Thorpe Park - SAW: The Ride

[WillXav]

What about themeing for the coaster?

[Mikey]

I was at the park last week and overheard one of the ride op's in the queue talking to a bunch of young lads, according to him the trap inside, where the actors will be, was donated for free by lionsgate and is an actual prop from one of the films.

When the kids got excited he opened the door to the trap so they could get a better look, and the whole group of kids piled in to the little cage, I've never seen an op look so panic stricken

[nickhutson]

Yeah - I wondered why the gate was able to open so freely. You'd think Merlin would incorporate into some official photo op, or something. Like they do at the Dungeon, you could have your photo taken of you and some friends in the "device" and then, get your piece of paper, and then pay £10 for a photo!

[AstroDan]

According to someone on Southparks, the ride is back to normal capacity now as Gerstlauer appear to have sorted the problem.

[Dara]

It's true, i can confirm it

As for the jolting at the bottom of the drop, that's still there on a couple of the cars but not as obvious on others

[Khanage]

I went to Thorpe today and it was storming through people like I have never seen on a rollercoaster before. The queueline was almost to the gate when we went and the sign said 60 mins. 35 mins and we were on! Not sure how many cars it was running though.

Brilliant!

As for the ride itself. Excellent. The theming is fantastic and some of the effects are very well done. It is over quite quickly but is a lot of fun. As for the jolts, I felt more jolts on the front seat than I did on the back seat. In fact the backseat was so smooth I questioned these reports of headaches and so on that I had read on here. However, on the front I did feel them.

The restraints are really, really comfortable and going from this to the awful restraints of Colossus really did show how good they are. One more point about the ride - it is almost silent! Quietest coaster I have ever heard (or not heard).

Overall a brilliant experience.

[Dara]

It's quiet because, like alot of other Gerstlauer coasters, the supports are filled with concrete and the inside of the track is filled with sand

[AstroDan]

I wish I wasn't a teacher and could visit during school term time.

Whenever I go the queue's for everything are massive.

[Khanage]

It certainly makes a difference!

Anyway, also at Thorpe today was Brendan Walker doing some sort of TV thing with a camera crew. I didn't intentionally get a picture of them but they ended up accidentally in the corner of this shot.

[Voni86]

[quote=""Mikey""]I was at the park last week and overheard one of the ride op's in the queue talking to a bunch of young lads, according to him the trap inside, where the actors will be, was donated for free by lionsgate and is an actual prop from one of the films.

When the kids got excited he opened the door to the trap so they could get a better look, and the whole group of kids piled in to the little cage, I've never seen an op look so panic stricken [/quote]

What trap's this? Is there a photo? I honestly can't think of which one you're talking about!

[Dara]

He means the trap inside the building. In the queue line, just before you go up the stairs.

Actors were used in that trap during annual pass day and easter weekend i think. To be honest i'd rather the actors weren't in there. Presumably because of breaks. etc., they have to swap over really frequently. On annual pass day it was every 10-15 mins and it really looks rubbish when they're changing over- kills the atmosphere

[Jon]

That's a bit naff. Could they not have used some kind of lighting effect to hide the transition of the actors? Or even better, why can't the actor die, get dragged off and have another victim as the next one in line.

Question: To what extent are actors used? Are people jumping out at you as well as someone screaming in a trap or what?

[PeteWetherby]

I thought the actors were 'dead' and then dragged off, undeneath, i'm sure they don't just stop, stand up and both leave.

[Dara]

Nope, on the day i went it was simply a case of one actor being left in the device for about 15 mins, then the next one would come in, un-do his straps and then they'd both walk off together.

Another thing i found quite naff was the way the actor comes up the fastrack queue line- the same queue line that guests use. They could surely find some way of getting them in round the back way, so it doesn't kill the illusion so much

[nickhutson]

Or maybe have a permanent animatronic?

[Dara]

The words "thorpe park" and "animatronic" dont go well together, based on thorpe's very poor record for maintaining their effects

[nickhutson]

The words theming and thorpe park never really went well together But, now we're all pretty surprised. It certainly seems they're changing their direction. I do agree, it will be interesting to see the state of the ride in a few year's time! They have the animatronic in the dark ride bit.

I would like to see, maybe with advances in technology, for them to employ use of animatronics in the queue line for the devices. Doubt it will happen, though...

[Dara]

Yeah but last time i went, the swinging blades weren't working and Jigsaw's mouth wasn't moving.

If you think how many effects Tidal Wave and surrounding areas used to have, it now has none.

[PeteWetherby]

It's not supposed to be like that, it wasn't today.

Today there were two actors in the cage, one was tormenting the other, who eventually died and was dragged under. Then two came out again and the one to be strapped in was pretending to be knocked out and was dragged to the trap by the tormentor. Admittedly then he did 'wake up' and help with strapping himself in.

Also there was another, dressed up actor, in the queue line, just generally adding to the mood. And ride host's were saying things like, 'sorry for the delay, we are just cleaning up the blood from the last victims.'

Out of intrest did you go on anual pass day?

[Islander]

[quote=""PeteWetherby""]Admittedly then he did 'wake up' and help with strapping himself in.[/quote]
Heh, that's fantastic :P