JoshC.

Yay, the Fastrack debate has come up again! It's a complicated one. In theory, Fastrack is a great idea - you create a queue for those who are willing to pay extra to queue for a shorter period of time. But then, of course, that also can increase the queue time of those in the ordinary queue. You want to create a good balance, whereby those who want to pay extra can, but so that it doesn't negatively affect the experience of those who do not. That is very difficult to achieve though. To be honest, I'm not against the idea of Fastrack at any parks - if it's done properly. The number of Fastrack tickets needs to be restricted, preferably into time slots too so that Fastrack queues don't get 'busy' at popular times, and it should be done evenly so that the ratio of Fastrack to 'Normal' guests is the same all the time. But then you've got the added complications of Unlimited Fastracks, Disabled Guests and whatnot which just make such things harder to control. Does anyone know how the actual Fastrack system works at the Merlin parks these days - do you just buy a Fastrack ticket and use it whenever? Or are you given a strict time slot to keep to? Or what? So yeah, that's my quick reckons on all of this. I did a long, rambling, possibly nonsensical blog post a while back about this - http://forum.maniahub.com/blog/10/entry-349-how-do-you-solve-a-problem-like-fastrack/ (love how topics on TPM always circle back eventually), which may help put some of my thoughts in a bit more of clear view...

Anyone up for doing a World Cup one? Done via a different website to the Premier League one, but sign up is free and simple - https://www.dreamteamfc.com/. Just make a team, then sign up and put in these League details: League Pin - 8096931 Password - AngryBirds Have funs!

Anyways, double post alert, but I'm actually going to contribute to the thread this time! When the Guinness Book of World Records presented Alton with the official certificate and all that, they didn't look quite as happy as they could have. I've corrected that: Also, I think the ride could have done with more sheep, because, y'know, they make you smile and stuff. Finally, I don't think Smiler goes upside down enough times, so I think there's one final secret weapon to improve the ride... A washing machine!!

I well and truly asked for that, didn't I? How could that face not improve Smiler though!?

I would improve this thread by fixing the picture in the original post.

In theory, having Fastrack does not affect the throughput of a ride. It can do if the merge point is placed stupidly and creates loads of faff when people are boarding, but for the most part, it won't affect throughput at all. Anyone who doesn't use Fastrack would love to see it gone, but it just ain't gonna happen, unfortunately. It's basically a foolproof way to make money (and that's for any park!).

A sauce appeared - http://www.badische-zeitung.de/europa-park-arbeiter-erliegt-seinen-verletzungen With thanks to Google Translate. By the sounds of it, it hasn't been ruled out the accident occurred due to either no safety call or that the workers ignored / didn't hear the call. Hard to tell from translations I guess. This is a big shame; roller coaster construction is normally a safe thing and it's very rare for something like this to happen. Thoughts can only go out to the worker's family - it's a tragedy however you look at it. We can only hope that the Park themselves were not at any fault and that (assuming that's the case) they don't get too much bad press over this.

I see the Merlin fetish of 'Let's stick a world first element in our new attractions wherever possible' is still present (as seen in the Press Event video). Shame. But yeah, Jason seems like a great guy and knows what he's doing with marketing. It was obvious that last year they were trying different things when it came to marketing, which things worked (family-friendly, optimising digital media, etc.), which things did not work (the Thorpe Park memes for example), and this year we're seeing the positive outcome of this. Customer experience is seeming to a big thing this year too, which is a good thing. Glad to see!

At 850pph, that probably puts it as one of the highest throughput rides on park!

Or they could reuse the 'Fou14teen' sign which they put up on Friday the 13th in 2010 to signify the ride's new top speed?

Build a 200ft tall, enclosed drop tower. Alton need another ride that drops you. Minimal footprint. Add in a couple of shipping containers with cattlepen queue lines in them, pass it off as theming. Just make sure the building that holds the drop tower looks dilapidated, painted grey with bits of dark green in it and has loads of scaffolding around it. Simple!

You see, I didn't think it was too bad a system. When I went, there was trouble with the system which meant that the queues ended up being in the region of 40-50mins (for both forward and backwards). When the problem was realised, they stopped people from being able to book a slot I believe and fixed the system, letting the queue dissipate before starting it up again. I guess that's what tests are for! So yeah, when it worked, I think it worked well. Definitely was good later on in the day when people were fully aware of what was happening too. Looking at the big picture, I don't think it would work on the large scale as a replacement for queueing overall, but it was a nice idea..

