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JoshuaA
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Posts posted by JoshuaA
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So I went today, and here is some thoughts.
Security getting in was well done. It was more thorough, though took about 10-15 minutes to get in. Not bad.
Honestly the park certainly draws some nasty teenagers, this became evident today in Inferno's queue. A bunch of girls were trying to get through the queue (their friend 'reserved' a point in the queue), the couple in front asked them to stop this and the man put his arm out to stop them getting through. And it escalated into a mini fight with the teen spitting at the poor guy. Luckily it was dealt with afterwards, though it certainly displayed the type of young people this park attracts.
To be fair I don't know what the park really can do, it really is unpleasant but what can they do? Say no to anyone who says 'Fam' coming in?
In other news the new drink refills is a good idea, but also kinda poorly executed.
The one near Rush had like 4 options. Most of them were completely not on there, though the one in the dome seemed to have a lot MORE to choose from.
The cups also kinda seem of poor design, to make matters worse nobody really monitors them. So you could just get a regular cup and drink if you want, I was unsure whether I had the refills for the rest of the season? Just for today only? Things really were not clear. And I'm sure cheating the system would be easy.
Cedar point executed this idea a LOT better, though hopefully it will improve and evolve in future seasons.
Coaster wise Inferno is back as my favourite after a back row ride. Colossus is back as my least favourite, the restraints being the main reason. Not even headbanging, the ride has a nasty habit of digging into my thighs. To the point where it basically murdered my thigh. Saw is fun but goes down every 5 minutes. Stealth has been lowkey reliable this season and has the best ops. Overall a good day. A bit rocky though.
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5 hours ago, GERSTGUY said:
Saw is the one the highest grossing horror franchise of all time so I’m pretty sure a few people would be interested 😉 does anyone actually know when the IP runs out or do they have the rights for a long as they please?
Maybe? Just don't get me wrong I am interested, but not because its good. Because at this point Saw is kinda funny as the story really should of ended at 3.
And for those who don't want the movies spoiled:
SpoilerThe main killer in Saw dies in Saw III. All we saw from that point is flashbacks. Which by Saw 7, is kinda hilarious. And hilarious because it shows just how long this cow has been milked for (and how much sense none of this makes anymore?)
Making more makes me kinda laugh. And cry at the same time.
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I wouldn't say Merlin have completely lost their touch, The Smiler was kind of a weird name for a major thrill coaster. Merlin are MILES better than Six Flags for comparison. Imagine if every ride at their parks was called Goliath, The Joker, Batman The Ride, Superman, Crazanity, and Wonder Woman.. If you think Merlin are bad, Six Flags will give you a heart attack.
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There is a few core reasons to why I think Thorpe has reached its current state.
- Heavy expansion, and then, nothing at all. Thorpe had a rapid expansion/investment rate up until about 2012. They received the cream of the crop when it came to investments. Merlin at some point seemed to be more keen in investing in Thorpe over Alton even. Ever since 2013 the park has seen to take a backseat, and their last proper investment was the nail in the coffin (DBGT). The Ghost Train basically ruined all hope of Thorpe ever regaining its status as a worthy rival to Alton Towers for the best park in the UK. It also ruined all hope of any good investment anytime soon. Merlin have no reason to pump money into Thorpe anymore.
- Lack of a resort. Thorpe Park is barely a resort. It barely has a hotel, and honestly it offers the least out of the 4 UK Merlin Parks when it comes to non theme park stuff. Look at Alton, they offer 2 hotels, Enchanted village, the roller coaster restaurant that is open past park hours, a water park, golf, a ropes course, and entertainment in their hotels. Thorpe Shark is absolutely pathetic in comparison. Chessington and Legoland also have much better accommodation. I bet those hotels are cash cows too, why invest in a park with one small budget hotel when you can invest in a park that is a full resort (Alton Towers)
- No image. Thorpe Park is like a middle age person going through a identity crisis. It doesn't know who it is, who its target audience is, and it shows.
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27 minutes ago, Coaster said:
The lack of facilities is exactly my point - Thorpe should have a facility similar to Pleasure Beach where everyone gets searched IMO.
In relation to antisocial behaviour, it occurred at Pleasure Beach back when it was free entry however since introducing the security measures it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.
