Customer Services

[Tom]

I have an enquiry which requires attachments on an email to send to the park, which their website does not offer - Does anyone know the customer services email?

[Mark9]

I would love thorpe to try no fastrack whatsoever for a month or so. I know this will never happen as fastrack users will get really angry however it would be lovely to see how much quicker the main queue moved up because I bet it is at least twice as fast for most rides. Would be nice to see but it will never happen, however I don't think reserve n ride can work on top of fastrack, the ratios then become even more ridiculous for main queues meaning they are practically stationary.

 

 

It's probably not representative as a whole but at Radiator Spring Racers at California Adventure, when two of the cattle pens are full and fastpass is running, the queue takes 40 minutes. When we queued at the same point before fastpass begun, it took thirteen minutes for our first go and ten minutes for the second go. Now thats a ride with 3,600 people per hour so I would never say Thorpe's rides queues would be so much less, but I do think the British culture is far more into these lousy fastrack schemes then Europeans certainly.The experiment wouldn't work because people would rather pay then be patient.

[Deleted Users]

RSR is an interesting one. Regardless of its throughput (I don't think it's near 3600), the fastpass normally 'sells out' within hours of opening, despite having an extremely amount available. It is also one of the attractions where the fastpass isn't networked with the rest of the system, meaning as soon as you get a RSR fastpass you can get one for another attraction. The result of which is a park which at opening most people are queueing to get a fastpass whilst Soarin', Tower, Screamin' and even Midway Mania are basically walk on. If the ride goes down, the main queue gets immediately screwed by fastpass returns. I would not like to be on the merge point for RSR because those cast members must have to deal with a lot of hate.

 

I don't know where I am really going with this except for saying that no queue jump or reservation is perfect.

[Mark9]

I can only go by my experience with it's throughput, sorry if its not dead accurate Turtle. 

[Deleted Users]

Didn't mean it in a nasty way Mark

[Coaster]

Can't believe I'm hearing this, especially after Thorpe have said countless times that they will monitor fastrack ratios more frequently!

Very poor. Sounds as bad if not worse than Oakwood.

[Project LC]

Well if its true and is becoming permanent, I hope guest services and merlin complaints department are ready for an email longer than the works of Shakespeare. If they even think this system may work then they are all a bunch of absolute morons. I wont write a 2nd rant here, ill vent my anger towards merlin rather than this forum.

[Tom]

Mark/Turtle

Wait, are you calculating it from the seatbelt check or station dispatch?

[Marc]

Well if its true and is becoming permanent, I hope guest services and merlin complaints department are ready for an email longer than the works of Shakespeare. If they even think this system may work then they are all a bunch of absolute morons. I wont write a 2nd rant here, ill vent my anger towards merlin rather than this forum.

Hate to disappoint you as I know your really hoping this system fails but the trials over the past few days have been very successfull and the feedback from those who use it sounds very good.

[TPJames]

Hate to disappoint you as I know your really hoping this system fails but the trials over the past few days have been very successfull and the feedback from those who use it sounds very good.

I'm sorry but I have to back project LC up. Thorpe are planning to make RNR the ONLY way to queue next year and this will become an absolute mess. There will be 5000-10000 people wondering around with nothing to do except the other flat rides. This will then mean the streets get crammed and the flat rides with ridiculous queues. I will beg on my knees if it means thorpe do not implement this system.

It's all very well and good for the system to work for the RNR users but the people who have been trailing it in the main queue have been outraged. Thorpe are only letting fastrack and RNRqueuers through which means a small amount of main queuers. I have been told that people have seen 30min queue boards to wait 2hours in the main queue due to RNR.

The only way this system can even work with RNR and the main queue, is by getting the ratios right. And at this rate, that isn't going to happen in a very long time as I don't even see thorpe trying, they just jam through a massive amount of fastracks and leave the main queues to suffer. It will only possibly work if they get their ratios right and it will CERTAINLY not work if they make RNR the only way.

