Kerfuffle

Helix motion-blur anyone?

Hi,
Long time lurker, 1st time poster.
Excuse the long post, there is an on-topic observation at the bottom
TP has been a big part of my life, from visiting the park in the late 80's to throughout the 90's.  I then worked there for 15 years (2000 - 2014), in a variety of departments.
Retail - some of the best times of my life (I've made life long friends from working in this department)
Park Development and Planning - one of the most rewarding jobs I have had to date (see below)
Facilities Management/Engineering - this is where my journey ended
 
Park Development and Planning - I was the project lead for the land expansion project, and was involved in some of the early design/planning activities on SAW The Ride, SAW Alive, Kobra (CWoA), The Swarm, and an early Ghost Train concept. Whilst working in this department I learnt some fascinating history about the park.  For example, did you know when the park was being constructed in the 1970's, RMC flew in an Imagineer from the States to help design the entrance and car park? 
 
Anyways, back on topic...
 
I visited the RTP's for the 1st time (since leaving TP) last year and noticed that the overall quality has dropped across all 3 parks (CWoA probably was my favourite park out of the visits last year TBH).  I noticed that at AT, unless you like roller coasters or kids rides, there actually isn't that much there.  Duel should have been removed and replaced, or even reverted back to its former scary self years ago, and Hex is a shadow of its former self.  I have never liked the Rapids since they removed the old boats.   
 
TP - DBGT - Ok this was not what I had originally envisioned for this plot of land.  I found it to be an interesting concept, however it was not delivered well. The queue lines design (or lack of) makes it one of the worst (if not the worst) queues I have ever been in.  I strangely found IACGMOH to be quite an enjoyable experience.   I think TP are now in a weird position where they have got to develop two large areas of the park - the island next to Swarm (Island A) or Loggers.  Which one do you do first?  Island A needs that development to remove the dead end at Swarm (Parks should never have dead ends, they need to be free flowing), or do you develop Loggers which is a dead corner of the park? Is the investment there?
 
CWoA seems to have flown under the radar a bit, and appears to have missed a lot of the Merlin clusterf**ks that have happened over the years.  However, the drop tower replacing Rameses is again lacklustre and screams of "cant be bothered to develop this park properly"...
 
Which leads me onto why I think these parks are suffering:
 
The Smiler accident - I should imagine the insurance premiums across the UK parks are now extremely high, effecting large scale investments As far as I am aware, Merlin did not operate any theme parks until acquiring Legoland and the Tussuad's Group.  I've noticed that all of the Merlin investments to date have either been lacklustre or poorly delivered (Ok Wickerman was good, however not too sure a pre-show was required - even though the show is good).  I think there is a lack of interest within the company (I found this out when I was working  at TP, and was shocked to find so many senior people not interested in the industry - a lot of them had never been to a Disney park... Its just a job to them) If you look at what parks around the world are announcing as new attractions, Merlin's UK offering is waaayyy behind everyone else.   One of the most heated discussions I had whilst working at TP was surrounding the lack of a decent family zone/area.  My argument was that parks such as Six Flags and Cedar Point (parks TP tries to emulate) all have decent (ish) kid friendly/family friendly areas. The answer from management was a return on the investment would not be possible as "how would they sell it"? Hopefully when (if) Paramount Park gets built, it will give Merlin a kick up the backside in getting there act together. Just my two cents...
M

COASTERS:
1. Helix (Liseberg)
2. Taron (Phantasialand)
3. Shambhala (PortAventura)
4. Black Mamba (Phantasialand)
5. Montu (Busch Gardens Tampa)
6. Valkyria (Liseberg)
7. SheiKra (Busch Gardens Tampa)
8. Nemesis (Alton Towers)
9. Joris en de Draak (Efteling)
10. Balder (Liseberg)
 
DARK RIDES:
1. Symbolica (Efteling)
2. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man (Islands of Adventure)
3. Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey (Islands of Adventure)
4. Villa Volta (Efteling)
5. Droomvlucht (Efteling)
6. Revenge of The Mummy (Universal Studios Orlando)
7. Hex - The Legend of the Towers (Alton Towers)
8. Fata Morgana (Efteling)
9. Harry Potter and the Escape from Gringotts (Universal Studios Orlando)
10. Skull Island: Reign of Kong (Islands of Adventure)
 
