Inferno

The Skyride, due to open tomorrow, is now not opening tomorrow due to “needing to add some finishing touches”… there is now no date or timeframe mentioned anywhere for its opening. a very frustrating and embarrassing situation given the amount of time it’s been closed. I wonder what’s happened? It’s been running gondolas empty for weeks on end. Is it the poorly timed hot weather perhaps? (Although it regularly ran in hotter weather than this previously)

To be fair they probably work in an office elsewhere, and don’t visit the park as guests that often. They are simply doing their jobs - this post will have been just one of many things they would have been working on at the time. I think of the places I’ve worked over the years, and many of them I haven’t even been a customer of the company 🤷‍♂️ For all we know this could have been written and scheduled ages ago, or maybe even the people who run this stuff might not even work for Merlin. Social media can be outsourced and work with stock images and key info, like times etc

That can very easily be restored though. All the stations and lines are still capable of taking their trains, it would just be a case of restoring the international border stuff again. DLP will also have its major expansion happening over the next few years, so maybe the likes of Eurostar will change course. Having a major tourist attraction at each end of that line would be amazing wouldn’t it.

Shots fired! I mean they aren’t wrong are they! It seems that Universal are planning on arriving and very much staking their claim as THE theme park resort in the UK. There are also suggestions in local council meetings that there is talk of extending the Eurostar line to Bedford - which would be absolutely massive for the UK as a whole to be honest.

A nice little behind the scenes peek at the winter maintenance etc. Can’t help but notice that this is in a different format to similar videos over the last few years - it’s mainly stock footage (all be it new and very nice stock footage). Also the familiar faces are missing?! I hope the people who used to do this stuff haven’t been made redundant? It’s also a month late, suggesting the remaining staff could be overstretched? 😬 I have to say though I really do love the new brighter and more colourful way in which this stuff is portrayed now. All of this new footage is more vibrant than before and is definitely looking good.

That's interesting - The need to re-track it wouldn't suddenly go away... I wonder if it's a case of re-tracking would give it another 20ish years of life, and not re-tracking would leave it with 6ish or something... Perhaps a decision was made to go with the shorter lifespan and instead of investing millions in retracking, invest in replacing it in a few years? Factors like Universal came in to play during that time as well didn't it... Perhaps a decision was made to focus on creating 'new' and bigger experiences going forward in order to compete with a new and bigger park. Realistically, is Colossus going to keep punters coming through the gates for another 2 decades as much as a brand new, higher throughput (and probably better) coaster would? Probably not! There was also recent experience with Nemesis Reborn's re-track - could feedback about "no new rides for ages" have been listened to? I can definitely see why parks would want to replace old with new, instead of spending many millions to keep the existing aging rides running past their initial lifespan. (not that I'd want to see Nemesis go of course) Who knows.

I agree it really is looking good isn’t it. It helps that all the trees have really had chance to grow around it, and make it feel ‘lost’ as it’s supposed to. What amazes me is it’s been running for 23 years…. The footage from when it was new looks ancient doesn’t it. For some reason in my head everything at Thorpe is quite “new” compared to other parks - but it just isn’t. A very large portion of the park guests on a given day weren’t even born when it opened… It’s doing well considering its age I think. Was there ever really a project to retrack it? I thought it was just that one section that needed replacing? I think that section did end up getting replaced after the initial problems where the layout was left incomplete for a few weeks 2yrs ago or whenever it was.

It’s a shame because barely 12 months ago, with great fanfare, the new brand was launched which was based on being open and transparent - things like this were championed as the new way forward… The annual new season videos were also missing this spring.

It will be an interesting time for Alton Towers over the next few years. With Universal aiming for a 2031 opening, Towers will no doubt want to rise to the occasion. I wonder how this will work out? We could be looking at a long period now before a major new ride is built so that it lines up with Universal - alternatively they might want to install a couple of new rides in the meantime. I would imagine they will want to get timelines “in the diary” so to speak, as many of the country’s engineers etc will be involved at universal and unavailable before too long. Either way, I really hope they are able to get on top of the reliability issues over the next year or two, and start rebuilding their reputation ahead of Universal’s opening. Now that the 2031 date is out there, I bet there’s some planning and re-scheduling of projects going on at Merlin.

