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RMC sure know how to make some wonky track...

The last post in this thread before today was August. I think we have better things to do on January 1st than change the thread titles for new attractions.
 
But, yes, you're right. It should be named differently, and I have done so. Thank you!

Done, few good questions in there, good luck!

JUST TALK ABOUT HIS IDEA AS ITS SO GOOD

Knock it down along with Storm Surge and Slammer and put a decent family coaster and flat in its place.

One of the biggest issues with ride operations is that they've lost virtually all the experienced staff who had been at the park for years, mainly due to awful, awful management who treat both their staff and guests with disdain.
 
The Big One for example, a very complex ride to run and with no-one there who knows what they're doing now it's a complete shambles.  Compare that to three/four years ago when they'd have it running two trains in 40 mph winds because they knew exactly what the operating limits and optimum wind directions were!
 
The second issue is the engineering department, the team themselves are fantastic and dedicated people but when their hours are being cut a week before opening when the park is nowhere near ready, their job becomes impossible.  Good old Amanda eh?
 
The staffing at the park is an absolute mess and turning away staff with experience whilst keeping certain members of management on is, quite simply, lunacy.

Hyper Coaster confirmed

That looks more like a floodlight than a sensor ?

*Sigh* I miss the days before it had brightly coloured sponsors, and the bridge was just good ol’ Pier 13...
Sorry, but I just can’t get used to the sponsored stuff, just looks so tacky and out of place ? 

The sugar coating of situations in Thorpe's favour are just as frustrating to read as the constant slagging off.

Thorpe need more space in years to come, buy the land instead..... perfect hotel site ?

Looks like LOTS of cuts for 2019...
 

I've just found all of my photos from a while back. If people are interested, I have tonnes more. Any requests of certain rides and I'll post them up!

It's because these parks can actually look at additions without the need for any nonsense from upper management telling them it NEEDS this, that and the other...
 
Fortunately Paultons' focus on guest experience is allowing them to grow, with the help of Peppa Pig's cashflow...
 
A new coaster in 4 years (it's not opening this year is it?) isn't outside the realms of possibility, especially given the two Vekomas probably cost enough to get a Curly Wurly and a Coke from the corner shop after...

This is the proposed location of thew retirement home: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cemex+House,+Coldharbour+Ln,+Egham+TW20+8TD/@51.4083884,-0.5216377,534m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x48767721c5ad4327:0x761f1c38214c6e0a!8m2!3d51.4096667!4d-0.5208182
 
It's very close to a major back of house service road used by the park, as well as the island behind Stealth/Swarm which will probably have a new coaster put on it the next 20 years (hopefully..)
 
It has been discussed since last summer, and is clearly a bad idea given it's proximity to the park and it's service roads. I wouldn't be keen to live there; why would people needing a retirement home want to?
 
Quotes from Thorpe's representative taken from their letter of objection letter to the council...
 
 
It further mentions that the noise assessment carried out by those planning the retirement home (which says the noise levels would be fine) were carried out improperly, and probably understate the amount of standard noise. That could cause major issues if the development went ahead.

Thorpe don't know who they are targeting, what direction to take the park in and has pretty much been abandoned for major new investments from Merlin after DBGT.

I realise reading back now I didn't quite word it how I wanted to. So, just to change it up a bit:
 
My point more was they know what the public want. Or, possibly more accurately, they know how to tell the public what they want. They've monopolised the market, which means they can go 'look, all your options do this, so that means this is what you want'. That's why some things which work abroad don't work in the UK - the public don't want them. But I'm sure if Merlin wanted them to want it, they would eventually want.
 
Wicker Man / a wooden roller coaster is a good example I think. Merlin didn't want to invest in one, so they found a way to show that (of course, there were people who did want one, and there were plenty of plans for wooden coasters in Merlin parks before Wicker Man). More importantly, I don't think the masses were clambering for a wooden coaster. People wanted pure thrill more for Towers, hence why Smiler came about. But when whatever level of Merlin thinking wooden coasters were a bad changed their mind, the public loved it. I think that's in part down to Merlin being clever enough to know how to get the most of the UK audience and get them to want what they're giving.
 
I'm not sure I've explained that very well either, mind. But, speaking purely from a business sense, I think Merlin have got it pretty well nailed down. They can herd the masses like sheep, telling them to like what they're doing. It means they can get the most money out of them in the cheapest way possible. That doesn't mean what Merlin is doing is good - they don't always make the best decisions, and you could say they rarely do. I don't like how it affects the parks, but I can still see it as something that they've done really well, even if I don't like it.
 
I do genuinely think that a large proportion of the public enjoy Merlin's offerings. Merlin can, of course, significantly improve, and I think if they weren't trying to herd the masses like sheep and instead genuinely listen to them, they would be more in touch with the public more organically. 