Sorry for the negativity but this system has so many flaws and can be cheated so easily(all of your group can be in 6 different virtual queues at once etc.) that it will not work unless it is improved massively. It doesn't make a different what the people using RNR say, it's what the people in the main queue have to say who are suffering massively from the impacts of it!

[Marc]

I'm sorry but I have to back project LC up. Thorpe are planning to make RNR the ONLY way to queue next year and this will become an absolute mess. There will be 5000-10000 people wondering around with nothing to do except the other flat rides. This will then mean the streets get crammed and the flat rides with ridiculous queues. I will beg on my knees if it means thorpe do not implement this system.

It's all very well and good for the system to work for the RNR users but the people who have been trailing it in the main queue have been outraged. Thorpe are only letting fastrack and RNRqueuers through which means a small amount of main queuers. I have been told that people have seen 30min queue boards to wait 2hours in the main queue due to RNR.

The only way this system can even work with RNR and the main queue, is by getting the ratios right. And at this rate, that isn't going to happen in a very long time as I don't even see thorpe trying, they just jam through a massive amount of fastracks and leave the main queues to suffer. It will only possibly work if they get their ratios right and it will CERTAINLY not work if they make RNR the only way.

Sorry for the negativity but this system has so many flaws and can be cheated so easily(all of your group can be in 6 different virtual queues at once etc.) that it will not work unless it is improved massively. It doesn't make a different what the people using RNR say, it's what the people in the main queue have to say who are suffering massively from the impacts of it!

 

Thing is theres very little choice for the park, for RNR to work, it HAS to have priority over the main queue. RnR as it stands is a free system and those who are stood in the queues can and no doubt will see the advantages or using it and will start to do so them selves. 

 

My only worry with RnR is what will happen on quieter days and if there will be a magical number of guests where they decide RnR should operate but I guess we will find out soon enough if the trails continue to be successful and they choose to implement it more. 

[Project LC]

There is very little choice for RnR to work because it never can. The only solution to massive queues is lots of high throughput rides. Coasters in the 1700pph region and flats which can achieve 1000pph. The solution is not close off the coaster queues and force people to ride the flats you can get anywhere which have low throughputs and at the end of your 5 hour queue for slammer you can go and ride swarm once to be forced to go and wait around for another coaster for hours. Ive got news for you Thorpe your flat rides are crap. The only half decent ones are rush and slammer which both have terrible throughputs and would be lucky if they were both open. Its nice to see that many others wont visit if this becomes the only way to queue. The RnR times will be longer because suddenly all of the people in the flat queues are now queuing for the coasters as well. Then you have all the coaster people in the flat queues so those times will more than double.

If they really wanted to fix the problems they would install high throughput rides and open longer. 2 things I'm sure we will never see.

[Marc]

There is very little choice for RnR to work because it never can. The only solution to massive queues is lots of high throughput rides. Coasters in the 1700pph region and flats which can achieve 1000pph. The solution is not close off the coaster queues and force people to ride the flats you can get anywhere which have low throughputs and at the end of your 5 hour queue for slammer you can go and ride swarm once to be forced to go and wait around for another coaster for hours. Ive got news for you Thorpe your flat rides are crap. The only half decent ones are rush and slammer which both have terrible throughputs and would be lucky if they were both open. Its nice to see that many others wont visit if this becomes the only way to queue. The RnR times will be longer because suddenly all of the people in the flat queues are now queuing for the coasters as well. Then you have all the coaster people in the flat queues so those times will more than double.

If they really wanted to fix the problems they would install high throughput rides and open longer. 2 things I'm sure we will never see.

The way you talk about the place you would never enjoy visiting anyway so RnR will make very little difference to you!

I think if they can get the majority of the GP to understand the system and how it works then they will see the benifits and start to use it, but I think guests understanding it is going to be the biggest problem for them to overcome.

