Coaster

New Valhalla promo image released today;
 

 
Source: https://twitter.com/MandsThompson

New Valhalla promo image released today;
 

 
Source: https://twitter.com/MandsThompson

New Valhalla promo image released today;
 

 
Source: https://twitter.com/MandsThompson

This is my biggest "fear" - being disappointed with a maze like that... I haven't been to Thorpe FN's this year, if I'd not visited early Summer and had my Stealth fix I might have been more tempted. I'd prefer paying for a ticket that allows multiple maze runthroughs (a la Tulleys) but I just can't see them being able to work that with capacity, especially if they can't even get the timed slots to work meaning people are paying for tickets they can't use.

Haven't actually gotten round to posting my Fright Nights thoughts yet.  Here goes;
 
Trailers is good fun, I liked some of the special effects and references but it lacked in atmosphere and scares for me.  6/10
 
Creak Freak Massacre - I had a dire run-through, hardly any actors, only 2 chainsaws, lacked in intensity and well... anything really.  A shame as back in 2019, it had 3 chainsaws and didn't cost £10!  2/10
 
Enjoyed the Crows walk thingy, didn't do Platform 15, parkwide lighting was dreadful, fire/light show was okay I guess but nothing special.  Did enjoy the night rides a lot though, was fortunate enough to be able to visit on a quiet day.
 
My leaving thoughts were, as my first visit to Thorpe since 2019 it was okay, but it will probably be another couple of years before I have any reason to return.  Distinctly average.

Grand National is closed for the remainder of 2021 for planned maintenance.

I don’t like the look of this, the last time a coaster closed towards the end of a season for “maintenance” it was torn down during the winter without warning.
 
https://www.blackpoolpleasurebeach.com/planned-maintenance/

Correct me if I am wrong
 
But unless the upcharge for mazes is just the cash grab I said it was last year, isnt the whole point of upcharge timed ticked maze admission to STOP long waits?

Just shows how meaningless - and perhaps farcical - the Golden Ticket Awards are.

What an awful choice of coaster.

Looks ugly and the whole coaster in of itself it just a weird choice. The helix spike in particular looks awful.
 
Why not Mack if they wanted an inverting triple launch coaster? 
 
Just everything about this is just peculiar. 

The Swarm's area and theming isn't that great IMO.  It's really just a bunch of vehicles and theming items plonked around the ride with no cohesion, it isn't visually nice to look at either.  Why is there a huge motorway billboard right next to a church?  What's a helicopter doing in a lake?  It's just bizarre.
 
I do feel that it was better when the ride first opened and it had the special effects, triggered sound effects etc.  As with most Merlin investments though it's been left to fall apart, had random items added and many items of theming are now missing or have been replaced with generic, un-themed items (e.g. the queue fencing).  To be honest, I was never a fan of the queue videos being throughout the entire queue, it would have worked much better having them in one section IMO.  It just became pretty grating during long queues listening to it I thought.  And of course, it all got naff when the screens stopped working, speakers broke etc.
 
There's also that ugly wooden cover around part of the church that totally detracts from the look of the station.  Things like that are such a shame; if they'd picked one idea and put all their efforts into that (e.g. a destroyed church as the main centrepiece), it could have looked much better.  The area as it is now is just a jumbled mess IMO.

Merlin are objecting to the London Resort planning application;
 
https://escapismproject.co.uk/news/1623419409?s=04&fbclid=IwAR10_0Tg26gWSoUVxXpB3cw7_nU2mQ7g0jdJK-ou_zD7Za4MVoncCuUaxsE
 
My thoughts on this?
 
Merlin need to do one.  They have strangled the life out of the UK theme park industry for years; they own the monopoly yet have such low standards in their parks, with no real drive to improve anything.
 
The Merlin short-term model of "slap an IP on it" whilst neglecting rides and basic infrastructure has killed the offering at their parks and, if the London Resort was to happen, it would most likely come back to bite them. My view is that they feel threatened by the prospect of a company coming in and doing a really good job with a park, as it would shift the public perception of Merlin being "the expected standard" in the UK.
 
Merlin are a company that call themselves second only to Disney, yet copy-paste ideas across the world, copy Paultons with Peppa Pig world (albeit not in the UK, as they can't) and they can't even invest satisfactorily in their major parks in the UK. Thorpe hasn't seen solid investment since 2012 despite supposedly being the UK's "thrill capital".  London Resort would challenge Merlin, which they clearly don't want.
 