They are planning to do further trials with it (well, that's what they've said on the gate map). When, who knows? I wouldn't be surprised if it slowly ends up as a replacement for Fastrack in honesty. But nonetheless, it'll be interesting to see what any new trials bring...

"But if I wanted to look at grass, I'd go to a garden centre, not a theme park."

Surely "popular" and "bringing guests in" can be used pretty much interchangeably? At the very least, if a ride isn't popular, it won't be bringing the guests in. That's how I see it at least. I'm not making generalisations about the public's views - I did say 'some people' may know it as a ride that broke down upside down, for example. Some people will know it as the ride that is always closed when they visit. Some people will indeed like it or want to try it out. There's going to be all sorts of views from the public. Nonetheless, I still don't think Slammer is a ride that can be said to be 'brining guests in'. I personally think it's almost time to admit defeat with the poor ol' thing...

Does it bring people in though? When ordinary members of the public visit Thorpe, what rides will they think of? They'll think of the likes of the five major coasters and Tidal Wave, since these are the rides that are focused upon the most. I doubt there's many, if any, saying 'We need to go to Thorpe Park because it's got Slammer!'. When it is open, how popular of a ride is it? Not very. Slammer likely struggles to get above 400pph, yet I've only ever seen it get over an hour queue once, maybe twice, since it opened. I bet there's loads of other rides on park which get more people in one day want to go on instead of Slammer. I wouldn't call it a popular ride by any means. I bet that some people will call it 'The ride that got stuck upside years ago', since whenever it broke down with people on it, it made it onto BBC news. Regular visitors will see that it's down so often that they may think it's unsafe too, and be reluctant to ride it. Whatever way I look at it, I just can't see how anyone can call Slammer a popular ride, or a ride that brings guests in. From where I'm standing, it's not. There's surely got to be a point where the negatives outweigh the positives, and the park just have to say enough is enough. Even if the parts are cheap, there's other things you have to look at - time consumption for engineers (do you really want your engineers spending loads of time working on a ride that could break down a month later for an extended period of time?), marketing (it doesn't look good having an SBNO ride on park, especially when it's marketed on the map and the website), staffing, etc. Given all those factors, I wouldn't be surprised if Slammer is gone soon (usual cliché, I know, I'm sorry, but it is what I feel).

Doctor Who would be a good IP choice for the park I think. However, I wouldn't want to see another IP. There's already Saw and AB Land, plus the Dr Pepper sponsorship on Tidal Wave. That's enough for a park of Thorpe's size I think!

If I had a penny for every time someone's said this, I wouldn't need to take out a student loan for uni! It does seem like Slammer will eventually be opening, perhaps in the near future.

Angry Birds at Thorpe Park clothing range. Maybe 'Chuck's Speedy Getaway' is still a possibility Reference being TPM's April Fools

Very recently updated my background; really love this graphic!

But what if you don't like any of the parties, but still care about the outcome / politics in general? I certainly did not want UKIP to come first, but I wouldn't have wanted to vote for any other party either. Should I have to vote for the party I dislike the least to have a 'right' to complain?

I'm sure discussion of the hotel, the 'Thorpe should get a dark ride' and 'Will Slammer finally be closed down for good?' will replace all of those. And no doubt a Fright Nights *This year +1*' topic will start earlier and earlier too.

They've literally changed a couple of signs and stuck a model of a bird near it? How on earth can that make it look "absolutely horrendous" compared to what it was before? :S

How so? We've got the 'Island like no other' tag line and the park are trying to create an atmosphere which feels special. Hearing the music being played makes me feel like I'm going to a magical place, builds the excitement up, and so forth. I genuinely think that listening to that music will make people think they are on an island like no other. Even if you think it doesn't suit current-day Thorpe, surely you would agree it suits more than The Noise?

My first year counted 10% if my overall degree. Pretty sure it's a Maths / Science thing at my uni; dunno if it's like that anywhere else... I'm glad that it was like that. First year of a maths degree is so vital; you build the foundations for everything you need to know for the rest of your degree. If it wasn't like that, it would be too easy for so many people to coast along, think they could scrap 40%, then fail. What's more, you'd then spend more time ensuring everyone is comfortable with those building blocks, because many people won't ingrain such things in their brain like they should. To be honest, I think that should be how things are across all unis and all subjects. I expect that some degrees don't rely on you being totally comfortable with the ins and outs that you learn in first year. I know that in some degrees (philosophy for example), you can get away with understanding very little in your first year, and hardly building on it at all for the rest of your degree (focusing on breadth rather than depth, essentially). But still, I think having that first year of your degree count for even 5-10% would make all the difference, give people incentive to work harder and make a university degree feel more valuable.