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Thorpe 2013

Screaming Coasters

Screaming Coasters

Strata Poster
So it's only a matter of months away before Thorpe Park opens again. There have been a few rumours flying around and I'd like to share a couple that I've heard from good sources. Make of them what you will and fly some thoughts.

X:NWO - Cars have finally been turned forwards and could find a new sponsor
X:NWO - Possible sponsorship from MTV
Swarm - The last row on both trains will be turned backwards
Swarm - £1 million investment into its theming due to under-average ratings from the public
Vengeance - Possibly a new attraction for 2013 / 2014

I am aware that these were discussed in passing, so they could well be rumours than anything to go by.
 
A good source is onlya good source if you're willing to name them. Understably you might not want to name individuals but at least name where they come from. For example; "An employee at Thorpe" is not a valid source because that could be any level from the bloke who cleans tables in the KFC to the head of Merlin.

From those rumours, the only one I'd hold out any hope for is The Swarm themeing investment.
 
Yeah the X:NWO rumours are all over the place, so there could be something in that.

Extra theming on Swarm is possible too, and apparently it could feature a new 'near miss' somewhere along the track. Turning the back row sounds like complete bollox.

I've also read elsewhere about Thorpe getting Vengeance from the London Dungeons when it moves to City Hall.

And apparently, the Train will be open again for next year.
 
I doubt MTV would sponsor X\:NWO, I cant see one of the biggest and best known companies in the world sponsoring a mediocre, 15 year old ride at Thorpe Park. As for the cars being turned forwards this would take away the only interesting thing about the ride.

The theming on the Swam was looking pretty good when I went towards the end of last year. Personally i'd rather see them invest in a bit more theming around the rest of the park. The last row going backwards could be interesting, but I just don't see the point.

Having had a look online, it looks like there has been some talk on forums about Vengeance being the one from London Dungeons. I think Thorpe could do with a decent dark ride, so I would welcome this news.
 
X:\NWO needs to be sponsored by Surrey Scrap Merchants, where they dismantle the ride and display bits of it on a pile of other junk until it eventually gets melted down ;)

Actually, I suspect that a change to the direction of the cars would mean that they could lower the height limit and make it a kiddy coaster as it should be and then all my complaints about the ride will actually fade away :)

Swarm stuff? Not convinced. I'm not sure about the feasibility of turning seats around and it sounds like one of those "taking the piss" kind of rumours. As for the theming thing? It's an odd one, because they did make an effort, but not a serious amount of effort. The problem is more to do with Thorpe's clientèle - the don't expect superb and all encompassing theming - they want lots of rides that is well sick innit! Spending £1M on more theming won't make the ride more appealing, unless they change it to be themed on whatever is the currently popular sick franchise - because by attaching a ride to brand, you change it from turd to fantastic - as Saw has proven.

We haven't heard anything about a 2013 investment though and wasn't some ground cleared around the old kid's rides somewhere?
 
If I remember correctly, the year after Stealth opened, they didn't add anything new, but they did claim a "new and improved Stealth" for 2007, with improved launch stats? (which were completely made up, no doubt)

If that's right, they do have history of improving a major coaster a year later.
 
^ yeah they improved the launch stats but never changed the sign outside.

I would love more themeing on The Swarm.
 
The back two rows of Swarm going backwards is one of the stupidest rumours I've ever heard, let alone just this year...

It just, won't happen... Ever... Regardless of whatever people have heard about B&M suggesting it themselves to Thorpe...
 
I heard about the change on x late last year so I would expect this to happen.

With regards to Swarm. It needs more on ride theming but turning the back seats around I think would actually ruin it. I like the back row it's my favourite seat on the coaster.

What worries me is future rides. If the public don't like Swarm how will the park manage to install a hyper or something like that.
 
TO be honest, I think B&M has had its day with Thorpe Park. Their later coaster aren't very appealing to its audience. If we were to get a hyper coaster, then the park should be looking at Intamin. Something like Skyrush could be a major hit.
 
I can definitely see the X changes and the theming to Swarm being enhanced, but the back car, I very much doubt it. It'll be a nightmare trying to control a queueing system for the front, normal and back (this isn't the reasoning behind me doubting it, I've got loads of reasons, ha) I just doubt it happening.
 
Screaming Coasters said:
^ And your reasoning behind that is? Why couldn't it happen? Like I said, its all rumours, but I'm just asking you.
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Putting my engineering hat on, I can think of a few reasons why something like this isn't as simple as rotating the two back rows and have done with it...

Point 1 - Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril at Paris had a LOT of work done to the track, be it banking or what-not to make up for the guests being unable to brace for the sudden turns and drops being unable to see them... On a B&M, this work would be a lot more noticeable, and there's a distinct lack of any person at Thorpe (be it staff or enthusiast) mention anything about Swarm's track being change to make up for the change in direction.

