JoshC.

There's an interesting article from around the same time: http://www.attractionsmanagement.com/index.cfm?pagetype=features&codeID=33238&fbclid=IwAR3C6Mzr4fAfBT_8txXPcIUw7tLnL-4HFgodWcvBO0f8ryr-PuAbM5GmOi8 There's a lot to pick out from it which I think gives some very interesting insight... It's obvious of course that a park wants fans on its side. Of course, 'fans' can mean much more than 'enthusiasts' - anyone who's a passholder is technically a fan. Hence the silly "Annual Passholder facts", which say passholders are more intelligent, more polite and whatever else. Anything to try and make a passholder smile and go 'heh, cool' or something like that. In turn, it sets a tone that the account has this 'banterous' side to them, making people more inclined to share in that banter and post positively. Except, that's not how it's worked. It comes across as the park trying to hard. Like that uncle at parties who says buzzwords like "yolo" and "yeet" and thinks he's cool. It'll make some people smile, but it's not what people want from a theme park account. They want an upbeat tone, information and interesting facts. 99% of the time a 15-minutes of fame meme won't do the job with getting people on board in supporting the brand. And it's not like there's people being clueless that the social media reflects the brand - the park are well aware it affects the perception of the brand. But either they don't realise it's not enriching the brand, or they're too stubborn to change their mind. Maybe they'll argue it is working, but enthusiasts in their ivory towers of wisdom are too narrow-minded to see. Maybe it's like a Trump/Brexit thing, where we're just surrounded by so many people who share the same opinion that we're blind to the strength of those who think the social media presence is brilliant. But it's not. Crudely speaking, social media ultimately comes down to interactions and getting people talking. You look at the numbers the park's posts are getting - they're not good. And the majority of people aren't going to be talking about it like enthusiasts are.. You only have to look at how they've handled the Logger's Leap to see that this is a theory they do not follow. They shut the ride quietly, gave a vague, non-committing statement, and just swept it aside ever since. People hound the park constantly, both during on and off season, and go nowhere. They've dug themselves into a hole that they can't get out of. And yes, Loggers is a weird one. I'm very much under the impression to closure of it was a decision they didn't want to make, and was only planned to be temporary. There had been plenty of plans and ideas for its reopening. I don't think the park lied when they were saying 'they hope it returns soon' - I genuinely believe that was their plan at one stage or another, but plans changed. But this is the issue when you hide behind vague buzzwords and try to be clever about it, you lose all integrity when something goes wrong behind the scenes, since you have nothing to fall back on for a public statement. Is this what social media should be about though? Do I really care if Jack visited the park for the 15th time this season with a camera pointed at him the whole time, and he had a good day because he knows all the tricks of how to do the park and the rubbish rides to avoid? Do I care that Sally from Kent, with her 200 followers, visited the park for the first time and wrote a blog saying how wonderful Stealth is? Not really. It's good to do this sort of stuff, but sparingly. People want an upbeat tone, information and interesting facts - this is rarely achieved through influences. All well and good saying this, but Thorpe in particular are terrible for this. The amount of unanswered questions that fly past on a daily basis, the copy and paste responses make it feel like they don't care, don't read responses and just reflects badly on the brand. I know this is a distinction between the marketing team (who craft the original tweets) and the guest services team (who are in charge of responding to general queries), but if there's this disconnect in philosophies between the two teams (one saying that taking the time to respond to comments is important, the other not doing this effectively), then that speaks volumes about the park. The park's brand is just ruined at the moment. Can anyone answer, positively, what Thorpe Park is at the moment? Who do they target? How will I feel after a day out there? Why should I go there? So far, all the social media side of things is doing is making me think they're a park desperate for attention and wanting to be "down with the kids". And it really shows. And what's worse, is this has been done before. Thorpe went through the terrible meme phase in 2013/4, back when they were changing target market. The new island brand was working and masking the issues they had there, but the social media side felt desperate. But back then, social media wasn't as critical to a brand, and they managed to salvage it. But they haven't learnt from their mistakes, clearly. Admittedly, they're not doing everything wrong. The Thorpe Park blog, with weekly entries, is nice, and the winter updates have been good. Yet both of those things always seem to miss the mark a bit, and are only 'good', rather than 'great'. They can get the tone of voice and personality right, they've had some good funny moments in the past. But these are exceptions. More often than not, it feels like they're shooting themselves in the foot, really don't care or just trying to troll followers for the lolz. I want to make it clear I'm not trying to attack particular people. Yes, this post has been related to a particular article written by one particular person who works at Thorpe, and I'm being critical of it. But that's simply one person reflecting the ideals and value of the park and its brand. It's not something that one person has thought of, and it's gone through. This is a collection of people, making a collection of mistakes, and it's there for their whole following to see. The park is stagnating with investments, the brand is going round in circles and the social media accounts are slowly becoming a laughing stock. It needs sorting out. I'll finish off with a quote from the article, in case anyone tries the 'if you hate it so much, why are you here' line...

