2020 Season

[MattyMoo]

2 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

On a FB post comment they said in 1 to 2 weeks this would gradually be raised.

 

Will see how busy things are on Monday!

[RobF]

Tbh at present ride operations and staff costs are potentially lower with closed rides, admissions, F&B etc so overheads will be lower atm.

 

So it really depends on the bigger picture to aim to break even

 

 

[Mark9]

11 hours ago, Ringo said:

Of course they are assuming a high percentage of people spend money while in the park. Our group on Sunday spent absolutely nothing other than the £1 prebook.

 

WELL! There goes my hope for an RMC coming our way any time soon.

[JoshuaA]

I heard the park's future additions have been leaked:

2022: Nothing

2023: Remove some theming

2024: Nothing, Again.

2025: New gamestall to replace Slammer

2026: Nothing.

2027: Remove a coaster

2028: Giant murder hornets take over and park is forced to close forever.

[Mark9]

34 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

I heard the park's future additions have been leaked:

2022: Nothing

2023: Remove some theming

2024: Nothing, Again.

2025: New gamestall to replace Slammer

2026: Nothing.

2027: Remove a coaster

2028: Giant murder hornets take over and park is forced to close forever.

 

Mate, thats never going to happen. We all know it will be dumped in Amity cove as the parks never ending mission to try and hide Tidal Wave from view continues. 

[JoshC.]

Some updates from today:

 

-You no longer need to queue in the main cattlepen for Nemesis Inferno. They have removed the fence so you bypass it, and the first extension is now going to remain open.

(This does open up the problem where people will end up queueing in the cattlepen in the first extension, but you know, baby steps)

 

-Inferno is no longer loading every other row. When I was there, Row 4 was left empty for some reason. Also saw Row 3 left empty too. Not sure why.

 

-Colossus is now loading a group, then leaving a row, then loading another group, rather than every other car (as is Stealth).

 

-Since Saw is basically running as normal (both rows loaded, since I believe it requires a minimum of 4 people to ride), it makes you wonder what the point of social distancing on rides even is. Does coronavirus not exist at Saw?

 

-Most people were obeying social distancing in fairness. I never saw a person not wearing a mask.

 

-The park was very quiet. And it felt very lifeless too. I've been on quiet days in the past. I've been on days where things go terribly wrong and loads of rides are closed. But this felt different. It still very much felt like you were living in a world where a pandemic was going on. There was no escapism. (Be interesting to see if I think that about other parks or if this is Thorpe-specifc).

This further isn't helped when areas like Derren, the walkway by Fish, etc feel so dead, with no music or...anything really. 

 

-All water rides were testing today. I believe some of them are hoped to be opening within the next few days if all goes the park's way.

 

-Timber Tug Boat opened today. I believe Lumber Jump is due to open tomorrow now too.

 

In terms of face covering. I was wearing a reusable one I bought from Lidl (2 for £2.99, 2 layers with space for a filter). It stayed on all rides fine, except for my back row ride on Stealth, where it came off my nose (front row was fine though!).

 

 

As for non-Covid stuff...

 

-I had my worst ever ride on Saw today. Was very painful.

 

-Swarm felt very vibrate-y.

 

-The vegetarian place by Ghost Train is alright for what it is. Does diversify food choices a lot.

 

-There's some new music in Old Town. Well, kind of new - it's the Old Town-soundy excerpt from the bridge loop. But it fits.

 

All in all, an okay visit. The park are doing well enough with the Covid-restrictions. They're still learning and getting stuff wrong, but it seems they're ready to fix it. Hopefully as time goes on things will be better. The park itself is the same old same old really. Some of the branding refreshes are nice, others aren't. It's hard to judge the park under such weird circumstance, but it does just feel a bit...meh.

[Cal]

Rumba and Storm Surge have re-opened today!

[Hethetheth]

I never thought those words would make me happy, but these are strange times!

[JoshC.]

Depth Charge also opened up today.

 

In terms of water rides, I believe Tidal Wave will be a little bit longer.

 

As for closed attractions, the list is now:

Derren Brown

Walking Dead The Ride

Rush

Tidal Wave

Angry Birds 4D

Jungle Escape

Beach / Wet Wet Wet

[Mattgwise]

Getting there slowly

Any ideas on the freestyle machines? Towers have been in use since Tuesday?

[SteveJ]

2 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

I think at this point I've had enough of the park and have lost pretty much all enthusiasm for the park and this forum. 

Well, that's a shame to hear, because I remember your optimism when joining that you believed Thorpe Park could one day be a great theme park in the world. But I got to say, I went through the same realisation. And I would love to be happily surprised and proven wrong, but every time theres news of "improvements" at the park somehow it's always hype.

There's plenty great parks out there in the world to enjoy! Hopefully one day Thorpe gets its act together again.

[Hethetheth]

Not sure I would give up enjoying theme parks as a whole because Thorpe is sub par, but oh well.

 

It is a shame to see reviews this poor though.

