Coaster

If the timed system does come to fruition then that suggests to me low throughput - whilst this is an assumption rather than fact, why else would they need such a system? Correct me if I'm wrong but it appears to me that the idea of installing something with high throughput has gone out of the window in the past two years; IAC doesn't even reach 200pph and they've destroyed the throughput on Air this year. Many existing rides at Thorpe and the other parks have lower throughputs this year as well such as X, Rattlesnake, Oblivion, Fury etc.

Some form of proof would help.

New uploaded advert with some very minor changes https://youtu.be/e959-olHi_c

So in terms of an actual theme park operator, they're not as big as they seem - as most of what they own are midway attractions.

If the visitor numbers for Merlin Entertainments include all their attractions (e.g. the huge number of Sea Life aquariums, midway attractions and everything else) then they don't necessary reflect the attendances of the theme parks.

^ Do Merlin's figures include the parks only or are the midway attractions/everything else included as well?

I too have had some great trips to Alton in the past, but this year it's under-performing as are Thorpe and Chessington. The non-Merlin parks are far superior to the Merlin ones this year in terms of a good day out IMO.

A good point, however I've had more enjoyable days at the likes of Drayton Manor, Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach and Adventure Island in Southend than at the Merlin parks this year. I honestly can't believe it's June and I have been to Thorpe twice this year (usually will be in the region of 6+ visits by now), and both times I left wondering why I bothered.

Rides that were closed were listed, explanation for The Flume and Ripsaw included in brackets. Ride availability was good elsewhere as mentioned in TR. With that said I do not agree with the phrase "perfect ride availability" - their resources can't exactly be stretched with the closures and there were a few minor breakdowns hence the use of the word "generally". Nope, it was an explanation as to why the photos weren't very good - with the short opening hours + walking time between rides I didn't want to waste time standing around taking photos, this has nothing to do with making a "cheap shot." 19 rides in a day isn't exactly what I would call a high Ridecount.

Yes, in hindsight it was foolish to flat-out state that I wouldn't visit, but I stand by the view that keeping it in a signature is a completely petty-minded act. I went to Alton because I wanted to go on The Smiler and Nemesis again, as well as the fact that it's on the Merlin pass so didn't cost me anything to get in - I did enjoy the visit despite the closures however wouldn't have been impressed if I had paid for entry.

Tell others to what? Where have I told anyone not to go?? Also, who are you to comment on what parks I visit? I wanted to go to Alton, therefore I went. I didn't think "oh, but I can't because of a quote someone is keeping from February" You have a somewhat strange view of what is immature, personally I class keeping something someone said in a signature as immature. Completely pathetic and childish

