• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Thorpe Park: General Discussion

I find it unusual how unreliable the ride has been given that Mack aren’t typically known for building unreliable rides.

Hyperia is brilliant, but in hindsight, maybe the B&M might have been a better bet from a reliability standpoint…
 
Josh555 said:
At what point do Thorpe actually bring a claim against Mack for this? Shocking how poor it’s been reliability wise and as much as my default position would be to blame Merlin, to be fair everything else seems to be running fine.
Click to expand...
I'm not really sure if it's actually Mack or Merlin to be honest.

Mack seem to be a very reliable manufacturer however the ride is very experimental which may explain some of the issues but not entirely. I can't argue that Merlin isn't part of the problems too.
 
owenstreet7 said:
I'm not really sure if it's actually Mack or Merlin to be honest.

Mack seem to be a very reliable manufacturer however the ride is very experimental which may explain some of the issues but not entirely. I can't argue that Merlin isn't part of the problems too.
Click to expand...

Merlin’s issues tend to be ride maintenance and employing enough mechanics etc to get rides open and to react to downtime, hence you get rides opening late and more downtime than you would at a park run by a decent company.

I can’t think of another ride in their lineup that has experienced anything like these issues - ghost train possibly but that was the VR stuff.

I’ve no idea whose fault it is but whoever it is you’d think can’t be far away from having a pretty unpleasant communication, it’s a multi million pound investment that has spent far more time of the opening weekend closed than it has open.
 
Josh555 said:
Merlin’s issues tend to be ride maintenance and employing enough mechanics etc to get rides open and to react to downtime, hence you get rides opening late and more downtime than you would at a park run by a decent company.

I can’t think of another ride in their lineup that has experienced anything like these issues - ghost train possibly but that was the VR stuff.

I’ve no idea whose fault it is but whoever it is you’d think can’t be far away from having a pretty unpleasant communication, it’s a multi million pound investment that has spent far more time of the opening weekend closed than it has open.
Click to expand...
Yep and as has been mentioned previously, the other rides suffer because all the techies are at Hyperia trying to get the shiny new toy fixed.
 
Josh555 said:
I’ve no idea whose fault it is but whoever it is you’d think can’t be far away from having a pretty unpleasant communication, it’s a multi million pound investment that has spent far more time of the opening weekend closed than it has open.
Click to expand...
One thing that I have noticed is that Alton Towers seemed to have a lot of issues with The Smiler at the start however we don't hear of the issues nowadays.

I'd say comparable or possibly more than Hyperia so far, there is a possibility that Mack sorts out the lift hill and we don't hear of any more issues moving forwards.

I can't imagine that Merlin will stop using Mack for future ride investments like they did Gerstlauer though it might make Merlin think about whether to go for Mack or Intamin for a thrill coaster in the future.
 
owenstreet7 said:
One thing that I have noticed is that Alton Towers seemed to have a lot of issues with The Smiler at the start however we don't hear of the issues nowadays.
Click to expand...
the smiler was a brand new ride type, similarly if I understand the lift hill is a new design to be steeper.

owenstreet7 said:
I can't imagine that Merlin will stop using Mack for future ride investments like they did Gerstlauer
Click to expand...
Not probably going to happen, Gerstlauer they only had 2 rides (Saw and the smiler) but Mack they have been working with for decades, RMT, TCAAM, battle galleons, etc, and problematic rides happen from time to time, remember Air?

Gerstlauer also they have only built like 5 rides in the UK since the smiler, and none of them to me would have fit in with Gertlauers line up (maybe lego speedway or jumanji)
 
flyingguitar said:
the smiler was a brand new ride type, similarly if I understand the lift hill is a new design to be steeper.
Click to expand...
True although it is a refined version of a Eurofighter. The difference between a Eurofighter and an Infinity from Gerstlauer is similar to a Big Dipper and a Stryker with Mack.

flyingguitar said:
Not probably going to happen, Gerstlauer they only had 2 rides (Saw and the smiler) but Mack they have been working with for decades, RMT, TCAAM, battle galleons, etc, and problematic rides happen from time to time, remember Air?

Gerstlauer also they have only built like 5 rides in the UK since the smiler, and none of them to me would have fit in with Gertlauers line up (maybe lego speedway or jumanji)
Click to expand...
That is true that Merlin have been working with Mack for years and that will probably go in favour of future rides from Mack.

Air was a prototype which there would be issues. Oblivion and Thirteen are the same.

With Gerstlauer, there was one ride opened in the UK since the Smiler opened which was the SBNO Skyforce at Blackpool. This was from the year of the Smiler Crash and no rides have opened in the UK since the crash from Gerstlauer. The Smiler is the newest UK Gerstlauer coaster.