It was confirmed to a German theme park magazine by the park they intend to open it in the autumn. The park themselves haven't officially announced it via social media / their website, but then again, they haven't even mentioned it at all through those methods.

New photos! https://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=1557590&page=887&amp=1 It'll be interesting to see just how much and how ready the area is when the ride opens this year.

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..

I'll be honest, the reaction to that Annual Passholder post is ridiculous. Anyone who's acting offended in any way needs to get a grip frankly. In saying that, it's not in any way a fun, funny or clever, and there's millions of better ways to advertise the Thorpe Annual Pass. Maybe even by, you know, advertising what you get with it?

If it's anything like Lost Gravity it'll be fantastic, so look forward to that.. Keeping with Mack, the newest Mack multi launch is looking mighty fine...

Despite being the Colossus project page, the information on that website, and leaflet linked are for the new version of the 10-looper (like Altair at Cinecetta World in Italy). I can't remember if it's the case or not, but I believe the track is slightly different between the two versions, with the newer version being slightly wider - hence the reference to track width. It's not that it's not possible to get new trains, but the cost involved is significant - it's not just buying the new trains, it's modifications to the station, maintenance area, etc. It all adds up, and at a time when Thorpe seem to spend minimal amounts. On top of that, as the trains are designed for new track and usually cable lift hills, Intamin would have to custom make them, meaning the cost is significantly more than 'just' buying new trains.

I'd say yes, the physical illusion is very impressive. The trouble is more the reveal of it - there's little build up aside from a small speech (which you may not even hear or notice at the back of the group). And there's also the fact you're rushed in and out of the room. Without the set up, you get no return. If you look at reviews of when it first opened, and people's first ride, you'll see how everyone raves about the hanging carriage. It's something which was hugely pushed in marketing and teasers, so it was at the forefront of everyone's minds. Now, it's either taken for granted by re-riders (because their attention isn't drawn to it) or not recognised by new riders (because they don't really know about it). It's a shame, because it is a good illusion in my opinion.

The Victorian carriage room is more or less exactly as planned. It's a large scale illusion which required a lot of planning and design to get right - and like a lot of illusions, is designed to work from certain angles. The illusion wouldn't work from different perspectives, amounts of light, etc. So basically, having people enter/leave on different sides of the train, or from different heights, wouldn't work due to the design. And it was designed with those parameters in mind.

Yes, the original way the ride operated was that you entered the hanging carriage room after the previous group had left. Due to throughputs being an issue though, that idea was abandoned. A part of that is down to the quoted theoretical throughput from the manufacturer being literally impossible to achieve. As the timings were largely based around that, it was pretty screwed from the word go. Yes and no. That does show an alternative to the 2016 version, that wasn't 'the' other ending. The other ending was totally different to what was shown. The above is more just a 'let's make multiple scenarios of this version and see which works better'. I don't know if the above was ever used after the ride had opened (maybe soft previews?), but that wasn't the intended other ending.

Not strictly true. These sorts of posts are crafted by the marketing team, all of whom are permanent members of staff on a salary (which works out as a lot more than any seasonal, hourly wage staff). It's usually the case that seasonal, hourly wage staff respond to social media posts (and those are usually guest services people). But during closed season they don't normally have those people employed. Equally these sorts of responses will from marketing. And being Merlin, the marketing department have some of the strongest says in the park.

Sadly I've forgotten how expensive student life can be so I will no longer be attending.

I totally agree. Which is why I'd be very surprised if the park ever did do something like that to the masses (I'm surprised they even showed the inside of the building in any way when they did their winter update thing). Equally though, it would still be something really awesome to do and see, moreso after the ride is no longer a thing. People love a behind the scenes perspective of a dark ride, and seeing initial concepts are thoughts behind the design, would really demonstrate what they were trying to do at the very least!

Isn't the point of what an illusion is though? When a magician makes your card disappear then reappear, you know it's not 'gone into thin air'. You know you've been tricked. What you don't know if where your card went, and how it got there and back. That makes you think 'maybe it did go into thin air'. It questions your rational judgement. It should be the same principle with Ghost Train. You know you've moved, that's why you're in a different place (and later return to the same place). But you don't know how you've moved, given you're in a train suspended in mid air. So it makes you think you did stay in the same place the whole time, again questioning your rational judgement. The trouble is, as you say, that whole point is completely lost. You don't have enough time to appreciate that you're boarding a train that's suspended in midair. And when you leave, you leave too quickly. There's no reveal about it. You can't question your judgement if you don't have enough time to make a judgement.

It would be awesome to get a good behind the scenes look at the ride. Despite all its flaws, there is a lot that goes on, and a lot they could go into. Even stuff like the illusion of the floating carriage (which is taken for granted by those of us who have done it multiple times, and now sadly a rushed reveal). And a large proportion of the public don't even realise the ride actually moves - I had someone speak to me who genuinely believed the room around the train spun and changed for exampled! I'd be very surprised if the park ever did something like that. And if they did, I'd be surprised if they did it whilst the ride was still a thing. But it would be a nice thing for them to do in the future!