Alton Towers - 2nd & 3rd June 2016 PARK OPEN: 10am - 5pm (Both days) RIDES CLOSED: Hex, Sub Terra, CATCF, Driving School, Wobble World, The Flume (SBNO) and Ripsaw (Removed) Having not been to Alton Towers for over a year, and hearing of how the park has changed, I wasn't really sure what to expect. Firstly, the Monorail wasn't open when we arrived at 8:30am on the first day; I'm not sure if this is a change, or if it simply wasn't ready on this occasion. After walking to the entrance we headed to Oblivion for the ERT, a few rides on this were then followed by The Smiler. Ride operations were a mixed bag this time. Thirteen and Nemesis were running three/two trains efficiently (stacking, but not for long) which was good, and kept queues moving well. Oblivion was only running one station both days; fortunately we made use of the ERT to get straight on, however when in the area later it had a horrible queue on both days and going by dispatch times it was still only on one station (four cars) - really not good. In addition, Galactica's throughput has been destroyed with the googles. It was running two stations with three trains, however they were all stacking; even with three, they were all stationary in the station/stacking on the break run nearly every time. Furthermore, several seats were closed due to broken googles, and on some trains whole rows were closed which really doesn't help. Obviously The Smiler was also on low capacity but this is understandable for the time being, and we made use of the SRQ! The biggest surprise for me was that the park was reasonably busy on both days. With that said, the lack of open rides meant that crowds built up on rides and areas which previously wouldn't have been the case, and I saw lots of families "milling around" looking for open rides they could go on which was a sad sight. In addition, the lower throughputs on existing coasters didn't help with crowd control. I would however like to say that they had it spot on with managing Fastrack over the two days. The price is higher than at other parks, therefore they sell less so it has a smaller effect on the main queues. As well as this, they have dedicated queues rather than having people queue up at the exit. BPB and Thorpe, take note! There have been lots of audio changes parkwide which really help to improve the atmosphere, for example new entrance music and new music on some of the rides, as well as last year's entrance music being used in the Fountain Square area near Hex. Galactica had new music which was nice. I was however not impressed to hear the Hex theme in the Monorail station, almost like they were going out of their way to remind people that one of their best rides is closed! Nemesis has had a complete track repaint which looks good, however it is a shame that the surrounding area hasn't been tidied up a bit (cutting weeds etc). Aesthetically the rest of the park looked good in areas, and uncared for in others, and although there were some improvements I didn't see much in terms of revitalisation. Most people have probably been to Alton, so I'll just review a few of the rides. It was great to get back on The Smiler, it's still a fantastic coaster with force, intensity and just the right amount of bumpiness to add to the enjoyment of the ride. I was glad to hear that the music was playing loudly in the area, however it is a shame that they felt the need to cut some parts of the audio out. Likewise, Nemesis was also running really well, and it is still my favourite coaster at Towers with Smiler coming in a close second. Oblivion isn't a ride I rate, however I was disappointed to see that the theme has been unceremoniously "cropped" out in places in the most unprofessional manner. Things such as cutting out a line in the station preshow are completely unnecessary, and the way that it has been done is frankly awful and a disgrace to the creative team behind the original concept. Spinball Whizzer is one of the better coasters at Alton IMO, and it was running well with a shorter queue (and SRQ) than usual. Galactica didn't impress me at all. I found that the VR removed the sensation of actually being on a rollercoaster, making it feel like I was on a simulator. The quality of the VR footage was poor, and the way it just cuts off at the end is unprofessional. In addition to this, the headsets are too heavy which make it uncomfortable, and they cannot be worn with glasses which alienates a large number of people. The fact that they have put money into this, which destroys the throughput in two ways (operations and broken seats) as well as having high running costs due to a large number of staff rather than investing in getting existing rides in the park open is a shame, and yet again it seems like a short term investment (even though the last example of such an investment is sitting SBNO in the same area!) Duel was unfortunately in a poor state, with awful lighting in places such as a strobe lighting up the entire mechanism in the bat section - WHY?! Elsewhere there were several effects broken including sounds and lighting, as well as other lighting being left on permanently rather than using a sensor. With that said, some areas looked good such as the Spider scene. RIDECOUNTS: Thursday 2nd June 2016 Nemesis x6 The Smiler x6 Duel x4 Spinball Whizzer x2 Oblivion x2 Thirteen x1 Rita x1 Galactica x1 (Sky Ride x1) TOTAL: 24 Friday 3rd June 2016 The Smiler x5 Nemesis x3 Thirteen x3 Duel x2 Spinball Whizzer x1 Congo River Rapids x1 (Monorail x1) (Sky Ride x2) TOTAL: 18 Highlights: - Great to get back on The Smiler and Nemesis! - Glad to see the park getting busier again - Nice new park audio - Reliability on open rides was generally good Lowlights: - Too many ride closures - Lower throughputs than in previous years despite ride closures - Galactica - Awful lighting in Duel - Random taller fences around the park - Courtyard BBQ closed - Several shops closed/boarded up - 5pm close was too early - Dire ridecount on Friday Photos The Smiler; Nemesis, still brilliant; Oblivion; Galactica; It didn't come out well on camera, but this sort-of highlights the bad lighting in Duel; Spinball Whizzer; Apologies that the photos aren't great, I didn't have much time with the park only being open from 10am - 5pm so just took a few from in the queues. Thanks for reading

Chessington's Facebook page is a good read at the moment, customer satisfaction at its finest...

Is it viable for a park to purchase and store parts for a ride, meaning that they can have a system where they always have spare parts and order in a backup after the spare is used? Just wondering as rides seem to close a lot due to "waiting for a part", so this would solve that.

As a fan of wooden coasters it's fantastic to see that Alton will finally be installing one. The layout looks good albeit a little short - but that's a small complaint given that the UK has been crying out for a new wooden coaster for years. It also looks like the project planning is good, with the completion date set months before opening.

