Ollie
CF Legend
"Except if someone breathes a little too heavy and it has to close due to the high winds"
Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024
- Thread starter Matt N
- Start date
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- 2024 new coaster thorpe park
FogZog
Mega Poster
Speaking of closing. What is it with coasters opening nowadays seemingly not ready? Hyperia opened for a day… Half of Voltrons trains were shaking people into the afterlife, Top Thrill 2 closed because of train issues. Nemmie Reborn opened with a substantial rattle on the “new” trains. Kennywoods thing has to be closed for work when its more or less brand new…
The only manufacturer that seems to be opening coasters without a hitch is Vekoma
Whats going on?
The long and short of it is that building coasters is difficult. There's a lot that can go wrong, and every little wrong thing can hamper the ride experience, the ride's reliability, and in the worst case, safety. And you never quite know how such a complex system will work in practice until the human element is introduced.Speaking of closing. What is it with coasters opening nowadays seemingly not ready? Hyperia opened for a day… Half of Voltrons trains were shaking people into the afterlife, Top Thrill 2 closed because of train issues. Nemmie Reborn opened with a substantial rattle on the “new” trains. Kennywoods thing has to be closed for work when its more or less brand new…
The only manufacturer that seems to be opening coasters without a hitch is Vekoma
Whats going on?
Note also that most of these coasters feature something that the manufacturer hasn't got much experience with before. A new type of train, new coaster type, or working on a bigger scale than they've done before.
I think this just reinforces my concerns about Falcon's Flight, at least. If that one manages to operate reliably for its entire first season, I'll seriously consider eating my socks.
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
In principle, I'd agree. But on the other hand Intamin had a pretty good run with their most recent installations (and those did involve new technologies). So, let's cross fingers you'll be spared that culinary enterprise.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
But I hear they are filled with good quality fiber!
Disco Lumberjack
Roller Poster
Obviously it's super disappointing that the ride has had to close - and I really feel for people who travelled and had hoped for multiple days of getting to ride this beast. I especially feel for the people who haven't gotten to ride it at all yet, I hope their time will come soon.
I got to ride it twice on opening, the first ride was a simultaneous 100th coaster for me and my friend, which was a wonderful way to celebrate as we kind of became enthusiasts together at the same time during the pandemic. It all felt a little bit perfect, great weather, lucky enough to get the back row. As for the ride itself, I was expecting an A tier coaster, I figured it would be better than Kondaa, but didn't want to overhype it and come away disappointed. I'm delighted to say I think this really is an S tier coaster. Every element hits - and it didn't feel that short to me, I'm comparing it to Kondaa a lot, because I rode it recently, but that ride has a real pacing problem with the non-inverting cobra roll. It's also a little repetitive. Hyperia doesn't have these problems and I hit the brake run very satisfied both times I rode. It's difficult for me to pick my favourite element, I think the drop, the immelmann, the outer banked roll thing and the stall could all be in contention depending on where I'm seated and other conditions. The hills after the splashdown/trims are obviously the lesser elements here, but that's fairly typical for a coaster and does not surprise me at all.
The things I don't like about it are almost entirely aesthetic, I don't mind the colours of the coaster, but the boxiness and shipping container look just feels cheap. The area also feels unfinished, Fearless Valley is a very uninspired name, I don't like the "Find Your Fearless" tagline either. Some people seemed impressed by the extra touches inside the station and I must say I don't think they were that impressive. I rode RTH a few weeks back and that station is just so wonderful that I think I'm not going to be impressed by some projectors and an anvil.
I thought Thorpe did a wonderful job of managing the crowds during the day as well. I was able to use the toilet when I needed to, there was never any reason for people to run or shove.
Overall, I actually enjoyed Hyperia more than RTH, which I did not expect to be the case, I think RTH is more intense, but I also found a little much at times and it was very difficult to lap. I also hate the jojo roll, I think being a big guy and dangling with the lapbar through that is just not very comfortable. Hyperia comes in at my number 3 spot, super excited to have it at my home park, going to be back a LOT this season.
I got to ride it twice on opening, the first ride was a simultaneous 100th coaster for me and my friend, which was a wonderful way to celebrate as we kind of became enthusiasts together at the same time during the pandemic. It all felt a little bit perfect, great weather, lucky enough to get the back row. As for the ride itself, I was expecting an A tier coaster, I figured it would be better than Kondaa, but didn't want to overhype it and come away disappointed. I'm delighted to say I think this really is an S tier coaster. Every element hits - and it didn't feel that short to me, I'm comparing it to Kondaa a lot, because I rode it recently, but that ride has a real pacing problem with the non-inverting cobra roll. It's also a little repetitive. Hyperia doesn't have these problems and I hit the brake run very satisfied both times I rode. It's difficult for me to pick my favourite element, I think the drop, the immelmann, the outer banked roll thing and the stall could all be in contention depending on where I'm seated and other conditions. The hills after the splashdown/trims are obviously the lesser elements here, but that's fairly typical for a coaster and does not surprise me at all.
