Benin

Who will be? The ride hosts or central control? Considering the effects of Fastrack on a regular queue, I'm not sure how the use of cameras will help queues (aside from maybe reducing queue-jumping, which is always a good thing)...

To be fair, a LOT of parks over-exaggerate queuetimes, for various reasons, but more commonly it's down to making people think that if they queue for a less amount of time than advertised they're getting more value out of their day... Not too sure how cameras facing the entrance/exit of rides will help create reliable queuetimes though...

I don't get how though, what with giant metal fences in queues, poor operations on Vampire, half the park falling apart (including Rattlesnake and Tomb Blaster with theming actually removed and still looking run-down)... Usually I'd be visiting the park a lot, but this year, I really cannot be bothered anymore...

Hint, I used those two rides as real examples of ride unreliability, I don't think Smiler or Rita or Oblivion or Slammer or Stealth are going to exactly make their respective manufacturers go completely bust as a result of extended downtime... Using X and Deja Vu as examples puts into perspective some of the pettyness really, I do implore you to look into their respective histories as they are both interesting rides to investigate... Until Towers have a situation where they have 3 rides open and nothing else then what else can we say? Thorpe had poor reliability for years, whilst this is one season for Towers... Jumping on the bandwagon after one delayed ride (which was clearly rushed and an overall poor job in construction, so fingers to be pointed at the construction company moreso) and the other rides that have had some downtime (so far, the only other coaster that has been down for several days is Oblivion with a blown out motor, Runaway and Thirteen were pretty slick fixings whilst Rita is a typical Accelerator and dying every two seconds)... Am I defending Towers with my life? Clearly I must be as I'm the only one saying anything positive and nothing negative about the park in the entire world and I never say anything positive about other parks in the country... When Towers end up having a daily crisis of rides dying left, right and centre like Thorpe used to, then we can grab the torches and pitchforks... The bandwagon for Thorpe's awful reliability is pretty clear that is was down to constant visits of half the park being down with on chance no coasters actually open and exceptionally poor shows from the whole place, yet in recent times, this has improved immensely, with minimal issues throughout... Perhaps then we will see the same of Towers... But since they actually had to delay the Thirteen closure for spewing oil everywhere due to RMT's motor dying, surely that's something to be thoughtful of? They could've had two coasters down and said "tough, both need work" but they didn't and kept one open... I think the Smiler construction debacle has really set the tone for Towers this year, where lots of people are just constantly attacking and pointing to that factor as a result for... something? I'm not quite sure really, but we can hope that the park will learn from that mistake like Thorpe eventually did with theirs (I.e. their realisation that the thrill market is not financially viable and changing tact)... Just atm it all seems pretty much a whole chance for slanging matches based upon fanboyism... Whilst Towers has a lot more to do, there is still stuff to be positive about for it, what with the great boost of entertainments throughout the park and that Smiler is a really great ride when it's open and has really captured the GP... Let's just hope they can fix up for the rest of the season and push away the silly management who think that cutting Scarefest hours because of 'unhappy staff' and crap staff who sell Fastrack in queues to fulfil whatever high quota they have...

Why are we playing the "X ride has been broken down for longer times than Y ride?" Rides BREAK DOWN... Sometimes minor stuff, or sometimes for weeks/months at a time... If we're going to compare, at least we haven't seen things like X(2) or Deja Vu esque levels of closure on a regular basis... Factor of life that machines break, it doesn't need to become a contest as to who has the least breakdowns in a year... (This being said, it can still be put on records that it's pretty factual that Intamin's are rather unreliable in many cases)

"Small nudge"... Wheel derailed... Not too sure on that one, but if the driver didn't notice the uncoupling (which being at least a carriage away makes some sense) then it's quite likely that he would stop normally... Besides, even if he instantly e-stopped momentum would cause a crash... Physics is a heartless cow at times...

It was the most pointless shop ever, couldn't get MAP discount and it was a sheer waste of money staffing it... BRING BACK THE NEMESIS BUS!

Start of the season, there was a whole furore over it because of the removal of the Counts Cauldron theming...

