OK, so I've had a chance to have a look at the plans, and here's my honest reaction.
Is it what I was expecting? No.
Is it exactly what I wanted, and what I would personally have gone for? No.
Do I think it has the potential to be an excellent ride, and is it something I'm excited to ride? Definitely!
Do I think this will be a great, successful investment for Thorpe, and really give them the new zap of momentum they arguably need? Almost certainly!
If you want specifics, some initial thoughts of mine include:
- The UK height record finally being broken is huge news, as is Thorpe Park finally getting a new coaster; put those two things together, and I can't really complain! I'm extremely grateful to Merlin that even one of those things is being done, let alone both, so in that sense, that renders any complaints I have overly nitpicky and totally pushing my luck!
- There are elements on this that look like they could ride very well; the drop looks superb, as does the big overbank!
- As much as this isn't a B&M Hyper like I was hoping for, Mack build some excellent stuff, and when taking target market into account, I think most of the new-gen Mack coasters I've ridden have been excellent rides that I've thoroughly enjoyed, so I don't see why this shouldn't be the same!
- I've got to say, as much as this won't sprawl and dominate over the entire park in the vein that an out-and-back hyper would have done, I do think this will still look very impressive on the skyline; a 236ft lift hill is nothing to be sniffed at, and I think those big, tall elements will make it look very impressive indeed! I said previously that I felt Thorpe needed a ride that sells itself and makes a statement, and even though it isn't some big, sprawling out and back coaster, the visuals make it look very dominant indeed, and based on that, I think this looks to tick those boxes perfectly!
- As I think I said before during the rumour stages; even though I was predicting a B&M Hyper, I'm not sure that Old Town is the ideal site for a Thorpe hyper (for a hyper, I would have used the island behind Swarm for a station and had an out and back layout wrap behind Swarm and work its way towards the front of the park, personally). With that in mind, I think they've done extraordinarily well with the space and Merlin's budget; they've packed a lot in to that site (which is quite small by hyper standards)!
- The length doesn't bother me; it looks to have a fair amount of elements, and the ride duration doesn't seem obscenely short to me by any means based on renderings (it's about 30-40 seconds, isn't it?). If it was like Stealth or Oblivion and literally did one hill before flying into the brakes, I would perhaps identify with the criticism a little more, but as it is, the length of this doesn't bother me; I don't even think it seems overly short myself!
- If I'm being completely honest, I'll confess to being ever so slightly disappointed that they haven't built something with more of an airtime focus (as much as I'm sure this coaster will have airtime, it looks to be focused more on big inversions and hangtime); the UK lacks coasters that focus strongly on airtime, and this doesn't seem to fill that void based on the layout we have. I think a hyper was the perfect opportunity to give the UK a true airtime machine and I don't think this looks like an airtime machine per se, but in Merlin's defence, I'm admittedly unsure in hindsight if they could have even pulled off such a ride within the site being used and the limited amount of money that Merlin have to work with. Also, that is me being unfairly nitpicky, and I don't know how much the average visitor would really crave a huge airtime machine, so in that regard, it's a moot point; I am completely insignificant in the grand scheme of things, so who cares what I think? I'm sure most people will absolutely eat this up regardless of how much airtime it has!
- Controversial opinion; I'm not sure if this will be as intense and relentless as some are making out. Most of the elements look very big and drawn out; at first glance, it gives me strong Steel Curtain VIBES, and while that ride has been received well, I'm led to believe it's not especially intense. Pair that with the fact that Mack coasters don't generally tend to be obscenely intense anyway (this is based off the ones I've done, though; I don't know about the newer stuff like RTH or Hurricane), and I'm not sure this will have the strongest positive g-forces, nor will it have nutty pacing; I think the sheer size of the elements could mean that the focus is more on hangtime and sustained floaty sensations as opposed to spine-separating positive g's and relentless pacing, and it's worth noting that the only real low elements on the ride will have had some speed shaved off of them by the water brake (don't get me wrong, I'm sure the ride won't limp through those elements by any means, but it will certainly be slower than if the splashdown wasn't there). I'm not making that out as a bad thing by any means (in fact from a personal preference point of view, I actually think Thorpe could do with something a little more rerideable as opposed to out and out intense, so I'd be pretty happy with that!), but I don't personally think the ride will be phenomenally intense like some are making out. I'm open to being proven wrong here (and I'm sure some of you will prove me wrong on this, as I seem to be in a minority predicting this!), but that's just my initial thought based on what I'm seeing.
That's just a few honest thoughts that leap to mind for me; I apologise if I come across a bit ungrateful and nitpicky in places, but I wanted to provide a balanced opinion and be completely honest with you all, providing both my pros and cons.
But to sum it up; exciting stuff, and while it's not what I personally had in mind, I'm sure it'll be excellent!