The things I don't like about it are almost entirely aesthetic, I don't mind the colours of the coaster, but the boxiness and shipping container look just feels cheap. The area also feels unfinished, Fearless Valley is a very uninspired name, I don't like the "Find Your Fearless" tagline either. Some people seemed impressed by the extra touches inside the station and I must say I don't think they were that impressive. I rode RTH a few weeks back and that station is just so wonderful that I think I'm not going to be impressed by some projectors and an anvil.
I thought Thorpe did a wonderful job of managing the crowds during the day as well. I was able to use the toilet when I needed to, there was never any reason for people to run or shove.
Overall, I actually enjoyed Hyperia more than RTH, which I did not expect to be the case, I think RTH is more intense, but I also found a little much at times and it was very difficult to lap. I also hate the jojo roll, I think being a big guy and dangling with the lapbar through that is just not very comfortable. Hyperia comes in at my number 3 spot, super excited to have it at my home park, going to be back a LOT this season.
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
Thanks sharing your thoughts. May I ask what are your number 1 and 2 coasters?
I hope those of us who've ridden don't overhype it.
To tell the truth, when hitting the brake run on my first go, the first thing I said to my riding companion was, 'Excellent first drop; the rest didn't do a whole lot for me'. It was only when riding it again at night that it blew me away and seemed to fly through all the elements at perfect speed.
Opening-day hype is real. I do feel I need another ride in the daytime to make full judgement.
To tell the truth, when hitting the brake run on my first go, the first thing I said to my riding companion was, 'Excellent first drop; the rest didn't do a whole lot for me'. It was only when riding it again at night that it blew me away and seemed to fly through all the elements at perfect speed.
Opening-day hype is real. I do feel I need another ride in the daytime to make full judgement.
Disco Lumberjack
Roller Poster
Yeah of course, the list in my signature goes from 1 to 10, so 1 and 2 are Zadra and Hyperion. If I was to assign tiers to the list I'd probably go for this:
S Tier - Zadra, Hyperion, Hyperia, Ride to Happiness
A Tier - Nemesis, Helix, Kondaa, Balder
B Tier - Icon (Enso), The Swarm
Disco Lumberjack
Roller Poster
I do agree with this, I had to consciously de-hype myself before riding and I think that might be why I'm now one of the people who might end up overhyping it for others (sorry) because of how much I enjoyed it relative to my expectations. We all know there are a lot of variables affecting how well a coaster rides, even with identical conditions, a coaster will feel different to my body vs another person's body. Everyone's mileage is going to vary.
Peter Immelmann
Mega Poster
Just realizing now that signatures are not displayed in my phone's browser. Never mind. Thanks anyway....
Nicky Borrill
Strata Poster
Turn your phone sideways, into landscape mode (as long as you do not have orientation lock enabled.)
Awesome post, thank you!!! Think we needed some positivity. And congratulations!
A pic really does say 1000 words... This is ours from our first ride, not quite back row, but just look at those smiles...
BTW I agree with your thoughts on Kondaa, it hasn't even made my top 10, that none inverting cobra roll just didn't hit how it looks like it should hit.
Callum
Roller Poster
I'm gutted for Thorpe it had to close after a day. After such a successful opening and running flawlessly pretty much all day Friday this is a big blow for the park.
I got told by an operator the shutdowns on Friday were mainly due to issues with the gates which were tripping the ride out, hence why they could get it back up very quickly most of the time.
Its incredibly unlucky for them, I mean look at Swarm, it didn't have a full day closed in years. I know its not something that merlin ever do, but soft openings could be a good idea in the future. Something like this could've happened and been ironed out before official opening.
Anyway, here are my thoughts from opening day:
Got to the park for about 1:30ish and first ride I got really lucky and only waited 1.5 hours. I waited in the main queue until the Hyperia toilets. The host asked me if I was a single and put me in the single rider queue which was overflowing. I waited in this queue for around 20 minutes, and realized how long it was and it wasn't moving, and I also just read on the AP group how people were waiting 7 hours in the single queue. So, I asked the host if I could switch to the main queue instead as I knew that would be around 90 mins - 120 from this point. I believe there was some miss-communication and the manager didn't want to put me in the main queue for some reason, so they put me in Fasttrack instead and got straight on, row 9.
Second ride I got in the queue at 7:45 got off around 10:15 so 2.5 hours, row 2.
