The 2016 Thread

[JoshC.]

Last season, a summer event was always advertised, though it was never clear if it was a replacement for Summer Nights, or an addition to it. Thorpe did seem keen to mention that whatever it would be called, it would follow the SN pattern of opening for a few hours in the evening with a selected line up. It seems that once they decided on how to market Island Beats, they decided to keep the Summer Nights name too.

This year, they haven't advertised any particular summer event, so it seems unlikely that there will be one at all. A real shame, but not necessarily surprising.

@Coaster Jamie: I was more trying to say how I hate people moaning about parks being busy. If a regular visitor doesn't want to visit when it's busy, then that's fine, but don't complain that the park is busy, thriving and doing well. Should have made that clearer.

[Ian-S]

A member of my family is disabled and does not do well with large crowds of people, which is why we choose not to visit the park during extremely busy periods, it has nothing to do with not wanting the park to be successful or complaining the park is busy, and for us it's not a 'silly' decision either, it's a practical and principle one based on value for money, without Summer Nights our passes are a no better value saving (at their full price, not the renewal one) than paying for visits individually.

This is not the first time Merlin have pulled a fast one with their marketing and screwed people over, I wonder just how badly Merlin will have screw some of you before you see them for what they are, we will not be renewing next year.

 

[pluk]

as much as they were fun - I don't think sending around trains with 2/3 people most nights (bar 3/4 maybe) can ever been seen as a sucsess. When cuts are being made its things like this which will obviously be affected unfortunately.

 

After the first few Summer Nights actually sold out a few times in the first year I think? They were low staff, low guests, so must have been running at a profit; they wouldn't have been running at a loss when reaching their own self imposed capacity, surely?

 

I'm sure evenings in the UK can be a success, they just have to be done in the right way, with the right attractions and catering. 

[JoshC.]

A member of my family is disabled and does not do well with large crowds of people, which is why we choose not to visit the park during extremely busy periods, it has nothing to do with not wanting the park to be successful or complaining the park is busy, and for us it's not a 'silly' decision either, it's a practical and principle one based on value for money, without Summer Nights our passes are a no better value saving (at their full price, not the renewal one) than paying for visits individually.

This is not the first time Merlin have pulled a fast one with their marketing and screwed people over, I wonder just how badly Merlin will have screw some of you before you see them for what they are, we will not be renewing next year.

 

Out of context, it comes across as some people saying that they don't like to see the parks busy.  And to reiterate, I've nothing against people not visiting in busy periods, but it's when people make it sound like they hate the parks for being busy that grates me.

 

However, I don't feel like Thorpe have pulled a fast one or anything.  No where did they say that it was returning this year, and all events are subject to change.  And they're certainly under no obligation to announce what events aren't returning each year.  It's only because someone asked Thorpe via Twitter if it's returning, and they replied it wasn't.  So personally I feel like Thorpe are at no fault here.

 

After the first few Summer Nights actually sold out a few times in the first year I think? They were low staff, low guests, so must have been running at a profit; they wouldn't have been running at a loss when reaching their own self imposed capacity, surely?

 

I'm sure evenings in the UK can be a success, they just have to be done in the right way, with the right attractions and catering. 

 

I don't think they ever sold out a Summer Nights?  I believe they got very high numbers on some nights, but they never actually sold out.  

[JoshC.]

On a completely different note, who likes themed bins?  

 

 

EVERYONE OF COURSE

[Ian-S]

@Josh, I'm not complaining about the park being busy lol, to be fair you're right Thorpe didn't indicate if Summer Nights would be returning, my moan was more aimed at Merlin themselves than Thorpe specifically.

[Coaster]

Was about time they themed it, it's bin a while.

 

...I'll get my coat.

[Dodge2002]

At the end of the day, summer nights' success was always hinged on the weather which surely Thorpe would've known is too unpredictable in the UK to guarantee a profitable event.

Chances are it was always just a research exercise, and they've now finished collecting whatever data it was that they wanted. My guess would be that they either wanted to decipher just how much not having to queue would affect satisfaction levels, or they were exploring the infrastructure implications of an after hours event.