[Project LC]

I do expect quite a lot from Thorpe as I cant see why it cant be like the other places I've been to. I do enjoy Thorpe when I visit but only select parts of it. For example the only rides worth doing are stealth and swarm. This new system is going to ruin that. I don't want to wait 3hrs 16minutes for swarm virtually and be forced to ride the crappy flats which would have a massive queue. I would much prefer to head over to swarm towards the end of the day and walk straight on without any stupid virtual stuff, or in my case paper based. There is no good thing about this system and it would be very bad idea to implement it permanently.

[paige]

Surely RnR would be seen as a good thing if you're just being let straight on with no acknowledgement of the main queue and I don't think this is fair, even if Thorpe want to enforce it permanantly on all/most of the rides, from what I've heard, it seems like they are just sugar coating the idea of RnR. 

 

Yeah it's good that they're trying new things but to essentially neglect those in the main queue who haven't got RnR (this could be down to a number of reasons- maybe they somehow hadn't heard of it or was aware it was happening etc.) just to make this new system seem fantastic isn't right in my eyes. It's not even like they're 'paying for the privellege' like I've heard some people use as an excuse for fastrackers to be grossly prioritised over those in the 'normal' main queue.

[darkadder312]

I personally think RnR should only be used on busy days only for example weekends and some other times.

[Olistjj]

You cannot not know on days they are doing it, it is all over their social media pages, on the queue boards, lots of staff all by the bridge in green jackets handing out leaflets and explaining it, signs all over the park, numerous tents with staff around them to explain, r& R staff by every rollercoaster and all over the dome, if you are their on the day, it is not possible to not see it, and if you don't understand it, there are literally a minimum of like 50 dedicated staff explainig it. I understand you don't like the system but just because you point out all the negatives doesn't mean the system is completely flawed. The tagging trees and surveyors is evidence THORPE are going to add more rides, its a slow process. I was there on 2 trial days, both days the system worked perfectly, both busy days and the flats had normal sized queues. On busy days the system doesn't prevent re rides, because on busy days you cannot just jump back on, and even if you only had to wait 10mins at the end of the day, you can still do that with r&r. I think you need to realise there's so much information you don't know, Thorpe will know all of these problems and will be planning to eliminate them with new rides and shops & cafes the breeze blocks, tables & heat lamps on the access rode across from nemesis inferno are evidence of that, if you truly don't like it, go down on a trial day, and tell the staff in person what you think as you have many valid points and see what they have to say. Sorry to rant but I hated the idea of the system before I tried it and now I have I can see how with improvements like more rides, shops and restaurants it has a chance and it requires people to give it a go, all new ideas sound crazy at first and seem stupid and I admit that the flaws you pointed out are completely relevant, however trialed, tested and tweaked they it could become successful. Sorry project LC to rant like this, its nothing personal

[TPJames]

Just to say I was watching the RNR page all day today and saw reach 3hrs30mins virtual at one point. Stealth also went over 2hours rnr but nemesis, Colossus and swarm stayed under 2hours rnr.

I think it's unfair as it's like a free fastracking system, I think the rnr wait should be the same as the main queue time, as the main queue was 60 in the morning when rnr was 0mins, unfair I think as it makes it like a free fastrack.

[Olistjj]

So then it makes no sense for people who refuse to use it to then complain when they could easily be doing the same? If they dont like it, they dont have to go on a trial day

[dragon2000]

Had a mixed experience with R&R on Saturday. Virtual queue definitely did go to 3.5 hours for SAW as we found out...

 

Full post here to keep it in the right topic:

http://forum.maniahub.com/topic/10668-return-of-reserve-n-ride/page-14

[Mitchada04]

I think it's unfair as it's like a free fastracking system, I think the rnr wait should be the same as the main queue time, as the main queue was 60 in the morning when rnr was 0mins, unfair I think as it makes it like a free fastrack.

It's not unfair. All of those people waiting 60 minutes could have used R'n'R and taken benefit of the 0 minute queue that system was offering. If you're willing to wait 60 minutes because you can't be bothered to log into the site which takes 2 minutes or get one of the cards then fine but it's your own loss. Thorpe offer you a system and you don't want to use it. It's a trial and until everyone knows about it it will start slow. The ratios for R'n'R have to be the highest as this is what they're promoting! Saw wouldn't have got a 3.5 hour virtual queue had it been an even higher allocation to the R'n'R queue. One day they need to just close the main queues for the coasters and make R'n'R the only way. That is when you'll get a true sense of how it affects other rides and so on. People will also have to understand the system then. Because those that use it love it.

