2020 Season

[Marc]

46 minutes ago, TPJames said:

I mean someone got their jaw broken at ministry of sound a few years back as they were beaten up by a gang....

 

Not saying there was anything park security could have done about that, but these kind of incidents do happen at this park, and that's just down to the audience the park and merlin are trying to attract to the park at the end of the day. Shift the marketing and target market. of the park and make it more of a family park and bring it back to what it once was, and these type of violent incidents would stop happening.

 

I don't know many other theme parks in Europe which have had multiple incidents of violence within 10 years. They need to either a) up the security levels or b) shift the target market back to what it once was under Tussauds ownership; these incidents have only happened since merlin came along and shifted the clientele entirely.

Thing is when you start thinking about things like MOS nights there’s tonnes of alcohol involved - I expect most clubs end up with numerous fights. It’s a tough one I think the parks target if anything has moved more towards family over the last few years but with the park having the thrill line up it does it will always attract more teenage guests I feel.

[TPJames]

58 minutes ago, Marc said:

Thing is when you start thinking about things like MOS nights there’s tonnes of alcohol involved - I expect most clubs end up with numerous fights. It’s a tough one I think the parks target if anything has moved more towards family over the last few years but with the park having the thrill line up it does it will always attract more teenage guests I feel.

Yeah of course “thrill” parks are going to attract more teenagers, look at parc asterix and Phantasialand, they also attract very large teenage crowds.

 

But on the same day as the recent incident at Thorpe park, my friends were also verbally abused by a gang in a queueline. Not once have I ever experienced or seen any sort of verbal or physical abuse at another theme park. Maybe I’ve just got lucky, but then again I wouldn’t expect to have to experience abuse in a theme park setting, there just seems to be high volumes of it at Thorpe park lately though.

 

I would argue that retheming X and addition of DGBT are not family additions at all, you could argue that the new Canada creek rides are (the boat and frog hopper) but they were hardly advertised in the way the new “horror” experiences were, and most people don’t even know that area of the park probably even exists. The marketing focus has been on fright nights, and the two new horror rides over the last few years.

[Coaster]

2 hours ago, Marc said:

They have never had an incident like this - hindsight is a wonderful thing. 
 

Thorpe have never searched everyone entering the park, they don’t have the facilities too and have felt they don’t need to. Blackpool’s setup is rather different, if I remember rightly Blackpool had huge issues with anti social behaviour which I assume is why their very strict security was implemented?

 

Theres only so much they can do to mitigate risk, compared to other parks in the U.K. I’d say Thorpes security is already fairly strict and will no doubt evolve as required.

The lack of facilities is exactly my point - Thorpe should have a facility similar to Pleasure Beach where everyone gets searched IMO.

 

In relation to antisocial behaviour, it occurred at Pleasure Beach back when it was free entry however since introducing the security measures it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.

 

Thorpe Park on the other hand has a lot of antisocial behaviour, more than I've ever seen in Pleasure Beach, and yet their security measures are nowhere near up to the same level.  You mentioned about PB upping security due to antisocial behaviour, yes this is true, however my point is that they have had a secure entrance with the capacity to search everyone since 2009 whereas Thorpe (a park which has suffered from antisocial behaviour for years) doesn't.

 

I have witnessed more antisocial behaviour at Thorpe than in any other park personally, by a long way.  There have been times where I haven't felt safe due to the behaviour of other guests.  I feel that much stricter security and having scanners built into the entrance would prevent this, and given that Thorpe's bag checks have caused long delays whilst also not being thorough for years, they have had ample time to introduce a better more permanent solution IMO.

 

Why should it be accepted that a park handling thousands of guests per day has such a "DIY" security setup with a few huts and massive queues?  It is just not good enough.

[JoshuaA]

27 minutes ago, Coaster said:

The lack of facilities is exactly my point - Thorpe should have a facility similar to Pleasure Beach where everyone gets searched IMO.

 

In relation to antisocial behaviour, it occurred at Pleasure Beach back when it was free entry however since introducing the security measures it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.

 

Thorpe Park on the other hand has a lot of antisocial behaviour, more than I've ever seen in Pleasure Beach, and yet their security measures are nowhere near up to the same level.  You mentioned about PB upping security due to antisocial behaviour, yes this is true, however my point is that they have had a secure entrance with the capacity to search everyone since 2009 whereas Thorpe (a park which has suffered from antisocial behaviour for years) doesn't.

