HAJiME

Yeah, I think this is very much the case with me. I tend to feel fine and confident, but then stumble with my words in certain situations. It's weird. It must look like I'm trying hard, at least? Lols.

Sorry Treeis. :(When I was first looking for a job back when I was like 17, no where was interested because I had no experience and I wasn't much good at interviews. When I finally got a job at a cinema, the manager expressed when I was leaving how they felt they had got really lucky with me by taking a chance with a n00b and was sad I was leaving.I recommend applying for cinemas, it's pretty good fun.Eugh. It's sad though that you really cared.

I should probably introduce myself, though I think quite a few of you know me in some way or another. I predominantly regulate CoasterForce, where I'm also a moderator, and I know many of you are over there too.So yeah I'm Joey, 23, SE London and just starting out in the industry of themed attraction design. I also write heavy theoretical stuff about theme parks that I'm sure most people think is a load of BS, so if you see a big post from me that's likely what it is... I love animals and evolutionary biology, psychology, drawing and painting and making an arty mess, cake, cheese and theme parks, obviously!

SE London Tonight...

Eughhhghg flyer... See, I think the would do well to get a no-gimmick solid roller coaster for roller coaster sake... But the fact is they just can't. You couldn't build a B&M smaller than Fury... Not without digging, and the minute you start excavating you're massively increasing cost. And then the noise a B&M makes, especially if it's below ground level with the noise echoing. :(I like the Gerst launcher idea that Benin mentioned... I think launchers should be thought of not as a gimmick, but as a tool like a lift. In the case of parks who cannot build tall, it's their only option. It's why I was like 95% positive SW7 would be a launcher. How wrong I was though.But, even if Chessie planned a ground hugging launcher with a couple of inversions... I still don't think they'd get planning permission for it. Unless maybe they promise to rip out Vampire and prove the new ride would be a lot quieter? Lmao. In seriousness though, I just don't think it's going to happen. Ever. They've gotta try another route, and they are... Let's just hope it goes somewhere and isn't abandoned. Wow. That's really interesting... But a tragic addition to the list of reasons why the park, ride expansion wise, is pretty screwed.Do you know if that means their existing attractions have a shorter life because of it? And was this part of the reason why Fury is "temporary"? (What's the current deal with that btw, anyone know?) And whilst we're on the subject of Fury, was anyone paying attention enough at the time to know what it did for the park in terms of success?

As those of you who read that blog I wrote will know, I'm a strong believer that the park is in dire need of a thrill ride...There's this fallacy floating around that family parks don't need thrill rides, when the very park that Chessington is so inspired by in recent years demonstrates the need. The Busch Gardens parks work because they integrate big investment rides which bring in paying guests with more typical family elements, notably theming. Theming dresses attractions up for the audience they are aimed at, and can transform thrill hardware into a family attraction. That's pretty much what Busch do with every attraction they get. This is a company that buys a drop tower and themes it to a folk dance. Think about what Merlin would instinctively do... Paint it dark and try and make it as terrifying as possible. I'm starting to think maybe they just don't really know how to entertain families?On a personal note, zoo expansion is right up my street... And I've heard numerous times that the British audience are a sucker for animals, but I can't help feel that you can see a rhino in so many places around the UK... Who is going to be drawn to the park to see one? Animal exhibits count as added extras, things that improve the quality of the visit, not things that attract you to the park, surely? Perhaps something like this safari experience is a little different, and they must have the research to back up an investment, especially one this huge. But the integration of zoo and theme park should improve the overall quality of a guests day, I just doubt the impact on visitor numbers, ya know?In a perfect world, Chessington would build a high capacity coaster which is one step up from Fury. Chessington's best asset is it has attractions which can follow kids as they grow, encouraging repeat visits yearly from families. That's how I grew up. Kids nowadays are much braver than I was as a kid, so a family thrill coaster (preferably 1.2/3m) is what the park really, really needs. Coasters bring in guests like no other attraction. They are unique selling points and they have longevity. But the reality is, the park cannot build a coaster... Height and noise restrictions are preventing them, and funding is stopping them from solving that by building indoors or pulling a Nemesis.What frustrates me is the constant abandoning of projects. I wan't to know why it keeps happening. I read something someone said on here once about there being a vicious cycle that started when Chessington stopped getting decent investments. Managers got frustrated and left and so the quality of management has thus dropped.As for investments that HAVE been made. Chessington apparently did rather well from Wild Asia, didn't it. When I worked there for a short time in 2010, I'd ask guests If they'd been on it and if they liked it, and there are a lot of guests who felt it's height restriction was too high for how tame it was. They need a proper thrill ride. Kobra is a spectacle ride. As is Ramases. But Kobra was obviously easy to market and it brought people to the park. It's mor ein the right direction.

