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RIP Ripsaw

The Smiler's theme was actually quite good on paper, and had a hell of a lot of potential. It was out of Merlin Studios hands when major ground problems came into it and ate up the budget. They couldn't exactly magic money to create all the planned theming.
 
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If the acting was not over the top. Then it would be a better experience, shouting is not being military.

Anyway back to the topic. Who thinks ripsaw will be replaced before seasons start?
 
Yeah I love Sub-Terra apart from the shouting and verbal abuse (admittedly it did calm down from when the ride first opened).

Ripsaw being replaced this season? Never going to happen. We would at least have rumours circulating on this forum if that were true. I wouldn't rule out something happening in 2017 though. Forbidden Valley will be one flat down, Dark Forest and X Sector are both desperate to have flat/filler rides... I don't think that can be ignored. There needs to be some midway attractions to break up the bigger rides.
 
Love sub terra, shame I've only been on twice, would have been perfect time filler at scarefest when I had 10 minutes until my maze slot but duel was down.

If towers were getting a replacement, we'd know (or have rumours) by now. Tbh, they'd probably just leave it in the car park for a few weeks before they put it in. Do you need planning permission for flats? We would have seen it by now for a replacement (that is if it's needed)
 
Personally in 2017 if I was towers I would add two or three fairly cheap flat rides and they can all be marketed as loads of new rides.

A bit like Thorpe a few years back when they added loads at once.

I would have one in X-Sector on submission site, one in valley either replacing blade or ripsaw and then one for the dark forest.
 
djtruefitt said:
Personally in 2017 if I was towers I would add two or three fairly cheap flat rides and they can all be marketed as loads of new rides.

A bit like Thorpe a few years back when they added loads at once.
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Yeah it's a good plan, that has worked at Thorpe Park. They added Detonator, Vortex and Zodiac all in 2001, and added Slammer and Rush in 2005. They even introduced Quantum alongside Nemesis Inferno in 2003. Until recently Thorpe Park fairly consistently added flat rides alongside their major coaster investment cycle.

Alton Towers for the longest time has not built anything but roller coasters, and the parks ride lineup suffers for that. The flat rides that are there are not really very inspiring compared to whats available at parks with more modern and popular flats. A visit to Alton Towers for the average guest in recent years has consisted of "check off the 6/7 rollercoasters and done". I think people are crying out for more from their day experience than that.

Thorpe Park has almost as many major rollercoasters as Alton Towers, but it's line up of flat rides makes Alton Towers seem embarrassing. Alton Towers is meant to be the UKs "big" theme park, but where are all the rides? Tiny little waterlocked Thorpe Park seems to have a more complete lineup, especially with a big new dark ride launching this year.

If I was in Towers position, I would be looking at adding 4 or 5 flat rides over the next 3 years, alongside a rollercoaster in 2018. Give people a reason to come back other than just 1 new ride. There are plenty of great places to locate them all. A completely new modern dark ride to replace CatCF would be nice, but I won't get my hopes up. If Thorpe Parks new ride proves a success I'm sure they might be persuaded.
 
I must admit as much as I have a soft spot for the history of towers and its closer to home I thought Thorpe had a better mix of rides send because it's far more compact makes for a better day out. Towers needs to up its game, stop building hotels and sort out the rides.
 
phildenholm said:
I must admit as much as I have a soft spot for the history of towers and its closer to home I thought Thorpe had a better mix of rides send because it's far more compact makes for a better day out. Towers needs to up its game, stop building hotels and sort out the rides.
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I always think the opposite, that Thorpe doesn't have a good mix of rides. On a quiet day its possible to ride all the thrill rides quiet quickly and start feeling sick. Whereas at Alton Towers it feels like there are more slow-paced rides. The new dark ride at Thorpe should help round-out the line-up though.
Generally I have some of the best days at Chessington on a weekday.
 
