February 6, 20205 yr comment_268596 31 minutes ago, EpicSmatty said: Well this was a letdown: Wonder if the beautiful smell of weed you get across Thorpe park will be featured in the long run!! 😮
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268597 Gotta laugh at the eNThuSiAstS losing their shiz over the AromaPrime tweet t'other day and then it ends up being a massive let down, obvs. I'm sure being able to make your humble abode smell like a horror maze is 100% what the general public want from Thorpe as new for 2020.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268599 If they did a Hex scent though I'd be all over that. Is Morwenna in charge of marketing these days?
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268605 1 hour ago, Benin said: Is Morwenna in charge of marketing these days? I'd take Towers 2010 marketing over Thorpe 2019 marketing tbf
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268610 Man, what I would do to have Alton as my home park instead of Thorpe.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268617 32 minutes ago, Ivsetti said: Why does Thorpe think people are going to spend time downloading an app? I wonder how many people even use the Thorpe Park app (I don't), let alone a second one as well to pay for parking? I’m sure there will be iPads or other ways to pay.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268618 1 hour ago, Ivsetti said: Why does Thorpe think people are going to spend time downloading an app? I wonder how many people even use the Thorpe Park app (I don't), let alone a second one as well to pay for parking? Look at Disney, everything is done through an app. Apps are the future of themeparks from ordering food to park maps.
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268619 Tbh after reading this it will still likely be barriers with anpr tech to auto open for the people who prebook. Delays are still likely due to gp with pay at barrier/ dont know there reg... prem passes will still need to scan on exit etc if I'm wrong..... I'm wrong but the Jupiter range discussed in article is a barrier system
February 6, 20205 yr comment_268621 1 hour ago, Glitch said: Apps are the future of themeparks from ordering food to park maps. I thought Derren Brown's Ghost Train was the future of theme parks? 😮
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268624 13 hours ago, JoshuaA said: Man, what I would do to have Alton as my home park instead of Thorpe. *Looks at Lightwater and Mingoland before sighing*
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268625 ANPR is an interesting idea for sure. I don't know of any other parks that use ANPR (though feel free to correct me). So it makes you wonder why no park has, given the technology has been around for a while. Is it simply because no other park has felt the need to? The cost generally? The big issue I see is that when people visit a theme park, they become stupid. Can you clearly explain the ANPR system and how to pay for parking to stupid theme park guests who have lost all common sense? I guess we'll see. I mean if it works, great. But if it doesn't, it's just another costly experiment that's failed, and will annoy people even more when people have to park on dodgy gravel plots (which I know the park can't do anything about).
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268632 Wouldn't be surprised if when booking online anyone who clicks on a parking ticket will have to input vehicle registration. Which makes some sense. I think cost and logistics will be why many parks haven't done it. Bearing in mind supermarkets only really use it to charge for overstays in some areas, and airport car parks to just let advance payments in.
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268633 19 hours ago, Glitch said: Look at Disney, everything is done through an app. Apps are the future of themeparks from ordering food to park maps. My experience with the Disneyland apps is fairly poor. It's slow and crashes frequently, I just ended up using queue-times.com while I was there. And the fastpass system wasn't done through the app. 20 hours ago, Ivsetti said: Why does Thorpe think people are going to spend time downloading an app? I wonder how many people even use the Thorpe Park app (I don't), let alone a second one as well to pay for parking? Surely it would just be integrated into the current Thorpe Park app? The app they have now is fairly good and functional. Having ANPR would surely speed up the exiting process at the barriers but might mean longer queues at ticket machines. In the car parks I've seen it used I've never seen a problem occur.
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268634 It can’t make it any worse - only better. The current readers are not the best and they really struggle to read barcodes when it’s sunny (ok that’s not too often!) if the majority book in advance and ANPR opens the barrier automatically, where the others can just swipe a contactless card at the barrier it will only be a vast improvement on what’s there now.
February 7, 20205 yr comment_268636 3 hours ago, Marc said: It can’t make it any worse - only better. The current readers are not the best and they really struggle to read barcodes when it’s sunny (ok that’s not too often!) if the majority book in advance and ANPR opens the barrier automatically, where the others can just swipe a contactless card at the barrier it will only be a vast improvement on what’s there now. Lets hope its like the Two rivers car park. That system seems to work well.
