2017 Season General Discussion

[JoshC.]

24 minutes ago, dk3 said:

Went along today expecting it to be quiet since the schools have gone back, but it was much busier than I expected and operations were quite poor throughout. In order of riding (or attempting to ride):

 

SAW - running well, four trains (I think)

Samurai - not open until 12pm

Colossus - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

Rush - closed all day

Vortex - running well

Stealth - didn't open until around 1:30pm and on only one train all day, queues 45 mins

Nemesis Inferno - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

Rumba Rapids - now officially closed until 2018

Storm Surge - [why did I bother?]

Ghost Train - queue advertised as 45 mins but took just over an hour. Not sure of how many running (how many are there?) - anyway, my first time and I loved it!

SWARM - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

X - running on two trains but zero queue - where's the logic?

 

Really quite disappointed. Could have fitted in much more if more trains were running on their coasters - so frustrating. And not forgetting the new ridiculous 4pm closing!

 

 

 

Saw's system is set up so that it physically cannot run less than 5 cars, though I'm fairly certain it hasn't run with 5 cars (though maybe a little bit in 2009, I can't quite remember).  It almost always runs 7 or 8 though, as there's no advantage at running it with less unless the cars have an actual issue.

 

But yeah, coaster queues were quite long today.  I was only interested in Swarm and X today; managed to get on Swarm in about 15 minutes and X was walk on.

 

Ghost Train has 3 trains and loads 2 on quieter days.  It's quite painful and jagged to queue for; 2 groups go in in reasonably quick succession, and then there's a long wait in between.  Having all 3 trains would just be brilliant.

 

It's a shame that 1 train op has returned now.  Earlier in the season they were able to get full capacity on most things on quiet days, and apparently they were planning to do that for the rest of the season (unless there was an issue with a train a la Colossus).  Wonder what's changed...

[Coaster]

1 hour ago, dk3 said:

Went along today expecting it to be quiet since the schools have gone back, but it was much busier than I expected and operations were quite poor throughout. In order of riding (or attempting to ride):

 

SAW - running well, four trains (I think)

Samurai - not open until 12pm

Colossus - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

Rush - closed all day

Vortex - running well

Stealth - didn't open until around 1:30pm and on only one train all day, queues 45 mins

Nemesis Inferno - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

Rumba Rapids - now officially closed until 2018

Storm Surge - [why did I bother?]

Ghost Train - queue advertised as 45 mins but took just over an hour. Not sure of how many running (how many are there?) - anyway, my first time and I loved it!

SWARM - running on only one train all day, queues 45 mins.

X - running on two trains but zero queue - where's the logic?

 

Really quite disappointed. Could have fitted in much more if more trains were running on their coasters - so frustrating. And not forgetting the new ridiculous 4pm closing!

Sounds absolutely terrible and once again an extremely poor experience offered to paying customers.

[pluk]

I'll ask my usual question. Were Thorpe selling fastrack to jump the queues which Thorpe had themselves created by running massively reduced throughputs? Hmmmmm.

[dk3]

Of course they were.

[Marc]

https://www.thorpepark.com/bad-weather-guarantee

 

Glad to see this is back and improved - should help a lot with the recent complaints.

[Mer]

3 hours ago, pluk said:

I'll ask my usual question. Were Thorpe selling fastrack to jump the queues which Thorpe had themselves created by running massively reduced throughputs? Hmmmmm.

 

 

[Matt 236]

The weather guarantee is definitely a great move from the park and with poor forecasts ahead it is certainly a great time to implement this.

 

Closed rides aren't fun for anyone, but if the rainfall/wind speed is beyond the maximum amount a ride can safely run then it can't be helped unfortunately.

 

[OlivusPrime]

Never realised the weather was such an issue at Thorpe, it wasn't particularly bad today yet rides all over the place were being affected. Stealth was closed all day and The Swarm opened for about 30 minutes before closing for the remainder of the day.

 

With this coinciding with a number of the park's rides being closed, for operational convenience or cost-cutting, the lineup was pretty dire. At two points during the day there were 8 rides on the park open: the first time it was only Nemesis Inferno, Flying Fish, X, Derren Brown's Ghost Train, Tidal Wave, Rocky Express, Storm in a Teacup and King Pig's Dodgems. If the park didn't have an indoor attraction and a water ride sitting unused and another of the latter sitting derelict I'd excuse this, but as is this is pretty poor. Of course, it didn't help that one-train operation was stuck to throughout the day, even with all the guests piling onto Inferno when it was the only thrill ride operating.

