Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[Jb85]

More chance of pigs flying than that happening though. The next big coaster at Towers will surely go on the air car park or at worst go into the place of a ride that's removed.

The cross valley thing would be a logistical nightmare.

I can’t see the air car park getting a ride

they’ve dabbled a few times now with the valley / blade area. There is 100% traction to this rumour

 

[Benjsh]

Just out of interest, does anyone think the fabled Thorpe RMC is at all likely to happen?
People have been going on about it for years, and it would certainly bring something entirely different to the UK.
Discussion seems to be leaning more towards a B&M now adays.

For the record I'd prefer to see a B&M Hyper at Thorpe - it'd be high capacity, reliable, easily marketable if they go for height, and still offer something different.

I think the first UK RMC is most likely to go to Towers and will probably be SW9 (unless they try and palm the Nemmy retrack off as SW9 which I very much doubt they will)

RMC on the air cark as part of a new themed area is my bet but we may have to wait a while.

 

[Benjsh]

I can’t see the air car park getting a ride

they’ve dabbled a few times now with the valley / blade area. There is 100% traction to this rumour

True but they have also been rumours of the car park being used too. Forbidden Valley doesn't need a new coaster either. It needs more / better supporting rides.

I'd personally love them to open a new themed land on the car park. Steam punk area with an RMC and maybe a flat ride too. Now that would be really cool.

 

[Skyscraper]

I think the first UK RMC is most likely to go to Towers and will probably be SW9 (unless they try and palm the Nemmy retrack off as SW9 which I very much doubt they will)

RMC on the air cark as part of a new themed area is my bet but we may have to wait a while.

An RMC on the Air car park is unrealistic as because of the height limit it would only be as tall as Thirteen. Unless they dug a hole, which is unlikely, or was launched, which is possible.

 

[Matt N]

An RMC on the Air car park is unrealistic as because of the height limit it would only be as tall as Thirteen. Unless they dug a hole, which is unlikely, or was launched, which is possible.

Haven’t practically all of Towers’ coasters had a hole dug, to at least a certain extent?

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Haven’t practically all of Towers’ coasters had a hole dug, to at least a certain extent?

I think apart from Rita all the thrill coasters have
Edit: just noticed we are going off topic, if anyone wants to respond to me then perhaps SW9 would be a more appropriate thread.

 

[Funcone]

If you wanted to solve ‘every’ problem with Thorpe Park, you’d need deep pockets and a lot of patience. But there are some easy wins that should be well within their budget. The problem is they’ve spent a lot of money on short lived gimmicky attractions and intellectual properties, rather than investing in things that would stand the test of time.

I was just thinking about Drayton Manor’s rapids. We don’t know how much the refurb’s cost, but presumably it wouldn’t be loads by Merlin’s standards, particularly if you took away the cost of the new boats. If Thorpe Park spent £2.5 million on re-theming their rapids, then it could really transform the experience. They could also do a lot with the Flying Fish. Throw in a re-paint of Colossus and Inferno, and suddenly the park would be feeling a lot brighter and fresher.

In terms of a new roller coaster, it wouldn’t solve every problem, but it could:

1. Give them another big attraction for people under 1.4 metres (depending on the height requirement).
2. Reinvigorate a very tired corner of the park, if it went in Canada Creek.
3. Help to balance out all the ‘run down’ themes (if the new coaster had a cheerful theme)
4. Make the paths a little less crowded (by drawing more people into the Canada Creek area).
5. Add another high throughput attraction to ease the queues elsewhere (depending on what kind of coaster they went for).

There are a lot of ‘ifs’ there, but a new coaster ‘could’ do a lot for the park.

 

[Matt N]

Interestingly, ZeroG over on Thorpe Park Mania has hinted that we should expect a Mack Rides coaster for Thorpe’s next coaster as opposed to the strongly rumoured B&M:

Don’t get your hopes up for any theming for the 2024 Mack. Samurai looks like it’s staying for a while!


plans will be out soon

Should we be expecting a Mack coaster instead of a B&M?


I personally feel that a B&M is a little more plausible, as recent developments at both Chessington and numerous Asian Legolands would suggest that Merlin is at very least in cahoots with B&M to a fair extent, and they do have a fair history with B&M, whereas Mack haven’t done much (if anything) for Merlin outside of a couple of clones for Legoland parks.


