Thorpe Park wooden coaster plans

[sparky2u]

A few years ago there was a backstage tour and the below info & pic's were shown, a wooden coaster from GCI:

http://www.totalthorpepark.co.uk/featur ... shop.shtml

2009 Wooden Coaster Plans

Since 2003, Thorpe Park has adopted a growth strategy of adding a major rollercoaster installation every 3 years. The decisions as to what these major attractions will be are not taken lightly, and there are often many competing ideas for the investment. Here's a look into one of these competing ideas for the 2009 investment - a Great Coasters International Inc wooden rollercoaster to sit in the space that SAW - The Ride now occupies.

The ride plans look hugely exciting - tracking through the Logger's Leap tunnel and a station fly-by and fly-under! If you've been on GCII's Millennium Flyer trains you'll know just how improved wooden coasters are these days, when compared to, say, rides like the Big Dipper at Blackpool Pleasure Beach (opened in 1923!). Unfortunately, much to the enthusiast's chagrin, UK parks are reluctant to build wooden coasters, due to the fear that such rides would be hard to market to the UK audience. Wooden rides are seen as outdated and tame - but this often couldn't be further from the truth. With the UK's only decent wooden offering being 1996's Megafobia at Oakwood, here's hoping that Thorpe Park revisit these plans in the near future...

 

[insanecoastervids]

Maybe just maybe.

 

[Darren B]

I dare say in the distant future a new wooden coaster will be born in the UK, but Merlin keep on doing the research, and keep on getting knocked back by the public.

Nick Varney (C.E.O of Merlin) knows just what a modern wooden Rollercoaster can do for a park, he's had Collosos at Heide for over 10 years now, and it's done wonders for the park, so he personally has absolutely no objections building one. The problem stems from customer research, if the public won't embrace a wooden coaster then he's not going to spend 10-15 million on one. It's a shame, but he's a businessman, and he's got to make the right decision. I do believe though that one day in the future he WILL bite the bullet and build one in the UK, but only when the time and finances are right. And Alton will get it, hopefully.

I'd still put a wager on Flamingoland getting the next woodie though, they've got pretty much every coaster-type taken care of now and have that big empty spot where Corkscrew used to sit, nevermind the fact the parks owner is a huge enthusiast and surely wants one for himself. And let's say he does build one, It's not going to be amazing, but it's going to be good enough, and if it's a hit with the public then Varney will not hesitate to purchase one, that I'm sure of.

 

[Ethan]

Tbh I think the plans for the Thorpe woodie look kinda meh...
Where's all the airtime?

 

[Robbie]

Nick Varney (C.E.O of Merlin) knows just what a modern wooden Rollercoaster can do for a park, he's had Collosos at Heide for over 10 years now, and it's done wonders for the park, so he personally has absolutely no objections building one.

Well, Colossos opened 6 years before he bough the park so do we know he knows it's done wonders for the place? If he'd been boss in 2001 it may not have been built.

 

[sparky2u]

I think TP should do a wooden coaster public / guest survey sometime next year to see what the reaction is of everyone. I'm sure most of the people who visit Merlin parks have ridden a wooden coaster before & embrace one at TP. Or the Ex's of TP visit Oakwood and ask guests if they enjoy the layout n airtime.


If TP want to go extreme (keep saying how extreme they are) in 2016, try a 120ft high 1st hill "launched", twisted, Out n Back wooden coaster with a few tunnels & hills full of airtime, :--D :--D

 

[gavin]

^ Absolute tripe.

If "most" of them have ridden a wooden coaster, the vast majority of that "most" (clearly nowhere near most) will have Blackpool to choose from, with a smattering of Port Aventura and Busch Florida.

They absolutely would not embrace a woodie based on what they know.

 

[Smithy]

Spot on, iirc in Wardleys interview at Oakwood he suggests that the general publics overall view of wooden coasters isn't one that has Merlin frothing at the mouth to install them.

 

[sparky2u]

i'll take a gamble & have a cross between "Troy", "Tremors" & "Balder" using a pre-fabricated track so it's ultra smooth.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Nick Varney doesn't have as much input as you think he does... DIC are the ones controlling the strings here, and its them who say what will make them the return now.. The reason why Merlin are floating on the stocks is because DIC want their return now and Merlin are under pressure to give it to them. Something like a Woody is far too risky for them, which is why they constantly go looking for gimmicks and IP's. We may not like it, but thats how it goes now. Gone are the days of Tussauds funding.

 

[furie]

DIC aren't even the second largest investor in Merlin Erol. They don't have any say beyond "bring us our gold rewards or begone (as long as everyone else agrees)!"

Each Merlin attraction (apart from CWoA) that was bought out under the Blackstone deal is run by Merlin absolutely. They do have to ensure that investors are paid, but other than that, operations are absolutely down to Nick Varney and the Merlin management teams.

But yes, everything is about "fast returns" not long term...

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Apologies - DIC own 17% and its their stake that is up on float..

Although I've read that in 2010, Blackstone sold off a 28pc of their stake to CVC.. I always thought this would make them a minority. Correct me if I'm wrong on that?

I do agree with you that Nick has control, yes, but he is just as much answerable to his investors and if they say no, then Merlin can't do a thing. I'd assume its a similar situation with DLP's financing. If the bank says no, then a project won't go ahead.

Right now, everything looks like its set up for a get-out plan. Merlins Midway attractions are far more profitable. From what I've been told - Thorpe Park is 4 million pounds behind target, while London Eye is 4 million pounds ahead of target.

I can see that Merlin will be pushing more off than just shares.. Midway is what brings in their bacon.

 

[furie]

KIRKBI 36%
Blackstone 34%
CVC 28%

Though I doubt it's that cut and dried.

The issue is, the investors don't care, they simply don't. If Nick Varney had to go to KIRKBI for The Smiler, they'd have sacked him for bothering them. He will have gone and said "we need £18 million to invest in a new ride and the pay back will be capital of £xx million and a payback ove xx years of £xx million". They wouldn't care that it was a Gerstlauer 14 loop coaster, as long as the figures added up and the research into ROI was sound.

 

[Screaming Coasters]

Hmm, ok. I see what you're saying - I always thought investors such as these, as they are not just a bank and are actively involved in amusement investments quite heavily, would require much more than just 123 = 10% return.. Wouldn't they need a full proposal of whats going where and why?

I may add, as far as this goes, I'm way out of my depth of understanding now, but I'm just curious.

 

[furie]

It just means they understand the industry, the best companies to buy and invest in and what kind of returns to expect.

They'll also know the business to a degree, but a member of DIC won't know the difference between an Intamin and a Pinfari, in the same way they probably won't know the difference between a Moray tank display and a sarcastic fringe head tank display. Details are why you have people running the companies for you

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

 

[MouseAT]

Hmm, ok. I see what you're saying - I always thought investors such as these, as they are not just a bank and are actively involved in amusement investments quite heavily, would require much more than just 123 = 10% return.. Wouldn't they need a full proposal of whats going where and why?

I'd expect more detailed information to be available to the big investors if they want it, but I suspect most investors simply look at the proposed return on investment, make sure the numbers look reasonable and then vote yay or nay.