Coaster

I thought soft opening was opening a ride to everyone but without advertising/before the official opening day? I'm not a miserable person and as previously mentioned there's no call for personal insults because someone has a different opinion to you.

I'm not bothered about being one of the first people on, I would be bothered by seeing "select customers" being let on when the majority aren't. And I commented because that's my opinion.

^ I couldn't care less who goes on it before me, but if I was on park and saw people going on then I would be a bit peeved - especially given the fact it was due to open well over a month ago. Also why would I book a night's stay when it's only a 40 minute drive away?

It's not a sense of entitlement, it's a sense that it is wrong to let people on in front of others. As I said I wasn't there so it didn't affect me, and I wouldn't have expected to be open, but letting people on in front of the public (who by the way have spent a lot of money and have been waiting for months to experience this attraction) is wrong. It has actually... twice.

Pass-holders have been waiting months for this to open, and other guests have forked out for day tickets so it's a complete kick in the teeth to visibly let people on the ride in front of everyone else. I'm not suggesting that Thorpe were under any obligation to open the ride, however IMO if it's fit to soft open then it should be to everyone, and failing that the preview should have taken place outside of park opening hours. Also I would appreciate it if you kept the personal digs to yourself, you have your opinion and I have mine, that doesn't make me a "parody."

I understand they did this during park hours which frankly I find appalling. What a huge kick in the teeth for everyone on park today to see people being let in when they've spent all that money. Thankfully I wasn't there, I've lost interest in this attraction but yet again they've completely mismanaged something which will cause annoyance and upset amongst the majority of paying customers!

That doesn't make them look like an appealing park to visit in all honesty, very bad from a PR point of view.

I'm a fan of the original series but just watching from Eccleston to the end of S4 at the moment - so much more enjoyable than anything from series 6 onwards IMO.

Re-watching series 1 - 4 at the moment and it's reminded me why I used to really like DW - they don't make 'em like that anymore!

But it's not in Alton's budget at the moment, it's another bizarre short term investment that in the long run is likely to cause problems for the park.

That's good, the two visits I've had this year it has been off.

Hasn't that fire been off for most of the season so far?

Why do parks do these promotions? All they do is annoy thousands of people because the site goes down!

It's such a shame that differing opinions seem an alien concept to some. On topic, themed uniform is quite rare at UK parks so it's good that they have done something.

^ Called it! Had this through email; I think this is a fantastic decision and I hope it pays off for them. It's refreshing to see a park that listens to what the public want.

I've picked up on positives such as Tidal's effects bring restored amongst other things, but frankly I haven't found much else good about Thorpe this year - though I haven't been since April so things may have changed.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect parks to operate competently, when you pay up that should be the minimum expectation. Also where does Alton Towers come into this? My point was the comment that "negative content adds nothing to the overall thread" is something I don't agree with, as it would completely kill discussion on a forum if everyone had the same view.

Yep because there's really a point in a one-sided (positive only) forum...

What if you've already handed over your cash (bought a pass)?

That's awful. I wish Aspro would sell Oakwood, it used to be a great park but they are running it into the ground with lack of investment, shocking ride availability and it just feels neglected. Sure, there have been some positive changes this year but in terms of the overall performance of the park, it seems worse than ever.

Wonder what's wrong with Drenched - it seems to have been closed all year so far going by the website!

You'd think that after however many years of running that park they would have learnt by now! They really should look at how Alton manages Fastrack, it's much better these days.

I actually saw a squirrel jumping into a bin at Towers last week - shame I didn't report it really, didn't realise it was news worthy!

I seem to remember it being down to locals complaining about noise (people screaming), not 100% sure though.

^^ If I remember correctly the timed ticket system on Jungle Coaster was used after they put those weird boxes on top of the cars, as this slowed down throughput horribly! I remember being stuck in one of those boxes with a wasp the whole way round once. Urgh.