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Small News From The Theme Park Industry

Matt N said:
Wasn’t sure if this warranted its own thread or not, but Cedar Point have apparently been teasing a potential 2022 coaster over the last few days or so: https://www.wkyc.com/article/entert...eason/95-47a06181-7a0a-476e-a6f4-17ee8ec816b5

I can’t seem to be able to access the article; if any of the American members are able to access it (I’m assuming the reason is due to GDPR, which is a reason why a lot of American news outlets have stopped letting European readers read their sites), would they be able to see what it says?
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I saw that in a targeted facebook ad today lol. Let me see if I can paste the article here:
SANDUSKY, Ohio — Not only is Cedar Point great at creating record-breaking roller coasters, but they’re also masters at teasing their fans with tiny tidbits about upcoming projects -- and they've done it again.
This time, park officials have unleashed a few surprise teases about a possible new roller coaster coming to Cedar Point for the 2022 season. The hints first surfaced when guests explored the park Saturday for Cedar Point's Winter Chill Out charity event, many of them stumbling upon an unexpected red and white sign with the following message attached to a locked door:
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But that’s not all…
This tease (below) was also found in another spot within the park during the Winter Chill Out event. It shows a rough drawing of a roller coaster track that's located between the Maverick roller coaster and the Cedar Creek Mine Ride with an estimated footer install date of March 1, 2021. You may have also noticed the spot where the coaster is drawn is in the same space currently occupied by the Antique Cars attraction.
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The whiteboard notes also mention T-Rex, which is a specific type of roller coaster, and 526 feet.

So… What does all this mean? Are we getting a new roller coaster in the back of the park next year? Is any of this actually true or is all just playful teases from park officials to stir up speculation? We went to Cedar Point’s Tony Clark to see what we could find – and he left us with yet another tease: “Winter Chill Out is a great time for us to share new information and have a little fun while we’re at it," he told 3News. "Will anything they saw come to fruition? Maybe…maybe not!”
Here's what we do know... Cedar Point loves to tease its fans by playing off rumor and speculation. We have seen this many times with other rides -- including Rougarou, Steel Vengeance and Valravn -- but these types of teases aren't limited to the big roller coasters because park officials also dropped hints about the Forbidden Frontier interactive experience for months before anything was officially announced.

So, a coaster at 526 feet tall? We're guessing that's likely not the case for 2022. It's probably just park officials playing with fans, some who frequently discuss their desire for a Cedar Point coaster that tops 500 feet. Footers potentially installed by March 1? That could be true, but that's something we won't know until guests are permitted to enter the park again on opening day on May 14. Again, it could all just be in good fun -- but it's Cedar Point, so anything is possible.

The teases already have fans talking, too.
"That little sign is the troll of the year," one person wrote on CP Food Blog's Facebook post in which they shared a picture of the 2022 coaster tease.
"That little sign is gonna make so much happiness!!!" another commented.
Let the speculation begin! We will just have to wait and see if any additional teases pop up... Until then, climb aboard for a front-seat ride on Top Thrill Dragster:
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Hopefully I didn't accidentally break any rules here. All images are from Matt's article.
 
Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this; I couldn’t find a specific thread for the attraction in question, so I thought here might be a good place. Feel free to move it to one of the more Thorpe-centric threads if it doesn’t belong here, however.

Anyway, the reason I’ve posted is because I just found a rather... intriguing rumour on Screamscape regarding Black Mirror Labyrinth at Thorpe Park, or more specifically, its long-term future at Thorpe Park.

The rumour that Screamscape has posted is that despite Black Mirror not even having opened yet... the park is already devising a retheme for it, to the video game Among Us:
“Screamscape” said:
2021 - Black Mirror Labyrinth - (2/21/21) While Thorpe Park will be ready to open their new Black Mirror Labyrinth experience in Spring 2021 (with the park currently hoping to open to guests on March 27), there is a rumour going around that the Black Mirror concept could be short lived. Black Mirror was built to replace the park’s The Walking Dead: Living Nightmare walk-thru attraction that was open for three years and was expected to open in 2020 but was delayed due to COVID.
As this may be an example of one temporary attraction replacing another, the latest rumour suggests there may have been talks of a future re-theme that could be tied into the video game, “Among Us”. Since Black Mirror has yet to open to guests, I guess it could come down to how long of a deal Thorpe Park signed to use that IP and if the popularity of the game would remain high long enough to outlive the Black Mirror contract. So consider this a rumor for now of course.
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Here’s Screamscape’s Thorpe page, for a little more context: https://www.screamscape.com/html/thorpe_park.htm

Very, very interesting rumour, and it does certainly raise questions about the long-term future of Black Mirror at the park if true.