Point 2 - Forces, turning the rows backwards (and the back two rows of course being the most intense) means a whole new array of forces acting on both rider AND more importantly, the car itself... Meaning more stress and strain acting on it, which considering the ride has already thrown a few nuts and bolts off last year, it's not the best idea... Let alone the affect on vibration on the seats themselves due to the change of weight position to even the slightest degree can cause a massive change in the frequency, and as people who have ridden Baco say, the vibrating seats are a problem...

Point 3 - B&M, I've been told that this was B&M's idea... I doubt this because it's B&M, who took ages to do their own version of the WingRider, and have never done a backwards coaster before... Do we really think the company with the highest rate of perfecting a ride before building one would take such a risk? Let alone go against their ride comfort principles...

Point 4 - Goes against the ride's purpose, Thorpe themselves answered a question last year on Facebook (I think, someone DID find it though) about the ride turning backwards, they responded with that it would mean the scenery they added to the ride would be then pointless... Was the ride really such a 'failure' to go against it's own point of the near misses and the like?

Point 5 - NWO, a weird link, but considering the problems they have with NWO and vomit (ok, the darkness is probably an issue here too, but the ride isn't THAT intense, Swarm is), why would they firstly make NWO go forward (a more likely and logical candidate for 2013 additions) to counteract these issues, only to make Swarm partially backwards itself? There is no logical sense to the rumour if both turn out to be true...

Point 6 - Logistics, Swarm already has a failure in the front row queue system, no doubt they'll keep it, but then they'll have to add ANOTHER separate queue for the back two rows as not everyone will want to ride it backwards... Swarm's station is already a bit of a struggle at times, another queue will just complicate matters...


That'll do for now methinks... But if it does happen for some reason, I reckon it won't really help the success of the ride greatly, as it might well be too problematic for the park in the end...
 
The one thing Thorpe absolutely needs is a ride with maintenance issues - so Intamin should be top of their list, well, maybe after Gerstlauer ;)

Okay, The Swarm had a few teething issues, but I think it generally ran without issue for most of the year?

Seriously, the last thing they need is something that is constantly broken, which they would get unless they went with something very standard from Intamin (did somebody say Megalite?).

It IS worrying though that the Thorpe visitors have poor taste, but perhaps The Swarm is just too "similar" to N:I only without the intensity so it doesn't work. Just a bad choice by Thorpe on that front.

Oddly, a hyper (either B&M or Intamin) would probably be a great fit, as most people STILL really rate PMBO because "it's like so huge and stuff innit?"
 
Park wasn't particularly successful this year, therefore Swarm was a failure marketing wise (and the guests don't think it's better than Stealth/Saw/Colossus)
 
Screaming Coasters said:
TO be honest, I think B&M has had its day with Thorpe Park. Their later coaster aren't very appealing to its audience. If we were to get a hyper coaster, then the park should be looking at Intamin. Something like Skyrush could be a major hit.
Click to expand...

Shambhala disagrees with you.

Nemesis Inferno said:
Park wasn't particularly successful this year, therefore Swarm was a failure marketing wise (and the guests don't think it's better than Stealth/Saw/Colossus)
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Tbf most things were a bit undercooked last year what with the number of events going on, especially around London. Interesting to see how far behind the other coasters there it was deemed though if that is the case.
 
Yeah, the events are to blame, with a complete hash of everyone panicking about it being too busy so buggering out the country and the parks really not doing enough to promote themselves during the Olympics...

No idea on the guest opinion stuff really, but it seems that our gimmick beliefs are too much for a solid ride to break up... Compared to the tall fast one, the lots of loops one and the scary as **** one at least...
 
The turning Swarm's seats around thing sounds like a typical employee rumour. If you have a group of people mostly as clueless as the general public, and then combine that with daily running understanding and thus a slight interest in the subject, you get this kind of bollocks. I bet the X:/NWO rumour is pretty legit, in terms that it's something that was on the cards. SOMEWHERE along the line, employees further down who don't have a clue have added Swarm to the mix either accidentally or intentionally. It's like the rumours about how Stealth/Dragon's Fury was made from leftover Rita/Spinball track that circulate amongst employees... Or "such and such ride is down because they need a part and the manufacturer doesn't exist anymore" is another popular one which is usually wrong on both accounts.

As for Swarm being a failure, I agree. I love it myself, but I've not heard a singe good word from anyone not an enthusiast. Just a lot of "it's alright" or "its boring", "not my favourite", "slow", "short". All kinda true. No ones taken a notice in any of the important stuff it boasts, because it's just not important to most people.

Whilst I think Erol's right that an Intamin hyper akin to Skyrush is the way forward logically if they can't get a blitz coaster (like Maverick), and I wouldn't be surprised if they get a hyper, I also wouldn't be shocked if they got a B&M and then wondered why everyone says it's boring again. I think they will go for Europe's tallest though, and if that's the case I'm not sure manufacturer will matter to the public.
 
Nemesis Inferno said:
(and the guests don't think it's better than Stealth/Saw/Colossus)
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I can't really comment on anything else in the topic cos I work at Thorpe, but I can safely say that most guests hugely prefer Swarm to Stealth/Saw/Colossus.
 
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