Blackpool do have tighter security, though honestly searching people's bags is not going eliminate anti social behaviour. Even having a detector does not eliminate any risk. People aren't going to stop being anti social or mouthy after a bag check, and if they can't bring a knife, they'll punch with their fists. If a person has bad intent, there is not much a park can do to 100% stop anything happening besides having security everywhere (which for most parks just is not practical).

 

This is a case where someone who visited had bad intent. That individual's actions were wrong. The park are not to blame IMO, incidents like these are rare and Thorpe Park does already have decent security. Blame the people who commit the actions.

[Marc]

34 minutes ago, Coaster said:

The lack of facilities is exactly my point - Thorpe should have a facility similar to Pleasure Beach where everyone gets searched IMO.

 

In relation to antisocial behaviour, it occurred at Pleasure Beach back when it was free entry however since introducing the security measures it's a very rare occurrence in my experience.

 

Thorpe Park on the other hand has a lot of antisocial behaviour, more than I've ever seen in Pleasure Beach, and yet their security measures are nowhere near up to the same level.  You mentioned about PB upping security due to antisocial behaviour, yes this is true, however my point is that they have had a secure entrance with the capacity to search everyone since 2009 whereas Thorpe (a park which has suffered from antisocial behaviour for years) doesn't.

 

I have witnessed more antisocial behaviour at Thorpe than in any other park personally, by a long way.  There have been times where I haven't felt safe due to the behaviour of other guests.  I feel that much stricter security and having scanners built into the entrance would prevent this, and given that Thorpe's bag checks have caused long delays whilst also not being thorough for years, they have had ample time to introduce a better more permanent solution IMO.

 

Why should it be accepted that a park handling thousands of guests per day has such a "DIY" security setup with a few huts and massive queues?  It is just not good enough.

The thing is anti social behaviour and a stabbing are 2 very different things - you can have all the searches etc in the world but you’ll still get things like anti social behaviour.

I don’t really think there’s a right answer - even in Orlando I think it’s only universal and maybe one Disney park (Epcot I think?) who put all guests through a x

ray machine, I think there’s a fine line between checks an every day guest would expect when entering a theme park to the point where it gets too much, for example the hospital stabbing the other day I don’t think everyone will expect to be searched upon entry to hospitals now.

 

After this Thorpe may well look to change how they let people into the park and may decide everyone needs some sort of search -  as with a lot of these measures like this they are bought in in reaction to something like this, and that’s not just within theme parks.

I saw towers also had additional security with handheld scanners since the incident it’s good to see merlin are taking it seriously across the board.

[JoshC.]

I think some people have hit the nail on the head in the past few comments: if someone wants to take a weapon, such as a knife, into a theme park, they'll find a way. Short of doing a full on airport security style search where you walk through a metal detector, have your bags x-rayed and are patted down, people will always find a way in my personal opinion.

 

 

14 hours ago, Coaster said:

I have witnessed more antisocial behaviour at Thorpe than in any other park personally, by a long way. 

Not to be facetious, but haven't you visited Thorpe much more than any other park (aside from possibly Blackpool)? In which case, the chances are you would have seen more antisocial behaviour..

 

I've witnessed antisocial behaviour at loads of parks personally - Thorpe, Towers, Chessington, Walibi, Phantasialand. I've heard about it at many more - Universal parks, Six Flags parks, Parc Asterix, Port Aventura... It does happen. Not that that takes away from your point per se, but it happens in more places. And I'm sure it happens more often that people see.

14 hours ago, Coaster said:

Why should it be accepted that a park handling thousands of guests per day has such a "DIY" security setup with a few huts and massive queues?  It is just not good enough.

Not to try and create a 'race to the bottom', but loads of other parks have DIY security setups which have queues. It isn't a Thorpe exclusive problem.

[Ali G]

I went to Thorpe park on Monday. Got there at about 9:45 and was in by 10:10. Security has been stepped up somewhat. Metal detector wands, bag searches and a pat down. It all went very smoothly and without issue.

 

I kinda fee bad for the people who went on Sunday as having worked in public events I know it’s almost impossible to spin up a security team over night. Monday was great, no worse than going to a gig or a festival.

 

good vibes all round. 

[Coaster]

On 7/21/2020 at 10:28 PM, Marc said:

The thing is anti social behaviour and a stabbing are 2 very different things - you can have all the searches etc in the world but you’ll still get things like anti social behaviour.

I don’t really think there’s a right answer - even in Orlando I think it’s only universal and maybe one Disney park (Epcot I think?) who put all guests through a x

ray machine, I think there’s a fine line between checks an every day guest would expect when entering a theme park to the point where it gets too much, for example the hospital stabbing the other day I don’t think everyone will expect to be searched upon entry to hospitals now.

