March 25, 201015 yr comment_87647 Is the ribena sponsership still there or am I blind? The ribena sponsorship went at the start of the 09 season.
April 15, 201015 yr comment_89574 I actually really enjoy Rumba Rapids! It's a nice breather from riding the more thrilling rides and is pretty fun
April 15, 201015 yr comment_89580 There was a 10 minute queue the other day, so I was expecting to be put in a boat with a different group because I was only with 4 people so there would have been 3 spare seats. I was slightly baffled when I saw many many of the boat things going round with two, 3 or 4 people in them. So I then thought oh we'll be okay. We asked the guy asking how many if we could sit by ourselves because we wanted a picture as we were there with some friends from scarborough and he said okay. And then the woman told us to get in to a boat with a group of three. She was rude when my mum asked if we could sit alone and explained why. My mum then said "well I'm not being funny but we have just seen groups of threes and twos going round by themselves and they were only the 4 boats before us" I could understand maybe them being told the queue was getting long so they should put groups together, but when my mum said about it we were told that all of the many people in the boats we had seen with 2-4 people in them had a special wristband that allowed them to sit by themselves.I was wondering what this wristband is for and if it even exists? This may sound terrible, but I don't mean it to. I understand that there are disability wristbands but I doubt that the many boats we saw go round before us all had somebody with a disability wristband in them.Thanks in advance .
April 15, 201015 yr comment_89582 There was a 10 minute queue the other day, so I was expecting to be put in a boat with a different group because I was only with 4 people so there would have been 3 spare seats. I was slightly baffled when I saw many many of the boat things going round with two, 3 or 4 people in them. So I then thought oh we'll be okay. We asked the guy asking how many if we could sit by ourselves because we wanted a picture as we were there with some friends from scarborough and he said okay. And then the woman told us to get in to a boat with a group of three. She was rude when my mum asked if we could sit alone and explained why. My mum then said "well I'm not being funny but we have just seen groups of threes and twos going round by themselves and they were only the 4 boats before us" I could understand maybe them being told the queue was getting long so they should put groups together, but when my mum said about it we were told that all of the many people in the boats we had seen with 2-4 people in them had a special wristband that allowed them to sit by themselves.I was wondering what this wristband is for and if it even exists? Thanks in advance .My first thought is disabled riders with their carers? You should have gone to guest services
April 15, 201015 yr comment_89583 My first thought is disabled riders with their carers? You should have gone to guest services Ah we were going to but my mums been ill recently can't walk long distances and we got to by quantum and she was just like I WANT TO LEAVE NOW. So we didn't. She rang up though x
June 15, 201015 yr comment_93387 I hope there re-theme the rapids soon, it is looking a little run down and could do with some TLC.....
June 15, 201015 yr comment_93403 I agree that rapids is in desperate need of some life being breathed back into the void it has become over these past years of neglect, hopefully we may see something next year :S
June 15, 201015 yr comment_93405 I agree that rapids is in desperate need of some life being breathed back into the void it has become over these past years of neglect, hopefully we may see something next year :SYou'll be saying that for many years...
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93416 If someone put together a list of Merlin rides that need some serious TLC...........
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93421 Its a shame they with a bit of rejuvination and some cash put back into the ride they could make it into a great attraction and could act as though it is a new ride generating more custom for the park, I hope you are not right about it taking a long time but sadly I do feel you are right.
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93422 I doubt the park are going to make drastic improvements if any, they haven't really got the money to be wasting on refurbishing a rapids ride, when they could be investing in new attractions for the 'thrill seeker' market. Anyway, I don't have a problem with the ride as it is. Yes it could do with a good clean up and every thing could be brought to live with a lick of paint, but I'm not complaining about the current state the ride's in. I like the soundtrack, and generally the ride remains to please most guests.
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93452 It is a joke. The worst rapids ride in the world!How did you come to that conclusion? Have you been on every Rapids ride in the world?
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93453 Okay, it is probbably an exaggeration, but come on guys, its pretty awful. I have been on Jungle Rapids at Gardaland, now that was a well themed, fun rapids ride, perfect.
