Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[jon81uk]

Look closer and you will see that it's the worst map ever produced for a major theme park. Rides are in the wrong place, covered up or missing entirely. The rollercoasters are floating lines. The font is extremely generic with no indication of any brand image or character. Pointless statistics are written for every rollercoaster like some kind of power point presentation. Rides look absolutely nothing like they do in reality. I'm amazed.

Thorpe is so small you don't need to know the exact location of each ride, the new list showing which are family friendly is much more useful. There is character and brand image in the fact that all the coasters are oversized and have interesting facts next to them!

 

[DiogoJ42]

Colossus looks more like Oblivion than Oblivion does on Alton's map.

 

[John]

It's very stylish, but why do all the coasters look the same?

 

[TheMan]

Colossus looks more like Oblivion than Oblivion does on Alton's map.

Lol dude you're right it does! In fact every coaster on there does ;D

It's very stylish, but why do all the coasters look the same?

Another great point.

I was just happy to see the back of the horrendous branding from before. Bill made some points to, it's actually been replaced by no branding.

I still prefer the style, but yup, no branding at all now and every coaster is now Oblivion.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

The new 'map' is ridiculous but I am just happy that we have finally seen the back of the nasty fat head graffiti style branding.

It does reek of a brand identity crisis, much like Alton's in the later DIC years.

 

[BigAl]

I think that yes, Swarm is as good as Nemesis on theming, there is a ton of themed vehicles, custom queueline TV video and audio and water effects timed to the ride. Shame the actual on-ride isn't as memorable!

You're kidding, right? Swarm has some of the laziest theming elements going. Those "themed vehicles" are nothing more than old service vehicles which, had they not been picked up by Thorpe, would have otherwise only been good for scrap. Army vehicles, fire trucks, ambulances; you name it, they're parked up with hundreds of other similar vehicles which have outlived their primary purpose. They're dirt cheap and need very little doing to them.

Then we have the burnt twigs in the queue line, TV's playing a news channel that has poor quality acting and spelling, lack of fine details (like the 'kitchen' under Nemesis' catwalk) which add something extra to the experience - something that most of Merlin's attractions lack because they think a two dimensional theme is fine. The water effects on it are fine, but not a patch on the great waterfalls and rivers of blood in the deep pits surrounding the Nemesis creature.

But hey, Swarm has fire and stuff.

But it's nothing to do with the theming that makes Nemesis great, it's the valley it's in. If John Wardley and all back in 1992 hadn't thought of going down to get around the height restriction we would of ended up with Nemesis Inferno instead. Most of the things that work well are a result of the landscape, including the winding queue and path and the waterfalls, even the monoliths are just stone taken out when it was blasted out to make the pit.

My point being the environment makes a bigger difference on a coaster than the theme, most Six Flags rides are a bit pants, similar to Thopre they rely on big thrills. Disney can take a really simple ride such as Space Mountain but put it indoors and it is a great coaster. Same as Nemesis I'm a valley is better than Inferno which isn't.

As others have said though themes can make far bigger differences, you only have to look at the difference between Chessington Runaway train / Scorpain Express and Thorpe's Flying Fish to see that. Thrill rides are often not enhanced by theming props though.

I'd argue that the theming for Nemesis is just as important as the landscaping. The landscaping is one aspect, whereas the theming is many individual pieces in and around the ride which all help to tell a tale of a scarred Mad Max-esque post apocalyptic landscape caused by the creature.

Without the creature, dressing on the cliff below the stall turn, Nemesis Nosh bus (obviously when it was around), pieces under the lift, blood seeping down into the depths of the pits, photo cabin, rusting mesh fences and pipes, chains, monoliths, the tower by the ride entrance, girders supporting the Nemesis sign and the Mushroom Cloud tour bus spewing an eerie mist in the path of the coaster, and even Ripsaw itself (it doesn't add anything fundamental to the story portrayed about Nemesis, it's merely an extension of the thematic details around the monster and allows Nemesis to reach beyond its ride area.

Now imagine it without any of that. What are you left with? A roller coaster (albeit a fun one) in a hole.

The theming for Nemesis isn't vital to the ride experience, it's for those waiting to get on or those around the ride area. It builds images in your mind, linking other aspects of a cheesy science fiction alien in a devastated environment semantically. Everywhere you look there's something expanding that mental story that you're putting together in your mind, even though it actually isn't anywhere near as immersive as, say, a Disney attraction. That, I feel, is the beauty of a late 80s / 90s Wardley attraction - attractions which don't force stories down your throat, but are subtle and allow the guest to be creative themselves; letting them put their own adventure story together. Whether you're tackling an alien in an apocalyptic landscape, venturing into the base of an evil genius who's plotting sinister things with massive pieces of machinery, stepping inside a rotting gothic Victorian manor to see who's at home or hunting vampires, you are vital to that tale, not just someone observing.

