Hyperia Plans

Plans for Hyperia, the UK’s tallest and fastest roller coaster, were first revealed by Thorpe Park as part of a public consultation in December 2021. The submission of the full application then followed in March 2022, which, after a longer than anticipated process, received approval in November 2022. Following the application’s approval, the Resort then submitted a number of supplementary plans and documents in order to discharge various planning conditions, enabling construction to progress towards a May 2024 opening.

In December 2021, Thorpe Park commenced a four week public consultation on its proposed new rollercoaster, Project Exodus, providing a first look at the prospective development. Concept images released showed the ambitious scale of the attraction, which was set to reach a maximum height of 236 feet / 72 metres. The initial plans indicated that the station would be situated on the former Canada Creek Railway station building. The layout of the rollercoaster stretched either side of the lake, and featured an outward banked curve out of the station, a steep lift hill, steeper first drop, overbanked turns, inversions, airtime hills, and a splashdown element. Although Thorpe Park stated that they were still in discussions with multiple manufacturers, the style of track depicted and elements featured suggest Mack Rides, Gerstlauer or Intamin as likely choices.

Our full news article can still be read here.

Shortly following the commencement of the public consultation, the Resort also submitted a request for a formal Environmental Impact Assessment Screening Opinion to the local authority. An applicant is only required to prepare a full EIA where the respective project is likely to have significant effects on the environment. The purpose of this submission was therefore to seek agreement with the Resort’s assessment that an EIA would not be required. Much of the detail included in the submission reflected what had been disclosed as part of the consultation process. However, there was some additional detail in respect of the lake infilling that this would be required for the purposes of construction and part or all of this infill was likely to be retained permanently to house footings for the new rollercoaster – a plan was provided to identify the likely maximum infill required. Zone of Theoretical Visibility modelling of the proposed rollercoaster was also included, along with specific clarification of the structures that would be demolished.

Following the completion of the public consultation, and confirmation that a full Environmental Impact Assessment would not be required for the development, the Resort submitted the full planning application for Project Exodus. The layout remained as per that which was put forward during the consultation phase, although the application documents did state that the rollercoaster would feature two inversions at heights of 43m and 50m, as well as another high point of 48m. Details contained in these documents also confirmed that the rollercoaster would have a maximum speed of 130km/h (80mph), and have c. 143 supports. Although it was stated that the ride would benefit from a bespoke theming concept, there were no specific theming elements shown in the plans. A rollercoaster train was shown on the plans for the station, confirming that it would have 10 rows, each seating two riders and so giving each train a capacity of 20 riders. The visual appearance of the train shown seemingly confirmed that the ride would be manufactured by Mack Rides. The documents stated that construction was anticipated to commence in late 2022 and last an estimated 16 months, putting the ride on track for a 2024 opening.

Our full news article can still be read here.

Although Project Exodus received planning approval in November 2022, this was subject to a number of conditions. Of most interest was that relating to the external materials. This included the roller coaster’s track and supports itself, with Pearl Gold and Papyrus White being chosen. The documents indicated that the track would have a gradient similar to that of Stealth, where the gold colour would continue up to the top of the tree line, before gradually fading to white. Nonetheless, upon vertical construction commencing, it became evident that Thorpe Park had chosen to paint supports either entirely gold or white rather than apply a gradient-finish. The report also detailed that surrounding metal fences would also be coloured in pearl gold, and that the station building would feature a combination of natural timber cladding and mesh covered metal sheeting, including panels in pearl gold. Theming pieces were also depicted on the exterior of the station, ultimately being revealed as Hyperia’s logo upon its announcement. The queue line kiosk, joint photo collection and retail building, and maintenance building were also all shown to adopt a similar colour scheme to that of the station.

Our full news article can still be read here.