Alternate versions of theme parks

[Lori Marie Loud]

(Note: I only put this here as I have no idea where a general "discuss alternate scenarios for theme parks" thread would go. If the mods know where, move it there kindly.)

So my discord friend Tropics Tracker (big thoosie) has his own fictional alternate universe with a fictional theme park company (Nagia Amusement Company) knocking about based out of Birmingham. They currently have about half a dozen parks in their portfolio.

Anyways just today Tropics made it canon that Nagia has bought both Thorpe and Alton, and selling two irrelevant international parks to Merlin (this is because the two international parks in question were worth almost as much or as much as Thorpe and Alton). Nagia is also to be making several changes to the parks:

Alton Towers
Smiler undergoing 7.5 million quid overhaul for 2023, closed for the entire 2022 season. Includes new preshow, new ambiance and dispatch sounds, effects on both lift hills, a retrack of the second half of the ride and a voiceover on the brake run
Nemesis retrack still coming
No other major changes planned (although, given entirely new ownership I'd wager the operating hours would be extended)

Thorpe Park
Project Exodus binned, specifically because Nagia doesn't usually build Mack Hypers, they build B&Ms. B&M hyper inbound. Built on the Swarm Island, opening 2023
Something else is coming on the Loggers site in 2024
UPDATE: And that project is Exodus after all, meaning two massive coasters in quick succession
Likely no other major changes in the cards besides maybe operating hours

So, if this was an actual thing that happened, how would you feel? And what are your preferred alternate universes of theme parks?

 

[Rob Coasters]

Interesting wouldn't be happy to see Exodus binned! I'll go for Paultons Park:

2022 is the last year for Cat-O-Pillar. 2023 features an extensive overhaul of Critter Creek with a major new dark ride in the ride's spot, with a shoot-em-up style where your gun is a food cannon to feed the different creatures. Some of Cat-O-Pillar's train is used in the façade.

2024 is a 'break' year for the park with some minor adjustments and a few new zoo enclosures. New animal (capybaras maybe?), and markings are seen around the Cobra area. Raging River's removal is announced for a large area in 2025. Edge goes down for maintenance in the middle of the season and doesn't reopen. Removed from the park.

2025 sees the long-awaited overhaul of the Cobra area. The new area is themed to wacky technology. Cobra is painted yellow and rethemed to electricity. New major log flume with large indoor portions and a backwards section. Runs mainly under Cobra. Magma rethemed to fit the area, and Raging River's replacement is an inverting flat ride of some sort.

2026: Peppa Pig redevelopment, some old rides swapped for newer ones.

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Interesting wouldn't be happy to see Exodus binned!

Yeah that was actually very poor wording on Tropics' part. If you saw the update Exodus is actually being built after all.
EDIT: Also you do not have to start in 2022, starting in the past is also an option.

 

[Stevie]

Love this topic. I've been saying for years- just give me about $500 million and I can fix Kings Island.

 

[Rob Coasters]

Six Flags America bought by the guys who own the Walibi parks, forgot their name.

All DC rides get renamed of course... and immediately after the buyout:

-Jokers Jinx repainted black with grey supports
-Superman Ride of Steel repainted green with purple supports
-Roar gets the TdZ treatment rather than RMCing
-Batwing is renamed to something that links with Superman's new name
-Mind Eraser is also renamed

2024: The area between Superman & Batwing gets a flat ride collection including a HUSS Magic, KMG X Force and a Zamperla Disko Coaster in a new area themed to skateboarding. An area is clearly left for a new coaster.

2025: Mind Eraser gets new restraints, quickly making Firebird the new laughing stock of the park.

2026: New Mack Rides log flume with a double down finale and a backwards section. Shipwreck Falls, with comedic timing, is SBNO all year. Raging Cajun is removed at the end of the season.

2027: Raging Cajun replacement is a custom built Zierer Force.

2028: The skateboarding land coaster is finally revealed, a prototype Zierer spinning coaster. Shipwreck Falls confirmed to be leaving the park.

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Alright. Back to Nagia.