[JoshC.]

I do wonder if the parks have shot themselves in the foot a bit, with them saying "we're limiting capacity so queues will be shorter" (Towers have been particularly bad at this).

 

When you load rides under usual circumstances, to get them to run well is a well-oiled machine. You plan to have all seats filled. You open the gates and unlock restraints more or less at the same time, creating an almost conveyer belt system for unloading/loading (when done right). Staff then quickly check restraints and boom. It's difficult to consistently do it perfectly, but that's how it works.

 

Under Covid rules that goes out the window:

-Some rides you can't fill every seat.

-You have to wait for a train to be clear of people before the next people can realistically join.

-You have cleaning which disrupts flow.

 

So throughputs are going to be lower. It all adds up. Across the whole park, and with some rides closed, that basically counteracts the reduced capacity.

 

I think one thing to keep in mind: it's the middle of July. At this time of year, queues are always horrendously long: 2hr+ for major rides horrendous. From what I've heard, coaster queues have only peaked at 90mins or so.. Under normal conditions, the queues would again be bad, but standard July bad of 2hr+..

 

Obviously there's two issues there. Issue 1 is the park are not doing a good job at advertising queue times correctly. It's definitely harder for them to estimate them with social distancing measures, but from what I've seen and heard, they can just be way off base. 

Issue 2 is the fact that a 90 minute queue is still a 90 minute queue. And it feels even worse when it's going slowly and you see empty seats on trains. Regardless of the situation, it just makes those 90 minutes drag. And it's difficult to improve upon that.

 

9 hours ago, Ivsetti said:

The below review isn't the only one and I'm sure many are just too angry to have bothered writing a review online:

Honest question here: what can the park do in response to this?

 

-What else can they do to implement social distancing? Where in the country is social distancing implemented perfectly? It's as much as the guests' responsibility as it is the park's, and if all guests don't do their part, you're screwed.

-Security search is going to be hampered by social distancing. They can fit less people in the bag check areas so it'll slow down.

-Other guests swearing. Again, what can be done?

 

A lot of bad reviews I've seen are basically along the lines of 'Don't visit during Covid restrictions'. And you know, I get that. Theme parks are very different at this time, and less enjoyable. They have a very different feel. Thorpe in particular doesn't have the theme park 'escapism' feel. And these measures certain have highlighted many of the other problems the park have. That's another issue. But honestly? It feels like a lot of complaints have an overarching theme of 'I didn't like my day because of Covid restrictions and other people's take of them'. And the park can't do a lot about that, as the only other option really is to not open.

[Lunar_]

It does seem like they have upped the capacity a bit suddenly though - last week the queues were quite short and there were a lot less complaints like this one, and from the weekend the queues were suddenly 100+ minutes? If they wanted to increase capacity I think they could have done it a lot more gradually and reviewed how each day went.

 

[Ringo]

There’s also the question of the prebook, are they actually asking to scan them now? They weren’t on the two days I visited. 

[Benin]

I've seen mention that Phantasialand also upped their capacity limit and chaos ensued. So it's a very tricky balance when you have a small park. At least Chessie have the zoo and Towers is HUGE.

 

As for not bothering to be an enthusiast anymore because Thorpe is a bit rubbish. I would've been out the game years ago.

[MattyMoo]

Was "oN pArK" yesterday for this first time this year, some points from the day:

• Entry was efficient as was temperature check - joined the queue at 9.35, was in just after 10.
• Ride count: Stealth x2, Swarm, Inferno, Timber Tug, Rocky Express, Depth Charge, Rumba Rapids
• We snuck in 2 rides on Steath at the start of the day which was wise, as it was down a bit during the day. Down time for Storm Surge & Colossus was notable - resulting in Colossus having a 100-120 minute queue as soon as it opened. We plumped for a 90 minute queue on Inferno instead.... Swarm queue earlier in the day was advertised as 90, ended up being 45. Inferno was bang on 90.
• Inferno ride ops were super efficient and loading and dispatching
• Thoroughly enjoyed Stealth - obvs - but Swarm back row left was fab, and Inferno was awesome too!
• Loving the new Imascore soundtrack on Rocky Express! Right laugh riding that.
• Social distancing was generally being observed, the odd couple getting a bit too close behind us in in the Inferno queue.
• Sanitizer everywhere, good stuff
• Definitely got progressively busy as the morning went on! Hence not getting Saw & Colossus rode
• Rush being shut was very upsetting, will be emailing MIKE VARNEY direct.
• Quantum had a 40 minute queue at one point, Vortex 100, and Samurai 80 - mad!
• Ate in InFinsIty restaurant - service was pretty slow but appreciate they weren't taken on to do table service as staff initially as it was order at the bar before Covid changed things! Was very impressed with my pizza, had 4 mini fillets on it - I do wonder if it should have been shredded chicken as it seemed very generous for Merlin
• Also, every time I ask for a beer advertised as being available in Fins that instead Stella/Bud, they never ever have it! 
• Despite it being busier than anticipated, we really enjoyed our day! Left at 4.30 as the small Swarm queue soon became 50 mins so we hit the road son! 