Thorpe Park on the other hand has a lot of antisocial behaviour, more than I've ever seen in Pleasure Beach, and yet their security measures are nowhere near up to the same level. You mentioned about PB upping security due to antisocial behaviour, yes this is true, however my point is that they have had a secure entrance with the capacity to search everyone since 2009 whereas Thorpe (a park which has suffered from antisocial behaviour for years) doesn't.
Blackpool do have tighter security, though honestly searching people's bags is not going eliminate anti social behaviour. Even having a detector does not eliminate any risk. People aren't going to stop being anti social or mouthy after a bag check, and if they can't bring a knife, they'll punch with their fists. If a person has bad intent, there is not much a park can do to 100% stop anything happening besides having security everywhere (which for most parks just is not practical).
This is a case where someone who visited had bad intent. That individual's actions were wrong. The park are not to blame IMO, incidents like these are rare and Thorpe Park does already have decent security. Blame the people who commit the actions.
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Looks absolute lush.
TPW reported recently that the park is running is very well post *sensitive information*
SpoilerCovid 19
This could be down to them loading trains in full. Also apparently dispatches are pretty usual Europa style (fast).
Can't wait to get back to Europa, the new dark ride in Scandanavia as well as Pirates is enough reason I guess.
I'm glad the park is running good even after: *just in case someone gets offended
SpoilerCovid 19. Sorry for any offence this post may cause. And any offence this apology for potential offence this may cause.
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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.
2 hours ago, pluk said:It doesn't matter what measures they put in place, if someone wants to get something in they shouldn't get in they will. The best way to reduce the risk of someone trying is random searches of a differing nature, and that's exactly what Thorpe do. I'm sure there'll be a short term reassurance effort where they cause hours of queues going OTT with searches but it'll be back to normal soon enough, just as it should be.
^^^ 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.
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I think the way forward is metal detectors. This is implemented in the US parks like Cedar Point or Great America. If there is multiple, and it is set up efficient then the queue won't be as bad. I know a lot of parks in Europe don't have to implement them, but Thorpe Park being near London and having an audience which is what it is. I think metal detectors would be a no brainer for next season.
Honestly I would not blame the park, it is rare to see such a thing at any park. So this happening will certainly change how Merlin handle security in the future.
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Triggered by the post above me*****
How dare they they use that word. I'm so offended. Gonna cry now, thanks TPW!
Kentucky Kingdom recently just had their 2021 plans leaked. They are probably getting a Raptor of some kind (if it not delayed).
This will make the park have a brilliant top three. Three absolute airtime machines+two good woodies.
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Some thoughts from today:
- Temperature check was well done and fast. Getting in was swift.
- Operations on Stealth and Inferno were brilliant. Stealth in particular did not seem to go down once, and had a fast moving queue all day. The dispatches were shockingly good.
- Operations on Quantum were dreadful. I understand all the procedures make loading slower, but it was doing a cycle every blue moon. And the cycle the ride was running was tamer than usual. Underwhelming for what is usually a gem.
- Samurai did indeed have stricter restrictions with refusal with loading. I actually was in the queue at one point and the offending groups in the front of the queue did not move back as asked (despite us in the back moving back so they could). This caused a pretty major delay and the queue just got larger. I actually left this queue out of frustration (its a good thing, but it can cause collateral damage to the other people in the queue who are following the rules..)
- Detonator had pretty neat ops. The ride operator was having a great time playing around with the countdown (or not using it at all), this made a great ride even more suspenseful. Also fairly fast ops.
- Colossus's queue and the ride itself needs a deep clean and landscaping. Though that is not new.
- Queue times are wildly inaccurate. I understand this probably can't be helped. But if you are going, what is a '70' minute queue might be 20, what might be a '5' queue might be a hour. Don't trust the queue boards completely, okay usually they are not 100% accurate. But with the current situation, they can be wildly off base and nowhere near the actual queue.
- Food honestly is very limited, which again can't be helped. But if you're gonna eat, I recommend just not eating on park. Its a lot of hassle.
Overall a good day
Stealth X3
Inferno X1
Colossus X1
Zodiac X2
Quantum X1
Detonator X1
Rumba X1
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That last post gave me a headache. Lets be realistic here, Merlin are not gonna rename minor rides that already have decent names.