Problem is with ToTT sharing the building with Sanctuary it all seems a tad awkward to make it any different as there isn't the same amount of space... Although of course how many years have Thorpe had their 'token' mazes? Fortunately for the maze enthusiasts they do at least add some new ones after a few years... Though of course, with mazes it's hard to tell how they'll be like based on previous incarnations because they are so easy to manipulate to new routes/themes/rooms/etc to create a completely different experience... We can hope that, considering how good the Ents team are being atm in the park that they might be able to pull some on-park stuff out the hat as well... But I doubt it somehow, seems that only Chessie can do on-park theming very well... Does show how lacking things are in the imagination department though, surprised after the dislike of Carnival it's come back... Also shows the lack of budget, and I'm still annoyed that they got rid of Duel Live (especially 2009 Duel Live <3)... Of course, with Scarefest we get my absolute favourite enthusiast rant about floodlights <3

Slammer's open though right? P.S. Not that I really care (cos it's RUBBISH), but Rita is now back open... Think might start a betting thing for which Towers coaster will break down next...

Rita closed... Intamin

Banned because banning banners from banning each other's bans...

I didn't, because of the weather I just wanted to leave (after getting my £5 worth of course), I wasn't even sure if it was open since nothing else seemed to be... Although as Thorpe read these forums it would seem that some of my points might have been noted based upon reports... I fully agree that the parks need to investigate later hours, and I do wonder how much of a success these events will be in regards to that factor, because the deadness might not be beneficial in that regard and make the park(s) think later openings aren't viable... Although CrashPad will make a significant difference to that... Summer Nights were the best way to test it out with having limited numbers, and for a fiver, well worth the money for walk-ons on everything and a very hyped Inferno staff... But in the long run, will it make the park do later openings in the summer overall? Maybe, maybe not... It might be worth doing a late nights week style event (in similar vein to Summer Nights) next year included with the admission and heavily advertised as that week to do a real test of it, maybe in the first week of August (so after the two week deadzone of the summer holidays)? There's definitely potential to take things forward in the future and I would think Thorpe are in the best position out of all the parks to have constant late night openings because of their location, might as well take advantage of it... Might even push them to get a proper hotel in the future... What you said earlier makes more sense now though, there are more worrying issues at the parks than an empty trial event that involved walk-ons...

If they've improved things over a week then fine, I can only go by what I experienced... If anything, it could be down to the projected numbers how much they opened perhaps? Not that the forecast was any better this weekend mind, but were they flogging it off to people as they were exiting the park? On the whole, if they've been listening to feedback of the nit-picking variety, then surely that is what makes the real difference to a park?

A few points to make... People say the magic has gone from the park, perhaps this is true of the 90s stuff, but there is still something there within the park... Going to a park with non-enthusiasts is always a good experience, because you see the excitement on their faces throughout the trip and it's rather catchy at times... With Woodland Walk reopening for ERT you can see why they plan on opening more in that area rather than elsewhere (although Oblivion/Hex/Thirteen were all still open this weekend), because it's effort... They also need to advertise it more, as we were the only group of people on it on Sunday morning, as most hotel guests got the Monorail (maybe as a result of Smiler possibly opening at 10 that day though)... Also of note, you don't need to prove you're of the hotel to use it, which may be of interest to enthusiasts... Smiler being down all Saturday meant we went on the GS ride, with unsurprisingly lots of other angry guests of varying levels... They were starting to pull the old "it's on the website" line, which is a bit off considering it had no message for a few days of it being closed, but as we'd booked in advance we got entry for another day for the non-MAP holders and a fastrack adrenaline (or of choice of any of the bronze packages) for myself and Nicky... I sense that the level of complimentary entry however was not high once they put the message up on the website... Poor show... On the other hand, Smiler has really captured the GP as a brand and ride... I've never seen so many specific ride shirts being worn by guests over a weekend at any park before... They've also added a strobe to the indoor section of the queue which is mental and annoying in equal measure... They could also do with LOTS of fans to keep it cool, because it's a hotbox when people remain stationary for a long time... Seemed slightly smoother on my rides as well (although the Cobra Roll jolt still exists), and it's a brilliant ride... Duel's trommel is back on after being broken, Sub Terra's exit lift seemed to not move (left side), Charlie was struggling with life as always and Hex still over-shoots... Thirteen's shutter didn't close but tbh it's not overtly noticeable in a weird way? It seemed brighter but I had to look back to see if it was down to the shutter, it's nowhere near as bad as Polar X-Plorer with that shutter CLOSED... Aside from Smiler, I didn't see many breakdowns, though Spinball and Rita both had some small ones (surprise surprise)... A big burden was at Courtyard BBQ/Hot Dogs where they weren't taking card for some reason, it's nice to be told this after queuing 10 minutes for food, taking that 10 minute walk to the free cash machines and back before queuing 10 minutes again... Apparently they can't post up a sign mentioning cash only? That's a load of rubbish, so we complained about it, because we wasted 30 minutes as a result of the issue... Poor, poor show... To end this on an extremely positive note, the entertainments department this year on park is out-doing itself immensely... When I heard about the orchestra I was worried that it would mean the removal of the Park Keepers, but nope, they're still there and roaming, the Pirates are still roaming, and the Orchestra are rather good... When we left yesterday all 3 groups were around Towers Street and interacting with each other, and it really does top off a day at the park... The Pirate Show is still brilliant and the Park Keepers are excellent as well... If there's anything to keep Towers positive this year, it's the ents due to the amount of stuff they are doing on a limited budget... The hotel singers though need to be turned though a lot, because it's headache fuel... Be interesting to see how Scarefest affects the current ents as well and what they might try and do for it... Speaking of the hotel, Splash Landings repaints are not that bad at all, and Secret Garden is really good for the food as well... Shame it's limiting but the Salmon of JOY made things worthwhile... I had an excellent weekend overall, where it wasn't too busy and we got on all major rides aside from the Flume... If they can sort out any further issues with Smiler (without the need for queue evacuations and extended downtime, though cracked concrete is a fair reason in the end) then they might be able to salvage something out of the season and push on...

