TPJames

I enjoy thorpe as a whole park, it has some good quality attractions. However, I am not paying £5 extra to have less than half the park open. I will continue to visit when the park opens fully in march.

I think otherwise actually Josh, a complaint now is much more likely to make a difference. Once the tickets are on sale, they won't change the price as people will get even angrier! If we all complain now, they are much more likely to let pass holders in for free into their 'event'.

Sorry for the double post, comments@merlinentertainments.biz These can be emailed for issues about thorpe park. I reckon the above people are the best hope you have of getting a response, I went direct with alton towers before and got my issue resolved. If you want address the email to all of them and you are bound to get a response, if none of them can deal with the problem they will direct you elsewhere. Is it possible that thorpe gain so many complaint emails they actually take action and remove this charge?

Agree with a lot of the points above. £10 for fright nights was pushing it, however you did get the mazes back then. £5 for a REDUCED line up with a 1/4 of the park open is absolutely ridiculous: Braniac live is not an excuse either, it was free this season during a holiday period yet they expect us to pay extra to see it now!? Having it in the terms and conditions is NOT an excuse for adding endless charges. Annual pass holders are not being treated the way they should be. Annual pass holders should be given a yearly round entry to a park with free entry each time. They should not be adding endless charges regardless of an event or not, an 'event fee' is unacceptable. If they want to make it more expensive for annual pass guests, then they can simply lower the price of annual passes. But yet again, that would be losing them money as less people would buy it as it's a more expensive price. Thorpe are going to get away with this, it's ridiculous. I have a right mind to not bother going, may even go to the chessington event instead. This is not a special event, it is a reduced line up. There is no justifiable action in charging extra for a reduced like up when you can experience the full line up a couple of weeks later or no price. I hope thorpe reads this forums, I know they won't take action however I want them to realise how stupid their actions are. It is only a matter of time before they start losing customers with their ridiculous operations and customer services. It's time they sorted things out, the charges are going up and up. To be honest I wouldn't be suprised if it's £10 to visit during Easter and summer holidays and £15 for fright nights for annual pass holders next season as well. Taking away all the perks of being an annual pass holder are we? Oh wait. They are taking away the whole point of being an annual pass holder. An annual pass holder should be entitled to all year round entry and they are not giving that in any way possible.

The whole sense of having an annual pass is that you should be respected by the park for visiting regularly. The price is irrelevant, we have paid to be able to visit all year round and they are restricting that with endless event fees. We have to pay an extra £5 every time we visit to park the car anyway on top of the event fee we are getting each time we visit. We are the loyal customers and should be respected, its quite frankly disgusting.What will the hours be? 10am-3pm? What rides will be open? Maybe X, swarm, stealth and angry birds land? How busy will it be? Likely very busy as it is a holiday season. Will fastrack be on sale? Yes. So do I really want to be paying £5 as an annual pass holder to be waiting an hour to get on rides and only get on 4rides in the day? No. I would much rather have a trip to clapham common February funfair where all rides are £1 and I am likely to get on more rides, for a cheaper price.

This raises more questions than it answers... I think a charge to visit is quite disgusting really considering it will be of a limited ride up and it really isn't a special event. It just makes me lead to think what greedy money suckers merlin are. Yes, they do specify that there will be an event charge for annual pass holders however half the season seems to be an event now. I'm wondering when they will start charging a £5 event fee for pass holders to visit during the summer holidays... As an annual pass holder I should be considered as a loyal customer. I do not expect to be paying £10 to fright nights, £5 was acceptable however any higher is just beyond stupid; then when I get to fright nights I don't expect to be standing in a line for an hour to collect my annual pass ticket while all the normal tickets get in before me(what the hell happened to early access during fright nights!?). Nor do I expect to be paying to visit during a holiday when a reduced line up will be in operation as well as tonnes of people getting in for not that much more than me. I understood summer nights, however when only 2coasters are going to be open I really don't expect to pay an event fee. There will be reduced hours, reduced operations and likely long queues. As an annual pass holder I don't expect to be paying for this and I hope many will agree with me. Please read this and sort this out thorpe, your charges are getting way out of hand. You charge so much already for everything; parking, fastrack etc so why this? Why make your most loyal customers to the park disappointed. There seems no logic behind it. The only conclusion I can draw from this is what thorpe really think like: Money, money and more money.

To anyone who has visited this year, what have cycles been like on gladiator: last year they were poor so I can't imagine them being any better. I found this video of a 10minute cycle on gladiator, really really hoping for this if I ride, definately worth the £9 and look how it hangs upside down at the beginning as well

I'm pretty sure the robot arms are a made up ride on rct3 with ridiculously low throughputs...

