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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
- Thread starter Ted
- Start date
ChristmasPud
TS Member
Totally agree. I remember seeing Colossus built, I remember the radical change it made for Thorpe Park (my local park) and the who, it was my first full sized coaster, and I remember being hooked (in its better years when it was actually built over the waterfront) by its paths and setting with that music.
However it's an awful ride, nobody I ever go with (non enthusiasts) come off enjoying it, I never feel any need to ride it, it's noisy and hugely uncomfortable.
Yeah the John Wardley argument is a strange one, since at the very most he'd have had the job of saying "copy this Brazil one and add 2 inversions, I'm quitting Tussauds, see ya bye". As with all coasters after Nemesis, he was one of a big team who directed developments, so in no way is Colossus really "a John Wardley ride", I doubt he even cares about it to be honest.
Colossus was a cool ride for its time, but the space could be better used now! It's had a good run, but it was always just a copy and a ploy to rework Thorpe as a thrill park. I'd now love to see a much better coaster in its place.
SuperMuscleMan
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Colossus
I think thats a fairly wrong argument, its a great ride experience. Yes the restraints once they changed them were not confortable but i am a 6ft 2 powerlifter at 120kg and i get in it! And head banging? Does everyone go limp on the ride because i have never experienced that! Its layout is fun and the interaction with the land is almost unique not only to that of thorpe but the uk. No coaster in a uk theme park has used landscaping in the same way since. (Sw8 is not open yet). I know it has its haters but your points dont make much sense to me. The complete package has to be looked at at coasters and colossus ticks many boxes others like the smiler, saw, thirteen dont.
You answered your own question there, you're the exception to the rule being a power lifter, I imagine you have huge upper body strength and are able to hold your neck up off the restraints as a result, most people who go to Thorpe are either used to sitting in an office chair or spend all day on the sofa and probably couldn't lift their own head off a pillow without a lot of effort, hence no ability to brace themselves in the turns. We used to call it rag doll syndrome.
A previous career gave me a strong neck so it's not a problem for me either, also a lot of people anticipate the turns wrong, they lean into them (lean to right for a right turn) which is the wrong thing to do if you have no neck muscles, you only have to do that a couple of times and bang your head and you're done for for the rest of the ride.
It's alway fun to sit on the Stealth platform and watch people launch, you can instantly tell w
A previous career gave me a strong neck so it's not a problem for me either, also a lot of people anticipate the turns wrong, they lean into them (lean to right for a right turn) which is the wrong thing to do if you have no neck muscles, you only have to do that a couple of times and bang your head and you're done for for the rest of the ride.
It's alway fun to sit on the Stealth platform and watch people launch, you can instantly tell w
Matt.GC
TS Member
I'm glad you enjoy it. But note how the ride experience was defended after I mentioned it and after all the virtues of the other stuff such as nostalgia, Wardley and landscaping was argued.
This is all highly subjective of course, this doesn't make me right. I have a controversial soft spot for Saw myself for example.
Rojo
TS Member
If I remember correctly he seemed to care about it in his autobiography. If only to tell the 'it cured a brain tumour' story. That alone should tell you how rough it has become.
For me Colossus is in the Vekoma SLC and MK-1200 standard of rough and most are virtually un-rideable for me. I still seem to go on Colossus once every time I go to TP and instantly regret smashing my head in the restraints like a twin bell alarm clock.
Essentially it just needs new trains, and a nice repaint. Could something like this be on the cards for next year as I noticed the other week that ALL Colossus merch was heavily reduced.
They appear to have been testing paint for about 5 years now, it could be done so much quicker XD
They appear to have been testing paint for about 5 years now, it could be done so much quicker XD
CoasterCrazyChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I really enjoy Colossus and even ignoring theming/landscaping I would rank it as either 2nd but probably 3rd best coaster at Thorpe Park.
However I found that the make or break factor for my enjoyment of it entirely depended where you sat. In the front few rows I found it second only to front seat Stealth as best in the park. In the back few rows however it was almost entirely unbearable making it arguably the worst coaster in the park.
