March 19, 20205 yr comment_269403 1 hour ago, JoshC. said: Plenty of people work over the maximum (especially within the theme park industry), but you can't be contracted to work more than 48 hours per work / work more than 48 hours per week on average over any given 17 week period. Working hours is something Merlin has to be very hot on. (Of course, there are exceptions to this rule. Working at a theme park is not one of them) Indeed, with our so called "directed time" it is 40 hours a week, but soon adds up, and yes like you say many people in many different industries/sectors work well over the maximum.
March 19, 20205 yr comment_269405 2 hours ago, Whatever said: Perhaps I misheard. Either way, this has left lots of people in a bad way. How much is Merlin worth again? Probably significantly less than they were a couple months ago! Hope your friend is alright - sooner this is all over the better for us all!
March 20, 20205 yr comment_269409 3 hours ago, Ivsetti said: I believe the front line employees waive their right to this legal maximum. Indeed, I’m sure this was part of my contract when I worked there. It was inevitable during Fright Nights that you’d do more than that working 5 days a week!
March 20, 20205 yr comment_269410 At Europa park in the height of the summer you can be working 55 hours a week!
March 20, 20205 yr Author comment_269411 The key point is the 'on average, over a 17 week period'. Most businesses in the customer service industry acknowledge that some stuff will work more than 48 hours per week at peak periods. Peak periods very rarely last more than a couple of weeks for more businesses though, so whilst you may end up working 50 hours a week for s couple of weeks, after that you'll end up back down to your standard contracted hours, or less to make up for it. In contracts for Merlin at least, the standard is that you accept you may occasionally work more than 48 hours a week, but it will be sorted so that you won't work more than that on average over any 17 week period (ie - you'll never do more than 816 hours of work over 17 weeks). You can choose to opt out of that if you want. I don't think there's any 4 month period at Thorpe, or any Merlin attraction, where any front line worker would be expected to work over 48 hours every week. They're simply not THAT busy.
March 20, 20205 yr Author comment_269412 On a separate, coronavirus-related, on topic point: Paultons Park today contacted Coaster Force, asking them to postpone their planned meet which was due to take place in early June, as the park "do not expect to be open at that point". Shows how much uncertain, long-term planning we are in for with parks.
March 20, 20205 yr comment_269414 I think expecting any parks to be open before June is a very optimistic approach.. that's why I don't understand why a lot of parks have pushed back to April dates for the beginning of the season as it's not realistic in the slightest.
March 21, 20205 yr comment_269417 I'm gonna have an interesting discussion with work Monday after they put me on temporary unpaid leave yesterday (long before the 80% announcement). Though I can't imagine they'll have me back in cos they'll literally be paying me to do nothing (work is dead for me, most of my projects went as one site stopped all non-essential work). Fortunately NatWest seem to be happy to defer loan and mortgage payments. So I'm not looking down the potential barrel that much right now. Unless this continues past August.
March 21, 20205 yr comment_269418 So how will you all be surviving the dark days? I am classed as a key worker so will still be at work as things currently stand. I have Animal Crossing for the Switch, a few other games to get through, Disney+ is out Tuesday and some netflix series to get me through.
March 21, 20205 yr comment_269420 Also a keyworker as a teacher, although working from home except for Thursdays as they've put us on a rotation to cover the students coming in and try and minimise contact at same time. Outside of that, finish two point hospital and then the new DLC coming out next week, finish rise of the tomb raider, kingdom hearts 1 and 2 to replay again on Xbox one after loving it years ago on ps2 and some Netflix thrown in amongst some other games!
March 21, 20205 yr Author comment_269422 As a PhD student, life goes on as a normal, except instead of going into the office to work, I work from home most days (I'll likely need to pop in once a week to print stuff off, use more powerful computers, etc). My part time job on the side isn't classed as key work so it means I'm losing out on extra money, but with parks closed and me travelling less, it's not exactly like I need it. I guess in theory I could get a temp contract at a supermarket, but frankly there's people in much worse situations than me who no doubt would appreciate the extra hours more than me. I haven't had to self-isolate yet, but when that time comes around (I fully expect the majority of the population will end up having to self-isolate at one point sooner or later), I'll still be able to work, but will probably ease off that for a bit, spend a bit of time finally ticking off stuff on my Netflix watch list (I've already managed to watch the entirety of Stranger Things!), and a couple of random projects. Fun times.