Feel free to ask any questions lads.

[Ringo]

Apparently the park / staff are getting tougher on people not following social distancing by refusing to load the ride until distancing happens - was reported the staff on Samurai were doing this. 

 

Great work to the staff doing this!

 

 

[JoshuaA]

Some thoughts from today:

• Temperature check was well done and fast. Getting in was swift.
• Operations on Stealth and Inferno were brilliant. Stealth in particular did not seem to go down once, and had a fast moving queue all day. The dispatches were shockingly good.
• Operations on Quantum were dreadful. I understand all the procedures make loading slower, but it was doing a cycle every blue moon. And the cycle the ride was running was tamer than usual. Underwhelming for what is usually a gem.
• Samurai did indeed have stricter restrictions with refusal with loading. I actually was in the queue at one point and the offending groups in the front of the queue did not move back as asked (despite us in the back moving back so they could). This caused a pretty major delay and the queue just got larger. I actually left this queue out of frustration (its a good thing, but it can cause collateral damage to the other people in the queue who are following the rules..)
• Detonator had pretty neat ops. The ride operator was having a great time playing around with the countdown (or not using it at all), this made a great ride even more suspenseful. Also fairly fast ops.
• Colossus's queue and the ride itself needs a deep clean and landscaping. Though that is not new.
• Queue times are wildly inaccurate. I understand this probably can't be helped. But if you are going, what is a '70' minute queue might be 20, what might be a '5' queue might be a hour. Don't trust the queue boards completely, okay usually they are not 100% accurate. But with the current situation, they can be wildly off base and nowhere near the actual queue.
• Food honestly is very limited, which again can't be helped. But if you're gonna eat, I recommend just not eating on park. Its a lot of hassle.

Overall a good day

Stealth X3

Inferno X1

Colossus X1

Zodiac X2

Quantum X1

Detonator X1

Rumba X1

[Cernuschi]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:44 PM, Ivsetti said:

 

I think at this point I've had enough of the park and have lost pretty much all enthusiasm for the park and this forum. 

Sad to read but I can definitely relate to this. I have followed Thorpe and the forum for many years (often just a reader) - but I really feel the park just has nothing left to offer for me. Maybe I have grown out of it, but then again this shouldn't be the case for a "thrill" park, plus I love going to many other family parks, Disney, Europa, Alton to name a few.

 

I just feel the park now has very little to offer compared to most others. It looks run down, the rides are in general ok but nothing outstanding, and I feel my money is better spent elsewhere. Yes I now have the money and freedom to travel wherever I want, but Thorpe as a business should be still trying to draw me in as a person who loves themeparks. You have to spend money to make money, and whilst they may be short of it at the moment, the money they have spent over the last few years may as well have been thrown down the drain. Poor management and poor decision have led to the park becoming what it is today, a shadow of what it once was. Even with "average rides" the look and feel of the place can make a huge difference, and all I see is poor maintenance, rapidly deteriorating quality, and a "that will do" attitude. As James May would say, it just doesn't give me "the fizz". 

 

I will still follow this forum and the park, and I do hope it can turn things around, but changes in its management and direction are clearly needed. 

[pluk]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:44 PM, Ivsetti said:

👍

Honestly at this point I agree with Glitch. No point feeling positive when for the past 2 years Thorpe have shown they're unable to deliver with what they already have let alone something new.

I think at this point I've had enough of the park and have lost pretty much all enthusiasm for the park and this forum. 

Therefore I can now happily say I'm no longer a Thorpe Park aficionado nor a theme park enthusiast. Goodbye and have fun living in fantasy land if you're still here.

 

Hey, it's just as much fun here being a miserable cynic as it is being fanatical about anything any Merlin park has done for a decade. Stick around and hurumph about like me. 👍

[MattyMoo]

On 7/13/2020 at 9:44 PM, Ivsetti said:

 

I think at this point I've had enough of the park and have lost pretty much all enthusiasm for the park and this forum. 

Therefore I can now happily say I'm no longer a Thorpe Park aficionado nor a theme park enthusiast. Goodbye and have fun living in fantasy land if you're still here.

 

But... but.... Black Mirror Labyrinth is coming next year - stay!

 

[Mark9]

23 minutes ago, MattyMoo said:

 

But... but.... Black Mirror Labyrinth is coming next year - stay!

 

 

Are you trying to get more members to leave or something?

[MattyMoo]

6 hours ago, Mark9 said:

 

Are you trying to get more members to leave or something?

HOw cAn YoU pAsS jUdgeMeNT wHeN iT hAsN't EvEn oPeNed YeT 😂

[Jack29]

Now the VAT rate for UK theme parks has been cut from 20% to 5% I would have thought the £39 day price should have been reduced to reflect the change. 

 

It can only be assumed that this is a profiteering technique by Merlin.