In my opinion, London Resort is exactly what the UK industry needs for it to thrive, some healthy competition which would force Merlin to act. Look at America, there's a rivalry between Cedar Fair and Six Flags, or the European parks which are all owned by different companies. It's much healthier and means that parks have to be at the top of their game to stay in competition.
 
The fact that Merlin are making a fuss over this this says everything about them as a company, second rate and not willing to adjust and improve their offering to compete.

I'm going to be picky about one thing here and that is Merlin have always said they want to be second to Disney in terms of visitor numbers not quality. Secondly, I don't think we can criticise Merlin for copy/pasting attractions when Disney add Avengers campuses to three of their resorts and Toy Story play lands all over the place.
 
Aside from that, full agreement. It just comes across as anti-competition. 

Had a second run through of this yesterday.
 
half the effects weren't working and they bailed on the finale as they door wouldn't close.

this meant more groups were just walking into the final room just to wait for the doors to open. 
 
 

Thanks @ben199 and @Coaster for supporting the points I raised in my post. 
 
@Glitch, I feel if you re-read my post, you would understand my gripes are nothing to do with the attendance levels at all. In fact, it's great to see so many people out and about after what has been a disaster of a year. Of the 4 points I made, I believe 3 - with the exception of Point 1 on reliability - are simple operational issues which could be addressed. 
 
The point you made on the RAP is interesting though. On my recent visit, I had never seen so many guests with them!! Has this been a growing issue over a long time or quickly come about? Almost all rides with Fastrack had an equally long RAP queue. 

So we're blaming the parks poor usage of the RAP system (I bet 100% that Thorpe don't fill in correctly given Towers don't either) for aggressive upselling of Fastrack now?
 
I'm very sorry that you think disabled visitors who require carers are so problematic for the park. Maybe if they charged for carers they could afford to fix the wheelchair lifts for Saw and Inferno?
 
The RAP system being abused does NOT mean the park have to aggressively upsell Fastrack. Especially since they've been doing that for a far longer time than RAP has become a real issue. Other parks don't seem to have the same problems with their systems in my experiences and most don't even have a time card.

I think you've missed the point of the post, which highlights a major issue that UK parks simply cannot cope when they are busy.
 
Of course people expect the parks to be busy during half term, but operations need to be swift and the park should be running to maximum to reduce waiting times as much as possible, but that just doesn't happen.
 
It's very much a case of it being how the park is running, rather than how busy it is, that causes the most issues IMO.

I think you've missed the point of the post, which highlights a major issue that UK parks simply cannot cope when they are busy.
 
Of course people expect the parks to be busy during half term, but operations need to be swift and the park should be running to maximum to reduce waiting times as much as possible, but that just doesn't happen.
 
It's very much a case of it being how the park is running, rather than how busy it is, that causes the most issues IMO.

Not once did D.M.K mention crowds or the park being busy as a source of disappointment. All the issues raised were operational and customer services ones completely in the parks control.

Icon right now is utterly pointless to run three trains on. Endless stacking.
 
I know many blame this on the seatbelt installed on the restraint, this however is not the issue.
 
The issue is that the wristband/E ticket scanner is right at the boarding area to the ride. Which means guests are faffing around getting through the turnstile and being batched into their rows whilst the train in front is hitting the second launch. Icon historically when operated well is dispatching a train just as the train in front is hitting the second launch.
 
So by the time you have got through the scanning turnstile, been sent to your row, had the gates open, placed your belongings in the loose articles area, had the restaint checked and given the all clear, the ride has two trains stacked up behind you. Which in turn takes an eternity to off load riders.
 
Until they move the location of the turnstile, they should NOT be running it on three trains. No ifs no buts and no maybes about it.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach was atrocious on Sunday.
 
Saturday was an excellent day helped by the 10pm close; we arrived in the morning to find Alice, Ice Blast, Nickelodeon Streak, Avalanche and Revolution on delayed opening, which wrecked our chances of riding the low capacity rides first, but fortunately things picked up later on and the rides ran excellently throughout the day.  Icon was unfortunately still running very slowly once up to 3 trains, I waited earlier on 2 and the queue moved faster but some of my group ended up waiting over 90 minutes later on.
 
Sunday however, was the worst day I have ever had at BPB.  The park was busier than the Saturday, which I presume was due to the bank holiday, and yet there was no extension to the 6pm closing time.  We arrived early again to find Ice Blast, Alice, Derby Racer and the entirety of Nickelodeon Land opening at 11am!  Nick Land was completely fenced off until 11, which was utterly useless when you consider that getting on the Streak early is the only way to avoid waiting an eternity for it.
 
