Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[AstroDan]

Was there ever any confirmation of the actual project cost of this? Surely £13m is vastly under - the ride involved a massive variety of specialist companies, with highly customised ride systems and advanced technology - on top of an IP.

The utlimate failure.

 

[Matt N]

The initial cost of the attraction was £13m. Is the other £17m covered by the Rise of the Demon retheme and the total maintenance cost?

Where did £13m come from?

The park themselves described it as “[their] most expensive investment ever” (so instantly outweighing the £18-20m spent on The Swarm in 2012), and all the rumours were pointing to a ride costing roughly £30m.

I completely forgot about Rise of the Demon… I heard a rumour suggesting that those changes cost an extra £11m on top, but that does sound a bit excessive, so I’d be surprised if that was true…

Was there ever any confirmation of the actual project cost of this? Surely £13m is vastly under - the ride involved a massive variety of specialist companies, with highly customised ride systems and advanced technology - on top of an IP.

The utlimate failure.

As I said above, all that Thorpe Park ever said was that it was “[their] most expensive investment ever”, which would put it at a higher cost than the £18-20m (the figure varies between sources) spent on The Swarm in 2012.

 

[Trooper Looper]

If true, no great loss.

Possibility the biggest ‘fail’ for a Merlin attraction.


From: https://twitter.com/attractionsc/status/1611738042691194880?s=46&t=P0d7XbT0sNVM8qYMNLO86A

Yes!! Now get an Omnimover ride system in there (if its actually going.)

 

[Matt N]

Yes!! Now get an Omnimover ride system in there (if its actually going.)

I’d be surprised if they didn’t reuse the existing one to some degree. It’s actually a very high-end ride system, from what I gather.

 

[Tom]

Was £13m. Not sure where the £30m fantasy came from.

 

[Zeock]

Where did £13m come from?

The park themselves described it as “[their] most expensive investment ever” (so instantly outweighing the £18-20m spent on The Swarm in 2012), and all the rumours were pointing to a ride costing roughly £30m.

I completely forgot about Rise of the Demon… I heard a rumour suggesting that those changes cost an extra £11m on top, but that does sound a bit excessive, so I’d be surprised if that was true…

As I said above, all that Thorpe Park ever said was that it was “[their] most expensive investment ever”, which would put it at a higher cost than the £18-20m (the figure varies between sources) spent on The Swarm in 2012.

The £13 million price tag was reported on the Financial Times and is the price tag shown on the Wikipedia page for the attraction.

 

[Trooper Looper]

I’d be surprised if they didn’t reuse the existing one to some degree. It’s actually a very high-end ride system, from what I gather.

Wait, what existing one?

 

[Matt N]

Was £13m. Not sure where the £30m fantasy came from.

The park themselves said that it was “their most expensive investment ever” which would make it more expensive than the £18-20m spent on The Swarm.

Wait, what existing one?

Doesn’t the train travel on a track of sorts?

 

[Trooper Looper]

The park themselves said that it was “their most expensive investment ever” which would make it more expensive than the £18-20m spent on The Swarm.

Doesn’t the train travel on a track of sorts?

I mean an Omnimover ride system (aka Haunted Mansion)

 

[Zeock]

Yes!! Now get an Omnimover ride system in there (if its actually going.)

If DBGT is going, I believe that a true ghost train using the Ommimover system in the same building should be its replacement.

 

[Matt N]

I mean an Omnimover ride system (aka Haunted Mansion)

Ah, sorry… I misunderstood you there.

Personally, I would be surprised if they did not try to reuse DBGT’s existing ride system to some degree.

Admittedly, I’m unsure what you could do with it, as it is quite bespokely tailored to Derren Brown’s Ghost Train, but it’s a high end piece of kit, and I’d be surprised if the park didn’t at least try to reutilise it.

 

[Trooper Looper]

If DBGT is going, I believe that a true ghost train using the Ommimover system in the same building should be its replacement.

Thorpe Park actually used to have an Omnimover Ghost Train back in the day called Wicked Witches Haunt. Here's a POV of it.

Credit goes to Euro Theme Park Archive:


From: https://youtu.be/8Nc1ZnH3Pe8

 

[Zeock]

Thorpe Park actually used to have an Omnimover Ghost Train back in the day called Wicked Witches Haunt. Here's a POV of it.

Credit goes to Euro Theme Park Archive:


From: https://youtu.be/8Nc1ZnH3Pe8

Yes, I had heard of it, but thanks!
It looked like a great ride. Shame it burned down in the infamous fire of 2000. It would be very nice to have a similar ride today.

 

[QTXAdsy]

If true, no great loss.

Possibility the biggest ‘fail’ for a Merlin attraction.


From: https://twitter.com/attractionsc/status/1611738042691194880?s=46&t=P0d7XbT0sNVM8qYMNLO86A

Well then, seems I called it going a few months ago if some of you remember. And in the end for DBGT...

Good riddance, even Merlin are likely embarrassed by it and wish they'd never built in the first place.

 

[Zeock]

I don't think that this is 100 percent confirmation of a removal. I'm pretty sure that there are some other rides that have been temporarily taken off the map which have returned the next season.

 

[pluk]

I think it is clear the IP is up so Derren Brown will no longer have his name plastered on it, but I'd be amazed if the ride ststem wasn't reutilised. No idea how, but there surely must be a way to do something interesting with it?

Is the technology there now for it to be upgraded augmented reality, maybe with glasses not connected to the train so extended into the off train section, and blasters for interactivity? It probably could be excellent with the right money thrown at it. The reality is it'll probably be tweaked, the preshow shuttered and his name tipexed out.

 

[JAperson]

Lots of things have been removed from Merlins apps before only to reappear, it's clearly a key feature of the apps they use, to be able to toggle on and off what is shown. There are any number of reasons they might be doing it. It could well be a retheme or a removal of the ride, but at the moment I don't think we can tell much if anything from this.

 

[Zeock]

the preshow shuttered

That's the only part of the ride (except the gift shop scare) that I would want to keep.

 

[imanautie]

I think it is clear the IP is up so Derren Brown will no longer have his name plastered on it, but I'd be amazed if the ride ststem wasn't reutilised. No idea how, but there surely must be a way to do something interesting with it?

Is the technology there now for it to be upgraded augmented reality, maybe with glasses not connected to the train so extended into the off train section, and blasters for interactivity? It probably could be excellent with the right money thrown at it. The reality is it'll probably be tweaked, the preshow shuttered and his name tipexed out.

As Galactica showed it's possible to do vr using mobile devices so it's doable

 

[dazza4783]

I think it is clear the IP is up so Derren Brown will no longer have his name plastered on it, but I'd be amazed if the ride ststem wasn't reutilised. No idea how, but there surely must be a way to do something interesting with it?

Is the technology there now for it to be upgraded augmented reality, maybe with glasses not connected to the train so extended into the off train section, and blasters for interactivity? It probably could be excellent with the right money thrown at it. The reality is it'll probably be tweaked, the preshow shuttered and his name tipexed out.

I doubt the experience will change too much, removing Derren and references to him wouldn't take too much doing. The original trademark didn't even feature him (https://www.ipo.gov.uk/trademark/image/GB50000000915009459.jpg)

So other than the pre-show I don't think too much will need to change.