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Slammer


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10 hours ago, 08newmanb said:

Maybe a new version of the sky swat perhaps, by maybe a different manufacturer

I think you'd struggle to get anyone to consider making you one of those with the two that have existed being the maintenance disasters they were.

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50 minutes ago, 08newmanb said:

well I don’t know what’s the main problem with the sky swat? Was it the restraints? The rotor which rotates riders? Or was it the lift that lifts the ride?

It was the stain the arms went under, the power of the motors, the bearings, the fact it was air powered, the fact its buckled, the fact weight distribution is a problem, the fact it was a money hole to keep running,

 

it simply wasnt viable to keep running

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Kind of a crazy piece of engineering that it was pneumatic, amazing but didn't work long term.

Pretty cool that we got two quite prototypey flat rides at the park in one year, which you really don't see most anywhere else. Rush was always the much better sensation and location though.

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  • 4 months later...

I mean, I get why people want it dismantled (I'm in the exact same boat). 

 

But when the park is in a situation where they're not paying for new rides and their headline thing for 2019 is a bouncy castle, we can only assume money is restricted. I'd rather them put that restricted budget to use on rides that are actually meant to be open than a dead one..

 

Ideally there'd be money for both, but being realistic, nah.

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36 minutes ago, Glitch said:

Bloody hell are there any positive members on this forum anymore? What do you all want for TP to be sold and made into a shopping village?

 

All the positivity is in the European theme park topics currently. There was a brief rest-bite when Wicker Man and Icon opened but they weren't enough.  Unfortunately Thorpe has fallen quite a distance from its heydays in the 00's when there was hope of enthusiasm and big projects from the park. Now-a-days a bouncy castle (which Chessington doesn't even advertise with theirs) is the best we get. Things like Slammer and Loggers just being abandoned are symptoms of a far bigger issue that Thorpe faces.

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Paultons is probably the last hope we currently have for the UK industry. They are an authentic park with intention of constant improvement in all areas and remain strongly successful for their key audience. 

 

I sadly cannot  say the same for the majority of other UK parks. Sure a couple of smaller things are better or least terrible but things on the whole have slipped very noticeably. 

 

One just needs to look at old Town, Colossus, Saw Alive, amongst other areas. Smaller parks like Bobblejaan are pushing the boat further now, let alone the Dutch and German park’s which are arguably where many of the best European parks currently are!

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8 minutes ago, Loggers Creek said:

Paultons is probably the last hope we currently have for the UK industry. They are an authentic park with intention of constant improvement in all areas and remain strongly successful for their key audience. 

 

I sadly cannot  say the same for the majority of other UK parks. Sure a couple of smaller things are better or least terrible but things on the whole have slipped very noticeably. 

 

One just needs to look at old Town amongst other areas. Smaller parks like Bobblejaan are pushing the boat further now, let alone the Dutch and German park’s which are arguably where many of the best European parks currently are!

Until they lose the Peppa Pig IP for UK to Merlin....

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1 hour ago, Glitch said:

Until they lose the Peppa Pig IP for UK to Merlin....

Again though that just shows how poor Merlin are.  Capitalising off the work a family park put into securing an IP years ago and copy-pasting it across their UK (and overseas) parks puts them further behind.

 

They're supposed to be ahead of the curve yet they're copying something a small family park pulled off years ago, it's laughable.

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4 hours ago, Loggers Creek said:

Smaller parks like Bobblejaan are pushing the boat further now, let alone the Dutch and German park’s which are arguably where many of the best European parks currently are!

It's easy to look across the pond and think the grass is greener on the other side. And in fairness, in many cases, it is. But let's not go saying that the UK parks are doing worse than the likes of Bobbejaanland, who have only just added a new coaster after 8 years, and is generally an abysmal place to be in.

3 hours ago, Coaster said:

Again though that just shows how poor Merlin are.  Capitalising off the work a family park put into securing an IP years ago and copy-pasting it across their UK (and overseas) parks puts them further behind.

 

They're supposed to be ahead of the curve yet they're copying something a small family park pulled off years ago, it's laughable.

Merlin were ahead of the curve though. Thorpe were on the IP train in 2009 with Saw and it was hugely successful. HUGELY. Comparatively, you could argue it was more successful than Thomas Land was for Drayton in 2008. That's one of the reason why, in the UK industry in particular, people thought IPs could work. And that's why Paultons followed suit and went with Peppa; a hugely popular, new IP.

 

After that, it's just business. You see it everywhere: a small company has a great idea, the huge companies copy/steal it. It's how it works. 

 

I'm sure Paultons have put a plan in place for when the license runs out. And if they've done things well, the loss of Peppa Pig won't affect them that much. And if it seriously affects them (which I really hope it doesn't, and personally don't expect it to), then that just shows how poor Paultons are.

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4 hours ago, JoshC. said:

It's easy to look across the pond and think the grass is greener on the other side. And in fairness, in many cases, it is. But let's not go saying that the UK parks are doing worse than the likes of Bobbejaanland, who have only just added a new coaster after 8 years, and is generally an abysmal place to be in.

