Colossus Partial Retrack (Thorpe Park)

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

Interestingly, the first inline that was retracked last season has been removed again.

No use not saying this now I suppose...

The reason Colossus had a significantly delayed opening this season was because the new track in that inline did not fit correctly. As such, to stop the delay any further, the park repainted the original piece of track and put that back in.

Whilst the old track was in need of replacing, it wasn't at the end of its life, so it was still okay to use.

Not the finest moment from Taziker, the company doing track replacement. Thorpe weren't at fault and did the best they could given an awkward situation.

The heartline roll track that got removed (again) back in December has been reinstalled. Weather this is still the original Intamin track or Taziker's "take 2" is unknown. I would assume it's still the Intamin track though, Thorpe has enough on their plate this closed season already.



Source: HYPERIA Is Looking AMAZING! Thorpe Park Construction Update - 30th January 2024



Source: HYPERIA | THORPE PARK Resort | Diary Construction Update #99

 

[Niles]

Here is just some pictures from Attraction Sources great update of Thorpes sparkle project.

Please see all images here as there are loads. Source

The southern end of the track layout has been repainted also they are restoring some of the original theming to.





Rush, Vortex and Samurai have not yet been repainted but they will in the coming weeks.

New LED signs are going up round Inferno and Stealths queue with the later getting some nice touch ups.






The Sunken Garden is getting a freshen up.


Entrance is seeing some paint and the coffee shop a refresh.




Tidal wave TLC.



KFC is being refurbished with the Amity being opened up loosing the artist stand, also turf.



And here is a look at Big Easy Boulevard.



And finally Old town / Canada Creek will be no more as its last buildings will be re-clad in Hyperias style, with the toilets having a complete refit.



Still loads to do but great to see how much they are doing, with Slammer and Black Mirror leaving and the area now going to Hyperia's style i hope we do see a new flat or ride fill out the area in their place in the future.

 

[peep]

Wow, looks like they're putting in a lot of effort sprucing things up. Love the new painted signs around Stealth.

 

[Berksfan]

I wonder when they’ll get rid of slammer, I don’t know how long it would take but surely if it’s not done already, will it really be fully removed by opening.

 

[Matt N]

I wonder when they’ll get rid of slammer, I don’t know how long it would take but surely if it’s not done already, will it really be fully removed by opening.

Apparently they're removing it "at the end of this year" according to the passholder group.

 

[spicy]

I wonder when they’ll get rid of slammer, I don’t know how long it would take but surely if it’s not done already, will it really be fully removed by opening.

It’s not being removed until the end of the season. Was confirmed on their FB page.

Loving all the new bright colours and the freshen up TP is getting. Park is going to look great next season.

Not a fan of the new logo but I see what they are going for with the new brighter colour schemes throughout the park, hopefully it all comes together to create a new bright brand identity for the park.

 

[Climb]

Can't believe I've posting further praise for Thorpe: Colossus is looking stunning, the Stealth signs look great; it's amazing what a difference some paint can do - hope this will be something they try to do more regularly because realistically the park shouldn't have gotten so bad in the first place (okay, it was half praise).

 

[VonRolland]

Be nice if Towers actually painted their coasters

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

...hope this will be something they try to do more regularly...

I believe the Sparkle Project at Thorpe is taking place over 3 closed seasons so we've got '25 and '26 to look forward to.

But yes, it would be great if they keep the park in a permanent "sparkly" state after that.

Side rant:

There's a couple pillars like this that with one side that hasn't been repainted yet. Unfortunately they'll be staying like that until next closed season - they'd need scaffolding and doing that now would cause Colossus to have a delayed opening.

That rouge teal support top from a few months back may have been fixed, but we'll still have annoying pillars for a year!





With those columns and half of the track still being unpainted I'm currently imagining Colossus like a person growing out their hair who's in that weird halfway phase. I'm sure by '25 Colossus' metaphorical hair will be as majestic as a lion though!

 

[catsounds]

a year or 2 difference will still look better on either side than the 20+ year aged paint it was before so it's still a win

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

a year or 2 difference will still look better on either side than the 20+ year aged paint it was before so it's still a win

Oh absolutely, I'm not complaining about that. I just find it funny that they've had to stop where they have.

 

[JoshC.]

hope this will be something they try to do more regularly because realistically the park shouldn't have gotten so bad in the first place (okay, it was half praise).

Yes, this is the key thing here.

We are seeing increased investment across all the UK theme parks, and it's great. And it's not just in big things, it's in these 'smaller things' too. But a couple year project is only a short term fix; there needs to be a commitment to doing touch-ups, refreshes and such continually. No one is saying the park should do this level of refresh every year, but a spruce up here and there, with new licks of paint, etc. is necessary. In particular, if the park don't do that, and this is just a novelty for a couple of closed seasons, then in a few years, the whole park will look shabby.
It does seem like the current management are aware of that and are committed to not letting that happen mind

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

 

[Ethan]

View attachment 30062

Oh it's... yellow...