It's clear that a fairground ride is not cheap to run, obviously the smaller and less complex it is, the cheaper to run. Especially with winter wonderland it will not be cheap to run your ride and that is why I do understand a price increase to a normal fair, especially as people are willing to pay. -For a start the cost of transport. Some of these rides coming all the way from Europe have to do hours of travelling in several loads. It's not going to be cheap to cover the cost of petrol etc. -Secondly to actually power the ride isn't cheap either, I have no clue of the price but I heard these rides take up a lot of power to run; especially on the longer cycles being run at full speed knackering the motors. -Next is the cost of maintenance. These rides aren't cheap to maintain, funfair rides have regular inspections and regularly have to replace parts in order to keep the ride going. These rides are going all day and all night, if the ride isn't maintained there is bound to be an accident sooner or later or the ride is going to have a major breakdown. -Finally is the cost to run your ride at the event. Winter wonderland will have to pay a lot of money to put their event on hyde park and no doubt for every ride token, a portion of the cost will be going to the organisers. My main point is, these ride owners aren't gaining every penny from the price they are charging, just a mere portion of it. Let's say XXL charges €5 in Europe; after all the expenses taken out here for Jacky to run the ride, the family are not earning £7 per token but more like the price they charge when back in Belgium. What's the point of them taking their ride to winter wonderland then? Well, my guess is that they hope the ride will attract attention and be very successful, therefore making it popular and a high volume of tokens sold. The fact that winter wonderland is so popular, gives the owners hope that they can make more money than when in their home countries. They are not earning extra profit from every ride by having their rides here in England, they are earning the same as they do in their home country per person however have a higher volume of people riding. This may not all be correct but I'd just like to point it out. I know £4-£9 is NOT cheap for a ride per person, but I think there is justifiable reasons behind it and also the people in London are willing to pay these token prices.

On another note, does anyone know why rock rage(ski jump) was moved to the Victorian funfair side street? The ride has been doing much better in its new location and has been gaining long queues during evening periods,and during quiet morning periods it has been giving very generous cycles. I have no doubt that people are finding it impressive with its surroundings as it is a location separate to where the big rides are. Last year the ride appeared to be unpopular as was located near others like gladiator and power tower. I have no doubt that the location and the £5 price tag are bringing people in(as £5 is cheaper compared to the other big rides). I look forward to riding it soon and I highly reccomend it, it's a great experience!

*Awkward Silence*

The wild mouse is Janßen's from Germany. It is it's first debut in England so technically they weren't lying. Although they did imply multiple rides were turning up from Europe and the crazy mouse appears to be the only one. I'm guessing the starflyer tours in England as it's not a particular impressive one either. The funfair there just seems a bit like a bog standard UK funfair, will be interesting to take a look though. It would have been nice if some bigger rides had decided to come over, I was imaging Manning's would have taken showtime there seeing as they didn't take it to winter wonderland and they took their waltzer to winterville as well. The addition of a couple of bigger rides would make the fair much nicer

This event has now started and will run till the 1st January, excluding Christmas and boxing day. Reviews have been ok so far however it seems like winter wonderland is still far the superior event. Please be aware that if you are planning on visiting, opening times do vary and they can be viewed here: http://winterville.co.uk/opening-times/ The site doesn't appear to be particularly big and has been said to be roughly half the size of the site at winter wonderland; however there are far less people attending the event meaning it is much easier to roam around the event. I will hopefully be visiting this site and winter wonderland soon, meaning I will get some photos and videos up from the events. The event seems to be on the cheaper side of winter wonderland as well, with the rides and attractions being cheaper but of a worse quality. For instance, the ice rink is smaller and the funfair has smaller rides and is not themed, however I will hopefully still be taking a peak round but I imagine winter wonderland will be far more impressive. In terms of rides, the funfair is quite small and features: a Starflyer, A waltzer, A twister, A hyper explorer(seems like a very unique ride!), A funhouse, A ghost train, Penguin Dodgems and a crazy mouse coaster. A few smaller attractions feature as well however the average pricing of rides is £3, which is cheaper than winter wonderland but the rides are far less impressive. All in all I will be definitely getting down to Winter wonderland however this is only a maybe depending on various factors. However stay tuned, I will be getting some videos up of Christmas events around London!

I think a lot of people will agree with me that cyles that short shouldn't be given at the high price they are charging. I understand all the points you have raised, but as they have raised the price of the ride to £7 for winter wonderland, I think they should be dishing out decent cycles. I would much rather wait a bit longer and have a decent cycle for the money I've paid than get on quickly and have a very poor ride.

Sorry I was mistaken, air was actually £7 not £6 in the cycle above. The price has risen and cycle length has shortened; absolutely disgusting I think...

Agree with the above post, I think hunger games would be the ideal IP for this ride if it is to be filmed around a film. Themetune anyone?

If visiting, I highly reccomend visting in off peak times, it has been so busy lately and at the high prices the rides charge the cycles have been dreadful! If visiting, make sure you visit in early hours or on an off peak ride time to make the most of your money. Cycle on air, charging £6, only went once over the top at full speed. What a waste of money, will definitely be visiting in off peak times to garuntee good cycles.