[TPJames]

This is the problem though.. If they make RNR the only way to queue for the coasters then the system will flaw massively. If there is 15000 on park then there is at least 2000 queueing virtually per coaster which is 2 hours on virtual wait. Where will these 10000-15000 people then go? There is only one option, to the other flat rides, thorpe simply don't have enough shows and attractions to suck up the people. Let's say there are 20 other rides for guests to experience( including children's rides but excluding the beach and WET WET WET), the guests will then spread out across these rides.

I'm going to take the lower number as everyone won't necessarily be on the rides and say that there are now 10,000 spreading out to these rides. 10000/20= 500. That means there are 500 people at every attraction INCLUDING the kids rides. Not many of the flat rides at thorpe will even make 500pph meaning that everything will immediately go to an hours queue while everyone is virtually queueing 2hours at the same time. And remember this is considering everyone spreads out EQUALLY including kiddy rides like rocky express. In realistic terms, we are talking 90mins for the likes of rush and samurai.

If thorpe convert completely to coasters on RNR it will NEVER work, and you can argue with me but I have just done the math, and you cant argue with the math. If thorpe went completely to reserve n ride, queues for flat rides and other attractions will be out of control(seeing as rush can only cope with 50mins in its queueline). Thorpe do not have enough attractions which is why solely converting to it will never ever work.

[Coaster]

Based off recent reports, I think that Thorpe should stop wasting their time with reserve and ride and start focusing on actually running the park in an acceptable way, as from what I've heard it's coped with crowds awfully this summer. I can't say I've been impressed with their overall operations this year either, although I haven't visited this summer (yet).

[JoshC.]

^Reserve and Ride has been well received actually.  They had a bad week or two recently, but other than that, it's been pretty good during the year from what I've heard.  

 

 

The thing is James, not all coasters have 2 hour queues all the time.  Most days, you'll see one or two rides with near 2 hour queues (usually Saw and Colossus in my experiences), and the rest between 60-90mins.  And that would be at their worst.  So, your assumptions are a bit over the top really.  

 

We truly won't know the effect it will have on the rest of the rides until they try it for a few days (one day or half a day is just not good enough).  For it to be as successful as possible, they'll need more attractions, yes, but I think it can work.

[Project LC]

Thorpe park are stupid enough to have invested so much money into this that all they can see is good and they are point blank ignoring the bad comments. I have seen tons of bad feedback via social media and very little good feedback. I have seen lots of people saying it sounds good and they will like to visit but very little from people who have actually visited. No coaster ever should reach 3 hours 30 minutes real or virtual and especially not saw. With that you could come away with a good 3 coasters for the day. I know some of you will say that the RnR at the beginning of the day was 0 minutes however the second it becomes permanent that wont happen. The queues will be the exact same as they are in real life but longer as now the people on the flats are in that queue as well. So instead of the normal 90 minute start for swarm it will be at 2 hours virtually. I'm never going to stop going on about this absolute stupidity Thorpe park is suggesting. This system will never work. 

Coaster Jamie you also have hit the nail on the head. This years operations have been terrible. They were fine up until the end of may. They are hoping that this RnR will fix that but it never will.

[Coaster]

^Reserve and Ride has been well received actually. They had a bad week or two recently, but other than that, it's been pretty good during the year from what I've heard.

Well received by people using it, yes. But what about everyone else in the park? Not everyone comes to a theme park expecting to have some complicated system thrown at them just to get on rides (admittedly it isn't that complicated, but not everyone knows that) and further to this, imagine paying for fastrack only to find that people are using the same entrance for free!

Also, that wasn't the point I was making. I was saying that I think that operations have been overlooked as a result of investing far too much time into this system, which wouldn't be needed if the park was run properly anyway!