Today Thorpe Park Resort have announced the ‘headliner’ of their ‘Year of The Walking Dead’. I’m happy to reveal that The Walking Dead : The Ride is new at Thorpe Park Resort in 2018. It looks like the rumoured re-theme of ‘X’ has happened, and instead of riding on a wave of light and sound – you’ll be running from Walkers instead!
The Walking Dead : The Ride will be an immersive and terrifying experience. It comes complete with state of the art special effects and a replica of the iconic watch tower. It will be the UK’s first and only multi-sensory and multi-part rollercoaster. The experience invites thrill seekers to flee The Walking Dead in a relentless and terrifying ride for survival. Riders will travel through the deepest, darkest tunnels. It will feature extensive and realistic theming to bring some of the most compelling and gruesome scenes from all seasons of The Walking Dead to life.
Whilst X has never been the most terrifying rollercoaster, it’s the perfect ride for a retheme into something new. The ride building is BIG. It has a long, and sprawling queue-line. The original version of ‘X’ had lots of interactive elements in the queue. These have been removed over the years. However it means that the ride was designed with room for theming in the queue. It means that Thorpe Park can fill The Walking Dead : The Ride with plenty of immersive theming.
What’s a ‘multi-part rollercoaster’?
The ride used to have some interactive elements within the ride itself. The trains would stop in the mid course brakes and various ‘things’ would happen. These effects are again long gone and unless there’s an issue, the trains move through the brakes freely. They could use these stops for actors (possibly) or other theming elements. It’s interesting the press release mentions ‘multi-part rollercoaster’ which suggests I could be correct. The height restriction has been increased to 1.4m and an age recommendation of 13+, so it won’t be suitable for younger guests.
Due to open at Easter, The Walking Dead : The Ride is at the centre of Thorpe Park Resort’s Year of The Walking Dead unmissable series of events. If you want a reminder of the full line up check out this post here.
I will be covering the lead up to the opening of The Walking Dead : The Ride at Thorpe Park Resort. You’ll find coverage both here and on YouTube. It looks like 2018 is quite an interesting year for the UK Theme Parks. I honestly can’t wait to get back to the ‘Island Like No Other’ to battle some Walkers.
See you in the Safe Zone!
