planenut

Does seem odd that they had to cut the restraints, shame. Hope nobody needed the loo!

Happened Thursday morning when we had high winds with higher gusts. Apparently it caught the train as in a sail and stopped it dead - wish I had a bet on that, the odds must be really high.

The engineers used a cherry-picker to reach it in the position you see in that shot; at one stage the wind caused the platform to sway severely and one of the engineers grabbed the track structure until the wind had eased.

it seems that even the ride can get tetchy - due to the wind being gusty this morning the fifth car on the morning test was stopped "on it's tracks" and engineers had to go up to free it from the track to force it into completing the run; and I thought it was meant to put the wind up the riders.

"You are only as high as your seat", well that's one of my comments when people say they fear the height. As an older guy, and the fact that I attend mostly on my own, I generally take some reading material for the queue, but if you have a shared interest with your friends, why not take a small book that you can share, a silly one; I too hate queueing for anything over twenty minutes, but luckily can go there during the week.

I've been twice this year, checked on the website which showed a 10a.m. opening, and found they had opened at 09.30 on both occasions.

I have never worked in a supermarket, restaurant and a (sort of) call centre, nor in fact a theme park, but I do know that Merlin will slap a deep clean of a ride on the staff with virtually no warning, and they are all expected to get home afterwards.

Not sure of the reasons for not trying but that may be it - get your friend to agree to ride each and then to give you his assessment? Tell him to (not meaning to sound like Darth Vader) feel the ride, the way he is held or allowed to move, the G forces and any discomfort, and most important, if he feels any airtime. Sometimes in the queues people express their concern for the danger or safety - I tell them that the ride would not be allowed to exist if it were anything but safe. I also alert them to the fact that they probably arrived by car or coach and that more people die on Britains motorways daily, than worldwide in theme parks during a year! Sadly though, some people physically don't like them, which means they are not in front of me in the queue!

I believe that if real fire was to be considered for inside a tunnel, then new air extraction would also have to be installed. On SWARM, I am pretty sure that the flame emission from the fire engine is supposed to react to every seventh pass of the train.

Maybe his pronunciation was not too good, as I think they are installing and testing the new trains, I.e. "more trains".

I too was at TP on Monday, giving my favourite ride Stealth a thorough testing, and it was much to the merriment of the ride ops. there, to keep pointing out that Colossus was still stuck on the lift hill, and the crew all harnessed up were having to get people off. I had toyed with the idea of having a trip on Colossus, but glad to say I stayed Stealthy all day.

Nemesis Inferno has red "fire" lighting in the tunnel, but I only saw them on once last year.

Went in to TP today, first venture after the winter, then the cold. My favourite ride, Stealth, luckily was working, and it was good to meet some of the new ops. along with some familiar faces. A great day riding, though it did have three technical failures causing ten minute breaks, so was a good time to use the facilities and replenish with drinks.

Many thanks for that JoshC, as I managed to squeeze fifteen visits out of the last seasons pass, I think this is a bargain.

Certainly this proves what JoshC referred to, each to their own. A longer ride doesn't necessarily make it better, especially if it includes a braking zone wait, but it does amaze me the amount of people that come off a ride to then criticize the shortness of it, after having waited sometimes over one hour? Surely they'd have worked out the times from watching it whilst queuing?

Let's not mention the approximate minimum figure of £677,000 that they now make per year from car parking.

but that's part of the gimmick of this ride, in the dark, and possible faults that leave you, well, in the dark!

Engineering start before 7a.m. every day, so they're unlikely to start earlier; faults do arise when in use more often than when under maintenance checks (Murphy's law applies here), and after several staff return to Uni. late in the season, training cannot be as thorough. On site training/guidance should be increased if it exists at all. I thought that was what managers and supervisors were for, but management, who can be identified when carrying "helping hand" grippers? seem to visit rides then disappear quickly. Satisfaction cannot be guaranteed for all, and those who've had a good day are unlikely to comment, criticism abounds, myself included.

A little knowledge can mean the message poster gets a very different viewpoint.........I understand that Stealth has three trains, not two.

Actually, one train on Colossus has been damaged by some plonker dropping their mobile phone on the final part of the track causing substantial damage, and another on Stealth is out of action and in need of extra work that will be done during the winter maintenance period.

The track is designed for straight-running; any spinning would overlap and create sideway stressing which would not be accommodated. The theme could be updated and some original effects re-instated. Since H&S now requires the queue to be outside, further attention to that area is needed but work done on the corridors.

Well mmaarrcc25, don't worry about Colossus as it's out of action, unless they finish the work before your arrival. Enjoy your day!