Yeah, I'm perhaps being a bit tedious with my cynicism and critique on the whole 'why aren't Thorpe marketing themselves' issue at the moment. That's particularly true when comparing them to other parks; every park is different, has their different situations, strategies and so forth. But time and time again, Thorpe have screwed it up. Since about 2014, they've kept changing their target market. It's never been coherent. It's a stupid way to market a big theme park. But if they're going to do it like that, at least set it up so that at the start of the year, everyone knows what you're doing. You've got 2 theme parks advertising, one shouting about how they've got a new family attraction, and one building on the success of a thrill attraction. Leave it too late, and regardless of what Thorpe do, they'll have missed the boat because people will already have in their minds their plans. By now, they should know what they're doing this year (and ideally have it set so it's coherent with any future plans), and how they are going to brand themselves. Push that - the opportunity is there, so just bloody do it. Also, I'm normally not that cynical about Thorpe. Even if I don't like everything they do, I can usually see why they've done it. But we're at a point where Thorpe has little identity and other big UK parks in and out of Merlin are improving, and Thorpe are literally sitting there putting memes on social media. It boggles the mind.

Is that not even more of a reason to sort the brand out before the park opens? Clear up the confusion, get people who they're targeting to actually think about visiting before they get tempted by Chessington / Towers? By just delaying that, it only harms them even more. State of the park and all that doesn't help either of course, but a strong brand campaign early on can at least mask that to encourage people to come. And if they actually start sorting the park out, that would be a bonus too... Of course part of that is wishful thinking, but surely them doing absolutely nothing on a marketing front is worse than them doing something, anything?

You don't need new things to advertise a theme park. A solid brand and a mention of the park's 40th birthday would work.

Carnival Festival is becoming less controversial! Looopings have reported that between March and May, the ride will go through a 3 million euro refurb, which will include new lighting, improved cars and changes to the Japan, China and Africa scenes. For those unacquainted, Carnival Festival is an omnimover where you 'tour' round the world. Each scene gives a stereotypical / comical view of the countries / regions portrayed - England is posh people in top hats drinking tea, Germany is large beer drinkers, etc etc. The Japan, China and Africa scenes cause controversy in this day due to their depictions, with claims of racism from the park. The park have denied these claims, but do seemingly agree now that it's time for an update to give a better reflection for how the regions are today.

Opening hours for 2019 have been revealed. Overall, more open days compared to 2018, but still a lot of 10-4 days...

That is how it has been from the very start too for the record, not something which they changed. There had been discussions about how best to do it, and that's clearly what was agreed on. Not all public / entertainment VR headsets are cleaned after every use, so it's not actually as uncommon as you'd think. I imagine that, on the whole, anytime you put a headset on in DBGT, it's (hygienically speaking) cleaner than, say, a roller coaster backrest. But of course, the obvious concern is that you're putting this next to your eyes, where problems can rise significantly easier. I don't think any problems have arose aside from the odd bit of makeup being leftover on headsets. Whether that's because Thorpe have got the cleaning thing right or if they're playing with fire, though, is unclear...

Is that not more akin to, say, a 4D cinema though? A very different scenario if so, and yes, one that has been around since the late 80s! I agree that cleanliness and practicality is a huge problem, and perhaps will always be one. I guess that's something which, in time, AR could be a solution to - just having googles that can overlay graphics onto the real world seems like a significantly smoother approach. Europa have probably consisting got VR right (or, at least, as right as you can get for now!) all the time through their implementation. The idea of putting VR goggles on before riding and integrating the boarding experience in the VR world is amazing, and again something which I think would be a part of the future successes of VR.

I didn't try Dr Archibald, because screw paying £9 for a ride. I felt very aggrieved doing it for Olympia, so it's going to take something special for me to part with that sort of money for one attraction again. Regarding VR though, it's still very much in its infancy as a piece of technology, and even moreso in a theme park setting. Just think, how long was 3D around before it was used in a ride (not a cinema)? How long was interactive shooting technology around before it was used in a ride? These are questions I don't know the answer to, but I've no doubt they were around a lot longer than VR was before theme parks implemented them. That obviously makes a huge difference to the quality, reliability and overall success of that technology. I truly believe VR (and by extension, the lesser known AR) has a place in theme parks, and in maybe 10-15 years times they'll be a part of some of the most well known, well loved attractions in the industry. But right now, it's just too soon.

RMC hype continues thanks to PabloA on CF... Some context where this is going. The SLC (red cred) is basically the back of the park at the moment - you can even see the quite distinctive cut off line! The front of the park is just next to Hyperion; you can see the castle entrance just to the right of it. This shows just how much this new area is expanding the park in terms of size, and it's only going to get bigger! Footers for the ride going in - this is going to be one dense coaster!

Galactica track is being jetwashed.