WATER RIDES:
1. Chiapas - DIE Wasserbahn (Phantasialand)
2. Flying Dutchman (Efteling)
3. Dudley Do-Right's Ripsaw Falls (Islands of Adventure)
4. Popeye and Bluto's Bildge-Rat Barges (Islands of Adventure)
5. Kallerado (Liseberg)
6. Jurassic Park River Adventure (Islands of Adventure)
7. Djengu River (Toverland)
8. Congo River Rapids (Busch Gardens Tampa)
9. Splash Mountain (Magic Kingdom)
10. Flumeride (Liseberg)
 
Honourable Mentions:
1. Baron 1898 (Efteling): Incredible level of detail and storytelling
2. The Smiler (Alton Towers): All-round great coaster experience
3. Fenix (Toverland): Brilliant coaster with lovely level of theming
 
 
 

Sick.

...Meanwhile those with enough common sense to know when a ride has had its day will be observing this thread like:

JUST LET AN ALREADY DYING RIDE DIE ALREADY!!!
 
Seriously though, I've never cringed so hard in my life...

The Park are wasting no time in demolishing Bob, but then again they have an intense schedule with the replacement coasters opening next year.






Source-Loopings
 
Whilst it was nowhere near my favourite coaster, seeing this fun attraction being demolished is rather saddening.
 
R.I.P Bob 
1985-2019

Sometimes being in any way associated with the enthusiast community I want to cringe myself to death.
 
This is one of those times.

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...
 
*Takes breath*
 
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha...

1) There are other top spins in the UK (just not Huss ones)
 
2) No.

I have a few theories. None of its concrete evidence and is pure conjecture on my part.
 
- The failure of the Swarm. We all know that Merlin were initially disappointed by the Swarms first season. Many reasons were cited (which I'm sure those in the know can find) but essentially, I think this lack of interest in the new coaster dented confidence in what the park could do. Baring in mind, 2011 saw one of the biggest years the park had and that was on the back of Storm Surge. Cheaper investment bought massive returns.
 
- The next Big thing. I think Thorpe has fallen into the trap that Six Flags did. By appealing solely to the thrill sector you severely limit interest. Teenagers want the next big thing and in the 00s, Thorpe easily provided that thrill. Hit after hit, success after success. Coasters galore, several years where we got two flat rides. That investment was unsustainable. Now though, rides like Colossus, Inferno, Tidal Wave, Detonator & Vortex are old hat. They are unmaintained and look their age. Thorpe were unable to drum up interest with The Swarm, Derren Brown opened late and was pretty weak and the less said about the reliance on IP to drive interest the better. The park has a real image problem which leads me to..
 
- Branding. Thorpe has a huge perception problem. Is it a thrill park, is it a park for up for it families, do we make X a family coaster then two years later refurbish it for adults. Do we change our market to families and then close the biggest family ride we've got (Loggers Leap). Do we advertise our park in our 2019 advert or have an image of goats, donuts and a hotel room. None of this evokes excitement. It smacks of a park throwing anything, everything at the wall to see what sticks and new general managers are not given enough time to evolve/change the place before they are fired and a new one bought in.
 
- The Smiler crash. Ironically, four years later, I feel like the crash has had this weird echoing effect at Thorpe compared to the other two main Merlin parks. It's almost like it never recovered from the initial drop in attendance whilst Alton has recovered well thanks to Wicker Man and Chessington never saw the drop because of its family audience. You could say the lack of investment is really hurting Thorpe right now but then there seems to be no steps to change this.
 
- The park itself. It's fallen a long way since the hefty days of 2006. If they are to recover the place they need to sort out their offering. Having abandoned flat rides and log flumes standing doesn't help, neither does the game stalls or the lack of maintenance and paint jobs on their rollercoasters. The basics need to be sorted for Thorpe to recover. Chessington was exactly the same way in the 00's but that now feels like the strongest Merlin park IMO. If Thorpe can sort this then they might be able to get back to the top.

Hello guys, 
 
Been a regular of the forums for many years but decided to ask the burning question this morning... just what has happened to the park? 
 
Thorpe Park a few years ago was arguably the best park in the UK, it was going from strength to strength in terms of investments and then all of sudden we get IACGMOOH, bouncezilla, the year of the walking dead etc 
 
They even pulled The Big Top off the Fright Nights bill which from what I understand was a favourite by many
 
I assume 2020 will be just as poor in regards to the parks line up / investments as no planning has been put through for a coaster or even a new flat ride...  
 