Nagia has 29 parks (note: map only includes American parks and was from a non-canon subtimeline where Nagia bought CGA - disregard Nagia's Great America) by 2022, with three more (Liberty Place in Liberty, AZ, which had a very troubled history, Marvel Studios in New Castle, Pennsylvania (a second gate to pre-existing Castle Heights), and Caroventure in Hopkins, SC) on the way. They also have quite a few former parks (Rosenheim Gardens and Pacific Peak in Madrid and Tokyo got sold to Merlin in exchange for Alton and Thorpe, St Petersburg was sold to the Tordian Entertainment Company (my own hypo chain) before TEC shuttered it after Russia declared war on Ukraine and TEC ended literally all business in the country, the old Miami Beach location got destroyed by Hurricane Andrew, Carolina City (Pittsboro, NC) got sold to Herschend, Astroworld was sold back to Six Flags in 2015, Geauga was sold to TEC in 2013 and Alabama Adventure (in Mt Hope, Alabama) took a direct hit from the 2011 Hackleburg EF5).

They also have a coaster manufacturing company (Nagia Amusement Company, Nagia Amusement Chain is the company that runs the parks). They've built a lot of fictional coasters, mostly at fictional parks but a few are at IRL parks, and recently it was revealed that they built Mean Streak and not Dinn. They've built such models as the Multi Inverting Suspender, which was basically Nagia's very own SLC. They've made much better coasters since then and recently debuted Prowess at the new Miami Beach, which is a multi-launched beast of a coaster that Tropics has described as being a very good SteVe-beater contender if it existed. They also built Skyscraper, the tallest coaster on the planet, which has its own station music.

It's themed to vines overrunning a city and killing people.

Castle Heights in particular is a very large park, with 17 coasters operating and four upcoming (Armageddon, a Gerstlauer Infinity that was actually changed to an Infinity from a Eurofighter after announcement! Complete with a full layout change!, Blazing Typhoon, an RMC ground-up, Riot, a Mack Extreme Spinner and The Iconic, an Intamin Strata). Plus an entire second gate on the way as seen above. The next Nagia post will be all about Castle Heights.
EDIT: added Astroworld and Geauga

 

[Hyde]

How's this for a doozy:

Cedar Point opens Millennium Force, Wicked Twister, and Top Thrill Dragster through the years 2000 - 2003; but mechanical troubles with the rides' manufacturer (Intamin) plague the roller coasters with constant downtime, leading to all closing half way through the 2003 season. They are sent for full refurbishment to work out design flaws, causing them to remain closed for the 2004 season.

Meanwhile, Six Flags Worlds of Adventure (formerly Geauga Lake) capitalizes on Cedar Point's misfortunes, having opened 5 roller coasters (4 main attractions, one kiddie) between the years 2000 and 2001, and sees record attendance. Over the coming years, Six Flags continues growth of the park - always designed to be a "Cedar Point killer" - adding new attractions and roller coasters, including the world's tallest roller coaster, Kingda Ka, to the park's wildlife section (and a direct snub to Top Thrill Dragster). While Six Flags' corporate operations sell off European parks, they are in good footing to put in a successful bid to purchase the Paramount Parks chain, which goes up for sale in 2006. Six Flags Worlds of Adventure grows to become the chain's new flagship park, and continues to see roller coaster additions over the coming decade, including the world's first Intamin Blitz Coaster, an RMC conversion of the Villain, a B&M Giga Coaster, and other attractions. These additions eventually plant SFWoA as the largest collection of roller coasters in the world. At present, Six Flags is in discussion with Cedar Fair on merging, in part to grow other Midwest and West Coast park footing.

 

[Rob Coasters]

*clicks random roller coaster on RCDB*

Kings Dominion, eh?

2022
The park announces last rides on Grizzly, but they don't point towards the ride's removal.

2023
Grizzly receives a Gravity Group overhaul similar to Tonnerre 2 Zeus with faster corners, a very slight height increase, and the "world's first spinning car on a wooden roller coaster". The spinning car, located on the back, is $14 upcharge which is reduced to $11 by the end of the year. Racer 75 gets some Titan Track installed.

2024
New slide in the waterpark. The dry park receives a new back-and-forth transport system which goes between the two far sides of the park.

2025
Volcano replacement! The Volcano replacement is a Vekoma motorbike coaster with inversions, a first of its kind. Launch 1 takes you winding through the wilderness, doing somersaults & tricks over dangerous hills before riding on a fallen tree trunk & barrel rolling off it. The second launch takes you through a tribute to the volcano structure, and the infamous immelmann, before speeding up and down the rocky structure before doing a celebratory helix around the base of the volcano and then hitting the brakes.