 

After this Thorpe may well look to change how they let people into the park and may decide everyone needs some sort of search -  as with a lot of these measures like this they are bought in in reaction to something like this, and that’s not just within theme parks.

I saw towers also had additional security with handheld scanners since the incident it’s good to see merlin are taking it seriously across the board.

Thorpe introduced security measures a few years back so clearly there is a need for them and they realise that; initially it was set up mid-way through a season (I think?) hence the temporary setup, however it's strange that they didn't redesign the entrance with a more permanent solution over the following closed season.

 

The park handles thousands of guests daily, they can't expect two search huts to cater for that many people.  Having a queue that size to get into the park is ridiculous and this has been an issue for a few years now, it also means that the thoroughness of the checks is sacrificed to get people through quickly.  I'd also suggest that causing such a delay to the start of people's day puts them in a worse frame of mind and could potentially lead to worse behaviour inside the park.

 

A visual deterrent of having a large number of scanners lined up forming part of the entrance structure would I feel be much better and safer for guests, whilst also ensuring that everyone has to go through security (not just those with a bag).

 

On 7/22/2020 at 12:10 PM, JoshC. said:

Not to be facetious, but haven't you visited Thorpe much more than any other park (aside from possibly Blackpool)? In which case, the chances are you would have seen more antisocial behaviour..

 

I've witnessed antisocial behaviour at loads of parks personally - Thorpe, Towers, Chessington, Walibi, Phantasialand. I've heard about it at many more - Universal parks, Six Flags parks, Parc Asterix, Port Aventura... It does happen. Not that that takes away from your point per se, but it happens in more places. And I'm sure it happens more often that people see.

Not to try and create a 'race to the bottom', but loads of other parks have DIY security setups which have queues. It isn't a Thorpe exclusive problem.

I did used to visit Thorpe a lot yes, although I'd say perhaps less days there than Blackpool overall.  My point is, Thorpe is notorious for this sort of behaviour, fights take place there a lot, as does other intimidating behaviour.  I truly do not feel safe at Thorpe at times and this rarely occurs at other parks, the place has issues with antisocial behaviour and has done for years.  This is why I believe it needs much more stringent security checks.  In relation to the other Merlin parks, I feel that they too should have better security, however they do not seem to attract such high levels of bad behaviour as Thorpe does so regularly.

 

I'm not suggesting that this is a problem exclusive to Thorpe, however I feel that Thorpe has a much higher risk of this type of event occurring than any other park I've visited.

[Ali G]

With some regret, as someone that has lived in Staines all their lives, I have to point out that there are some really unpleasant kids around here. It’s always been that way. Don’t get me wrong, there are many wonderful and well behaved upstanding young citizens that live in the surrounding areas. But for some reason, there is a much higher percentage of young men and women who are utter bastards to one another.

 

so much so that most of Staines’ nightlife has been regulated to the point where it’s just not worth it for many licensees. All the late bars and clubs are gone. The police around here even implemented a town centre yellow card / red card system for disorderly behaviour.

you’ll find a lot of these lads and lasses killing time at Thorpe park. It’s not necessarily the parks fault. of course it’s thrill rides now attract all walks of life from all over. But it also sucks the less respectable members of society through the doors more frequently. It’s always been an issue locally. The quell the issue, the town council stopped issuing licenses  to venues as the public couldn’t be trusted to be respectful. That’s how bad it’s been in Staines for 20 years and more.

 

 

[JoshuaA]

So I went today, and here is some thoughts.

 

Security getting in was well done. It was more thorough, though took about 10-15 minutes to get in. Not bad.

Honestly the park certainly draws some nasty teenagers, this became evident today in Inferno's queue. A bunch of girls were trying to get through the queue (their friend 'reserved' a point in the queue), the couple in front asked them to stop this and the man put his arm out to stop them getting through. And it escalated into a mini fight with the teen spitting at the poor guy. Luckily it was dealt with afterwards, though it certainly displayed the type of young people this park attracts.

To be fair I don't know what the park really can do, it really is unpleasant but what can they do? Say no to anyone who says 'Fam' coming in? 

 

In other news the new drink refills is a good idea, but also kinda poorly executed.

The one near Rush had like 4 options. Most of them were completely not on there, though the one in the dome seemed to have a lot MORE to choose from.