17 hours ago, Theme Park Fanatic said:I must admit that if I was not aware that Derren Brown's Ghost Train was a VR ride that messed with your mind. I would have thought that the ride was a traditional Ghost Train for instance like Duel The Haunted House Strikes Back at Alton Towers.The only difference I would expect is Derren Brown theming littered throughout the ride. If I was an Indian tourist who has never heard of Darren Brown I would be left scratching my head.
I bet most foreign tourists scratch their heads at Cbeebies Land too, and to some people The Walking Dead will be a huge question mark. You can't please everyone, there is no singular IP that every person from every corner of the earth is going to know about. The Ghost Train isn't really even about Derren tbf, its got that weird fracking plot.
Really don't get your argument and whatever that last post was meant to be if I'm being honest.
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Yeah Chessington getting the drop tower as well as the pirate ship honestly is a fair deal for a Merlin Park tbh.
If this was Alton/Thorpe, Rameses and Black Buccaneer would of been left SBNO with no future plans, so in a way, I think them receiving replacements for both fairly soon after removal is pretty good.
I think anything else they do next year is a bonus, for a smaller park like Chessington, they have been getting pretty decent additions recently.
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2 hours ago, JoshC. said:
The arcade itself is still open; the entrance here is blocked off to allow for people control.
What has happened is the removal of the canopy like stuff, along with some games machines.
Ah okay. I assumed it has been closed for a while. Damn though.
2 hours ago, Glitch said:Perhaps its just park of a longer term project like what as been done with the dome / megastore. It has to be stripped at some point, perhaps it could of waited til the off season but personally it has no impact to my day so I don't care and look forward to the redevelopment.
Lol just like how Loggers Leap was a "longer term project". No its just lazy, when a independent park in Blackpool is starting to look better than you, you know you've really fu**ed up. It is sub-standard, and should not be the standard going forward for UK parks.
Remember people like parks that look good, Phantasialand and Europa are highly regarded for a reason. Even amusement parks make effort to keep their park tidy and professional, both Six Flags parks I have been to are much prettier and well kept than this. It is the same as having your retail store untidy and dirty, just because it doesn't affect you directly. Walking past it is going to leave a weird taste in people's mouths, because people like things that look good.
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2 hours ago, JoshC. said:
Who loves before and afters? Here's one of the back of the arcade, opposite Ghost Train..
Second image from: https://live.themeparkguide.biz/
One would like to hope this is part of some long term project. Hope. I don't expect it though.
I don't know what's worse. The removal itself, the cheap paving working or the ugly look.
Man remember when that arcade was open? Like it was tacky, but it didn't look too bad. That now looks dreadful, I am shocked how a mighty chain like Merlin would let something like that happen at one of their parks. Not even a Six Flags park would probably let things get that bad..
On the upside though, maybe this could potentially be a future maze space? I know its next to KFC and all, but I remember it being fair sized? Either way that is shocking, and this picture alone is the reason why Thorpe gets so much flack these days from enthusiasts.
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6 hours ago, Mark9 said:
Cedar Fair have built one major Mack ride whilst B&M have built Yukun Striker, Orion, Leviathan, Fury 325, Banshee, Valravn & Gatekeeper since 2012.
Anyway, its a bit of a moot point. If it is a generic launch coaster, I still think companies would be interested in a B&M equivalent because they are the best in the business at what they do. Their only real rid type that isn't a hit is the junior inverted which is actually pointless. Everything else they've done has been smash hits so why would this realistically be any different.
Because all of the other models are don't have too much competition to be fair. Look at their last big model they debuted, Wing Coasters were a success. Because it was a fairly innovative idea, even though Furius Baco exists, B&M made the first good wing coaster lol.
With a launch coaster, most smaller-medium parks/Six Flags will opt for the cheaper Premier and when it comes to Cedar Fair really Mack/Intamin makes for a worthy rival for B&M.. Its a market were you have options upon options, with some companies like Premier basically only making launch coasters.
Sure a B&M launch would probably be a great ride, but if it just a generic launch coaster. I don't see the market for it.
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3 hours ago, Mark9 said:
For the same reason companies purchase B&M hypers and gigas over the Intamin/mack/Gerstlauer equivalents. With B&M comes the ultimate quality in rollercoaster design, reliability and capacity. Busch also seems to have a good working relationship with B&M, probably why they are are building their fourth ride at Seaworld Orlando.