2026
Goodbye to Anaconda at the end of the year. New kids rides. Some TLC across the park.

2027
Anaconda replacement is the park's largest water coaster which utilises the tunnel.

Future stuff
-Backlot on limited time, eventual replacement is a large dark ride with a Gerstlauer Bobsled integrated into it somehow
-Mondial flat rides
-Zierer Force in Jungle X
-Mack Rocking Boat in the lake where Anaconda used to stand

 

[toofpikk]

It upsets me to no end that there is a parallel universe where not only does London Resort exist, but also Wuze-Ball is still up and running

 

[Pokemaniac]

*clicks random roller coaster on RCDB*

Ooh, that's a fun way to do this topic:

*clicks*
Dang.

Uhh ...

1916: Instead of being torn down, the Scenic Railway somehow attracts more customers and Brandywine Springs keeps seeing business for years to come.

1921: The park builds its third rollercoaster. It's a small wooden thing like the other two. Not much to report here.

1922: Toboggan Slide torn down to make room for a dance hall, in the spirit of the Roaring Twenties.

1929: The Great Depression hits. The park, which did not operate under conditions conducive to great success, makes it six years longer before closing than it did in the original timeline.

Okay, second try.
Dang again.

2015: Tangxia Guanguang Park has made good business with Forest Squirrel and Dragon Roller Coaster as its primary attractions. It is time to replace Dragon Roller Coaster, which is a travelling Zamperla Dragon, just like in our own timeline. However, spurred by some ambition that is lacking in our universe's version of the park, it is not replaced by a little oval coaster, but a larger and more ambitious family coaster. This gains the park some success and attention.

2016: Shanghai Disneyland opens. Disney begins a more serious hunt for parks trying to infringe on their copyright. Having built the new family coaster only last year, Tangxia Guanguang Park enjoys a bit of notability that manages to attract Disney's attention. They notice what the cars of Forest Squirrel look like, and sue the socks off the park. It closes the following year. Should have stuck with the little oval coaster, I guess.

Third try:
Not getting much to work with here, I guess.

2020: After the closure of the Butterfly coaster Bumerang, Funny-World is in need of another ride, as it only has the Butterfly coaster Goldminen Express to attract customers. Rather than purchasing another Butterfly coaster, Adlerflug, they build a Wacky Worm. Fans immediately complain that the park is losing its identity and visitor numbers plummet.

2021: The Wacky Worm is sold onwards to Merlin, which puts it in Thorpe Park under the name "Absolute Horror: The WORLD'S FIRST Terrorcoaster!" with a shipping container theme and an IP that leans heavily on the concept of urban decay and grim darkness. Having sold the coaster at a profit, Funny-World is able to afford two Butterfly coasters. They are handsomely rewarded by fans, who flock back to the park in even larger droves than before the pandemic.

2022: Funny-World builds Half Pipe, which was relocated from Särkänniemi instead of scrapped.

2023: Funny-World builds a Disk-O.

2024: Funny-World builds an Intamin Surf Rider, the next-generation version of the Half-pipe.

2027: Funny-World builds a Pulsar clone, to lukewarm reactions from fans since all the riders face the same direction.

2030: Funny-World builds the second iteration of Intamin's U Shaped Roller Coaster.

2033: Funny-World builds a Vekoma Big Air.

 

[EDjanaika]

*clicks random roller coaster on RCDB*

Kings Dominion, eh?

2022
The park announces last rides on Grizzly, but they don't point towards the ride's removal.

2023
Grizzly receives a Gravity Group overhaul similar to Tonnerre 2 Zeus with faster corners, a very slight height increase, and the "world's first spinning car on a wooden roller coaster". The spinning car, located on the back, is $14 upcharge which is reduced to $11 by the end of the year. Racer 75 gets some Titan Track installed.

2024
New slide in the waterpark. The dry park receives a new back-and-forth transport system which goes between the two far sides of the park.

2025
Volcano replacement! The Volcano replacement is a Vekoma motorbike coaster with inversions, a first of its kind. Launch 1 takes you winding through the wilderness, doing somersaults & tricks over dangerous hills before riding on a fallen tree trunk & barrel rolling off it. The second launch takes you through a tribute to the volcano structure, and the infamous immelmann, before speeding up and down the rocky structure before doing a celebratory helix around the base of the volcano and then hitting the brakes.

