Flipper

Like I said, took me ages to see the reference. It's been a long day

As Fred has already highlighted, it seems the system is in conjunction with the Lo-Q system; with almost guarantee that Lo-Q is coming to Thorpe based on the weblink he posted in another topic. What's interesting though is that the two can be used in perfect harmony on a smartphone, and also has the opportunity (by the looks of it) for one shots, package fastracks, even meal deals and such like - so hopefully the park will use this new system to their advantage.

Took me ages to see the reference then, for anyone who doesn't see it like I didn't Fred's referring to the Lo-Q Bot promo image about halfway down that shows Colossus, Detonator and Fish on it's screen. But we knew something like this was coming to be fair, as we were aware of the park trialling a new ticketing system...

All I'm going to say is I used to work for an old Chessington manager in another park, and he introduced recording throughputs to this other park; but always highlighted that it was to record performance, and not to have targets; and that Chessington don't operate targets to achieve with throughput but merely record what the rides do every hour. Whereas Thorpe do have targets and expectations of their rides; and do (or at least did) operate reward schemes for teams whom run a ride well.

Dara, just throwing it out there you completely quoted me out of context. My point was that Benin referred to a B&M Floorless as being a Colossus as a gimmick, so I was highlighting that if you go on that basis all anything is, is a "Colossus with a gimmick" just because it loops like Colossus but with a different seating arrangement. Which is exactly what a floorless would do, loop with a different seating arrangement, and Benin said it would be a gimmick. I wasn't actually calling Inferno a gimmick coaster, I was merely making a point based on what Benin said. You need to read carefully dear

Oh I do appreciate and realise that. My simple personal opinion on Slammer is that I don't want to risk getting stuck on it anywhere. Be it in the air, or on the ground. I know in any likeliness of a breakdown Slammer normally behaves and will do it on the ground; and I know it can be easily manually released (the bars) but I still don't want to really take the chance..

Slammer can break down upside down, but equally I don't recall it ever breaking while I've been near it. And certainly not in a major way. I still don't trust it.

My biggest concern with Slammer is the fact I don't want to get on it when it reopens, because quite frankly I don't want to run the risk of being stuck on it for any longer than I have to.

I'm sorry but I really don't think you follow me. I appreciate that you can have 'up for it' families and families that enjoy thrills and Thorpe can stay how it is because thats what everybody wants etc. But my biggest point remains, that they've invested into Angry Birds and have not incorporated any of it in the image. That would be like Chessington not advertising Scorpion Express, or Towers not advertising Cbeebies Land in my opinion; and thats my main point. Yes, I still feel that it should have fitted with their own TV and on-park advertising more, but that aside Angry Birds people! I also agree with Josh, this has gone on too long with people just picking at any comment I made.

Okay, wasn't sure. I don't particularly pay attention to what non-UK parks have hence why I was curious. I disagree that it doesn't add much, I found Scream a very good ride; which was different enough to not feel similar to other coasters at SFMM but like I said, also a different kind of experience, so I disagree that it'd be too much like Colossus with a gimmick. But then again, isn't that what they all are? Swarm, a looping coaster with a gimmick, Inferno, a looping coaster with a gimmick, based on what you're saying. Just because of a different seating position...

I have to second that I feel it works, but based on what you're experience was it completely confused me as to what it's purpose is. When we queued, it just showed the logo on the screen for ages, and then suddenly that annoying Lemur came up and tried to interact with the kids, encouraging the kids to be let through and stand in the big space until the adults caught up; and trying to be interactive (still the staff member behind a screen). At first, I thought it was just a way to run it how they wanted to - pre-show when it's busy, no pre-show when it's not; but clearly that isn't the case. I do agree though I think that a normal cattle pen and a generic video would work better; although equally I would like to see the wood and rope queue line continued if they went down that route eventually. Also, don't know if you noticed it BBJ, but when I went on the driver parked ridiculously close to the rockery in the cave; resulting in us all getting a real soaking which I wasn't too pleased about. The car had puddles in it when we boarded, so we sat in a small flood throughout it which wasn't pleasant, and getting off, I felt like I'd been on Valhalla in Blackpool. It truly threw water in, giving everyone a spray; and giving poor unlucky mugs like me who were sat on the end left a real soaking as the wave literally came into the jeep...

I thought it looked good; and if I'm honest an improvement on the tired looking Runaway Train. They've refurbished the buildings walking towards it which gives a nice fresh approach, and as a whole it isn't bad - definitely looks better than the Fish (sorry Flying Fish). Also didn't ride, but did watch and found it weird how it crawls up the back, and then goes at it's usual speed - has it slowed down? No. The fire effect is impressive and can be felt from the main path, but by the afternoon it seemed to fail to ignite. The scorpion doesn't look bad, but isn't fantastic. However when we were watching it a lot of kids seemed to love it, and loved the fact that you got a bit wet. So I think they've done really well. I agree with Benin, he has high standards. It's not anything spectacular, but it's brilliant for little ones and a really good move for Chessington, and definitely has brought life back to an old ride.