 

Having not been there for a couple of years though, I appreciate the upkeep done to the entrance area, but I'm eager for this level of care (or more) to be given towards Colossus, Nemesis Inferno, Calypso Quay (or whatever it's called now) and Canada Creek (ditto), all of which continue to decline without investment.

 

[Ringo]

Genuine question

 

The weather policy for operating rides, is this Merlin now sticking fully to the ride manufacturers recommendations or is it a far more aggressive approach by Merlin that exceeds the recommendations?

[Marc]

31 minutes ago, OlivusPrime said:

Never realised the weather was such an issue at Thorpe, it wasn't particularly bad today yet rides all over the place were being affected. Stealth was closed all day and The Swarm opened for about 30 minutes before closing for the remainder of the day.

 

With this coinciding with a number of the park's rides being closed, for operational convenience or cost-cutting, the lineup was pretty dire. At two points during the day there were 8 rides on the park open: the first time it was only Nemesis Inferno, Flying Fish, X, Derren Brown's Ghost Train, Tidal Wave, Rocky Express, Storm in a Teacup and King Pig's Dodgems. If the park didn't have an indoor attraction and a water ride sitting unused and another of the latter sitting derelict I'd excuse this, but as is this is pretty poor. Of course, it didn't help that one-train operation was stuck to throughout the day, even with all the guests piling onto Inferno when it was the only thrill ride operating.

 

 

High winds have always caused abit of an issue at thrope - it probably don’t help how exposed the park is with the lake all around it.

 

Im around 15 min drive from the park and fairly high up and thought it was extremely windy today so I’m not too surprised there were issues today - that said you should be now eligible for a free ticket on their bad weather guarantee.

[planenut]

Apparently this has not gone down well with the engineers who have more strict controls placed on them by the limits of the anemometers, then have to "take the blame" from the guests.

 

The forecast of the weeks weather was why I went yesterday (Tuesday) and proved correct.

 

Free ticket sounds good, but I don't know how annual pass holders benefit.

[Coaster]

1 hour ago, OlivusPrime said:

With this coinciding with a number of the park's rides being closed, for operational convenience or cost-cutting, the lineup was pretty dire. At two points during the day there were 8 rides on the park open: the first time it was only Nemesis Inferno, Flying Fish, X, Derren Brown's Ghost Train, Tidal Wave, Rocky Express, Storm in a Teacup and King Pig's Dodgems. If the park didn't have an indoor attraction and a water ride sitting unused and another of the latter sitting derelict I'd excuse this, but as is this is pretty poor. Of course, it didn't help that one-train operation was stuck to throughout the day, even with all the guests piling onto Inferno when it was the only thrill ride operating.

Eight rides OPEN?!

 

Now I'm sure there's genuine reasons for this but at the same time, it has never been an issue in the past to this extent, and is absolutely shambolic to people who have made the effort to visit the park.  I'm baffled as to how low-level flats and some of the coasters are affected by high winds when they have operated perfectly fine in similar conditions in the past.  Stealth for example has no risk of stalling, as rollbacks are entirely safe and built into the ride - so why does it need to close?

[pluk]

1 hour ago, Ringo said:

Genuine question

 

The weather policy for operating rides, is this Merlin now sticking fully to the ride manufacturers recommendations or is it a far more aggressive approach by Merlin that exceeds the recommendations?

Mostly the latter, but I understand it is also down to more localised wind readings being taken for each attraction too rather than a central park ride one? The whole thing seems a bit of a farce to be honest.

 

What I really don't understand is how Saw seems to be one of the least affected by this, when it will stall if someone farts in its general direction. Odd. 

[Mer]

Adverse weather usually means trains running at reduced speeds, short notice delays and cancellations...

 

I hope they offer Delay Repay to Ghost Train customers  

[Marc]

1 hour ago, Coaster said:

Eight rides OPEN?!

 

Now I'm sure there's genuine reasons for this but at the same time, it has never been an issue in the past to this extent, and is absolutely shambolic to people who have made the effort to visit the park.  I'm baffled as to how low-level flats and some of the coasters are affected by high winds when they have operated perfectly fine in similar conditions in the past.  Stealth for example has no risk of stalling, as rollbacks are entirely safe and built into the ride - so why does it need to close?

Stealth has stalled at the top before. It was empty but it has happened.

[JoshC.]