Any information regarding the reasons behind the decline of the park would be interesting to hear... 

Should've just paid for some new 3D glasses..

That's most unlike Merlin to cut back on staff shortly after a ride/attraction opens.

We finally have footage of the Black Forest Chateau organist. He pretty much looks like a human version of the one in the Vampire's station.

Probably the creators themselves after checking in on their box office income...


 

Someone at Chessington in the queue for Tomb Blaster talking to their family: "I remember riding this when it was called Terror Tomb. It used to be way scarier than this. This is just sh?te now." -So true. 
 

My recent trip to Liseberg certainly said a lot about my photography...

 
Even this one was incredibly lucky! A typical shot of Valkyria with Helix perfectly timed in the background. ?

My recent trip to Liseberg certainly said a lot about my photography...

 
Even this one was incredibly lucky! A typical shot of Valkyria with Helix perfectly timed in the background. ?

Proof Varney is actually Thanos.
 
Merlin will never reopen it unless it’s themed to a Donaldson I.P.

Took my little brother (4 years old) through Broom today. And he didn't really like it.
 
He wasn't a fan of the forced interaction: a stranger trying to encourage him to go forward and interact with stuff just didn't work. He's not shy or anything either; just being a small dark space made him not want to interact. The effects were decent and got a good reaction, but it makes it a passive experience.
 
So yeah, someone who's bang in the target market for this didn't like it. My personal opinion means little in that sense, but I was even less keen: it's an experience which is too focused on young children, the scenes are very cramped and awkwardly paced and it just doesn't seem like something which the whole family can enjoy. 
 
Particularly a shame given the theming and effects are good.

Well here's a story, I actually enjoyed Walking Dead! But I don't think it will be successful (and apparently hasnt been). The reason is, entertainment has once again been sidelined in favour of marketing formula. The formula is broken. "Every ride must have a world first or an IP" is broken.

The ride before this had a wider appeal and attracted an age group much more fitting for the experience. X No Way Out was never designed to be a super scary ride and it never could be. It had a scary edge because of the weirdness and darkness, but it was more than that and could be enjoyed by older kids and young teenagers.

By making it themed to a violent horror show, it puts off people who don't like it. Those who do like it will be disappointed, because it's just a dressed up family coaster with some corridors. And those who've never seen the show may be put off by the promise of "actors touching you" and 'extreme' horror (which doesnt really exist). So who are you left with? Who is this ride for?

Once again the IP formula shoots the park in the foot. Add to that how poorly designed the entrance and surrounding area is means nobody can find it. So nobody's going in! The ugly barbed wire opposite the sorry remains of Octopus Garden and a big cartoon sign saying "Poop deck" is just the most hilarious thing Ive ever seen. Possibly worse than Legoland's Haunted House as worst Merlin entrance ever.

The preshow is total garbage. But after that, the simple fact that something happens during the ride now (like was always intended to) suddenly makes this a fun ride. X was calling out for this for about 20 years! It's insane that it took this long. We now have animations and moments during the stopping points, which creates a memorable ride. The sound design is fantastic too!

But again this appeals better to a younger audience than Walking Dead fans. The effects are mostly good and very well timed (although a couple are pretty hokey and I dont like the TVs). This would have worked really well as a family haunted ride, but people expecting extreme horro will just laugh.

I enjoyed it, but it should have been done properly. Shouldnt have been IP, should have happened 20 years ago and should have used the preshow rooms instead of just endless corridors. Then it could have been a family staple for Thorpe Park, rather than another Merlin 5 year failure.

Went for the first time in years, most of what you guys have covered I agree with. It's all just a bit run down and looks dirty.
 
The most shocking thing for me is not being able to stand for long periods of time and having to join the fastrack queue for Colossus and having to wait for 20 mins. I understand why they have changed the RAP to minimise waiting times for people who physically need to use it but basically saying to me that I need to physically be in a wheelchair to use it to the full is ridiculous. Plus a £50 deposit for a wheelchair is fantastic for people who can afford it. I won't be going back for a while, wanted a nice pain free day out and ended up pissed off and in a lot of pain. 
 
Might seem like a stupid thing to moan about but I use the RAP because I am unable to stand for long periods of time, I shouldn't have to rely on someone to wheel me around the park. 
 
Best part of the day was seeing a staff member shoot down another guest who was complaining that we got let up Infernos volcano first.