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yeah that is true though from a operational standpoint, air gets its great throughput with a dual station, the beauty of the Vekoma flying design is you dont need a dual station to maintain the high throughput as the unloading, loading and restraint checks are more inline with a standard coaster without requiring extra staff or time to rotate seating. and the sad truth is that if a dual loading station coaster came to Thorpe, unless it was something like a racing coaster it wouldn't last, apart from peak days it be 1 station after a few years and that would reduce the throughput, thats the sad truth of Thorpe reality is you can make a good ride but the opearations need to be time and person efficient which this new design is. though looses points that you either need a unload and load platform like saw or you have the issue of swarm where the people getting on have to avoid the people getting off going perpendicular

It could come to Thorpe but no definite answer, though if it did come it prob be a good addition to the line up with the right theming. unlike alot of merlins new atractions theres a prototype, one with the kinks being worked out (I'm not sure how complex the mechanism is that turns the seats 90 degrees at the top of the lift hill but it make a good themed flying coaster (worked best with a enclosed lifthill ending just as the cars tip into position) imagine it darting around having near misses with the ground and other theaming, like swarm but the flying position would make it more thrilling. and it the first flying coaster that wouldnt have a issue with throughput, its 2 across but you can load it as fast as a standard coaster (which the guests exit the same side) unlike most flying where you have to strap in dispatch and then adjust the seats before moving this just needs a normal dispatch. its a good design, though if thorpe would get it is anyones guess. it could be SW9 for all we know

As someone who has never visited towers, but was planning to visit off peak early this year. this staggered ride times really put it into question, especially on a day where the park would close at 4pm. Though I can predict now what would happen on any day apart from dead off peak Wicker man, Smiler and Oblivion will have multi-hour queues due to the GP seeing there open when the park opens and would stick like that all day. while 13, and especially Nemesis and Galactica will be almost dead as the GP will try head for the rides earlier in the day and find them closed, assuming there closed all day guest services gives free fast passes and u know which rides the GP will go for, the new roller coaster. it almost feels like this is a ploy to give a reason to scrap the rides in forbidden valley as merlin can say "well Nemesis and galactica had 5 min queues all day so there not popular and earmarked for replacement" prob not there intention but I feel this heading of guests will not end well I do hope they change there mind, even opening forbidden valley at 11 would partly solve the issue (not completely but it would prob be the best we can hope for now)

Yeah Slammer being bought by another theme park is as likely as the CCR trains and Ivor being bought by another theme park both are "for sale" but in reality there both in a state of needing a major overhaul and I dont think any company could provide the funds and effort to do it. RIP slammer, a good unique ride but a maintenance nightmare. True S&S philosophy

The thing with B&M is they never try anything too radical. they just do things in increments. really there most biggest changes where the inverted coaster and flying coaster. normally they just adjust the seating positions or with oblivion they just widened the track. Though the thing with B&M if there going to do something new its hard to see coming, honestly I wouldn't be surprised if they came out with a 2 across junior air time machine coaster for parks with a smaller budget, with the selling point being that they will last for years. B&M coasters rarely have issues, where other company's will push the boundarys. Realistically there next big innovation might be a 8 or 10 wide version of there hyper family as when dealing with coasters like that, dive coaster width track wouldnt be a issue. and yeah The Incredible hulks launch stystem was designed by another company and thus was the most unreliable thing on the ride. same thing happened with Lightning Rods LSM launch system though in that case RMC didnt build the launch

With Saw my method of bracing requires knowing the layout, working out where the force will shove u and brace against it. with your head forward and central so you have more time to react. though the drop after the mid course brake run is impossible its too steep and fast. Honestly the only improvement I could make to the ride (bar keeping the effects going/fixed as saw is one of the best in the park for theaming and coaster) would relate to what to do when the saw licence comes out. My though its turn it from Saw: the ride to Saw a coaster taking place in a abandoned sawmill in Canada creek where your put into a rusty worn out transit system modified from logs and almost get chopped up by buzz saw blades (and the blades outside) Saw will always be rough but for 2016 it got a bit smoother

living nightmare is already built into the building. it uses the old indoor queue lines for X/: no way out my suggestion is they adjust the queues so after the new bag drop you go to the entrance of the maze and when you exit the maze you enter a small cattle pen then the entrance of the coaster part of X not sure how they would theme the coaster though still have to see. Thats just a educated guess of how it could work from a operations persepctive if someone had a floor plan of X that would work wonders for working out if a route was possible

