Is The Walking Dead at Thorpe Park on borrowed time?

[MackMan]

So i have been preparing to go Thorpe this Thursday. During checking the queue times for stuff, i noticed The Walking Dead seems to always be a ghost town queue wise. Rarely exceeding 10 minutes ever, even when other rides have queues of 90 minutes. It usually has a smaller wait than any of the flats, water rides, and coasters. And the throughput is bad in itself..

So how sustainable is this ride? Everytime i have visited post 2018 it has been walk-on even on busy Fright Night days. It just seems unpopular with the public, like a one and done. It is not a bad ride in my opinion, but should it be changed back to X or just scrapped? Is there any point in operating it when it has such low ridership.

I believe something should be done. Anyway make sure to leave your thoughts below.

 

[Nitefly]

I found it quite embarrassing when I went on it. Strobe lighting and some motionless mannequins is what you get for £2 a go on your mid-1990s fair ghost train. Supremely underwhelming and half-arsed. Put it this way, I had no intention of making time for it during my recent visit (despite having enough time for many re-rides on other attractions). That’s about as unflattering as you can get.

It doesn’t help that the core ride itself (in all of its forms) is bland and outclassed by other rides at the park. The original vague ‘conspiracy / computer’ theme was probably the best thing about it…. with the rave version offering the best ‘ride experience’ as the original had that dreadful ‘juttering back and forward’ section.

Thinking about it, the best thing thing they could do would be to reinstate the original theme and remove the ‘juttering section’. Or maybe revert to the rave theme for more variety in theming at the park generally.

 

[emoo]

I didn't get to try this latest revision as single riders are no longer allowed. Given the regular low queue times there should be some other reason why but does anyone know what it is?

 

[Pokemaniac]

I'm not sure if reverting to the original theme would help much. It was, after all, rooted in a very outdated public perception of what happened inside a computer. "Cyberspace stuff" might have been a common way to view it in the 1990s, but nowadays it wouldn't resonnate at all. If anything, X needs something new if The Walking Dead fails.

 

[chainedbanana]

I keep thinking an Egyptian theme would be perfect.....I mean it's in a freakin Pyramid for starters!!! They could easily make a compelling 'Poor man's revenge of the mummy' - long excavation corridors leading to mine-train/excavation cart carriages..... then have a laser tunnel on the lift hill - a few mummy animatronics in place of the zombies! smoke, strobes and maybe a fireball effect! And maybe link it back to Chessington & Croc drop through world-building/Easter eggs etc.

But y'know..... this is Merlin!

 

[Matt N]

In the long term, I think it would be nice if Thorpe replaced the actual ride system within the building with either a family dark ride or modern enclosed coaster, personally. I reckon a mid-ground enclosed family coaster, like an Intamin Multidimensional Coaster would work well at Thorpe, or maybe an enclosed spinning coaster, and the building could lend itself to something quite nice, especially if you used some of the other space within it (e.g. where Black Mirror is currently) as well as the space that TWD itself takes up.

In terms of a theme; I like the sound of the Egyptian theme that @chainedbanana said about, and I also think that that idea would work well as a retheme of the existing hardware.

 

[MackMan]

After some thinking i have a long rambling opinion to add.
So having ridden all three variations of the coaster, the best one by far was X in my opinion.
X: No Way Out in its final years suffered a lot of the same problems as TWD, and i guess for some reasons listed above. Like their being bigger, better, and loopier rides in the park which made X No Way Out seem like a glorified family coaster (which it was)..

What made X good was that it embraced its identity, as a family ride. It had a very low height restriction, and it made it a accessible and pivotal family ride for a park that really lacked family friendly rides. This is why it attracted more people and grabbed more attention. I think it also was a crucial 'post lunch' or just something to ride for a laugh. Hence the popularity being a ton more than TWD will ever see outside of its debut year. I also believe that the more 'modern' style than an actual theme was refreshing, the ride was not aiming for world class theming. I feel a lot of the try hard horror themes are really getting boring now, and the more modern and loose 'X' theme was refreshing.

