JoshC.
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Everything posted by JoshC.
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Weird one that, given that the Fins name and style fit in with the Shark Hotel and area as a whole. The Infinity brand feels like it could dull that down, which would be a shame. Shows the ever-seesawing direction really. Other food changes: -The Donut Compound has been renamed to its original name, Amity Donut Bites -A new food stall, The Cantina, will open, where The Crust has been housed. I believe it'll be in house, as opposed to externally run like Crust. Be interesting to see what food it offers -There are slight name changes to some other restaurants: 'Calamity Kebabs' and 'Sombrero's Street Food' With some mentions of limited edition foods in the event schedule, it'll be interesting to see what the standard quality of food is like. --- I do like the new map; nice mixture of looking nice, whilst also being reasonably accurate as a directional map.
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MASSIVE plot twist: The hinted-at next coaster is NOT the mine train, but some unknown new coaster, that appears to be going in the Aqualantis area as well (concept art and the announcement didn't suggest another coaster). It appears to be some form of family / junior ride, but what exactly is unknown (even the Polish theme park community with links to Energylandia are surprised). The Mine Train is still planned to be opening this year, but that'll be the next next coaster to open. Possibly. When Abyssus, this unknown Vekoma and the Mine Train opens, that'll bring the park's coaster tally up to 18
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Also the map suggests no Fastrack will be available for Black Mirror
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Walibi Holland has given us Lost Gravity, Speed of Sound and Xpress songs, and would all have to be up there. Psyke Underground at Walibi Belgium too... I'm sure the K3 has a song which relates to the roller coaster at Plopsa as well. Ride songs are easy.
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Some pictures of Abyssus from Vekoma, showing it is almost complete still: The post also confirms that the Vekoma Mine Train is due to start construction in a few weeks. And no doubt the next Vekoma will start in a few months. And the next Vekoma in a few more. And the next next year. And the next....
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A Stealth stall is incredibly rare - only happened the once before I believe. And I can't recall many other instances of Intamin Accelerators stalling at the top (Top Thrill Dragster did it once with guests on I think? Aside from, probably only happened a couple of times across them all). And it's not something you can 'make happen'; it just happens! Indeed. I believe the train is still up there now as the weather means it's not ideal conditions to send a person up there and give it a nudge! And since it's only pre-season, there's major rush to get it down. It's easy enough to reset once it goes down. Now this is an interesting one. We've obviously already seen Merlin's stance for now (adding extra hand sanitiser points, etc), and I think that's sensible enough. If the government do follow through with a full-on Delay stage, then that would inevitably mean the closure of theme parks (and likely things like London Eye, Dungeons, etc), which would be a major blow to the company of course. Obviously it's entirely out of Merlin's hands though if they close; I don't imagine they'll close unless they're told to. However, the more interesting thing to me is what Thorpe (and other parks) will decide to do with some of their attractions that involve glasses. Many more people are going to be much more concerned with putting on 3D glasses / VR goggles, and the possible cleanliness. Whilst in pretty much all cases, parks do clean them, these cleaning processes are far from thorough. I don't know what to expect parks to do, but I wouldn't be surprised if parks do choose to not open 3D / VR attractions (or run them without those features) until the fear subsides. Even if it's not totally necessary, it certain avoids difficult questions..
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Construction is going very well, with the roll over the station looking mighty fine:
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I'm all for them not over-egging themselves, but it's nice to try and push the boat out a bit...
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No idea. Assuming it's something that is coming back this year, it'll probably appear at some point shortly around the start of season. Your best bet is to email the park though and find out. Given its premium nature it's possible they may not be considering bringing it back, so an email might encourage them to bring it back!
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Actually a pretty cool idea tbf. Something that requires work from the NHS / government to implement properly of course, but it would certainly minimise people fraudulently taking advantage of schemes designed to help disabled people (in all walks of life). Would work well with a tiered system too imo. I don't envision a card system like that being implemented officially any time soon, which is a shame as it'd be decent.
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I'm fairly certain at one point Thorpe trialled the idea of only 1 carer, with 2 in special circumstances (might have been around 2010/11?). Wasn't successful, as I think in the end most people made cases to have more than 1 carer that the park couldn't reasonably refute. A tiered system would be interesting. Certainly could solve some of the issues that the system has these days. Obviously there'd be other issues which arise and I could see a PR backlash, but it could still work..
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Having a medically trained person checking the documentation is all well and good in theory, but any half-decent GP in the country will write a strong enough letter to convince someone else that they're in need of a Ride Access Pass. There's obviously the other issue of having enough medically trained staff to check the documentation at a busier park, whilst also being available to tend to any medical emergencies. Presumably at Paultons it is just a member of the First Aid team who only needs a basic First Aid course to work there (though likely has an interest in First Aid and is studying other medical courses), rather than a qualified 'nurse'? Nurses don't get paid enough as it is, I can't imagine how little a theme park nurse would be paid!
