Thorpe Park: General Discussion

[Rob]

Re: Thorpe Park

We need to create a thread entitled 'How to market a wooden rollercoaster in the UK' I think...

I'm not too sure how all the market research Merlin ever do for woodies comes back badly. I was speaking to my brother about theme parks the other day, and when it comes to these things he is just like any other member of the public, ie no enthusiast views if you get what I mean. He didn't know about SW7 so I was telling him about that and then he asked whether Towers would get a wooden coaster, and said after I told him about it that the cross valley woodie would have been amazing.

Another point is that if parks like Six Flags, Europa, Heide Park to name but a few are able to build them, why can't we in the UK? Are most of the public that against them, do they really deem them as unsafe? It surely can't be the case. With the old woodies at Blackpool a lot of the "older generations" (one way to put it) were brought up with these coaster, my parents for example used to go to Blackpool and remember riding the Grand National and Big Dipper. I'm sure a new woodie in the UK would be popular.

The only reason I can think that they may get bad market research is because people maybe assume that all woodies, even new ones, are old and therefore unsafe. If people knew that technology had advanced since the days of the Dipper etc then this would surely be different.

 

[CoasterDan]

Thorpe Park

it's like when I went to Florida with my family, at Busch Gardens it took me a while to get my mum to come on gwazi as she instantly saw the coaster was wooden and therefore saw it as unsafe :')

 

[Dave]

Re: Thorpe Park

One thing i have to say about Thorpe is it seems clear they are not adding a new ride next year, just a spruce up of X and maybe one or two other minor alterations. The trouble is this is Thorpe all the time, and is primarily the reason i don't really rate the place. Over the years since the rush of flats that went in at the begining of Tussauds ownership of the park they never install decent filler attractions to the park.

Essentially since 2005 OTHER than the rollercoasters they have installed 1 scare maze, 1 second hand raft ride and returned flying fish. Yeah their coaster installations have been relatively good (i don't much rate Saw), and more frequent than most parks, but the over-all package at Thorpe remains poor.

I know Towers installed nothing in 2011 (well they got crabs) but over-all at least there is something to add to the resort every year and looking to the future it seems certain that after SW7 there is a whole family area coming. Drayton keep installations coming even though they have a much lower budget, Chessie get nothing from Merlin but they understand a well rounded attraction is as well recieved as a coaster (Zufari), and Blackpool have even got into the game (after a few years of nothing) with new installations in 2011 and 2013 and a damn good clean up in 2012.

For me anyway its more than just about roller coasters at theme parks and Thorpe just doesn't cut-it beyond their coasters.

 

[Tom]

Re: Thorpe Park

We need to create a thread entitled 'How to market a wooden rollercoaster in the UK' I think...

I'm not too sure how all the market research Merlin ever do for woodies comes back badly. I was speaking to my brother about theme parks the other day, and when it comes to these things he is just like any other member of the public, ie no enthusiast views if you get what I mean. He didn't know about SW7 so I was telling him about that and then he asked whether Towers would get a wooden coaster, and said after I told him about it that the cross valley woodie would have been amazing.

Another point is that if parks like Six Flags, Europa, Heide Park to name but a few are able to build them, why can't we in the UK? Are most of the public that against them, do they really deem them as unsafe? It surely can't be the case. With the old woodies at Blackpool a lot of the "older generations" (one way to put it) were brought up with these coaster, my parents for example used to go to Blackpool and remember riding the Grand National and Big Dipper. I'm sure a new woodie in the UK would be popular.

The only reason I can think that they may get bad market research is because people maybe assume that all woodies, even new ones, are old and therefore unsafe. If people knew that technology had advanced since the days of the Dipper etc then this would surely be different.

I think it comes down to the fact that they would struggle to apply an overdramatic theme to it and it's also hard to incorporate a gimmick feature for the marketing to hang off.

I've always thought some sort of wild west or Hillbilly theme could work with one - deliberately retro.

 

[James]

Re: Thorpe Park

Merlin require heavy market research before building new rides. They want to know 100% that a new investment will make them money. Unfortunately, according to Alton Towers, woodies simply do not do well with market research.

I would take at a guess that European parks are willing to take the risk. Arguably Alton Towers and Tussuads used to take a few risks in the 90s. However times have changed and there is no risk factor involved. In theory though Merlin could easily build a woodie, market it and grab a lot of positive attention. With marketing these days you can make anything attractive.