Still the biggest thing I can gather from the plans is quite a interesting fact. It looks like this is more than just a fancy new exterior simply because, why would you move the bag drop from a fine place just before the coaster entrance/exit to outside the pryamid well I'm not exactly sure on the internal paths, but I think you could in theory route guests from the new pre-show, to Living Nightmare then after that to the entrance of X semi-colon back-slash No Way Out and after the ride the standard route out (or reversed the paths so the entrance is now the exit path and the exit is now the entrance path) combined with some theaming of the internal walls (flashing lights sirens, sound) and theaming inside the pyramid (dosnt need to be on the plans and could be anything at this rate) you would have a long themed "unique" experience. which dosn't need much more staff (not including actors) as the X staff could handle the new pathing system more or less thoughts? it could work and Xs 700 per hour would work in the favour (think the maze would have a similar throughput for a nice experiance)

I think the 4 years was more a starting from sort of job (though that is the time of the investment cycle so maybe it could relate to how long it takes) I could see loggers return but it will take a fair bit of work. The work would require a bit more than replace some parts. its hit the point where the majority of the ride would need replacing or upgrading due to H&S, wear and tear and materials degrading. Still I hold out hope, be quite awkward to build anything else on the land anyway due to the lake

I think its obvious whats happening to X there turning the last car around so you can "brave it backwards for 2018" ;p seriously, its unlikely the walking dead maze would open all year round, maybe a special event for a peak few days (weekends in august possibly?) but not going to happen Looking at the photo of what happend they removed the entrance structure so maybe there re working the queue a bit

Yeah the 4 trains have been stationary and to my knowledge only 1 works and that one cant run a service and shouldn't work due to age be cheaper to start from scratch. though at the current moment the space is used better as the horror maze than the train ride plus the fact they kind of built a house on the trackbed for platform 15

swarm does have a higher throughput. but swarm can run on quiet days on one train while saw will run with 6-8 small trains. may not be a higher throughput but a much more consistent throughput. In theory it moves less people but it will almost always move the same amount of people regardless of time in season

Some rumours may be false but theirs nuggets of truth is always possibly there X removal is unlikely due to popularity and the fact it got a extra refurbishment this year. but a refurbishment of the lights and soundsystem inside the main ride be good Slammer is going, heard a while ago it was up for sale but with no buyers. Regardless as much as I loved the ride is going to go Loggers leap is a interesting one, the manager wants it open (its one of his favorite rides) but its at the point where almost complete replacement is needed (the drop is held up by the poles you use to hold walls and structures up temp) , last I heard they where seeing if partial or complete replacement is nesassry and the whole can you still use lake water argument still prob happening I say hold your breath until someone walks down monks walk and work is being done. personally love to see it again if it ever reopens, it might not of been the most popular ride but it was a good one TWD permanent maze, I assume referring to living nightmare. sanctum no, cant be done due to how to get to the maze (walk right past the swarm workshop). but it be a risky move, but I could see it work as a peak thing (similar to I'm a celeb but maybe with reduced dates so peak summer months) Swarm VR, please no. its not been successful and the swarm is a throughput machine (only saw beats it on how fast a coaster can move people). putting a big sign outside of the dome saying swarm this way prob get more people on the ride ;p 2020 clues bit early but never know. I hold out for treasure island to make a return in some form. (RMC out and back hybrid from treasure island to loggers going above the service road behind Nemesis inferno and rumba be my crazy suggestion) And General improvement. I can 100% predict that is true in my opinion Thorpe may not have TLC scheme but they still doing good improvements. see how it goes Though I personally say if Thorpe read the forum I would suggest putting up signposts around the park of how to get to the main rides as Thorpe isnt the best layed out theme park and some guests do alot of doubling back trying to find the main rides e.g. trying to get to swarm via sunken garden

