Inferno

Very true - I guess it's just an ideal waterproof space that can be easily moved anywhere.

I was puzzled by the bus too. I wonder if they can drive it out of there still? Maybe it’s just parked out of the way for now? Who knows

Great news!! I wonder if they'll improve anything else with the trains while they're at it?

That’s good they’re still doing that - I haven’t heard the countdowns for years! Throughputs are such a hit and miss thing I guess, Mark’s right, one operator might be more hot on it than others, and on a quiet day it really doesn’t matter if things are a little slower.

Interesting to hear Saw never runs on 8 trains? Any ideas why that is? I agree about Inferno too. Maybe this is too cynical but I have thought could it be because it was too efficient? Inferno’s queue used to be quite fast moving, perhaps making the mighty Fastrack less appealing…. now adays the ride ops seem to do a lot of walking about and phoning each other in the station. No idea why it takes so long now to get a train out. One thing I have noticed since the Smiler crash however is that they no longer rush and put pressure on guests to hurry, on any of the rides. I seem to remember it being a bit of a mad dash previously to get out of the air gates and in to your seat! Now it’s a bit of an amble. Years ago now I remember inferno in particular, they would sometimes count down until dispatch during the summer, which really did put the pressure on people to hurry up! I suppose that would be inappropriate now adays I’m glad you had a good day Matt and it was quiet! As for busier days - All I can say is thank god Stealth and Swarm can still get through people - I think that side of the park is the place to be next year while not waiting for exodus!

Weird how everyone seems to have their own gameplan! I don’t really have a running order as such, but a few things I generally follow… - usually try to do Inferno first, as it’s always quiet I’m the morning (and usually open) - Always leave Swarm until the afternoon. - Leave the flats until I’ve done at least a couple of coasters, because queues are never as long. It’ll be interesting to see how Exodus changes everyone’s running order - I imagine Inferno, Stealth and Swarm will be dead in the mornings from next year, and Exodus / Saw / Colossus will be packed.

It’s always a bit like this with coasters isn’t it. I remember visiting Thorpe while the Swarm was going up and seeing the single piece of track in place at the bottom of the drop, then a week later on my next visit nearly the entire coaster was up (at least to my memory anyway). It seems that track and supports is “the quick bit” on these builds! Looking forward to seeing it go up

Interesting to hear about Disney - I have to say I’ve been put off massively thanks to all the money grab changes recently

Ah great thank you - see you at the pre-video live stream. I hadn’t realised Oktoberfest was anything to do with skiing to be honest! All of this had completely passed me by

Brean always strikes me as an odd place! Have a great time at Thorpe and Chessington next week!

This really is getting there now isn’t it. Still can’t quite believe Thorpe are getting a new coaster tbh Really looking forward to seeing how massive this is “in real life”. I did my usual peek at Stealth on the M3-M25 junction yesterday and it occurred to me just how visible the new one would be from there, let alone from inside the park. Going back to the name trademark business - that was a great find @coasterverse! Hyperia is an odd one, but with names I always think it’s difficult at first. I remember the smiler was questioned a lot, but it’s the perfect name for it isn’t it- it just is the smiler. If it does turn out to be the name, it will settle in and become as fitting as any other.

I thought the same about the hours that went in to those teasers. Especially as they had basically nothing to do with the actual event itself in the end. I suspect this was a case of being “all in” as it was a huge opportunity for them, and held the potential to open them up to the rest of Merlin and the industry as a whole. A bit of an investment in self marketing I think - but everyone wins, they produced some great content to showcase what they can do, and TP got some high quality teasers (all be it a little off piste). Well done to all of them. Although I’m not too keen on the YouTuber marketing stuff, I think they produce some great content for the park.

It is weird hearing it elsewhere. Years ago I heard Rush’s music on a tv show (can’t remember what it was) You must be right Matt, a lot of it is Stock music isn’t it.

I think that was a great way to reveal it! The cheeky wink and even a sip from an RMC cup! It’s got to be an RMC. Hopefully a sign of things to come further down the line

3 reasons for me. Firstly, although yes it isn’t as bad as Fastrack, it still takes away from others experience. in this case it takes away from the ERT experience for those who were entitled to it already. Secondly it’s yet another thing that aims to solely improve things for those who can splash the most cash. On a busy day, some customers will be able to buy as much fastrack and ERT as they like, where the majority will have to suffer because of that, having already actually spent a lot of money on admission - more than ever in fact. Thirdly it’s just the fact that theme parks aren’t like they used to be in this respect. I know this is just the way of the world now, and it certainly isn’t just Merlin (Disney are even worse now adays), but you used to be able to get in to a park for £20 and ride basically everything with no need for fastrack. You could buy things like that, but you certainly didn’t have to, and if you did you could get them for much less than they’re sold for now. Now it’s become so expensive to visit, and if you go on a busy day it can often be very unpleasant because of all these poorly implemented money-grabs. I just don’t like it. Perks, mazes, fastrack, parking, you name it…. Over the years, more things are being put behind paywalls all the time, and they get more and more expensive, but is the product getting better, or are they just pointing at things around the park and saying “actually we’ll get em to pay extra for that too”?