- I came off my first ride thinking that is easily the best air time I've experienced in the UK. I came off my second ride saying quite comfortably that is my favorite ride in the UK.
- The outer-bank turn was easily my favorite element. Chucked out of your seat, especially on my second ride on row 2.
- Actually quite liked the queueline. I was initially worried when we saw the prison style fences, but the queue is nice and none of the cattlepens are particularly long. You get some nice views of the ride.
- The station does look pretty bare during the day, but looks so much better at night. I love the dispatch lighting/audio, and as well when the train returns to the station.
- The trims were much more noticeable on my second ride towards the front of the train, but still took the last 2 elements with good speed.
- Ride team were doing a great job at sending the trains out all day. The train does return to the station very slowly though, and I do wonder if they could get a higher throughput if this was sped up?
- An op told me it warms up big time throughout the day. When he'd been operating it, the run time ranged from 39 seconds to 31 seconds (from the lift hill to hitting the breaks)
I was initially quite disappointed when the layout got revealed, and even seeing the ride testing. Yes the ride is on the short side, but I really didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'm so glad they went for something different here, and we finally have an airtime machine in the UK. This is exactly what Thorpe needed. I can't wait for a September weekday when I can ride this thing all day.
This was my first time going on a coasters opening day and was easily one of the best days I've had at Thorpe, great atmosphere all day right up until leaving the park at 10:30. They did a great job organisation wise, being asked in the queue if everyones okay and need water filling up etc.. Didn't queue more than 10 minutes for anything else on park, Stealth in particular was running great as always, both times I went on they were running down the platform checking restraints, beating the countdown timer on the platform every dispatch.
I got told by an operator the shutdowns on Friday were mainly due to issues with the gates which were tripping the ride out, hence why they could get it back up very quickly most of the time.
Its incredibly unlucky for them, I mean look at Swarm, it didn't have a full day closed in years. I know its not something that merlin ever do, but soft openings could be a good idea in the future. Something like this could've happened and been ironed out before official opening.
Anyway, here are my thoughts from opening day:
Got to the park for about 1:30ish and first ride I got really lucky and only waited 1.5 hours. I waited in the main queue until the Hyperia toilets. The host asked me if I was a single and put me in the single rider queue which was overflowing. I waited in this queue for around 20 minutes, and realized how long it was and it wasn't moving, and I also just read on the AP group how people were waiting 7 hours in the single queue. So, I asked the host if I could switch to the main queue instead as I knew that would be around 90 mins - 120 from this point. I believe there was some miss-communication and the manager didn't want to put me in the main queue for some reason, so they put me in Fasttrack instead and got straight on, row 9.
Second ride I got in the queue at 7:45 got off around 10:15 so 2.5 hours, row 2.
- I came off my first ride thinking that is easily the best air time I've experienced in the UK. I came off my second ride saying quite comfortably that is my favorite ride in the UK.
- The outer-bank turn was easily my favorite element. Chucked out of your seat, especially on my second ride on row 2.
- Actually quite liked the queueline. I was initially worried when we saw the prison style fences, but the queue is nice and none of the cattlepens are particularly long. You get some nice views of the ride.
- The station does look pretty bare during the day, but looks so much better at night. I love the dispatch lighting/audio, and as well when the train returns to the station.
- The trims were much more noticeable on my second ride towards the front of the train, but still took the last 2 elements with good speed.
- Ride team were doing a great job at sending the trains out all day. The train does return to the station very slowly though, and I do wonder if they could get a higher throughput if this was sped up?
- An op told me it warms up big time throughout the day. When he'd been operating it, the run time ranged from 39 seconds to 31 seconds (from the lift hill to hitting the breaks)
I was initially quite disappointed when the layout got revealed, and even seeing the ride testing. Yes the ride is on the short side, but I really didn't expect to enjoy this as much as I did. I'm so glad they went for something different here, and we finally have an airtime machine in the UK. This is exactly what Thorpe needed. I can't wait for a September weekday when I can ride this thing all day.
This was my first time going on a coasters opening day and was easily one of the best days I've had at Thorpe, great atmosphere all day right up until leaving the park at 10:30. They did a great job organisation wise, being asked in the queue if everyones okay and need water filling up etc.. Didn't queue more than 10 minutes for anything else on park, Stealth in particular was running great as always, both times I went on they were running down the platform checking restraints, beating the countdown timer on the platform every dispatch.
Coasterfreck
Hyper Poster
Thorpe Park have confirmed they can’t commit to reopening Hyperia until 8th June.
Coasterfreck
Hyper Poster
I really hope it doesn’t affect their working relationship with Mack.
the_coaster_l
Roller Poster
It appears they are adding drive tires to the outer bank. They shouldn’t have made this element so tall, slow and forceless.