Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024
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- 2024 new coaster thorpe park
Popped back to Thorpe yesterday to see if I would still like Hyperia as much as I did on opening day, and I'm pleased to say I do.
We lucked out and managed to get both back row and front row rides consecutively. I'm normally a back row person, but I think the front row is where it's at.
That's now both times I've ridden Hyperia it hasn't opened the day after though... starting to think it's my fault.
We lucked out and managed to get both back row and front row rides consecutively. I'm normally a back row person, but I think the front row is where it's at.
That's now both times I've ridden Hyperia it hasn't opened the day after though... starting to think it's my fault.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
Please forewarn the forums of your next visit so we can be suitably prepared.That's now both times I've ridden Hyperia it hasn't opened the day after though... starting to think it's my fault.
Project_300
Roller Poster
Hyperia 4th time on it and it's sadly becoming a 1 and done each trip. So rough and headache inducing. Such a shame.
I posted my review of Hyperia a few pages back, noting how, for a hypercoaster, it felt a short and 'incomplete experience'. I’ve subsequently wondered whether that’s just my reaction to it, or whether it factually is an outlier in terms of roller coaster design! Not that any of this matters 
, but I found the results quite interesting and worth sharing! :-
I've considered every currently-operating coaster listed on RCDB that’s 200ft tall or higher, which is a ‘traditional’ gravity hypercoaster (ie. gets pulled up a big (chain lift) hill then released - basically I excluded Launch coasters!). I also discounted B&M Dive coasters, as the design of those is generally very specific as a Dive Machine, and certainly different compared with normal hyper coasters. That leaves 44 'traditional’ hyper coasters.
Of those, Hyperia is the shortest in terms of track length.
Perhaps not a fair measure? - there are of course some 300+ft coasters amongst those 44, and those will obviously have a much longer track length than Hyperia. So I looked at the ratio of ‘length vs height’ - ie. how long one of these hypercoasters is in relation to its height. The average ‘length vs. height’ ratio for these 44 coasters is 21.8 - ie. the average hypercoaster will have a length that’s 21.8 times its height.
Looking at this ratio, Hyperia is second bottom (only to the city-based coaster, Thunder Dolphin), with a ratio of 13.8 - its length is 13.8 times its height.
This is well under the 21.8 average - if it conformed to that, for its 236ft height, you’d ‘expect’ its track length to be 5145ft. Hyperia is only 3266ft long. So it’d need nearly another ~1900ft of track to be of average ‘expected’ length.
1900ft is 55-60% of its current 3266ft track length, and given a lot of that existing track is lift hill, brakes and station, then, yep, adding 1900ft would probably get you double the ride time between the top of the lift hill and hitting the brakes.
So, TLDR, for those saying they feel like Hyperia is missing the second half of its layout, well, based on the average, ‘normal’ lift-hill based hyper coaster design, you’d be bang on! Hyperia is an outlier. Of course, its elements are quite unique for a hypercoaster - so you win some, lose some! Perhaps it’s better to think of Hyperia not as a traditional hyper coaster, but instead a cross between a hypercoaster and Dive Coaster, with some RMC-esque elements!
, but I found the results quite interesting and worth sharing! :-I've considered every currently-operating coaster listed on RCDB that’s 200ft tall or higher, which is a ‘traditional’ gravity hypercoaster (ie. gets pulled up a big (chain lift) hill then released - basically I excluded Launch coasters!). I also discounted B&M Dive coasters, as the design of those is generally very specific as a Dive Machine, and certainly different compared with normal hyper coasters. That leaves 44 'traditional’ hyper coasters.
Of those, Hyperia is the shortest in terms of track length.
Perhaps not a fair measure? - there are of course some 300+ft coasters amongst those 44, and those will obviously have a much longer track length than Hyperia. So I looked at the ratio of ‘length vs height’ - ie. how long one of these hypercoasters is in relation to its height. The average ‘length vs. height’ ratio for these 44 coasters is 21.8 - ie. the average hypercoaster will have a length that’s 21.8 times its height.
Looking at this ratio, Hyperia is second bottom (only to the city-based coaster, Thunder Dolphin), with a ratio of 13.8 - its length is 13.8 times its height.
This is well under the 21.8 average - if it conformed to that, for its 236ft height, you’d ‘expect’ its track length to be 5145ft. Hyperia is only 3266ft long. So it’d need nearly another ~1900ft of track to be of average ‘expected’ length.