February 9, 20205 yr comment_268647 I dunno. I just hope the car parking thing doesn't turn out to be yet another bad investment for the park... It doesn't need anymore of them
February 9, 20205 yr comment_268649 Taking an educated guess here: it'll be similar to the Humber Bridge/similar tolls. 1/2 lanes with APNR with the correct signage stating who can use it, with 2/3 lanes with the normal barriers for annual passes, pay at barrier and traditional car parking tickets. The best of both worlds....hopefully.
February 13, 20205 yr comment_268720 This is going to be a very long message, beware. Back in 2017, I wrote a letter to Nick Varney (current CEO of Merlin) asking a few questions. I have held this for a while but I felt like 2020 was the time to share. Something, not sure how big, is coming in 2020. I have had to censor some stuff (like my address) but here is the response I got. I have only selected bits I thought would be of relevance, this is why the whole letter is not shown. If the images don't come out clear enough, this is what it says. I have also made sections in bold that I thought people would want to read. What is the future of Merlin be like? "Exciting! We are expanding all over the world and constantly introducing new concepts and ideas. One day we will entertain more people than any other company giving them all memorable experiences." What is the future for Thorpe Park? "The future for Thorpe Park Resort is looking very positive. We are the home of exhilarating fun and have a great development pipeline for the next 5 years. This year with Derren Brown's Ghost Train Rise of the Demon we delivered a bigger, better and scarier experience which quenched our guests desire for greater fear and cutting edge technology on rides. Later in 2017 we are re launching our Fright Nights experience with a new game changing Intellectual Property (famous brand/character). Merlin Magic Making are currently working with us on our plans for 2018, 2019 and 2020 but sadly at this point I cannot share them with you; but I know as a future ride designer you will not be disappointed." [This next section may not seem significant at first, but here it is] What is the process of building and designing a ride? "It is a lengthy process and normally takes about 3-4 years. For example, we have currently briefed our Merlin Magic Making colleagues on our major ride investment for 2020. They will then meet with ride manufacturers and come back to us with some options before a concept proposal is submitted to the Executive Board for approval, then plans are drawn and implementation can take between 2 and 3 years including Research, Design, Build and Test." (It did continue there but that was the significant part) Take what you want from this, but it is constantly referred to as a 'ride'. I hope they actually make this so-called ride.
February 13, 20205 yr comment_268721 Maybe they are referring to Alton/Legoland/Chessie (parks that are actually getting something decent this year?) If Thorpe were getting anything at all we probably would of heard about it by now. Unless they were referring to the shameless aroma prime advert?
February 13, 20205 yr comment_268722 23 minutes ago, CoasterFlix said: Back in 2017, I wrote a letter to Nick Varney (current CEO of Merlin) asking a few questions. I have held this for a while but I felt like 2020 was the time to share. Something, not sure how big, is coming in 2020. I have had to censor some stuff (like my address) but here is the response I got. I have only selected bits I thought would be of relevance, this is why the whole letter is not shown. What is the future for Thorpe Park? "The future for Thorpe Park Resort is looking very positive. We are the home of exhilarating fun and have a great development pipeline for the next 5 years. Merlin Magic Making are currently working with us on our plans for 2018, 2019 and 2020 but sadly at this point I cannot share them with you; but I know as a future ride designer you will not be disappointed." For example, we have currently briefed our Merlin Magic Making colleagues on our major ride investment for 2020. Take what you want from this, but it is constantly referred to as a 'ride'. I hope they actually make this so-called ride. I hate to disappoint you, but there will be no 'ride' this year. Let alone a major investment. Your letter is almost 3 years old. At that point, Merlin were considering a major investment for Thorpe (most likely a roller coaster). But plans can and do change. This is one of those times when they have - things have changed. There's a hundred possible reasons why, but it's not happening. I'm sure you can even look to last year. Do you think when Nick wrote that letter in 2017, the plan for 2019 was always going to be 'a gaming expo, a bouncy castle and a weird escape room'? Definitely not. The final evidence is that Thorpe require planning permission for almost anything they add. A major ride definitely would. We would have seen plans by now, and we'd have almost definitely seen some form of construction work now. It's nice you got a lengthy response, and free tickets, but most of the details there are simply generic responses with lots of buzzwords to make everything sound as exciting as possible.
February 13, 20205 yr comment_268724 2 hours ago, JoshuaA said: Maybe they are referring to Alton/Legoland/Chessie (parks that are actually getting something decent this year?) If Thorpe were getting anything at all we probably would of heard about it by now. Unless they were referring to the shameless aroma prime advert? Still a month till park opening, anything can happen.
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