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31 minutes ago, alexander said:

Hoping to visit Thorpe for the first time in like 2-3 years next month. Anyone got any idea what the operations have been like? Factoring in the cleaning procedures and such.

They've been a mixed bag really. It does seem to differ day-to-day frankly. However, I think on the whole, operations are better than they were 2-3 years ago. The cleaning procedures may close a ride down for 5-10 minutes once an hour or so, but you can be lucky and have it not affect your day at all (equally, you can be unlucky and notice it on every ride).

 

Queues look longer because of social distancing, so generally they may look bad but they're a bit more manageable.

 

If you're going on a school day, the park will be more than manageable tbh, with likelihood of re-rides quite easily. If you're going on a weekend, just being sensible enough should mean you'd get most things done. Equally though, there's the Oktoberfest event starting from 7th September - if it's similar to the Towers one, the weekends will have later closer times, which would help further (and potentially see the park quieten down).

 

tl;dr - operations will probably be okay compared to your last visit.

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Thorpe have updated there opening hours every Friday and Saturday in September and the first week in October (before Fright Nights) to 10am-8pm for Oktoberfest.

 

Good to see they've extended their opening hours and I do hope it'll be popular for them. Crazy that they're open later on Fridays and Saturdays in September than they are during the whole of July and August. 

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And a little more about the event:

 

https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/theme-park/events/oktoberfest/

 

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New for 2020 - dust off your lederhosen and join us for an Oktoberfest event like no other! Tuck into classic German delights or chill out with a cold Stein of traditional Oktoberfest beer all whilst soaking up the atmosphere of traditional Bavarian sights and sounds in the Island’s Festival Centre. Then brace yourself (and your vocal cords) and be sure to yodel if you want go faster on some of Europe’s most thrilling rides!

Raise a glass and join us at THORPE PARK Resort from 7th September to 4th October.

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Quench your thirst

Get in the Oktoberfest spirit with a stein of traditional German Spaten lager, or chill out with a cool glass of Beck’s or alcohol-free Beck’s Blu

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German delights

Tuck into some traditional German delights. You’ll find a huge selection across the Island including; Bratwurst, fresh pretzels, Black Forest sundaes - even a Currywurst pizza! You could call it an OktoberFEAST!

The event sounds promising, and it's good to see they're actually planning on having an actual Oktoberfest drink there. Hopefully they can do it some justice.

 

---

 

On a different note, I visited on Monday. Something which was very striking was that, during a thunderstorm, every ride was closed (completely understandable and obvious). The only open attraction was Angry Birds 4D. I know there's a slight element of this being out of their control (Derren and Walking Dead being closed due to Covid, though I'm sure the latter could have reopened by now, which makes me wonder if there's a different problem...), but it really highlighted the park's need for more indoor rides frankly. They'd also have two indoor walkthroughs if it wasn't for Covid, but yeah, that's not what I'm talking about.

 

Yes, it's always been a problem for the park, and they face challenges with the amount of indoor space they can have. But it's something that really needs addressing, and something which I was just starkly reminded of during my visit. 

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One of the main issues which likely prevents TWD from currently reopening is it’s “two to a row“ rule, which makes loading solo or odd numbered guests on the ride impossible without breaching social distancing measures. 
 

The rule came in a few years ago and given how safety stringent Merlin are these days it is unlikely to change unless the vehicles are modified to enable this again.

 

 

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The Storm Surge rule was being enforced by a staff member at the front of the entrance. Didn't seem to cause many issues, but did overhear one conversation from a group of 3 who just didn't get it.

 

It's a weird one as I don't think similar rides have the rule, nor did it have the rule in Cypress Gardens. Reason it exists is to prevent it from 'stalling' whilst going down the slide I've heard, but just seems weird.

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On 8/12/2020 at 9:12 PM, JoshC. said:

They've been a mixed bag really. It does seem to differ day-to-day frankly. However, I think on the whole, operations are better than they were 2-3 years ago. The cleaning procedures may close a ride down for 5-10 minutes once an hour or so, but you can be lucky and have it not affect your day at all (equally, you can be unlucky and notice it on every ride).

