FogZog
Mega Poster
This! I'm always so confused walking into Thorpe. They seriously don't have an indentity right now. + I miss all that Atlantis theming they used to have in the dome
Colossus Partial Retrack (Thorpe Park)
- Thread starter VonRolland
- Start date
I'veGotFourB&MsInMyGarden
Mega Poster
I think they said Thorpe's Sparkle Project is a 3 year thing. Given how it currently looks I'd be surprised if we didn't see a bit of a glow up in the next few years. If they painted it blue and gold and added theming to make it look like the original that'd be cracking. That's assuming they're not planning to remove it, as we know Merlin has a bit of a rocky relationship with these Enterprise rides.
Samurai is almost back to its Chessington colours
If I’m honest I think this was a bogus move. It clashes hard with the surroundings.
It’s a bit like when you first decorate a room as a noob and buy a bunch of stuff that in isolation all looks cool - but when you bring it all together, it looks too ‘busy’ and like a bunch of things have been placed together in a mish-mash way.
FogZog
Mega Poster
I think it fits much better next to Saw.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
I saw it in person yesterday.
Being totally honest, it doesn't make any difference to how it fits in with the area. It suits Saw, but now clashes with Hyperia.
I'm the grand scheme of things, it was a bit of an unnecessary repaint in my mind. But I guess it's good to get unnecessary things.
Being totally honest, it doesn't make any difference to how it fits in with the area. It suits Saw, but now clashes with Hyperia.
I'm the grand scheme of things, it was a bit of an unnecessary repaint in my mind. But I guess it's good to get unnecessary things.
spicy
Giga Poster
True it is unnecessary and may not suit the area but for pure nostalgic reasons I love it.
I remember as a kid coming round the corner in Mystic East and being in absolute awe and terrified of it, i'd never seen or ridden anything like it and it was my first 'proper' thrill ride. So just for the nostalgia I love seeing it back in it's Chessington colours. Shame it only lasted 4 years in Mystic East as it suited that area so well.
I'm sure someone at Merlin must have similar nostalgic reason as to why they have repainted it in the original colours as it won't mean anything to probably 90% of TP visitors and as has been said it is pretty unnecessary..
I remember as a kid coming round the corner in Mystic East and being in absolute awe and terrified of it, i'd never seen or ridden anything like it and it was my first 'proper' thrill ride. So just for the nostalgia I love seeing it back in it's Chessington colours. Shame it only lasted 4 years in Mystic East as it suited that area so well.
I'm sure someone at Merlin must have similar nostalgic reason as to why they have repainted it in the original colours as it won't mean anything to probably 90% of TP visitors and as has been said it is pretty unnecessary..
Tonkso
Hyper Poster
A reminder of just how good it looked at Chessington. I'd have been 11-12 back then so I definitely remember being quite intimidated by it too.
spicy
Giga Poster
A reminder of just how good it looked at Chessington. I'd have been 11-12 back then so I definitely remember being quite intimidated by it too.
It looked huge at chessington being at the very top of the incline of the path and you had to walk uphill to get to it. Looked great with all the trees surrounding it too.
Going to look absolutely tiny now with Hyperia behind it
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Do you want to know something weird... I've never, ever, ridden Samurai!
I'd ridden The Beast at fanny island so many times, even worked on it in the early / mid noughties, and I absolutely hated it. So I've just never bothered with Samurai.
I'd ridden The Beast at fanny island so many times, even worked on it in the early / mid noughties, and I absolutely hated it. So I've just never bothered with Samurai.
Fleetwood_Mack
Mega Poster
How's Samurai been running the past few years? I haven't been on it since 2014/2015 but back then it was barely worth riding. You sort of just... moved around a bit. No force whatsoever. Flamingo Park in Hastings had a top scan briefly (maybe around the same time) and I remember stumbling off that because it was doing such long, intense cycles. I seem to remember riding one at Winter Wonderland one year too, which was somewhere in the middle in terms of intensity... but still miles apart from (how I remember) Samurai.
The paint job is... fine... but I'd love to hear that it's had some proper TLC somewhere along the line since my last trip and is back to its best in terms of how it rides. I feel the same about Colossus. It's all well and good painting it but I'm still going to be in pain sat on the brake run because my leg has cramped up and there's literally no space to move it. Faded paint is the least of its problems
The paint job is... fine... but I'd love to hear that it's had some proper TLC somewhere along the line since my last trip and is back to its best in terms of how it rides. I feel the same about Colossus. It's all well and good painting it but I'm still going to be in pain sat on the brake run because my leg has cramped up and there's literally no space to move it. Faded paint is the least of its problems
Howie
Donkey in a hat
A reminder of just how good it looked at Chessington. I'd have been 11-12 back then so I definitely remember being quite intimidated by it too.
I'm also reminded of how good it used to ride at Chessington. My first ever ride on it, or any Topscan for that matter, which would have been in 2002, was shocking!
There was no build up, it went from a standing start to full-on, full speed, mental spin mode in a matter of seconds. It was ferocious. I likened the experience to being launched upwards on a shot tower, but with all that extra spinage going on. Mental it was. One of those true wtf moments in my goonhood, up there with riding Blitz Bahn at Toverland for the first time. 'What the fuuuu........'
Sadly, no ride on it since, either at Chessie or Thorpe, has ever been that wild. Which makes me think that that first ride was probably one of those occasions back in the day when the operators had more freedom to control the ride's intensity and was probably running it a wee bit faster than he or she was supposed to. I believe that happened far more frequently back then; see also Rameses Revenge and Ripsaw.
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Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Thankfully, if the restraints are as tight as I remember Beast's being, then I don't think I'd fit in it yet, couple more stone to lose first!!!
Matt N
CF Legend
This might be a controversial opinion, and I apologise if it is, but I rerode Samurai last year for the first time in a number of years… and I found it absolutely vile! It was really jolty, it had loads of that horrible slow hangtime that made me feel stuff moving around in my stomach, it span and flipped horribly… I’m sorry to be negative, but if I’m being honest, I have to say that I absolutely hated it, and it would be right down there with Air Race at Drayton Manor as one of the most vile flat rides I’ve ever ridden!
I grant you that I don’t have a particularly strong stomach for flat rides, particularly of the spinning variety, but I needed a good sit down after that ride on Samurai…
I’d remembered quite liking it when I first rode in 2018, but I didn’t like it at all in 2023, unfortunately…
I grant you that I don’t have a particularly strong stomach for flat rides, particularly of the spinning variety, but I needed a good sit down after that ride on Samurai…
I’d remembered quite liking it when I first rode in 2018, but I didn’t like it at all in 2023, unfortunately…
Crazycoaster
Giga Poster
I honestly think Samurai was the best before they built Saw. It backed up onto the lake, had those trees behind too. Outer row 3 and it would feel like you were about to be flung into the lake. Saw spoiled the sightlines you’d briefly get.
spicy
Giga Poster
This video (In poor 1999 video quality) shows how hard it was run at Chessington, I don't think it has ever spun as fast as this at Thorpe Park.