Thorpe Park in Surrey has announced an opening date for Hyperia, the UK’s fastest and tallest roller coaster.
Hyperia reaches a top height of 236 feet and a maximum speed of more than 80 mph. It will replace Thorpe Park’s Stealth as the UK’s fastest coaster, and will take the title of the UK’s tallest coaster from Blackpool Pleasure Beach’s The Big One.
On X, formerly Twitter, Thorpe Park wrote: “What are you doing 24th May? Us? We’re celebrating our 45th birthday by opening the UK’s tallest & fastest roller coaster, Hyperia.”
Hyperia is a family-friendly coaster with a height requirement of just 1.3 metres. It also features lap bar restraints to enhance feelings of weightlessness.
Last year, Thorpe Park said the new coaster is “themed around our fearless goddess ‘Hyperia’ – her story is yet to be told”.
The title Hyperia “has a double meaning” as it is the name of “our fearless goddess, plus it is indeed a hypercoaster”, Thorpe Park added.
Thorpe Park submitted plans for Hyperia, previously dubbed ‘Project Exodus’, in December 2021. The project was approved by Runnymede Borough Council in November 2022.
Last month, Thorpe Park installed the final piece of track for Hyperia. To lift the 92nd piece into place, the team used a 500-tonne crane. The Hyperia assembly process took more than 5,292 man hours.
New coasters at Merlin parks
Elsewhere, Nemesis Reborn has opened at Alton Towers after an 18-month transformation, with guests waiting more than four hours to ride.
Bianca Sammut, divisional director at Alton Towers, said: “Today marks the culmination of an extraordinary project – to transform Britain’s most-loved roller coaster for a new generation.
“The original Nemesis roller coaster has been cherished for three decades, making this project a real labour of love for everyone involved in it.”
Thorpe Park and Alton Towers are owned and operated by Merlin Entertainments.
Images courtesy of Merlin Entertainments
