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Slammer


Artie

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It did open yesterday afternoon, as I was sat in the burger king, seeing it testing, and then seen some kids run up the queue to go on it, and rode it. not sure how long it stayed open for though.

 

I believe it lasted one cycle then it closed again, most of the day staff were standing there telling people that it was closed, engineers were at the top most of the afternoon. It was testing in the morning but sadly failed to open :(

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It really is painfully slow to load, however lets be honest the queue is never very long no matter what - no more than about 20 - 30 minuets, so either way its not a long ride to wait for.

I think the main reason is something to do with the air compression, even in its early days it took forever to actually do a full cycle and round again...they are clearly waiting for something...its not a case of staff being lazy, clearly they are waiting for something...and thus makes the need to batch during the ride defunct as guests will still be waiting. 

In reality however I wish I knew the actual reason...I totally love Slammer, my complete Flat Ride, the best in the Business, in my opinion...it is just so imposing, great feeling of free fall when going the right way...also it has a lovely sound of a ride with the air compression and wind as it spins, and the whirls...it really is a hidden gem in my opinion...I know many people hate it with a passion for all sorts of reasons, and I can totally understand that too! 

 

The thing I feel most sad about this ride is its clear neglect firstly as it has been out of action for a year and was clearly showing its age mixed with a long closed season, but secondly as a ride itself, you see the queue that is never used anymore, and you look at the ride and think...this really should be one of THE rides in the park...but its not...such a shame. 

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It really is painfully slow to load, however lets be honest the queue is never very long no matter what - no more than about 20 - 30 minuets, so either way its not a long ride to wait for.

I don't want to be contradicting or anything but the queue was 75mins when I visited two weeks back... I dread to think of what it will be during sun scream. The ride is more popular than in previous years and the loading has gotten slower, the queue will easily reach 2 hours during sun scream considering it wasn't actually that busy 2 weeks back!

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REALLY???? I have never seen it that length!? Wow...Well I rode it the other day with no queue so clearly I had a better day with the queues...but wow now that is a long wait!!

We only waited about 30 minutes which was up to the entrance without the extension open. This should of only been about 10 minutes but was taking them about 10mins per cycle which is utterly ridiculous, no matter what the problem is. I mean it's better open than closed but their loading really needs to improve. When we got off, the ride op announced a 75minute queue and it was winding in and out through the extension.

I think a lot of people who usually visit thorpe don't know the ride actually exists as it's not on the map etc. they usually go to thorpe and don't ride it but when they see it open these days it immediately becomes popular. There were at least a few hundred in the queue and was only doing about 50 per ten minutes- 300per hour.

When I visited sunscream last year vortex was 90minutes and we all know how slow that is, I would be surprised if slammer didn't at least reach 90-120minutes. I am that positive that I would even place a bet on it ;).

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Went on slammer today and it was rather entertaing. It was just me and my firend and to keep it balanced we had to sit oppisite sides so we looked rather odd having an arm to ourselves. Even loading 2 people it took far too long though.

 

Thats strange. It used to allow a weight difference of up to two, so as a group of two in previous seasons you could sit together... same as it being out by two when it's 'got a queue'. Odd.

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I wouldn't put a bet on it 75 minutes is the longest it's got and we've had the busiest 2 weeks of the year. Plus Slammer probably won't still be running by Sun Scream (and they had enough staff last Tuesday to batch with the ride in operation and I think they did so it can be done).

 

When I went (last Wednesday) there was enough staff to batch while in operation, there were 2 in each consoles. But they didn't. Later on that day they did, but then they kept them 2-3 minutes behind the air gates and then 2-3 mins again before locking the restraints so they are defiantly slowing down operations for some reason. 

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When I went (last Wednesday) there was enough staff to batch while in operation, there were 2 in each consoles. But they didn't. Later on that day they did, but then they kept them 2-3 minutes behind the air gates and then 2-3 mins again before locking the restraints so they are defiantly slowing down operations for some reason. 

 

If there are multiple people in a console (like in this case) it is because they are not yet trained to work on the ride as they have to complete a certain amount of hours of shadowing before being able to work alone. The staff members obviously can't leave the consoles while the ride is in motion as it may require to be emergency stopped etc. As for waiting behind the air gates for a while, there may be issues balancing the ride (but neither this nor locking the restraints should take much time). With an experienced team, it's quite easy to send a cycle every 8 or so minutes but due to the amount of downtime Slammer has had over the last few years, there aren't that many experienced people left...

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With an experienced team, it's quite easy to send a cycle every 8 or so minutes but due to the amount of downtime Slammer has had over the last few years, there aren't that many experienced people left...

And that now gives an answer to what I (and no doubt others) have wondered for a while - "What is Slammer's throughput?". With an experienced team, a cool 384..

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If there are multiple people in a console (like in this case) it is because they are not yet trained to work on the ride as they have to complete a certain amount of hours of shadowing before being able to work alone. The staff members obviously can't leave the consoles while the ride is in motion as it may require to be emergency stopped etc. As for waiting behind the air gates for a while, there may be issues balancing the ride (but neither this nor locking the restraints should take much time). With an experienced team, it's quite easy to send a cycle every 8 or so minutes but due to the amount of downtime Slammer has had over the last few years, there aren't that many experienced people left...

 

Not saying you are wrong, but I don't think that was the case as a shortwhile after they were batching people in the air gates while the ride was in motion, and it was the same staff.

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Not saying you are wrong, but I don't think that was the case as a shortwhile after they were batching people in the air gates while the ride was in motion, and it was the same staff.

 

Perhaps the 40 minutes of shadowing that was required had finished ;-)

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