Are you a theme park lover? The next few years are set to be very exciting ones for UK theme parks as we see millions invested into making the current favourites, such as Thorpe park and Alton towers, even more incredible, along with a high-profile theme park company possibly adding a brand-new location on British shores.
Firstly, Thorpe park’s brand new rollercoaster Hyperia is set to open in just a few short months. It will break the UK records for height and speed, towering a sheer 71.9 metres (236 feet) above the Thorpe Park skyline - dethroning The Big One at Blackpool pleasure beach which held the record of 65 metres (213 feet) for almost 3 decades. It will also reach speeds of 81 mph, beating its neighbour Stealth by a slight margin. However, this is an extremely impressive feat considering Hyperia will achieve this speed purely by dropping from its incredible height, rather than utilising a launch- an element on modern rollercoasters which accelerates the train to very high speeds, very quickly, using high powered magnets.
With the open date set for Spring this year, many fans are anxiously waiting for the chance to ride this monumental coaster. Along with this, many are sceptical that it will open in the time advertised- with the construction of something so massive it's likely that problems will arise before the opening date. However, there is a path that runs close to the theme park which Hyperia can be seen from while the park is closed for the winter. Walking here, people can see that this coaster is being built at an extremely fast pace, and it's looking promising that the public will be able to rush to Thorpe Park this spring to experience what could be one of the best rollercoasters in Europe.
3 hours away in Stoke-On-Trent, other top UK theme park Alton Towers has the prospect of an exciting 2025. Merlin Entertainments have gained planning permission to build a new indoor rollercoaster- codenamed “Project Horizon”, which could be opening as early as Spring 2025. There is currently very little public information about this coaster, but we do know that it will be an indoor rollercoaster taking up the empty space near the Alton Towers Dungeon. As per usual, Alton Towers are limited in what they can build at their park due to height limitations on all of their rides and attractions- they cannot build above the tree line.
The most exciting recent theme park news is that Universal Studios have confirmed to have bought out a huge plot of land in Bedford- and have stated that they are in the early stages of planning whether they can build a theme park there. Despite the fact that this will take many years to be fully fleshed out and built, the idea of a company such as Universal setting up camp in the UK brings a level of excitement for UK theme park lovers which hasn't been seen in a long time.
Young Reporter
Young reporter: The future of UK theme parks (Sophie Gilbert, Wildern)
The UK's current fastest rollercoaster Stealth, which is soon to be overtaken by Thorpe Park's exciting new project (Image: Suntooth, Unsplash)
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