 

[Nitefly]

It’s the shame they won’t be able to finish the paint job on Colossus in one go.

As anyone who has ever tidied a messy room will know (…!), the more you tidy, the more messy the remaining ‘messy bits’ can look.

I can’t orientate myself to where these unpainted bits are, but hopefully they aren’t too obvious… a bit like the bedside mystery drawer full of old birthday cards, batteries, allen keys, receipts and *checks* …museum leaflets. Huh.

…. *closes drawer*

 

[Pokemaniac]

We are seeing increased investment across all the UK theme parks, and it's great. And it's not just in big things, it's in these 'smaller things' too. But a couple year project is only a short term fix; there needs to be a commitment to doing touch-ups, refreshes and such continually. No one is saying the park should do this level of refresh every year, but a spruce up here and there, with new licks of paint, etc. is necessary. In particular, if the park don't do that, and this is just a novelty for a couple of closed seasons, then in a few years, the whole park will look shabby.
It does seem like the current management are aware of that and are committed to not letting that happen mind

Adding to this, they need to renew the big things eventually too. What was built in the nineties as a huge headliner attraction will, over time, turn into an old clunker with ever-greater maintenance needs, while also becoming "old news" in the eyes of the public. They can't rely on an impressive headliner staying an impressive headliner forever. They will eventually fade. And that's becoming a rather big issue for several UK parks that built multiple headliner coasters in a relatively short time span, then relied on them to make up the park's backbone of attractions for the next couple of decades. But that means these rides will all (gradually) turn into maintenance-hogging clunkers over the same relatively short time span too. This will be exacerbated by a distinct lack of younger headliner attractions to rely on for the park's backbone, as very little was built in the later years to fall back on. Lightwater Valley may be the ultimate example here (heh). When the single headliner ride became too old to operate profitably, that was it for the park as a thrill destination.

Of course, this is bad for some UK parks, but it will be an absolute disaster for Six Flags in the years to come. They built dozens of coasters every year in a very short time span, and now they are in no financial shape to replace even a fraction of them as they all age past the point of profitable operation in very short order.

 

[I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden]

Oh it's... yellow...

Looks like Colossus's entrance will be getting a little more colour in addition to the yellow (plus all the other info). I'm quite pleased to hear this, the yellow was quite overpowering. I'm hoping for maybe some blue or something like the old entrance with the wood aesthetic returning to some parts.

Edit: More info regarding the additional colours on Colossus' entrance was revealed at the passholder behind the scenes tour. Russ Gaines confirmed that either the red stone on the logo or the chains are to be painted the deep blue. They're also giving the brown poles the touch ups (no words on the colour) as the mustard yellow doesn't quite look how they hoped.

 

[Niles]

With not much time left the park are getting things done, Theme park guide have done a full update (See here) on the Sparkle project. Here are just some of the pictures.

Colossus is looking fresh.






Rush and Vortex have seen some paint.



Work on the bridge continues, with the entrance seeming ready to go.



New drinks machines are round the park.


A look at big easy boulevard, cinema and Detonator.







Samurai is getting there.



Some signs are up, some removed.



The map and tidal waves bridge.



Oof


Hyperias BK and toilets are coming along well.




And your view out of the dome.


There is so much sparkle, little things like led signs added, lights to light up the coasters, new merch, queue line tlc, repainting everywhere, restaurant refreshes, new art for Big easy and Stealth, canopy areas, toilet refreshes. Its great to see (shame it's not allways been kept on top of) and the fact we have a fantastic coaster coming makes me excited for this year a Thorpe.

 

[Rob Coasters]

Not sure how I feel about the black headrest & restraints on Rush and Vortex, but everything else is looking great.

Park's done a fantastic job with being open about their past mistakes and keeping everyone well-updated on whatever went on over winter.

 

[Pokemaniac]

Park's done a fantastic job with being open about their past mistakes and keeping everyone well-updated on whatever went on over winter.

Indeed, but I still can't get over the fact that there still lacks any sort of logical connection between the entrance and the center of the park. There's the Dome - great. There's the main street of sorts, that begins by Tidal Wave or thereabout - great. But why the heck is the path out of the dome not leading to the main street? Why do you come out there onto a veranda, with a view of the water slides? A fence right in front of you, a three-meter drop onto a paved area that also seems to be fenced off, and the park proper aaaaalll the way back in the distance. The right way to reach the park is to take a sharp left, follow the veranda about a quarter of the way down the edge of the dome (past the restaurant), then follow a narrow and featureless path that looks like the delivery backroad of any other park, but it just happens to lead in the right direction.

Seriously, the front of that park needs some serious work, and phase 1 needs to involve the generous application of at least one wrecking ball.