Mark9

This has come up a few times believe it or not and although I accept the comparison could be there, I never really think its valid. What we're really talking about is how detrimental the VIP service is to the normal service. If you take a first class seat on a train or a plane, you don't get to your destination faster, the first class part of a train doesn't arrive in Manchester 45 minutes before the rest of the train does. At the cinema, paying for a deluxe seat gets you a larger seat and legroom, but it doesn't stop the normal seats from watching the same film at the same time. Taking a cab or limo, you pay a lot for the service but you're still going to get stuck in the same traffic that a bus or a car will. As you rightfully point out, the odds of getting screwed over by a VIP pass holder are low so I have no complaint with them. It's when merlin decide they can sell 2000 VIP passes a year, or 5000 that the whole thing will get out of hand.

Comparative photo for context:- Europa Park

We've got Ratatouille which is a pretty awesome dark ride by anyones standards (even if US Disney fans aren't big fans). I welcome our screen based overlords.

I'm trying not to be mean.. but the hell with it. This looks tragic. We really are spoilt here in the UK aren't we.

Good on Chessington. Great decision which will help ease the pressure on peoples days.

Geek mecca.

I'd like to say its my camera skills, but to be honest it's all about the ride. I really enjoyed photoing it because at every angle, the ride looks amazing.

I completely understand why Towers is the one being name checked on complaints. They are the front line and it's the poor staff that have to deal with the abuse that I feel sorry for. Not only are they dealing with unhappy customers but they are also getting massive paycuts from all the closed rides and lost staffing positions. Guarantee the heads of Merlin aren't giving themselves the same cuts.

The view over the French area of Europa Park has always been my favourite theme park view. I think it will always remain so. Theme park perfection. Love the expressions on the riders faces. And finally the twisted mess of the Smiler. =)

From my experiences from running a single rider queue line, it slows down the ride if the SRQ is on the exit side of a platform.

Thing is, as a theme park Alton is heads and shoulders greater then the majority of parks in Europe. It's everything else that is really souring the experience. What's the point in visiting when now everything open has massive queues because of the amount closed and when everything opens up, they also has massive queues because of the greater demand. In retrospect, two weeks later, Thorpe really did have the best open of the three. That says a lot about how low the standards have become.

It slows down dispatches. For the sake of filling a few empty seats, it's really not worth all the time thats lost.

Normal Fury programme then, little block shutdowns and what not. It's open now with a 5 minute queue. Skyway, with all the closures from last year still looks dog awful. I really wish they'd sort it out and do it justice. A totally new layout around the park and brand new trains would do the ride a world of good.

Does anyone think the £10 to return thing is the bigger insult here. When ride closures are that bad they should at the very least be giving out free tickets to return. Too many variables there. Waitrose and Tescos are very differently targeted, the Waitrose may be doing better then expected, it's trade will grow, word of mouth will grow etc. If it is doing badly the Partners who planned that location will be challenged within the company on why that location was chosen. Too bring it back on topic, I hope that within Merlin, important people are being challenged on why ride availability at Thorpe and Chessington has been so bad. Going onto their Facebook/Twitter pages is not good publicity for the parks whatsoever.

My decision not to renew my pass for the forseeable future looks more justified as every day goes by.

Even before Peppa Pig, the park has strived forwards confidently. Cobra and The Edge aren't themed exactly but the confidence the park showed when installing those rides shows that they know their target audience perfectly. It's a really under-rated place and I'd put them safely as my number one UK park just for their sheer competence.

Always happens at the start of the season during wet weather. I'm sure a cleverer B&M inverter type worker can tell you where the rust comes from.

What do you mean by blowing air pressure?

Wonderful stuff. I love Paultons anyway, definitely going to be the park to watch in 2016. I'm looking forward to it.

Doesn't surprise me in the slightest. Way too many staff members on it and not enough people riding. I'm surprised it's opening during off peak at all to be honest.

Prescisely. Gone are the days where one ride like Buccaneer are closed, now you're lucky to even get 75% ride availability. Chessington in particular, really shouldn't have opened as it was just a Zoo day with Falls and Rattlesnake thrown in.

I'd rather they planned properly, used the four month closure efficiently and get the rides running on time. You bring up Rumba and Tidal Wave having massive downtime last year. So they knew six months ago that both needed more work then per usual. Also the Blade thing seems to be a no choice thing, imposed on them by Merlin budget cutting. We live in a crazy world where there isn't physically anything wrong with Blade and it's closing and yet Slammer and Samurai, which are pretty much beyond saving are continually being invested in. It's crazy. The closed rides list wouldn't be so bad if those two just left.