I appreciate this is your POV but this just seems like typical Merlin delusion to me. Merlin have proven many times how out of touch they are with the public, I really don't think it enters their minds what people respond to other than what their statistically skewed KPIs and surveys tell them. Of course we don't hear about everything that goes on, which is a shame because there are plenty of stories.

For years they held that mantra about a wooden coaster in a UK park, when finally they built one it was very popular. Replacing its last big all-round family ride (in a park that desperately needs a major family ride) with a ticketed Dungeon attraction is not knowing how the public respond.

They have no clue what they're doing with Thorpe Park. Wasting their most expensive project ever on a ride that doesn't know what it wants to be and was largely rejected by the public is not "getting the most out of the UK audience". Labouring a declining park with a ride that costs so much to operate and a bunch of fad IPs is not knowing what entertains the public.

Until recently they squandered Chessington's development with their weird ideology that it's not allowed a new coaster because it's a family park, and not allowed new rides unless they have animals shoved in somehow, so denied practically everything for years. It's long been obvious to everyone Chessington needs a new coaster to absorb the queues, restoring old rides and fresh new ideas.

If British people went to Phantasialand, Efteling and Europa Park would they not enjoy it as much as a Merlin attraction? Many non enthusiasts I know who've visited those places told how amazing it was, they havnt been to nearby Thorpe for years.

All that Merlin care about the British public is to monopolise them and hype them up so that they can fleece them of more money.  Hence IPs, just broker a deal with something that's already successful. IPs have been around for years, even at the time these parks were being built and that didn't stop them becoming popular.

I believe the British public can be a cynical bunch and Merlin certainly know how to mislead them, but sooner or later they wake up to the overpricing, the poor value for money and commercialised parks. I think they're more ready to enjoy whatever's thrown at them than Merlin give them credit for, so long as it gets the fundamentals right and is entertaining, then word of mouth spreads. Merlin have proven time and again they have no idea how to do this other than roller coasters or IPs.

Merlin monopolised the market, "hey ho that's business". No, you can make great business out of entertainment without monopoly. If anything monopoly is a way to get away with shoddy business because you own the whole market. I hardly call that business, just domination and shouldn't be shrugged off as 'just the way things have to be'. Merlin is also an extremely inefficient business underneath the hood.

I wonder if the British audience just lost interest in place-specifc mascots? With the rise in popularity of Disney parks, maybe people just saw any other attempts as a cheap version of Mickey Mouse. Or maybe they prefer IP-related costume characters (yet another reason why Peppa Pig Land worked so well for Paulton's).

What we can also be certain about is that, whatever they choose to do for the celebrations, it will probably cost you money to participate. 
 
That's the Merlin way!

There will definitely be people who remember the Rangers, a lot of the people who grew up with them will have nieces/nephews or even have children of their own. 
 
The Rangers were park icons (especially in the nineties) and only really started disappearing from prominence around the mid-naughties.They had four rides and a show in their heyday.  That however said, it would feel a strange, bizarre and almost shoe-horned if we suddenly saw them either roaming the park or at a meet and greet place. 
 
It’s certainly a shame they have been ditched especially when other parks still heavily maintain their mascots, Pardoes, The six Dragons, Ed Mouse etc., but I don’t think Thorpe is that kind of park anymore. Not without a major facelift/revitalise. 

Yet ?

I honestly don't think the rangers are going to be returning. They have absolutely no relevance to the park anymore, yes it's the 40th birthday, but lets be honest, if they came back nobody would have any idea who they are and what significance they were back in the day, except the geeks.
 
Also, IAC closed because the contract ended. I am confident that the building will be SBNO, because that's what the park seem to love to do at the moment. 
 
This will be the extent of the birthday celebrations
 

Agree, it's not offensive. It's just absolutely pathetic and childish, and does nothing positive in terms of public perception, either of MAP holders or Thorpe Park as a whole. Slow clap time.
 
It's lazy, heavy handed, utter nonsense and ill thought out, which is true of many of Thorpe's decisions and PR. Post now, think later. But hey, that's the world of social media and iNflUenCinG guys. 
 
Maybe 2019 will see that mobile phone charging service open on The Walking Dead The Ride and that B.O. ban will finally be enforced on Stealth.
 

I agree it's a stupid post, doesn't do anything to help their reputation, etc. But saying they're treating customers with "contempt"? People on Facebook / Twitter calling this "offensive" and "insulting" (usually people with Annual Passes already who are trying to feel offended on behalf of others). Feels like a bit of an over-reaction, no?
 
As I say, it's a ridiculous post, definitely not doing anything to help with their already damaged brand. But there are people genuinely trying to say it's offensive? Come on..