 

Queues look longer because of social distancing, so generally they may look bad but they're a bit more manageable.

 

If you're going on a school day, the park will be more than manageable tbh, with likelihood of re-rides quite easily. If you're going on a weekend, just being sensible enough should mean you'd get most things done. Equally though, there's the Oktoberfest event starting from 7th September - if it's similar to the Towers one, the weekends will have later closer times, which would help further (and potentially see the park quieten down).

 

tl;dr - operations will probably be okay compared to your last visit.

Thank you very much Josh! I'm planning to go on a weekday so hopefully that'll have a positive impact also. I'm actually quite looking forward to it!

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Ah yes, the screenshot of a webpage with no link to said webpage. Always useful...

 

 

Didn't realise that season pass holders no longer for discount. The fact that they're slicing away at the discount for Thorpe Park specific passholders sucks a little bit to be honest. Makes sense I guess given how cheap they are and how many they probably sell. Though maybe that's a sign they should scrap the cheapest version of their season pass...

 

I guess the Infinity version has the added discount, maybe free parking and less restrictions.

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I think the prices really reflect the quality of the product.. Sure lowering your prices down will get more sales, but then you have a million passholders who get discount on everything and all want to visit the park all the time (and trying to get a passholder pre-book is like trying to light a candle under-water..)

Honestly I feel the premium passholders need more incentives. Six Flags with their membership offer things like passholder-only areas and entrances just for passholders. Maybe Merlin should expand on the tiers and benefits in the future?

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And to complete the Fastrack offering, Thorpe are now offering one shot fastrack for general sale.

 

https://www.thorpepark.com/tickets-passes/extras/fastrack/

 

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One shot theme park fastrack

Just want to skip the queue once? During your visit you can purchase a One Shot Fastrack from £10 - available to buy from our roaming fastrack sales team.  

In the morning our roaming fastrack sales team can be found on park as you exit the dome near Island Help and Information.  The afternoon the team can be found outside our major rollercoasters.  Feel ask a member of staff if you are trying to locate the roaming fastrack sales team.

Please note that our fastrack is being sold on an extremely limited basis as part of our ongoing safety enhancements.

 

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This isn't the most accurate thread to say this, but probably the one that will be seen the most..

 

From Tuesday, Annual Passholders no longer need to spend £1 to reserve entry to any Merlin attraction. 

 

I know it's a contentious point, but given the fact that many dates for passholders are sold out at other parks (especially weekends), and people don't always turn up despite paying the £1, it's perhaps a weird move.

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Very weird decision 

 

For me the £1 booking fee isn't a problem. Its the fact you have to book weeks in advance. Some people don't plan and can't plan in advance. I find it frustrating not being able to visit when it isn't capacity

 

If anything this is just going to make that problem even worse, as more people are going to book tickets and less will be available 

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16 hours ago, ThorpeAddict said:

Very weird decision 

 

For me the £1 booking fee isn't a problem. Its the fact you have to book weeks in advance. Some people don't plan and can't plan in advance. I find it frustrating not being able to visit when it isn't capacity

 

How do you alleviate that problem exactly? We don't live in a normal circumstances world right now. 

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On 9/5/2020 at 9:05 AM, Mark9 said:

 

How do you alleviate that problem exactly? We don't live in a normal circumstances world right now. 

 

Some people get there shifts for work on a weekly basis for example. Makes it very hard for them to plan in advance.

 

I tried to organise a weekend up in towers for scarefest this year. Every single weekend is fully booked for the rest of the year for pass holders, well over a month in advance.

 

I know we don't live in a normal circumstances world right now, I'm aware of that, and I agree the parks need to limit there capacity. But my point was that I think they are treating pass holders very differently to paying guests throughout this, and in my opinion think the pre booking system has been managed poorly for pass holders. 

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