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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

I think they're making a whole fuss over it since there's a whole urgency about the environment at the minute. Loggers Leap's final drop was previously situated in that location so I honestly don't see why they need to make a whole issue out of it now when something was there before.
 
The new coaster structure is somewhat more substantial than Loggers. Plus they're actually building on the lake far more than Loggers.

After my experience with the EA earlier this year I'm not their biggest fan, but there is some cause for concern considering the current climate combined with Thorpe's location.

Be a lot more sad enthusiasts if Thorpe ever got flooded.
 
What better development to put on a flood zone? It's raised off the ground so will never be effected by flooding or displace it elsewhere. Plenty of space for trees and plants to grow. And guarantees the land won't be lost to a housing estate.
Seems like a fair idea to me.
 
There is pretty comprehensive update from Attraction Source below regarding the application for this coaster.

The TLDR version is that the council are minded to approve the application based on the historical flood management schemes that Thorpe Park adopt with all new developments despite the objections from the Environment Agency.

The next meeting where this could happen is 5th Oct, but there is no confirmation that this application will be on the agenda yet.

 
rob666 said:
EA's conditions trump local planning consent though don't they?
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I don’t think they do, necessarily; the Environment Agency can lodge objections (as anyone can), but the council doesn’t have to reject the proposal on those grounds alone.

As things stand, it appears as though Thorpe has historically set out some sort of flood management strategy that the council are happy with.
 
The planning authority will have the final say, yes. Planning officers will make a recommendation to the planning committee, and it will be up to the committee to make the final decision. They do not have to go with the officers recommendation, but often do.
 
If this drags any longer it'll be a test of if Merlin have learnt lessons at the top. Considering the movement they've had from SAW and Colossus nearby, they need to not rush the ride, lest we get another Smiler.
 
Sorry to ask a potentially annoying question and go off on a slight tangent, but continuing on from a post I made in the Project Horizon thread (https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...on-on-new-attraction.6401/page-32#post-380648), I’d be genuinely keen to know; if you guys wouldn’t mind telling me, why is it that the length of Exodus is such an issue for people compared to the length of other shorter rides?

My post in the Horizon thread covers most of the arguments I would make, but my basic point was; I’d argue that Exodus, while not the longest hyper in the world by any means, is hardly a short ride like Oblivion or Stealth (you’ll still be getting a decent 40 seconds of ride time out of it, and a solid 5 or 6 elements), and I’d argue that it looks to play to the strengths of being a shorter hyper by taking on a very unconventional layout style that focuses on a more intense, unrelenting delivery than your typical hyper coaster. I’d liken it to Skyrush in this regard, which is also pretty short, but apparently pretty intense and unrelenting in its delivery. I’d also throw in a case study like Wodan; that ride is on the shorter side, but never lets up. I’d even throw in the 200ft RMCs like Zadra and Iron Gwazi; they are on the shorter side, but there doesn’t look to be an inch of track on those that is wasted or doesn’t exert intense forces.

These rides are not nearly as maligned regarding their length as Exodus is, however. Even the rides like Skyrush and the RMCs that are on a similar scale (Zadra and Iron Gwazi are not an awful lot longer and over 200ft tall), yet they get almost universally rave reviews and their length is practically never mentioned. I’d be genuinely keen to know; what makes Exodus any different to these rides? Or at very least, what makes it different to the extent that its length is in the firing line so much?
 
Probably because short ride duration is such an issue for coasters at Thorpe Park and, to be fair, across the UK. This represented an opportunity to finally have a coaster that was a decent length.
 
D4n said:
Probably because short ride duration is such an issue for coasters at Thorpe Park and, to be fair, across the UK. This represented an opportunity to finally have a coaster that was a decent length.
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That’s a fair point. Europe and the USA do have a greater quantity of long coasters that exist already, while the UK only really has The Smiler and The Big One now that The Ultimate is gone.

You could possibly throw Megafobia in there too, but even that only makes 3. I can perhaps see people’s disillusionment with a shorter ride through that lens.
 
Oblivion was the world's first vertical drop coaster, and is short because it focuses on the drop being it's main element. It can therefore afford to be short, because the drop is what it was intended to be about. The same with Stealth, it's about the launch and top hat. As far as I'm aware, hyper coasters are not designed to be short generally, and this is why Oblivion and Stealth aren't fair comparisons to what should have been a full length hyper coaster, not half of a layout and a 50 mile long break run.
 
Danscott22 said:
Oblivion was the world's first vertical drop coaster, and is short because it focuses on the drop being it's main element. It can therefore afford to be short, because the drop is what it was intended to be about. The same with Stealth, it's about the launch and top hat. As far as I'm aware, hyper coasters are not designed to be short generally, and this is why Oblivion and Stealth aren't fair comparisons to what should have been a full length hyper coaster, not half of a layout and a 50 mile long break run.
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That’s a fair point, and I was perhaps wrong to include those two rides in my comparison as they’re very different in design, but I would counter that Exodus certainly doesn’t look like a typical hyper coaster in design, so the typical hyper coaster rules might not really apply to it.

As I said above, it appears to have more of a relentless, intense layout design that is quite uncommon on hyper coasters, but arguably suits a shorter ride better. Perhaps a fairer comparison would be Skyrush, a hyper coaster that is designed in a similar way. It’s also short, but it is apparently very intense and unrelenting, and I never see the same complaints about the length of that. Ditto with things like Zadra and Iron Gwazi; they are designed to have a more unrelenting layout design, and they aren’t an awful lot longer than Exodus will be, but I don’t see anyone complaining about the length of those rides. I’d argue that Exodus looks similar to these rides, and that having a longer ride might not have provided the same effect. To me, at least, it appears to play to the strengths of not being the longest ride by taking much more of a “bam, bam, bam” type approach to its layout design than your typical hyper coaster, which makes it suit its length adequately rather than feel like a stunted version of a ride that should be longer (which I’ll admit might have been the case had it had more of a traditional layout design). If it were longer, the layout style they chose might not have the same effect.

For that reason, I’m not sure the rules of a typical hyper coaster really apply to this ride. I get your point, and I might agree if Exodus had a more typical layout design, but I don’t think that Exodus’ length is a problem given the way they’ve designed the layout, personally. You’ll still get a decent 40 seconds of ride time and a good 5 or 6 elements, which should be enough to convey its unrelenting layout style adequately without feeling like it goes on for too long, in my view.

If length is important to you in a ride, then fair enough. But I don’t think Exodus is designed like a typical hyper, so extra length might not have benefitted it within the sphere of what it tries to do. Too much extra length may almost have been counterintuitive to conveying the relentless design that Mack and Merlin appear to be going for.

That’s just my thought, though; I’m not expecting anyone to agree with me. I apologise if I’ve annoyed you or wasted your time.
 
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Thorpe had the perfect opportunity to build something akin to Steel Curtain here, which strings together the big, bold inversions with length, some lovely air time, and close-to-the-ground hang time moments. But alas, it's Thorpe Park afterall.
 
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