Return of Reserve N Ride?

[TPJames]

Hi all,

I was just having a look at the thorpe website and I've noticed a feature on it.

https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/ticket-information/

When you click on tickets the options come up, RESERVE N RIDE, is the last on the list however risk still there. However, when you click on it, it comes up with an error message! My question is mainly aimed at thorpe however it takes a while to do a direct message to them so I was wondering if anyone knew if they had plans to bring back the system?

Many thanks.

[OldFarmerDean]

this whole reserve and ride thing seems so pointless as what if people don't turn up on time and there ends up being empty spaces on trains or waiting to fill it up, losing it's throughput, which would be fine if people were in the queue ready. I just really hope this is used as a fast track alternative, as the park just wouldn't be able to cope with minimal queues on all the main rides, as there isn't that much to do and other rides queues just wouldn't be able to cope etc. I mean what happens if you're queueing for another ride when it breaks down and then you end up missing your time slot, and then have to wait all over again!?

[Project LC]

Btw, you can put any random 9 digit number in and it works .

Smiler doesn't get more than 1000, infact that's it's absolute maximum. Hence it's constant queues.

well any 9 digit number sounds like a good system. Also the smiler can and did run 5 trains for a bit which is why its theoretical throughput was just under 1300, however under normal operations its theoretical is around 1000. Thats only a theoretical value so the real value must be much lower.

[Project LC]

this whole reserve and ride thing seems so pointless as what if people don't turn up on time and there ends up being empty spaces on trains or waiting to fill it up, losing it's throughput, which would be fine if people were in the queue ready. I just really hope this is used as a fast track alternative, as the park just wouldn't be able to cope with minimal queues on all the main rides, as there isn't that much to do and other rides queues just wouldn't be able to cope etc. I mean what happens if you're queueing for another ride when it breaks down and then you end up missing your time slot, and then have to wait all over again!?

That is a good point. Have Thorpe considered break downs in this stupid system. There is just so much in this system that can go wrong and will go wrong it would take years and millions of pounds to solve.

[Marc]

That is a good point. Have Thorpe considered break downs in this stupid system. There is just so much in this system that can go wrong and will go wrong it would take years and millions of pounds to solve.

Of course they have.

You can rest assured if some enthusiasts on a fan site have thought about a potential issue then the park have thought of that potential issue and a solution to it!

[Fred]

well any 9 digit number sounds like a good system. Also the smiler can and did run 5 trains for a bit which is why its theoretical throughput was just under 1300, however under normal operations its theoretical is around 1000. Thats only a theoretical value so the real value must be much lower.

Not sure how it can have a theoretical throughput of 1300 when the absolute maximum you can push it to (sending it the second it's ready, with no guests on to delay) is 68 dispatches = 1088 if full.

Therefore theoretical is 1088. And as they have managed it a couple of times, is actual too.

[pluk]

Of course they have.

You can rest assured if some enthusiasts on a fan site have thought about a potential issue then the park have thought of that potential issue and a solution to it!

You have a vast amount of faith in people who can't manage a very simple paper based fastrack system to try something this complex! The failure of the previous tests shows they haven't thought of at least some potential issues, as they have failed to overcome them!

It's a little dismissive to say if we have thought of something then Thorpe must have too, so it's not worth saying. Very valid and so far unaccounted for points have been raised here.

[Marc]

You have a vast amount of faith in people who can't manage a very simple paper based fastrack system to try something this complex! The failure of the previous tests shows they haven't thought of at least some potential issues, as they have failed to overcome them!

It's a little dismissive to say if we have thought of something then Thorpe must have too, so it's not worth saying. Very valid and so far unaccounted for points have been raised here.

I think we will have to agree to disagree - I wasnt dismissing anyone's point - a lot of points raised are valid concerns, I'm just sure these would have been thought of before the company decided to go ahead out-laying time money and resources to this project.

I guess all we can do is wait and see for the trials to continue.

[Project LC]

Has anyone been to the recent trials yet, it would be good to hear what actaully happened at them especially considering if on the Monday they stopped by 11am.

[Ryan]

They haven't done any since Monday and are continuing on Friday I believe.

