Thorpe Park has unveiled proposals for a 236-foot (72-metre) rollercoaster in a consultation event held on Thursday.
At an in-person presentation for local residents, the proposed ride was revealed following considerable online speculation.
It would be the tallest rollercoaster in the United Kingdom, beating the 213-foot (65-metre) aboveground record held by the Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach since 1994.
The ride’s manufacturer was not confirmed, but plans – which are being referred to as Project Exodus – appeared to show several track inversions.
It was claimed at the consultation that a noise comparison survey had been made with a similar ride in Turkey. This has since led to speculation that Mack Rides may be the manufacturer.
Similarly to the recent consultation at Chessington World of Adventures, planners said that the final design specifics and manufacturer had not yet been selected.
Height
The Big One rollercoaster is marketed as being 235 feet high, but this is measured from sea level. By the same measure, the proposed Thorpe Park ride would be almost 300 feet high.
As previously reported, the new ride’s proposed site includes the former Old Town area of Thorpe Park.
It was also confirmed that the site of the former Loggers Leap water ride would be widely utilised by the new rollercoaster.
The initial public consultation runs to 7 January next year, with a planning application expected to be submitted to the local authorities afterwards.
If construction is approved is approved, the rollercoaster could open in time for Thorpe Park’s 2024 season.
The ride would be the Surrey theme park’s first new rollercoaster addition since the Swarm in 2012.
An additional consultation event takes place at 19:00 on Thursday, before a dedicated website goes live on Friday.
Thorpe Park has also said that an online consultation event and question & answer session will be held on Monday.