Ugh… Hopefully because of the site they’ve chosen this won’t be too bad an issue. There aren’t many housing estates close enough to really be too badly affected. They’ve also done a lot of work surveying the site, so hopefully the usual obligatory “rare wildlife” issue won’t come up. I think as well, just simply due to the state of things in the UK at the moment, the plans will all be waved through. We really do need this in the UK.

I don't know what's real and what isn't anymore 😆 This would probably be quite lucrative honestly!

I can never tell if you're serious or just being sarcastic @Benin 😆 This is a very different situation to the London Resort though isn't it... And actually I'd argue that 6 years is not a long time at all when you consider what it is they're actually building. Construction is due to start next year, so really when you consider that in the meantime they will be arranging contracts with builders, engineers and suppliers etc, the project will be very much actively moving forward within months. Of course there's always the chance that it could be pulled, but really I think this is overwhelmingly positive and is looking very likely to go ahead. Very exciting! I honestly can't wait to visit, especially as my kids will be the perfect age for all this when it opens!

This is very true to be honest - Stealth has always been amazingly reliable, especially considering what it is. In fact I’d honestly say Thorpe in general have very good reliability (ignoring Hyperia of course) - their downtime only generally lasts a very short period of time doesn’t it.

Hyperia appears to have re-opened today on one train.

That TPM article is a really good overview. I really feel for the staff at Thorpe, and the people at Mack who did all the complex work on the layout. This is clearly not what anyone wanted at all. Mistakes and unforeseen problems happen all the time. It’s unfortunate that this one has such an impact and is is so costly. I think it’s fair to say though that this has become quite urgent, and can’t continue for much longer. As has been mentioned above, brand reputation, for both Thorpe and Mack, is now on the line. Does anyone know if the train has been recovered yet?

Oh…. It stalled this morning? Come on now. Getting a bit embarrassing. I’ve worked for companies who have made legal ultimatums with suppliers for reputational damage, for lesser things than this. Management asking staff to try to stop photos being taken is evidence that they are trying desperately to protect their brand. It can’t go on like this for much longer. I’d say really it’s reached the point that it’s become too big an issue to tolerate. I agree with Pap (!) - ultimately Merlin have been sold a very expensive product that just isn’t fit for purpose. I really hope this is actively being worked on urgently, because theme parks can’t really afford cock ups these days. Big investments have to hit the mark and bring in the money reliably and consistently. Being closed or on half capacity regularly, with negative publicity every few days, is unacceptable for such a huge investment. I hope Mack are taking responsibility and working on a solution…. If not I can’t imagine Merlin to be a company who will play nice if they have been screwed.

I think I’m right in thinking the main (and most crippling) issue since opening has been the stalling / near stalling, and the resulting delays with loading / unloading dummies etc. For all we know that issue could be being actively worked on. Something like a new ballast zero car will take designing, manufacturing, testing, redesigning, manufacturing, installing and testing some more - taking many months, not to mention the legal conversations and negotiations over who pays for the fix exc! Hopefully a proper fix is on the way behind closed doors. Fixing that single (all be it very large) issue will remove a lot of the pain day to day, and would probably mean Hyperia would open on time every day - that alone would be a huge step forwards. The recent problems with the lift hill could be just down to pure bad luck, and something that could happen to any ride at any time, but it feels so much worse on Hyperia because it’s on top of the existing ongoing problems. Either way, it’s not a good look for Thorpe or Mack is it… and I agree, perhaps a B&M would have been the better option after all… But who was to know. I am hopeful that the pacing issues will be resolved soon, and Hyperia will just operate reliably. - - - On a separate note, I’d be really interested to see what the conversations look like between Mack and Merlin around all this. I’d hope that Mack are doing all they can to solve this at no additional cost.