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Coaster Count ran a poll to find out users' favourite rides: https://coaster-count.com/page/poll Steel Top 10: 1. Steel Vengeance (Cedar Point) 2. Fury 325 (Carowinds) 3. Taron (Phantasialand) 4. Taiga (Linnanmaki) 5. Zadra (Energylandia) 6. Hakugei (Nagashima Spa Land) 7. Helix (Liseberg) 8. Shambhala (Port Aventura) 9. Maverick (Cedar Point) 10. Untamed (Walibi Holland) Wood Top 10: 1. Wildfire (Kolmarden) 2. El Toro (Six Flags Great Adventure) 3. Lightning Rod (Dollywood) 4. Voyage (Holiday World) 5. Wood Coaster (Knight Valley) 6. Troy (Toverland) 7. Boulder Dash (Lake Compounce) 8. T Express (Everland) 9. Phoenix (Knoebels) 10. Wodan (Europa Park) Pretty fair and reasonable results in my opinion. Some nice stats breakdowns available on the site too, being able to break it down by country and so forth!
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I know some people like to act like the people who run the park are idiots, but I'm sure you know that no one thinks this...right? I'm not for one second suggesting that you should have an answer, but I want to bring up a fair point: what can they do to fix it? People on forums and within the community are quick to pipe up when they have an idea which they think works for pretty much anything theme park related, but I don't think I've ever seen a half-reasonable / implementable solution on how to improve the system for RAP users, and ensure that only people who truly need it use it. Getting staff to understand, explain, run the system properly is a start. But that's truly only the beginning.
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I know that at one point over the past couple of years, Thorpe considered linking the scanners they use for Fastrack in with the RAP system. The idea being that you would have a card, staff would scan it, and it would let them know when the card could next be used. The system itself couldn't be linked together properly, so didn't work out. Another major issue is that the park's queue times are rarely accurate. So even if they had that system correct, the incorrect queue times would mess with the system. AND even then, most staff checking RAP won't have access to the displayed queue time, which is why they don't bother signing it / give wildly incorrect estimates. Better training needs to be given to the staff there really. As well as greater accountability for making it work.
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That image was used to signify 'the road to 2020', since 2020 was meant to be the next big investment. The picture is of the Meydan Bridge in Dubai, and was just generic 'futuristic' because it was looking at the future. It had no significance for the rides they were considering, or the themes they were considering. I agree that the Galactica retheme did well for Towers and it might have convinced Merlin to keep that sort of style in mind. With Black Mirror, they've got a solid idea with that tbf
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This new system doesn't sound particularly different to the old one. As I've said before, Merlin have backed themselves into a corner. If they tighten up their policy of who qualifies for a RAP, they'll have hundreds of angry guests complaining they no long qualify, with many no doubt going to the press with stories of 'Theme park says I'm no longer disabled enough to get access to rides' or something. Keep it as it is and the system doesn't get any better, but they'll be less escalated complaints. In other words, until Merlin are ready to soak up a massively negative, delicate PR storm, they won't change the system.
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I passed my PhD Upgrade today! It now means I'm well on track to finish my PhD in the next two years (and be able to put Dr in front on my name!!)
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-How many ways can they dress up the idea of 'ride our 6 best rides and get a pop badge'? -"Random roller coaster replays"? Are they suggesting you'll get multiple laps on a roller coaster? Sounds like a silly idea? -"Detonation delays"? You mean, like how Detonator always runs? -SuperCharged Summer sounds...naff? -Food stuff sounds alright though. Hopefully their efforts for this year have gone into improving the park. Because these events sound like they've been knocked up in 5 minutes by someone who's never visited a theme park before...
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Now that's an IP I could get behind!! Kudos. I wanted to try something similar but am too lazy; expertly pulled off! I feel like this point is raised every single time an IP comes to the park. Frankly, I don't think it works for a park to focus solely on IPs unless they're HUGE names with an overarching connection. Islands of Adventure works because of this. The one in Dubai has that appeal because of this. Thorpe with its mash of Walking Dead/Black Mirror/Derren Brown/Angry Birds/Saw? Not so much. Sure, there's stuff which will appeal to people, but its a very scattergun approach, but at the same time in a narrow market. I'm just not sure that can work long term. IPs don't drive traffic towards the park. IPs don't drive traffic to any parks. Well executed IPs drive traffic towards the park. That's why Saw worked. That's why Thomas Land worked. That's why Peppa Pig World worked. CBeebies Land too. That's why Angry Birds, I'm a Celeb, Derren Brown and The Walking Dead didn't work: they weren't executed well enough. Maybe Thorpe will execute this well. It's a relevant IP with a good premise and a strong following. But if they do, it'll only be their 6th permanent IP attraction in 11 years that's been well executed. Hardly strong indication that IPs are good for the park. --- As I've said, not really my thing, since I haven't watched Black Mirror. Concept could be interesting, and it could work for the masses if done right. Some other things I think should be thrown out there: -The idea of a Black Mirror attraction was toyed around with since summer last year I believe. It's hardly a last minute thing. -This is intended to open at start of season (remember, Thorpe opens around the end of March) -I don't believe there are meant to be live actors
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Description of the experience from the park:
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Believe this is taking place in Living Nightmare space, and will be a multi route experience with some special effects. Really doesn't interest me. But I guess it could be alright if it's your thing..
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It's progressing well and looks beautiful. Apparently this is being done completely in-house too, which is amazing.
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Testing is apparently going well with Fly, with 2 trains making regular circuits around the track: https://www.phantafriends.de/topic/1873-neu-20xx-fly-diskussion/?do=findComment&comment=148004 It's expected that, similar to Taron, the ride will be able to run 4 trains. But still progress all the same.
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In the last ten years, Phantasialand has only seen six new rides, two if which are "off the shelf" family rides. They've only seen 1 retheme too, Thorpe have seen many. Quantity means nothing.
