Is 2024 The WORST Year For NEW UK Coasters To Date?
Is 2024 the WORST year for NEW UK roller coasters so far? Let’s face it, whether you want to admit it or not as a roller coaster (or theme park) fan you’ll have more than likely contemplated this question yourself at least once over the past 7 months.
Opening and keeping open new roller coasters here in the UK since the beginning of the 2024 season has been far from easy, that much is clear.
With Nemesis Reborn constantly opening & closing due to technical problems, The Wave closing constantly due to ‘technical issues’ shortly after it’s opening and Hyperia opening for one day before closing for weeks due to a problem with the lift hill, 2024 has (so far) been possibly one of the most turbulent years for new UK rides in recent years.
The amount of hype built around this year also reached fever pitch earlier this year too when Thorpe Park finally topped off the UK’s NEW tallest and fastest roller coaster Hyperia, but have the ride’s respective parks been too hasty to open their newest attractions to the public?
Whilst teething problems are a perfectly normal (and quite frankly, an expected thing for new rides and roller coasters) the problems faced by many of this year’s newest rides (or re-imagined rides) seem to have been a little more than just that don’t they?
Now, of course, we know what you’re more than likely thinking – Could all the problems faced by these rides have been avoided? Well, in short, no!
2024 has not only seen our UK industry evolve & change, but it’s also seen many of the ride’s respective manufacturers change and innovate too.
In truth, Hyperia is the perfect example of this. Thorpe Park’s new record breaking ride not only breaks the record for the tallest and fastest roller coasters here in the UK, but in truth, it’s also the tallest of it’s kind manufactured by MACK Rides anywhere worldwide too.
Nemesis Reborn, as much as it may appear ‘just a retrack’ on the surface is far from accurate too! Not only has most of the ride been re-tracked, however Nemesis has also had brand new sensors, operating systems and trains too (don’t even get us started on all of the new special effects and lighting etc.).
Okay, so we’ve talked about Hyperia, we’ve covered Nemesis Reborn, but we know what you’re thinking – where are The Wave and Minifigure Speedway in all of this?
Well, given the fact Drayton Manor Resort chose to go with a lesser known manufacturer for their new trains, and given the fact they were specifically designed for a ride that was originally designed to be stand up (oh, and was also manufactured by a totally different manufacturer too) there was bound to be teething problems.
ART Engineering aren’t too well known here in the UK, but the quality of this German ride manufacturer’s product means that many other parks around the world also feature their rides and ride trains too.
The Wave’s trains do however seem to have faced problem after problem. The reasons for this do (as far as we can tell) remain unclear, but as ever there are plenty of rumours doing the rounds (none substantiated by the park themselves).
The Wave (formerly known as Shockwave) was also initially manufactured by Intamin (the ride manufacturer of Gold Rush) and installing new trains by a totally different manufacturer was bound to cause issues too.
Now then, let’s talk Minifigure Speedway! In truth, as much as this is a totally new ride we haven’t heard huge amounts regarding the ride having major downtime. This doesn’t mean it hasn’t, it just means we’ve not heard about it.
Regardless, each of this year’s FOUR rides mentioned above have each faced their own individual set of challenges, but that doesn’t mean they’re unreliable or weren’t ‘ready to open’.
In reality, opening and operating a new roller coaster or ride is very much like passing your driving test – you only really start to learn more about it once you have actually started to do it on your own.
As much as a manufacturer could calculate and plan for every eventuality, there are always going to be unforeseen problems they can’t allow for.
Right, so, going back to our original question – has 2024 been the worst year for new UK roller coasters so far? NO!!
2024 has actually been the most ambitious and innovative year for the UK theme park industry so far and with each new ride being something totally different for it’s respective park, it was clear that we could expect a lot of what we’ve seen so far.
When a new ride is introduced to a park a whole host of different departments and divisions within it face a very steep upward learning curve. They have to ‘get to know’ the ride and learn how it all works.
As a result, for the first 6 to 12 months you can expect that when a problem occurs they haven’t accounted for, they are bound to have to go back to the manufacturer for answers of parts, and this takes time.
Three out of the four aren’t your standard ride or train models either, and even Nemesis Reborn is probably the most advanced ride currently operating at it’s respective park too.
This means that no, 2024 hasn’t been the worst year, it’s just been plain unlucky instead, and as much as this is incredibly disappointing for everyone visiting the park, it’s not something you can change overnight.
What does appear clear is that as theme park fans we have to exercise a greater deal of patience and understanding where unforeseen technical problems are concerned.
Now yes, don’t worry, we acknowledge that we are just as guilty as everyone else for getting angry or upset over continued breakdowns, we’re not going to deny we have been less than patient in the last few months, but as we continue to make our way through 2024 we are learning to be much more understanding of the parks and their challenges.
In truth, 2024 has actually been THE BEST year for NEW UK roller coasters to date. This is down to just how many major new milestones the UK theme park industry has reached over the past year.
Not only that, but 2024 has also seen two existing iconic roller coasters receive security with their respective parks too.
With all of this in mind we can’t wait to see what the future holds for our UK industry in the years ahead, especially with Universal Studios Great Britain looming closer and closer on the not too distant horizon!!
