dk3

Pluk summed up what I think.
The main thing that went wrong here is the person who did indeed bring the knife in the park. I am sure this could of happened at most parks. Thorpe actually have a fairly decent system in place. Some parks in mainland europe you can just walk into without even a search.. It is very easy to sit here in hindsight and list everything that the park has and hasn't done, though before this happened I swear nobody was complaining about security/searching at the park?
 
Nasty things happen everywhere all the time. Theme parks are not exempt from this.
^^^ This
 
There is many things Thorpe do wrong, but I find some of this hate thrown at them for this to be a bit uncalled for. 
 
 

Ah yes, Thorpe Park with it's 5 large roller coasters, 1 family roller coaster, 4 water rides and one of the best selections of thrill rides in the UK (and arguably Europe) offers the least out of the 4 Merlin parks. 
 
Sure, they haven't added anything *new* in a while (which is bad), but they still have a very solid selection of rides. I think people overlook that sometimes.
Let's face it, the price could be £60 and the first day would still likely have sold out. People are pent up. People want to go out. They'll pay above and beyond to do that. 
 
When things balance out after a couple of weeks we can start judging if the demand is there.
 
There's certainly some understandable logic in the whole "we're having to reduce the number of people who visit, so we have to increase the price". The issue comes when seemingly Thorpe are the only ones to do have done this. 
 
Also, with a higher price comes higher expectations. Coronavirus will impact people's days in a variety of ways, but if the park can't offer the best possible experience in the situation, paying such a high price can lead to people thinking 'Well it wasn't worth it'. How any company pitches itself over the next few weeks and months could affect their reputation for years to come.

The seatbelts serve 2 main purposes:
 
Purpose 1 - In case of an evacuation, it gives greater control to staff. 'Please don't undo your safety belt', etc.
Purpose 2 - A visual check for guests to know they're secure.
 
As time has gone on, Purpose 2 has become more redundant as guests generally know they're safe. But 20-odd years ago, seeing a seat belt was a big thing.
 
Purpose 1 only truly matters when there's people sat in the seat. Plenty of parks around the world don't bother doing seat belts on empty seats. And within Merlin, it's a ride-by-ride thing. This is not an example of H&S standard slipping.
The only thing that's extremely shocking here is the amount of time you must have dedicated to try and find another crazy thing at Thorpe to complain about.

For anyone interested in Vampire and Bubble Works in their old days, I'm currently attempting to recreate the interiors in 3D for a book on Sparks, the studio that created them. Also the Alton Towers Haunted House (see the Duel topic). This after sadly most the photo archives on the two classic rides (when they were first built) were destroyed by a fire some years ago.

To raise funds to recreate the missing scenes to a photo-realistic standard, from all the original production records and plans, I'm doing a Kickstarter campaign this month. It would be brilliant if anybody wanted to contribute, if we beat the target the recreation will be able to go ahead.

For more information on the book see the Kickstarter video on the link!

What a car crash of a thread.

U

Missing Storm Surge so, so much. Counting the hours here.

/s

Missing Storm Surge so, so much. Counting the hours here.

/s

To the GP yes, Stealth is one of the tallest and fastest in the UK so obviously to them it is a good headliner attraction.
For us enthusiasts though, its nothing more than a decent coaster. Its layout is anything but unique, it has the terrible plastic intamin OTSR, and it just isn't something people will travel to ride.. People travel far to ride the likes of Nemesis and Smiler, Stealth not so much..
 

(PLEASE use punctuation:)

Ok, I will try my best to do that I have just got an app on my phone called Grammarly this may help me with my punctuation, can get it right I will just take my time to get my sentences right and just hope. It can help  I have informed a moderator that I am autistic I will update my profile so it informs people and to be aware about it.

(PLEASE use punctuation:)

ANPR is the answer.  Well, partially.  Saw loads of people struggling with their phone, trying to get the barcode scanned - hopeless, even on a quiet day.  Entering your reg when buying a parking ticket on-line would allow the barrier to open automatically via ANPR.  Paper parking tickets and APs are easier to scan, so no problems there.
 
What annoys me most is that there's no-one to wash my car!  I'd happily pay an extra £7 to get my car washed whilst I ride, parking my car in the "preferential car-wash parking" spaces.  Not rocket science to implement and creates employment for a few extra people.  

Since Kraft changed the recipe I think peoples opinion of them are already changing for the worst.



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All that’s needed are those random squirters back in action & we’re almost there! And also, rename it back to Thunder River, a much, much better name.