I couldn't agree more about burger kitchen, been forced in there twice at chessington by my friends and will never go back. The food was quite frankly disgusting at a fairly high price. Everything was cold as well as had been waiting on the side counter before we ordered for someone to take(excluding the drinks which were warm as they had been pre-made as well). It wasn't even busy so I have no clue why they were doing this but food was of a poor quality anyway. I have eaten at chicken shack and pizza pasta before and they were both of high quality. The fish and chips at both thorpe and the towers are also of a very good standard. Generally the in-brands are good and are cheap when you have a merlin pass. My only exclusion is the burger kitchen which I will try to avoid in the future.

I have just been notified that XXL was dismantled earlier today in order to try and be fixed. The team hopes for it to be reopened tomorrow

I will be visiting this event soon, so expect some videos coming your way on my youtube channel soon! If people are wondering about ride pricing I don't have exact pricing, I only know XXL is priced at £7 and Gladiator is priced at £9 this year. I think the prices may slide around though depending on if it's peak/off peak etc so don't be surprised if it's different! Basically all the thrill rides are 5tokens or more though... In other news, if you are going to winter wonderland to ride XXL; Hold it off until further notice. On Saturday, the ride was closed all evening due to a motor fault. The ride has been vigorously testing however has been refusing to spin and won't make it over about half the height it's supposed to swing. On Saturday and Sunday evening, the event was packed and the team have been very annoyed due to losing potential revenue. As far as I am concerned, the ride is still closed so please wait till further notice if you are wishing to ride. I hope this helps as I don't want people being disappointed!

Hunger games will be going strong for a long time after 2016, just like Harry Potter is still very popular. I see it as potential option for the park considering lionsgate already has a good partnership with the park at the moment. The rumour of saw's IP ending would also die away as it would be likely to get a renewal with the new contract. I saw Mockingjay part 1 today and I thought it was a very very good film. The series will certainly be talked about and watched and read again and again for a few years after part 2 comes out. I see it a very strong option for the park and a massive crowd puller considering the parks film technique has been going very well lately. Of course I don't want the park to be filled with IPs, however I see it as a very strong option for the park seeing as the hunger games is such a popular franchise.

Hi everyone, You may have read my post on the RCT3 topic concerning my upcoming recreation attempt of winter wonderland. This is currently one of the Europe's top festive events which contains many stalls, rides and attractions from all over Europe. I hope to recreate this as accurately as possible. Of course RCT3 has it's limitations, however I am hoping to get past that with the use of Custom rides and scenery. However, this is not so easy to find so I would appreciate all the help I can get in finding any downloads for custom rides which occur at winter wonderland and any general winter and christmas scenery! I currently have rides like XXL downloaded, however many more custom-rides are needed in order for me to make this recreation as accurate as I can. The first update should be coming soon and will just be a general one, of trucks pulling on etc. I will update you as I am building my recreation and a full video will be coming when it is complete! However this will be after christmas at the earliest! I hope you stay tuned and can help me find extra custom content, Many thanks' James.

Hi all , I'm hoping to make a recreation of Winter Wonderland Hyde Park on RCT3! As this is a very complicated thing to make, any help would be appreciated. If anyone could provide me with any winter scenery and christmas decorations I would be very grateful! Also, I am in need of cfrs like the XXL cfr which I cannot find a download for(I know it exists though!). If anyone could provide me with any of these I would be so thankful as I want to make a very accurate creation! Thank you very much. I hope to start as soon as possible.

I was just going off the German "Flasher" model which is usually about €7 in Germany. Looking now, I can see Power Tower and XXL are usually priced at around €5. My main point was that I think the price increase is justified, adding an extra pound or two per attraction isn't too bad considering the distance the rides have travelled, on top of the cost to run the ride and rent out the ground(per attraction). I do agree that £6-£8 is a very expensive cost per ride however people at the attraction are willing to pay it meaning that the cost isn't going to get lowered any times soon. It would be nice if costs were lowered slightly, coasters getting moved down to £5 along with power tower and air, with gladiator and xxl being the most expensive at £6. Anyway, the prices are what they are and they aren't going to change, I do think we have a great event in london though despite how much money they try to suck out of you. The amount of bars, markets, attractions and rides coming from Europe is immense and by the looks of things it seems like the event is only going to get bigger and better in future years

I do agree about the smaller rides pricing, they seem to run empty most of the time. However in terms of the big rides, I can see where the pricing system comes from; considering some of the rides come from other countries in Europe and take several loads of transport. This is on top of the fact that it is in central london and will cost a fortune of money to hire out the ground. If you visit in the early hours, despite the high prices, you are getting a long ride time for the price you are paying. Also, seeing as people are willing to pay £6-£8, I can see why they haven't lowered the pricing structures. In peak times, the bigger rides maintain massive queues the whole evening. Also, the fact that they come from countries like Belgium, The Netherlands and Germany, means that you can't ride them anywhere else(things like gladiator and power tower are also priced around £6-£8 when they travel in their respective countries as well). I also now have been given information that XXL is currently priced at 7 tokens per ride.