Matt A
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Posts posted by Matt A
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19 hours ago, Bayorame said:
Looks like the parks speaker system has had yet another overhaul! Swarm island and saws speakers have all been replaced with rcf p series and monitor Q series which sound amazing apart from saws station which has no bass but I think its due to saws speaker system still not being finnished leaving some areas without audio (by the way hello zepp it now played on dispatch!) and that they have left the old bose subs remianing making me think they are still keeping them but they have not be turned on yet.
Infernos old soundtrack is back with them new rcf subs that are pumping out the sountracks low frequency beat and lost citys speakers are sounding amazing with that great imascore sountrack. The parks amtmospere has changed alot with the new speakers giving it a refreshed feel, its looking like its going to be a great season!
Thanks for the update, interesting to hear the changes, you seem to be the first to notice! I'm glad to hear (pardon the pun) they're making improvements still, music and sounds really complete any area in a theme park and it had been lacking in Thorpe until last year. Although it does surprise me that Saw and Swarm was done, I hadn't noticed any broken speakers in those areas (if anything Saw was louder than before in recent years). Glad to hear they've kept Hello Zepp though, really love that soundtrack, and it's very synonymous with Saw.
I wonder if Inferno's old soundtrack returning is going to be short lived like Colossus's was a few years ago...
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https://youtu.be/e02Pc5h7NMM?t=22
The security area has changed, there's now three channels on either side so hopefully this speeds it up now. The fencing has had signage added too so I imagine it will be hardly noticeable when the gates are open. The map has been redone too, and it looks like the areas of the park have been replaced by ride intensities as mentioned before. WWTP truck looks good although I do think it'd be better in its original spot, even if it sold food there too.
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6 hours ago, JoshC. said:
3 weeks can be a long time, but remember that during those 3 weeks the ride will be testing regularly for staff training. Whilst something could still be done, it takes away time from training whilst it's installed, checked for safety, etc. And I believe that the ride has been running for training lately.
We can see the new theming has already been installed. Maybe there's more to add to it though.
As I say, at this stage I'm expecting that when the pool is filled with water, it will look like a boat that's there is sinking, and the rest could be for some sort of special effect, like some sort of water splash/fountain/explosion. But no idea really, so curious to see what it is.
I've actually realised the metal theming 'thing' has been gone much longer, in the February pictures it is not there either so hopefully it is actually being restored elsewhere, the amount of scaffolding put up around it would make me think this is more likely (why go to the care and not just rip it out?).
The pool looks like it has water in now although clearly it is not fully set up as the remote control boats boundary is sitting on the path still. Hopefully the boat is something interesting!
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2 hours ago, JoshC. said:
The beach is cleaned and repainted most closed seasons (all, I think?). Presumably yes, there's a level of legality involved in doing so, but it is something that is usually consistently done every year
Just goes to show how much better a bit of cleaning makes it look! Wish they applied this to the rest of the park.
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1 hour ago, Marhelorpe said:
Nothing else really needs to be said looking at those pictures of Tidal Wave's pool!
Inconsistency is key!
26th Feb:
14th March:
I'd imagine this is most likely cleaned since it is a pool people swim in (or they're legally required to for this reason).
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Thorpe Park: experts in theming removal! (photo taken yesterday)
In other news...
Stealth is celebrating its 15th birthday by having its bag room closed and replaced with shelving:
And a marquee has appeared in front of the security huts:
Photos from Sky Survey UK: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=skysurveyuk&set=a.255034999417922
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15 hours ago, Ali G said:
edit: they’ve taken the pics of the ball down but there is one of the work going on near the station. The pics of the ball shower a really rusty and knackered old gas ball with the quote ‘this is what 20 years of tidal waves does to iron’ or something. But that’s gone.
It's still there
https://www.instagram.com/p/CHe427uD4N0/
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2 hours ago, MattyMoo said:
When did the news-crew TV screens last work in the queue lines? Or is this more theming to make the area look run down and destroyed? Can't remember when they last worked...
I don't know when they last worked but they seem to have actively turned them off currently as the audio in the queue doesn't play the news clips, just the area ambience.
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Merlin's Covid-19 plans for Madame Tussauds, would imagine measures for other attractions are identical or very similar: https://www.madametussauds.com/media/2207350/merlin-entertainments-covid-19-protecting-our-guests-and-employees.pdf
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19 hours ago, Glitch said:
On another note I saw a post about allowing a full train of RAP users to drop queue times, is this not theoretically an operations nightmare if something went wrong, I thought you were only allowed 1 RAP holder on any ride at a time for safety and evacuation issues.
