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Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

Matt N said:
Building upon what I said within my ridiculously long ramble (once again, I'm incredibly sorry about that...) about how I predicted that B&M wouldn't necessarily have pulled off anything any better than what we're getting had they been given the same site and brief to play with, I decided to have a go at building a similarly specced B&M Hyper within a site similar in size to what Mack had to play with for Exodus, to give you guys some idea of what I feel B&M might have come up with within the brief that Exodus seems to have followed. I apologise for the slightly shonky trackwork in places, but it was something I cobbled together quite quickly to show a basic idea of what I feel B&M may have done with the brief; I know the profiling isn't the funkiest or most adventurous, and B&M's actual work would have been far more fun and interesting, this is just to offer you all a basic idea:
To clarify a few things that I can sense may be asked:
  • The bit I left blank was supposed to represent the bit they've left for the plaza within the real proposal; I tried to make this ride fill as much of a similar area to Exodus as possible.
  • I built the ride to a height of 236ft, the exact same as the real proposal. Track length is 3,310ft, top speed is 82mph, and ride duration looks to be 30-40 seconds from lift to brakes, so broadly similar to what Thorpe are proposing.
  • The bit with the water splash rings and trim brakes is supposed to represent a splashdown; sorry if it's a bit clumsy-looking, but PlanCo doesn't do real splashdowns with water brakes, so it's the closest thing I could pull off. In terms of the deceleration rate in this section; I went for 4m/s^2.
  • The ride has 2 trains with 7 rows/28 riders each.
I don't know about you, but as much as I would have loved a B&M Hyper at Thorpe, and I think a big, sprawling out and back would appeal to me a fair bit more than Exodus looks to, this makes me pretty glad they went for the ride they did instead of trying to cram a B&M Hyper into a brief that's not overly suited to one. I could only fit one singular speed hill into this layout (no full-size parabolic hills), and the rest of it mainly consists of drawn-out, high curves (I can sense Thorpe would have wanted a visually impacting ride regardless of whether it had high inversions or not, so I purposely didn't go for low elements like B&M may have done if left to their own devices) in a similar vein to Thunder Dolphin if it didn't have the building. While I wouldn't say something like this would have been a poor ride by any means, I suspect that had Thorpe come out with something like this, people would have been somewhat disappointed, and it would have made people gaze longingly at foreign B&M Hypers thinking about what could have been; it looks to have less airtime than many UK coasters. In that regard, it makes me all the more chuffed that Merlin and Mack pulled off what they have within the plot, because as I said, I think we have the best possible outcome we could have gotten from a hyper built within the project's constraints, personally.

As requested, TL;DR: I had a go at building a B&M Hyper within the brief that Exodus had, and it had very little airtime, instead looking more like Thunder Dolphin sans the building. This makes me very happy that Thorpe went for the ride they did instead of trying to cram a B&M Hyper into a brief not overly suited to one.
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This was exactly what I feared from the first rumblings of B&M hyper… They’re just not adventurous enough to utilise that space well. What they do well is out and back, with sustained floater airtime.

Every potential layout people suggested either took up areas we didn’t know for sure they could build (in fact Josh has confirmed they avoid the water) or would require demolition of areas, structures and rides we weren’t sure they’re ready to get rid of yet. What we did know was they had this loggers plot and old town… Which simply wasn’t big enough to do a B&M justice.

I’m glad you understand better now, where I was coming from the last few weeks. :)
 
Nicky Borrill said:
This was exactly what I feared from the first rumblings of B&M hyper… They’re just not adventurous enough to utilise that space well. What they do well is out and back, with sustained floater airtime.

Every potential layout people suggested either took up areas we didn’t know for sure they could build (in fact Josh has confirmed they avoid the water) or would require demolition of areas, structures and rides we weren’t sure they’re ready to get rid of yet. What we did know was they had this loggers plot and old town… Which simply wasn’t big enough to do a B&M justice.