2026
Goodbye to Anaconda at the end of the year. New kids rides. Some TLC across the park.

2027
Anaconda replacement is the park's largest water coaster which utilises the tunnel.

Future stuff
-Backlot on limited time, eventual replacement is a large dark ride with a Gerstlauer Bobsled integrated into it somehow
-Mondial flat rides
-Zierer Force in Jungle X
-Mack Rocking Boat in the lake where Anaconda used to stand

I got Thorpe Park on RCDB of all places Right let's see...

2022
Thorpe Park announce that Loggers Leap will return out of nowhere and that they will spend the whole season refurbishing it and getting it up to HSEs standards. As well as this, they keep Lumber Jump but move Timber Tug Boat elsewhere in the park. Canada Creek Railway returns as Old Town Railroad (?) and is very popular as it gives many people an opportunity to look at the Loggers refurbishment

2023
Storm Surge breaks down at the start of the season and never operates ever again with the park giving no announcement about why it's down. No really cares though tbh. Construction and clearing starts on the Slammer Site with Slammer being removed. Loggers Leap reopens!

2024
Thorpe Park have purchased a new flat ride world's first (knowing Merlin). Replaces Slammer. Construction starts on Thorpe Park's new coaster but it's in the middle of the Stealth Plaza?

2025
Thorpe Park's new Zamperla Volare opens

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Slightly unrelated to the RCDB game: I've worked with two other people on Discord since last year to design an entirely fictional park. I'm quite proud of how it turned out. Introducing....Six Flags South Dakota!

And here's a fictional newspaper article dated August 2005 related to it:

 

[Hyde]

Clicks again:

Six Flags AstroWorld https://rcdb.com/4537.htm

I mean this is a doozy of a development disaster.

Maybe let's go with:
- Six Flags, after turning no profit on the Premier Park acquisition (and purchase of AstrWorld in it's wake), negotiated selling the amusement park to the City of Houston.
- Houston removes a few attractions and licenses management of the park out to a private operator, finally landing a business model that works and provides adequate draw with nearby tourist attractions from the Houston Texans arena and other sports/tourism venues.
- The park continues to operate as an integrated, add-on attraction for downtown Houston experience. While not a large amusement park design, the humble atmosphere serves as fun stop-through attraction during other downtown events.

 

[oriolat2]

PortAventura actually running their attractions at a decent capacity.

 

[Rob Coasters]

RCDB says Pleasurewood Hills.

Cannonball Express reopens after an extensive refurbishment which caused it to be closed for the second half of 2022, and rethemed back to Enigma. The overhaul is more significant than what it would usually be, with new music that plays around the area.

The park gets a family flat ride collection, and once again dips their toe into the thrill market even after Fireball's recent removal. Bored with everyone and their mother a Zamperla collection, instead they try out other manufacturers such as RES or Technical Park.

Eventually Marble Madness gets the boot and the park gets a Zierer Tower Coaster as a replacement, perhaps an Iron Shark clone. The park also ups their dark ride game with a significant ghost train before getting a Wakala-style Gerstlauer family coaster to fill the gap between Eggspress/Cannonball and Wipeout/Tower.

With the park also big on shows, they either develop a new stage or update an existing one for thrilling acts. The park also becomes the host of a major dog show for a few years.

Eventually Pleasurewood seems to have a new development phase. Appearing to temporarily rent out rides/gamestalls/coasters for a year or two then sending them back on the circuit. It's a sharp left turn from what they've been now doing for a while with the permanent additions, and came as a surprise to lots. Eventually we find out what's happening. They've been finding ways to save money while still bringing in new guests.

and finally, after a few years of the program, we finally see what they've been saving up for.

*clicks rcdb*

Another Zierer Tivoli, this time a medium one.

 

[Lori Marie Loud]

Zierer Tower Coaster

perhaps an Iron Shark clone

I'm sorry, that does not compute

(or are you meaning a Zierer version of Iron Shark?)

EDIT: Newspapers Round Two:
(Little L wrote this one. Also read "Halloween Horror Nights" as "Fright Fest")

 

[Rob Coasters]

I'm sorry, that does not compute

(or are you meaning a Zierer version of Iron Shark?)

Oh whoops, originally I put Gerst Eurofighter but changed my mind. Guessing I never got rid of the Iron Shark thing! The Zierer would be a custom looping coaster with a somewhat compact layout

 

[Inverting_Thrills]

This topic looks interesting...