June 16, 201015 yr comment_93458 The ride is looking dead, derelict, however you wanna put it, it needs a hell of a revamp. Maybe Thorpe are just looking or waiting for another sponsor? Inject some money into the ride!
June 17, 201015 yr comment_93471 If it ever does get a revamp, I doubt it will be a great enough revamp to completely change all of your opinions on the ride, Thorpe Park aren't going to waste that kind of money on improving a rapids ride, simply due to the target market. Chessington for example, would be far more inclined to spend the money to drastically improve a ride like that.
June 17, 201015 yr comment_93472 If it ever does get a revamp, I doubt it will be a great enough revamp to completely change all of your opinions on the ride, Thorpe Park aren't going to waste that kind of money on improving a rapids ride, simply due to the target market. Chessington for example, would be far more inclined to spend the money to drastically improve a ride like that.That is a fair point, I currently love the Rapids, so it would make too much difference. I will complain last year that Chessington needed to spend some money on the park and they have and it looks great.
June 19, 201015 yr comment_93601 It is a joke. The worst rapids ride in the world!Been on Viking River Splash....? IMO worst one I have been on so far.
June 20, 201015 yr comment_93637 Rumba is in desperate need of refurbishment but a lot, and I mean alot of money has been spent on it close season. Remember the reliability issues last season with it breaking down every half hour or worse? This season they replaced the whole turntable (Relaying the decking and regripping), replaced the ride computers underneath the console with brand new units and replaced the aging control console for the operators as well as some new cameras. These improvements cost money and with the current economic conditions Merlin doesnt have and endless supply of money to throw at every ride. Now that the big work has been done on the mechanical side of the ride, it is likely that the aesthetics will get tackled next season.
June 20, 201015 yr comment_93641 ^ Thing is - Do a lot of 'normal' guests really think of the theme behind the ride if they visit Thorpe Park?! - I don't think so imo.
June 20, 201015 yr comment_93649 me and friends are normal guest we visit sort of once a year, every two years and we find that the themes of rides make for a much better experience despite being what you would call normal riders although we do find the rapids an ok ride as mentioned and it is enjoyable but we feel that it could be improved upon which is what the park seem to want to do lately so hopefully there will be new theming and effects if where lucky.
June 20, 201015 yr comment_93652 I was looking on ThemeUK and I came across some old pictures from when it was Ribena Rumba Rapids and I never actually realised how differently themed it was to now.I know it looks tatty as the sponsership was removed and that Thunder River was better but it actually looked quite good with the berries:Control HutTunnel Entrance (The On-ride Camera is there too)Part of the insidePhotos from ThemeUK
June 21, 201015 yr comment_93687 ^ Thing is - Do a lot of 'normal' guests really think of the theme behind the ride if they visit Thorpe Park?! - I don't think so imo.Of course they dont, but they'd certainly be thinking about it if it couldnt open or was breaking down regularly as was the case last year. No point making it look flashy but lacking the substance to make it reliable. Thorpe have gone the right way about it getting the mechanics right before improving the aesthetics
June 21, 201015 yr comment_93720 Hmm, the whole maintenance thing is nothing though. It doesn't cost them that much, it comes out of an already pre-agreed maintenance budget, or a special budget. The parks make millions a year each, so you can't argue that spending on general upkeep of the actual hardware is reason enough not to upkeep theming and stuff. Thank god towers don't think like this.
June 22, 201015 yr comment_93785 Hmm, the whole maintenance thing is nothing though. It doesn't cost them that much, it comes out of an already pre-agreed maintenance budget, or a special budget. The parks make millions a year each, so you can't argue that spending on general upkeep of the actual hardware is reason enough not to upkeep theming and stuff. Thank god towers don't think like this.yeh a prearranged budget that has to be split between all the rides and there simply isnt enough money to do it all. In an ideal world it would have all been done but there simply isnt the money to do it all. Money has been spent this year on a massive overhaul of the mechanics of the ride, there simply is no budget left to do anything about the theming this year.
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