Thorpe Park Trip Reports

[TPJames]

I think they need to sort their rides out as they seem to be breaking an awful lot!

As I said samurai was down the whole day today. Saw was open for a couple of hours max. Stealth, loggers, slammer and Dodgems were all down for a few hours aswell. At one point there were 4 rides unavalible at once. Not good!

Just would like to point out swing A on rush is still awful compared to swing B and isn't reaching 90degrees. Disappointing really needs to be fixed.

[OldFarmerDean]

yesterday was pretty bad, with nemesis inferno closed at opening, not opening til gone 10, at this time saw was also closed (and don't think it opened til just before lunch), The swarm was on one train for first few hours if not more and got itself a nice 110 minute queue, with Colossus getting close to that (and think it then got reduced to one train again later on in the afternnon), and nemesis getting like 75 minutes (which to me looked like more than that, with a good half of the extension queue being used!) all because of one train only operation!? stealth had a good 20/30 minute queue as soon as we got in the park about 9.45 due to it only being on one train... I mean surely being a busy summer holiday there'd be some sense in having enough maintenance staff and having them in early enough to open on 2 trains considering the price people pay to get in!

As for downtime, seen stealth testing at some point in the day, and was stuck in saw the ride queue while they decided to add 2 more trains, which was apparently supposed to reduce peoples queues but then took even longer when there was some sort of problem and they had to have engineers to check the ride (and I think subsequently then removed a train from operation!)... so was a bit annoying. slammer was just beyond awful with how long it took to prepare each cycle, plus with a whole side of seats on each arm closed off reducing capacity to 20 people per ride (worked out about 200pph!!!! - although then per arm you're and after splitting you're then waiting in 100pph effectively!), and then just as we were batched there was a bit of a wait to then hear an announcement that there was a fault with the ride, so they sent a test go, and fortunately it was fine and we were allowed to ride. Samurai was closed all day as it had a cherry picker / crane parked up next to it, although while we were in the indoor queue for saw while it was broke, could have sworn we seen samurai moving.

As for rush, most people don't know the difference, and I just make sure I ask so I get the swing I want

things like that really annoy me when they know people will return and have no intention of improving - I mean break downs are unfortunate and unforeseeable (most of the time), but when they can't open a busy park with good capacity and rides closed it is bad! and this is the best the UK has got eh!

I still had a really good day, and highlights were riding slammer (after the slowest moving queue on earth), stealth seemed to have a great throughput while on two trains (must have been good staff), came off saw without a headache whilst still having an intense ride and had an awesome ride on vortex (so much love for this ride when it's running and well, and having good seats always getting the top!).

[Project LC]

Today I was at the park and it started off well. However that is one of the only good points of the day. Despite the park opening for first to ride at 9:15 none of the rides where ready. Most didnt open until 9:45. We rode stealth 5 times in a row and then went off to nemesis inferno. As always at that time it was running on 1 train so allowing the queue to build and build. We then went off to rush as a person in our group didnt want to do saw or Colossus as he valued his head. At rush we were greated by someone who cant count to 8 and clearly had no idea how to batch so lots of empty seats were going.

The rest of the day was normal until we went to ride stealth again. We reached the 15 minute sign when the ride broke down. The queue was evacuated and priorty passes given out (havent seen that happen in a very long time). After about 2 hours stealth came back to life so we joined the queue and started walking round the queue. At which point some moron opened a gate so he didnt have to walk 20 meters and allowed 30 people infront of us (very angry at that). After a few minutes train one collided with a seagull so we waited for the train to be cleaned which for no reason took about 30 minutes to clean (even more angry at there lack of urgency). Then the batcher decided the main queue didnt exist and only let fastrack and disabled go which filled about 12 trains. Eventually we got to the batcher and told them about the queue jumpers of which nothing was done (this point I was basically fuming). So what should have been walk on turned into 60 minutes.