Okay so here's my first RCDB attempt: https://rcdb.com/13291.htm

Nothing is happening here

Second RCDB attempt: https://rcdb.com/2890.htm

No, just no

Third RCDB attempt: https://rcdb.com/77.htm

This could be interesting...after all is the sister park of Sfgam, my home park. my hopes dropped after I remembered that the park would be closing within 11 years. thankfully this is dedicated to alternate versions of parks so here I go.

2023:continues to operate with the intent of closing within 11 years

2024: it is in some way revealed that the park will actually remain operating and will not be sold

2025: Demon removed clearing up a long plot of land. smaller flats added as well as various park improvements.
2025: B&M hyper announced

2026: B&M hyper open to public. quickly becomes a park favorite.

2028: compact gravity group family coaster opens in a small plot of open land by the water park.

2028: Grizzly closes

2029: RMC grizzly added instantly becoming the best ride in the park and making the parks ride count at 10 coasters

 

[Matt N]

Sorry to bump this thread, but I've got an alternate history in mind for Thorpe Park. I'm not actually going to start from 2022; I'm actually going to start in 2008, just after Merlin purchased the park, and go up to the present day (2022). Everything major up to about Stealth, and everything up to Merlin's acquisition in 2007, is fine, but I'm going to change things after that. My ideas are:

• 2008: The park would have built a Bertazzon Dodgems named Amity Speedway Test Track in the area beneath Stealth's top hat. It would have been themed to the Amity Speedway, and would have been billed as a "test drive" in preparation for Stealth. I think this would have been a valuable family addition for a minor year, but also befitting of Stealth theme-wise.
• 2009: Instead of building Saw, the park would have built a GCI Wooden Coaster named Splinter, similar to the one originally designed by Tussauds for the same site. This ride would have been the tallest, fastest and longest wooden roller coaster in the UK, sitting at over 100ft tall, reaching over 50mph and containing more than 3,000ft of track, and it would have been a ride on par with the likes of Troy at Toverland. It would have had a Canadian theme similar to Logger's Leap to fit in with the (then) Canada Creek area of the park. I feel that this would have been a great addition; it would still have been thrilling, but it would have offered a non-inverting thrill coaster, and it would also have offered a more accessible thrill coaster with a 1.2m height restriction to complement the park's existing 1.4m thrills.
• 2010: The park would have entered the new decade by building a new entrance area named Port Discovery containing shops and restaurants, as well as multiple family rides, on the combined site of Amity Beach, Depth Charge and Wet Wet Wet. The area would have had a beach/seaside theme with a nautical edge, and rides would have included a Mack Twist'n'Splash, an ETF Panorama Pedal (similar to Volo da Vinci at Europa Park), a Zamperla Aero Top Jet, and an ETF Mystic Mover (small scale trackless dark ride) themed to discovering an underwater city. I think this would have been a great addition because it would have both given the park a cohesive entrance and put some family rides into the lineup.
• 2011: Instead of building Storm Surge, the park would have built a Mack Rides Spinning Coaster, similar to Storm Chaser at Paultons Park or D'wervelwind at Toverland, upon the same site. It would have been named Cataclysm and would been themed to another natural disaster hitting Amity. I feel that this would have been a terrific addition to appeal to all ages; it would have been thrilling enough to be a great thrill for the thrill-seeking audience, but not so intense or terrifying that the kids can't access it.
• 2012: Instead of building The Swarm, the park would have built a B&M Hyper Coaster named Emperor starting from the same island. Its lift hill would have gone up from the back of the island and along the right edge of the park towards what is currently the Thorpe Shark Hotel site. The ride would have dropped down over the water, gone over the entrance bridge, and headed into a series of camelbacks over the park admissions area and along the car park. The ride would have turned around on the car park and headed back into another series of airtime hills over the water, interacting with the bridge once again, hit an MCBR and gone into a series of airtime hills heading back towards its entrance island (what is now Swarm Island). The ride would have ended with a twisty section similar to what Mako has located on the entrance island, although perhaps a bit faster and more airtime-focused than that, and headed into the brake run. The ride would have been the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the UK, standing at around 250ft tall and hitting around 80-85mph, and would have been themed to a mythical water beast "guarding" Thorpe Park. The park would have had a revamped admissions area to facilitate Emperor's addition and emphasise the ride to guests as they enter. I feel that this would have been a great addition because it would have given Thorpe and the UK a pure airtime machine, as well as a non-inverting thrill coaster and a true crowd pleaser, and the record breaking status would really have put Thorpe on the map. This would also have honoured B&M and John Wardley's original wish for a B&M Hyper to be built at Thorpe rather than a Wing Coaster.
• 2013: The park would have rethemed X into the Lost City section of the park. The entrance would have moved onto the other side of the pyramid, the pyramid would have been painted golden brown and had bricks and themed details added on the side, and the ride would have been rethemed to exploring an Aztec temple. The new name would have been Azteca Adventure, and the ride would have effectively become a budget Revenge of the Mummy of sorts with an Aztec theme; the trains would have been turned forwards, the height restriction would have been lowered to make the ride more family-friendly, the brake runs would have had various "traps", including spikes and air cannons, put on them, the ride would have had various mummies and other scares adorning the track, and there would have been a "fire in the ceiling" style effect in there somewhere similar to what Revenge of the Mummy has. The queue would also have been heavily themed to a temple, with various details and effects in there to tell the ride's new story. I think this would have been a great addition because it would have made the ride appeal to the family market while also giving it a more lasting, immersive theme that fits in with a park area, as well as giving it a theme with adult appeal that isn't too scary for the kids.
• 2014: The park would have built a Zierer Star Shape named BuzzSaw in Canada Creek on the site of what is now Saw Alive. As the name implies, this would have been themed to a saw blade, and it would have had some effects fitted to it such as sparks flying out of it to simulate the ride cutting a piece of wood. I think this would have been a great flat ride addition for a minor year, personally.
• 2015: The park would have rethemed Rumba Rapids into Calypso River Expedition. The ride would have been themed to a journey through the Calypso jungle to meet a monkey king and retrieve its treasure, with various residents of the jungle being placed along the route to tell the story, the battle with the monkey king being situated in the indoor cave section of the ride, and the final run of rapids after that being an escape from the jungle. The ride would also have had various water effects added to spice up the journey, the channel would have been themed in with rocks added on the side, and the boats would have been replaced with new high-sided boats to allow for more ambitious water effects without compromising safety. I think this would have been a good way to spice up Rumba Rapids, which has long been maligned by many.
• 2016: Instead of building Derren Brown's Ghost Train, the park would have built an Oceaneering EVO-6 (motion base dark ride similar to Spider-Man/Justice League) named The Shrieking Shack of Amity on the same site. The ride would have been themed to a house on the outskirts of Amity that had been long suspected to be haunted, and the ride would have entailed guests travelling through the different rooms of the house and meeting its residents. It would have been a haunted house ride with some scares, but it would also have had a nice Amity-style sense of whimsy about it. I think this would have plugged the gap of a large scale family dark ride at Thorpe nicely, and would have had wider appeal than Derren Brown's Ghost Train, in my opinion.
• 2017: A Gerstlauer Sky Roller named Azteca Flyers would have been built upon the site of Slammer. It would have been themed to flying machines mounted onto a totem pole to give guests a panoramic view of Lost City. I think this would have been a nice way to plug the flat ride gap left by the unreliability and ultimate demise of Slammer, personally, and it would also have offered a nice variability in ride experience to offer wide appeal.
• 2018: A Huss 2nd gen Condor (similar to Fatamorgana at Tivoli Gardens) named Water Tower Wipeout would have been installed on the site of Samurai within Canada Creek. It would have been themed to a toppling water tower, and it would have been supplemented with the addition of water effects. This would have been a nice family thrill flat ride for the park, in my view.
• 2019: For its 40th anniversary, the park would have made its biggest expansion in years by building a pirate themed land named Treasure Island on the site of the former Treasure Island from the 1980s. The main attraction would have been Tempest, an enclosed Intamin Multi Dimensional Coaster themed to a pirate voyage through a stormy ocean. The ride would have contained various trick tracks, including drop tracks, backwards sections and turntables, as well as controlled spinning Guardians-style in some sections, and there would have been a good blend of dark ride sections to set the scene and coaster sections. The main coaster element of the ride would have been a launched family thrill ride similar to Juvelen/Hagrid's. The land would also have contained Voyager, an Intamin Bounty, and Blackbeard vs Redbeard: The Battle, two duelling ETF Trackless Multi Movers (large scale trackless dark rides similar to Symbolica, but containing interactivity using guns) themed to a battle between Blackbeard and Redbeard; one track would be named Blackbeard and the other track would be named Redbeard, and two cars (one from each track) would have gone up against each other in an interactive battle. At the end of the ride, each track would have gone down a different route dependent on whether their side won or lost. I think this land would have been a nice addition for all ages, with it tackling many different ride types to satisfy all the family.
• 2020: Mr Monkey's Banana Ride would have been removed in favour of Calypso Crush, a Huss Suspended Top Spin with water effects. The ride would also have had an upbeat soundtrack synchronised alongside it, and I think it would have been a nice flat ride to add some variety to Thorpe Park's flat ride lineup. It would also have replaced Mr Monkey's Banana Ride with a less redundant flat, as the pirate ship void would have been filled by Voyager, the larger pirate ship within Treasure Island, in 2019.
• 2021: Colossus would have been retracked and given new trains with lap bars similar to Sik at Flamingo Land, and the ride would have been reprofiled to match the newer Rev. B 10 inversion layout from Intamin. The ride would also have been fitted with a suspenseful onboard soundtrack from IMAScore, and the water would have been reinstated below the ride, with some triggered water jets added for good measure. I think that this would have improved Colossus immeasurably, and made it a smoother and more enjoyable ride for years to come, and also ensured the longevity of the Lost City area in general.
• 2022: A Mack Hyper Coaster named Exodus, very similar to the ride that we now know as Project Exodus, would have been built on the second island between Emperor Island and Treasure Island. To ensure that it wouldn't make Emperor redundant, the ride would have stuck at the 230ft level that it is currently so as not to steal Emperor's height and speed records, and it would have focused more on its quirky inversions and intense pacing than straight airtime so as to sufficiently differentiate itself from the B&M Hyper ride experience; the selling point would have been Europe's tallest inversion. However, many of the fan favourite elements of the current Exodus, such as the intense twisted drop and the overbank into an inversion, would have still been present. The ride would have been themed to escaping an alien invasion, with various bits of space theming strewn around the area. I think that this would have worked well because it would still have provided the park with the intense hyper looper that they are building now, but it wouldn't have treaded upon the toes of Emperor built 10 years earlier due to it not being as tall and being a completely different ride experience.

