Project LC

Less than half full or half empty? Ive never been to alton feb half term, its too far to go for just a few rides. It will be interesting to see if swarm and stealth open on 2 trains or just 1. If its 1 then the whole "event" could end up being pretty pointless as I doubt rush or slammer will be opening.

Arh ok the people I was asking have lied to me. Although air does have 3 trains...

They wouldn't be allowed to operate without full checks. Limited capacity is referring to the fact only a few rides is open but they keep saying very limited. Which raises questions of if that means 1 train op. Apparently Alton run 1 train op during feb half term so I would imagine thorpe are going to do the same.

I do agree that one train op is not to sell fastrack, its just highly annoying to see the 2nd train sitting there with no one working on it. Most of the time it did seem to be down to not enough engineers available to add it at the time it should have been. 2 train op should be possible on the rides they are opening if they have changed around the schedules so it favours the rides they want to open first. However that would require them knowing the line up.

It depends what they consider correct. I've seen swarm with a 100 minute queue on 1 train op with the 2nd train just sitting there waiting to be put on. I'm expecting about 2-40 minute queues at this "event". open from 10am - 5pm that isn't worth a penny. In fact if its free its still questionable. No matter how much I may like stealth and swarm a day of just those 2 in the cold doesn't sound amazingly appealing.

I would expect the exact same quality but Thorpe do keep saying very limited capacity. Which is making me question if that means 1 train operation.

Stealth should in theory have 2 trains ready. However everything else I don't know if they would have had enough time to do a full strip down. A swarm train strikes me as quite complicated and time consuming to do a full strip down.

Summer nights is a intentionally reduced queue time.

Yeah I know. Information failure is to blame for that one. If more people in the UK knew what parks are like just a few miles away Thorpe would get away with a lot less. Ill just be waiting until paramount park.

There is only one other thing Thorpe could do now to make me even more angry with them. So at their current rate we will get a RNR announcement in the next few weeks. I didn't know it was possible for a company to damage their name so much over £5.

They would never answer it. Thorpe like to ignore all negative feedback.

You shouldn't have to upgrade your pass because the company that runs the park wants to squeeze every penny out of you. You've already paid £169 why on earth should you pay more. No other theme park in the world treats their loyal guests like this so why should anyone put up with it. They are absolutely disgraceful to charge for it and have damaged an already pretty bad reputation. Colossus is unlikely to be in the line up because of its difficulty running in cold weather. It already uses the heaters in the station on some summer nights so I don't imagine it would do too well in feb.

Brainiac is in no way an excuse to call this an event. It was free during Easter why should it now be a charge of £5 to people who normally get in for free. There is no justification on Thorpe's side other than they want more money. They didn't need to do anything to stop me from renewing my pass but now they have successfully made others do it as well. They really have no concept on how to run a business. Never annoy your best customer, I thought they would have learnt that from fright night £10 but clearly they haven't. At least it reveals how little they care for returning customers. Personally I would have thought £169 was enough but clearly they need every penny they can get their hands on.

Its the way they are classing feb half term as a special event. In no way, shape or form can this be considered a special event. It is a reduced ride offering with a show that was free earlier this year. They keep saying limited capacity when I'm quite sure that means we are letting in as many as health and safety will allow. Their solution to reducing the number of people through the doors is to charge people who have already paid £169 for a standard pass. I know of no other parks that charge their loyal customers more for half a park 3 weeks early. It shows they care only for the money and have no concept that if people have a good time they return. The idea is to maximise sales not put people off. I'm sure a pass holder is more willing to spend on food which is where the money is and Thorpe have decided to charge those people even more and put them off from attending. Its a disgrace to charge pass holders for entry to this so called event and I'm going to inform as many people at the company as I can that people are in no way happy with their decision. I accept that they will ignore 1 person complaining at them but if I can provide evidence that lots of people are annoyed then something may be done.

No standard pass holder should go to feb half term. And others should be informed on what there doing.

Good luck getting a complaint to them before tickets go on sale. I sent a reply in an ongoing matter 17 days ago and still waiting a reply. It has only been 13 working days but its still a very long time. I cant express my anger with them over this as I still care for the park in an odd way. However as many suggested I've given up with merlin, if they see another penny from me again I will be amazed. Europa park is by far the way forward and the more people who know that the better.

Any company is able to change something because of negative complaints. As a certain lord sugar said (paraphrasing) to ignore negative feedback is to set up for failure. You also never annoy your best customer. 2 key rules of business and they have broken both of them. Make enough noise and eventually they will listen. Ive been checking laws in what I can and cant do in getting my voice heard, if there going to block me on twitter then ill take my voice else where like my 1500 subscribers. They cant just keep ignoring complaints from people. There is plenty of evidence to show people are not happy with this charge but yet they just ignore it.

The park has limited capacity so to put people off they annoy the people who are some of the most loyal. They seem to have no concept of guest satisfaction. There is no other way to describe what they have done other than idiotic. There is clearly pleanty of people who are very against the idea and in typical thorpe style they have ignored the comments. Does anyone have merlins complaint email rather than thorpes.

It may only be a £5 but its the principle. How much of my money do they want. Every oportunity they can find to charge standard pass holder they use. £10 for fright night was a joke but £5 for reduced ride offerings is just taking... They can do the hell the want with standard annaul passes as I'm done with all of merlin. £5 for loyal customers to half a park which will have queues when its normally free. There is something wrong if you pay £5 for that.

I was going to avoid leaving posts and just read the forums but £5 for standard MAP holders is just... I dont have any words which can sum up my outrage. £100+ and they want more on top of that for something alton offers for free. It will be discount entry for everyone except the pass holders who suffer an infinite price rise. I am point blank disgusted with them. Why on earth should any pass holder have to pay to get into this "event". Its just a week of operation with reduced capacity and they want to charge there loyal customers for that. Ill go back to the shadows now of just reading. I just need to get that off my chest.

Also I would appreciate it if you did make me out to be a mental guy with a board preaching about pizza pasta. Just because you lot think its good doesn't mean everyone else does. To take the piss of people with opposing opinions isn't funny or clever its just inconsiderate. You have no idea how much I do or don't want something, yeah I'm not in favour of pizza pasta instead of pizza hut but I'm not going to stand outside it warning people away.

But I was going to spend that money anyway. So its an added bonus, effectivly making it free.

I dont pay for the MAP, I get them free with nectar points. The only money they get off me is if I buy food. The only problem with Europe is getting there. Its a bit far to go if I want some thrills for the weekend.

I seriously find it hard to believe that I am the only one which goes to thorpe for the rides despite not liking the rest. Seeing as everyone is picking out each individual word I type and being ultra pedantic I'm just going to stop. If you honestly think I am or anyone is going to buy something they dont want then there is something wrong with your logic.

I think you will find I said merlin. No where near the levels of investment compared to tussauds.