For what it’s worth, I also heard a rumour that Mack are not especially keen on Merlin as a client based on past projects, and would not be keen to enter into a custom, large-scale project with the company, but take that with a pinch of salt.


However, a Mack certainly shouldn’t be ruled out, and I do think it would still be an exciting ride!

P.S. Here’s the TPM topic: https://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10923-the-next-big-thing/page/20/#comments

 

[JAperson]

Interestingly, ZeroG over on Thorpe Park Mania has hinted that we should expect a Mack Rides coaster for Thorpe’s next coaster as opposed to the strongly rumoured B&M:


Should we be expecting a Mack coaster instead of a B&M?


I personally feel that a B&M is a little more plausible, as recent developments at both Chessington and numerous Asian Legolands would suggest that Merlin is at very least in cahoots with B&M to a fair extent, and they do have a fair history with B&M, whereas Mack haven’t done much (if anything) for Merlin outside of a couple of clones for Legoland parks.


For what it’s worth, I also heard a rumour that Mack are not especially keen on Merlin as a client based on past projects, and would not be keen to enter into a custom, large-scale project with the company, but take that with a pinch of salt.


However, a Mack certainly shouldn’t be ruled out, and I do think it would still be an exciting ride!

P.S. Here’s the TPM topic: https://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10923-the-next-big-thing/page/20/#comments

Personally I think B&M makes a lot more sense. Thorpe already have lots of inversions and Mack hypes seem to be very focused on large inversions. I personally, think that a B&M would be both a better decision and more likely considering Merlin's very close relations with B&M.

 

[Benjsh]

A Mack Hyper would be very good. The one in Australia is meant to be ace.

 

[Matt N]

I should clarify that I just thought this might be an interesting comment to consider as opposed to suggesting it as a genuine “it will be [x]”, because I really don’t know. I just thought it was an interesting observation to make as I was reading that thread.

Take the comment with a pinch of salt, however; it is uncited, and there’s also little to no other evidence pointing towards a Mack, as far as I can see.

Each to their own, of course, but I personally feel that a B&M is far more likely. With the Chessington coaster and the numerous family B&Ms going to Chinese Legolands, it would appear that Merlin are at very least in strong cahoots with B&M, even if a multi-pack deal hasn’t been signed, and the company has a rock-solid relationship with B&M, whereas Mack haven’t done an awful lot for Merlin besides a few cloned coasters for Legolands, and Merlin haven’t commissioned any of those for a good few years now. I did also hear a rumour that Mack are not fond of Merlin as a client and would be reluctant to enter into a large-scale coaster contract with Merlin, but take that with a pinch of salt.

 

[Maelstrom]

A number of those that have claimed to have seen the plans/or some details (if it’s true or not) have all said that Thorpes coaster isn’t a B&M. If that’s true though is another mater.

I could potentially see a Mack hyper or extreme spinner as options that would work at Thorpe.

 

[Dave]

For what it’s worth, I also heard a rumour that Mack are not especially keen on Merlin as a client based on past projects, and would not be keen to enter into a custom, large-scale project with the company, but take that with a pinch of salt.


However, a Mack certainly shouldn’t be ruled out, and I do think it would still be an exciting ride!

P.S. Here’s the TPM topic: https://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10923-the-next-big-thing/page/20/#comments

Mack rides have a normal relationship with Merlin, they have worked with them recently on a few projects.

 

[Rick]

I think anything is possible with Merlin. With their projects often being concept driven, they do make their way around the manufacturers as they buy what allows them to deliver what they are looking for.

Not finger pointing ... but we do need to be a bit careful with the "I heard ..." stuff. That usually means that it's been mentioned in a YouTube video or read on another forum. Before long, you end up with what sounds like a promising rumour, but is in fact nonsense.

 

[Matt.GC]

The very idea that Mack will turn down a lucrative contract with Merlin because they're not bezzies with them at a personal level is, frankly, rediculous. That's not how business works. Of course there are contract preferences based on business compatibilities and past projects but Mack won't turn down a business opportunity based on emotion. When Mack answer the phone to Merlin they won't be saying "my mummy said I'm not allowed to play with you anymore". This is business and the only language businesses speak is Money, not emotion.

There's also a contradiction in here somewhere. A Youtuber says B&M have signed a 3 coaster deal with Merlin right? Then it's mentioned they've been throwing all sorts of stuff up in Lego parks. So has it dawned on anyone that this extremely low capacity Chessington coaster could be part of said deal with the Lego builds?