I apologise, as that sort of became more of a "pie in the sky alternative history wishlist" than a particularly feasible alternative history, but I do genuinely believe that many of the ideas would have worked well at Thorpe Park; I particularly believe that had the GCI been built instead of Saw in 2009 and had the B&M Hyper been built instead of Swarm in 2012, the park would have really benefitted.

I hope you all like my ideas, though!

 

[Rob Coasters]

RCDB says Chessington.

2018 - Dragon Falls is rethemed to 'Spirit of the Forest' in a new jungle-themed area, with obvious preparations for a coaster that'll be intertwined within the area. Hocus Pocus Hall closes at the end of the year.

2019 - Hocus Pocus Hall is rethemed to 'Paddington's Journeys' as they take a tour with the famous bear. Inflatables and shows through the summer. Rameses Revenge closes at the end of the year.

2020 - Rameses Revenge replacement is a HUSS Magic called 'Summoning Spirits', themed to a ritual that must be performed to lift a curse off a crocodile which has been turned evil by a gang of bandits. Basically the theme of Croc Drop but with better hardware. During Halloween the ride runs a boost mode (known as 'The Force Release') which provides a far more intense experience.

2021 - Intamin Quad in the Spirit of the Forest area featuring on board audio called 'Jungle's Bounty', where a group of seasoned travellers hear about an ancient treasure guarded by ancient gods. The ride has a preshow section where the travellers discuss where they're going and why this journey is being made. There are two launches, one from 0 and another rolling. Several close encounters with some animals, and shortly before the second launch you're encouraged to wave at those on SotF. As you enter the treasure room, the gods demand to know who you are and why you're here. Your requests fail to satisfy them, and the ride ends with an unexpected drop track.

2022 - Event filled break year, refurb of a few family flats with a new splash battle-type ride.

2023 - Some more upgrades to the flat ride lineup.

2024 - Switchback-style Gravity Group in The Field, themed to a voyage to the North Pole. White painted wood, with brightly coloured trains and a short backwards section. Called 'Polar X-press', themed to the film.