With something like that pit, I don't think it's reasonable to expect it to be sorted by rerouting a drainage problem (though someone said it's simply that the bricks are just porous, which scares me a little.... Isn't there a build up of rot underneath, then?). A yearly clean isn't too much to ask for, just to stop the buildup of muck from becoming a joke. Regardless, Studios wouldn't be in charge of something like this. I don't think. I'm pretty sure on park teams deal with maintenance issues and small details. Things like signage, gardening, cleaning, painting... Even ride logos. I think anyway. I've tried to find out several times. I'm going to throw a wild guess and say that they are given a budget every year and by the time major things, H&S and marketing has been dealt with, there isn't the money left to deal with things like repainting a ride. My guess isn't really based on any facts about Thorpe or Merlin, but rather just the way many companies in the UK are run. We don't place such high importance on aesthetic first impressions as is placed in the USA, for example. I see it everywhere. One example that comes to mind is museums in the UK and how they never seem to get a good dust. Doesn't painting help to protect from rusting? And couldn't rust eventually become a problem? I mean, it's definitely MORE cosmetic, but I thought it was at least in part technical?

But then you'll miss out on the FIREEEEE which will clearly only work for about a week. :PBeing serious though, so happy the fire is happening. I'll be there opening weekend, because there is nothing quite like the atmosphere. <3 Sweaty enthusiasts. Lmao.

Adam that bear is fab. <3 Hahaha.I draw and stuff. http://hajimesartblog.blogspot.com/

I loved most of your post, but I don't really know what this is about? ...I don't even know who you are, but your attitude makes me uneasy. I don't think being spiteful or bringing personal issues into it like you did with Benin was really necessary.Granted I wasn't there long (3 months, though... not 1). I was invited back and I turned it down to concentrate on my final year at uni and do work experience higher up in Merlin. I'm applying back for part time this season to compliment working freelance. Finding work in the niche field of themed entertainment design isn't easy, and I'm proud of the experience I do have. Working at a park is a great way to be immersed in the industry. There are, as you say, better paying jobs out there... But it pays to be doing something you enjoy that will hopefully take you somewhere.

I hear what you're saying too. I can't say I've ever seen this kind of behaviour... I have witnessed people harassing guests who clearly do not want to interact, but it's rare. I think most people just stand there.Like I said, I think it's about having some common sense and just doing the job appropriately. Unfortunately most people don't have that.I'd say the best thing anyone can do to change the way any organisation is run is to complain.

Enthusiasts are not the target audience of any park. People are not there for the rides, they are there to have a good time. Rides are a small part of that.Being friendly fixes a lot of issues people have in all kinds of environments, from theme parks to the NHS. If you've been waiting a long time for anything and you have a friendly, chatty apologetic face to greet you, most people will be put in a better mood by that and forget the ordeal. I had to have blood test this morning. I was waiting an hour and a half, but the nurse was lovely.... And by the time I'd left, I'd forgotten about the awful wait.You cannot avoid long queues on busy days, so compensations have to be made.Working efficiently to decrease queues is a given... But you can easily do both and one does not inhibit the other, at all. Don't let individuals who make a bad name for guest interaction make you so anti-interaction full stop. We can have it both ways.

