Jack29

Currently there are 22.5 hours of queues across all attractions according to the official app. Say an average throughput of 700pph is 15,750. Plus maybe 20% not in queues, F&B stalls, shows etc is 18,900. I don't think today is a sell out as tickets were still on sale at 3pm ish. Is this a fair estimate?

I visited yesterday, I'll start with the positives. Amazing operations on most of the major coasters. (I didn't ride Saw) Ops have been good on all of my visits this season but yesterday was top notch. Colossus was slow because the operator did not open the air gates until all of the previous trains riders had left the station. Hopefully that was a one off and not a new policy. Mazes. Groups are far too big. 15 at a time for both Stitches and Trailers. Both experiences felt like being in a queue for large parts where nothing happened. Scares were impossible as you know from the reactions ahead what to expect. Lucifer's Lair - highlight of this year's Fright Nights for me. They need to address the size of the groups. Even when the mazes were free it used to be groups of four or eight Hellgate/Asylum. I understand high throughput is needed but it can't be detriment to the experience.

Does anyone know why the third boat is missing?

Samurai and Zodiac have been down for a little while. Hopefully nothing serious. Rumba is now showing as closed from the 1st of Sept until the end of the season. I can understand why due to the high running costs. Maybe it's time to rip it out and use the space for future development.

I wonder why the park removed Slammer this year without submitting plans for something new in its place. I would have thought the only reason it was SBNO for eight years was because of the costs involved with removing it. As money is tighter than ever at Merlin it seems like a strange use of funds. I'm glad they did as SBNO attractions are never a good look.

Something has definitely changed since my last ride back in April. There is a noticable rattle from the bottom of the first drop to the 'splash down' element. It seems to be moving through the elements faster than it did previously. Hopefully it's a short term experiment to prevent stalls. There's no way that a one year old coaster should be riding so poorly. I feel for Thorpe as they are stuck between a rock and a hard place. I wonder if ordering a third train would be worth it. I'm sure there is not enough space for it in the maintenance bay but it could be kept in the station instead. With a third train they won't need to rely on one train operation while the second is built back up in the event of a stall. I'm sure it's been mentioned on here before that using water dummies for every breakdown is not a possibility. Mack should really front the cost as this is their mess after all.

Shambhala was on one train operation last weekend with the other two sat dormant in the maintenance area. Three hour queue. It goes to show even if you have three it doesn't mean they will be used, even on peak days.

I visited at the weekend and I am very impressed with the efforts over the closed season. Finally, we are seeing the park move in the right direction after a decade of decline. (Excluding the DBGT 'investment') The Stealth area is looking great. Big Easy Boulevard is a huge improvement on Angry Birds. Personally I love seeing IP's replaced for an original concept. Rush, Vortex and Colossus have also been refreshed among others. There is a way to go, however, the great news is for the first time in over a decade the pros outweigh the cons. It looks like Thorpe's Management/Merlin have smelt the coffee. They have realised presentation is vitally important to running a theme park. Hopefully over the next few years their attention will move to Rumba/NI, The Beach/DC and the park entrance.

Is there any news on the Princess Diana memorial? It would probably make sense to move it elsewhere in the park as it has no affiliation to the new area. Loggers boat 3 was part of the memorial all planted up however, it's now in a sorry state in the access road behind Rumba. I am no Royal, far from it but it's an important part of the parks history. When I worked at the park in 2010 there were some US tourists who visited just to see it!

Do Thorpe still run a preview night for pass holders? It used to be held on a Friday evening and maze entry was free back then.

No. I would have been more critical if that was the case. There's nothing wrong in hoping for originality. Icarus would have been a much better choice. In a post IP era it would have been great to see the creative team come up with something more imaginative. However I do think that the gold track looks great & I'm looking forward to riding next season.

I'm amazed that people are paid good money to come up with this 😂. Hmm what is it? A hyper coaster. What already exists in Europe? Hyperion. We better not use the same name so let's just change a letter or two.

Does Vampire only operate 2x trains as the norm these days? I visited for the first time in years the other day and couldn't work out why with such a long queue. Years ago the spare train(s) would be parked up in the tunnel however the third was nowhere to be seen.

Operations were really struggling today with only 5 cars. Winter maintenance must have over run on the remaining 3 cars, hope this is sorted asap as throughput isn't great at the best of times.

Surely the train should be travelling in the opposite direction towards the 'splashdown plaza' instead of away from it.