I’m glad you understand better now, where I was coming from the last few weeks. :)
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I think for me, it dawned upon me when I saw not only the area they’re using for this project, but also the length of ride that they’ve designed (which leads me to assume that Merlin wouldn’t have the budget to build a properly long hyper), as well as the type of ride they’ve designed (lots of cramped together high points built for sheer visual impact) that although it might not be the ride I was expecting or hoping for, Exodus is a far stronger fit for the project within the wider context than a B&M Hyper built within the same criteria would have been.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have still have had a big sprawling B&M Hyper packed with airtime hills any day of the week had I had the choice of anything anywhere, and I’m sure this style of ride would have been good in Old Town, but having seen what Thorpe are going for with Exodus, I don’t think that kind of brief (tall, compact, short in length, lots of tightly packed together high points) would have played to the strengths of a B&M Hyper at all. I reckon B&M could have made it work had they merely had “tall” and the given site (I could have seen a twisty B&M hyper with some lower elements working within that land had they had lots of track length to play with), or if they had been instructed to build a smaller hyper, but taking into account all of the constraints a ride for this site seemingly had to work with as well as the requirements it had to fill, I think Exodus was a far stronger choice than a B&M Hyper Coaster would have been. A B&M Hyper that was tall, compact, short in track length and filled with striking high points certainly wouldn’t have been like the B&M Hypers we know and love.

I’ll make no secret (and never did) of the fact that I don’t think Old Town was an ideal site for the Thorpe hyper in the vein that many were initially hoping for, so with that in mind as well as the other constraints and requirements, I think Mack and Merlin have produced what is just about the best possible outcome we could have hoped for here!
 
Matt N said:
I think for me, it dawned upon me when I saw not only the area they’re using for this project, but also the length of ride that they’ve designed (which leads me to assume that Merlin wouldn’t have the budget to build a properly long hyper), as well as the type of ride they’ve designed (lots of cramped together high points built for sheer visual impact) that although it might not be the ride I was expecting or hoping for, Exodus is a far stronger fit for the project within the wider context than a B&M Hyper built within the same criteria would have been.

Don’t get me wrong, I would have still have had a big sprawling B&M Hyper packed with airtime hills any day of the week had I had the choice of anything anywhere, and I’m sure this style of ride would have been good in Old Town, but having seen what Thorpe are going for with Exodus, I don’t think that kind of brief (tall, compact, short in length, lots of tightly packed together high points) would have played to the strengths of a B&M Hyper at all. I reckon B&M could have made it work had they merely had “tall” and the given site (I could have seen a twisty B&M hyper with some lower elements working within that land had they had lots of track length to play with), or if they had been instructed to build a smaller hyper, but taking into account all of the constraints a ride for this site seemingly had to work with as well as the requirements it had to fill, I think Exodus was a far stronger choice than a B&M Hyper Coaster would have been. A B&M Hyper that was tall, compact, short in track length and filled with striking high points certainly wouldn’t have been like the B&M Hypers we know and love.

I’ll make no secret (and never did) of the fact that I don’t think Old Town was an ideal site for the Thorpe hyper in the vein that many were initially hoping for, so with that in mind as well as the other constraints and requirements, I think Mack and Merlin have produced what is just about the best possible outcome we could have hoped for here!
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The sad thing is, we probably won't see an out and back hyper at Thorpe now, as it wouldn't really make sense building a coaster just for height.

The next logical option (in 12 years or so 🙈) is probably a Woodie, RMC, Flyer or spinner...

Just imagine the kind of Hyper that could have been built here... 2 straight 300M long lengths to work with!!!

Thorpe.jpg

(note: This is assuming, as always, that they 'can' build on these areas. I have no reason to believe they can, and no reason to believe they cannot. Frankly I have no idea.)

I'm not disappointed though. Based of what we 'think' we know so far, I'd take Exodus over a B&M anyway... There are 2 B&M out and backs, and countless other manufacturer's variants of an out and back airtime coaster that I can drive to with ease... This is something truly unique! And I cannot wait!
 
In all seriousness though;
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Exoballs
 
Right now that I have let all this information process and marinate in my brain, I’m actually looking quite forward to this. I certainly was on the B&M hype train (insert obvious pun here) but after seeing this I’m impressed with such a unique layout for the space and the constraints they probably have. Yes like everyone else has said a huge out and back would’ve been amazing and no one is stopping them from doing one behind The Swarm but in all honesty I doubt they would now if they have Exodus.

In terms of length, yes it’s not the longest and could probably do with an extra element just to add to the end of the ride as I do feel like it was cut short BUT saying that, all of Thorpe’s coasters are fairly short and something in me thinks it would be odd to have this one insanely long coaster in park compared to the rest. It matches in with Thorpe’s portfolio of existing attractions, it brings elements into the park we don’t have as the other coasters tend to use traditional elements & its a statement on the skyline. I would love to cover so much more but I just cba to write a lengthy post & this is very much first impressions. Opinions can change and time will tell but this is exciting times for the park.
 
I do think the plans have grown on me a lot more since seeing everyone recreate the layout, sure it would have been nice to have had a slightly increased length.

I took a walk down by Monks Walk with a friend yesterday, nothing has really changed of any note since Fright Nights ended with regards to the area of Platform and Loggers which can be seen from the footpath.
 