Day 1 - Pleasurewood Hills PARK OPEN: 10am - 5pm RIDES CLOSED: None that I can think of, but several breakdowns/late openings. After enjoying a day at Pleasurewood Hills last year we decided to return this year. The day started badly; after park opening we headed to Enigma to find that it wasn't ready to open, then found that Wipeout was also not open. Fortunately Marble Madness opened on time and was running four cars - it did go down to three later in the day due to an issue with one of the cars, but with the crowd level this wasn't really an issue. I noticed that several of the smaller rides also opened late, which isn't good. Annoyingly, despite opening over an hour late, the staff on Enigma closed the queueline 10 minutes early, and were actually off the ride and walking out of the park five minutes before park closing time, which is really not on . The park lacks in atmosphere with music only playing at the entrance, meaning that there is not much audio around the park (aside from themed music in a few areas). I think a having a music playlist in some areas would work well, maybe something similar to the setup at Oakwood. Aesthetically there is room for improvement, with overgrown grass and weeds in places and just generally looking uncared for. Things like disused queuelines and boats left lying around don't help, and it wouldn't take that much effort to improve this. With that said, there are some areas that look great, for example Enigma which has had a complete track and support repaint this year which is really good to see. Capacity on some of the rides is low, but fortunately they are generally good at filling all the seats which keeps queues down (I'm not sure the park is busy very often), and I'm fairly sure there is no Fastpass system which is great! For the benefit of those who haven't visited, I'll review some of the rides. Enigma is my favourite ride at the park. It's a small, compact Schwarzkopf coaster which runs with a good mix of bumpiness and intensity. The low level turns near the end of the ride are the highlight for me, as well as the third drop. Great coaster. Wipeout is great fun, very intense and forceful in places with both forwards and backwards travel. Hobs Pit is a good dark ride which makes use of hologram effects very well, also combining them with the theming in places. Other effects/props are of a high quality, and the use of atmospheric audio and "Hob" talking finishes the ride well. With that said, it felt slightly less "polished" this year, and the ending is somewhat lacking - it should have something loud and sudden to finish IMO, but at the moment nothing happens apart from an actor following the car. The park's decision to make the themed part of the exterior smaller is bizarre, however some small details have been added to the remaining facade which is good. Jolly Roger is a drop tower which despite being small packs a lot of force into the drop, as well as offering some nice views of Enigma and the surrounding countryside. Marble Madness is a standard mouse coaster but it's a good addition to the park, it also runs more efficiently than Rattlesnake at Chessington which is a plus! I find it amusing that the park has two sets of Dodgems and neither are very good, but Hyper Drive in particular really is a bizarre concept and just doesn't really work. A few of the flat rides judder quite alarmingly, namely Fireball (KMG Afterburner) and the Pirate Ship - suppose it made them different though! Wave Breaker is a good dingy slide with some fantastic airtime. Finally, I'd just like to mention that Pleasurewood Hills have a log flume, and they actually operate it! Timber Falls isn't the world's greatest log flume by any means but it has two good drops, and is open!! RIDECOUNT: Enigma x9 Jolly Roger (drop tower) x5 Wipeout x4 Hobs Pit x4 Marble Madness x4 Timber Falls Log Flume x3 (A log flume that's open! ) Rattlesnake x2 Wave Breaker (dingy slide) x1 Fireball x1 Pirate Ship x1 Dodgems x1 Hyper Drive Dodgems x1 Train x1 Mini Train x1 Kite Flyer x1 TOTAL: 39 Highlights: - Enigma and Wipeout are two good coasters - Friendly staff - No fastpass system! - Great to get on a log flume which is a rarity these days in the UK Lowlights: - Rides opening late and several breakdowns during the day - Enigma queue closing early - Aesthetics could be improved - Chairswing ('new' for this year) wasn't quite finished Day 2 - Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach PARK OPEN: 11am - 8pm RIDES CLOSED: Log Flume, Sky Drop After an good day at Pleasurewood Hills we headed to Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach for our second ever visit. We arrived just after 11am and all rides were ready to go which was a good start. We headed to the wooden roller coaster and had four goes on it first - it does build up a queue due to only running one train, but it didn't reach over 15/20 minutes so not too bad. There is a fantastic 'classic amusement park' atmosphere, with music playing throughout the park as well as a busy, lively feel which is something I miss about BPB these days. GYPB is a seaside park which takes advantage of walking trade offering free entry and both a token and wristband system. I noticed that a lot of people were using tokens throughout the day, so the park probably makes a healthy amount of money that