[Project LC]

They haven't done any since Monday and are continuing on Friday I believe.

so the Monday one went so well Tuesdays was cancelled. I'm assuming that the problem was a tec side fault.

[Ryan]

Yeah they cancelled it to make some changes ready for their next trial on Friday.

[Project LC]

I like to think that "changes" is someone at management smashing their head against a table crying. There is just so many things I dislike about this I want it gone.

[JoshC.]

I like to think that "changes" is someone at management smashing their head against a table crying. There is just so many things I dislike about this I want it gone.

Really? I never would have guessed!

It was the first time the system was used with the 5 major coasters, including front row on Stealth and on Saw (Saw front row screams of 'WHY??' to me though). There could well be a fault with the system which was not expected. Or maybe they got some algorithms wrong or something. Who knows? But at least they realised the mistake and decided to take the time to fix it. Just like any new ride, there will be teething problems, it's to be expected.

[Coaster]

Really? I never would have guessed!

It was the first time the system was used with the 5 major coasters, including front row on Stealth and on Saw (Saw front row screams of 'WHY??' to me though). There could well be a fault with the system which was not expected. Or maybe they got some algorithms wrong or something. Who knows? But at least they realised the mistake and decided to take the time to fix it. Just like any new ride, there will be teething problems, it's to be expected.

Yes it is likely to have teething problems, but is it acceptable to carry out a test like this whilst the paying public are in the park? Giving them the option to try it out is fine IMO, but forcing them to use it is wrong.

[Mitchada04]

If the system goes tits up they can quite easily turn it off and open the normal queues.

[JoshC.]

This is why I think they should be trialling this system during a quieter period of the season, as opposed to June (or August, like last year). If things go wrong, it will cause less problems.

But yeah, as SCB says, the system can be stopped and revert back to the ordinary system at any point and cause little problem, as was shown on Monday!

[Project LC]

Well you say that but those guests in the park would have wasted time by riding flats (or if they are mad and do what Thorpe said, shopping) while they thought they were queuing virtually to find that they hadn't been queuing and have just wasted an hour of their day. I know that this trail it was called off pretty quickly and the park stayed open longer but if this happened in late July and you thought you were queuing for 3 hours virtually then the park isn't going to staying open an extra 3 hours because of their mishap.

[Ryan]

^ I think there'd be a bigger problem if the park had 3 hour queues in July...

Give them a chance to try it out, if they didn't believe it could've worked they wouldn't have spent a lot of time and effort on it. If it works then it could be really good for Thorpe and the theme park industry as a whole. If it doesn't work then oh well and at least they're trying new things.

[Project LC]

^ I think there'd be a bigger problem if the park had 3 hour queues in July...

Give them a chance to try it out, if they didn't believe it could've worked they wouldn't have spent a lot of time and effort on it. If it works then it could be really good for Thorpe and the theme park industry as a whole. If it doesn't work then oh well and at least they're trying new things.

I say 3 hours because in the trails for the swarm last year on multiple occasions the swarm wait time was 4 hours.

[Mitchada04]

Because that was the only thing on the system and everyone reserved it from the word go. With all the coasters on it that won't happen. And I'm sure if they did decide to turn the system off you could still show that you were waiting virtually and they'd let you in the Fastrack queue or something.

[Project LC]

Maybe they should learn from their gate figures and do nothing to make them increase, that way they wont have to introduce the system I have come to despise.

[Ryan]

So you think Thorpe should do nothing to increase their gate figures and in turn profit? Thank God you're not in charge of the park!

[Project LC]

So you think Thorpe should do nothing to increase their gate figures and in turn profit? Thank God you're not in charge of the park!

It was more said as a joke, although them doing nothing last year did increase gate figures by 11.1%

[JoshC.]

It was more said as a joke, although them doing nothing last year did increase gate figures by 11.1%

Swarm backwards, X and a big, noticeable change in target market is not 'doing nothing' in my opinion!

[Project LC]

swarm backwards and x were only minor, when you look at how the smiler increased AT gate figures by 4.2% I would say that what Thorpe did was next to nothing.