Mark9

Every parks supposed to make a profit, the difference is Thorpe are already making a profit, so why have the fastrack prices increase every 3 months. If Thorpe had built high capacity rides to cope then fine, they haven't. Parks Like Europa don't do it and they get an incredibly healthy attendence, compared to Thorpe that has a very bad consistency.

Fastrak started in 1998 and was only on Dragon Falls and Oblivion I believe. The system was a bit crap as you had to have a ticket to ride, you couldn't just go into the queue. It stuck around for a while before being replaced and added onto Colossus and Air in 2002, since then being added to several attractions. It did used to be free but they started charging in 2004. Chessington's fastrack system started out at ?2 dont ya know.

Ladies and Gentleman, raise your glasses. Chessington no longer exists

I'm sure the parks look at it an excellent view. However you forget that they need to keep the guests happy and by having these ridiculous methods of queueing word of mouth fails. If all that queue goes away and says how horrendous queues are at Thorpe, they are unlikely to visit again. Thus damaging Thorpe's return visits. Yes theres new guests coming every year but they need to keep oldies happy to. It is profitable but thats the problem. So many low throughput rides and it doesn't work. You can hardly say Fish was breaking the bank and yet look how Fastrack prices have risen this year.Extreme(Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, X:\No Way Out, Tidal Wave or Loggers Leap) ?7.00Adrenaline(Rush, Samurai, Slammer, Vortex) ?7.00Stealth ?4.00Ultimate(Unlimited Fastrack rides all day!) ?40.00From what used to be ?4 at the beginning of 2006 to a 75% increase by May 2007. Thats the problem with fastrack.

Let me explain why fastrack is rubbish:-The idea behind is that by creating a stand by queue you are reducing the main queue as some come back at later times. By having it on a few rides the effect isn't to bad. However Thorpe's methods mean is it 9 or 10 rides have it. The only two major rides being Detonator and Rumba Rapids. Now the problem with Fastrack is that they sell to many of them and to many options. How many does Stealth have for example. Now considering Fastrack people are the priority it means the main queue only get a look in when theres few people around as the ratio is normally 2 fastrackers to every one normal queuer. So while you say its only a rip off to those who visit frequantly, its also a rip off to normal people who have already spent 30 quid each to enter only to have those with a bit more cash on them to stroll by pass unrestrained. Its a ridiculous method of queue jumping as by having a few with reduced queuing, you have 100% more queueing longer.

Depends.... Thorpe painted it blue.... Chessington put the name of the ride on each of its pods.. so its debateable

I'm on a nostalgia trip. If you know me its no secret you probably know I'm training on Runaway Train, which incidentally was my first ever rollercoaster back in 1992. Nowadays theme park is dominated by Stealth and ride reliability. Its hard to believe I've been well into coasters for nearly 10 years. So my question to you was when did you really get into rides and attractions and was there a ride that helped push you into it?My story isn't exactly complicated but looking back it was a very humble start. It was June 1998. Having not ridden anything huge for several years, as a small 10 year old I was extremely excited to go back to the "best day out in the South". Upon arrival in what is the South car park I looked to my left and saw the beigey brown track of Vampire, Smugglers Galleon swinging over the trees and felt my excitement grew. On that day we The Old Crocks Ralley (what is now Toadies Crazy Cars), Carousel, Safari Skyway, Toytown Truckers, Dragons River, Terrortomb, Flying Jumbos and Seastorm. It wasn't until lunchtime, eating at McDonalds and watching the old Vampire falling from lift two and swinging majestically over the treetops on its Fangtastic adventure that I felt myself becoming who I am today. Ironically my favourite ride of the day was Seastorm and it was to be well over a year until I rode Rattlesnake, Vampire, Rodeo, Runaway Train and all the overs but Chessington has always and will probably always be my favourite theme park as it introduced me to so much. Despite the park falling from grace I still believe it to be an enchanting place with an excellent variety of rides for all the family.So what was it that got you into theme parks. I hope my story hasn't bored you to much lol.

I'm 18.... 19 in less then 2 months. Damn it.

I had a weird dream where I was operating Runaway Train at Chessington.. then I realised it was reality. My god I love Operating that ride it has got to be the most fun thing ever!

ALEX CALM DOWN.....ok Maybe I need to calm down.

Thing with the B&M standard lay-out is that it works. It throws 7 inversions in successfully and will draw in the crowds. I think a lot of parks are trying new things wit the layouts though such as Inferno with the pre-lift opener, Hydra with the Jo-Jo roll, Black Mamba in general and little Demon at Tivoli. I think the standard B&M lay-out works though, certainly took nothing away from Superman de Acero in Spain, in fact it added a large amount of variety from the smaller Beemers which over-do it on the corkscrews.

Right. So by definition Nemesis, Inferno and the Batman rides are s**t because they are smaller then things such as Montu and Patriot. Come on give me a proper reason as size means nothing if you are actually interested in rides.

Why is Colossus a kiddie coaster compared to Kraken exactly?

Which they are in the new animal enclosures next to the hotel...

The Bear Hunt which opened on Saturday is a look out for bears through the Canadian Rockies.. so what do you think of the Canada Creek alterations and the attraction itself?I thought it was bloody excellent and Tussauds first real attempt at theming at the park since Tidal Wave. Considering it seemed to be a last minute thing, it's really been pulled of nicely. Its a bit short but considering its using something that otherwise would have been left blank its a great little ride that Families will enjoy.

Stick to the coke can

Fury had some issues today... its queue was about an hour all day

I'd just like to say its not really Thorpe's fault that rusty water landed on you. I doubt they did it deliberately.. they give you free tickets, there wasn't much more they could do.

I've got 2 cats names Holly and Sasha and 2 kittens called Misty and Amber. Pic below of the kittys http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v416/Fur...=Picture081.jpg

I also queued 45 minutes on Saturday. Was definitly more then the 5 minutes they were advertising at the queue entrance.. Secondly it doesn't matter if they didn't need the second train, it would have been nice to not have to queue so long.

Neither will they be removing Tidal Wave but you seem to want it.

O2. They offer a lot on the sim I got. I get 500 free texts a month and 300 free minutes if I top up 30 pounds a month as well as 10% on all top-ups every 3 months. Besides me and my partner are both on O2, any other network and it would be bloody expensive.

Only at Thorpe could a run of the mill Mack coaster be restricted opening.

From now on.. these are your gods!

Yes.. if its I believe its a "shunt stop" in which all power is completely cut for the ride, hence why it takes so long for it to stop.