Don't know about the evacuation side but this happens more often than you'd think. The Vampire even has a pre-recorded announcement to play if it needs to happen.
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Best recording of the refurbishment yet, music is quite catchy. Will miss the old music but the new music is just as good it appears, new announcements are much better too.
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Looks better! (LED lights in the ceiling have gone too)
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New food offerings is nice to see, looks like Fins Bar & Grill is being replaced by Infinity Bar & Kitchen
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Vampire is such a shell of its former self, really wouldn't take that much work to make it look like this again but I doubt it will ever happen...
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2 hours ago, Glitch said:
Another not, this partnership has nothing to do with Netflix other than being able to watch on that platform, rather the Uk production company are involved. If Netflix were involved we've have a stranger things attraction.
That and Netflix would have put its branding on there. For anyone unaware Netflix does not own the distribution rights for Black Mirror (Netflix Originals is just a name), they are just the current platform Endemol Shine UK (the distributor, and 50% owned by Disney) sells it to.
I'm looking forward to this attraction, it could do very well for the park. The IP is current and fits its audience well, I just hope they execute it well.
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1 hour ago, Marhelorpe said:
So the big difference if I'm reading this right is all new applicants to this system starting this Friday onwards after applying once will not just have full access to every major Merlin park in the UK with up to 3 carers, but it will last them an entire 24 months now......?
It lasted 3 years before from my memory, so that's gone down. Why would it matter anyway? If you have a disability it is unlikely to change in that time
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4 hours ago, SteveJ said:
Let's be honest though, everything that made Vampire brilliant has long gone. It's just an empty box now with an organ at one end and an average coaster. I loved Vampire to bits but it's had all the fun chiselled away (thinking if I were a kid going on it today).
During my time working on there I found (surprisingly) some people were still impressed with the station, I guess it must be the scale of it is so unusual in the UK. While a lot of what made it what it is has gone I would hope they can at least claw back some of its former glory.
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I really hope this is a refurbishment for the better and not the worse. The ride is so unique and I really hope it doesn't lose that uniqueness.
I do know that they have wanted to replace the speaker system for a few years (the back-end of it is relatively new but the speakers themselves are getting fairly old now). I really wish they'd put the chandeliers back up, the room feels so empty without them. It's not out of the question since they've still got them tucked away at the end of the station although I imagine it wouldn't be cheap.
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Just now, JoshC. said:
I'm fairly certain that's from a few years ago - it certainly used to be painted that vibrantly in the past!
Did a bit more digging from Google Streetview, the works done to Amity Beach are several years old since the slides in the photos aren't there anymore. I'd imagine the other ones are fairly old too. Probably just some repairs on the Nemesis building I'd imagine
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So getting back on topic... PJW Contracts LTD has been doing some work for Thorpe Park (noticed their van parked outside Nemesis Inferno in a recent YouTube video). Their website lists a few things they've done at the park, but most of them look to be fairly old photos: https://www.pjwcontractsltd.com/services.php?page=merlin-entertainments.php. Could be something very unexciting considering they do corrosion repair and similar jobs.
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14 hours ago, ZeroG said:
Wonder what’s happened they just stopped 🤔
Probably because nothing is happening!
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3 hours ago, RobF said:
Tbh after roast and relish.... the pulled meet company was our usual stop for food..
The food at that place tasted great, didn't seem to last long though. Wasn't even replaced with anything else.
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19 hours ago, Glitch said:
Look at Disney, everything is done through an app.
Apps are the future of themeparks from ordering food to park maps.
My experience with the Disneyland apps is fairly poor. It's slow and crashes frequently, I just ended up using queue-times.com while I was there. And the fastpass system wasn't done through the app.
20 hours ago, Ivsetti said:Why does Thorpe think people are going to spend time downloading an app? I wonder how many people even use the Thorpe Park app (I don't), let alone a second one as well to pay for parking?
Surely it would just be integrated into the current Thorpe Park app? The app they have now is fairly good and functional.
Having ANPR would surely speed up the exiting process at the barriers but might mean longer queues at ticket machines. In the car parks I've seen it used I've never seen a problem occur.
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Chessington General Discussion
in Chessington World of Adventures
Posted
Reducing RAP to only wheelchair users would eliminate most RAP queues altogether, the system is already not that inclusive: if you are unable to walk or stand then you are considered a 'non-ambulant' user which severely restricts the rides you can go on (no rollercoasters or dark rides, only outdoor flat rides). I'm not sure what other parks do around the world but I'm sure they're more inclusive than this, although Chessington isn't helped by the age of many of their rides.