This is dragging a bit now isn’t it! Hopefully there will be an announcement one way or another soon. Temporary heras fencing has been put up along some of the perimeter of the site now - surely that is a good sign isn’t it. If a decision is made soon, I wonder how long realistically it will be before any meaningful work begins? I would imagine there would need to be some lead time - it’s not like there are loads of construction companies out there each with a big cupboard full of people stood there ready to start building the project - it wouldn’t surprise me if some companies have already been approached with some provisional timescales and requirements. I’m surprised we haven’t heard some news through leaks etc by now! (Which is a good thing of course but the point still stands!)

Oh dear, that’s not good to hear that about their finances. It puts some of this year’s closures in to perspective doesn’t it. I suppose they have no choice but to make cuts on spending, so they can go all in on the transformation phase they’ve mentioned. Gulp. BPB may not be my go-to park, but I really do hope that their plans pay off and things turn around. I recon this new Gyro Swing is a good move though. Drayton Manor’s smaller version is very good, and this larger model will certainly be imposing at pleasure beach. Good luck to them. It’s certainly not a great time to be running a leisure business in the UK is it

So much for the “we’re unapologetically authentic and totally transparent” bit of the rebrand then 😂

Yeah that’s a good thought - manually override the lift speed when there’s an empty train. Either that or they make some sort of retrofitted water ballast tanks under the trains somehow that can be filled with a hose pipe and easily emptied? That’s got to at least be better than loading dummies… Not great though is it having a bodge fix like these Loading and unloading dummies every day for ever more isn’t very good on a brand new ride though. Removing track and replacing it with a slightly lower outer bank in the ultimate solution I suppose. Huge faff and expense though isn’t it - although you could argue it’s worth it if the ride can then run properly for decades afterwards 🤷‍♂️

It’s a worrying time isn’t it. They seem to be really pushing the engineering apprenticeship, which is associated with JCB. I assume that a lot of the reliability issues recently have come partly from a lack of engineers? It would make sense given the remote location especially. Apprenticeships like this might be something they’re looking at to try to improve the situation in the long term I suppose. I do feel for the people who show up for work every day and work hard to try to improve things. Hopefully whatever he issues are they’ll get to grips with it all very soon. I still think there’s a good chance things will be better once the staff have settled in, and Skyride and Hex are open again. As for the food…. Well I’m not so sure - hopefully people will just stop buying it and they’ll have to make changes

I'll be honest I'm surprised they're carrying on with it at all considering Merlin are in the middle of cutting back on entertainments. Still looks good though doesn't it. Much better use of space than what's there now.

It’s an odd and unfortunate situation at towers, because they’re pouring a lot of money in to things, but to “the GP” really they’re treading water and there’s nothing truly new happening… Realistically, despite the bits of investment over the last 5 years, you’d struggle to argue with these statements: - Ripsaw has re-opened - The same Nemesis is still there but is now black and red - The same Skyride is still sat there but is broken - Same old Hex has been sat there for years but is broken - The haunted house ride is still there, but has had a refurb. Don’t get me wrong, this is all money well spent in my opinion and was badly needed and overdue, but really I think AT needs something truly new. There is little that they’ve done since Wicker Man that truly offers something new. As much as I think Toxicator is a fantastic addition, it’s arguably yet another “re-opening of something that closed” if you know what I mean.

To be honest, given how poorly nearly all of the other UK parks are doing right now, a year of stability sounds like exactly the right aim for Thorpe. Hyperia’s near stall and ongoing downtime however is getting worrying now that we are heading in to season 2. It doesn’t seem like it’s going to be a reliable workhorse does it… I really hope that they can get to grips with it. Surely they can’t keep going on like this every time it gets a bit chilly… The solar panels on Ghost Train are slightly interesting in that they’d only be installed on a structure that they intend to keep for a decent amount of time. I guess the building is here to stay, even after the ride is gone (which probably won’t be too long let’s face it).