Hyperia (roller coaster) — BrandWiki

Hyperia (roller coaster)

Overview

Hyperia

location	Thorpe Park
section	Fearless Valley
coordinates	51.40166°N, -0.51227°W
type	Steel
status	Operating
opened	May 24, 2024
year	2024
manufacturer	Mack Rides
model	Hyper Coaster
lift	Chain lift hill
height m	71.93
length m	995.4
speed mph	81
inversions	2
duration	1:30
capacity	1000/hour
cost	£17.67 million‡R1R‡
previousattraction	Loggers Leap Rocky Express
restraint	Lap bar
restriction cm	130
trains	2
carspertrain	5
rowspercar	2
ridersperrow	2
virtual queue name	Fastrack (basic, platinum, gold)
virtual queue image	Merlin Entertainment Fastrack availability.svg
virtual queue status	available (Limited)
single rider	available
accessible	available
website	Official site
rcdb number	20652

Hyperia is a steel roller coaster located at Thorpe Park in Chertsey, Surrey, England. Manufactured by Mack Rides, the hypercoaster opened as the tallest and fastest roller coaster in the United Kingdom on 24 May 2024, with a height of 236 ft and a maximum speed that reaches 81 mph. It also features two inversions and was built on the site formerly occupied by Loggers Leap and Rocky Express. Hyperia suffered a series of setbacks during its inaugural few months, including an unexpected closure the day after its grand opening that lasted two weeks.

History

Loggers Leap opened in 1989 in the southern corner of the park, where it became the tallest log flume in the UK at the time of its debut. The ride operated through to 2015, but failed to open the following year and was addressed by park representatives as being "under redevelopment".[2] In February 2019, Thorpe Park confirmed that the attraction had been permanently closed, stating that "the area [which] Logger's Leap once dominated will be forming part of our long term development plans".[3] The rest of Old Town closed permanently in October 2021, which included the retirement of the park's Rocky Express and Timber Tug Boat. Lumber Jump was rethemed as High Striker and relocated to the Amity area of the park for the 2022 season.

Planning and construction

On 14 March 2022, Thorpe Park submitted an extensive planning application to Runnymede Borough Council detailing the proposed redevelopments of Old Town and Project Exodus' construction.[1][9] Project Exodus was to be situated on the site of the former Loggers Leap and Rocky Express attractions.[10] While the council eventually supported the park's development, sustained flood risk concerns from the Environment Agency prompted a project referral to the Secretary of State, who made no objections to the project.[11]

The council officially granted permission for Project Exodus on 2 November 2022, although the application's case officer would later criticise the Environment Agency's communication during the planning process, stating that: "A rollercoaster which was partly in the functional flood plain was never going to be straight forward planning application but it should not have been as difficult as it was. We had a positive working relationship with both the planning agents, Lichfields UK, and the applicant, Thorpe Park. The difficulty was the lack of ability to engage effectively with the Environment Agency. I'm sure the level of service they are providing or lack thereof, is not how they want to deal with matters".[12][13]

Throughout its construction phase, Thorpe Park made substantial efforts to keep the public engaged on the coaster's progress. In February 2023, Mack Rides was officially confirmed as the manufacturer.[14][15] Further details were submitted to the council in May 2023, depicting a pearl gold and papyrus white colour scheme – the structure's upper sections would be painted white in order to reduce its visual impact outside of the park.[16] The coaster's trains were subsequently unveiled to the public on 12 April.[17]

Construction timeline

2 November; Project Exodus approved by Runnymede Borough Council.[12]
December; Demolition begins on Logger's Leap and the Old Town area.[18]

9 January; Ride foundation cages delivered to the park.[19]
April; Construction crews mark out locations for the structure's foundations.[20]
July; Track production begins at Mack Rides' factory in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[21]

Construction timeline

2 November; Project Exodus approved by Runnymede Borough Council.[12]
December; Demolition begins on Logger's Leap and the Old Town area.[18]

9 January; Ride foundation cages delivered to the park.[19]
April; Construction crews mark out locations for the structure's foundations.[20]
July; Track production begins at Mack Rides' factory in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.[21]

Marketing

On 9 February 2023, Thorpe Park launched Club 236, a passholder competition to visit the park with the chance of being among the coaster's first public riders in 2024.[30] In August 2023, it was announced that Project Exodus would not only be the UK's tallest coaster, but also the fastest.[31]

During the development phase, Merlin Entertainments – through the alias Vista Maxima Services Ltd – initially filed a trademark for ICARUS in March 2023. However, HYPERIA was submitted later on in August, and would go on to become the final name of the ride.[32] Hyperia was formally announced on 5 October 2023 and was accompanied by a promotional video that not only introduced the coaster's name but also presented its slogan, "Find your fearless". The video further provided a point-of-view (POV) glimpse into the ride experience.[33][34]

Opening

Hyperia officially opened to the public as scheduled on 24 May 2024. However, it closed unexpectedly the following day on 25 May, with the resort stating the closure was "due to unforeseen circumstances" and expected to last until at least 29 May.[36] On 28 May 2024, the expected closure was extended until 8 June.[37] Thorpe Park delayed the reopening indefinitely on 6 June 2024, only stating that Hyperia would not reopen on 8 June,[38] but the reopening date was eventually set as 12 June. A spokesperson for the park said the closure was related to "standard technical pre-opening procedure checks" but did not elaborate further.[39]

After several days of operation following the reopening, an incident occurred on 15 June 2024, stranding riders on the lift hill.[40] Guests were safely evacuated and Hyperia reopened the following day. The ride was closed again indefinitely on 19 June 2024, with Thorpe Park stating the closure was due to "unforeseen circumstances".