9 hours ago, Coaster said:

Eight rides OPEN?!

 

Now I'm sure there's genuine reasons for this but at the same time, it has never been an issue in the past to this extent, and is absolutely shambolic to people who have made the effort to visit the park.  I'm baffled as to how low-level flats and some of the coasters are affected by high winds when they have operated perfectly fine in similar conditions in the past.  Stealth for example has no risk of stalling, as rollbacks are entirely safe and built into the ride - so why does it need to close?

Though rollbacks are safe, it's not exactly ideal to have it operate in wind which can cause it to rollback.  Imagine if Stealth was open but 1 in every 15 rides was a rollback - it'll be a huge pain for staff to be continually resetting it, it won't be reassuring to guests who don't know it's a safe and natural thing, and it'll annoy people in the queue having it regularly rollback.  Sure, it's not closed all the time, but it's not worth having it open enough. 

 

I agree about the fact the park have operated fine in the past, but we do have to remember that sometimes changes are for the better.  I'd much rather see these changes if it prevents an accident.  It does feel like they've gone a bit overboard though, yes.

[Odyessy]

8 hours ago, pluk said:

What I really don't understand is how Saw seems to be one of the least affected by this, when it will stall if someone farts in its general direction. Odd. 

Saw has different operating guidelines to most other rides

 

In layman terms it has 2 different wind speeds which can make it stall

 

1- very high wind speed in any direction 

2- lower wind speed in a certain direction 

 

So whilst many rides are affected by lower wind speed in any direction, Saw might be fine as long as it's in a good direction. That's why it can remain open while smaller rides don't 

 

If the wind is in the wrong direction though it's pretty much screwed

[Mark9]

1 hour ago, BaronC. said:

Though rollbacks are safe, it's not exactly ideal to have it operate in wind which can cause it to rollback.  Imagine if Stealth was open but 1 in every 15 rides was a rollback - it'll be a huge pain for staff to be continually resetting it, it won't be reassuring to guests who don't know it's a safe and natural thing, and it'll annoy people in the queue having it regularly rollback.  Sure, it's not closed all the time, but it's not worth having it open enough. 

 

I agree about the fact the park have operated fine in the past, but we do have to remember that sometimes changes are for the better.  I'd much rather see these changes if it prevents an accident.  It does feel like they've gone a bit overboard though, yes.

 

I'm not sure that only having eight rides at some points of the day being change for the better (One of those being Tidal Wave) but then that's why we're lucky to have European parks so close by. We don't have to put up with this dross. 

[JoshC.]

14 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

 

I'm not sure that only having eight rides at some points of the day being change for the better (One of those being Tidal Wave) but then that's why we're lucky to have European parks so close by. We don't have to put up with this dross. 

Totally agree.  The changes are too overbearing right now.  But the argument of 'something was fine in the past, why isn't fine now' doesn't always hold up.  These changes are there for a reason, and I'm sure we'd all agree that if it helps stop an incident akin to Smiler happening again that's a good thing.  But at the same time, I hope they know things are a bit too extreme at the moment and they can find the happy medium between being safe and being sensible (and quickly!).

[Mark9]

The irony being it would never do a Smiler because they would only run one train anyway.

[Benin]

To have 8 rides open around 5 years ago would've been considered a success

[Marc]

As I said - I live around 15 mins from the park and it was very windy here yesterday - fence panels blown in etc so I’m not too surpirsed the park was badly effected - they also had a message on their website stating they are expecting ride availability to be affected by bad weather the night before - not sure what more could be done.

 

For me it’s all about how they try rectify this for the affected guests - hopefully everyone affected is able to claim free return tickets for the inconvenience.

[Ryan]

3 minutes ago, Marc said:

As I said - I live around 15 mins from the park and it was very windy here yesterday - fence panels blown in etc so I’m not too surpirsed the park was badly effected - they also had a message on their website stating they are expecting ride availability to be affected by bad weather the night before - not sure what more could be done.

[MattyMoo]

A bubble like no other.

[Mark9]

31 minutes ago, Marc said:

As I said - I live around 15 mins from the park and it was very windy here yesterday - fence panels blown in etc so I’m not too surpirsed the park was badly effected - they also had a message on their website stating they are expecting ride availability to be affected by bad weather the night before - not sure what more could be done.

 

For me it’s all about how they try rectify this for the affected guests - hopefully everyone affected is able to claim free return tickets for the inconvenience.

 

Open Rumba Rapids to increase ride availability by 12%