Mark9

When you were born, you were the:5,120,362,965thperson alive on Earth80,089,880,072ndperson to have lived since history began Part of the 5 BIllion people club. It was cool back then.

It is the fault of the guests. They are the ones happy enough to part with their money to use the system. We aren't like the Belgians who go to the extremes of boycotting parks because fastrack systems teach impatience and the idea that you buy your way to the front. As I have said before, fastrack is fine to a point but not at the scale the park sells it at. Tommy had a good idea at the park that depending on how busy the park is, the prices should move around to accommodate it. You want to skip the (artificially increased) 2 hour queue? Fine, but its going to cost you £20 to do so. I'd guarantee you there are people out there that would do it. That's the kind of system that should be in place, particularly on the Smiler.

Outrageous really. I don't mind queuing for rides, particularly really good rides like The Smiler or Nemesis because I know the experience at the end is worth it. But if my queue is being artificially increased on the scale that you say it is then I won't bother visiting the park again this season. Particularly as I know across the pond, there are parks like Europa Park where I can get on better rides like Blue Fire and Wodan, safe in the knowledge that I haven't had 600 people who are too lazy or impatient to wait with the rest of us peasants queue-jump their way to the front.

You're right they won't. Just charge way too much for the event to start with instead.

The company that built a low capacity roller coaster, then ensured they got fastrack onto it as quick as possible, compounding the problem of having a late opening roller coaster, increased demand in the park and then sending Fastrack sellers into other rides queue-lines to fleece its guests that don't pay for fastrack of any chance of a decent ride count. I don't put anything past them.

The first I am in PortAventura, the second I'm at Disneyland Paris. So in other words, Thanks a bloody lot. I"ll remember this Peaj.

Watching a conga line of people with fastrack, waltzing into the Smiler fastrack queue line would speak otherwise.

Exactly. Whilst Thorpe continue cramming people into shipping containers, we can enjoy the wonders of Belle Rock or Colosseo and enjoy a top quality theme park in the process. If anything, Thorpe's doing you all a favour. Nah. In years gone by, The Swarm would have been a top rate hit, but last year, Thorpe proved that building a top quality rollercoaster isn't always giving to reward. I think that ride taught the park some valuable lessons, cramming lots of rollercoasters in a short space of time can only go so far.

The Smiler is a good ride. However. I've now ridden it on 3 trains, 4 trains and 5 train operation and have queued exactly the same amount each time I've ridden. And I can honestly say I prefer it on three trains because at least back then, they weren't flooding the ride with fastrack's and the queue moved consistently. The park have in their hands a fantastic ride which is long, enjoyable, fun and full of variety. But I don't want to ride it anymore and it says a lot on how much they are overselling fastrack itself when there is a 15 minute fastrack queue for Oblivion and they have half the ride to themselves as it is, on a ride that is supposed to get 1800 people an hour. Either the park has given up trying to run their rides properly or the overselling of fastrack has become so severe that the highest throughput rides in the park can no longer handle the fastrack allocation. So for now, I'll stick with Nemesis and Air, as far away from The Smiler as it is because those two don't feel the effects of a ride that is being flogged beyond its reach.

Conclusion:- Get new friends.

If Corkscrew could last 28 years, I can see Colossus still doing its thing when its 21

Yup. Thats all we need. Failing that, a B&M equivalent of a mega lite.

No trip to Chessington for me this year then. I know its ridiculous, but Runaway Train, as rubbish as it is, is a staple attraction for me and I never miss it on a trip. It goes beyond just being a ride and is something that I grew up with. There's no reason for me to visit the park anymore with its closed attractions, rides that have had theming completely wrecked over the past ten years and rides that have throughput deliberately decreased for ridiculous reasons. A sham of a park.

A routine precaution played out as if its important news. Thanks Twitter.

"THE GIRLS HADN'T EATEN FOR SIX HOURS" Keen on the Midnight snacks then I take it..

Who are these people?

And yet no mention of Furius Baco. Why-ever not

It's a ten looper which is very similar to Colossus except it has a modified first drop.

TPM's first cloning experiment worked then I take it.

That isn't what I'm asking Jamie. It's awful in spite of better rides being around. The fact that it isn't even the best Maurer spinner in the country let alone Winjas Fear and Force, Tarantula or Salama means I crave a better rollercoaster that much more.

Would you still keep it a far better ride could replace it? You may like it but you have to admit it is a real challenge to get on it without a ridiculous queuing time.

Every park that has a Maurer spinner always sees that ride with the longest queue. The appeal of the attraction is so broad and because everyone can ride it, it suffers.

Wouldn't need to limit the places for a Saw ERT either, it wouldn't exactly be a sell out event, just Luke and Peaj going round and round. 1 CAR OPERATION! I can only echo what others have said. It was a very enjoyable meet. Sure I only turned up halfway through the day but even then I could tell how TPM meets have grown up since my last meet. Everyone was very sociable, welcoming and I had some great coaster chats with people I've never met properly before. And all thanks to Thorpe Park for laying on Inferno for us. It was riding incredibly well for us. It must has have been very good as I don't remember riding it six times. Fallible short term memory clearly. The walk around was interesting to, getting up and close with a ride that I've been very familiar with over the last ten years. So thanks Thorpe Park and thanks to Marc for getting TPM these exclusive ERT sessions.

God I love Alton Towers for that picture you linked to Ricky. As for the topic itself. My opinion on Spinball has always been dead low because it doesn't belong in a theme park that attracts the people that Thorpe, Alton, Lego and Chessie do (Die Fury, Die). I'd say it is a funfair ride at best and that's where it belongs. Both Alton and Thorpe could do far better then that awful little ride and its in the family coaster bracket. It's called Juvelen.

How would someone know a ride isn't intense before they get to the park and try it for themselves? The only thing I can guess is word of mouth. Besides the gimmick as we are calling it wasn't a last minute decision that the park decided to do on a whim. What was last minute is the way that it was implemented into the queuing system which clearly was rushed through with no logical thought.