If the 100 degrees vertical drop of Saw: The Ride is not hair-raising enough for theme park enthusiasts, Thorpe Park has stepped it up a notch with Project Exodus, which is set to deliver the biggest rollercoaster the country has seen yet.
Due to open in 2024, Project Exodus will measure in at a whopping 236ft. The new ride will dethrone The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach as the UK’s highest rollercoaster – an accolade the iconic 213ft coaster has held since it opened in 1994. It will also become the sixth highest rollercoaster in Europe.
After a year of consultation and council meetings, Thorpe Park confirmed that its application for the colossal ride was approved by the Runnymede Borough Council in 2022. The UK’s tallest rollercoaster will come with a hefty £18 million price tag and is being constructed by German hypercoaster specialists MACK Rides. The Waldkirch-based company boasts an impressive portfolio, including the world’s tallest looping hypercoaster in China, and DC Rivals HyperCoaster in Australia which is the tallest, longest and fastest hypercoaster in the Southern Hemisphere.
Thorpe Park is going all out for its first new ride since The Swarm opened in 2012. Riders can expect 180-degree inverted turns, steep-twisted drops, and an outward banked roll into an airtime hill for the ride’s grand finale. Even more jaw-dropping, the rollercoaster will transport riders over water as the park aims to surpass all thrillseeking expectations.
Project Exodus will take centre stage in Old Town as beloved Loggers Leap and Rocky Express will be bulldozed to make way for the new coaster resident. Construction began in late 2022, with the first building to be removed during the closed winter season having been the Canada Creek Railway, which lay dormant for many years.