1900ft is 55-60% of its current 3266ft track length, and given a lot of that existing track is lift hill, brakes and station, then, yep, adding 1900ft would probably get you double the ride time between the top of the lift hill and hitting the brakes.
So, TLDR, for those saying they feel like Hyperia is missing the second half of its layout, well, based on the average, ‘normal’ lift-hill based hyper coaster design, you’d be bang on! Hyperia is an outlier. Of course, its elements are quite unique for a hypercoaster - so you win some, lose some! Perhaps it’s better to think of Hyperia not as a traditional hyper coaster, but instead a cross between a hypercoaster and Dive Coaster, with some RMC-esque elements!
roomraider
Best Topic Starter
Not to steal your thunder butI posted my review of Hyperia a few pages back, noting how, for a hypercoaster, it felt a short and 'incomplete experience'. I’ve subsequently wondered whether that’s just my reaction to it, or whether it factually is an outlier in terms of roller coaster design! Not that any of this matters
I've considered every currently-operating coaster listed on RCDB that’s 200ft tall or higher, which is a ‘traditional’ gravity hypercoaster (ie. gets pulled up a big (chain lift) hill then released - basically I excluded Launch coasters!). I also discounted B&M Dive coasters, as the design of those is generally very specific as a Dive Machine, and certainly different compared with normal hyper coasters. That leaves 44 'traditional’ hyper coasters.
Of those, Hyperia is the shortest in terms of track length.
Perhaps not a fair measure? - there are of course some 300+ft coasters amongst those 44, and those will obviously have a much longer track length than Hyperia. So I looked at the ratio of ‘length vs height’ - ie. how long one of these hypercoasters is in relation to its height. The average ‘length vs. height’ ratio for these 44 coasters is 21.8 - ie. the average hypercoaster will have a length that’s 21.8 times its height.
Looking at this ratio, Hyperia is second bottom (only to the city-based coaster, Thunder Dolphin), with a ratio of 13.8 - its length is 13.8 times its height.
This is well under the 21.8 average - if it conformed to that, for its 236ft height, you’d ‘expect’ its track length to be 5145ft. Hyperia is only 3266ft long. So it’d need nearly another ~1900ft of track to be of average ‘expected’ length.
1900ft is 55-60% of its current 3266ft track length, and given a lot of that existing track is lift hill, brakes and station, then, yep, adding 1900ft would probably get you double the ride time between the top of the lift hill and hitting the brakes.
So, TLDR, for those saying they feel like Hyperia is missing the second half of its layout, well, based on the average, ‘normal’ lift-hill based hyper coaster design, you’d be bang on! Hyperia is an outlier. Of course, its elements are quite unique for a hypercoaster - so you win some, lose some! Perhaps it’s better to think of Hyperia not as a traditional hyper coaster, but instead a cross between a hypercoaster and Dive Coaster, with some RMC-esque elements!
Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024
So for Merlin I guess it’s a big coaster, from this Recreation it comes in as their 5th biggest coaster they have, here is their top 10 ( I think ) 4409ft Colossus-heide 3838ft Smiler 3264ft Mammut 3248ft Bobbahn 3133ft Exodus 2788ft Colossus-TP 2755ft Galactica 2608ft Wicker man 2543ft Swarm...
Mine was done pre announcement though so it's a little different. Nice to see the conclusion confirmed though.
I did include the dive machines and it still finishes behind them.
^ Yeh that’s a great analysis - guess we had the same thought, and came to the same conclusion!
Really wish its brevity didn’t annoy me as much as it does! I feel it’s on the cusp of being one of the best rides in the world had it just been of ‘standard’ length and had that little more track to complete the experience (rather than the splashdown brakes forcibly bringing things to an early, jarring close!).
- guess we had the same thought, and came to the same conclusion!Really wish its brevity didn’t annoy me as much as it does! I feel it’s on the cusp of being one of the best rides in the world had it just been of ‘standard’ length and had that little more track to complete the experience (rather than the splashdown brakes forcibly bringing things to an early, jarring close!).
chrisgeorgiou46
Roller Poster
I'm the same. That's what makes it so frustrating for me. It could be one of the best rides in the world but I guess the shareholders didn't want to give up any more money to make it standard length.^ Yeh that’s a great analysis
Really wish its brevity didn’t annoy me as much as it does! I feel it’s on the cusp of being one of the best rides in the world had it just been of ‘standard’ length and had that little more track to complete the experience (rather than the splashdown brakes forcibly bringing things to an early, jarring close!).
