planenut

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.

It really has been a mixed bag of news at Drayton recently. 
 
The new additions in the Adventure and Viking areas. Adding and renovating current attractions and the rumours of new ones. Including a potential coaster. 
 
The apocalypse removal is honestly a massive blow for both the park and the UK. But perhaps also not a surprising one given the ride’s reliability issues and potential direction of the park. 

No I agree @planenut! I know what you mean.
It's weirdly peaceful up there isn't it! 🥴
 
What a shame it's on the way out - it's such a huge ride, both physically in the park and 'iconically' (yeah whatever) in the UK.
 
It's 22 years old now though isn't it, and is fast becoming 'the odd-one-out' at DM.
It's falling in to disrepair and looks very tatty now compared to the new shiny areas they're putting in.
 
As for what's next, Apocalypse itself doesn't take up much space (being a drop-tower), but clearing this, along with the large tarmac area in front, as well as the neighbouring unused footprint of Pandemonium and Test Track - that's a large space available.
 
Here's hoping for a nice coaster on this site.  Something Wickermanny / Th13teeny!
 
- -
EDIT: I don't think I quite realised until now how major the Drayton turnaround actually is.
The new areas look really good, and they clearly have big plans for the place.
The future is looking good!

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.

Many thanks to everyone answering the question! The suggestion to start with Nemesis / Stealth worked really well, as we got in essentially without queueing. In the end we managed 19 rides (we didn't do dodgems, high striker, the 4D cinema, storm surge and depth charge), including all the major rides. A bit sad we didn't manage to get into storm surge, but 30 minutes of queueing seemed a bit unreasonable for what it offered...!

Easily over 25 on stealth in a row on a mega dead day in september 2019, no queue, gate by unload platform open, straight back round.

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.

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

You could have put the mask up higher!

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 mean it's not like MAP holders can possibly EVER revisit on another day is it?

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.

So here's the Thorpe problem in a nutshell. Their investment in the 2000's was big. it was exciting, it was dynamic, it was a dream to be a Uk theme park fan with rides left right and centre. But the Thorpe problem comes down to a lack of space and a lack of diversity. They've got themselves into a rut when The Swarm kind of failed. Their target audience demands the newest, most exciting attractions. Who cares about Colossus and its measly ten inversions when The Smiler has fourteen.So then when they fail to grow, they start to downsize. The problems start to increase. The lack of investment means a lack of return which just spirals until we get to now. Thorpe doesn't have the advantages of the family market. Chessington went through a similar slump when it left the thrill market altogether and turned to family. The difference there though is that the family market spends money. Kids demand toys and treats. Ap family holders are all too happy to grab a nice meal and a pint with their family. They like staying in an over-priced hotel. Kerching. 
 
Thorpe's target audience doesn't. Thorpe AP holders are happy to only spend a pound in the park all day. It starts to cost too much money to remove the SBNO attractions. Just build a wall. Who do you target at now when the bulk of your attractions are thrill heavy. 
 
Really there is absolutely no reason why the park couldn't build a family rollercoaster or some entry level flat rides (give me a breakdance you cowards). But they won't because all they want are headlines and aren't interested in sustaining the park beyond the end of the financial year. So we get short term rubbish like I'm a Celeb or Black Mirror instead of attractions that stand the test of time. I'm amazed that Chessington actually replaced Black Bucaneer and are replacing Rameses with a generic drop tower AND redid Tomb Blaster AND built a Rainforest area, refurbishing Toadies and building a Log Flume at the same time. This stuff never happens at Merlin, it will certainly never happen at Thorpe because the idea of cookie-cutter attractions would never fly. So instead the current attractions just age away and nothing gets built or done. 
 
If you were to ask me what Thorpe should do, I'd go with refurbish attractions, build rides that attract a wider audience and beef up that awful entrance with a new look and better security stations. Inferno shouldn't be turning green, family rollercoasters are awesome additions and  a stabbing should never be able to happen again. There is absolutely no point in building an RMC or B&M Hyper if the rest of the park looks like a rubbish dump. Putting a bow on trash is still trash. 
 
And that for me is the Thorpe problem.

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.
 
