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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

I think that's enough speculation over nothing for now please. As others have said countless times, if you know some public information then please, go ahead and share with the group. If you know something but are not allowed to share it (whether you're a staff member/working for a contractor and have signed an NDA, or have been told some information in confidence), then please don't share, nor mention that you "know something". It generally just causes frustration amongst other members.

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Anyway, I've been to Thorpe this afternoon (an impromptu decision after a horrendously busy morning at Chessington), and somehow the queues were all perfectly reasonable. Didn't wait more than 20 minutes for anything (some queues were longer but we avoided these and came back later), and managed 10 rides in 4 hours. Not quite sure how it happened but the queues and crowds were chalk and cheese in comparison to Chessington.

A very successful afternoon. :)
 
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It’s never been the same since it moved to Thorpe, even after it went back to Huss en route. I don’t anticipate this rebuild will materially improve the cycle they run it on either.
 
I must admit that when I rode Samurai in July 2018, I found it perfectly palatable and fun in terms of its intensity level, if not one of my absolute favourite flat rides.

However, given that I'm someone who has a pretty weak stomach for flats and I found Samurai perfectly palatable, it probably doesn't bode too well for Samurai's cycle to those of you who love your intense flats... aren't Top Scans notorious for being some of the most intense flat rides when run on a good cycle?
 
The excellent and much missed Coaster Kingdom absolutely slated Samurai after it moved from Chessington, on account of it's much worse cycles: http://www.s104638357.websitehome.co.uk/html/samurai_main.htm.

I've not been on it for quite a few years now but it didn't hold up well compared with the short-lived one at Lightwater Valley or the one or two rides I've had on fairground Top Scans. I never really bought into all the hype (mainly from Coaster Kingdom) around the travelling ones though. Even when running well there are 2 fundamental issues I have with the ride - firstly, the outside seats are much faster than the inside seats which means the inside seats just aren't as good, secondly there's a lot of lateral forces with push your head continuously into one side of the restraint.
 
Slightly off topic, so apologies, but do we know what actually happened to Coaster Kingdom? All the reviews are from mid-2000s or earlier, and if you go on the main website, it changed in about 2007, with a review of Rage being added, but nothing since 2007...

It's a shame, as the reviews are great; I'd love to see their appraisal of some of the newer stuff!
 
Correct me if I’m wrong here, but weren’t Samurai & Peeking Heights swapped with one another due to their respective parks changing target market?

If I’m remembering correctly, wasn’t Peeking Heights originally at Thorpe under the name of Eclipse, but got sent to Chessington due to that becoming the “families and kids” park, and wasn’t Samurai sent to Thorpe in order to use up a lower investment year after the one-two punch of Colossus & Inferno, as well as to further cement that park’s status as the “teens and adults” park?

Rather confusingly, though, Samurai didn’t directly replace Eclipse within Thorpe, did it? I seem to remember it instead replacing a different ride within what was then Canada Creek, which is what led to the confusion of its themed area placement today…

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t Eclipse directly replaced by Rush?
 
KolonelKlink said:
The guy behind it - Marcus Gaines - now posts coaster content on Coaster Touring (https://twitter.com/coastertouring)
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No, Coaster Kingdom wasn't run by Marcus Gaines, it was run by Marcus Sheen. The sites aren't related.

CK ended simply as it took up lots of time, and the lives of those involved moved on. It was also a formative experience for me, the level of analysis and wit was above and beyond almost all theme park writing, at least for a period. John Phillips in particular was (and is) a wonderful critical voice.
 
Considering it is 22 years old, Samurai has to be approaching if not past the point of EOL? Really does seem to be throwing money into a hole in the ground keeping it going (like Enterprise at Towers). Solid example of poor budget allocation from Merlin and poor budget use by Thorpe.
 
I think there will be a point where it doesn't make sense to do it, they certainly reached that point with Slammer but went through hell and back to keep it running for a long old period.
 
That area of the park has already lost a lot with Slammer, Loggers Leap, Canada Creek Railway, Saw Alive, and just up the path the admittedly short lived I'm a Celebrity. I know Black Mirror's somewhere around there and they've put in the kids rides from Weymouth, but that area of the park would look very pitiful if they removed Samurai, unless they replaced it with something.
 
Funcone said:
That area of the park has already lost a lot with Slammer, Loggers Leap, Canada Creek Railway, Saw Alive, and just up the path the admittedly short lived I'm a Celebrity. I know Black Mirror's somewhere around there and they've put in the kids rides from Weymouth, but that area of the park would look very pitiful if they removed Samurai, unless they replaced it with something.
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They could do with 2 flat rides really. Lets hope the Towers experiment shows Merlin parks need them.
 
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