Marc
-
Posts
6785 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
51
Content Type
Profiles
Forums
Blogs
Events
Posts posted by Marc
-
-
^Surely its depends on what the worlds first is??
I think people do forget that it was only last year Thorpe opened Ghost train - regardless of how successful/ how much you like it, its still a significant investment for the park, and by going by Merlins usual 4 yearly cycle it won't be till 2019 we start to see plans for the next big thing opening at the park.
-
The point I was making is more that we know loggers won’t be opening next season, any work it needs hasn’t started (visibly atleast) - that’s what I meant by being realistic - but as I said it woud be nice if we heard something more concrete on what ever future it has.
I don’t agree Slammer should reopen - I enjoyed the ride, it was unique and quite fun, but it was unreliable, unpopular and had a low throughput, if the money pot was unlimited yeah sure reopen it, but IMO it’s not worth them throwing money at, id like to see it removed as soon as possible so the area can be ready for its replacement what ever that may be.
-
Agree the entrance needs work - it’s unfortunate how extra / higher level security checks were forced on them with such little notice but understandable after events across the U.K. - I can’t see the entrance being totally flattened, especially not this closed season I’ve always seen this be done as part of the hotel, but improvements to the security queue system to make sure it’s quick and efficient are needed.
As Mark says, loggers won’t be open next year we have to be realistic, but some firmer idea or what’s going to happen to it will be nice, same with slammer , Cant see that returning would be nice for it to be removed over closed season but we will see.
Some parts of the park need some TLC, the path between Detonator and Stealth is looking pretty worn and needs some paint / repair work, and in general where queue lines have been damaged etc would be good to see them looking nicer. Following on with the audio / queue line tv improvements we’ve seen over the year will be good too, getting some more of the quieter areas of the park fixed etc.
-
It was open last year but the head in the jar photos were not ready, mid way through this season picsolve seemed to have jars what the photo could fit into, maybe we will see it return next year!
-
-
For all of Ghost Trains issues, i wouldn’t say it’s unpopular.
To be fair I don’t think Saw Alive was un-popular either - I think that closed mid way in 2012 when visitor numbers took a bit of a dip, rather than a result of Saw alive being unpopular.
-
55 minutes ago, Benin said:
What existing space is there at Thorpe that doesn't require the removal of something? And that includes Loggers and Slammer areas...
Land behind Swarm I guess would be the most obvious, the area next to it too where sanctum is is surprisingly big too actually - not sure if they could build on it though.
-
Parks hit capacity tonight - they are also strongly recommending you pre book for Monday and Tuesday if you plan to visit!
-
8 hours ago, Coaster said:
Did Thorpe or Towers close early due to weather, out of interest?
No - but i know Thorpe had a number of rides closing / reopening throughout the day due to the high winds, not sure on towers.
I know its not an excuse but haven't Blackpool been doing this closing earlier than advertised business for a quite a while now?
-
Security has changed since I last went, today everyone now had to go through, regardless if you have a bag or not - everyone then goes through a large metal detector in the middle.
-
1 minute ago, JoshuaA said:
Sure you can't control crowds or guests.. But you can have decent amount of security to perhaps deter what happened the other night..
When you run any big event, you will get big crowds which can have problematic people, but if you have enough security and if the staff are well trained then it won't turn into a complete mess..
I just haven't seen that anywhere else.. I've visited Tulleys since like 2012, and I have not seen a single e-stop..
I'm not saying the e-stops are entirely Thorpe's fault, though for sure it could of been handled WAY better, and my hour queue was in the disabled queue.. God knows what it'd be like in the MAIN queue..
They have extra security for Fright Nights, unfortunately theres not a great deak they can do about troublemakers until they actually cause trouble - and only then can they deal with those causing the disruption.
Also comparing to Tulleys, whilst i see your point, Thorpes mazes have significantly more people going through them, thus more change of them potentially causing issues.