The coasters due to open at 10:30am were closer to 11 by the time they actually opened, meaning that for the first hour, the only ride in the entire park open was Flying Machines!
 
The Big One and Icon's operations were woefully slow on the Sunday, I have never seen such slow dispatch times in all my visits to the Pleasure Beach.  Icon was stacking for 5 minutes each time, meaning it took us 10 minutes to get off the thing, since we had to wait in two places as the ride was on 3 trains.  450pph was calculated I believe which is just abysmal, also bearing in mind that the Speedy Pass queue was enormous.
 
Icon had major capacity problems with it starting the day on 2 trains both times, at which point it was moving the queue reasonably, but they would then hold it up to add on the third train at around midday (which took them 20 minutes to do on the Sunday), after which operations slowed down to an absolute snail's pace.  This caused the queue to overspill the extended queueline; past the entrance gate, all the way down the path next to it and back up, and overflowing out next to the Icon shop.  It would then hardly move for the rest of the day making for some utterly horrible wait times.
 
Despite the park being absolutely heaving, Grand National, Ghost Train and River Caves closed an hour early at 5pm due to a private event?!  This was absolute madness given how busy the park was, and again, I have never seen anything like it.
 
I've tried to see the good in the Pleasure Beach, but Sunday was an utter shambles and the worst day I've ever spend at BPB.

Blackpool Pleasure Beach was atrocious on Sunday.
 
Saturday was an excellent day helped by the 10pm close; we arrived in the morning to find Alice, Ice Blast, Nickelodeon Streak, Avalanche and Revolution on delayed opening, which wrecked our chances of riding the low capacity rides first, but fortunately things picked up later on and the rides ran excellently throughout the day.  Icon was unfortunately still running very slowly once up to 3 trains, I waited earlier on 2 and the queue moved faster but some of my group ended up waiting over 90 minutes later on.
 
Sunday however, was the worst day I have ever had at BPB.  The park was busier than the Saturday, which I presume was due to the bank holiday, and yet there was no extension to the 6pm closing time.  We arrived early again to find Ice Blast, Alice, Derby Racer and the entirety of Nickelodeon Land opening at 11am!  Nick Land was completely fenced off until 11, which was utterly useless when you consider that getting on the Streak early is the only way to avoid waiting an eternity for it.
 
The coasters due to open at 10:30am were closer to 11 by the time they actually opened, meaning that for the first hour, the only ride in the entire park open was Flying Machines!
 
The Big One and Icon's operations were woefully slow on the Sunday, I have never seen such slow dispatch times in all my visits to the Pleasure Beach.  Icon was stacking for 5 minutes each time, meaning it took us 10 minutes to get off the thing, since we had to wait in two places as the ride was on 3 trains.  450pph was calculated I believe which is just abysmal, also bearing in mind that the Speedy Pass queue was enormous.
 
Icon had major capacity problems with it starting the day on 2 trains both times, at which point it was moving the queue reasonably, but they would then hold it up to add on the third train at around midday (which took them 20 minutes to do on the Sunday), after which operations slowed down to an absolute snail's pace.  This caused the queue to overspill the extended queueline; past the entrance gate, all the way down the path next to it and back up, and overflowing out next to the Icon shop.  It would then hardly move for the rest of the day making for some utterly horrible wait times.
 
Despite the park being absolutely heaving, Grand National, Ghost Train and River Caves closed an hour early at 5pm due to a private event?!  This was absolute madness given how busy the park was, and again, I have never seen anything like it.
 
I've tried to see the good in the Pleasure Beach, but Sunday was an utter shambles and the worst day I've ever spend at BPB.

Can only echo what was said regarding Sunday there. It really was poor. I ended up leaving at 3pm, as I was fed up.
 
Thinking positively, The Big One itself was on top top form and easily the best rides I have ever had on it. The Saturday post 10pm ride was truly amazing, with no wind, pure speed and even some unusual pops of airtime. One of my all time favourite coaster rides of all time.

Closed by 2023 is all I could think of to be honest.

Paultons was indeed excellent on Sunday.
 
Tornado Springs is a stunning new area and Storm Chaser is an incredible addition to the park.  I really like how it's a coaster of two halves, you get the calmer first half with views around the park, then you dive into the helix which is packed full of force before the final few turns throw you around a bit before you reach the brakes.
 
Genuinely, I think it's the best Mack coaster in the country.  It left me with a real "wow" feeling when I hit the brake run on every ride, and had me eager to get straight back on.
 
As others had said, it does outclass the other rides in terms of throughput, but it also looks very promising for the park's future.  Just a brilliant, delightful area and the very best of UK parks at the moment.