Agreed on first section music. With the fountains I thought it was a vast improvement, with lights going off all over the place and all the fountains lit back up faultlessly. But then maybe my opinion is different; or maybe it was just timing as they seem to be on almost a random setting as there didn't seem to be any flow with what the lights did. Also, I have to disagree about the tidy up. I thought the ride looked pretty bad today. Okay the boats have been painted and the animatronics are working faultlessly (also the fun fair room music isn't skipping anymore) but in rooms like the factory bit before the lift, they've really really badly removed the Imperial Leather labels on the bottles so that you can see a black Imperial Leather - shaped mark. It also seemed incredibly dusty in my opinion.

Today, Vampire was just ridiculous in my opinion. I've never had the satisfaction of seeing a three-train service and I'm fully aware that I never will, although it is nice to see a third train back together since it was left last year without any seating on it in the transfer... Today the queue was consistently 45 minutes whenever I looked; and I only did it because me and Rich got a priority / fastrack pass for Dragon's Fury breaking down on us (might I add, when we got to Vampire that too broke down). But, and I said it to Rich today, I do not understand why Vampire is so slow moving. We saw about six trains go and every time the train before had returned and hit the brakes at the end. Now, Vampire is roughly a two minute ride, roughly, based off the length of YouTube POVs. So I do not understand why it takes them two minutes to load a train. Rich argued it's because of small kids with it being a 1.1m ride - but that aside, the staff should be helping to get kids into the ride wherever possible to help speed up operation. But today they just didn't seem to care in my opinion. I mean, even with kids - most of which are in a one adult to one child ratio; still shouldn't take them that long to load. If parks like Thorpe and Towers can load and send Nemesis trains within a minute (despite having more seats to check, more people with bags etc.) I don't understand why Vampire can't run to a similar standard. People moan when rides stack at Thorpe, but I think that the difference in ride length between a Thorpe coaster and Vampire is enough for them to sort Vampire's operation out - and in my opinion I don't see why they can't have the trains dispatching roughly when the other train goes through the photo-point tunnel like it did back in 2012. Was an incredibly poor team on Vampire today.

Maybe it is a trick of the light but Fred's right, Spinball isn't that bright; and if anybody genuinely has a car that is as bright a red as that, then it must be an extremely rare paint colour - but to have three of them? Photo taken from Alton Towers Guide on Facebook, clearly showing that (in normal light) the buildings are NOT as bright as seen...

Again you are still missing my point. The park are using a TV advert that appeals to all families, inclusive of those with younger children. So, if you're going to promote rides such as Rumba and Depth Charge - and likewise Angry Birds - surely these rides should be used in all of their marketing. I'm not saying, don't put on the thrill rides; I'm saying it's solely the thrill rides. So if you're going to advertise some of the lower height rides on TV, and then put adverts inclusive of Loggers Leap amongst others on the park - then why create marketing images that cover none of the 'younger family' rides. I don't think I can make it any clearer...

It doesn't actually run different lengths, I think people just start to think that it does because it sometimes takes ages to get itself to height and by the time it does; it's finishing again.

Side note: I would like to know where spelling is a rule on the forums? Just saying I would find it quite offensive if someone started editing my posts because of spelling and grammar.... Moving on; I think in the long run a woodie would be possible for a Merlin park. They clearly don't have an issue with Woodies since they happily operate them abroad. However, I do feel that from a family approach, they will find a decent family roller coaster - even if it has done before - that also has some kind of novelty that adds to the park. Away from the family market I would like to one day see a B&M Floorless coaster come to Thorpe. I know it's an old concept, but based on riding Scream, I have to admit I find them incredibly fun to ride; and different, as it seems to put the forces onto your body in a strange way, and is also something not yet seen in the UK (is there even one in Europe? I'm not sure)

I feel shamed to say I didn't know there was more than one crocodile, nor waterfalls. And I worked on Inferno! Shows how long they've been broken and covered up for

I have to hold my hands up after today and say that Bubbleworks' fountain finale now has a superior lighting show in it, even compared to X. Especially now they've given it proper lighting walkways and a hell of a lot more lights

My point is for a park trying to target the family market, it contradicts that in my opinion. The TV advert yes, has the family approach. This doesn't. So my point being, adding a couple of Rumba boats and maybe Depth Charge in the background wouldn't have done any harm - you know, to highlight some of these family rides that they're raving on about on TV.

I thought the same as Pluk...

School's week is also fast approaching... Yes, last year Swarm's fire was notably every three trains; although this year I've seen it every other train, so if it's becoming yet more frequent then good on it, because it's a notable effect in the Zero-G. I also have to agree it has seemed to 'worn in' a little and has seemed more forceful than usual. I still personally don't find it anything amazing, but a bit more to it than it was. Also very proud of you for Braving it Backwards Han, I learnt from Samurai however not to hold your hand

Quantum on the whole has been notably better this year than usual, however one thing I have noticed is every ride I've had this year so far has been pretty damn good; but also they've always had the ride with two attendants, meaning they're filling every row on the ride and not leaving one empty. I know it might sound daft, but by having more weight (and balanced weight at that) I believe does help Quantum; as I still vow the best ride we've had this year was on Annual Pass day (I think it was) when the ride was the best part of full (four in every row, more or less) and it flew.

Maybe they did, but I imagine Vekoma are pretty peev'd about it. Regardless, it is a little sadistic because what we're looking at is, in its own right, a big move for B&M and something that will probably go pretty mainstream if it's a success; so it wouldn't have hurt to see a little bit of a variation on the Vekoma layout.