 

[josht]

Re: Thorpe Park

Wouldn't mind seeing a woodie at Thorpe it would suit the park

 

[BigAl]

Re: Thorpe Park

Would they be looking at the same plans that they had GCI draw-up a few years ago or something different to that? I don't know where that was designed to go but it looked like a decent ride.

 

[Anonymous]

Re: Thorpe Park

Would they be looking at the same plans that they had GCI draw-up a few years ago or something different to that? I don't know where that was designed to go but it looked like a decent ride.

That was due to go where Saw now resides and would have been a twisted out & back sharing the same tunnel as Loggers Leap.

As for the woodie rumours... I've heard a lot about this too. I'm lead to believe there are two options. A GG Woodie... The one talked about by GG at IAAPA or a Intamin Blitz coaster, as the team involved have a lot of love for Maverick...

 

[BigAl]

Re: Thorpe Park

They'd have to be careful with an Intamin Blitz, surely? Maverick features a beyond vertical drop, a powerful high-speed launch and a few inversions, whilst iSpeed, the other blitz, features a scaled down version of Stealth before it moves onto perform inversions and Rita style turns.

It'd be hilarious if Thorpe went and made a coaster which takes the best elements of Saw, Stealth and Colossus and rendered those three coasters useless!


(that was a joke, before anyone tells me they wouldn't do that)




Anyway, that's why I think a wooden coaster would be a better option.

 

[Rocket]

Thorpe Park

I still think thorpe will now look into the inverting hybrid woodies. As they are more marketable with steeper drops and inversions.

 

[Thomas]

Re: Thorpe Park

Something that's always bugged me, where was Thorpe Park Farm? Would anyone be kind enough to show on google maps where it was?

 

[MiserableMonkey]

Re: Thorpe Park

You can see Thorpe Farm here.

You can just make out the old Canada Creek Railway line to the bottom left of that link. They've started to flood the farm to allow the construction of the new islands, as you can see.

 

[Ted]

Re: Thorpe Park

Something that's always bugged me, where was Thorpe Park Farm? Would anyone be kind enough to show on google maps where it was?

IIRC, it was across the lake from where Stealth is. You could get a boat there from where Model world was (where Stealth is now) to the farm, as well as the train from Canada Creek

 

[Thomas]

Re: Thorpe Park

Seems so odd that The Nations Thrill Capital used to have a farm! I take it the CCR got changed around the time Saw was built?

 

[MiserableMonkey]

Re: Thorpe Park

It did get changed slightly when SAW was built, but it stopped running to the farm in 2006, and for 2007 became a short circuit around Canada Creek up until its closure in 2011.

 

[Ted]

Re: Thorpe Park

This has just been posted by Thorpe Park's facebook page:

Are you dying to know what surprises we've got planned for 2013?! Don't worry, you won't be in suspense for much longer... Keep an eye on our page for exclusive clues before the big reveal... coming soon!

I wonder what it is?

 

[nickhutson]

Re: Thorpe Park

More expensive entrance price and shorter opening hours

 

[TheMan]

Re: Thorpe Park

Isn't that just standard Merlin procedure Nick?

 

[Quetzal]

Re: Thorpe Park

It really wouldn't surprise me if they began marketing X as "The Ministry of Sound: The Ride". They had a strong relationship with the brand last year, and began experimenting with using music in the ride.

Something I'd like to see is the park place more emphasis on family marketing for the next season. They've got a good opportunity for a bit of a small rethink of Canada Creek, if the rumours about the removal of the Loggers Leap tunnel, and reopening CCR are true. Bring back family mascots as well I say!

 

[Jonathan]

Re: Thorpe Park

RideRater published this article less than an hour ago.

Thorpe Park to install next rollercoaster in 2016

Thorpe Park will install its next major rollercoaster in 2016, according to planning documents.

Files accompanying the application for the forthcoming Crash Pad accommodation reveal that a ride originally planned for 2015 would now not appear until a year later.

The park identifies that it is now to concentrate on its accommodation offerings before then.

A medium-term development plan released in 2010 identified areas that would potentially host the ride, which would stand at 40 metres tall.

Park operators Merlin Entertainments are reportedly considering a wooden rollercoaster among a number of steel options for the investment.

At least they're getting a new coaster, even if it may be pushed back a year. One issue I can think of is that this would put it in direct competition with SW8 at Towers if it gets built for an opening in 2016, and I'd question the logic of having two coasters opening at Merlin's two biggest parks in the same year.