We went away and redeeemed some more priorty passes from a previous time and did a few more rides. Eventually we returned to stealth as its 100 minute queue went down to 50. If I wasnt in a bad enough state already it was about to get a lot worse. After 2 minutes of being in the queue we saw a new set of about 12 friends opening a gate and queue jumping exactly the same way as before. This time one of our group left the queue to alert the staff as we had had enough. Once again nothing was done. Within minutes they were all on the ride. Then if I couldnt already be more mad at the stealth crew we had a 10 minute delay becuase the batcher wasnt paying attention. He let the station become empty and wasnt letting anyone get on. No it was not a fault the operator and the other ride hosts were telling him to get a move on. All in all customer services will be getting a complaint tomorrow morning.

Also on another note swarm was broken for an hour in the morning stealth was closed for 2 hours saw was closed for an hour, dodgems opened very late and were closed for about 3 hours and samurai didnt open all day.All coaster were above 60 minutes and rush and vortex were above 50 minutes. Today was a joke and reinforced to me how bad thorpe is. The list of complaints about today goes on but I dont want to spend the next 10 years typing.

[J.S217]

^but did you enjoy yourself?

[Project LC]

For the first hour yes, from then on not really. We lost our car keys in the morning on stealth, so we were waiting for park closing to get them back. That wasn't too bad as it was our own fault. However the breakdowns the massive queues the unhelpful and unfriendly staff, the guest who have no respect for anyone but themselves, the vast number of fastrackers. Normally I put up with quite a lot of stuff from Thorpe but this was a step too far. The rides are not as fun as they were and quite frankly I didnt enjoy myself.

[paige]

Guess you best avoid the place from now on then.

[J.S217]

Can't help breakdowns/or the queues it is summer holiday after all and  staff can be a lucky dip but that is like any park

[Project LC]

I wont be returning to the park this year, ill go again when there is less people and new staff in march. As for the queues they are not that annoying its when people jump them and then the staff do nothing. Stealth really was a joke. Having an empty train waiting to load for 10 minutes because the staff were not paying attention is not acceptable. A lot of people paid a lot of money to get in and a large cause of the queues inside are idiotic staff.

[InfernoMartin]

I wont be returning to the park this year, ill go again when there is less people and new staff in march. As for the queues they are not that annoying its when people jump them and then the staff do nothing. Stealth really was a joke. Having an empty train waiting to load for 10 minutes because the staff were not paying attention is not acceptable. A lot of people paid a lot of money to get in and a large cause of the queues inside are idiotic staff.

 

I highly doubt a train was sitting in the station for 10 minutes waiting for people to get on it, It would be max a couple of minutes.

[Project LC]

It really was sitting there for about 10 minutes because the batcher to reasons only known to himself wasn't letting people through. It was about 5 past 6 if you want to try and find people to confirm I was telling the truth.

[Dan9]

If it was sitting there for 10 minutes, there will have been a cause and it wouldn't just be because of an inept batcher. It is just unfortunate the reasons either weren't communicated properly or weren't able to be communicated. 

[Project LC]

I guess the batcher could have been having a conversation with guests about some sort of issue but people in the front got on and the rest of the train remained empty for about 10 minutes until people finally were allowed on the station.

[paige]

You just said the whole train was empty so now I'm struggling further to get a grip on the situation. Care to elaborate?

[Project LC]

Ok we were down in the queue in on of the extentions next to the dried up pond. We were able to see the station want the air gates. The gates opened to allow the front row queue on and the rest of the station. The 2 people in the front row got on however the other gates didnt have anyone at them so remained empty. After a few minutes the staff on the station started doing hand signals to the queue saying that the person over by the stairs ( the batcher) was being derpy.

[paige]

Right. But surely if the batcher was being 'derpy' they'd have soon got them to snap out of it and just continue to batch the ride? However I feel that you can't necessarily give a reliable account as you weren't really close enough to get a true idea of what was up and I'm sorry but your time keeping isn't your strongest point either with regards to then ten minute wait.