They're doing one count better than Chessington then, which still hasnt got a new coaster after 15 years! I may discover whether it's abysmal or not but I  feel more inclined to go visit parks like that than most UK parks at the moment. All down to value for money.
 

4 hours ago, JoshC. said:

Merlin were ahead of the curve though. Thorpe were on the IP train in 2009 with Saw and it was hugely successful. HUGELY.

It was a bumper year for the park, but then why have all their other IP attempts at Thorpe since been such big flops? The entire park was in a different situation. They're now feeling the pinch after years of too much focus on short fads instead of long term redevelopment and improvement.

On the subject of IPs. Merlin have just tried to suggest in their interim results that its Legoland performances have been disappointing because the Lego Movie 2 didnt bring in the extra guests expected. But they'll still build more and more Lego Movie attractions anyway, becoming even more reliant on the performance of other media rather than build the quality of their own parks.

IP popularity can be used to boost parks in the short term but overusing it like Merlin do will just come back to bite you.

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On 8/1/2019 at 10:25 PM, Wumbamillio said:

They're doing one count better than Chessington then, which still hasnt got a new coaster after 15 years! I may discover whether it's abysmal or not but I  feel more inclined to go visit parks like that than most UK parks at the moment. All down to value for money.

The thing is though, Bobbejaanland and Chessington have had the same number or worthwhile 'new' investments this century. And Chessington have done a much better job at tarting up old attractions than Bobbejaanland have. One new coaster doesn't, or at least, shouldn't, mask that.

 

We can rave about foreign parks' investments (and we should), but it can be all too easy to get carried away when a park gets a shiny new coaster.

 

On 8/1/2019 at 10:25 PM, Wumbamillio said:

It was a bumper year for the park, but then why have all their other IP attempts at Thorpe since been such big flops? The entire park was in a different situation. They're now feeling the pinch after years of too much focus on short fads instead of long term redevelopment and improvement.

Many other of their IP attempts have failed, for varying reasons, yes. But the point still stands: they were ahead of the curve when it comes to introducing them in the first place. That's what the point was.

On 8/1/2019 at 10:25 PM, Wumbamillio said:


On the subject of IPs. Merlin have just tried to suggest in their interim results that its Legoland performances have been disappointing because the Lego Movie 2 didnt bring in the extra guests expected. But they'll still build more and more Lego Movie attractions anyway, becoming even more reliant on the performance of other media rather than build the quality of their own parks.

A good point. As I said in the Merlin thread, I think it was optimistic of them to think lightning would strike twice and a second film would have similar attendance impact. But equally, I don't think Lego Movie Worlds are a bad idea; they still have draw. It's still a clever way of attracting people to visit, and getting them to return. There's a major difference between a sequel's ability to draw people to a park and a new attraction based off a successful film.

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I really hope Thorpe having something decent planned for 2021 so they can start teasing next year, because who's to say that Paulton's don't extend their new land even further in 2021 if it's received well?

 

BounceZilla has been surprisingly popular but it's a short term fix (or at least, a poorly applied plaster) when it's clear that Thorpe is crying out for a worthwhile investment.... but I don't think Merlin are looking to splash the cash. 

 

Also, to being the thread back on track - I really loved Slammer and kudos where it's due for the Island like No Other keeping it alive for as long as they did.

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  • 3 years later...

Not sure how many of the people on here have seen this but thorpe have confirmed that they will be removing slammer on the annual pass facebook group. Sounds like it’s not gonna be there for much longer as they said that they don’t want a run down ride around when exodus opens so it should be going sometime soon.

 

Unfortunately they said that they were not gonna replace it with anything new, which I think is a missed opportunity but oh well. At least it’s finally gonna go.

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The exact quote in question:

 

Quote

Hey we don’t plan to keep Slammer sitting around much longer especially with a beautfil new coaster nearby! No set date of removal yet but we’ll keep you all updated. No plans to sell any parts.

 

Really, it doesn't confirm anything. The park have said in the past they would consider removing it / have plans to remove it, etc. Obviously hasn't happened yet. And those plans could be a few years in the future.

 

Really, until we actually see plans for something to replace it, or see it physically getting torn down, we should assume it is here for the long haul.

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Quote

No plans to sell any parts.

 

I've always wondered why Thorpe seem to be so against this. It's strange that Towers, Pleasure Beach, Paultons etc all seem to be offering it - but Thorpe seem to have absolutely zero interest in it. It's super unlike a Merlin attraction to turn down a potential moneymaking opportunity!

 

Considering the park offer behind the scenes tours of their rollercoasters and attractions, they're clearly catering towards enthusiasts... so why not go the full hog and sell worthless chunks of metal to them too?! Unless the park have some sort of strange deal with the manufacturers or whoever they buy their rides from that they're not allowed to resell ride hardware, it just seems insane to me!

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Slammer won't be removed until they have something to go in it's place or plans for the area, I guarantee.

If they haven't fixed/replaced an on it's last legs screen, or have multi-coloured tarmac all over the place due to laying cables or whatever, then I can't see them spending money on removing an SBNO ride that is sort-of hidden and next to a not very popular "experience".

 

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  • 4 months later...

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