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Agree, it's not offensive. It's just absolutely pathetic and childish, and does nothing positive in terms of public perception, either of MAP holders or Thorpe Park as a whole. Slow clap time. It's lazy, heavy handed, utter nonsense and ill thought out, which is true of many of Thorpe's decisions and PR. Post now, think later. But hey, that's the world of social media and iNflUenCinG guys. Maybe 2019 will see that mobile phone charging service open on The Walking Dead The Ride and that B.O. ban will finally be enforced on Stealth.

I agree it's a stupid post, doesn't do anything to help their reputation, etc. But saying they're treating customers with "contempt"? People on Facebook / Twitter calling this "offensive" and "insulting" (usually people with Annual Passes already who are trying to feel offended on behalf of others). Feels like a bit of an over-reaction, no? As I say, it's a ridiculous post, definitely not doing anything to help with their already damaged brand. But there are people genuinely trying to say it's offensive? Come on..

That's the stupid thing, like they could've listed number of rides, or events, or number of times you throw up because you get dizzy or whatever... But instead they decided to go with intelligence? Even saying MAP holders are more attractive would've been a better idea... It's simple and easy mistakes like this that tarnish a brand reputation... It's difficult to build, but oh so easy to destroy...

My favourite comment on that FB post of Thorpe's was "10 minutes on the MAP group suggests this is very wrong ?" I'm saying nothing... Oh and also someone has commented this, bravo:

Did the people who left after the Towers "better than nothing" thing end up working for Thorpe? But I guess their engagements list will be positive enough for this kind of thing to continue, even if the actual content of said engagements is mostly negative... Who has time to actually look at the content of responses?

Exactly, because all the enthusiasts knew to expect it because they saw a CGI image of it, on a made-up background, from an exaggerated angle that didn't exist in the ride. Merlin continue to prove they care a lot more about advertising than the actual rides they build. There was also a lot of nonsense said about it by some enthusiasts wanting the attention. I remember being told it would change theme parks forever and was going to make Disney and Universal quake in their boots (haha). Although I'm not trying to tar everyone with the same brush or blame people for being excited, I was excited too. The scene as-built is not impressive or even noticeable, there is zero showmanship. When you set a big centrepiece like that it's all about the architectural approach which was just not thought about, very sad because like you say if you bother to look closely, it's actually a very good illusion and effort went into it. Whatta waste! I kind of find DBGT fascinating though about how not to do an ambitious ride concept. All the mistakes they made were the same mistakes that plague most of Merlin's projects but this time on a bigger than ever scale. I'm glad it was made rather than not made but it's a kind of tragic tale of a great idea struggling to make it.

I believe the main issue with new Intamin trains is that they're wider than Colossus' are currently. So for Thorpe to introduce new trains (which make a noticeable difference to the ride experience), they would need to make station alterations, lift hill alterations, new clearance testing, etc. On top of this, new style trains on track designed for old trains could significantly alter the ride experience in unpredictable ways, so it may not even make a difference. In other words, new trains would cost a significant amount of money (we are talking literally millions, probably more than Thorpe have spent in the past 2 years combined). And there's a, albeit small, risk it may not make any difference. Of course, that doesn't mean there's not stuff Thorpe could do. They just have to think a bit outside the box to come up with an alternative way to improve the ride experience. But sadly, they won't put the energy into that. Frankly, the best thing for Colossus would be to tear it down and build something new. But again, ain't never going to happen...