-
Nice pictures - quite looking forward to this actually - as you say it’s not going to be incredible but it’s a solid addition to the line up!
-
3 hours ago, Coaster said:
Like, their theme parks are massively under-performing with SBNO rides, terrible operations and budgets slashed, so their big master plan is to... cut the budgets further?
Do they not even consider that, maybe, they are to blame for the reduced visitor numbers to the theme parks? It's all well and good putting the blame entirely on external factors, but when the most important thing about their theme parks (customer experience) is neglected so badly, that's obviously going to have a negative effect on visitor numbers. People are voting with their feet, and yet Merlin are still too blind to see that.
They're clutching at straws with excuses such as "the weather" when in reality people are losing interest in the parks, the weather hasn't even been bad this year for heaven's sake!
I don't think we can expect anything to improve at the theme parks, in fact the quote below makes it sound as though capital for future investments as well as general park improvements will be spent on hotels instead;
I maybe wrong but capex should only in theory affect new investments, budgets for staffing etc wouldn’t come under that 100 million I would guess although that’s not to say there won’t be cuts there. Would be interesting to know the budgets for Capex projects without the 100 million overall.
-
42 minutes ago, Benin said:
- Our parks aren't doing great, should we invest more into them?
- No, we shall build MORE hotels!
- But we've had to close Splash Landings because no-one's staying there...
- NO! MORE HOTELS, IT'S THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE!
That Merlin see themselves as market leaders of the industry concerns me greatly...
I agree it seems weird... but then no company would waste money on a very expensive asset if it didn’t feel it could gain maximum revenue from it.
It will be interesting to see where these new hotels go, im sure I read they want one at Warwick Castle, Thorpe would be another obvious choice then I guess it would be in Europe as the rest of the parks here seem to have a good amount of accommodation.
-
https://www.merlinentertainments.biz/C24B1AD7-9B59-4C19-BE0A-98EBAB02911C.CFILE
Abit more on this here- they plan to reduce capital spending at their resort theme parks by 100 million over the next 3 years and spend that money on hotels, which could actually be good for TP if it means we get the planned Waterside Hotel. Intresting over 70% of their profits are from outside of the UK.
-
PA is a bit of a weird one for me - I think as a resort they are pretty spot on, ride wise i think the park has a great offering, Shambarla and Khan are great and I admit I love baco (dont ask!!)
Really enjoyed Ferrari land too - although feel this could do with more over time. Ive stayed in Hotel PA, El Paso twice, and Gold River and have never had a single issue on any of my stays.
The food offerings are a bit limited i would agree, id say the food on park was generally quite good, but the hotels offer little more other than the expensive buffet options although the Italian place at Hotel PA is really nice.
Never personally had an issue with the staff being rude or unhelpful, but realize this can all be down to luck, on my last trip after a few rides on Baco the ride staff were actually really nice talking to be (probably wondering why I wanted to keep riding it!) but yes, there operations are poor, they are slow and very understaffed, i'd never visit the place without getting the express pass.
-
Have to disagree with you on X - previously rides on X would be a bit of a "gamble", some rides you'd have a great track to ride along with, other times a not so great one, would really make a difference to the ride - it was always abit inconsistent, along with that the lights now syncing up with the music means you'll get the same experience no matter when you ride. And its the same for all rides, they all have their own themes which are exactly the same every ride and as long as the musics good i dont see an issue with that sort of consistency.
I think changing the Colossus music was always going to split opinion - ive not noticed it to be repetitive but again things like this are all down to personal taste.
-
To the every day guest who visits once or twice a year it will be subtle, many of the tracks are alot longer than the previous ones too (The Lost City track for example) which previously played a portion of the Colossus music which cant have been no longer than 5 minutes, the new one must be at least 15 minutes, if anything making it if anything less repetitive.
Same works for X, the music lasts about as long as your ride will be on it, most visitors to the park will ride it no more than 3/4 times a year (total guess at the numbers here!).