All that’s needed are those random squirters back in action & we’re almost there! And also, rename it back to Thunder River, a much, much better name.

The first cycle was always really bad though. It just gave you a massive head rush and was super painful. 
 
Id much rather they skip straight to the five flip cycle (which they now do) and save the ride for a few more years. 

Yay more actors for no reason and to add nothing to the experience on park. It has been demonstrated time and time again no one cares about Halloween attractions when it's not Halloween. It might add to the 10pm closes (seriously doubt it) but the whole let's just throw actors at stuff to make it better has gone on for too long and is so short sighted.
 
Atleast it's not like Alton so I guess that's something positive.

Go on the big rides then.

Go on the big rides then.

Out of interest what on that list would you be against?
 
Not saying it’s true, but...
Slammer removal would be good, it’s not reopening.
 
X seeing some sort of retheme, again not a bad thing, depending on the quality of course.
 
Loggers reopening / Work starting, would you be against that?
 
Walking dead open all year round - no issue with that, on busy days the park needs all the capacity it can get.
 
Only bad thing on there id say was Swarm VR.

This does tickle me Next time I go to Thorpe I'm going to wear an empty Kellogs box round my neck so people know I paid "half price" to get in.

It was pretty dimly lit in the early days, especially in the UV scenes - the old wind tunnel and fairground. Not as dark as Gruffalo (which is mainly a smart way to hide the distinct lack of scenery in most scenes) but nothing like Bubbleworks in its later years when the ride & station were lit up like a dentist's waiting room.

A zoo can be a brilliant place and very entertaining/educational. Chessington is one of the worst zoos in the UK. It has token animals and token, dated exhibits. Zufari everyone says was a brilliant way of integrating the zoo with the park more, in reality it was an awful attempt at featuring animals and is a terrible attraction. Chessington does not have half the size a good zoo needs to be worthwhile and good.
 
Merlin only fund new developments for Chessington if the concepts have a zoo theme, or incorporate animals somehow, (unless it is an IP). They treat Chessington as "the Africa one" out of all its parks, a slogan and some bamboo constitutes a "brand" in the world of Merlin (and unfortunately, most the parks current visitors), and everything must stick to that brand - no matter how nonsensical for the park's ability and no matter how formulaic & tacky.

Warning - Spoilers!! 
 
Okay - I want to do do a full right up of my (our) day at Chessington at some point but in the meantime, heres what I thought of the Gruffalo:-
 
Considering I'm an old boy and remember the original Professor burbs Bubbleworks from within a season or 2 of it's opening, I am filled with sentimentality and a natural criticism of Modern Merlin and IP attractions. 
 
However:-
 
I really did enjoy the Gruffalo for what it was, I appreciated its newness and freshness and found this preferable to viewing a decaying classic - which previously just made me sad! 
This is now a stand-out piece of theme park immersion for the UK, The visuals and multi-sensory effects really excited me and drew me in, In particular the use of 'scent cannons' throughout the ride and a good balance between animatronics and projection effects! in particular I was impressed by the 'waterfall' effect which made use of projection onto textured scenery!  I experienced instant comparisons with Europa park's Arthur attraction, which can only be a good thing! 
 
A downside Is the obvious Dead-spots and blank walls, with no effort in some areas to hide Vents, Pipes, wires, electric plugs  and staff hatches! In other parks these would have been hidden with strategically placed screens, drapes, foliage etc - particularly when you look up and can see the warehouse corners! I think with the newer slower pace of the boats means you have longer to notice all of this - as well as it depending which way your facing - a case in point being the first scene  with the giant book - if you face the other way (viewing the rest of that room) - you see a badly painted blue wall! 
 
Some of the animatronics could have done with being a bit more complex too - I know the characters are cartoony - but a moving jaw here and there would have added to the whole and added a further dimension to the 'fibre-glassy' look of the figures! 
 
The thing that concerns me with the Gruffalo like with many other merlin attractions is - 'Is an attraction only as good as its first season' - once the effects start to stop working - the ride will quickly loose its magic - It only works so well due to the sum of all its effects working! 
 
Another thought was the last room - the 'finale' - this could do with a lot more 'magic' - something climatic - it just feels a bit 'meh' - all the best effects seem to have been used earlier in the ride! - saying that I loved the fog projection before re-entering the station! (how long will that work for). 
 
THE other problem is the rest of Chessington now needs to catch up with the Gruffalos level of Immersion!