Swarm has odd elements which are there to improve an otherwise totally lackluster, vanilla experience.

 

[simps100]

Fine, they can do what they like to the map. But this just makes me think Thorpe Park are clearly trying to throw out their previous brand but don't have a clue what to replace it with.

Maybe we should wait till we see their new site / park sign-age before we say things like that?

 

[_nemesis_]

The new map is a massive improvement, and it gives us the names of the Angry Birds attractions.

On this one though, the only things it really shows you are the coasters, which in a park like Thorpe, is pretty obvious when on site. I love how Storm Surge looks like a rubber band. They have made some effort with the pathways, and how they haven't even drawn Quantum, but still, at least it doesn't show it as being next to Tidal Wave.

Other than that though, it is a huge improvement, its more useful, more family friendly, and more aesthetically pleasing. On the subject of the centre (not the coasters) being too small, I think it will be perfect on the usual A3 size printed maps, remember, we are viewing this from a phone screenshot!

Oh, and why does the dodgems have a higher height restriction than two of the park's coasters?!

 

[Danza91]

Whilst I know it's not an excuse for laziness, but how many people go to Thorpe Park and look at the map?

 

[simps100]

Why? It's not surprising that Thorpe Park has an inconsistent brand now and it's certainly not difficult to see. Angry Birds Land is an obvious manifestation of the park's unfocused ideas.

Because the map is the ONLY bit of the parks new brand we've seen so far, theres no doubt the park will get a new website / signs etc across the park in reflection of this new brand to make sure its consistent across the board.

 

[Benzin]

The park/Merlin are still continuing their vendetta against normal queues though, what with having Fastrack on the Cinema and Dodgems...

Bigger map btw:

The map has an extreme case of 1 step forward 2 steps back... Given that they've put a very weird focus on the coasters, and even Angry Birds (you know, the NEW thing) seems to be ignored, like all the other rides are... Even the likes of Rush (which has always been one of the more prominent flats) appear to have been reduced to unimportance...

 

[Anonymous]

Has anybody else noticed Saw Alive is gone?

 

[_nemesis_]

^ It wasn't on the map last year either.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Rush is pretty much the best ride at Thorpe Park.

Yet, on that map it looks like a kids swing.

 

[Rob]

Well first of all I'm over the moon that the horrendous, inappropriate and plain stupid map they had before is gone. Anything is an improvement on that. Second positive, this is very pleasing on the eye, it seems vibrant and is generally appealing.

Now, I think a list of negatives is needed:

- Every coaster looks the same just a different colour. There also are no trains on any of the coasters. And yes they all look more like Oblivion than Oblivion is actually on the Towers map.
- Detail and theming, seems like Thorpe don't like this as there is next to none of the map! From the map you would have no idea that different rides have different themes.
- Flat rides, well they are there, you can see them once you've put your glasses on and got out the magnifying glass. They're all tiny and some are hidden behind the stupidly massive coasters meaning that they are really hard to see. Detonator blends in far too much with everything else around it and the only way you can tell that Quantum exists is because the ride name is written in text.

Another point, on the map the X building is yellow and blue. Is this/has this been re-painted?

Overally it looks great at first glimpse but when you really look at it then it's very poor and needs a lot of work.

 

[jon81uk]

Other big surprise is that Pizza Hit, KFC and Burger King are still there. Given they removed all of the Burger Kings from Towers and Chessington for the 2013 season I was expecting at least one of the brands to be dropped at Thorpe.

 

[HaydenCR]

Try finding the actual rides for Quantum and Rocky express on the map!

 

[electricBlll]

Maybe we should wait till we see their new site / park sign-age before we say things like that?

I agree, but their new brand appears to be generic white/blue shapes and characterless block lettering.

No doubt Merlin (who are usually expert at marketing) spent a lot of money post-2008 to create Thorpe Park's new explosive image, which was easily identifiable and I know appealed to a big young audience. Clearly the more recent extremes (fatheads) weren't as well-received, but throwing away all that character and replacing it with Microsoft Word -style imagery strikes me as a very bizarre thing to do.

I can see what they are getting at: block bold visuals and a fresh start. But so far they have pulled it off rather lazily. Meanwhile the park itself is becoming a patchwork of styles, very inconsistent. Is it a theme park, an amusement park, a family resort?

 

[Laura]

To me it looks really bland. When I was younger I used to get maps from the tourist office and stare at them for hours, basically exploring the themes ahead of time. There is no sense of depth or adventure with this map. I really don't like it...at least with the fatheads map you could 'explore' the park and get a sense of what each ride 'was about'. I remember being really excited about the magic carpet at Chessington because of the interesting drawing on the map (wish I still had it!)

It also makes the park look as small as it really is...small, plain, generic and uninvolving. I actually prefer the old map

 

[thefatone]

Colossus, the power of 10, shows 9 inversions in its statistics .

Other than that, I like it. Even if it reminds me heavily of pleasure beach's new "advert".