Matt10

Smoke machines confirmed?

Its been closed for the last few days, and it seems as if they are awaiting a part as it hasn't been testing either.

As slammer has reopened this weekend, could this be a sign that it will only be during peak times, such as weekends and school holidays, or was it down for a week with a genuine fault?

Does anyone know as to why stealth as been opening at about 11 over the past few days or so?

Does anyone know when they introduced the ridiculously bland dispatch announcements for swarm and inferno, which don't match the theme or even the station ambient music, because they are probably the worst pieces of audio I have ever heard in terms of breaking any mood hanging around a ride...

Apart from the fact it is again back on reduced capacity....

Does anyone have any idea as to why slammer is down all day, whilst it seems to have been running fine over the last few weeks?

The ride itself deteriorates every year its in operation unfortunately, but not as bad as its operations do....

Just saying, wasn't the beast incident confirmed as being a mistake under manual control? So therefore why would Mondial need to check Samurai as it runs in pre-set cycles all the time, not manual control.

Am I the only one who feels like they recognise this fence from somewhere else a couple of years ago, not sure if it was from cwoa or somewhere else but it seems similar to some old fences that were around somewhere?

Does anyone know whether X is still on reduced capacity or not?

Earlier today on twitter, Thorpe replied upon queries on a preview event and they confirmed it was on the 4th, with tickets still to be released.

It has been having problems with the traction wheels before the unloading station as the ride computer was detecting that the next block section was already full, due to a faulty sensor most likely, e-stopping the ride. As far as I'm aware, the issue has been resolved as the ride has ran itself in over the first few weeks and the overall operations have improved.

Kobra looks as if it may be in a major decline of performance or will undergo a large amount of maintenance as it now struggles to make it 2/3 of the way up either end. This means that it does not have the momentum to carry it over the camelback and forcing onboard motors to be used to help it over. When I was last there on Monday, the motor seems to be really struggling and when I was on, the motor cut out early and nearly ended up leading to a stall. It's even worse when you hear an operators concern about that very issue as you are leaving through the exit.

Also, I forgot to note that these signs are now present on quite a few of the posts within the queue, I assume they are used as a sign to indicate a approximate queue time to staff possibly, but does anyone know their actual purpose?

The green tape sighted, is only upon vertical lift hill supports, and every support with this tape has a dug up footer, suggesting maintenance involving them. The plastic roof on the exterior of the station over the base of the lift hill has been removed, but much of the supporting structure still remained. Sections of the walkways on the brake runs have been replaced, most likely h&s related. Train two and all it's cars were not present within the workshop. Quite a few sections such as just after the second corkscrew were heavily flooded, assuming that's due to recent weather. Car 3 and 5 have developed a significantly rougher ride this season whilst car 1 and 7 seem the smoothest. I font know if anyone else has noticed this but when the train reaches midway up the lift, for the rest of the time the lift is at full speed, around the second lift support it sounds and seems as if the lift chain is scraping against something in it's mountings or wearing itself heavily. This I didn't notice at all last year but I'm pretty sure it has become more prominent or was never previously there before.

The Inferno merge point was being used today, but only for a limited time. Stealth's issues by the looks of things still stem from the new traction wheels and motors installed. As it seems the computer is either detecting a fault or an intrusion of an already filled block section and so is e-stopping, forcing one train op only. Saw seemed to still be suffering from persistent issues with the mid-course brake run as I could often sight engineers there when the ride was down.

The tape I would imagine to be related to the extensive work that was going on around the station, and is most likely used as a way for the engineers to remember which supports have been checked over winter, or could indicate scheduled or already taken place Maintenance. Has Colossus actually ran two trains this season so far? I'm desperately hoping it isn't as bad as last year when it was on one train till about June then back onto one after September for the rest of the year but on fright nights pretty much.

At least now on X it sounds as I there aren't different songs playing on different halves of the actual ride area like on preview day...

One or two trains?

You pass swarms queue line shop twice as long as the main queue extension is open, otherwise you only pass it once.

We all complain about the roughness at Thorpe, but I have generally found, especially this year, that the equivalents at Alton are significantly rougher, mainly due to the seats and restraints. An example being stealth having rubber seats and padded restraints, whereas ritas are pretty much just plastic.

But as well, on the newer intamins with the new restraints mostly use their new track system which reduces stress and has smoother connections

Everyone says that new trains will make it smoother, but I believe you will find, that a large amount if the roughness is from the actual track itself, as well as some parts of the track where the paint is worn differently creating bumps which the train does not absorb...

Does anyone know I X is still running on a two train service, ir is it now back up yo a three train service?