It feels like I've been sold a packet of crisps with about 4 in the bag. I should be happy, I asked for a packet of crisps and that's what I got. They taste good but there's only four... I guess the cost of everything going up counts for coasters too.
I'm on a diet so thinking about crisps a lot these days
Coasterfreck
Hyper Poster
It’s interesting comparing Hyperia to the other Merlin coasters, it’s the 3rd longest coaster in one of their parks, and it is the second longest coaster that they’ve built since they’ve taken over the Tussauds group in 2007 behind The Smiler.
All data sourced through RCDB, it’s the 6th longest in the UK.
After 26 rides on Hyperia, it is an all round package of a layout, each element hits hard. If it had been longer I feel like it would have ran a risk of having some dull moments at the ending reducing the overall impact of the experience.
All data sourced through RCDB, it’s the 6th longest in the UK.
After 26 rides on Hyperia, it is an all round package of a layout, each element hits hard. If it had been longer I feel like it would have ran a risk of having some dull moments at the ending reducing the overall impact of the experience.
bob_3_
Giga Poster
Yeah it's interesting, MACK have been accused of having segments of their rides that kind of meander and eat up the speed, creating some weird pacing. Perfect examples of this are DC Rivals and Icon. Hyperia is a great move into distilling the layout into a no-filler/all killer style, I would place Beyond The Clouds in the same category. I still think though that one more element and removal of the trim would've cemented Hyperia as a flawless layout, but in a similar vein to Oblivion, what it does is so good that it easily slots in my top 10.
Ethan
Strata Poster
The big trim brake tells me it doesn't know how to use it...
Niles
Giga Poster
Just saw Merlin put out this part one video, this one a Q&A on Hyperia.
Some bits of interest were.
- At one point they were looking at rides over 500ft.
- When asked "Will Hyperia get a backwards seat" he says jokingly that it would not be comfortable.
- And finally with the question "will Merlin ever top Hyperia" he teases swarm island at 0:56, he does like to mess with the community to be fair though.
Some bits of interest were.
- At one point they were looking at rides over 500ft.
- When asked "Will Hyperia get a backwards seat" he says jokingly that it would not be comfortable.
- And finally with the question "will Merlin ever top Hyperia" he teases swarm island at 0:56, he does like to mess with the community to be fair though.
A 500ft coaster is obviously well beyond Merlin’s budget - maybe they were considering building the world’s tallest drop tower.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
I'd imagine 500ft was sort of thrown around in a brainstorming sort of phase. Like
"What if we wanted to build the WORLD'S tallest roller coaster?"
"Well, the tallest at the moment is 456ft. So we'd have to beat that...what if we went up to 500ft?"
"Saudi Arabia are looking at building the tallest/fastest/longer coaster and that's going to be above 500ft"
"Hmmm yeah, this sounds a bit much"
Realistically I doubt they ever considered anything anywhere close to 500ft, but it's a cool number to throw around for the wider audience. Also, in terms of practicalities, it's just not.
I'd love to know what their early brainstorms were like though. I wouldn't be surprised if they did genuinely table ideas of "Tallest non-launched coaster in the world" (ie beating Fury 325) or "Europe's tallest hyper coaster" (ie: what Hyperion was marketed as at opening). The latter isn't too crazy to consider either: Hyperion is only 17ft taller.
Presumably, budget, space, engineering considerations, impact to the local area (noise) and more would be what stopped that happening.
"What if we wanted to build the WORLD'S tallest roller coaster?"
"Well, the tallest at the moment is 456ft. So we'd have to beat that...what if we went up to 500ft?"
"Saudi Arabia are looking at building the tallest/fastest/longer coaster and that's going to be above 500ft"
"Hmmm yeah, this sounds a bit much"
Realistically I doubt they ever considered anything anywhere close to 500ft, but it's a cool number to throw around for the wider audience. Also, in terms of practicalities, it's just not.
I'd love to know what their early brainstorms were like though. I wouldn't be surprised if they did genuinely table ideas of "Tallest non-launched coaster in the world" (ie beating Fury 325) or "Europe's tallest hyper coaster" (ie: what Hyperion was marketed as at opening). The latter isn't too crazy to consider either: Hyperion is only 17ft taller.
Presumably, budget, space, engineering considerations, impact to the local area (noise) and more would be what stopped that happening.