planenut

That would be a great shame to lose Apocalypse. I do like that one, along with it's variation of riding, but they have had maintenance problems with it over the last couple of years, and that also relates to costs of manufacturing bespoke parts. The height provides a somewhat magical view of the surrounding countryside in the early morning; I know I'm weird.

I am often surprised by the differences between people. Our likes and dislikes are affected by our physical and emotional states, either temporary or permanent and has brought me to the conclusion that if we all liked the same thing, there'd be one heck of a queue for what we like.

On Oblivion, look at the rail coming up, the other side of the tunnel, that's where you are going, and tense your stomach before the release, but most of all, enjoy it.

It certainly is dependent on the access and length of the ride. A tiring day at Universal, Rip Ride Rocket using the single rider queue, therefore those stairs, and with permission, a staff gate, got me to 77 rides. Stealth is my favourite but though the team tried to count, they lost it and I know that days count won't be beaten. I consider myself lucky if I get a bonus ride. The ride will shut down if the sensors detect weight on the train between offload and load. I did like Slammer, but a one off and for me, not re-rideable.

I went on Tuesday and as Matt had remarked, this day too was very low on attendance figures with only 2500 registered.

As Matt said, we are never too old, but our feelings for things change. I am more than twice your age and love rides and roller coasters but I have often commented on how different people are, both emotionally and physically. Our appreciation and need for things change. Some would never consider using the rides, me? I have never been interested in basketball. If we were all the same, there would be one heck of a queue for the ride we love. The demographics of society affects the type of people attending parks, I.e. The majority of youngsters are not in the type of employment from which there would be difficulty in having time off. Again for me in the past I worked shifts, so that helped. Don't let your age control whether you ride or not, let your feelings decide that, and whatever you choose, enjoy it.

Glad that you had a good day. Anybody with long legs or who suffer from leg-cramps would suffer on Colossus.

Don't fret, the rides have "try out " seat before the queue lines. Good luck.

I did enjoy having a good spin on Slammer.

You could have put the mask up higher!

Wah!

It would be disappointing if they bounce you back though.

Talking to my daughter brought a laugh today when I referred to my hollering on Stealth - in Covid, no-one can see you scream! ..........well we thought it funny.

I suspect they are looking at further ways to gain some of their lost profits. Next year we will be paying for a "phantom "period in between passes. It's a business.

Finally braved TP for the first time this year, and very wary of the virus and the almost impossible "Social distancing". Took a couple of different style face masks and found the one I use when riding my bike the most secure. Difficult for the staff as they cannot be any closer to the riders than they are. Originally doubted I would get many rides in but there was hardly a queue all afternoon so I managed a decent number. Several times after the braking hill we raced round the lower bend and engineering had to change a couple of drive wheels.

Sorry for the late reply. It was on the BBC morning news, at least twice.

I had the box on the other day, and there was a news item where the presenter was talking about theme parks opening up, and people in the picture had to be secured by another for safety, a ride in Legoland; I then heard a voice that I immediately recognized and they then showed the speaker and I was right. I used to work with the guy twenty-five years ago, and haven't seen or spoken with him since. Funny old world. I don't do facebook or similar, I'm a bit of a dinosaur, so the chances of getting a message to him are slim.

Ordinary influenza takes at least 7000 people each year, and that's only the UK. Stay aware, stay clean, stay safe. If they start enforcing two metre spaces in queues, that means some of us will suffer standing in the North Sea.

Hi All, thought I'd better pop in as it's been a while. You are mostly in the age groups that will be fine, if you get it, it'll be like a lousy flu. Think about those around you, especially your older friends and family, and help them prepare. Standing in a queue to buy those extra loo rolls will be just as dangerous. Just look forward to those shorter queues. Stay safe, stay clean, and be aware of those around you, and that applies everywhere.

Perhaps they haven't got enough people to fix it, as I understand it takes many hands to make it work.

Hmm, I think it's now over four years.

Hmm, have you tried floorless on Apocalypse at Drayton Manor?

It's interesting that over the last ten years, the amount of visitors to TP has always fluctuated around the 1.8 million per year, indicating that this is a normal rate; there is a limit on the visitor numbers. A great ride or item, has to be "re-rideable", one wants to run round and get straight back on, for me DBGT was never that. There has to be sufficient entertaining items for those who don't want to ride at that time, I.e., just had lunch, can't do rough rides, don't do upside down, or just want "time out". Merlin have sold the parks, and we really don't know the direction of the new controlling body, and they will wait to see what the figures are. Those organizations are primarily investors therefore they will look at the gate figures ahead of the item throughput. I also thought that with Merlin, they were waiting to see the results of Wickerman, whilst appearing to run TP down, but it's now a lot tidier.

The job being undertaken is big, and not been carried out before. It seems that on similarly launched rides, that job has been done sometimes more than once. It has been made more difficult due to the ride structure being installed differently to other locations. My fingers are crossed that it will be available, the next time I am able to visit, which I don't anticipate for at least the next ten days.

They are a useful tool for the staff if they are having to push for full loads, not so much recently. They also seem to need "managing" so with lower staff numbers, not always suitable.