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Trihunter

Roller Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

When I went to Thorpe last week, Samurai was completely dismantled. Not sure if it's related or just maintenance?
 

jj23w

Hyper Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

There is plenty of Easter eggs to what WC16 could be such as: Big Top, Containment and the new shirts tht have come out.
 

mouse

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

^ I have a feeling Big Top and Containment were designed to be scare attractions for fright nights - not clues for WC16.
 

jj23w

Hyper Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Talking to a manager briefly and he said did we like the Easter eggs in containment and big top. Then I looked on the website and the clown from big top is one of the clues coincidence I think not.
 

mouse

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Ah ok fair enough... They are still predominantly scare attractions in their own right but I can see that there may be subtle easter eggs within them. Anyone have any ideas on what the clown means for WC16?
 

elephant58

Hyper Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

I think the theme will probably end up revolving around automatons taking peoples' minds for their own, or people becoming automatons. And I suppose scary clowns and scary robot things are kind of similar?

I also think the name of the ride will be, 'Automatons'.....
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

It's going to be ducking shut.

What a waste of 25 million. Morons.

Merlin are in the advanced stages of ducking up all their parks. They ripped the soul out of Heide this year, Gave Alton the Smiler in 2013 and now they're blowing their RMC/Hyper money on a shutty dark ride.

Again, morons.
 

Pink Cadillac

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Yes my love. If it wasn't for the theming and the visual aspect, The Smiler would be a massive failure in every way.
Stopping the ride halfway through, just to go through the same uninspired layout again. Only Big Thunder Mountain is allowed to do that.
 

JoshC.

Strata Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

I'm not a fan of Smiler, but I think it's a great ride for the park. The brand as well is huge; one of the best we've seen from a UK park. That in itself is good enough for me.

As for links between this and Big Top / Containment... Nah. Big Top is a clown-themed attraction. How on earth does that fit in with anything we've seen about the attraction so far: the plans don't give an carnival/clown-vibes, the marketing doesn't give any carnival-vibes. Just no. I reckon the clue on the minisite showing a character from Big Top is just more FN advertising.

I don't know much about Containment other than it's got different fears in it apparently. It doesn't seem to be the exact route the marketing is taking us down; mind control is very different to having your fears played with. Could be some weird link, but just doesn't sound likely.

I'm personally expecting the next clue, being revealed towards the end of the month, to give something of substance to the general public to be honest.
 

cjbrandy

Hyper Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Darren B said:
they're blowing their RMC/Hyper money on a shutty dark ride.

Call me fussy but this is the reason I demand nothing less than Universal Orlando quality from the ride. An RMC coaster would be so marketable and the GP would love it Im sure.
 

Lofty

CF Legend
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

cjbrandy said:
Darren B said:
they're blowing their RMC/Hyper money on a shutty dark ride.

Call me fussy but this is the reason I demand nothing less than Universal Orlando quality from the ride.

With demands like that, I really hope Thorpe Park have a good negotiator.
 

cjbrandy

Hyper Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Lofty said:
cjbrandy said:
Darren B said:
they're blowing their RMC/Hyper money on a shutty dark ride.

Call me fussy but this is the reason I demand nothing less than Universal Orlando quality from the ride.

With demands like that, I really hope Thorpe Park have a good negotiator.

Good is the enemy of great, with such a big budget that could buy a coaster like Skyrush, Shambhala or a big RMC the last thing I'm going to do is sit back and be satisfied by average. Don't get me wrong I'm a realist and I know that's what we're probably going to get but you never know.
 

Darren B

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

It's really not going to be great. I'm not a lover of dark rides anyway, but a Merlin dark ride? URGH.

I've argued this point before, but I'll state it again - This dark ride would PERFECTLY suit AT, not Thorpe. AT has it's 'great for all audiences' identity, Chessington/LL have their children/family identity and Thorpe has the thrill seeker identity; they absolutely shouldn't be trying to change that.

Yes, I get that TP isn't performing great as a thrill park. Yes, I get that they need to correct the issue, so why not do the obvious - BUILD A WORLD CLASS COASTER. Most of us enjoy Swarm, Stealth & NI but let's face it, none of them set the world alight. I'm pretty sure that anything along the lines of Helix, Shambhala or Outlaw Run would change their fortunes, not a half arsed effort at Angry birds or a mediocre dark ride.

Sometimes I think Merlin are just as delusional as Erol.
 

Zac

Roller Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

It doesn't really seem like a good investment when you consider the huge £30million budget, with that same budget they could have built two major coasters - I don't really think the gp care that much about a dark ride.
 

DelPiero

Strata Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

At least we are all expecting it to be turd so when the details are finally released we won't all be disappointed.

If it's what's been speculated, it will draw in people for the first year or 2, but then what'll happen? Attendance will drop again, the ride won't have any hype and will(in Merlin style) fall into disrepair, Thorpe will fall further and further behind the many world class parks it rightly should be judged against.

But they are in a position where they have next to no competition, Merlin currently have the market sown up, so why take the smart route and build something which will draw in crowds year after year when some hotshot can propose wacky ideas to make a name for themselves for short term gain.

#nadroJforCEO
 

CoasterCrazy

Giga Poster
Re: WC16 | Thorpe Park | New ??? for 2016

Completely agree with some of the posts on here.
Merlin don't really seem to understand what a medium-sized investment is, do they? Either they skimp on cost, like Angry Birds, or blow tonnes of money every four(ish) years on big new coasters.

They confuse me really. Next year, it'll be 4 years since their last major capital coaster investment, and in that time, what have they done to keep their guests returning? Well, let's face it, practically nothing, and then they go blow it all on something with drastically less appeal to their target market.

A smaller new coaster, a new thrilling flat like a Frisbee and maybe even a refurbishment of Colossus, would all be worth their money, and would keep guests satisfied, but if there's going to be a longer wait before their next big breadwinner, why blow it suddenly on something which probably won't be worth the money? After all, it's guest experience that'll reel in the cash and they have a very sporadic business plan.
Long-term investment isn't exactly their faute, eh?

What possibly bugs me even more with Merlin is their complete lack of announcements of new additions. With all their 'clever' little marketing campaigns, how much would it take to just do a CGI mockup and spread it to the media to make national news like every other major theme park does? They can build up as much as they want to an announcement, then once everyones' aware of it, they can gain a greater following for their construction updates?

At the moment, all they're doing is confusing us. That's fine right now, but without a conclusive press release, the few people who actually know it exists will simply pass over it, not knowing anything to support planning a trip for next year. By the time people actually get word of it, people will have already made plans to go somewhere else.

I don't think a dark ride is a particularly 'shocking idea', but spending £30 million on it is just a bit ludicrous to be honest. Think what else they could do with that budget!
 
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