I do not agree with the reasoning behind them changing X, in my opinion i believe it was to bring something new to the park without really spending much. So, bam, slap some Zombies onto our Vekoma family coaster and the public will think we have a big scary new rollercoaster.. But obviously, after 2018, the public saw this ride for what it is.. And its popularity dwindled.

Anyway going forward, i think a retheme or it being SBNO (probably SBNO) is on the cards. I personally think the building probably isn't really big or suitable enough for another coaster, i presume X has a really tight footprint. It would also be tricky to replace it, as Black Mirror is literally uses a piece of the building for itself. A dark ride is completely plausible though, but i wonder if Merlin would invest in another dark ride here after Ghost Train.

I'm not sure if reverting to the original theme would help much. It was, after all, rooted in a very outdated public perception of what happened inside a computer. "Cyberspace stuff" might have been a common way to view it in the 1990s, but nowadays it wouldn't resonnate at all. If anything, X needs something new if The Walking Dead fails.

This is true for X:NWO. But for X, it really did not have a theme. It cut basically all ties to XNWO. It was just a coaster with a bunch of fun lights and blaring music.
I think X modernized X:NWO enough. Even if the theme wasn't even a theme anymore.

When it comes to new themes, i do think something family friendly would be optimal. I feel any successor should ultimately embrace its identity as a vekoma family coaster. It really just isn't a good thrill coaster, XNWO and TWD proved this time and time after.

 

[JoshC.]

It's easy to look back on X (2013-17 version) with some rose tinted specs, but it should be remembered that even that version wasn't that popular.

The ride suffered when Storm Surge was introduced. It has become hidden away and off the beaten track. You could forgive guests for forgetting its existence.

X was a fun experience with it being a 'roller coaster rave'. But the wider audience didn't know what it was or what to expect. And the roller coaster rave idea on a 1m height restriction ride causes confusion - is it a kids-family ride? A ride for everyone? A ride for the thrillseeker? No one really knew.

The Walking Dead overlay solves some of the problems X experienced. Moving the entrance so it was more prominent was smart. It has a clear and defined audience. Those are problems they could have solved whilst keeping it as X, but it at least solved them. The throughput has probably improved since the overlay too, which is good given X struggled. And tbh, I think it's a pretty solid experience on the whole - Thorpe's answer to Van Helsing's Factory if you will.

So what's the problem?
1. The ride has a defined entrance, but is at a dead end path. And the ride is still hidden by Storm Surge. People still struggle to find it.
2. The park is saturated with scary experiences. You have Saw and Swarm offering dark / apocalyptic themes. And of course the likes of Ghost Train and now Black Mirror have bleak stories (although the latter in a very different fashion). Even if this is what the wider audience reacts to, people will become fatigued with this.
2a. Related to this, the ride probably has a reputation of being like a 'year round Fright Nights attraction', in one way or another. Whether people confuse it for the mazes they had, if that's the reputation it's got or if that's what the park have tried to convey, that's probably the reaction it's getting. And simply put, that doesn't work for Thorpe outside of Halloween. Look at any 'proper' scare attraction they've tried doing outside of Halloween season: it's failed miserably.
3. The mis-match of theme and ride. You have a very dark theme and a family ride. Stuff like that can work (I'd argue that again Van Helsing's Factory shows that), but for whatever reason it doesn't work here.

The ride is a weird one in terms of popularity - it either seems to attract a short wait time, or a very long wait time. Why that is is anyone's guess. I wonder how much the current 'even numbered groups only' restriction is affecting the ride's popularity (I'd assume not much, but more just a musing I'm throwing out there). But I don't think it's necessarily an unpopular ride. It's just a ride and overall experience that doesn't quite work for the wider context of the park.


