pluk Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 A bit of a sideways thought I suppose, but I wonder if The Smiler incident could have any bearing on the future of Slammer in a Merlin that I'm sure will be running away from any risk at an almighty pace for the foreseeable future? With all the construction issues that followed on into the opening season I always got the impression they ran The Smiler with a slight feeling of cautiousness. Not to say they actually thought it was unsafe of course, more that they had done enough to satisfy themselves it was fine rather than having an inherent trust in the ride. I get the same feeling about Slammer. It clearly is a ride near the edge, and they have done what needs doing to ensure it is safe within any foreseeable circumstance. But with the half day checks and very cautious operating they clearly do not have total faith in it. I now more than ever suspect its days are numbered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 I get the same feeling about Slammer. It clearly is a ride near the edge, and they have done what needs doing to ensure it is safe within any foreseeable circumstance. But with the half day checks and very cautious operating they clearly do not have total faith in it. I now more than ever suspect its days are numbered. Sadly I think this might be true. At times it's obvious the ride ops aren't confident about the ride, the amount of checks they have to do before they start the ride suggests this, as it never used to take that long to load up and send the ride. However, since it's not a coaster with multiple trains I'm not sure if they will be considering it at the moment, but after they have sorted everything else out it may well come under scrutiny. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planenut Posted June 5, 2015 Report Share Posted June 5, 2015 I went on Slammer yesterday, well Stealth had "gone down", and they were training staff then, very, very slow. I like Slammer but not a re-rideable item, and as pointed out, not in the same category as coasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han30 Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 I rode Slammer 3 times on Thursday - had only ridden in 4 times prior to that (always at the front with the exception of one time second row from the front) - proper chuffed that I managed to sit at the back and not soil myself(!!) - a guy I sat next to was talking to his mates and was saying as the ride stopped "who thinks of these types of rides" - some of the stuff he was saying made me laugh but I think because he had not ridden it before he was probably a bit anxious. Regarding the safety of Slammer, I have full trust in it (although I do sometimes wonder where I would land if I got ejected from my seat but that is due to my over-active imagination!). A bit of a sideways thought I suppose, but I wonder if The Smiler incident could have any bearing on the future of Slammer in a Merlin that I'm sure will be running away from any risk at an almighty pace for the foreseeable future? With all the construction issues that followed on into the opening season I always got the impression they ran The Smiler with a slight feeling of cautiousness. Not to say they actually thought it was unsafe of course, more that they had done enough to satisfy themselves it was fine rather than having an inherent trust in the ride. I get the same feeling about Slammer. It clearly is a ride near the edge, and they have done what needs doing to ensure it is safe within any foreseeable circumstance. But with the half day checks and very cautious operating they clearly do not have total faith in it. I now more than ever suspect its days are numbered. I can see your point here with Slammer - it has had a considerable (putting it mildly) amount of downtime and a lot of work done (and money spent on it) - I don't for one moment think it is unsafe but at the same time I can't see it being at Thorpe for much longer (maybe a couple more years at the most). I think when it comes to operations of it - yes it has half day checks (to ensure safety etc) - as for cautious operating of it, it may be because of the amount of downtime it has had in the past, or possible because it has moved areas with different staff working on it now - the staff who have recently been trained and assessed, whether it be to host or operate are still relatively new (to that ride) and getting used to doing the checks right etc. Yes the batching on it is slow I agree but hopefully this will speed up as the season continues. I think what adds to the time in batching is that the ride hosts have to literally count each person on each side - if there is a difference of X amount (so, a certain amount more on one side) they then have to shuffle things around to balance the ride out. Add on top of that the 2 restraints on each person that they have to check and that is after they have dodged past people who think there is no problem sticking their legs out and resting them infront, oblivious to the fact that the host needs to move past them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
planenut Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 TP are always losing staff, therefore training is ongoing, all season, and does cause delays. Luckily, when I was on Slammer on Thursday, the queue was not massive as I think most people are not aware it may be working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 6, 2015 Report Share Posted June 6, 2015 after they have dodged past people who think there is no problem sticking their legs out and resting them infront, oblivious to the fact that the host needs to move past them. When we went on it last Sunday the ride host stood at the side before checking the restraints and shouted 'Listen very carefully, I'm only going to say this once, I'm now going to check all your restraints, please pull your legs in now, I'm not small and believe me, you really don't want me falling on you while you're locked in that seat'. The first part got a laugh from everybody over 40, the second part made the ride shake as everybody collectively pulled their legs back in anticipation Celia Mae 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Han30 Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 When we went on it last Sunday the ride host stood at the side before checking the restraints and shouted 'Listen very carefully, I'm only going to say this once, I'm now going to check all your restraints, please pull your legs in now, I'm not small and believe me, you really don't want me falling on you while you're locked in that seat'. The first part got a laugh from everybody over 40, the second part made the ride shake as everybody collectively pulled their legs back in anticipation Haha - love it! Seriously do people not realise that the hosts need to get past people to check restraints? Or do they think they have powers of levitation?! Some people you come across at theme parks is pretty funny- certainly makes me feel less stupid at times. Example, was stood out Vortex and a teenage girl points at Zodiac and goes "oh my god that doesn't go upside down does?" (Zodiac was in full motion and had hit the highest point when she said that). #facepalm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted June 7, 2015 Report Share Posted June 7, 2015 I think it depends if the person takes an interest in what's going on, how the rides work, or whether it's 'just something to do'. I'd hazard a guess that 95% of of visitors to a parks fall into the latter category. