Project LC

Good it wasn't just me who thought the departure terminal with easyJet is just the worst and a highly unpleasant place to be.

I would not say that the park are responding to market conditions. They are randomly changing direction presumably because of the change in director. The park seems to have no long term vision and doesn't consider that there investments are going to be there for 20+ years. This ride is another where the same mistake has happened again. Thorpe is going to look incredibly dated in 10 years time without serious investment. Not only should they consider replacing Colossus by then but also, Saw, IAC, walking dead, Angry Birds, DBGTROTD, samurai, vortex, slammer, and loggers leap. I highly doubt Merlin will be spending the kind of money ontop of new investments to make up for the rapidly aging park they have built themselves.

We must be looking at different rides because to me it looks like a dated IP plastered all over a kiddie coaster for the sake of something new for as little cost as possible. The IP is a bad choice and I think it looks cheap. They didn't even get rid of the old station signs.

I understand shambhala, dragon khan and baco but I don't understand how you enjoyed stampedia. The food in the park is appalling at the restaurants. The side places serving food are ok.

It would be a lot of money to develop unless Merlin used an existing system. But existing systems will take a cut of the money. Cash and card works fine and an alternative like Merlin money would cost too much to solve an issue that isn't really there.

Card transactions are hardly faster anyway. They are faster than cash when it's contactless but about the same for when a pin is needed. I don't see why they would make things card only for the sake of a couple of seconds. Just like the no sugary drinks at CWOA and the pizza buffet I'm sure there is another motive.

Wickerman makes sense because of the parking issues, and I guess the other rides would be a little slower than usual because of new staff. Nice to hear that you like the ride. Do you feel it is genuinely good or could the new ride hype be influencing your opinion slightly?

It would seem wickerman has had a pretty poor first weekend with the trains struggling to park. This has resulted in trains being sent with rows unavailable and very slow dispatches. Reports on social media saying people having waited 4 hours just to be evacuated. Not helped by the fact that multiple other coasters at Alton have experienced downtime today. On a more positive note atleast it's better than Saws opening.

To not open it during the week just seems to be a way to annoy all those who visit as the ride would be closed for literally no reason other than to create hype at the weekend. It would provide a good oportunity for the staff to practice running the ride with the GP, rather than the media, so on saturday the ride can run efficiently. If the cold and snow was the reason it is closed I wouldnt have an issue with it but the park saying it wont open until saturday is making me doubt the weather is the reason its closed on thursday and friday.

What? A multimillion pound investment and you think they would keep it closed for the sake of a couple of fastrack sales. Either wickerman has developed a fault which would be expected as it is brand new or it just can't operate in the temperatures forecast.

Currently the highest they can go is 50m on the island behind swarm and stealth. It should also be no longer than 950m if they comply with the mtdp. However the mtdp doesn't seem very applicable anymore and is coming to the end of its term anyway. It's also more a guideline than set rules. My concern is the length limit would make any 50m ride feel rather short so if they were to go with an RMC I'd like to see the length far longer so it doesn't feel like a wasted opportunity.

RMC do offer the T-Rex track instead of raptor which seats 2 per row rather than 1. Not really sure what it would bring to Thorpe's line up though other than something pretty cool looking. I'd like to see something like steel vengeance but with Thorpe's restrictions in height and there guidence on length of the coaster I don't think it would be very good. I'd like to see how Fly turns out because a new generation of vekoma flyers might offer an experience that complements swarm.

Can't wait to go and ride it. Some of the comments on the facebook post hurt to read but its nice to see a lot of positive reactions.

I wonder if they should consider deliberately making it worse so Merlin give them some money to replace it. The ride in its current state looks dreadful and, just like the bubbleworks was, should just be torn down and changed into something else.

I do like how the fastrack queue just goes through the fire door. A terrible looking short term fix that I suspect will be in place until the end of time. The images towerstreet uploaded just show how tired the smiler is looking. The yellow hasn't aged well and the mistake in drainage design really hasn't helped the ride look presentable either.

A new ride nearly always gets very positive reviews from people who have ridden it early or around opening day. The hype vastly influences there opinion on the ride and the true success of the ride can't really be seen until a couple of months to a couple of years of operating.

Evening tickets are a wonderful idea and it's nice to see they are finally doing it properly. Fastrack is an odd decision and it would be interesting to see what it does to the fastrack revenue. The removal of the one shots means there is no low price option for a family of 4 they would have to buy a package and waste one which is going to create a sense of poor value for money. But it may result in the people who were buying one shots buying more than they would have done with the old system. It might be a clever upsale tactic so it will be interesting to see how it works out.

They need to do way more than a new food supplier. They need to hire actual chefs that care that don't microwave everything. I'm convinced Gordon Ramsay could do an entire kitchen nightmares series at just different food outlets in the park. The park is just all round dreadful. Shambhala is the only good thing there but that is ruined by the morons operating the ride.

If that pile of scrap metal that is Rita can convince people it's a good ride while the gp think Icon is not then Alton have either invented magic or are drugging guests. Icon evidently won't have the marketing budget Alton is putting on the wickerman but I do hope that the general public see Icon for what it is and give Merlin a bit of a kick to force them away from there dull investment formula.

Yeah I've seen the images. But it might just be a paint job rather than a full mechanical overhaul. But to be honest I don't know how rush has been running the last few years so it might not need much mechanical work. I gave up on visiting the park (Merlin Group) a couple of years ago.

There is no way on earth I will be congratulating Thorpe for getting a ride ready for the start of the season when the ride is 2 years old. If it was an issue to get it ready then they should have considered maintenance during its design. Seeing as the ride is ready it does show that the mechanical design for the ride is atleast serviceable. Every closed season on this forum it's claimed rush is getting an extensive refurb and this year it seems that might actually be the case. The thing always seems to have some excess downtime at either the start or end of the season so I'm not surprised it won't be open for pass day.

It's a clear indication that the park either have no direction at all or they intend to turn the park into a park full of horror and disaster. The year of the walking dead is hardly a sustainable business model for the park. I'm assuming that's come about by the new director who came from the midway attractions. I don't see it being successful as the IP must have cost a lot and I imagine it will have almost no impact on attendance seeing as the last 2 years has focused on horror and if they didn't visit previously I doubt they will visit now. I might be wrong but I suspect the pulling power of the walking dead isn't too strong anymore. The parks direction is concerning to say the least. Teenagers have no money, family's have no reason to attend. They are spending money on incredibly short term investments. They could easily boost visitor numbers by offering a more upbeat thrill ride aimed at the older families that isn't horror related. Everyone likes something thrilling and entertaining, not everyone likes horror.

I wonder if anyone at the park has any idea what the park should look like in 10 years time.

I think people aren't offering constructive criticism because the layout looks so lackluster and people are so fed up with Merlin's usual nonsense that they just don't care. Meanwhile you have the fanboys raving over the ride claiming it's the best ride to ever be made and swearing blindly that the effects and theme will be stunning when history tells us that is unlikely. It might be a very good ride with a theme that works amazingly well with the ride but I'll believe it when I experience it myself. Although that won't be anytime soon as if I'm traveling north I'll be going to Blackpool.

Icon doesn't need theming as it's layout looks strong enough to make the ride great. It's also not icons intention to be themed as it's in an amusement park. The wickerman looks like it has a poor layout and by itself would be a terrible ride. It is relying on the theme to make it a better experience.