way. Aesthetically the park is really well kept, with pathways clean and free of litter as well as the rides being in good condition and clean-looking. It is clear that a lot of effort goes into keeping the rides looking good; particularly the painted frontage on the wooden roller coaster which is in great condition. I have a lot of respect for parks that keep the old heritage rides running. The park are generally good at keeping queues down and filling all empty seats, and again there is no Fastpass system which is fantastic. For the benefit of those who haven't visited, I'll review a few of the rides. Roller Coaster is a superb coaster. Whilst it doesn't offer the intensity of some other woodies, it has some very good drops and the airtime in the back row is brilliant in places. As well as this, the effect of going through the frontage is good, as is the interaction with some of the smaller rides. In addition to this, the coaster is unique as it has no upstop wheels, instead using an onboard brakeman to control the speed. Brilliant coaster. Evolution was enjoyed again, it doesn't run on the best setting but still offers a good, thrilling ride with lots of hangtime. After riding the Haunted Hotel (ghost train) last year, I remember saying that it was good, but needed more lighting in places. Fortunately the park have improved this, with extra UV lighting in places as well as additional strobes and some new props which improve the ride. Whilst it's nothing high calibre, the UV effects and strobes are really good and the scenery is plentiful. The ride does need some audio and sound effects to finish it off though. The Dodgems are great fun and run well with a decent sized track, just wish the cycle was a bit longer! The Snail ride is amusing and offers some unique views of the wooden coaster, as does the Monorail - which is open! Family Star is a fun spinning coaster but nothing special, the throughput is awful as well! Unfortunately the log flume was closed for maintenance, however there were visible signs of work going on with track having been replaced, so it's good to see that the park are persevering with it to get it back open rather than mothballing it - not naming any names there! RIDECOUNT: Roller Coaster x17 Haunted Hotel x10 Dodgems x8 Family Star x4 Evolution x3 Snails and Fairy Tales x3 Fun House x3 Waltzer x1 Twister x1 Whirlwind x1 Monorail x1 Mulan x1 Disko x1 Pirate Ship x1 Big Apple x1 TOTAL: 56 Highlights: - Fantastic wooden roller coaster - Park clean and well presented - Great amusement park atmosphere - Queues kept to a minimum (and closed on time - not early) - Friendly staff - No fastpass system! Lowlights: - Was a shame to see the Log Flume closed, but glad they are working to get it back open - A bit frustrating near the end of the day when staff waited a while for the train to fill up on Roller Coaster - Extra charge for the Ferris Wheel - Haunted Hotel could do with some audio Day 3 - Joyland & Britannia Pier The third day was spent in Great Yarmouth, which included a brief visit to Joyland and Britannia Pier. Joyland is a small park which has a few historic rides including The Tubs (last remaining Virginia Reel type ride) and The Snails. The park runs a token system with all rides costing £1 (1 token). The Snails are amusing, with a calm first section followed by some small drops and hills. The Tubs are enjoyable, and quite bumpy with sudden changes of spinning direction. The cars themselves are powered, which I'm sure wouldn't have been the case originally. Spook Express is a small coaster which isn't very spooky, however it's good for what it is and has a small tunnel section. Finally, there is a small dark ride (Neptune's Kingdom) which makes good use of UV lighting. We also made a brief trip onto Britannia Pier to ride the ghost train, which had a good mix of scares and sound effects, however it was very short! Photos! Pleasurewood Hills Enigma, I really rate this coaster; And they mean it! Wipeout; Hobs Pit; Marble Madness; Random boat Chairswing, this looks well landscaped; Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach Roller Coaster, a fantastic woodie; Haunted Hotel features some good UV effects; One of many views of Roller Coaster from the Snail ride; The park have installed a new Ferris Wheel opposite the Log Flume, but it incurs an extra charge so we didn't bother; Finally, taken from the Monorail queue; Thanks for reading.

The "fail a room, get kicked out" idea wouldn't work if it is an extra charge, would be a rip off if you failed the first one!

Eh? I'm not going anyway (cue cheering)

Sad news, I think a free entry system with tokens and wristbands would work better for the park than the current system.

Exactly - I'd put it down to the bad press from the accident, and the operations at times putting some people off from returning.

It doesn't surprise me at all that Thorpe's figures went down last year.

"It's unfortunate timing when combined with the announcement of DBGT not opening soon, oh dear, etc. etc."

In all honesty I don't really know how journalism works, it's just hard to take them seriously when they publish tripe like that.

They're using that ambient audio again!

Two coasters down. Great way to ease the disappointment of DBGT opening late Thorpe... (Please don't take this post seriously).