I love that Amusement Insider recreation. Definitely the best I've seen so far.

Just throwing an idea out here. Have Mack ever said that they could have full length trains similar to Big Dipper cars? So a sort of winged-like seating configuration a la Skyrush.
Maybe not necessarily the most necessary idea what with having Swarm, and given the compact nature of the ride, maybe not practical.

However, the outer bank turn, twisted drop and general wacky nature do given me some Lost Gravity vibes.

I don't think it's likely to be fair. But equally, I wouldn't say if we can rule it out just yet?
 
This might sound like a strange hypothesis, but I actually think this might be like Thorpe Park’s Nemesis in a sense (ironic given they actually have a “Nemesis”, but that’s besides the point).

Now I’m aware that that’s probably raising all of your eyebrows, and I can fully understand why, but hear me out here. I know that Exodus will neither be an inverted roller coaster nor built into a subterranean pit, but I actually think it shares a number of similarities with Nemesis, broadly speaking:
  • Both rides look to take quite a relentless “bam, bam, bam” approach to their layouts, with many great hits packed within a short layout.
  • Both rides worked within a fair amount of constraints relative to other rides of their type; while I know Exodus doesn’t have anything like the planning constraints working against it that Alton Towers did with Nemesis, the site is really rather small for a 236ft hyper coaster, especially one with many high points like Exodus has.
  • Both rides are quite short; I’ll admit it’s always baffled me that people never complain about Nemesis’ length in the way that they complain about Swarm’s, Wicker Man’s and now Exodus’. It’s only 40 seconds long from lift hill to brakes, so barely any longer (if any longer at all) than Swarm and actually shorter than Wicker Man.
  • Both rides have very unique, creative layouts compared to others of their type.
  • Both rides seem to be destined to be/were flagship attractions for their respective parks.
 
Intamin Forever said:
To second that, i had a sneaky suspicion that they would have Xtreme Spinning Coaster trains on it, which would explain the outer bank turn to the lift, the odd outward banking and wierd stalled inversions.
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That's a really interesting idea; I would love a Mack Xtreme Spinning Coaster. It would make the coaster a lot less re-rideable though; you'd have to sit down for 10 minutes between rides for a fighting chance of keeping you curley fries down.
 
I'll be honest I don't really get the spinner rumours, the layout definitely doesn't look like it was designed to include spinning at all: no sharp twists, nothing really there to keep the spin going, and it's short enough to probably only rotate 360 a few times at best. That's a lot of straight track for a spinning coaster. If we compare this to the existing spinning coasters, the spinners have a lot more sharp turns and really do their best to keep the spin up as much as possible as well. I know doing all the elements sideways sounds like a blast but I just can't see them doing it. Something like Icon looks like it's perfect extreme spinner material because it's relentless with its turns - Exodus not so much. For me Exodus almost looks like it would be better as a non-extreme spinner; it just "looks like" a forward-facing coaster. I have RtH as my #1 wish list coaster so I have nothing against this model, just I'm not convinced it'll work for Exodus.

With that being said, put extreme spinner trains on Copperhead Strike instead. That's a layout that's perfect for those.
 
RobCoasters said:
I'll be honest I don't really get the spinner rumours, the layout definitely doesn't look like it was designed to include spinning at all: no sharp twists, nothing really there to keep the spin going, and it's short enough to probably only rotate 360 a few times at best. That's a lot of straight track for a spinning coaster. If we compare this to the existing spinning coasters, the spinners have a lot more sharp turns and really do their best to keep the spin up as much as possible as well. I know doing all the elements sideways sounds like a blast but I just can't see them doing it. Something like Icon looks like it's perfect extreme spinner material because it's relentless with its turns - Exodus not so much. For me Exodus almost looks like it would be better as a non-extreme spinner; it just "looks like" a forward-facing coaster. I have RtH as my #1 wish list coaster so I have nothing against this model, just I'm not convinced it'll work for Exodus.

With that being said, put extreme spinner trains on Copperhead Strike instead. That's a layout that's perfect for those.
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Ride to happiness doesn't look like a standard spinner layout yet manages to be one of the best rides in the world
 
@RobCoasters - I don’t think there has been any rumours of spinning trains?
There has been a few people, including myself - who have said if this to be a Mack coaster, then you can’t rule out this being an extreme spinner.

Of course people have made some very good educated guess at the manufacture based on the information Thorpe has released so far; and at this stage, we can’t rule out any manufacture and train / car configuration.

Time will tell…..
 
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