Ringo

Buying VIP on the day would get you exit entry treatment but that annual pass version won’t unless there is specific instruction from management (front row, special event etc) Considering the event was also staff day it could of been a manager or management friends family or even ride host friends family.

Are the Dungeons at Towers run as a midway or are they “Alton Towers presents The Dungeons”?

What I find more shocking is if it’s not finished then why is it open and why are they charging money for it?

Exterior of Laser Riders has been painted (Courtesy of TPG) https://live.themeparkguide.biz/

So much for future of theme parks then.But in reality correct decision, they didn’t update with new videos / alternate journeys so it got boring extremely fast and the quality was poorWill there be a new theme to bring the park a “New for 2020“ ?

Remember this is being done by a third party, not Thorpe Park. Upcharge on seating and even cushions is the norm at these outdoor cinema events

Not forgetting those silver coloured ones expecting fastrack when they can pull themselves away from the hospitality marquee. But apart from cost cutting it really is madness to mix the event with staff & pass holders

Pirates ? These screening things usually go ahead even in heavy rain, they advise you to be prepared although they will upsell ponchos etc Like you it’s not for me but it will appeal to some.

Interesting so that’s a private hire of the park for the two nights and therefore the risk is moved away from Merlin if it was to be a failure. Actually very good to see other companies wanting to try something new with the park.

People tend to celebrate 30/40/50 as bigger milestones than 37 years old.

Yep that’s the same for the Towers ones, they are managed externally and as you said they almost always broken. Last year at Chessington I tried to rent one and it gave me a locker that was already in use! The ones at Lego & Thorpe are just old fashioned key ones and given the state of them at Thorpe I’d assume they own them and if they do rent them then the locker company is laughing all the way to the bank as they aren’t maintaining them.

The lockers are pure profit as they have been there for many years, it’s £2 every time you open it and want to lock it again. Before the price doubled we would use one and probably spend £5-£8 as it was easier to leave drinks there instead of messing with baggage drops. If you got rid of baggage drops then you’d need a massive amount of lockers and they also take up space. And if they were free you’d lose money with idiots keeping keys. The electronic ones at Towers & Chessington are more trouble than they are worth.

And when the new pound coin came in Thorpe decided to double the price to £2 for locker usage - unlike Legoland who simply modified them for new £1 coins.

The simplest thing would be ANPR on entry, self serv ticket machine that let you pay the fee, pay via app etc. To control the flow of exit traffic stop go traffic lights that alternate a set time allow the roundabout to clear. Only thing that would need working on is how to securely allow pass holders to use it without letting them continually change vehicles (to stop card sharing when they aren’t visiting) Of course that would need investment but Merlin could recoup that with fine for non payment.

If they tarmaced a section then there’s no way it would be for general use, Express parking at £30 a space.

Chesington at £3 is a bargain especially since they claim at least 10% goes to the Chessington Conservation Fund, I’d have no issue paying that £3. The Thorpe money brings us the ultra successful additions like Love Island, Walking Dead, and for 2019 jungle maze and an inflatable.

They don’t even turn them off, when they don’t want feedback they get set to ask where you are from and your email address if you’d like to opt in to marketing. And then it helpfully says thanks for your feedback.

Left over from last year

That’s usually what’s businesses do when they can’t be bothered about solving customer service / experience. They think a rebrand “resets” it all.

And if this was a park serious about turning guest satisfaction and the experience around they’d of replied with something like how they are working to improve across the park etc They still don’t get when it’s appropriate to go all jokey edit, later replies they do say how they’ve been working hard to ensure 2019 is great

So a “help” section has been created - maybe if they’d maintained the ride it wouldn’t of lost its magic? https://support.thorpepark.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002574552-Will-Loggers-Leap-be-re-opening-

Exactly why they’ve done it, some get drawn in by the tag “pay for a day come back all year” they think it’s a great offer, which it is if you are going to hammer it. Plus Varney gets to boast about how many new sales they’ve made and then spout the on average our pass holders spend XXX in our world.

So Summer nights hours have been reduced from 10pm to 8pm which isn’t surprising but they brought back 6pm close on Sunday. https://www.thorpepark.com/resort-info/opening-times-and-travel

Is it still that enthusiast who’s in control of social media?

I don’t know about that when it opened they were using 1 wipe to clean 1 row so the dirt was simply moved from each headset meaning only one headset actually got cleaned. Whether that’s changed now who knows as I certainly don’t queue up for VR but it was noticed by a lot at the time