[Project LC]

Yes there may have been a reason in why no one was being batched of which I couldnt see but even then I dont see why the staff on the platform were getting impatient if it was a valid reason to hold the queue up for so long. I do understand what you mean by my time keeping, I will ask the rest of my group tomorrow in how long they throught it was but I would say that it was about 10 minutes for the train to dispatch. (Time wasnt exactly flying by the point, the number of queue jumpers was already making me very angry).

[paige]

Well maybe they were getting stressed over a potential legitmate issue? I heard Stealth's had some issues at some point this week or late last week- it didn't like the rain. So maybe it was linked to that or was just a minor hiccup

[Mark9]

Ah.. broken down rides, rubbish staff, spiralling out of control queue times.

 

Sounds like the Thorpe of the 2009 years. 

[TPJames]

Today I was at the park and it started off well. However that is one of the only good points of the day. Despite the park opening for first to ride at 9:15 none of the rides where ready. Most didnt open until 9:45. We rode stealth 5 times in a row and then went off to nemesis inferno. As always at that time it was running on 1 train so allowing the queue to build and build. We then went off to rush as a person in our group didnt want to do saw or Colossus as he valued his head. At rush we were greated by someone who cant count to 8 and clearly had no idea how to batch so lots of empty seats were going.

The rest of the day was normal until we went to ride stealth again. We reached the 15 minute sign when the ride broke down. The queue was evacuated and priorty passes given out (havent seen that happen in a very long time). After about 2 hours stealth came back to life so we joined the queue and started walking round the queue. At which point some moron opened a gate so he didnt have to walk 20 meters and allowed 30 people infront of us (very angry at that). After a few minutes train one collided with a seagull so we waited for the train to be cleaned which for no reason took about 30 minutes to clean (even more angry at there lack of urgency). Then the batcher decided the main queue didnt exist and only let fastrack and disabled go which filled about 12 trains. Eventually we got to the batcher and told them about the queue jumpers of which nothing was done (this point I was basically fuming). So what should have been walk on turned into 60 minutes.

We went away and redeeemed some more priorty passes from a previous time and did a few more rides. Eventually we returned to stealth as its 100 minute queue went down to 50. If I wasnt in a bad enough state already it was about to get a lot worse. After 2 minutes of being in the queue we saw a new set of about 12 friends opening a gate and queue jumping exactly the same way as before. This time one of our group left the queue to alert the staff as we had had enough. Once again nothing was done. Within minutes they were all on the ride. Then if I couldnt already be more mad at the stealth crew we had a 10 minute delay becuase the batcher wasnt paying attention. He let the station become empty and wasnt letting anyone get on. No it was not a fault the operator and the other ride hosts were telling him to get a move on. All in all customer services will be getting a complaint tomorrow morning.

Also on another note swarm was broken for an hour in the morning stealth was closed for 2 hours saw was closed for an hour, dodgems opened very late and were closed for about 3 hours and samurai didnt open all day.All coaster were above 60 minutes and rush and vortex were above 50 minutes. Today was a joke and reinforced to me how bad thorpe is. The list of complaints about today goes on but I dont want to spend the next 10 years typing.

Okay Project LC I was also at the park yesterday so I know everything and anything which was going on as I am very observant about the park. I got into the park about 9:30 due to the fact I was collecting my annual pass from the building. At this time all the rides were open apart from loggers leap and slammer as far as I'm aware. We did rush with no queue first thing and the batcher was fine, there was no queue so it didn't make a difference but the whole row was filled on our ride. After doing that we went to nemesis inferno and I can CONFIRM they put train 2 on about 10:00 if not slightly earlier. We were in the queue whilst this was happening and it was slightly annoying as it meant we had to wait and it should have been put on earlier. Anyway after this we went to stealth with no queue luckily before it broke because I'm sure it was down for way more than an hour. Stealth never reached 100mins at any point during the day, the longest reached was 90mins for Colossus and swarm. You can disagree all you like but I am very observant of queue times and I know what was what. Rush did reach 50mins however but vortex ONLY reached 30mins.