I always compare the ride lineup to my first ever visit. 2002, on a school trip and it was so busy we didn't do any coasters apart from 2 rides on corkscrew. We filled the day with water rides and flat rides. Can you imagine if someone tried to do that now? It'd take two hours, tops.

I'll miss ripsaw, much like bone shaker and Dynamo... I doubt we'll see a replacement flat for it anytime soon.
 
In terms of comparing the two parks, here's what the 2016 lineup will comprise of (based on news & rumours):

Thorpe park
Leading attractions 5 coasters & a dark ride (average throughout 1100)
Supporting attractions 2 smaller coasters, 10 flats, a drop tower & 4 water rides
Other attractions 1 walk through & a4D cinema
Relaxing/non ride areas Sunken Garden & that hill near the dome
Breakdown ride level 4- severe

Alton Towers
Leading attractions 6 coasters (one of which is getting a heavy re-theme) & CBeebies Land
Supporting attractions RMT, Spinball, Congo, Battle Galleons, Duel
Other attractions 5 flat rides, Sky ride, Sharkbair Reef, 2 shows & a 4D cinema
Relaxing/non ride areas Towers Ruins, The Gardens
Breakdown level 3- adequate

Whilst Thorpe have more filler attractions, Towers still offer more all round additions, not to mention higher throughputs too, where towers supporting rides likely average 700 pph whilst Thorpe's only do 500 PPH. In addition to this, there's more places to go if Towers is busy compared to Thorpe where if there's 18k guests at Thorpe, the park will be packed, but Towers will be moderately busy in comparison.

However for Thorpe's tiny size which is around 25-30 acres to Towers's 500+ acres it does quite well in all fairness.
 
Do people not think the root of a lot of Thorpe Park's reliability issues come back to the fact that they have so many flat rides? Flat rides are often more difficult to maintain than a coaster - you need to throw a lot of resource at something that is less marketable (and merchandisable), has less throughput and less opportunities to create additional revenue.

You'll note that the installations at Thorpe have been very different since Merlin took over.
 
Rick said:
You'll note that the installations at Thorpe have been very different since Merlin took over.
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Thats also because Tussauds tried to split Thorpe and Chessington to appeal to different markets and very quickly removed thrill rides at Chessington (Samurai) and adding loads of flat rides at Thorpe within a few years. But then they realised that only appealling to Thirll-seekers attracted too many young trouble makers and are trying to change the park again to something a little more well-rounded.
 
Thorpe has better thrill rides and a good mix for adults other than coasters. However towers has a better all round mix for all ages, plus more inside and relaxing attractions.

If towers added a few modern flat rides then it would be the perfect mix.
 
I don't think its so much to do with the type of rides Thorpe as, but more to do with the area - i.e. London just around the corner !
 
jon81uk said:
Thats also because Tussauds tried to split Thorpe and Chessington to appeal to different markets and very quickly removed thrill rides at Chessington (Samurai) and adding loads of flat rides at Thorpe within a few years. But then they realised that only appealling to Thirll-seekers attracted too many young trouble makers and are trying to change the park again to something a little more well-rounded.
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This isn't quite the full story. Thorpe's younger visitors simply don't spend much money compared to families visiting Alton, Thorpe and Legoland. Merlin would happily accommodate any troublemakers helping them balance the books. They definitely went too far, though, essentially now having to rebrand and reposition the park twice within two decades.
 
GaryH said:
I don't think its so much to do with the type of rides Thorpe as, but more to do with the area - i.e. London just around the corner !
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It's even easier to get from London Waterloo to Chessington though (you can walk from Chessington South station) and that doesn't attract the same crowd as Thorpe does.


But yes as @Plastic Person said its more to do with the money that families spend.
 
GaryH said:
I don't think its so much to do with the type of rides Thorpe as, but more to do with the area - i.e. London just around the corner !
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yeah, you can see the London Eye and other London buildings from the top of the Ferris Wheel!
 
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