March 21, 20205 yr comment_269426 2 hours ago, Mattgwise said: Also a keyworker as a teacher, although working from home except for Thursdays as they've put us on a rotation to cover the students coming in and try and minimise contact at same time. Outside of that, finish two point hospital and then the new DLC coming out next week, finish rise of the tomb raider, kingdom hearts 1 and 2 to replay again on Xbox one after loving it years ago on ps2 and some Netflix thrown in amongst some other games! What's your Xbox tag, I need some friends after getting one, though I may sell it for a PS4. For me life goes on from home, working on marketing back to basics and training.
March 21, 20205 yr comment_269427 Stay strong everyone! We will get through these challenging days somehow. I wrote a blog about some suggestions. https://forum.maniahub.com/blogs/entry/931-10-theme-park-related-things-to-enjoy-right-now/
March 22, 20205 yr comment_269429 Our King and Queen have blessed us! Click play and feel the immersion - I've started it at an awe inspiring point.
March 23, 20205 yr comment_269434 On 3/18/2020 at 2:48 PM, MattyMoo said: As I've said to friends and colleagues - situations like this with panic buying etc. reaffirm my beliefs that I hate 99% of the general public. Can't begin to imagine the absolute idiots (to put it mildly) that retail staff are having to deal with. I work in a local shop. And when we tell them they cant have more than 1 of such and such, or 2 of such and such, they start acting as if there is no reason for it and start arguing with us. I can confirm the amount of idiots trying it on is unbearable
March 23, 20205 yr comment_269435 7 hours ago, LukeP_8 said: I work in a local shop. And when we tell them they cant have more than 1 of such and such, or 2 of such and such, they start acting as if there is no reason for it and start arguing with us. I can confirm the amount of idiots trying it on is unbearable All credit to you dealing with them. I couldn't.
March 23, 20205 yr comment_269436 https://www.legoland.jp/en/plan-your-visit/latest-news/news20200228/ Legoland Japan is back open for anyone looking for any of our fans over in Nagoya.
March 23, 20205 yr comment_269437 With McDonald’s and Primark closing at this point, I doubt anyone here will be getting out anytime soon unfortunately.
March 23, 20205 yr Author comment_269438 As is the case with all parks that offer Annual Passes, Merlin are extending the validity of all passes appropriately: https://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/coronavirus Effectively, if the attractions are closed for up to 1 month, you get 1 month added on, up to 2 months, 2 months added on, etc. Only goes up to 3 months, so presumably if the closures end up being longer, there could be other options.
March 25, 20205 yr Author comment_269442 Not sure how appropriate it is to post this, but feel it deserves a mention.. Any stock that Thorpe Park had bought that they expected to use during the time they're closed has been donated to the NHS. No doubt plenty of other parks and companies are doing similar if possible, but it's great to see all the same.
March 25, 20205 yr comment_269443 18 minutes ago, JoshC. said: Not sure how appropriate it is to post this, but feel it deserves a mention.. Any stock that Thorpe Park had bought that they expected to use during the time they're closed has been donated to the NHS. No doubt plenty of other parks and companies are doing similar if possible, but it's great to see all the same. After all of this, we will see which companies really don't deserve our custom (wetherspoons, cineworld etc). I'm glad all of the theme parks have given their food to the NHS or elderly/vulnerable.
March 25, 20205 yr comment_269444 With the park’s unlikely to open anytime soon, I decided to create a piano medley based off the soundtracks from Thorpe Park Resort. Created the arrangement myself.
March 25, 20205 yr comment_269447 Hoppings at the end of June just been cancelled, one of the UK’s largest funfairs.
March 25, 20205 yr Author comment_269448 7 hours ago, Wicker Matt said: With the park’s unlikely to open anytime soon, I decided to create a piano medley based off the soundtracks from Thorpe Park Resort. Created the arrangement myself. Nice! This is wildly off-topic but oh well: have you considered trying to do the original Duel music? Would love to see your take on that if you have the chance!
March 25, 20205 yr comment_269449 1 hour ago, JoshC. said: Nice! This is wildly off-topic but oh well: have you considered trying to do the original Duel music? Would love to see your take on that if you have the chance! Thanks, and Challenge accepted. Hoping to add some different uploads over the coming weeks and will definitely add pre-2018 Duel theme to the list.
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