Coaster

Anyone can work out that a simple stoppage on a ride is NOT news. What a bunch of clueless scum.

It's my opinion that the only reason Fastrack should exist is for compensation for a queueline evacuation, or for people who cannot queue. This doesn't apply just to Thorpe or Merlin for the record, I just think the concept of paying to queue jump is wrong. There is no excuse for it either, when smaller/family owned parks such as Drayton Manor and Pleasurewood Hills don't operate such a system, a company as large as Merlin can afford not to. Compensation for queue evacs in itself would not cause congestion in the queues, and I think that is a great way to compensate people for that particular situation. The issue comes when the main paid system is oversold, priority passes are handed out to deal with compaints about everything - and the Premium Passholder £5 vouchers and VIP passholders have a very small contribution to this as well, which on the worst days could be all it takes to throw the system into disarray. I also think that there is an issue with the way the numbers are limited - the sold tickets don't seem to take those handed out for compensation into consideration, which shouldn't be the case.

I find it interesting (and a bit odd) that in a year when both Alton and Thorpe lost a significant percentage of custom, Chessington gained custom.

But it would have been better from a PR point of view as Thorpe wouldn't have let thousands of people down - also am I right in thinking that they are refunding people's tickets due to this? Therefore it's a payout which could have been avoided.

Two of those posts were responses, so it's three and the third one was because I had seen something on Thorpe's website worth posting anyway.

I don't see what the issue would be with soft-openings, they are a good way to break a new ride in without the pressure of an advertised opening day.

I'm well aware of the differences between an argument and a discussion, unfortunately some people aren't and when you have your account reported by someone as a spam account because they disagree with your opinion on something it makes me wonder if there's any point debating on here, but here goes... Whether they were confident or not is irrelevant - as you said, delays happen, and it baffles me that Thorpe announced a time scale after the backlash they got after the first delay. Surely it would have made sense not to specify a date, therefore building up people' expectations (and causing them to book hotels & tickets etc!). This has once again lead to thousands of people being let down and Thorpe are ultimately suffering as a result of it as well, when simply advertising the ride as "coming soon" (as they are doing now) would have avoided this. People are discussing Thorpe more than Dollywood because this is a Thorpe Park forum, it's as simple as that. I'm sure that the people affected by Lightning Rod's delay are discussing it and possibly that it's bad (depending on how it was handled - I haven't got a clue as I haven't really been following). Regarding the "do they ever learn", it boils down to recent projects; they announced a date for The Smiler which was delayed, and then delayed again. Then they announced the date for Derren Brown's Ghost Train which was delayed, so what did they do? Released another deadline which has now also been delayed. It's easy to see why people are getting frustrated IMO.

That's a fair point about them not being able to change the advert, but that does beg the question of why they put a timescale on it - not just "coming soon."

No, it simply means that I don't want to start an argument on here, and frankly I can't be bothered to type out a well thought-out reply when it will just get a load of "stop moaning" stuff back.

I have read it, it doesn't change my opinion and I don't want to cause a stir by replying to it. That advert is false advertising.

Just seen an advert on ITV saying open end of May! What the hell Thorpe!!

Just seen this on Thorpe's website: Shame it took them two delays and subsequent backlashes to realise this.

Samurai, Saw, Stealth, Colossus, Rush, Tidal Wave, Storm Surge, etc.

If it's not a creative delay, what is it?

Why invest in something with so much new technology when their reliability on existing, tried-and-tested rides is already awful? Why get something that heavily relies on effects/headsets working when they don't even maintain their current effects? It's a disgrace to be airing the adverts on TV stating "end of May", I saw two yesterday! What sort of clueless so-and-so gives a second timescale after the backlash the first delay got?

They are nothing but a complete shambles.

Well I'm not sure where it's come from, as the park doesn't need to apply for planning permission for rides within their grounds - therefore why (and how) would it be online?

Not sure it should be online really, but seeing as it is, it looks incredible!

Out of the parks I've visited so far this year, Blackpool and Drayton are clean and well kept in most areas, with planting/hedges trimmed back, ride carriages cleaned on a regular basis and pathways kept clean - whereas Thorpe and Chessington are not so much so. With Thorpe it's general things such as the state of the entrance buildings, other buildings within the park and some of the rides/their areas. Chessington is much the same but on a worse scale IMO. There have been improvements in places; Thorpe's landscaping this year is great and some areas of Chessington have been painted & updated, but the overall impression is still grotty. It's a shame that a lot of parks in the UK don't focus on the overall appearance as it makes a huge difference to the overall impression they leave on people.

Looks great! Is it me or does it look like the bag drop is right at the beginning of the queue?

Wonder if there will still be an annual pass preview? I'm thinking that next Thursday might be a possible date for opening, but that's a complete guess - that would give it two days without large crowds, but depends if it's ready!

^ Incredible, a review before it's even opened!

Let's hope they find the third train during this closure!

£9 for ice cream!

Nice little article with a (very) brief overview of the park's history: Link here - there are a few old photos which are worth a look! https://www.sundaypost.com/in10/chat/blackpool-pleasure-beach-120-years/ -