2024 - Biggest Year For UK Roller Coaster Fans In Nearly 30 Years!!
2024, a year that many are hailing as the next ‘Year of the Roller Coaster’ – but why?
There’s no denying that 2024 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years for UK roller coaster fans in nearly 30 years, but what can we expect?
From Project Exodus opening at Thorpe Park Resort to Drayton Manor now confirmed to be getting a new roller coaster, 2024 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years for UK theme park fans in quite some time.
At current, there are 4 known UK parks planning to add a brand new roller coaster to their offering for the 2024 season, but what are they and when will they open?
In this brand new post we’ll break down exactly that and bring you low down on what you can expect from this momentous year!!
Project Exodus at Thorpe Park Resort.
Okay, let’s start with the most obvious (and possibly the most talked about new UK roller coaster in the last 30 years) – Project Exodus at Thorpe Park Resort.
This exciting new roller coaster is set to break the current UK height record taking those brave enough to a new height of 236 ft once open.
Project Exodus (as it’s currently known) will also feature one of the tallest inversions in Europe and bring something truly special to the Thorpe Park Resort for the park’s 2024 season.
The park’s last major coaster investment was The Swarm in 2012, therefore it seems only fitting that the resort should come back even BIGGER and BETTER with their brand new ride.
Once open, Project Exodus will be one of the UK’s most unique roller coaster experiences and will set the bar for the park moving forwards.
But who will manufacture this towering behemoth?
Although the park have yet to reveal the finer details of the project, speculation points towards German ride manufacturer MACK Rides as being the ones to bring Exodus to life.
This is supported by the ride featured in the concept art and also the alleged ‘sound tests’ carried out on a ‘similar ride’ in Turkey.
Overall, regardless of who it is one thing’s definitely for certain – Project Exodus (or whatever the ride ends up being called) will certainly be one of 2024’s most stand out new additions!
Drayton Manor's New Roller Coaster
Although Drayton Manor near Tamworth have been rumoured to be getting a new roller coaster for quite sometime, no official evidence of this was available up until recently.
The surfacing of a ‘5 year plan’ for the resort on the local council’s website confirmed Drayton Manor do indeed plan to add a “new roller coaster” for their 2024 season as well as other new additions across the park too.
But what could the new roller coaster be, and where could it go?
There have been many speculating that the new ride could indeed be another Vekoma roller coaster and given the park’s track record of working with the manufacturer, it wouldn’t be unexpected.
Others however have speculated that we could see everything from a Rocky Mountain Construction single rail Raptor coaster to an S&S Worldwide 4D Free Spin.
In truth no one really knows and there certainly isn’t much information out there about the park’s plans other than the fact they plan to add a new roller coaster.
One thing seems pretty obvious by now though, Drayton Manor definitely seem to have BIG plans for the former Apocalypse site.
Given it’s proximity to their 2022 area Vikings, this would of course be the logical location for a new large scale ride.
At the end of the day, only time will tell but we’re sure we definitely won’t be disappointed if the park’s past two investments are anything to go by.
Project Horizon at Alton Towers Resort & The 'rebirth' of Nemesis!
Now then, we couldn’t talk about 2024 and not talk about the HUGE investments coming to the UK’s most magical escape could we?
Ironically not only will 2024 see the return of a ‘re-imagined’ rendition of a 1994 original with the ‘rebirth’ of Nemesis, but Alton Towers also have plans to bring something even more unique to the resort too.
Although an official opening year for ‘Project Horizon’ has yet to be confirmed, 2024 wouldn’t necessarily be out of the question depending on how quickly the park can build their new attraction.
As much as it’s more than likely going to be 2025 however, 2024 should see significant progress on Alton Towers’ new attraction and should give us a much better idea of what we can expect from the park’s new ride when it finally opens to the public in the near future.
2024 could also potentially give us our first insight into what we can expect from Secret Weapon 9 too, however this is only speculation at this stage.
Overall, there’s no denying that 2024 will be a BIG year for Alton Towers Resort and we look forward to seeing what the future holds for our favourite UK theme park.
Brand New Dueling Family Shuttle Coasters Coming To Legoland Windsor!
Earlier this year plans were revealed by Legoland Windsor Resort to build two brand new dueling roller coasters on the site of the former Raft Racers attraction.
The new rides will be dueling family shuttle coasters and will come as the park’s first new roller coaster additions since the Duplo Dino Coaster in 2020.
The new rides will also be some of the most thrilling new rides to open at the park in quite some time too and will create a bigger pull to the resort once open.
Other than the above however not much more is known at this stage and Legoland themselves have still yet to submit a full planning application for the rides.
The resort did however apply for a ‘certificate of lawfulness’ for the attraction earlier this year and to our knowledge this has still yet to be approved (however we could be wrong).
As a result no official opening date for the attractions or name have yet been revealed, however as soon as they are we’ll be sure to keep you all in the loop.
What Else COULD We See?
In terms of confirmed new roller coasters opening across the UK in 2024 that’s pretty much it (as far as we’re aware), however with Paultons Park‘s continued growth and expansion there’s no denying that the possibility of a new roller coaster at the park that year remains likely.
This is of course complete speculation and to date no plans have officially been submitted to expand their offering.
Paultons Park did however recently submit a request of lawfulness for expansion on nearby land adjacent the park’s existing boundaries and this therefore leads us to believe that another new ‘themed area’ is certainly not out of the question.
The park also sent out a recent survey to guests too asking what sort of attractions they would like to see at the park and ‘thrill rides’ were mentioned within the survey.
Other than Paultons Park though there are no other parks here in the UK to our knowledge planning to add major new additions in the not too distant future (roller coaster wise at least anyway).
we don’t necessarily have to wait until 2024 for a new roller coaster though as 2023 will indeed see the opening of Chessington World Of Adventures Resort’s World of Jumanji and within it the world’s first ever Bolliger & Mabillard Wing Shuttle Coaster.
Construction on the new area and ride is now well and truly underway and as such we can’t wait to see what the new land has instore for us when it finally opens to the public at the start of the 2023 season!
So that’s it (for now), however we’d love to know which new addition you’re most excited for in 2024 in the comments below!
Thank you very much for reading.
Joe.