I have to agree that the breakdowns today were ridiculous though. At no point there was less than two major rides closed and this is awful for such a busy day. loggers and slammer were closed for a portion of a morning and saw, stealth, Dodgems and were closed for the whole afternoon. Samurai was also down for the whole day meaning at one point there were 4 major rides closed which is awful.

Operations weren't exactly great either. I hope when I go next week all coasters are on 2 trains right from the word go. The flat rides operations weren't great either. Quantum, zodiac and slammer were all taking about 10mins to load which is dreadful and quantum went to 30mins with not even half the queue full.

Rush and quantum were also having problems. The swing by the air gates on rush was still awful and the bars kept playing up meaning the staff had to recheck them about 3 times. Quantum didn't have a great cycle either. The first half was OK but when it tried to make it over the top it failed and put the brakes on and slowly lowered itself back to the ground. Not sure what that was about though and was not worth a 30min queue but the cycles were good in the morning.

Hope things will be better next week when I go because it's likely to be busier.

[pognoi]

It does make me wonder sometimes. It's always useful to have a second person on a story, so thanks for that James

However what I will say is that the way you dismissively flick away the job that hosts are doing LC is quite rude.

I wonder if for a day, we put you in their position. I wonder if you'd be as efficient, managing to get 1000 people an hour onto a ride like stealth. The job can be stressful, and whilst I have no experience working for or in a theme park, I wouldn't like to be in their position where you just trash talk your way through their job, that they have been trained to do, and probably know what they're doing whether it looks like it or not.

 

Maybe, just maybe, if you considered how arrogant your tone can be on the internet, people would understand you a bit more. Take the way James put it, he didn't say they were being derpy, they were inadequate counters or whatever. He didn't personally attack them, he just said how he would have preferred the day. 

 

When you go and mock trained, fair working human beings in their work place, it comes off as very unpleasant and hurtful. In my opinion, I just think it's wrong to roll off rude slurs like that.

 

Thank you 

 

 

PS Thorpe you're doing a great job, remembering this is the busiest time of the year and how much stress everyone and everything is under. :3

The moan is because of my attitude atm, very annoyed at my results.

[Project LC]

You will not see nemesis start the day with 2 trains, it hasnt all season. I belive the first chance engineers have to add the 2nd train is about 10am as long as another ride hasnt hit some sort of troubble. Stealth and saw did hit 100 minutes in the day. Stealth was at about 4-5pm at 100 which was a little bit after it opened and saw was around 100 at around 2. Also forgot to mention tidal wave was having problems all day where the water down the drop would stop flowing. However they just continued to operate and it leads to a much bigger splash.

Apologies if you thought I was coming across as rude but the stealth team really did annoy me. Admitingly I could have worded it better and not been so condesending however I do vist rather often and ive seen many other people do there jobs in different ways of which some would have been far better to use. On a side note I would love to do their job but its too far away for a daily commute.

[Mitchada04]

You will not see nemesis start the day with 2 trains, it hasnt all season. I belive the first chance engineers have to add the 2nd train is 10 am

Rubbish. Inferno has opened at 9:15 with two trains many many many times this season.

[Project LC]

Havent seen it do that at all. Also when I asked why towards the begging of the season they said it was down to the engineers schedual.

[Dan9]

Havent seen it do that at all. Also when I asked why towards the begging of the season they said it was down to the engineers schedual.

Well clearly other people have haven't they? Stealth and Colossus are the ones to more frequently open with 2 trains from 9:30 but it still happens on Swarm and Inferno plenty.

[Whatever]

 

After a few minutes train one collided with a seagull

WHAT? Poor seagull! Did it die? Sorry, as an animal lover and vegetarian I have to enquire.