Marc

I see a lot of comments on us not testing arrivals and genuinely don’t see why it’s important at the moment? Firstly - I don’t see why anyone arriving is anymore likely to have the virus than someone already here. Secondly, with the restrictions / social distancing in place which people arriving have to follow - if someone does have it then following the rules in place make it unlikely to spread anyway. Of course when the infection rates are low and it’s more under control in the U.K. testing / quarantining arrivals is much more important.

To be fair the same people who did the VR when it opened did the re-worked Vr on the 2nd train - they were also responsible for the VR in the first segment. Always thought it was the 2nd trains VR which let it down massively in its first year - the hold in green smoke just went on too long every time but apart from that it was OK - though the re-worked 2nd train scene is much better.

Ahh my bad - the windows were initially supposed to mist up I believe during different points so you wouldn’t see what’s behind the scenes if you didn’t have VR on - but the reflections from the windows would mess with the VR so they were in the end just covered up. I believe simworx ultimately manages the entire project but the most part of it was built by different manufacturers - probably not helping ultimately in all the problems. I don’t think the VR was added late as a marketing gimmick - the concept of a train with screens in the window wouldn’t really work on ghost train as you’d be awkwardly looking at a screen somones sat infront of - unless you only had people one side but that would end in a ridiculously poor throughput. Yeah there was problems with VR contributing to the delay but by no means is VR it’s only issues - it’s a shame really as when the entire experience works as it’s meant to I still do think it’s good, it could have varied a lot more had it been a success to keep it fresh - it’s just so rare the whole thing works as an entire package.

The leg ticklers were in place when it first opened - can make them out in the picture below on the left side of the train - also the smoke used to work and the screens played a news report in 2016 - think both were removed after the rise of demon changes. Im not sure if ghost train it’s self would work without VR - it’s quite different to standard immersive tunnels simworx have built - The trains are built by Severnlamb the block system by Intamin - I’m not certain what parts simworx built them selves to be honest. VR wasn’t a last minute addition to ghost train by any means - the ride was designed to have VR fairly early in its planning.

Realistically Ghost train would struggle without VR IMO - you have too long sections with the train sat there not moving for it work without it without huge changes which probably wouldn’t be worth it. I can’t see it opening this year - if we do hopefully have a vaccine against this in a years time I can’t see it being too much of an issue then.

Depth Charge (3)Detonator: Bomb's Away (3)Mr. Monkey's Banana Ride (3)Nemesis Inferno (3)Quantum (3)Rumba Rapids (2)Rush (3)Samurai (3)Stealth (3)Storm in a Teacup (3)The Swarm (4)Tidal Wave (3)Vortex (3) Swarm + 1 Rumba - 1

Probably significantly less than they were a couple months ago! Hope your friend is alright - sooner this is all over the better for us all!

Audio and Lighting is a lot better - agree odd they’ve left disabled targets in places a lot of people did seem confused but overall much better! Airgates in the station too help with loading are a good addition.

Portaventura have delayed opening now.

Looks like all Premier League and EFL games are suspended till 3rd April at least - be surprised if the start of the theme park season isn’t affected.

Yes they did - and there’s plenty of things they’ve done to improve the mess left of which IMO is more important , especially at CWOA than the vampire station for example - things like The Gruffalo retheme, Scorpion Express and Tiger Rock renovations were all things which they’ve done well IMO which really did need doing - don’t get me wrong there not perfect but think they are not all bad too!

To be fair Vampires had more than just some Maplin LED’s thrown up at it - the organist is back to working better than I’ve personally ever seen - the lighting effects have all been properly synced up with the music track - the station it’s self is sounding great too. Even if done internally - it’s been done by skilled people, not someone who’s just plugged in a few lights. Merlin get a lot of flack - but remember lots of these things fell into disrepair from years of neglect during the latter parts of the tussauds years.

The thing with music is it’s literally down to opinion - the old track was very good, a lot of people will feel some nostalgia towards it too. The new track is also very good, suits the ride just as much IMO. Other than the music the stations looking nice - glad to see the colourful LED lights gone it was pretty atmospheric in there today.

On a hot summers day it’s not unreasonable to assume there would be a couple hundred people on park who are eligible for an access pass - 90% of eligible guests would be arriving in the morning so there would be bound to be an initial surge of people all collecting their passes at the same time. The system isn’t perfect, and I’m not sure a “perfect” solution even exists - but it’s hardly one of Thorpes / Merlins top issues.

Yes 😛 but that was marketing speak - I think merlin announced in an investors call once that they see IP’s as a big pull to getting guests visiting their attractions.

Merlin working with Netflix could potentially be huge for them - whilst I know IP’s are not everyone’s cup of tea merlin have publicly stated they see them as the future - and if done well there’s no reason why they can’t be as good as original ideas.

I don’t think you can include the Galactica overlay at towers as a new coaster personally. Thorpes at a funny stage at the moment - its all well and good wanting Merlin to throw money at it but their next move HAS to be right or god knows the consequences... We all know the problems DBGT had for various reasons, which was the parks last “big” investment and it didn’t deliver, before that, The Swarm, it also didn’t deliver the return which was expected. Thorpes next “big” investment will probably be the most important one the park has had to date - the future of the park will be banking on it being right - they really can’t afford to get it wrong a 3rd time - fingers crossed we will start to see / hear things on this soon but it’s not something they should rush into till they are certain both it’s the right time and the right investment.

As others have mentioned - sadly we won’t see a new ride at Thorpe this year - but credit where it’s due - it’s good of Nick to write back to fans like that - Merlin get a lot of slack (and yeah sometimes it’s deserved) but things like this are nice to see!

It can’t make it any worse - only better. The current readers are not the best and they really struggle to read barcodes when it’s sunny (ok that’s not too often!) if the majority book in advance and ANPR opens the barrier automatically, where the others can just swipe a contactless card at the barrier it will only be a vast improvement on what’s there now.

Water rides use a lot of electricity- big pumps to keep them going are pretty power hungry without the expensive effects in there.

It depends I guess - if the ride is *exactly* the same and requires no / little ground work etc I can’t really see it taking long atall to construct I guess if ground work is needed maybe a bit longer - it could be ready for March I guess we will see construction soon from the zoo days!

The bulletin posted earlier in the topic don’t suggest the seatbelts are needed anymore - it suggests more regular checks are needed which Thorpe no doubt carry out. Seatbelts are often left undone on empty seats - it’s not a H&S breach. As for rust on supports, it’s not a major structural hazard, these things will all be checked, it’s purely cosmetic.

12 could work for later nights such as fright nights but not sure if a normal day day a 12pm opening would really suit the park.

I don’t think Thorpe claim to be on the international stage - none of our merlin parks make any real effort to advertise them selves abroad as far as I know.

March will be here before you know it! Till then there’s always winter wonderland or the merlin attractions in London to help pass the time!