The cups also kinda seem of poor design, to make matters worse nobody really monitors them. So you could just get a regular cup and drink if you want, I was unsure whether I had the refills for the rest of the season? Just for today only? Things really were not clear. And I'm sure cheating the system would be easy.

Cedar point executed this idea a LOT better, though hopefully it will improve and evolve in future seasons.

 

Coaster wise Inferno is back as my favourite after a back row ride. Colossus is back as my least favourite, the restraints being the main reason. Not even headbanging, the ride has a nasty habit of digging into my thighs. To the point where it basically murdered my thigh. Saw is fun but goes down every 5 minutes. Stealth has been lowkey reliable this season and has the best ops. Overall a good day. A bit rocky though.

 

 

[JoshC.]

3 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

The cups also kinda seem of poor design, to make matters worse nobody really monitors them. So you could just get a regular cup and drink if you want,

Unless the cup design has changed since last season, the refillable cups have a chip at the bottom which registers whether the cup is active or not. If it's active, you can proceed as normal. If not, you can only get water out of it.

 

No real need to monitor them (though arguably there should be regularly cleaning of them due to them being a high touch point).

[Mattgwise]

13 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

In other news the new drink refills is a good idea, but also kinda poorly executed.

The one near Rush had like 4 options. Most of them were completely not on there, though the one in the dome seemed to have a lot MORE to choose from.

The cups also kinda seem of poor design, to make matters worse nobody really monitors them. So you could just get a regular cup and drink if you want, I was unsure whether I had the refills for the rest of the season? Just for today only? Things really were not clear. And I'm sure cheating the system would be easy.

 

 

I was told regarding the drinks that only the one in the dome would be used for the foreseeable future to ensure it is cleaned properly and often. Later the same day the Rush one appeared to have opened but with one machine and fewer options. I guess this is again to reduce use and be able to clean it much more easily. 

 

You're activation is only today. It will rest at midnight. You can reactivate it in the island shop for £6 or a £4.80 with MAP discount. 

 

I really like the system and when it's not got supply issues it works really well, just a shame more can't be open for now but understandable. I do find it odd that they are all being used at Towers and Legoland (I believe) 

[Matt 236]

Yesterday was my first Thorpe visit of the year and park trip post lockdown.

 

The park’s covid measures were a mixed bag with temperature checks, staff and announcements enforcing social distancing in queues and places along with sanitiser being available on most rides.
 

However there is definitely room for improvement as the spots on the floor haven’t got the best placements and have already faded in just a couple of weeks. I also think the park need to try and enforce people to walk one way on the sides of main pathways and place more protector in queuelines. Guest social distancing wasn’t great.

 

On a side note operations were generally ok on most attractions with Stealth and the two B&Ms performing excellently. Saw was still torturous and Quantum a bit of a disappointment only doing two top hits on it’s cycle. 
 

 The shops used a-basket system to determine numbers where you were given a basket when you entered and would return it to be cleaned when you left. The Saw, Swarm, Derren and Flock shops were closed along with some eateries. 
 

It was great to be back at the park after longer than usual,but there was certainly a strange and maybe slightly underwhelming atmosphere. This could be as a result of the extra safety measures and yet some places feeling like a normal park day or that the park felt empty in some ways.
 

The park looks and feels tired and rundown in many areas and for some reason feels even more noticeable than previous visits. Whilst some cosmetic changes have been done, these don’t really feel enough and almost seem like a token gesture just for the sake of upkeep.

 

In spite of these things it was great to be back at my first (post-lockdown) park trip and hopefully not my last!

 

 

[TPJames]

Thorpe park have updated where face masks are mandatory, in line with new government guidance which becomes effective from 8. August.

 

Guests over the age of 11 will be required to wear a face mask in order to go on a number of rides and rollercoasters, into our shops and arcades or when queuing in an indoor location. All guests will therefore need to bring a suitable mask with them when they visit our attraction. Face masks will also be available for purchase at our attraction should you require one. Only securely fitted face masks should be worn on rides for safety reasons and we would recommend removing face masks on water rides in case they get wet. Face masks are not required for children under the age of 11 or for people with certain health conditions and/or disabilities.

[MattyMoo]

Power cut at Thorpe, electricity board expect to have it sorted by 1pm. Talk about incredible timing, on probaby one of the busiest days of the year so far...

 

Sending thoughts and prayers to guest services, I don't envy them one bit

 

[JoshuaA]

I went yesterday, and it was about as messy as it sounds. It was a scorching day, and people were very frustrated.