I certainly do not advocate harassing them into having fun and I do know exactly the kind of behaviour you're talking about But there is plenty of time to make casual fun conversation on entrance, batch and on-load on Fury. There's enough chance to joke with guests when you're checking lapbars. And there's enough time to welcome them back, too. I think ride staff do have the most chance to interact with guests. And it's in their best interest to do so, too... It makes the day a lot more fun and pass a lot quicker, and interaction itself speeds up the loading. You can inform people early to sort their bags out, welcome people back and tell them to push their bars up. It's just... common sense? I never had a problem with being efficient and interacting with guests simultaneously. In fact, I remember on more than one occasion guests praising us for being so fast.

Hey, HEY... I was not useless at life when I was there previously, Mr Benin! Bar the commute, I enjoyed working there in 2010 a lot. And I enjoyed talking to guests the most. I liked finding out what their favourite rides were, what they didn't like, what the kids favourite cartoon's where, why they thought Legoland was better and whether or not they'd checked out Lorikeet Lagoon. To me, all that information is a wealth of interesting first hand research in an industry I'd love to peruse a career in.I think there is a fine line between too little and too much interaction. But personally, I'd rather they were closer to the interacting side of things. This is the entertainment industry, after all. A friendly face can warm you round to forgiving a lengthy queue, but the opposite is rarely true. That... rhymed rather nicely, unintentionally. But thinking back to the ultra-efficient but generally unfriendly staff at Europa Park, for example, I'm quite impressed by Chessington's efforts.The problem fundamentally is that it's a minimum wage job. You're not going to find many perfect candidates who can juggle efficient ride operation, guest interaction, try to avoid inevitable problems (such as angry guests) and deal with those inevitabilities, not to mention the long hours in all weathers on your feet, when you're only paying minimum wage. But paying more than minimum wage for a no-skill job where literally hundreds and hundreds of people are required is also just not possible. If it wasn't for the fact I am passionate about the place, there is no way I'd tolerate the wage. I dunno what all this talk of Merlin hating enthusiasts comes from. From my experience it really couldn't be further from the truth. I can imagine many enthusiasts create a bad name for others, perhaps? I don't know. I've always had positive reactions. Then again, perhaps my enthusiasm is more on the professional side anyway.

^ This is what I mean by a disjointed approach to creative design and the management and maintenance at the park. Why wasn't this foreseen?It's a bit ridiculous to say this about 1 issue, but I feel like it's not 1 issue. Why is Colossus matt painted, for example? Dirt clings to matt. Why is the dead end island thing not seen as a problem? Why does Storm Surge... Well, exist. </3For a lot of parks, the question "will this last?" effects and hinders design. It seems that with Tussauds/Merlin it doesn't?

Benin's right about it only really being the UK that has this problem. Even Six Flags don't let their coasters get as gross as they are at the UK Merlin parks. It upsets me, because I feel like the relationship between the creative intention and the way the parks operate is very disjointed from the word go, but there's also no importance placed on maintaining the experience for years to come. It's not just paint jobs that are the issue, it's any non-essential maintenance. Anything outside of H&S concerns is of no concern. I think this issue isn't a theme park issue... It's just the way the UK is. Within days of a new restaurant opening, our tables are sticky. Union Jacks fly tattered and discoloured. There's a lack of respect in the UK for physical things. We're more concerned about respect of concepts.

LOL! No it's no problem, I was only kidding. It's nice that the fandom is so close. I recognise the name Treeis now!

I was there today... (Er, yesterday, lols.) I know someone from here said hi to me (Christopher was it?). I forgot I had an account here.My 3rd assessment centre with Merlin, and it was the nicest yet. The last two I went to were 95% kids from the same school who all knew each other and that just makes it awkward for those older randomers like me. </3 The actual interview part was really good. I got the dreaded "I've seen you on park, you're an enthusiast aren't you?" But I've come to learn that despite what many people think, the passion impresses them.God the SeaLife assessment centre... The standard there is SO high. Chessie's standards are perhaps too low. There were a lot of people much better suited to what they wanted than me, but I was just shocked how high their standards were. Especially because I've never particularly noticed fantastic staff there.I hate the "smart casual" thing. What does that MEAN?! I just play it safe and go with shirt, trousers and shoes.Anyway. Hopefully I'll see some of you this year!