-
1 hour ago, david I said:
This forum is making me really concerned for my visit on the 30th OCT. How is the park on a weekday in october ( day before halloween) I'm not fussed about going in the mazes but seeing as this will be my first visit to Thorpe park in 3 years I would love to be able to get on all the rides I want
Dont be concerned - are you spending the whole day there? If so you'll be fine to get all the rides in, the gates open at dead on 10, Swarm is usually where a lot of people head early, in previous trips ive gone over to Stealth first thing got that done and then Inferno straight after with minimal queues. After that if you have the TP App it has the queue times on, check out if Saw / Colossus or Swarm are busy and head to the quieter.
The park will be busy but you'll have no issue getting in everything you want to, especially if your not planning to do the mazes - although If you get chance would recommend giving them a go - especially Big Top!
-
1 hour ago, Themeparkadict said:
So fright nights this year has had mixed reviews so far however I’ve purchased the ultimate fastracks for 125 pound each I do have 3 questions regarding it
1. Is DGBT included in this package
2. How long is the average fastracks queue for the mazes so far
3. Is it worth the money ?
I wouldn't expect to instantly walk on things but you should easily be able to do everything you want to do with the ultimate fastracks - enjoy!
-
It’s not unusual for them to start sending through bigger groups more often when queues get very long - the groups on quieter days are almost always smaller than those on the peak packed out days - there’s a fine balance between keeping the queues at a reasonable length / keeping the groups smaller for a better experience.
Did notice the mazes opened at 12 again yesterday which was originally only planned for Half term , which should help abit on the busier days.
-
55 minutes ago, pluk said:
I've not been frightnights this year, but it is startling how negative the comments on Facebook are, mostly about general operations, queue management and ride availability. I know people sometimes like a moan, but the negativity is so consistent there must be something to it. Has it been that bad this year?
I should be going to services day after season officially ends, usually a much calmer way of experiencing frightnights...
Unfortunately it’s always the same for Fright Nights - the park has been very busy (which let’s be honest is good!) and queues do get very long.
Reading some of them though I’m sure some are a bit OTT - one I read from Friday on about queues being 3 hours and only seeing one actor in big top I don’t beleve that for a second! As you said you’ll get a much calmer atmosphere on services day!!
-
I wouldn't personally say that the music is taking away any atmosphere - I think since earlier in the year a couple of the speakers along the colossus bridge have stopped working - one these are back working so you can hear it across the entire Colossus area I think that will help a lot.
On the same subject of new music - heard more of the new jungle theme at the weekend playing in pizza pasta, it sounded pretty good, I quite like how they've managed to incorporate the Nemesis Inferno music into it too.
-
52 minutes ago, Benin said:
The problem is that there's no reaction to there being a sudden surge in busy times...
Most parks will, on quieter weekdays, run one train... This is no issue of course, why would you run more than required? However many of these parks will, in the event of queues developing beyond a time frame (I'd say maybe 30 minutes? Maybe 20 depending on how nice I'm feeling) add on an extra train to cope with it...
Why Thorpe can't do this (Chessie did in my time on Fury and Rattlesnack, Vampire was a different thing though due to how the transfer track worked) I'm not sure though, perhaps they're still struggling with their maintenance teams?
If Rush and Rumba were open it would make a difference to the queues... Likely not a lot, but every little helps...
It probably has more to do with staffing than maintenance, Stealth and Swarm at least require extra staff to run at full capacity, not sure on the others.
I think you raise a good point on the queue times - as enthusiasts i recon we have less tolerance to queues on 1 train vs the GP - for me id not like to queue 30 mins for a ride on one train where as the GP would be more than happy to wait that.
Park Count - 2017
in General Discussion
Posted
Thorpe : no idea - loads
Chessington: 3
Legoland 3
Alton Towers: 2
Adventure Island: 1
Portaventura:4