The powercut was beyond control, though I certainly think it could of been handled better, I didn't actually know what was happening until I read the post above me! The park really could of communicated that better. I also was kinda pissed at The Swarm's operations.

At one point it was the only major coaster operating, and the queue was two hours. 10 minutes into the queue they decided to add another train on.. You couldn't of done that at the start of the day? Like you surely didn't think it would be a quiet day really? This left a two hour queue waiting stagnant for 10 minutes (which made people even more frustrated). The dispatches were also god awful. Inferno suffered from pretty poor dispatches too, you might as well finish your blog post and spend 10 minutes scrolling through facebook on the brake run.

 

On the upside, free water was given out. Samurai was running a pretty good cycle, got three rides in and each time it impressed me.

Saw though proven once again to be the NEW Stealth, even after the powercut it was up and down like a yo-yo. I don't get why it faces so much downtime? In theory it should be a lot more reliable than Stealth. Talking about Stealth, great dispatches and fairly reliable.

 

Overall a rocky day, but it wasn't really all down to the park. Though the park could of really made some better decisions (having Swarm on 2 trains for the whole day, better communication about the powercut).

[JoshC.]

9 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

I went yesterday, and it was about as messy as it sounds. It was a scorching day, and people were very frustrated.

The powercut was beyond control, though I certainly think it could of been handled better, I didn't actually know what was happening until I read the post above me! The park really could of communicated that better. I also was kinda pissed at The Swarm's operations.

As a question: how do you think the park could / should have communicated it?

 

I've both been a visitor and a staff member at a theme park during a power cut, and it is frustrating and can be chaotic. If you don't have PA systems working properly (which can happen during a power cut), it takes out a key method for communicating to a mass number of people quickly. You can have staff telling people, but this rarely captures a large proportion of people. 

 

I'm sure that whilst the park's handling of it was adequate enough, they could have done it better, but it's not a straightforward thing to deal with.

 

9 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

At one point it was the only major coaster operating, and the queue was two hours. 10 minutes into the queue they decided to add another train on.. You couldn't of done that at the start of the day? Like you surely didn't think it would be a quiet day really? This left a two hour queue waiting stagnant for 10 minutes (which made people even more frustrated).

In this sort of situation, if the ride didn't open with 2 trains, it'll be a case that the second train wasn't ready / signed off by engineering. From an operational perspective, there is no reason to run one train at the start of day: they know the park is busy, it doesn't require any more staff, etc.

 

So the decision will be 'Open Swarm on 1 train and add the second when it's ready' or 'Don't open Swarm until both trains are ready'. Generally speaking, the former is the better option in my opinion, but there's no denying it's frustrating for anyone in the queue.

 

The reason as to why the second train wasn't ready is anyone's guess. Could be a minor problem that engineers picked up on during their daily checks and is just unavoidable.

 

In fairness to the park, they seem to have run full capacity of trains all season (and, from what I remember, most of last season too?). Obviously they should be doing that, especially in a pandemic, but what you've experienced isn't the norm right now.

[JoshuaA]

2 hours ago, JoshC. said:

As a question: how do you think the park could / should have communicated it?

 

I've both been a visitor and a staff member at a theme park during a power cut, and it is frustrating and can be chaotic. If you don't have PA systems working properly (which can happen during a power cut), it takes out a key method for communicating to a mass number of people quickly. You can have staff telling people, but this rarely captures a large proportion of people. 

 

I'm sure that whilst the park's handling of it was adequate enough, they could have done it better, but it's not a straightforward thing to deal with.

Some of them worked. But it was very vague, for example in the Colossus area we heard that Colossus was delayed over an announcement, but no mention of the power cut. If they just chipped in 'we're experiencing a power-cut in some areas which may delay some rides' would of been fine. We didn't really know what was happening until I read up on here.

 

2 hours ago, JoshC. said:

In this sort of situation, if the ride didn't open with 2 trains, it'll be a case that the second train wasn't ready / signed off by engineering. From an operational perspective, there is no reason to run one train at the start of day: they know the park is busy, it doesn't require any more staff, etc.

 

So the decision will be 'Open Swarm on 1 train and add the second when it's ready' or 'Don't open Swarm until both trains are ready'. Generally speaking, the former is the better option in my opinion, but there's no denying it's frustrating for anyone in the queue.

 

The reason as to why the second train wasn't ready is anyone's guess. Could be a minor problem that engineers picked up on during their daily checks and is just unavoidable.

 

In fairness to the park, they seem to have run full capacity of trains all season (and, from what I remember, most of last season too?). Obviously they should be doing that, especially in a pandemic, but what you've experienced isn't the norm right now.