Phase 1 was what happened to rumba last year: big mechanical works getting all the pumps running, repainting of 3/4 of the queue, new/old props added and a new soundtrack They did say after it opened they wanted to do more and I wouldn't be surprised if you get more improvements to rumba this year (much like it seams platform 15 was supposed to be a 2 year project from the start not just bad reviews made them improve it this year the plan originally was to do it over 2 years)

To be fair I wouldn't be surprised if some of the "rumors" have some fact in, would make sense why there is a full project and a "off the shelf story" WD horror maze. For 2018 I say we see phase 2 of rumba and hopefully a thrill flat ride fingers crossed

Enthusiasts who are a bit too patriotic to there home park You see this worst in America with Disney against Universal Orlando. Good example was recently when they opened there latest ride and water park (they basically replaced the normal queue with reserve n ride ) but as soon as that happened the Disney fans accused universal of "copying Disney" because Disney had a fast pass system. It happens with fans of every park when people cant find fault with there home park or say something in another park is better (no theme park is perfect) Also people trying to enter swarm or stealth via the sunken garden. lovely place that garden but unfortunately be a while before that would connect to swarm if at all But to be fair if you never visited Thorpe before your likely to get lost a few sign posts would help

Considering last year Rumba got a mechanical and partial aesthetic overhaul in the winter season I think they closed the ride early to facilitate "phase 2" of the works, hopefully when the park opens next year we get even more improvements to rumba And with regards to Saw I think the control system requires a minimum number of cars 6 I think. though I could imagine 1 car that be crazy

With regards to 1 train service, it seams like the decision is more pre-planned for some days that are off peak. Lets put it this way a 30 min queue for Nemmy on 1 would prob be 10 min with 2 trains and the GP wont mind 30 min queue for Nemmy anyway. Queues like that are fine. Though 1 train service has advantages on the mechanical side on off peak, allows for the maintenance crews to have less pressure put on them, prepping a train takes quite a long time. Really its a shame you have 1 trains on some days but a necessary evil. Also if you want throughput go on Saw that requires a high consistent throughput

Road DBGT again yesterday, noticed a few changes First the VR is breaking again on my first section the volume of the sound kept changing, fell out of the world etc. second was ok just smudged visor from cleaning. no stacking at all, which was a shame cause the best part of the second VR is a stacking VR clip The mid sequence "crash" effect is broken again :/ but noticed on the floor the ground cracks and the crack glows like a large fire is down there Though my group got stuck in a corner due to the actors scaring them though biggest change, they now have giant industrial fans blowing air about, same type they put in underground stations to move the heat, it works the ride is more or less normal temperature now.

Hmm this is very interesting, 2 mazes based of the same IP, thats a unique move (though I say location is X for the indoor one and Blair witch for the outdoor one, unless plat 15 becomes even longer ) But if done right and with the right effort this could become quite a interesting event and that talk of using the cinema for walking dead clips a nice idea (throw in a actor or 2 in there for good measure though )

Honestly Lap bars wouldn't save the coaster, its the track (mainly because the ride is built on reclaimed land which has settled over the years) track creates the roughness, new trains would help for a few months but wouldn't save it, really what they done so far (walls and concrete around support bases to reduce any more settling) is the best they could do without replacing the whole ride. Similar situation for Saws sudden left then right neck snap at the bottom of the main drop, can be fixed easily personal opinon if you want to make Colossus less painful, just wrap the restaints and seats in foam padding, help alot Also main reason looping coasters don't have lap bars is because the GP are not used to that idea. It be perfectly safe, but the public would be nervous as there used to over the shoulder for anything going upside down (you would get a similar fear from the GP if a inverting RMC appeared in this country) Also first post