Saw on the other hand is a coaster I despise. I am amazed how anyone can bash Colossus for roughness then go on to praise Saw! I enjoyed it in 2009 but since then I have never had a fun experience on it. It is forceful but offers no real adrenaline rush or any decent airtime for that matter. It almost makes Speed at Oakwood feel like a B&M. My abiding memory after enduring Sore is always a banging migraine while sat in traffic in the M25 on the way home. Nasty.
But going back to the point about theming/landscaping/interaction. Why is this dismissed as of secondary importance? This is of course highly arguable but to me is the most important aspect of any ride experience. You spend 60 seconds (if that) on a ride but anywhere up to 2/3 hours queuing or standing around the ride. If that part of the experience is done well it more than makes up for a coaster that is rough around the edges.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
I was well under 5' when I last rode Colossus in May 2015 and they were still awful. I dread to think what they're like now I'm 5'5/5'6!
SuperMuscleMan
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Colossus
I agree, but if i can fit in them then surely they are not the worst, i find RITA the worst sized restraints, my quads are simply too big. In terms of neck strength yes but the forces are only up-to a max of 4.5g! Do people really find that hard? Id love to know how many people here hit their head still and if they are enthusiasts don't they know the layout?
Here's me in 2005 with a very frail friend and shes holding her head up - [See here] Yes don't tell me off i was stupid and holding a phone on-board but it was when phones only started filming!
Totally agree, what makes a coaster is its surroundings, music and landscape. Saw is a ride i hate, although its them is impressive if not predictable. I go to the park most years (and back in the day when a Tussaud's pass was £70!) And i don't notice the difference that much with colossus, she rides smooth to me and i hope she stays!
ChristmasPud
TS Member
True! While Colossus was landscaped very well for what it was, which added so much to that side of the park, it's no reason to keep the coaster.
However, what is sad is that we're guaranteed that whatever will replace it will have worse area design and miss all those opportunities, since UK Merlin parks don't budget for such things anymore. See: Saw The Ride's bare area, The Swarm's vehicles parked next to a big flat flaza, Ghost Train's patchwork tarmac surrounding a boxy, uninteresting exterior - even though it's right in the middle of the park and (what was supposed to be) Merlin's flagship ride!
Most of the fun in Colossus was its diving around under bridges before shooting to the sky again. And being able to get up close in between the ride from the surrounding paths. All that area was just water next to flat ground before Colossus was built.
So it was great for what it was, much more fun than a car park coaster shoved behind a fence. But doesn't solve the roughness of the ride.
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Because the same person (at another place) who broke the "Loggers will be closed at the end of 2015" also said later X would close end of 2017 along with Slammer and Colossus so the whole area can be redeveloped, earlier this year Thorpe announced Project 2020 and the two sites in the running for that are the Island behind Swarm and Loggers/Slammer area. Throw that in with the report up thread that X's final day is tomorrow, along with Colossus's (I assumed) fairly well known sinking feeling and constant problems, and it's a fairly easy conclusion to come to that Colossus's days are numbered.
Plus when I was there last year I was talking to one of the engineers who was looking at the test paints (my son started it, he has no problem asking staff annoying questions) and he said that the park hadn't made a final decision on Colossus's fate which is why they were only testing new paint on small areas and not doing a complete repaint.
If true that it's going sooner than later, it's a shame, it's a great ride (if you sit in the right row) but I wouldn't be surprised, the ride has got a lot rougher just in the last year alone.
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Towerslover
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Icon
Who would take colossus over an rmc though? Would be great to see an rmc I think it would be a really good addition and help strengthen Thorpes line up further!
Plastic Person
TS Member
I really hope that Colossus stays. Not because it's my favourite coaster, although I don't find it as unpleasant as most here, but because it's still a big, iconic draw and Thorpe need the ride capacity. The park are in no position to be undertaking tit-for-tat coaster swaps. Then again, nothing is committed to currently with any long-term focus.