Thorpe Park Resort

[Burniel]

It could be argued that Saw's vertical lift and 100-degree drop, which (if I recall correctly) was heavily featured in the ride's adverts, was its imposing feature that made it look scarier and "bigger" than it actually was, and was likely one of the reasons for its attention. Meanwhile, The Swarm's adverts centred around the ride's theme and contains many fleeting shots of the ride, but weren't quite as "BAM, look how big and scary this is". So marketing definitely has a factor in it, but it remains true in my opinion that Merlin tend to be most successful when marketing its rides around a feature of the ride, as is the case with the Secret Weapon series.

In terms of Project 2020, this could mean anything, depending on the model, but if it's going to stand out and "market itself" as Thrope Park are claiming they want it to (for the record, I'm not taking anything they say as remotely factual; all of this speculation should be assumed to be preceded with "if this does turn out to be true ..."), height seems a fairly likely possibility, especially as the teaser seems to suggest an airtime-heavy layout.

[XtremeCoasters Rick]

Thanks for the advice  

Think Sunday 6th August will probably be the better option, so will hopefully arrive early enough to beat the crowds. 

[Owen]

In terms of Project 2020, this could mean anything

Maybe it will be a big imposing refurb on the bridge?!?!?!?!?! :lol

[theparklifekid]

Something I find intriguing is that we still have 3 year until we supposedly get this thing, planning permission I can see coming around mid next year, but we still have a 3 year gap without anything new. I can't see much for next year, maybe Loggers reopens and they give it a retheme and brand it as new, 2019 I have no idea, I want to say new flat to replace slammer, but it could just be a year of hyping up project 2020. 

As for the marketing purpose of the ride, as Burniel said, I believe you do need an image that will make you say "cool" and "I want to ride that". The concept image does suggest a hyper/airtime machine, and it is over the bridge, so I could sorta see a ride taking notes from Gatekeeper/Fury 325 and having the ride go over/near the park entrance. That is an image that does stand out.

[Justin]

There will be attractions in between this, however, Thorpe Park is considering taking one year out in order to make general improvements to the park.

[MakoMania]

As for the bridge in the teaser, bridges often go over water.

Just sayin

[Nickolai]

A horrific accident has occurred with what seems to be a KMG Afterburner at Ohio State Fair where a gondola fell from the ride while in operation. At least one pereson has died. Whether any action will be taken with Vortex will be interesting to see.

[Tom170499]

A horrific accident has occurred with what seems to be a KMG Afterburner at Ohio State Fair where a gondola fell from the ride while in operation. At least one pereson has died. Whether any action will be taken with Vortex will be interesting to see.

I have been at Lightwater Valley today and heard about the accident from the operator of the Eagle's Claw ride (also an Afterburner) that they had had an email from KMG telling them to suspend operations meaning I was asked to leave the queue. With it being the manufacturer that has said this, I expect the same will have happened with Vortex. 

[Dom]

Vortex is currently closed at Thorpe Park. It is likely it is because of the horrific incident at the Ohio State Fair, but no official statement has been made by the park. 

[ponder]

Horrible accident, and can totally understand why KMG are stopping operation on similar models to cover themselves. I'm fairly sure these will resume operation fairly quickly though as the incident in Ohio does seem to be a fairly open and shut case of poor maintenance / upkeep from the fair, rather than a manufacturing fault.

[AltonOperator]

Going back to owen's point, I agree that Thorpe are lying about 'still looking' for a ride. If it really is a massive rollercoaster coming for 2020 then it's definitely been in the works for about a year. By now they should be figuring the finer points out. The number you always hear when a park official is asked how long a coaster took from idea to opening is 4 years.

[lewis97]

With DBGT only having just opened this time last year, and the headache it caused throughout the rest of the season, I doubt Thorpe had too much time to give that much thought to their next major investment in 2020 (apart from not wanting to replicate all the issues associated with Ghost Train).

Also, given that during the talk/Q&A at Summer Sizzler Andy was generally quite forthcoming and honest about things, alongside the fact there was no real incentive to lie about where they were in the development process, I don't think it's unreasonable that Thorpe haven't finalised Project 2020, but that's not to say they now don't have a relative clear idea of what they want to invest in with number of well-developed ideas that satisfy that, which I believe is the gist of what was said.

[Georgie]

The key points he emphasized on following the issues from Ghost Train are reliability, throughput and ability to market itself.  For me, that says a bloody massive coaster that can be seen for miles, built by a company known for reliability like Mack or B&M.  Whilst I would love a Mack Mega (or 10) at Thorpe, another B&M would also work very well for the park.  I'd imagine they would be looking at multiple manufacturers to see which one can create the best ride with the best value for money in terms of initial investment and maintenance.  I do hope that a hyper is at least on the cards since Thorpe desperately needs an airtime machine and the only thrill ride at the park to not feature inversions atm is 12 seconds long, so providing a ride with no inversions and max airtime is likely the best option for them.  Or an RMC.  That'd also do.

[Ben-]

have not heared of this progect hope to see what they will do.
I think it will be one of those racing coasters when theres two tracks, two stations, and, the carriges race each other.

[Ben-]

has anyone heared of the new mascots for the big coasters?

[UKCoaster]

have not heared of this progect hope to see what they will do.
I think it will be one of those racing coasters when theres two tracks, two stations, and, the carriges race each other.

I doubt they will install a racing coaster. A delay in one station means a full train can be sitting in the other just waiting for the other to be ready. Thorpe need a ride with high throughput with little delay in the station as operations are already a bit dire.

[streetmagix]

This just popped up on my YouTube recommends, the Flash Hyper Coaster at Lewa Adventure Shaanxi:

I could totally see Thorpe going for this as Merlin like their unique and record breaking rides. Maybe they could better this ride and have the worlds tallest loop? 

They would only have to deal predominantly with one company (Mack) directly rather than the myriad of different companies required for DBGT. I sense dealing with so many suppliers for DBGT slowed down both production, building and crucially the repairs/changes needed during its first year of operation. 

I have a strong feeling we'll be seeing either Mack or B&M for their next coaster based on what has been said by Merlin. Intamin is a possibility but with so many parks shunning Intamin due to build and reliability issues I find it unlikely. Vekoma is possible too I guess as they are on a hot streak with new coasters. No chance will it be a Gerstlauer, not after Saw, The Smiler and many other rides which have had issues.

[Ben-]

Does anyone know about the new mascot for colossus that looks like the guy from the little big planet game?
Because my friend came back from thorpe park with a toy of the mascot and a pencil with mascot at the end. Ive personaly not seen them, he told me they were relevantly new and all the main rollercoasters had them except saw. Is this new or did my friend make the pencil and toy, and is a big fat liar?

[Dom]

I know what these things are. They aren't new and have been available for quite some time in the shops. They have recently expanded this range to now include some plush toys, but I wouldn't refer to them as mascots. 

[jackf1tz]

As announced on Thorpe park Instagram, Saw the ride note has a new pin badge!