That is all good, until you realise the selling point of the model. B&M Hypers are well established, they have been in production since 1999.
When it comes to gigas, the only competitor is Intamin. Which have a pretty shaky track record only building two, with the most recent one having a lot of issues.
You also have to consider who would buy this model? Six Flags have loyalties to Premier and S&S for their launch coasters, Cedar Fair had quite a lot of success with Mack (Copperhead Strike), and even if a company considers building one of these, they have cheaper options (S&S, Premier, Gerstlauer, Vekoma) and companies like Mack build just as smooth if not smoother rides than B&M, also usually very reliable launch coasters. If it is just a vanilla launch coaster model, I do think this will flop.
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I think this will incorporate some sort of innovation. Maybe it'll use multiple splash downs? B&M have mastered them by now, maybe even a launched water coaster? It needs a hook to be fair, like why should a park go to B&M when they have Mack, Intamin, S&S, Premier, Gerstlauer, and Vekoma that already make launch coasters and have been doing so for a while..
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On 6/24/2020 at 4:00 PM, Glitch said:
Gives my the sense of actor interactions around the park, no mazes rather experiences and zones, with no area of limits, type of thing.
Sorry double post! I know!
This a good idea, I think something akin to the street at Tulleys would be so good at Thorpe. Though I guess it does pose some challenges as roaming actors do tend to be more at risk from troublesome guests. I guess maybe thats why they have been doing them in large groups over the past few years (or, not at all?)
I do think having some dedicated outdoor scare zones would be a good idea, maybe add some comedy like Tulleys do and make the event just more about being fun.
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It certainly is ambitious thinking to advertise the event basically as normal. As a former scare actor, these attractions are exceptionally difficult to run without a high risk of transmission (actors getting close to guests, actors with other actors).. The mazes as it stands are a breeding ground for common colds for actors, when you get close to 1,000's of people a night for nights on end, it is kinda a high risk. As JoshC said, we could see some modified mazes, though honestly that would take a lot of thinking outside the box, and also probably a lot of money and trial and error. They would have to completely change the way they build mazes. Would all that effort be worth it? Considering they would have cut capacity by a lot? I'm not so sure.
I guess by August/September we will know more about the future of scare attractions. But as of now, them coming back is somewhat of a dream.
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1 minute ago, Marc said:
I didnt mean it as a positive, things in and around London are more expensive, its just the way it is.
Then why is a park 10 minutes down the road priced around a tenner cheaper? Legoland too.
Looking at it further, I think its an target demographic thing. I bet you the types of people who visit Chessington are more likely to stay at home, families with young kids who probably aren't quite ready to venture a theme park just this yet. Where Thorpe attracts your teenagers, probably the most likely to return asap, but with that audience comes less spending while in the park. Which maybe explains the price hike, as they'll probably get toss all from their pockets when their actually in the park. I guess that would make more sense, still kinda bloody cheeky though.
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1 minute ago, Marc said:
I’d say Chessington is a fair bit bigger bigger than Thorpe? The parks much more spread out, It has the zoo too to help distribute guests further.
I wouldn't say there is much in it to be fair. Chessington is really on the smaller side too. Sure they have the zoo, but even with the zoo its still small. Their capacities cannot be too different, so I think saying the pricing for Thorpe coming down to capacity is kind of a BS excuse.
14 minutes ago, Marc said:Of course Alton offers more but then Thorpe will always have the extra premium being within the m25, as will Chessington.
Yeah I guess that is a pretty good positive. People just love having a 70% chance of getting caught in a traffic jam while en route to the park.
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I think its awful. Chessington is compact and small too, but that is priced modestly..
Thorpe Park does not warrant that price jump. It should be the lowest in price IMO, as it has the least to offer. Lets also consider that the park has not received a proper new ride since 2016 (and that ride will most likely be closed for sanitary reasons and also because its terrible lol).
- Marhelorpe and Ringo
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Tulley's Shocktober Fest Scream Park
in UK Attractions
Posted
Props to Tulleys for doing cool things over the lockdown. The drive thru farm shop was brilliant, and this sounds pretty cool too.