[Mitchada04]

Merlin are offering a yearly digi pass this year for all your onride photos digitally. £50 and you can use it for 12 months from date of issue and at the 4 theme parks for your ORP. You also get 50% off the hard copy! As a special deal, at the AP days it will be £40

[Benin]

Someone has clearly visited Disney and their amazing Photopass system...

[JoshC.]

Though there's nothing new here, there's a little round up of everything announced last month on the main TPM site, for anyone keeping track...

http://www.thorpeparkmania.co.uk/news/29-02-2016/February+News+Round+Up

[Coaster]

The car park is charged at a rate of £6 per day, it is advised that you purchase a car park ticket prior to your visit if you are booking online. We operate a barrier system on exit, please be considerate of our other guests and ensure you have your ticket ready to be scanned when leaving. Items are left in your vehicle at your own risk.

Car parking has risen to £6 for this year, because £5 clearly isn't enough.

[Ryan]

Car parking has risen to £6 for this year, because £5 clearly isn't enough.

Is that not the same price as at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

 

In comparison a local football stadium is £8 parking. The problem is not with Thorpe, more with car parking fees in general.

[Coaster]

Is that not the same price as at Blackpool Pleasure Beach?

 

In comparison a local football stadium is £8 parking. The problem is not with Thorpe, more with car parking fees in general.

No, BPB is anything from £5 to £10 depending on how busy it is!     Although in fairness if they didn't charge for parking then people would use the spaces for everywhere else in Blackpool, and their car parks are limited in space.

 

Regarding Thorpe, it's not great when you are parking there solely to visit the park - people wouldn't park there for any other reason.

I understand the comparison with football stadiums but there's plenty of theme parks which don't charge for parking, such as Oakwood & Lightwater.

[Mitchada04]

Ended up discussing the car parking at Thorpe situation at the weekend with some other members. Learnt a few interesting things.

The implementation of paid parking was a decision worked upon with the council to try and reduce the number of cars going to the park as that Staines road is bad enough in rush hour. So this paid situation could be the same for Chessie and Lego due to their local roads also being naturally busy. Admittedly I don't think the council sees the money but like everything price rises are inevitable. Had to pay to park at every single park I went to in Europe, and in the States it's a tax related thing. So we're quite lucky to have theme parks that don't charge to park as this isn't the norm these days.

As for reinvesting the money they make, at Thorpe they can't concrete the car park entirely due to it being a flood plain and there needing to be so much permeable ground. They could work on the lighting though. And I wish they would.

[JoshC.]

As said above, car parking charges aren't uncommon across many theme parks all over the world. 

 

I think the trouble is that parking between two bits of logs on some gravel really doesn't feel like it's worth £6 (even with understanding the reasoning behind it).  Likewise for the grass car park.  It's a bit of a shame, but it's one of those situations where Thorpe are stuck between a rock and a hard place.

[Coaster]

I doubt the council are forcing them to bump up the price to £6 though.  £2 was acceptable, but then it went to £4, £5 and now £6...

 

The way Thorpe implement it is awful as well - the last thing you want at the end of a day out is to have to queue up in traffic to get to an understaffed barrier.  With a price increase I think it is fair to expect a suitable number of staff manning the barriers, as the traffic delays caused by passes/tickets not scanning with only one person to help are unacceptable.  The same issue occurs at CWOA on a regular basis with no-one staffing the exit barrier (at the back of the grass car park).

 

Regarding reinvesting the money, CWOA need to do something about the exit from the grass car park, I hate to think of how many cars have been wrecked on that awful mud road!  Also, as has been mentioned, the lighting in Thorpe's car park is a safety risk aside from being a pain to find your car in the dark!

[Benin]

All that Jamie is literally what is done at EVERY single park that does this...

 

You have to queue for ages when leaving to grab your token, or you ask on the way in... They're all barrier operated (though the Europeans tend to have someone  stood nearby during the peak hours of departure), then one idiot messes it all up for everyone...

 

These problems aren't exclusive to the UK...

 

This said, Drayton I believe are going back to free parking this season...

[Mitchada04]

Draytons system was stupid though. Just staff asking you as you leave the park to go to your car. You can just walk out of the park and not pay.

[lewumbrajumbos]

I doubt the council are forcing them to bump up the price to £6 though.  £2 was acceptable, but then it went to £4, £5 and now £6...