It just really isn't enough for a peak august day. It isn't even like Swarm has many trains to deal with, really there is no excuse. Both should of been ready to go from the start of the day.

[JoshC.]

1 hour ago, JoshuaA said:

It just really isn't enough for a peak august day. It isn't even like Swarm has many trains to deal with, really there is no excuse. Both should of been ready to go from the start of the day.

I mean, yes, it shouldn't happen. But it can happen, and it's not something that can be in the park's control.

 

If a part on a train is showing signs of wear and tear, they're going to replace said part, and it can take time to do that. Number of trains doesn't really make a difference there. 

 

It's frustrating for you, yes, but when the park have been pretty good at running their rides on full capacity, it's feels a bit harsh to take such a firm stand of 'there's no excuse', for what is almost definitely a mechanical issue which probably wasn't avoidable.

[Cal]

I agree with Josh, I think they've been good the last few years with starting all the coasters on 2 trains whenever they can. I've been on some very quiet days when 2 trains aren't even needed and they have always opened / stayed on 2 train operation. I don't think Swarm would've started on 1 train unless they absolutely had to.

 

Shame they don't have an event like Summer Nights anymore. Think it would be perfect at the moment, a low crowd event would do well at the moment as it would be perfect for social distancing. 

[JoshC.]

32 minutes ago, Ivsetti said:

I've heard about some of the stuff they have to check every day on the trains and it seems extremely time consuming. I've heard from unverified sources that engineers stay at the park until 10pm or even midnight and start the day at 6 or 7 am because that's how many checks they need to do every single day. Considering they had a power cut in the morning that would probably have delayed their checks even more.

Engineers at Thorpe at split across 2 shifts: morning to afternoon (start at around 6am) and afternoon to evening (finish at around 10pm). Those patterns change slightly when the park is open later. Rarely - if ever! - will an engineer go from a late shift one day to an early shift the next.

 

I'm not sure what the time the power cut was, but it wouldn't necessarily have affected their checks. But if during those checks they noticed something that needed repairing, the repair time could have been delayed due to the cut.

[Mark9]

On 8/8/2020 at 12:57 PM, JoshuaA said:

It just really isn't enough for a peak august day. It isn't even like Swarm has many trains to deal with, really there is no excuse. Both should of been ready to go from the start of the day.

 

I love this. You should have asked to speak to the Engineering manager. 

[MattyMoo]

Power cut was just before 11am.

 

I'm pro-Thorpe in this instance - I don't think there's much more they could do, really other than offer the Island Guarantee to retun for free.

 

With regard to operations - I concur, I've found that Thorpe have been running rides with maximum number of trains possible from opening - even when we went a month ago, Stealth was on 2 trains from the off, hence getting 2 rides in quick succession.

[JoshuaA]

On 8/8/2020 at 8:51 PM, Ivsetti said:

34 degree Celsius heat. In direct path of the sun. No shade. Wearing a face mask and visor for the entire time? Earning minimum wage? People can't even keep a face mask on a ride for 30 seconds but you expect staff to be running rides in these extreme conditions as fast as they would be normally? I'm critical of the park but even I would be more lax on this than normal.

The problem is, I have visited 3+ times now. Inferno and Swarm have consistently had slow ops in all types of weather. Sure it is stuffy, though I do think the park need to strive to do better. 3-4 minute dispatches are not fine, it happened to be a hot day, but on other visits its been the same story.

Stealth is another great example, it had lightning quick operations. And that ride probably has the most exposed station of them all. So....

 

And when it comes to two trains, I guess it doesn't really matter when the train is sitting on the break run for a hour. I do think though when things like this happen it is fair to call them out, sure 2 trains maybe the normal. But went I was it wasn't, and its a valid complaint to make. In no way was I slamming the park for the power-cut, I was just pointing out three things that could have been done better.

[MattyMoo]

29 minutes ago, JoshuaA said:

The problem is, I have visited 3+ times now. Inferno and Swarm have consistently had slow ops in all types of weather. Sure it is stuffy, though I do think the park need to strive to do better. 3-4 minute dispatches are not fine, it happened to be a hot day, but on other visits its been the same story.

Stealth is another great example, it had lightning quick operations. And that ride probably has the most exposed station of them all. So....

 

Not just saying this to be antagonistic - when we visited on 13th July (think that was the date, from memory!) - the Inferno team were literally smashing through the loading, obviously depends on the team on there I suppsoe but they were darting round as if they were trying to get the record for quickest dispatch