daboywunda

Are there any indications as to how fast the through-put is / queue moves yet?This just looks absolutely epic and I'm so glad that I've decided to go on Thursday instead of waiting! I am so excited I can taste sick in my mouth

Any ideas what the predicted numbers are for opening day (15th March)?

I had this e-mail from Merlin's January Update:"This year we have some very exciting new features at our attractions including: THE SWARM at THORPE PARK Nemesis Sub-Terra at Alton Towers Resort Ice Age 4D at Alton Towers Resort LEGO® Star Wars™ Miniland Experienceat LEGOLAND Windsor Resort And there's more to be revealed, including details of the Passholder Preview Days! We'll provide more information in the coming weeks, in the meantime you can enjoy the fantastic events below.The Merlin Annual Pass TeamMake of that what you will...

Thanks Jack!! I did think it was a little suspicious when I read it.. Typical Sun reporting it like it's real!Although, I have been a member for quite a while, just tend to read rather than interact..

Sorry, thought I would comment here in case it's true and they need to re-construct some bits..

Did any-one else see in The Sun today that they are having to make "emergency alterations" as when tested with dummies with their arms up, the front rows it the scenery and lost their arms...Now, THAT'S that awkward moment when your new £multi-million rollercoaster is nothing more than an animated bit of scenery because they tried to cut it a little TOO fine...Oops moment.

I'm using Chrome and the mini site worked in seconds for me.. I think it depends on your broadband speed, the connection to Google to get your location and the traffic in your area. I live in the middle of no-where so not many people competing with it!Also, regarding the trim break.. That's the most likely expectation given that track section.. But by trim.. it doesn't mean Th13teen, Stealth or Saw trim.. It's just a break put there as a block section designed to stop the train in an emergency. Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't Oblivion have one at the bottom of the drop too?

lol, yeh, that's my point. Do you think that has any relevance in the theme before we talk about sci-fi and aliens.... A little 28 days later-esque...

Errrm... Having a look at the marketing material to date (which I must say is very much on a par with Oblivion's pre-building marketing)... Do you think it's relevant that they have used the universal sign for "virus" in their campaign?I'm a dance music producer and was looking through some new software and sound banks & found this... Look familiar?Original Source Credit: http://www.camelaudio.com/ViralOutbreak-Sound-Sample-Library.phpJust a thoughtEDIT: Lol, I've just realised just how apt this pack-shot is!

Hiya Dan... Thanks for the reply.. I can assure you that Nemesis was only on one train Weds 29th until mid morning as I headed straight over there from ERT to find a 15min Q with one train running - And I thought "oh, 1 train operation, must be expecting a quiet day then" (especially given that Spinball was running 5 cars and Oblivion on 4)- Granted, the 2nd train was introduced later that morning and stayed that way for the majority of the day, so its possible that a technical fault was responsible. The Q boards were saying Nemesis Q @ 35 mins (and was also updated a few times with 40 mins on Ride Hopper too - until the 2nd train came on)Rita also did start the day with one train I believe, but as I was whoring myself out on Th13teen at the time there is every possibility I may be wrong (it was definitely on 2 trains when we got bored of 13 at about 10:45, but seemed to only be launching one at the very start of the day)But, putting this all into context, I do have to say that Alton seem to have more control and grasp of their throughputs and seem to know exactly when to increase their capacity to allow for a quicker queue munching period - but to be fair to both parks, I tend to find that when operating full capacity both parks are really good... Its just the knowing when to increase capacity that seems to be the problem.But again, back to the original point of both parks being a business not a charity.

cool, thanks rickydoodle. I wasn't sure when I heard it as it seemed a bit steep based on the number of launches it would do in a day at full capacity! But the principle is the same whatever the cost per launch is...(I think I got the figure from the rent-out price of Stealth. there was a brochure some-where that advertised hiring Stealth out for £250 a launch)

To pick up on an earlier point (on page one) - I was at Alton Towers a week ago and the park was dead. Most of the rides were in fact running on reduced capacity with Oblivion on 4 trains, Nemesis on 1, Air on 2 (1 station), Rita on 1 and Th13teen on 2 (having started the day on 3 and being reduced) - Nemesis' AND Rita's 2nd train were introduced only when one train operation had a queue of 30 mins+ that lasted for a minimum of an hour and was reduced again once the queues were under control.Also, I'm not sure if it's true, but I'm sure that I heard some-where that Stealth costs the park £250 every time it launches? So, assuming that's true; if the park isn't busy enough to fill the trains fully but can half their costs by halving their capacity, then doesn't that make sense? I'm sure you would if it was your business surely? Judging on the original post, a 10 minute queue wouldn't be a dire thing on 1 train operation, when the park is dead any-way, giving ample opportunity for re-rides and short queues.. its not like the queue was an hour on 1 train and thorpe refused to add the 2nd train (like they HAVE done on Colossus a few years back)In my opinion, the only rides that would ever need to be run at full capacity regardless of park attendance would be the current new attraction that needs to impress people (Saw and Th13teen currently for example) with the addition of the rides that are still popular and consistently get massive queues (Nemesis & Air) when these are required. It's just business sense!