Ringo

That’s what I was thinking, cleaned while in the tunnel get back on watch last video end of ride then new people get on and put uncleaned headsets on

On the subject of cleaning headsets, how often does DBGT get cleaned because it’s certainly wasn’t after each go as when they were holding people right outside the carriage you were sent straight in as soon as the exit side opened

oh they’ve decided to be a family theme park again ?

And rather conveniently for Merlin

Means absolutely nothing, an enthusiast member of staff trolling you. If you take what you see in that screenshot as gospel then the island is being submerged by the lake and they are planting trees and laying grass down

It’s the worlds scariest ride that’s all you need to know ?

It does need some money spent on it though, this season they were using tape to hold the padding in on the seats on the back row. But agree with you it’s not unrideable and it’s not as rough as it used to be

Also visited on Saturday. Park didn’t feel as busy as previous years and I often felt queue times were exaggerated to mange the weather factor. Ninjago was an odd experience, we got held just before batching for around 25mins, no announcement of any kind and then twice we stopped while on ride. Didn’t really matter we only went on it to get out the cold. Fireworks were odd, opening with a message about the park being the first to open outside Billund and then straight into what was music and fireworks to different Lego brands, As usual the mad stampede to get out the park as soon as the lights were back on, we made the decision to walk to the park so we could get straight out. A 5min delay for the free shuttle bus to take you back down, due to the fireworks location you can’t walk down until the area is safe. The bus driver was standout star of the night, taking us on a spooky tour down the service road, stoping at various locations to get the kids involved about witches and dragons - even stopped under the Dragon lift hill doing his horn getting us all waving at people on the ride. Not the best fireworks but not the worst experience we’ve had.

Should of taken notice when first heard that new audio, was clearly an omen Apparently a journalist visited over the weekend and an article is being done, been mentioned that it will appear on the Mirror site.

Is it still that vlogger / enthusiast who does social?

That’s the problem, the park won’t admit to being the problem - everything else is the problem, heck even guests visiting are a problem. If there was any leadership at the park they should be forcing out an apology across social media. Admit things haven’t been right and start rebuilding confidence and trust in the park otherwise they’ll alienate even more guests.

@Marc they may not of been the main issue but they were still an issue. The weather has been known for a few days, why no advanced “islander information” advice about weather delays? Doesn’t forgive the park for a poor showing this year, as we know the divisional director has gone and other positions are being shaken up - there’s a problem at the park much deeper than weather.

They should rest Fright Nights for 2019, come back for 2020 where they have enough time to actually provide a product that’s worthy of paying guests. It’ll take at least year to rebuild the confidence in the park full stop.

This photo was the fastrack queue for SAW, snaking up to photo point and back. credit to ihaveaspergers @ TowersStreet

No, just the fire and wood...

Well we already have staggered openings, rotational operations and seasonal attractions at Thorpe. up-charge on parts of Fright Nights wouldn’t be a bad thing, it manages queues and could improve the experience. Ironically despite the cuts at Towers, although taken with a pinch of salt at the start of the year in an interview with Blooloop And today another bit of info of what’s gone wrong at Thorpe came to light with the info the park now being right at the bottom Merlin’s leaderboard for guest surveys- 192 out of 200! Attendance has fallen & profits fallen. It’s not hard to see why such drastic action is needed to drag the park back up. (Credit to @HermanTheGerman who posted over at TowersStreet)

Apologies I misread that as in he’s not exactly known to the public so shouldn’t be identified. It is fact he’s no longer in that job position though? The direction the park has headed in has been questionable though. Thorpe has a history of a cycle of attracting family guests and then undoing all that effort by alienating them, we’ve seen that again this year with Year of the Walking Dead, Walking Dead the ride & love island to name a few. Fright Nights has gone for quantity instead of quality. Behaviour of some staff has been questionable and wouldn’t be tolerated at say Towers. But on the flip he did oversee the entrance area improvements and driven home the brand of the Island and managed to bring the theme back into theme park with parkwide audio changes and improvements. Time will tell what other changes the interim director makes.

@ChiapasC.I’ve not named him, but you have despite saying you aren’t sure how appropriate it is to comment on it. It hasn’t been denied and the fact TowersStreet posted that Ian Crabbe is currently acting as interim director at Thorpe whilst maintaining his Towers commitment confirms he is no longer the parks director.

Yeah he managed just under 2 years, It’s only recently become public knowledge but he was allegedly forced out. Only happened very recently. The marketing director has also gone apparently. There are more changes to come.

Merlin have got rid of the director at Thorpe, changes are happening. Currently Ian Crabbe from Towers is temporarily in charge of Thorpe while they find a new director.

Yes he was about November 2016 so almost 2 years. To be fair the last Director (Mike Vallis) managed nearly 8 years in the job.

Yeah it’s much needed, as I said elsewhere they need to go back to basics and make sure they deliver on the simple things first. Also employ staff who are better suited to the job, the behaviour of some staff at Thorpe wouldn’t be tolerated at any other park. I doubt we’ll see a proper change in direction until 2020.

Over at TowersStreet it’s been confirmed that Ian Crabbe (Towers divisional director) is currently acting as interim at Thorpe and the marketing director is also believed to be gone, which isn’t surprising at all.

Sums up the park completely. Needs a management refresh who takes back control of the park instead of the social team...

@StevenVig Amity is a fishing village, hearing seagulls occasionally isn’t a stupid suggestion. It would add to what the area is.