We’ve been anticipating the arrival of Project Exodus for over 4 years, have watched the entire construction, and now have finally had our first rides of the UK’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster – Hyperia!

With this in mind, let’s move on to the main event – the ride experience! Of course, Hyperia features a lap bar restraint, the first time we have seen a lap bar restraint at Thorpe Park. As expected, the trains are comfortable, and forgiving for larger riders, and feature those lap bars to give the ultimate ‘weightless’ experience for the whole 90-second experience.

Before boarding the train, loading takes place in a well-themed station and prepares you for your ride. When the air gates open, bags are stored in a double-decked bag hold which features a rotating door to close off the above or below deck depending on which train you are on, meaning only you can access your belongings after you dispatch. Departing from the station involves a dispatch sequence with smoke, audio, and lighting effects. A projection of wings being filled up is displayed above the exit from the station and the whole sequence is timed to the Hyperia soundtrack with various lighting packages and smoke effects from under the train as it dispatches. A different sequence is initiated on the return of a train into the station with smoke effects as it arrives and, again, more lighting and audio.

Out of the station, you head into the outward banked section of track that leads into the 236ft lift hill. This was a great moment to wave to all below in the queueline and certainly had a fantastic atmosphere on opening day. The ascent up the lift hill is quick and steep and offers a great vantage point over the rest of the park and out towards Heathrow and London. Cresting the lift hill is where the magic begins.

Dropping into the first drop is incredible and offers some fantastic airtime as you twist into the drop from all seats (surprisingly more in the front half of the train), and a great whip over the top for those in the back rows. Approaching the bottom of the drop is where Hyperia reaches her top speed of 81mph before you head up into the massive non-inverted Immelmann, again, offering fantastic moments of airtime and snappy transitions.

Plummeting downwards again, you pass the camera from the on-ride photographs, before heading up into the world’s first outside banked turn where you get a great stall, offering some fantastic hangtime, and airtime on the exit and into the first inversion before flying up into the sky again for, arguably, the best element on the ride – the stall loop. Hanging upside down for 4 seconds is the definition of weightless. It is silky smooth and feels like you have truly forged your wings and taken flight before splashing down to earth again through the splashdown.

For us, we feel the splashdown could have been executed much better with better integration with the landscaping to make it fit in, as it does feel very out of place at the moment and feels a bit pointless to be perfectly honest. It’s disappointing that the initial plan of a splashdown viewing area never made it, so it would have been good if this had been executed better to make up for the lack of this viewing area. Additionally, the synchronisation is often out and those in the front rows often don’t even experience the splash at all. Finally, we feel that the braking when going through the splashdown can also feel a bit sudden and really slows the train down before heading into the final element. We understand that this is necessary for safety reasons and prevents overspeed which could subsequently cause downtime, but we hope that this will adjust over time as Hyperia finds her feet.