Good casting... He could take things quite darkly, I hope so, I'm pretty bored of the series atm as it's been very silly at times... I liked Matt Smith, but as mentioned, the stories were pretty terrible... Could be interesting...

Quite possibly that, Swarm being dead quiet with no music or atmosphere was certainly weird... Perhaps I typically went on the one day where the operations were cack for the event (which was weird because the operations during normal park hours were extremely good, but with no outlets open upon my visit, maybe everyone had legged it before the storm?)... It will be interesting to see if it affects their perception of late openings and whether they will be worthwhile in the long run though...

The park DOES close at 7... However, two rides remain open till 9 because of CrashPad and to keep guests spending on drink... Also Mark, why only positive feedback? Why not also give constructive criticism where appropriate so the park can improve the event(s) further? Constructive being the obvious term rather than just flat out ranting... For example, from my event, they shouldn't have let people into a dead park without obvious wristband stations and no list of rides due to be open... Solution, giving out wristbands at turnstiles and signs with ride lists... The idea of the event was good and successful with the lack of queues, but at the same time, was it a success from the business sense? Will be interesting to see if they push it out further next year...

Rode it twice today... C'est la vie... Queue got evac'd and it naturally spilled into the park... You'll get some form of compensation if shut...

Open confirmed since I rode it...

Problem is with testing it during opening hours is that they would be descended upon, so they MIGHT tested it after the park closed (something I heard in the hotel last night)... There were trains on the track with dummies on engineers wandering around it for a little bit before going away... I think the obvious one is the extended queue not being out is an indicator more than anything... Will see in a few hours... Though my friends have ended up getting 3 days at Towers for £28 as a result... Silver linings and all that...

Clearly though this is going to have a roof and potentially a much more atmospheric station... Hopefully sommat like Vampire...

Thing is as well regarding ERT is that they're changing it back to holding non-benefitting guests down at the entry to Towers Street whilst also re-opening Woodland Walk... Both will benefit the overall ERT thing in that there won't be awkward queues at the entrances of rides for those who can use the ERT and the majority of ERT guests will now arrive in the Valley and more than likely go and do the rides there (and along the main pathway past Duel and Mine Train)... Of course, those who want to queue up for Smiler will do that anyway... But in theory, those changes will help reduce that queue on Smiler (until 10:05)... Air opening as standard is a question of logistics more than anything... Who knows, they might even open it in the middle of ERT and put it up as a bonus ride situation... But what I don't get is people complaining that Nemesis is now the only thrill coaster on ERT when it has been ALL YEAR, as if suddenly all the enthusiasts believe that Thirteen is actually a thrill ride now... Weird times indeed... The reliability thing is bad though, it seems like one of THOSE years that Thorpe had a while back, where ride after ride would just blow up for no reason... That's already been spoken about though, maybe another branch fell off the old oak tree?

NWO had a theme? :/

Look at that sexy black track... On Krake...