I don't think you quite understand  It's not about what is a reasonable price to pay for parking, it's about putting customers off arriving in their car's causing issueeesss May be completely untrue but I was always taught at GCSE and A level that it was to reduce air pollution as one train full of people / bus full of people is much more enviromently friendly compared 10 cars with four people in each

 

Also as stated above it reduces traffic pollution on the roads.

 

Same system used for tickets on the gate VS tickets online. They are so expensive at the gate because Thorpe / most company's would prefere people to be paying online reducing congestion for queueing to pay on the day. Websites are less expensive to run compared to paying loads of staff members to sit in boxes selling tickets so the sooner companys can convert customers online the more money they will save quicker

 

So in some cases when prices seem completely unreasonable but there are other ways around avoiding that cost it is because it is supposed to be putting you off

[Coaster]

All that Jamie is literally what is done at EVERY single park that does this...

You have to queue for ages when leaving to grab your token, or you ask on the way in... They're all barrier operated (though the Europeans tend to have someone stood nearby during the peak hours of departure), then one idiot messes it all up for everyone...

These problems aren't exclusive to the UK...

This said, Drayton I believe are going back to free parking this season...

Not every park, at BPB you pay as you drive in

I just think there are better systems than paying as you go out as it means that you leave with a bad impression - however it would be much better if the barriers were staffed to avoid traffic building up.

I don't think you quite understand It's not about what is a reasonable price to pay for parking, it's about putting customers off arriving in their car's causing issueeesss May be completely untrue but I was always taught at GCSE and A level that it was to reduce air pollution as one train full of people / bus full of people is much more enviromently friendly compared 10 cars with four people in each

Also as stated above it reduces traffic pollution on the roads.

Same system used for tickets on the gate VS tickets online. They are so expensive at the gate because Thorpe / most company's would prefere people to be paying online reducing congestion for queueing to pay on the day. Websites are less expensive to run compared to paying loads of staff members to sit in boxes selling tickets so the sooner companys can convert customers online the more money they will save quicker

So in some cases when prices seem completely unreasonable but there are other ways around avoiding that cost it is because it is supposed to be putting you off

In reality I doubt that parking fees have much impact on traffic pollution (at least not with theme parks anyway), I doubt many people are put off because of a parking fee. I think it is fairly obvious that the parking fee is put in place as an easy way of making money rather than to aid the environment, otherwise it wouldn't rise as often as it does.

Regarding paying on the day, Thorpe want people to book online so that they have a rough prediction of how many guests will be in the park, alongside other factors such as staffing levels which you mentioned.

[lewumbrajumbos]

Yeah quite! The guest number predictions is a good point I forgot to mention with online booking so yeah that's that! 

 

Of course the park will like the money they make from parking fees but trust me and the others, the council will play a part in those pricey fee's and it is a scheme to reduce the use of cars as a travel option. The more the price goes up the more people will be like "oh hell naahh petrol and £6 to park in a gravel pit is well expensive innit gonna love the flowers and that in take the choo choo" Yes Nick will be happy to put the price up for more profit but it is also for the love of the world around us <3

 

Stay green TPMers

[Coaster]

With Annual Pass day approaching fast, I really hope we don't see a repeat of last year's start to the season (several rides closed for the first few weeks and only a select lineup for the pass day).

[JoshC.]

With Annual Pass day approaching fast, I really hope we don't see a repeat of last year's start to the season (several rides closed for the first few weeks and only a select lineup for the pass day).

 

What was the reduced line up last year?  I didn't go to the AP Day, though do remember a few rides weren't open / opened later in the day.  But for the main season, am I right in thinking only Slammer opened late (and IAC opened a bit later as planned)?  

 

As I say, I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty certain that the main season opened rather trouble-free?

[Coaster]

What was the reduced line up last year?  I didn't go to the AP Day, though do remember a few rides weren't open / opened later in the day.  But for the main season, am I right in thinking only Slammer opened late (and IAC opened a bit later as planned)?  

 

As I say, I can't remember exactly, but I'm pretty certain that the main season opened rather trouble-free?

I can't honestly remember which rides were open, but I remember there being several rides closed for the preview day and I'm fairly certain that Saw wasn't ready for the main park opening alongside several of the flats?  Unless I'm remembering it wrong.