Coaster

Making R&R the only way to queue is never going to work.

Can't believe I'm hearing this, especially after Thorpe have said countless times that they will monitor fastrack ratios more frequently! Very poor. Sounds as bad if not worse than Oakwood.

I did mean to mention here, that during a ride cycle my friends shoulder harness went up a whole click. Not sure if this is a regular occurrence, but he spent the rest of the ride clinging on for dear life! I do know what you mean about the park being scared about it being open, the ride ops always look worried and are talking on the phone/through the PA all the time. I have also seen it stuck during testing at a funny angle, but I'm not sure if this is just a part of the test or not.

I did mean to mention here, that during a ride cycle my friends shoulder harness went up a whole click. Not sure if this is a regular occurrence, but he spent the rest of the ride clinging on for dear life!

^ That sounds promising, although in my opinion it will be very difficult to outdo Asylum.

Why the hell are coasters starting on one train in the height of summer?!! Who do they think they are, Oakwood?

I heard from theme park worldwide that there is a wild mouse coaster coming from Italy but that it didn't get shipped this year. Not sure how credible this information is though.

Single rider queue.

I mean a year round ghost train. Not using the Canada creek railway, as that is far too big of a scale for a ghost train. Also, most ghost trains follow a single rail anyway.

What is the investment then?

Why do they keep giving out free fastracks when they sell too many already?! Apart from that I like the idea.

Hear, hear!

I still think they are stupid to remove Asylum. It was still the most popular maze last year even though it has the highest throughput, and still got the best reactions from the GP. Very sad indeed, and the replacement maze had better be as good as it!

People smoking in queues should be embarrassed by staff down the PA like they used to be. Vile!

Sundays in September always seem surprisingly busy from my experience.

The arena does seem like a huge waste of space IMO. I'm sure they could relocate the stunt bike show etc. to a temporary location, and they could definitely relocate MBV. Stick a ghost train in there, obviously of a high standard.

It really is a shame to see these smaller parks lose money over the greedier, bigger ones. It's one of the many reasons that I prefer to support the smaller businesses (when talking about theme parks) than merlin. Well, that and the fact that I tend to enjoy days at these parks more because I visit the merlin ones more often. Back on the subject of Whirlwind, I know that the park had to refurbish it earlier this year so maybe it cost too much? Whatever the reason, it's a shame to lose such a good flat ride.

It seems that LWV have put whirlwind (Mondial topscan) up for sale. I can't understand this move as whirlwind is a popular ride and the best run topscan I've been on! Also, they have only had it for a few years.

One train with a 3 hour queue? Sounds poor to me... Apart from that, nice to read that the coasters are worth making the journey for!

Maybe they should look at improving transport links rather than stopping projects due to their own incompetence!

2008 - exactly when the park started to take a major downturn... Coincidence?

Maybe, although I'm sure it was the previous owners who bought Speed (which opened in 2006) rather than Aspro.

When exactly did Aspro take over? As I have been visiting Oakwood for years, and it used to be really well run (apart from Hydro but that's understandable - at least it was open before though!) It really is sad to see such a good park flop the way Oakwood has. Aspro need to get out ASAP, it is clear to me that they have no intention of running the park properly, and to be honest I don't think they want to. They have ruined the park, all investment stopped when they took over (until last year), rides closed all the time, no attempt to shift queues, some areas of park looking neglected, can't even keep simple effects in Spooky 3D, water slides with mould all over them, the list goes on...

I think they need a separate prepaid queue on busy days, but apart from that I don't see how that queue could be prevented?

Nobody can know for sure. I'm still sure that if it wasn't for the complaint, it might have returned (still could!)