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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

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There's increasing doubts over Fright Nights this year to be honest. People feared that Thorpe would burn out horror fans with The year of the Walking Dead, opening scare mazes early and people are indeed already getting tired of it now. Blair Witch will likely return as the theming has apeared for it. Rumours so far are that Living Nightmare and the flop that was Sanctum will return as well. Thorpe is looking quite stale and not really going to do anything compelling to differentiate Fright Nights from the Year of the Walking Dead events.
 
Stuntman707 said:
There's increasing doubts over Fright Nights this year to be honest. People feared that Thorpe would burn out horror fans with The year of the Walking Dead, opening scare mazes early and people are indeed already getting tired of it now. Blair Witch will likely return as the theming has apeared for it. Rumours so far are that Living Nightmare and the flop that was Sanctum will return as well. Thorpe is looking quite stale and not really going to do anything compelling to differentiate Fright Nights from the Year of the Walking Dead events.
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Ah right. Thanks @Stuntman707; maybe this is building up to a big refresh of the event in 2019? Or 2020, to coincide with Project 2020?
 
I went through saw alive last night as a big saw fan.
Wow. It was so dark I couldn’t see any of the traps just people screaming in my face. That’s not what saw is they’re meant to be in the traps!
Apart from that I finally went on collosus and found it really smooth and enjoyable.
 
I'm visiting Thorpe Park in a few weeks time for the first time in five years. If they let me down like they did last time it'll be another five years before I revisit.
 
So I did two days at Thorpe this week and I was very impressed with the park on the whole. A few points from the weekend:

  • There was a great atmosphere around the beach during the daytime and Love Island Lates, people were enjoying the bars and meet 'n' greets.
  • Ride availability was pretty good for Thorpe, I only saw DBGT and Saw go down over the two days. (Although there were probably more).
  • All restaurants and kiosks were open with the majority staying open until park close.
  • The Walking Dead: The Ride and DBGT both contained actors.
My only negatives of my visit were that the park was very dark in places in the evening with no lighting what so ever and the park didn't seem as clean as it should have been.

Overall thumbs up!
 
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And for those of us who refuse to open links to scummy news outlets:
https://web.archive.org/web/2018091...horpe-park-horror-high-speed-vortex-incident/

SCREAM PARK
Scary moment part of a seat flies off Thorpe Park’s Vortex ride narrowly missing thrillseekers
Dramatic video shows the back of a seat flying off Thorpe Park’s Vortex at high speed as it swung from side to side up to 65 feet from the ground

EXCLUSIVE
By Ed McConnell
16th September 2018, 10:59 pm
Updated: 17th September 2018, 7:20 am

THRILLSEEKERS claim a chunk of a theme park ride flew off at high speed — missing them by inches.

The back of a seat came away from Thorpe Park’s Vortex as it swung from side to side up to 65 feet from the ground.

Picture shows the dramatic moment a chair flies off Thorpe Park's Vortex ride at high speed on Saturday

Dad Ricky Taylor, 36, was on Thorpe Park’s Vortex with four pals on Saturday.

He said: “A mate was filming us when a bit came away.


"There was the back of a seat and a bolt lying on the floor. I think they came off a seat labelled ‘Do Not Use’. I couldn’t believe it. We were held there for about ten minutes.”

Ricky says he pointed out the bolt to staff. He adds: "When we got off staff were just stood around laughing about the situation, which I found odd."

Families watch in horror as seat misses them 'by inches' on Saturday
Chair flies off popular Vortex ride this weekend
His group left the park soon after the 3pm incident.

He says that he was planning to take his children there next month but after the experience is reconsidering the visit.


Park owner Merlin said a foam piece had come off a chair that was out of service

Thorpe Park power cut leaves dozens stranded on rides in scorching 35C heat
The ride spins up to 32 people in gondolas that also swing back and forth. It was closed as a precaution last year after a teen died on a similar ride in Ohio, US.

The ride, built by Dutch company KMG, has reportedly been closed on several occasions this year for maintenance work.

Park owner Merlin said a foam piece had come off a chair that was out of service.

A park spokesman said checks found no missing bolts. The ride reopened 15 minutes later.

The park's statement read: "We can confirm that on Saturday a piece of foam from the back of one of the chairs on Vortex detached whilst the ride was in operation.

"This was a non-critical part of the ride and came from a chair that was out-of-service during the ride’s operation. Vortex was promptly stopped whilst further safety checks took place and re-opened 15 minutes later."
 
Doesn't look great does it. I'm more suprised no mention of the Smiler in the article.

The daily fail would've relished the opportunity to squeeze that in, ofcourse with the local house prices mentioned
 
Would you guys say that these sorts of occurrences are more widely reported when at Merlin parks due to Merlin's high profile, or is that not true?
 
zerogravity said:
Doesn't look great does it. I'm more suprised no mention of the Smiler in the article.

The daily fail would've relished the opportunity to squeeze that in, ofcourse with the local house prices mentioned
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Just wait until something like a phone falls off SAW: The Ride.

Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
 
rob666 said:
Been in all the papers I have seen Ash...no injuries, not really news to non geeks.
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I have to admit I have only seen it in the Echo, and haven't really looked at the others. But I still stand by the fuss that was created over the Smiler vs Crazy Train is insane. The Smiler was human error, no fault of the ride, dress it up whatever way you like the ride was not at fault. This however shouldn't have been allowed to happen, and can only be put down to negligence (just like M&Ds)
 
Large number of injuries and two amputations on a world leading ride caused by incompetent management, or a no injury coaster in a kiddy park on a kiddy coaster.
Rather a massive difference.
And it pretty much made all the popular national press Ash, and the BBC news website.
 
Stuntman707 said:
I get nervous around KMG Afterburners anyway after the recent fatality. You can hear the Vortex metalwork creeking and clicking when it’s under full stress. Very unsettling noise.
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And the fact that the restraints don't have retaining straps makes me nervous too.
 
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