May 24, 201411 yr comment_183997 Were staff riding today? And who 'rumoured' it to be tomorrow? That's exited me but I shouldn't get too exited, because it's not likely to happen Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk
May 24, 201411 yr comment_184003 Were staff riding today? And who 'rumoured' it to be tomorrow? That's exited me but I shouldn't get too exited, because it's not likely to happen Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk Staff were ridding it for training purposes as for host training you need riders and as slammer still closed they used staff but if there staff training on it I'm guessing it wont be 2 long
May 24, 201411 yr comment_184004 I believe staff were riding it yesterday, and its staff again who seem to believe it's opening tomorrow. Like I said it's all speculation and I would literally just get excited on the day when it does open.
May 25, 201411 yr comment_184006 Surely if staff are riding it, it's safe enough for public to ride it, so I assume once they're trained it will be open. The fact that staff think it's open today Is also a good sign, means it could open any minute. Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk
May 25, 201411 yr comment_184027 A member of staff has just informed me that Slammer should hopefully open tomorrow, if not Tuesday. So annoying it's not today but it's great to hear that it's going to open Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184107 I didn't see it testing yesterday, there was just a couple of ride staff there faffing around with the seats, couldn't see what they were doing but looked like they were cleaning them. Would of thought if it did open, Thorpe would of put a photo and that on there Facebook? Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184108 I would of thought, if it opened they would keep it descrete because it is liable to breaking down any moment. If it is open, I doubt they will make it public however have signs at the park saying it is open just not to get people's hopes up by putting it online. If it does open, I hope it runs until the end of the summer as I want to get back on it but won't be able to until the summer!
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184119 Just to clarify Slammer was (sort of) getting going today during testing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=xAyTncqExIg ...Wow! That thing really is on it's last legs!
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184120 That will just be part of the tests they need to do, looks like it was maybe e-stopped?
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184150 judging by something that happened last season with a ride that had endless delays in opening and staff constantly saying tomorrow it will open, I put my bet on the 31st may
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184155 they have removed the dummies which is a bit odd, I would assume if they were testing it, they would want the weight of people on it.
May 26, 201411 yr comment_184157 They're probably just not needed anymore. I assume they only have to do certain tests/checks with the dummies in, and they have been completed.
May 27, 201411 yr comment_184171 No not yet, unless it's up today. They will probably do the signage last minute, they don't want to put it up and then another problem occur. Sent from my iPhone 5S using Tapatalk
May 27, 201411 yr comment_184195 Entire area was cornered off today and didn't move once.there were no people working on it or staff around it. Its not looking too good for slammer.
May 27, 201411 yr comment_184196 Its not looking too good for slammer. If I had a penny for every time someone's said this, I wouldn't need to take out a student loan for uni! It does seem like Slammer will eventually be opening, perhaps in the near future.
May 27, 201411 yr comment_184197 If I had a penny for every time someone's said this, I wouldn't need to take out a student loan for uni! It does seem like Slammer will eventually be opening, perhaps in the near future. I do expect it to open some time soonish, but I don't think Thorpe will be keeping it much longer
May 28, 201411 yr comment_184218 They won't keep a ride that still pulls in guests? Or a ride that when it works works well.
May 28, 201411 yr comment_184220 They won't keep a ride that still pulls in guests? Or a ride that when it works works well. You also have to look at it from a business side of things. It may get 40 minute queues in the summer when its working but that is partly because of its lowish throughput. However the real case is that it is normally broken and is now a ride where spare parts don't exist. If a component breaks Thorpe have to ask S&S to make a new one which will raise maintenance costs. There will only be so much money they throw at it before management says no more. I'm not saying that it will go this year but more that I doubt we will see it in 5 years time.
May 28, 201411 yr comment_184233 Actually I do see it from a business point of view and for all we know S&S may charge a lot less than we think due the fact it's now a one of a kind and the parks kept it. The point of that is, as far as the park sees it, it's a ride that brings people in. How much they have to pay to get it fixed obviously doesn't bother them or it would have been gone ages ago. Not to mention this is the first major downtime it's had in a little while. Businesses care about profit, if fixing it doesn't cut into the profit then they really won't care.
May 28, 201411 yr comment_184234 Actually I do see it from a business point of view and for all we know S&S may charge a lot less than we think due the fact it's now a one of a kind and the parks kept it. The point of that is, as far as the park sees it, it's a ride that brings people in. How much they have to pay to get it fixed obviously doesn't bother them or it would have been gone ages ago. Not to mention this is the first major downtime it's had in a little while. Businesses care about profit, if fixing it doesn't cut into the profit then they really won't care. Does it bring people in though? When ordinary members of the public visit Thorpe, what rides will they think of? They'll think of the likes of the five major coasters and Tidal Wave, since these are the rides that are focused upon the most. I doubt there's many, if any, saying 'We need to go to Thorpe Park because it's got Slammer!'. When it is open, how popular of a ride is it? Not very. Slammer likely struggles to get above 400pph, yet I've only ever seen it get over an hour queue once, maybe twice, since it opened. I bet there's loads of other rides on park which get more people in one day want to go on instead of Slammer. I wouldn't call it a popular ride by any means. I bet that some people will call it 'The ride that got stuck upside years ago', since whenever it broke down with people on it, it made it onto BBC news. Regular visitors will see that it's down so often that they may think it's unsafe too, and be reluctant to ride it. Whatever way I look at it, I just can't see how anyone can call Slammer a popular ride, or a ride that brings guests in. From where I'm standing, it's not. There's surely got to be a point where the negatives outweigh the positives, and the park just have to say enough is enough. Even if the parts are cheap, there's other things you have to look at - time consumption for engineers (do you really want your engineers spending loads of time working on a ride that could break down a month later for an extended period of time?), marketing (it doesn't look good having an SBNO ride on park, especially when it's marketed on the map and the website), staffing, etc. Given all those factors, I wouldn't be surprised if Slammer is gone soon (usual cliché, I know, I'm sorry, but it is what I feel).
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