So, the question: is it on borrowed time? I'd say no. It's ticking along fine for what should ultimately be viewed as a filler ride. When the Walking Dead license runs out (and when the park choose to not renew it), they can very easily drop the Walking Dead name and turn it into a generic 'escape the zombies' ride if they wanted. It doesn't solve any of the problems, but it can exist quite easily in that state.

The issue with the attraction is the complexity in scrapping it. Removing the ride, but keeping the building itself, is costly (I've heard upwards of £1m). Removing the actual building as well as the ride would no doubt add to the cost. If you try to put something else in that building, you have a pretty awkward scenario to work with, to the point it would make more sense to scrap the whole thing.
Obviously they could retheme it again, but with Storm Surge in existence, it's hard to see how any retheme would really help draw attention to the ride long term.

A dream world scenario would see the Storm Surge, pyramid and Slammer site flattened, and have that section used for a couple of rides (a log flume and coaster intertwined, for example). Or if they ever removed Colossus, remove the pyramid then and do something similar.
Heck, even just the removal (or relocation) of Storm Surge would play a big part in improving the ride's popularity and worth.

In short, the Walking Dead ride ticks along fine imo. It's popularity suffers due to the location and saturation of horror experiences at the park. Any retheme will likely only be a short term fix. Scrapping it is costly and only really makes sense as part of a huge redevelopment of the surrounding area.

 

[MackMan]

3. The mis-match of theme and ride. You have a very dark theme and a family ride. Stuff like that can work (I'd argue that again Van Helsing's Factory shows that), but for whatever reason it doesn't work here.

I have not ridden Van Helsing's, but i am guessing its not quite as completely OTT and in your face as TWD is. I took a friend once onto the ride, and she had a panic attack in the bloody pre-show. She has ridden X before, but the whole 'RUN! ZOMBIES' thing really alienated her from wanting to ride it. The Swarm has a dark theme for example, but it is not in your face. I think it really can alienate people and families from wanting to ride, which may directly affect the popularity.

It's easy to look back on X (2013-17 version) with some rose tinted specs, but it should be remembered that even that version wasn't that popular.

The ride suffered when Storm Surge was introduced. It has become hidden away and off the beaten track. You could forgive guests for forgetting its existence.

X was a fun experience with it being a 'roller coaster rave'. But the wider audience didn't know what it was or what to expect. And the roller coaster rave idea on a 1m height restriction ride causes confusion - is it a kids-family ride? A ride for everyone? A ride for the thrillseeker? No one really knew.

The Walking Dead overlay solves some of the problems X experienced. Moving the entrance so it was more prominent was smart. It has a clear and defined audience. Those are problems they could have solved whilst keeping it as X, but it at least solved them. The throughput has probably improved since the overlay too, which is good given X struggled. And tbh, I think it's a pretty solid experience on the whole - Thorpe's answer to Van Helsing's Factory if you will..

X i remember having average queues of half a hour, a lot more on busy days. It was by no means as busy as the marquee coasters, but it certainly had its niche in the park, as a great coaster for families to ride, and it was surprisingly re-ridable. I think that is another issue with TWD. Things like the pre-show feel tedious on re-rides, where with X you could just grab a re-ride and badly dance your way out of the absurdly long exit.

I think another key point to add is maybe Van Helsing is completely right for the park that its in. But is The Walking Dead?
Thorpe is a park that oh so desperately needs more family rides. It already has a great variety of thrilling rides, as well as a LOT of horror themed rides for those who liked horror. X may of been a bit of mis-mash, but it left itself open to families, which do not have many options on rides at Thorpe. The Walking Dead has an audience all right, but that audience would much rather be riding the vastly superior horror themed coaster called Saw a short walk away.

I like The Walking Dead, i enjoy it. Though i do feel its position at the park is expendable. If it closed tomorrow, i do not think anyone would shed a tear. It is a lot better than the Ghost Train, but i think it has potential to be a lot more valuable as a family ride.