Coaster

Yeah, the non - merlin parks have much better opening times, 7pm is what should be the norm during peak. However all these ride closures across UK parks are not good!

Not if there were park improvements instead of a new addition - I don't expect new park additions every year. Saying "don't complain" doesn't cut it, as a paying customer I have a right to be unhappy with things, if Thorpe took the attitude of basically telling people to shut up then it would be seen as ludicrous.

Samurai was closed all day as well (unless it opened after 4:30pm, as we left the park then). It tested in the morning but after that nothing.

The point I'm making is that they should ensure that the attraction has a high throughput when it's going through the planning stages. For example, with the trials, have two identical rooms set up so they can get double the amount of guests through the maze on peak days - then they can run just one of them when it isn't peak. They were building this maze from scratch, so they should have considered throughputs. It's the same with the FN mazes, the only one that ever shifted a queue was Asylum, when S13 was put in the capacity was half that of Asylum, and the queue moved at a snail's pace! Of course I expected the queue to be long, but if it's fast moving I don't mind. This queue was static most of the time, I was in it for fifteen minutes and it moved once, and even then it was only a few steps.

Got into the queue today, advertised as 50 minutes. We waited for fifteen, it had only moved once and they announced down the tannoy that the waiting time was two hours! Needless to say we didn't bother. You would think that after all these years, Thorpe would learn to focus more on throughputs! Absolutely hopeless.

It was very busy today so I'd expect the same or worse. Having four rides closed, two on low capacity and poor dispatch times on the ones with two trains doesn't help...

With the current level of creativity at Merlin parks at the moment, it actually wouldn't surprise me if they just recycled the theme from Vengeance.

Correct, my first wooden coaster was in fact Megafobia at Oakwood, whereas I went on Valhalla not knowing anything about it at the age of six!

Nope! I was just over the height restriction and went on it, needless to say it terrified me!

I'll go! 1. I first rode Valhalla at the age of six. 2. I first rode The Big One at the age of seven. 3. My first wooden coaster was at BPB.

Whilst light hearted, they are still both destruction themes, something which Thorpe already has too many of. Whilst I like the theme of The Swarm, why would you want two destroyed area themes in the same park? So why would you want another ride with a similar theme in the same park? (I'm not saying that it will do, we don't know yet, but going by the plans it looks similarly dull). Bright tropical paradise of Inferno? Maybe when it first opened, but at the moment it looks just as dull and destroyed as the rides which are supposed to! The same applies to lost city, it's in such a state it looks dull and drab, the first things that come to mind are oil, dirt and rust. Stealth I'll agree with, and Angry Birds Land but that's so poorly done it just makes the area look worse in my opinion.

Yeah it is only premium, used to be standard as well but the last time I had a standard they made us queue.

It's stupid that they are going for another depressing theme. Theme parks are supposed to be vibrant, fun, aesthetically pleasing and create a happy mood! One or two derelict themes are okay, but Thorpe already have Saw, The Swarm, Tidal Wave, Storm Surge (which is themed to look like it's falling apart, and genuinely looks like it as well), plus another two rides that look that way due to not looking after the surrounding areas. Why can't they do a good theme without having to make it run down? Are they not capable? Look at what other parks are putting in - Critter Creek, Wallace and Gromit, Skull Rock, Valhalla (although the last example is not recent it's an example of how to do a scary theme without looking dilapidated). It's all vibrant, not just depressing, dull and falling apart. If I wanted to look at buildings falling apart I'd go to a run down city, theme parks are supposed to be an escape from reality, and "fun." It seems to me that they like doing these themes because it means they don't have to keep the area looking nice. Saw is overgrown with weeds for example, and The Swarm's island is starting to collect mould, moss and dirt in places (which doesn't make sense seeing as the alien attack is supposed to have just happened). Thorpe is starting to look dismal.

That's the sort of thing they should be doing to ease the queues when it's so busy. EDIT: Just had a look at their Tripadvisor, customer satisfaction at it's finest! http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g580409-d216483-Reviews-Chessington_World_of_Adventures-Chessington_Surrey_England.html

Agree 100% with this. I don't care how they've twisted it legally, it's wrong.

Another derelict building theme? Thorpe is going to look so depressing soon!

500 for Tomb? Is that it? Those vehicle must seat a lot so surely four should have a much higher throughput than that?

Doesn't affect me, but it's not on considering that food and drink is supposed to be discounted.

100 minutes for Dodgems?!

2 hours for Fury today, and an hour for Rattlesnake! Glad I'm not there!

On that note, has Colossus even been on two trains yet this season?

Just had a quick look at the queue times page, not sure if it's accurate but it's showing as 8 rides closed! On Easter Sunday? Classic Thorpe

On one train

You'd be surprised at how much work has to take place on heritage rides (such as the Scenic Railway), it's a lot more than you would think. As a fan of classic coasters I'm very much looking forward to visiting GYPB later in the year.

I've had that experience in E10, My Bloody Valentine and various other mazes at Thorpe before when it gets to closing time. Its not on, after waiting for that long you should get the experience you have waited for. Send them a complaint I think.