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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

It does actually when the park’s been banging on about its whole new brand identity centred on Feel Good Thrills, positivity and no more dark themes and gore.

Pick a lane and stick in it.
Disagree with this, I think the best parks have 1 or 2 dark themed attractions to balance with the more vibrant ones, it doesn't have to be strictly one or the other.

I have no knowledge of Ready Player One personally, but I do think a happy, vibrant park can still have a few darker attractions. It's about contrast. The problem for me is when it's everything!
 
Thorpe Park was good today. The Sparkle project definitely was welcome, especially in Amity, which looks quite a bit better than it did last year. However, Big Easy Boulevard is quite a poor area.
What were ops like for the 4 coasters? Seen some long queues today were they all on full capacity?
 
What were ops like for the 4 coasters? Seen some long queues today were they all on full capacity?
Out of the main coasters, I only rode Stealth today (I spent most of the day lapping Tidal Wave because there was no queue), but the ops were very good, and the ride was on 2 trains.
 
I don't get the theme of hyperia like so far this year we have had some insanely immersive areas open but Hyperia looks like a sick coaster in a gold box..
 
I don't get the theme of hyperia like so far this year we have had some insanely immersive areas open but Hyperia looks like a sick coaster in a gold box..
My theory is that the Flight of Icarus was the original theme. The rides layout looks to be inspired by the tale, almost beat for beat:
  • the outward backed first corner: Icarus applies the wings and takes his first unsteady flight.
  • The lift: Discovering the joy of flying Icarus soars into the sky, all the way up to the sun.
  • The drop: The wings get too hot and start to melt, sending him plummeting towards the earth.
  • The following 2 elements: Icarus tries to regain control of the damaged wings.
  • The stall and splash down: eventually loosing control he plunges out of the sky and hits the sea.
See what I mean? In addition to that the rides logo is a pair of golden wings.

I guess however that when it came time to execute this idea the actual cost of retheming the surrounding area to Greece probably put them off. So instead the more stylised Hyperia design was settled on.

I could be way off with this theory. But I think it is telling that before Hyperia was announced Icarus was heavily speculated to be the rides name. And maybe at one point it was?
 
I could be way off with this theory. But I think it is telling that before Hyperia was announced Icarus was heavily speculated to be the rides name. And maybe at one point it was?
May be misremembering but I'm sure there was a trademark filed for the name Icarus originally (and Hyperia) wish I could remember where I read it but someone, somewhere 😂 had said that they couldn't get the name Icarus through & that Hyperia was the back up? I'm going to look into it later because it'll bother me otherwise 😂😂
 
I think @BooMT may be right. I gather that the reason Icarus wasn’t chosen as the ride’s name is because they filed a trademark for it and it got rejected. This was apparently due to Twinlakes having a Zamperla flat ride named Icarus.

Hyperia was then used as a backup.
 
I don't get the theme of hyperia like so far this year we have had some insanely immersive areas open but Hyperia looks like a sick coaster in a gold box..
They'd have been better off with the wholly original theme of "The Jack Silkcut: The Ride".

Homage to their unofficial mascot and a cigarette brand partnership all in one, it's a heck of a lot more cohesive.
 
I think @BooMT may be right. I gather that the reason Icarus wasn’t chosen as the ride’s name is because they filed a trademark for it and it got rejected. This was apparently due to Twinlakes having a Zamperla flat ride named Icarus.

Hyperia was then used as a backup.
Yes! Can always count on Matt N for info! I managed to find the post on Twitter (shared in this forum by @James Watkins I believe?) that shows a company, acting assumedly on behalf of Merlin, filed a trademark for Icarus in early 2023 which was opposed & then went on to file for Hyperia 5 months later.

Screenshot_20240325-104651_X.jpg
 
We went yesterday. It was busy but we had a good day and somehow managed 9 rides on various things.

Don’t know if it was just that “first coaster for a few months” effect but Inferno felt incredible. Fast and forceful. We rode it 3 times with some friends and all agreed it felt amazing. Every time we all sat on the break run saying wow.
 
We went yesterday. It was busy but we had a good day and somehow managed 9 rides on various things.

Don’t know if it was just that “first coaster for a few months” effect but Inferno felt incredible. Fast and forceful. We rode it 3 times with some friends and all agreed it felt amazing. Every time we all sat on the break run saying wow.
Absolutely agree with this. We went on blue light day and it re-ignited my appreciation for B&Ms. Inferno was absolutely relentless and The Swarm was also running really well. Definitely got some strong positive G's. Saw is usually my favourite but found that and Stealth to be rough as hell. I generally have a high tolerance for roughness but they were too much.
 
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