All I've seen so far is social media hot air from potential attention seekers. There's nothing concrete at all to suggest what's going on. All worthy of discussion of course but it's not as much taking it all with the suggested "pinch of salt", more like taking it with a whole dumper truck full of the stuff.

 

[Matt N]

Something I think I should stress is that no one besides the park truly knows anything until those plans go in.

Even though I admit I am often keen to spread a good rumour or piece of speculation if I find one, I apologise if you guys don’t like that, and I will stop if you strongly object to me spreading rumours; I never intend to say that “[x] WILL 100% happen” if I hear a good rumour. I merely intend to use them as a means of driving discussions forward and giving us some potential fuel to add to the fire of speculation.

Based on the rumours I’ve heard and what I think seems logical based on what we’re currently seeing within Merlin, my personal money is on a B&M Hyper Coaster that will break the UK height record. However, I’m not saying that that’s a dead cert by any means; I am open to surprises. It could be a B&M. It could be a Mack. It could be an RMC. It could be a GCI. It could be an Intamin. Heck, it could even be an SBF.

Before I reel off every single manufacturer under the sun, my basic point is; at this stage of the game, it could be absolutely anything. It’s when those plans go in to Runnymede Borough Council that the 100% dead cert ride type is known.

There's also a contradiction in here somewhere. A Youtuber says B&M have signed a 3 coaster deal with Merlin right? Then it's mentioned they've been throwing all sorts of stuff up in Lego parks. So has it dawned on anyone that this extremely low capacity Chessington coaster could be part of said deal with the Lego builds?

RTPs and Legolands are separate divisions of Merlin, so who’s to say that they didn’t sign one bulk deal with B&M for Legolands and another for RTPs? There doesn’t often seem to be much overlap between Legolands and RTPs in terms of ride types picked even when one division gets many of a certain ride type (for instance, no flying theatres have made their way into RTPs in spite of many Legoland parks receiving them, and there were also no Mack wild mice in RTPs in spite of many Legoland parks receiving them.), so while I won’t claim to know how the corporate side of Merlin works, I don’t think that it would be inconceivable to suggest that Legolands and RTPs might have bulk deals assigned for them separately to one another, thus meaning that it would be possible for there to be both a Legolands B&M deal and an RTPs B&M deal.

I reckon Chessington’s coaster might well have been conceived as a result of some form of multi-pack deal, though, whether that’s through the same deal as the Legoland coasters or a separate one conceived for the RTPs. I don’t think that style of coaster is what you’d typically go to B&M for, and there are certainly numerous manufacturers I’d pick ahead of B&M both in terms of suitability for the ride brief and cost effectiveness.

 

[pluk]

Of course there are contract preferences based on business compatibilities and past projects but Mack won't turn down a business opportunity based on emotion. When Mack answer the phone to Merlin they won't be saying "my mummy said I'm not allowed to play with you anymore". This is business and the only language businesses speak is Money, not emotion.

In fairness, if a business has had previous bad experience with another it is quite feasible they would turn work down from them in the future. If they know there will likely be issues with contract fulfilment, payment delays, reputational damage etc etc they may well think the potential profit is not worth the risk. Business does work like that sometimes, not that I believe it is the case here at all.

As for Mack for this, I wouldn't rule it out...

 

[Quetzal]

A Mack sounds sensible to me. I never quite believed the B&M or RMC rumours as they seemed to be more based on wish fulfilment rather than what Merlin would realistically greenlight.

I can picture something compact taking over the Old Town/Slammer areas, reusing the Loggers Station. It'll save the park a huge amount of expense in constructing the necessary infrastructure to get a coaster out to the back of the Loggers area.

 

[RicketyCricket]

Mack certainly rival B&M in terms of saftey and reliability so I wouldn't be surprised if Merlin were to go with Mack.

They're very low risk compared to RMC or Intamin.

 

[Benzin]

In fairness, if a business has had previous bad experience with another it is quite feasible they would turn work down from them in the future. If they know there will likely be issues with contract fulfilment, payment delays, reputational damage etc etc they may well think the potential profit is not worth the risk. Business does work like that sometimes, not that I believe it is the case here at all.

As for Mack for this, I wouldn't rule it out...

Hehe, BGW absolutely DESPISE Intamin. Might not anymore, but still amused me.