 

So I actually had a good day today, I’ll admit after the first hour everything felt a bit weird, but after that getting more used to things I actually enjoyed it.
 
Carrying on from above, the arcade from that angle does look bad - I’ve no idea I can only assume it had to be done very quickly for some reason or work wasn’t able to be completed due to corona - I do hope something is done to improve it as it don’t look great.

On a more positive note - Firstly with the social distancing I think the park did really well - there are markers literally everywhere spaced out 2 m anywhere there would be a queue - there are sanitiser stations everywhere and I didn’t find one which had ran out all day, on rides there’s social distancing where it’s needed - some rides seem odd such as quantum which literally runs 3 rows - others do make sense, but obviously this is new and will be tweaked over the next few weeks. There’s signage everywhere - again it’s all been done professionally and properly, proper signage throughout, information videos on screens and park wide announcements. For guests following it it’s a mixed bag - some queue lines seemed to follow it better than others, ride ops did step in at times and make announcements reminding people which jogged memories and people would then distance out more. Did notice some not wearing masks on The Swarm, at the same time someone at stealth didn’t have a mask and the staff quickly found one, disposable masks are also on sale in the shops as well as Thorpe branded ones.
 
Entrance to the park was efficient- those without bags skip security queue and go straight to temperature check - the ticket window queue to the right of the entrance is repurposed info a holding queue for those waiting to get in before park opens to allow people to be socially distancing whilst waiting.
 
Park audio has had so much work, probably more than its ever had, its not finished but it’s already significantly better, queues like colossus which have needed work for so long have had it, areas which never had audio before now have it, its really so much better. A few tweaks are needed with some volumes too loud or quiet but that will come over time - you need the general noise of the park to get these levels right. 
 
Ride availability wasn’t bad - rides in old town were closed along with rumba, I expect these to open over the next Few weeks, as expected Ghost train and walking dead closed. Shutdown wise only actually saw Stealth and Vortex go down which isn’t bad for “first day” of season - all rides full capacity too which is obviously more important  now with reduced seating.
 
New brand signage around entrance / dome looks good - much more professional and suits the park well - Infinity looks really good too, sadly they seemed to have some struggles in there today so didn’t get to try it but definitely will soon!
 
New car park system was good - passes scanned quickly, I do wonder if eventually pass holders will be able to register a car reg?

Was also happy to see fastrack not on sale - they easily could have sold it, and people would have bought it - but not selling it definitely is a big plus for guest experience especially when staff are getting used to the new procedures on rides.
 
All in all I had a good day - it was rough around the edges in some places but open day ALWAYS is - with the added part of the vast majority of staff spending the last few months on furlough along with  all the new procedures needed it ran significantly smoother than i thouht it would - am happy the parks able to reopen!

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.

Children have been said to be at the absolute lowest risk though.. Not many young folks have died from the virus, actually the current number for the age range 0-9 is 0. And 10-19 is a very low death rate. Young people are not the worry here.
 
Honestly I like the UK approach, I find the current media coverage to be somewhat drastic and melodramatic. People mass buying crap and self isolating themselves are just perhaps a little too easily influenced by the current media brainwashing them. It is a nasty virus and some people are going to die, but there is many other things such as cancer, heart problems, or even the Flu itself which kills tons of people a year but I don't see anyone locking themselves in a room crying over it? There is more chance of crashing your car on the way to the parks that catching the corona virus.. But you still drive cars don't you?
 
 

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.

This took me a minute.
 
Well played sir, well played.

I had to ask @JoshC. to explain that one to me, I confess. Good work indeed.

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

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

Quite interesting, got me thinking about the Merlin rides where I've been happy enough to run around and ride again;
 
- Duel
- Nemesis
- Oblivion
- Vampire
- Dragon's Fury
- Swarm
- Stealth
- Inferno
 
I always have the most fun at a park when the queues are low enough to do that on one of those rides. Most I've done is seven times on Nemesis. Had an awesome one-off time on Colossus at the end of the day where we got to go round twice without leaving the station, staff were hyped up to go home. When the ride hosts are motivated it really makes the atmosphere electric and 1000x more enjoyable. For this reason the best part of the day at any Merlin park is usually the hour before closing.