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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Benzin said:
simps100 said:
Well without them telling us we won't know will we?

Open a couple of rides and throw some sort of show and it would be a decent day out (price dependant)

There not just going to open the hotel with nothing for guests to do.
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Ah yes, because the last time they tried to open rides in cold weather it worked perfectly...
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Haha, the last time I went to Thorpe Park it was cold-ish and half of the park was shut due to 'adverse weather conditions', yet I'd seen Towers run in worse conditions as a member of staff and a customer, likewise as a customer at the Pleasure Beach.

I lost a lot of faith in Thorpe last season after two dire days there and decisions like the one's they've made recently aren't going to restore that faith.

I used to really enjoy Thorpe, I just don't like what they've done in recent years tbh.
 
Lottie. said:
It's an interesting concept which I hope they can pull off. To be honest, this is only the beginning of the project so they are hardly going to have a huge thing to start off with such as a hotel with a waterpark etc. But let's not start slating them when they are obviously trying to gauge interest by posting these on Facebook. Certainly if I was a part of this project, one thing I would do is try to gauge interest from the public to see if this is something they want via social media.

Ben, I think you are being a bit too harsh on Thorpe with regard to this.
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I do get what they are trying to do, and I'm really sorry for sounding harsh, I'm not usually like this, but there is a lot more things Thorpe need to do before they can successfully operate a hotel. They need to stop their aggressive nature, for example the map encourages sex in a bush!! It shows people vomiting and urinating. It's an embarrassment! :mad:

They also need to open something separate, like a waterpark or a zoo. They could in fact, move the theme park turnstiles to the other side of the bridge and at the other end of the dome, and turn the dome into some sort of leisure complex? And have a COVERED link from a proper hotel to the dome which could act as a second attraction with a cinema, swimming pool and a gym/spa. Doing this sort of thing would easily earn themselves the right to be branded as a resort.

They could even offer leisurely boat tours of the lake. But Angry Birds Land and the Waterfront Hotel's facilities are a poor show, for a medium investment year, hell, chessington are spending £14 million on what is meant to be a small investment year. I think this hotel will lead to a lot of complaints from families. I'm sorry for this, but it is just what I think.
 
Having just caught up with this topic, it seems most are not a fan of THORPE PARK Resort, the hotel or Angry Birds Land.

I have mixed feelings on it all really, the hotel and things linked to it could work out really well, but I just have a feeling it will look crap and cheap, I hope i'm proved wrong, and it doesn't look like shipping containers on a bit of concrete, but we won't know until they open in March.

I'm still hoping THORPE PARK change their marketing, logo, brand, etc before the park opens in March (or a bit before), it will give the park a new identity and a bit of a refresh.

As for Angry birds land, I am glad they are getting something new, it may just be some dodgems on the 4D cinema opening again, But finally we get two indoor family attractions, something Thorpe have been missing for a long time. But on the other hand its an outdated brand that will look out of place on park. I imagine it will be done fairly cheaply and we will just get angry birds logos all over the place, rather than anything major.

As for the May opening, this is clearly a very last minute decision. Does it really take that long to build a dodgems (my local fair can put it up within a few hours!), paint detonator and stick a few signs on it and add a new film to the existing cinema? All of that could have easily been done in the winter closed season, bad weather or not! None of them need any major groundwork.

I will hold proper judgement once we see some photos and I see it all in person.
 
Benzin said:
You would call Chessie extending their hotel a small investment?

Each to their own...
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No I'm saying it IS (taking some hints from Thorpe here if you get what I mean) their small investment year, because it doesn't feel like one. Their investments are inline with Alton's. This years investment should have been either nothing or a new restaurant, which is why I'm saying Thorpe are getting cheap things fairground attractions for a medium investment. It just seems like Merlin now realise what a state Chessington has been in since 2001 and are investing in every way they can, something that can only be good. ;D
 
BenBowser said:
Benzin said:
You would call Chessie extending their hotel a small investment?

Each to their own...
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No I'm saying it IS their small investment year (not that it feels like one), their investments are inline with tower's. This years investment should have been either nothing or a new restaurant, which is why I'm saying thorpe are getting cheap things for a medium investment. It just seems like merlin now realise what a state chessington has been in since 2001 and are investing in every way they can, something that can only be good.
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I'm not to sure if Merlin work like that now - a new land/ ride , new 4d cinema (old one was ripped out) and a new hotel won't be cheap by any means.

Id expect 14 million for chessington is pretty large too - so I'm not sure if that cycle is still set in stone.
 
I think Thorpe's hotel is an interesting one.

Obviously building it out of shipping containers is quick, relatively cheap and will mean they have a hotel in place by next season - specifically without allowing 'snooze box' to take some money too.

I would imagine this decision has been made with a business head on. I expect Thorpe did ok / well with the CrashPad last year but noticed it used by more families OR market research claimed families would use it if it was marketed better towards them. They probably decided that they wanted the hotel, research demanded it, but could 'go it alone' and make a better profit than if they got a new snooze box contract.

I'd expect this gives them time to finalise the plans and financing for a purpose built hotel, to be built in 2+ years time, but still provide a good quality accommodation in the mean time.

Most new travelodges are built from shipping containers, and can provide a good quality room and facilities - the exterior could be well themed, we will wait and see.


HOWEVER

THORPE PARK RESORT - is crap, in 3 years if they had a waterpark and hotel, then maybe. But now, I'm afraid not.