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Anyone know why Slammers been closed since Sunday? Has it been testing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 Anyone know why Slammers been closed since Sunday? Has it been testing? It's had it's month of being open, now that's it for the season Joking aside, hope it opens soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thorpelover Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 I was on it Sunday and it was working fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted July 1, 2015 Report Share Posted July 1, 2015 It was working fine all day Sunday. Bit slow on loading as usual but was running fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lewumbrajumbos Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 Slammer is open Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 Slammer is open It lasted all of 40 minutes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 It always closes just before 3pm for its daily inspection. Coaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted July 2, 2015 Report Share Posted July 2, 2015 It always closes just before 3pm for its daily inspection. Oops, forgot about that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SYNAW Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I was reading through this topic and I was wondering why people are complaining about slow loading (although I haven't seen the queue above an hour this year)... looking at the things the staff have to do its no wonder that it takes a while to get it going. From making sure that the ride is near enough balanced (very narrow margin of difference from the looks of it) to fighting past guests legs to check all of the restraints on their side. Then I swear every time I'm on it someone complains that they have pulled the shoulder restraint down too far and the staff member has to awkwardly position themselves to unlock and re lock their bar. I'm just interested to see what anyone else thinks they should do to speed up, personally I think that they go as fast as they are able to. Plus hasn't there been loads of trainees on the ride, surely that is a valid reason for it to be slower? Jordanluke2009 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cal Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 I was reading through this topic and I was wondering why people are complaining about slow loading (although I haven't seen the queue above an hour this year)... looking at the things the staff have to do its no wonder that it takes a while to get it going. From making sure that the ride is near enough balanced (very narrow margin of difference from the looks of it) to fighting past guests legs to check all of the restraints on their side. Then I swear every time I'm on it someone complains that they have pulled the shoulder restraint down too far and the staff member has to awkwardly position themselves to unlock and re lock their bar. I'm just interested to see what anyone else thinks they should do to speed up, personally I think that they go as fast as they are able to. Plus hasn't there been loads of trainees on the ride, surely that is a valid reason for it to be slower? I haven't been on Slammer this year, but last year loading was a lot slower than what I have seen in previous years. They didn't batch people to the air gates while the ride was in operation. In previous years all the balancing was done while the ride was in operation as they batched people to the air gates, so that saved quite a bit of time. The staff just seemed generally slower, like once I was on the ride we had to wait a minute or two before they even locked the restraints. Again, I haven't been this year with it being in a new area now so I'm not sure how the loading has been this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted July 8, 2015 Report Share Posted July 8, 2015 When I was there last time I rode slammer multiple times. The first 2 times the ride was being batched by a staff member while the ride was in motion so loading and offloading was done very quickly. However in the afternoon the batcher was gone and was left to the standard set up I saw last year. I do believe in the morning the ride had 4 people working on it, the 2 operators one on the exit side and one batcher however later in the day it seemed there was only 3 people. The 2 operators and person on exit side. So when the ride had stopped the person on the exit side would come over and batch people. This makes me think the slow loading could just be down to not enough staff. However saying that slow loading isn't a problem as the queue never really exceeds 1 or 2 cycles anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPJames Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 The amount of times I overheard people talking about slammer yesterday was unbelievable! So many people around the park were talking about how they wanted to ride it next and the amount of people pointing at it in shock was pretty awesome. A common description I heard was, "Let's go on slammer next, it's the one which goes vertical". During the parks peak period yesterday, it maintained a 40minute queue from opening around 11am to when it closed for checks at around 3pm, it is nice to see the ride finally seeing some recognition as in my opinion it is one of the most stunning, intimidating and brilliant rides out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Don't get carried away. A 40 minute queue for Slammer is about 200-250 people. That's like a 15-20 minute queue for the likes of Rush. Also, next time you go to Thorpe, listen out for people talking about Storm Surge. You'll probably here equally many positive words for that as Slammer. If you listen for it, you'll hear it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 Ignore Josh, ALL HAIL SLAMMER, LORD OF ALL, MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE. paige, Tom and OldFarmerDean 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted July 17, 2015 Report Share Posted July 17, 2015 I wish slammer did a couple more spins, just enough to get you proper dizzy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt10 Posted August 3, 2015 Report Share Posted August 3, 2015 If I remember correctly, S&S or Thorpe said something ages ago about how to do more spins, the motors would have to be changed and new electronics fitted, it would be a lot more prone to break downs, would have more problems with levelling and its throughput would be a lot worse and at the moment the ride only does one cycle about every 6 or 7 minutes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slendercat Posted September 8, 2015 Report Share Posted September 8, 2015 Finally got a ride on this beast and I'd say probs my third fav flat at the park after Samurai and Rush. I just wish it didn't have such low reliability. Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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