IP or no IP, doesn’t mean people don’t enjoy the ride or the theme (nostalgia is often very popular hence why Peter Pan is still popular at Disney).
 
Dave said:
No ride has people clamouring to visit 10yrs after its installation IP or no IP, doesn’t mean people don’t enjoy the ride or the theme (nostalgia is often very popular hence why Peter Pan is still popular at Disney).
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I think people specifically visit parks like Disney and Universal both because the IP are timeless and the quality of rides is long lasting. Many people wait decades to fulfil this.

In terms of the UK specifically, children wanting to go to Legoland passes between generations. I'd argue The Gruffalo and Peppa Pig rides have achieved that too but i don't believe Jumanji will as a theme. Fortunately it's centred round an excellent rollercoaster not reliant on the theming so it's not really an issue.

We're probably deviating too much from the topic which is my fault (happy to continue discussing if there's a more relevant thread) but to take it back, Hyperia doesn't need an IP because it's a spectacular rollercoaster but i maintain that a long lasting one, be it franchised IP or original would be very beneficial.
 
Bowser said:
Fortunately it's centred round an excellent rollercoaster not reliant on the theming so it's not really an issue.
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Aware that I'm risking going further off topic here but, er what? Are we talking about Mandrill Mayhem here?

It's literally built around a giant themed statue that would be very hard to repurpose or remove, and the cars themselves are monkey heads. Surely a retheme would be nigh on impossible?

Plus "excellent coaster" seems rather generous. It's ... fine.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Aware that I'm risking going further off topic here but, er what? Are we talking about Mandrill Mayhem here?

It's literally built around a giant themed statue that would be very hard to repurpose or remove, and the cars themselves are monkey heads. Surely a retheme would be nigh on impossible?

Plus "excellent coaster" seems rather generous. It's ... fine.
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I meant more in terms of the theming having no impact on the ride experience. If you don't like Peppa Pig then most of those rides are very basic, being surrounded by the characters you recognise is integral.

Excellent is subjective, my son adores it so that's good enough for me and it's one of my favourites we've experienced in the UK.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Aware that I'm risking going further off topic here but, er what? Are we talking about Mandrill Mayhem here?

It's literally built around a giant themed statue that would be very hard to repurpose or remove, and the cars themselves are monkey heads. Surely a retheme would be nigh on impossible?

Plus "excellent coaster" seems rather generous. It's ... fine.
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Wouldn’t the train be fairly easy to retheme? I could be wrong but I just assumed that the Mandrill on each row was essentially just a decorative element on top a generic train.

Sure, it may not be cheap to eventually replace them with something else and but it seems doable. I mean if Shockwave can survive by having its standing train changed to a seated one then I’m sure that in say 15 years time or whenever it’s time for Mandrill Mayhem to be rethemed it will be a competitive doddle to refresh them.

As for the structure in the middle, thinking back to the construction pictures of it taking shape, I think it would again be fairly simple to do something with that when World Of Jumanji becomes the Lost Jungle or whatever generic tropical land it becomes. The SBF Visa rides will probably be knackered by then anyway and need replacing.
 
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Hyperia’s dive loop has now been completed, and the first lift hill track piece has gone in:

I reckon we could be seeing track completed in no time at all! There’s only the lift hill left to build now…
 
Matt N said:
Hyperia’s dive loop has now been completed, and the first lift hill track piece has gone in:

I reckon we could be seeing track completed in no time at all! There’s only the lift hill left to build now…
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Didn't 3 weeks for the lift hill get mentioned a few days ago? So probably another 2-3 weeks yet.

But, yes we're certainly in the final stretch now. Exciting times.
 
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