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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Doesn't make a lot of sense. Do they normally replace it every month and now they're replacing it every 2 days?? Maybe the hard braking is an energy recovery system....
 
I visited Thorpe yesterday and rode Hyperia twice, but queued three times.

My first throughput timings were taken from the main queue at around 11am, just before Hyperia suffered a 10 minute down period (train on the brake run hadn't returned to the station, car wouldn't release from the drop, block section in effect).

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My second throughput timings were taken from the single rider queue, where I was far more stationary and possibly better positioned to get more accurate timings. I'd separated from my gaggle as they wanted to do Saw: The Ride, they joined an advertised main queue Saw at 30 mins, rode that followed by Samurai. I joined the Hyperia single rider queue (as a single rider, main queue at 60 mins), which was on the final "straight". After not even reaching the steps after 45 mins, I bailed. (New pet peeve is groups joining single rider, full families included). I actually saw a group, who had joined the main queue as I joined SR, lap me and make it up the stairs. This triggered my bail.

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The weather yesterday was absolutely shocking, but Hyperia performed relatively well. It didn't stop because of heavy rain, it kept going with sight warnings issued over the loud speakers.

When I timed throughput on re-opening day, Hyperia was pushing around 920 pph. Yesterday, as you can see, it was around 200 pph less.

The train is inching from the brake run, into the station, far slower than I observed on reopening day. The train will leave the station and there's at least a 10 second delay, up to 15, before the preceding train re-enters the station. I believe it's this that's causing throughput to suffer, it's also responsible for yesterday's block section stall. I'm not sure if this was due to the weather, but getting the train back into the station appears to be a bit of a problem.
 
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Smiley said:
I did ask in an earlier post - is it gravity or powered. Maybe the brake isn't releasing fully.
Click to expand...
The trains roll under gravity along the brake run. Theres a mix of fixed and adjustable brake fins (looks to be around 50/50 on the 2nd half of the breakrun) and the adjustable ones appear to drop only once the train ahead has fully cleared the station. With the fins lowered, there is a noticeable increase in speed (compared to how it crawls with the fins raised) but it's still fairly slow because the train is always running over some fixed fins.
 
Smiley said:
Doesn't make a lot of sense. Do they normally replace it every month and now they're replacing it every 2 days?? Maybe the hard braking is an energy recovery system....
Click to expand...

Smiley said:
I did ask in an earlier post - is it gravity or powered. Maybe the brake isn't releasing fully.
Click to expand...

there are no energy recovery, it uses eddicurrent brakes, the type on hyperia contain a magnet in the train and metal plates sticking up from the track, when slowing down, the magnets generate a current in the plate similar to a generator (although no power is generated as it is all within the plate), the faster the train is going the more the brakes will slow the train, the brake run has fixed fins and retractable fins, the fixed fins will slow the train down no matter what, the retractable fins will reduce the amount of breaking.
 
Hopefully they'll do something about the brake run and how long it takes trains to get into the station. They must be aware how much this is affecting throughput.
 
Rode it for the first time on Friday. It was as expected in some ways, and disappointing in others, neither in a good way.

It's just as well that Thorpe is an Amusement Park that doesn't really do themed areas, because there is no "Fearless Valley". The lack of valley is quite obvious, but the lack of "area" is as well. It's a queue line entrance and a shop outside the old Canada Creek Burger King and bogs. I wonder why the work experience kid bothered naming it? There's nothing there.

Luckily, we got there just before ride close and it was smashing down with rain, so we only had to walk through the world's most miserable cattlepen. The half hour we did wait was extremely boring. Nothing to see at all but weird queue line videos of PS2 era CGI, people wearing hard hats and high viz vests, and that over exitible YouTube guy showing you how to put a bag in a baggage hold. Stylising this ride is fine, and the style they've gone for is fine as well, it's just poorly and cheaply implemented. So boring and unfinished.

Nothing interesting about the station, and the outer bank out of it is pointless other than to give spectators something to look at when they're polishing off a bacon double cheeseburger. It doesn't feel as high as it is because the lift hill is so fast.

From the first drop, what follows is absolutely excellent. You're out of your seat all the way down the first drop, an almost grey out moment at the bottom. Ejected again at the top of the immelmann, pushed against the comfortable restraints all the way down again. Then up into the amazing outer bank inversion, which is just excellent in every way, as it pushes you out of your seat until you're upright again. The inverted stall surprised me, it managed to eject me into hangtime before being fully inverted. Wonderful. Just wonderful.

Then it slams in to those trims hard and completely breaks the pace. The wave turn and last camel back are as excellent as the rest of the layout. But it retreats to the final brakes so swiftly, it leaves you feeling short changed. It's so jarringly short.

This ride is teenage sex. You jump on for a ride, awesome high thrills, slow down, and then finish too soon. It feels just as short to ride as I expected it to. Such a wasted opportunity. The little there is of it is absolutely excellent. But there isn't much of it, the presentation is ****, and the whole experience serves as a tease of what might have been.
 
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I rode it for the first time today.

Made a last minute decision to go to Thorpe (hoping it would be quiet due to the weather, it wasn’t!) Didn’t get there til after lunch.

Firstly a disclaimer, I only rode it once and I got row 3 so haven’t experienced it at its best.
Also, I have noticed that often the first time I ride something, I’ll get off underwhelmed then enjoy it the more I ride it. Just seems to be a thing I do.

Some thoughts…

In my opinion, it has been overhyped somewhat. Thinking back to various vloggers reactions after their first rides where many of them were practically speechless…..some very good acting going on there.

Yes it’s probably the best in the Uk but note the probably. I didn’t get off exclaiming it was head and shoulders above the rest. More like, yeh I suppose it probably is the best, or is it? Yeh I suppose it is?

Also noted to myself how I will happily queue an hour for Wickerman but would probably in future only get on Hyperia if the queue was less than an hour.

The good bits; the first drop was sublime, loved it. The drop off the Immelmann, also very good. The stall, good (but not as good as Zadra). Had a lovely smooth ride and found the seats very comfortable.

For me the outer banked bit was neither here nor there, didn’t make much of an impression if I’m honest. (Might have been a row 3 thing?)

The bad; it’s short, it does feel like half a ride. The trims kill it dead for what feels no good reason. The queue line is horrible. Boring, featureless, cattlepen. And absolutely no respite from the sun which came out blazing for 10 minutes between the showers today. The general area/plaza is boring and uninspired. The station feels like they’ve done the minimal they felt they could get way with in terms of styling.
The coaster, it’s ugly. And the trains are ugly.

Also the story doesn’t fit. So there’s all this big deal about her being terrified of water yet you can’t even see any water apart from the small pond where it comes out of the station. The water jets weren’t working either.

I sound like a right misery.
Yes I am glad that we’ve got (half) a really good coaster down this way but when you think how long Thorpe has waited to get a new coaster and what we could of had. I just felt I little disappointed.
I did want to get straight back on but the queue was 70 mins, it didn’t feel worth 70 minutes, so I didn’t. I tried a bit later in the single rider but gave up after 30 mins of barely moving.

I’ll wait for a day now when it’s all calmed down and try a catch it on a quiet day. I’m intrigued to see how I feel after I’ve ridden it a few times.
All along, I’ve felt quite “meh” about it and after one ride not much has changed to be honest.

But to give it it’s due, I did really love that first drop.
 
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