In the UK, Gerstlauer opened:

Cobra - Paultons - Bobsled - 2006
Troublesome Trucks - Drayton - Junior - 2008
Smiler - Alton Towers - Infinity - 2013
Saw - Thorpe - Eurofighter - 2009
Speed - Oakwood - Eurofighter - 2006
Rage - Adventure Island - Eurofighter - 2007
Skyforce - Blackpool - Sky Fly - 2015

There are plenty of ride types that would fit in at a Merlin park from Gerstlauer however I doubt they're working with Gerstlauer again following the Smiler.

I don't know if the relationship between Merlin and Gerstlauer is something like Cedar Fair where they don't work with certain manufacturers after issues with a coaster or if it's more because they don't have anything that fits their requirements.
 
In fairness to Mack, it does run very well when it works, and got through last summer near faultlessly. Rode it over 50 times myself and if it ever broke down it was only for ten minutes or so. The only lengthy delay I recall was to clear some Swans from the ride area.
 
owenstreet7 said:
True although it is a refined version of a Eurofighter. The difference between a Eurofighter and an Infinity from Gerstlauer is similar to a Big Dipper and a Stryker with Mack.
Click to expand...
another point is that I think the smiler was the first magnetic ARB
owenstreet7 said:
There are plenty of ride types that would fit in at a Merlin park from Gerstlauer however I doubt they're working with Gerstlauer again following the Smiler.

I don't know if the relationship between Merlin and Gerstlauer is something like Cedar Fair where they don't work with certain manufacturers after issues with a coaster or if it's more because they don't have anything that fits their requirements.
Click to expand...
I was thinking about fitting in with the investments they made (nemesis reborn had to be a B&M invert, gerst don't make wooden rollercoasters so it couldn't fit in with wicker man, gerst have made a 200+ft coaster but I don't think it would have fit the design spec of hyperia (and probably be too similar to saw, as it would have to be an infinity coaster), jumanji and lego speed way they could have used one of their family coasters, but again I don't really think it would have fit in)
 
pluk said:
The old one certainly needed an update, the lettering looked really cheap and clip arty, but the infinity swirl was recognisable and sort of made sense. As a visual hook it's been replaced with nothing at all, and that has to be a mistake.
Click to expand...
Infinity swirl plus new font would have been the most sensible refresh. The old font was pretty ropey like you say but the new one is truly awful - the shape and angle of the “o” is particularly offensive to the eyes. It’s not even of its time - it’s just garbage.
 
owenstreet7 said:
There are plenty of ride types that would fit in at a Merlin park from Gerstlauer however I doubt they're working with Gerstlauer again following the Smiler.

I don't know if the relationship between Merlin and Gerstlauer is something like Cedar Fair where they don't work with certain manufacturers after issues with a coaster or if it's more because they don't have anything that fits their requirements.
Click to expand...
I am surprised to hear this, because I did not think that Gerstlauer was to blame for The Smiler's crash? Or are you referring to other issues with the ride that Merlin were unhappy with?
AT86 said:
It is a possibility that it’s Gerst that don’t want to work with Merlin, not the other way around.
Click to expand...
That strikes me as more likely, although I had always assumed that Saw was quite successful, and it might not be a good business idea to avoid the largest theme park operator in the country. My gut instinct is that perhaps Gerstlauer don't offer a diverse enough range of rides to be used much again, as their core offering seems to be smaller and compact rides?

EDIT: I remember John Wardley once stating in an interview that theme parks often fall out with manufacturers (although he didn't give any examples), but that they eventually "kiss and make-up".
Smiley said:
It's called a design issue.
Click to expand...
I agree that the design is probably partly to blame; I might be wrong, but I think that Hyperia's Kremer Roll is taller than the element that precedes it (the Immelman), which may be what has contributed to the two rollbacks (that we know of) thus far.
 
Last edited:
Secret Weapon said:
I am surprised to hear this, because I did not think that Gerstlauer was to blame for The Smiler's crash? Or are you referring to other issues with the ride that Merlin were unhappy with?
Click to expand...
I was referring to the numerous other issues in the lead up to the Smiler Crash which is the straw that broke the camel's back. There was multiple issues and incidents (especially during the ride's opening year) leading up to the crash.

Before it was ruled to be human error, there was a lot of scrutiny on Gerstlauer as well as Alton Towers which I wouldn't be surprised if either Merlin, Gerstlauer or mutually they've decided to not work together since.
 
It is somewhat unfortunate that Thorpe seem to have bought the world's most unreliable Mack coaster. You do have to start to wonder whether it is a Mack problem or a Merlin/Thorpe procedural problem.

On the face of it Voltron is far more technically advanced than Hyperia yet usually operates without issue.
 
Itgoeshowhigh said:
Due to the issues with Hyperia, would Mack possibly offer a compensatory deal to Thorpe for a future coaster?
Something like, we’re sorry Hyperia has been a bit problematic, as a goodwill gesture we can offer you 20% off a nice extreme spinner for that field behind swarm.
Click to expand...
It is possible yes - even if it's a like for like (or slightly larger and modern) replacement for Flying Fish for free or heavily discounted.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top