I think the rumoured IP choice is quite strong, as even though I’ve never played Among Us, it seems very popular among people my age, so provided it maintains its popularity, it could be pretty successful!

I’ll admit I do think that if true, it’s a very strange decision given that Black Mirror isn’t even open yet, however...
 
Usually Screamscape are pretty sensible with their rumour-posting, but this is one that made me literally laugh out loud.

I will happily go on the record in saying that this will never happen.
1. You just have to look historically at all of Merlin's IP investments. They've all lasted at least 3 years (and usually more). This means that the Black Mirror IP should last till at least the end of 2022 (possibly even 2023 given the delay because of Covid)
2. Among Us' popularity has already peaked. It certainly won't be as popular by the time they manage to convert Black Mirror.
3. One would hope that Merlin have learnt from Angry Birds, one of the most popular mobile phone games ever, that attractions themed to mobile phone games don't have that sort of draw

In saying that, I could see some sort of special event taking place featuring Among Us. Or with some sponsorship from Among Us. Who knows what exactly. 'Character' meet and greets. Exclusive play alongs / maps. Some weird thing like that. Seems like the sort of thing Thorpe would do.

Screamscape source sus.
 
Through idle browsing on Google Maps Street View, I may have discovered a new Irish park! Looks like this traveling big apple has a semi-permanent set up near Galway!

1614631998132.png

Despite the Google Imagery being from 2017, the park has an active website and seems to be planning to re-open after the Irish lockdowns end. it's likely that this park only exists in summer and the rides go travelling in Winter. Have contacted Coaster Count to add this park as I know they have other similar parks listed, not sure if it's something RCDB would add.

Park Website: https://www.currysfunpark.com/
 
Last I heard RE: Black Mirror Labyrinth is that Netflix were having doubts about the project late into its construction and had their reservations about the project. I’d heard that it was the reason why Thorpe Park were being funny about giving maps out.

At one point I’d even heard that they’d looked into the possibility of another theme, so perhaps this could be true? Time scale is questionable, but it’s certainly interesting.
 
Matt N said:
Sorry if this is the wrong thread for this; I couldn’t find a specific thread for the attraction in question, so I thought here might be a good place. Feel free to move it to one of the more Thorpe-centric threads if it doesn’t belong here, however.

Anyway, the reason I’ve posted is because I just found a rather... intriguing rumour on Screamscape regarding Black Mirror Labyrinth at Thorpe Park, or more specifically, its long-term future at Thorpe Park.

The rumour that Screamscape has posted is that despite Black Mirror not even having opened yet... the park is already devising a retheme for it, to the video game Among Us:

Here’s Screamscape’s Thorpe page, for a little more context: https://www.screamscape.com/html/thorpe_park.htm

Very, very interesting rumour, and it does certainly raise questions about the long-term future of Black Mirror at the park if true.

I think the rumoured IP choice is quite strong, as even though I’ve never played Among Us, it seems very popular among people my age, so provided it maintains its popularity, it could be pretty successful!

I’ll admit I do think that if true, it’s a very strange decision given that Black Mirror isn’t even open yet, however...
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After doing a video about this topic myself, I'll stick to my word. This probs won't happen but the creative potential is amazing with that IP
 
Hixee said:
It does sound terribly "Thorpe" though. I mean, who the **** still plays Angry Birds? ;)
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I could just imagine the meeting, which would have been at some point last year:

"Okay, folks, time to build a new attraction. I want it to be contemporary. Something that captures the essence of here and now. Something that resonates with the audiences of 2020. Something that's really popular right at the moment."
"What about cov-"
"Not covid."
"There's this game everybody plays because of the lockdown. It's called, um, Among Us."
"Oh, that sounds lovely and dystopian. And it's popular at the moment?"
"At this very specific point in time it is immensely popular, yes."
"Good! I'll tell management to formulate a request to begin negotiations with the rights holders, then we can probably get everything sorted out in time for the budget meeting for the next three-year development plan. With some luck we can have the attraction open by 2025. This is going to be great!"
 
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