Angry Birds Land - unbelievably out of date brand. Will not last and will create an area of the park that is useless. Nice they're using a 'non-dark' theme, but equally will likely to create irreparable damage to themes and further fragment Thorpe.

It's a rash, out of touch decision. Probably made on the spur of the moment and providing very little. Why aren't Merlin considering buying the rides from Freestyle park and just dishing them between their parks?
 
Because that would cost a huge amount of money and - we all know - M£rlin don't like spending money. They've obviously done market research (something we know they also like doing) and the teenage market would enjoy an angry birds land, an off the shelf fun fair ride and lots of stuff to buy and midway games to play.

Who's to say the thrill capital tagline will stay; Alton Towers has no true market… is it families, thrill seekers, holiday makers? Maybe that's what they're trying to to with Thorpe Park. I agree they need to make the place a hell of a lot more appealing (ditch the dome, build a retail park, cinemas, GOOD restaurants etc) and keep those park gates open until 10pm in July and August.

Just be happy they're doing SOMETHING new, because you'd be complaining if they didn't.
 
Well with that very issue of The Dome becoming less and less relevant I have got an idea, to also make it more of a resort than a 4 hour Theme Park.

The general plan is for next year, instead of building yet another coaster in 2015, instead invest in a major dome refurbishment. What they would do, is move the park entrance turnstiles and ticket booths to the back end of The Dome at the park entrances and turn the dome into a leisure complex giving it a purpose again.

Once the park entrance has been moved (keeping the tower with the Thorpe Park logo in it's current place) they could totally strip out the lower layer and add more port Atlantis theming as well as creating a pool complex, spa and gym to gain more attention to this level, these attractions would be pay per session. After that, rip out the Coffee shack on the top level and replace it with a large Pizza Pasta restaurant providing a major eatery in the leisure complex dome as well as the current Bar 360. Keep the clothes and Sweet Shop but move the photo collection point and Guest Services into the theme park itself. Using this space, create a Cinema showing current movies, again a pay per usage attraction. They could add a proper stage area in the middle of the top layer, with music concerts and children's stage shows, this would then appeal to both markets an would be a free facility. This could still be used for MOS nights.

Once this dome redevelopment is complete it would feel like it has more of a purpose, as well as letting it be used by day visitors just to the dome. Once the major hotel is built it could have a covered connection to the dome and have its facilities complimentary to hotel guests to attract two days visitors. On completion of this redevelopment the dome could be the resort's second attraction keeping it open throughout the winter. Doing this would definitely qualify it as a resort as well as giving the dome a use again as the hub of the resort.

Does anyone like my idea?
 
It could work but I'm not sure id see it happening - particularly when Thorpe like the current use of the dome for things like Ministry of Sound nights.

I'd much rather see them build a proper hotel with swimming / leisure facilities built into it than converting the dome first. Having said that though I do think the dome is a bizarre thing to have at all!
 
I'm no structural engineer, but I don't think it would be possible to fit a pool in the lower floor of the dome (I know it looks like an 80's leasure center though). The foundations are most likely to be a solid concrete slab tying the dome together under tension. Cut a hole in it, and the whole thing would collapse! Plus the pool would be below the water water table, given that it is surrounded by a lake. Even it is was possible, it would cost way more than it would to just built a new pool from scratch.

My solution would be pretty much the opposite. Create a new entrance area where the current one is, demolish the dome, along with the beach, storm surge, arena, and hell, even X. That would open up a huge area in the middle of the park that could be put to better use (IE, rides).

Any pool or water park should be on the far side of the lake, along with a proper hotel. They could even bring back the old water bus (well, a new one, obviously) to shuttle between the two.
 
Am I the only one who actually likes the dome?

Sure it looks tatty from the outside and certain areas need refreshing but I still think it is quite a good hub for the park plus I love the Atlantis theme.

I just don't think it would feel right coming straight off the entrance bridge into the park without some kind of indoor area.

A bigger issue which I am surprised no-one has addressed is the entrance area by the car parks. The mass of tarmac, portakabins, temporary fencing, bad paint jobs and tacky branding is just hideous. Hands down the worst entrance to any major theme park in Europe.
 
^ Oh God yes...

The fact that they permanently have a cattle pen made of temporary metal fencing there is entirely ridiculous. It's been the same for years and years - why can't they build a permanent queue line for buying tickets / waiting to get into the park? It would improve the aesthetics of the area by a lot.
 
Looking through old park maps it seems the opening times are pretty much the same as they were in 2012, with the exception of the short-lived cut to Fright Nights they foolishly implemented that year. Thorpe's opening hours have been longer than AT's for many years, but I'm not convinced they've actually improved this season.
 
It confuses me how TP can afford to open later, when AT does better with guests.

Costs I guess...
 
I think a higher proportion of Thorpe's guests are able/willing to stay later due to the park's location, which makes it more economical to stay open later. When Alton Towers had daily 7pm closures in summer the park was usually very quiet at the end of the day - great for guests wanting a high ride count but not so great from a business point of view.
 
I would say location and ease of access by public transport are the two major factors in Towers' closing times in a comparitive sense...

If Towers had a more regular bus service to local train stations/areas, then there could be scope for later openings...



EDIT - Plans are now up - http://planning.runnymede.gov.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Planning%20Applications%20On-Line&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=186762&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Application%20Details&PUBLIC=Y&XMLSIDE=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/Runnymede_AA/Menus/PL.xml&DAURI=PLANNING

Fibreglass crap ahoy!
 
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