I have just been notified that XXL was dismantled earlier today in order to try and be fixed. The team hopes for it to be reopened tomorrow

According to Winter Wonderland unofficial on FB, XXL reopened this evening at 9pm.

Went to Winter Wonderland last night and it was extremely busy. Took 30 minutes to get in and it was virtually shoulder to shoulder everywhere. Managed to get on just Air and Wilde Maus XXL. I queued about 40 minutes for Wilde Maus! or rides in and saw prices for about 5 rides. Only managed to see prices for the following

Wild Maus xxl £6 (thought it would be more)

Air £6

Ice mountain £6

Starflyer £7

If visiting, I highly reccomend visting in off peak times, it has been so busy lately and at the high prices the rides charge the cycles have been dreadful! If visiting, make sure you visit in early hours or on an off peak ride time to make the most of your money.

Cycle on air, charging £6, only went once over the top at full speed. What a waste of money, will definitely be visiting in off peak times to garuntee good cycles.

That's not good at all, value for money should not be compromised by shortening the ride cycles so they can make more money.

I've had a good 6 minutes or so riding air before, because there was no queue during the day so they just kept us going and going

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Sorry I was mistaken, air was actually £7 not £6 in the cycle above. The price has risen and cycle length has shortened; absolutely disgusting I think...

It's a business. I've had some epic rides on Air, some that I think are well worth the £6 (yes you can ride it for £3 at some random places it goes to but I like the whole atmosphere as well personal opinion) and those have been at quiet times. Winter Wonderland themselves advise you go at quiet times. What more can they do? They stagger entry, they are out to make money. Same old argument of while people are willing to pay that much for that little they'll charge that much. I doubt the ride operators are given free control with how they operate the rides at peak times, they're probably told by management to only run for a certain timed cycle to reduce queue times. You give everyone a 6 minute cycle and you're going to be raking up hour queues on rides that have been plonked on a piece of grass without any consideration as to holding a substantial queue due to lack of space.

 

Don't like the way they run it, don't go. I'm sure they won't mind. 2.5 million people went last year alone. 

If visiting, I highly reccomend visting in off peak times, it has been so busy lately and at the high prices the rides charge the cycles have been dreadful! If visiting, make sure you visit in early hours or on an off peak ride time to make the most of your money.

Cycle on air, charging £6, only went once over the top at full speed. What a waste of money, will definitely be visiting in off peak times to garuntee good cycles.

dude they run it like this at every fair if it gets busy. When it went to pype hayes(probably not spelt right) it had a MASSIVE queue that took up both payboxs and stretched out for most of the fair also the queue was on going till the end of the night. People go to fairs not to queue for hours like at a theme park but to go on an insane ride and expect to get on it within 5-15 minutes. If they run the ride for the usual length of time(3-4 minutes) you wont be putting the people through quick enough to make loads of money. Showmen need money to live. This is what people need to understand

I think a lot of people will agree with me that cyles that short shouldn't be given at the high price they are charging. I understand all the points you have raised, but as they have raised the price of the ride to £7 for winter wonderland, I think they should be dishing out decent cycles. I would much rather wait a bit longer and have a decent cycle for the money I've paid than get on quickly and have a very poor ride.

If they are filling the thing up even with a very short ride cycle and £7 a seat then they are clearly charging the right price.

 

I quite agree that there are obviously a lot of stupid people about, prepared to pay so much for so little, but they would be insane to give more than they they can get away with while actually preventing themselves from taking the next lots money at the same time. 

Simple principle of Yield Management...

 

Every business that provides a service & operates in the private sector does it.

 

From airlines to Train Operating Companies to hairdressers... the list goes on.

 

The intention is to make maximum profit from the assets (& capacity) you have available to you, if you don't, you're being too generous!!

If my calculations are correct then AIR is making nearly three grand a day. And considering winter wonderland is on for 50 days thats good going since every weekend would be packed its making a heap of money. Dont forget it also costs money to run these rides I remember on fairground attractions Abie Danter (owner of air) said he was using enough power to run a small hosptial or town, thats how much air needs to be powered

On another note, does anyone know why rock rage(ski jump) was moved to the Victorian funfair side street?

The ride has been doing much better in its new location and has been gaining long queues during evening periods,and during quiet morning periods it has been giving very generous cycles. I have no doubt that people are finding it impressive with its surroundings as it is a location separate to where the big rides are. Last year the ride appeared to be unpopular as was located near others like gladiator and power tower. I have no doubt that the location and the £5 price tag are bringing people in(as £5 is cheaper compared to the other big rides).

I look forward to riding it soon and I highly reccomend it, it's a great experience!

On another note, does anyone know why rock rage(ski jump) was moved to the Victorian funfair side street?

The ride has been doing much better in its new location and has been gaining long queues during evening periods,and during quiet morning periods it has been giving very generous cycles. I have no doubt that people are finding it impressive with its surroundings as it is a location separate to where the big rides are. Last year the ride appeared to be unpopular as was located near others like gladiator and power tower. I have no doubt that the location and the £5 price tag are bringing people in(as £5 is cheaper compared to the other big rides).

I look forward to riding it soon and I highly reccomend it, it's a great experience!

its due to the fact that its the only big ride in that area. The organisers said they liked the ride but wanted to put it in a better spot so put it in a place where there was less big rides so it stood out more

 Abie Danter (owner of air) said he was using enough power to run a small hosptial or town, thats how much air needs to be powered

 

I really don't think it takes that much power to run Air. That massive ball on the other end is a counterweight, so although there is a lot of weight to move it is quite well balanced. Where do you propose they are pulling the power of a town from? The ride did cost about a million pound though, so servicing that debt can't be cheap.

I really don't think it takes that much power to run Air. That massive ball on the other end is a counterweight, so although there is a lot of weight to move it is quite well balanced. Where do you propose they are pulling the power of a town from? The ride did cost about a million pound though, so servicing that debt can't be cheap.

I have no idea thats what he said on the show!

It's clear that a fairground ride is not cheap to run, obviously the smaller and less complex it is, the cheaper to run.

Especially with winter wonderland it will not be cheap to run your ride and that is why I do understand a price increase to a normal fair, especially as people are willing to pay.

-For a start the cost of transport. Some of these rides coming all the way from Europe have to do hours of travelling in several loads. It's not going to be cheap to cover the cost of petrol etc.

-Secondly to actually power the ride isn't cheap either, I have no clue of the price but I heard these rides take up a lot of power to run; especially on the longer cycles being run at full speed knackering the motors.

-Next is the cost of maintenance. These rides aren't cheap to maintain, funfair rides have regular inspections and regularly have to replace parts in order to keep the ride going. These rides are going all day and all night, if the ride isn't maintained there is bound to be an accident sooner or later or the ride is going to have a major breakdown.

-Finally is the cost to run your ride at the event. Winter wonderland will have to pay a lot of money to put their event on hyde park and no doubt for every ride token, a portion of the cost will be going to the organisers.

My main point is, these ride owners aren't gaining every penny from the price they are charging, just a mere portion of it. Let's say XXL charges €5 in Europe; after all the expenses taken out here for Jacky to run the ride, the family are not earning £7 per token but more like the price they charge when back in Belgium. What's the point of them taking their ride to winter wonderland then? Well, my guess is that they hope the ride will attract attention and be very successful, therefore making it popular and a high volume of tokens sold. The fact that winter wonderland is so popular, gives the owners hope that they can make more money than when in their home countries. They are not earning extra profit from every ride by having their rides here in England, they are earning the same as they do in their home country per person however have a higher volume of people riding.

This may not all be correct but I'd just like to point it out. I know £4-£9 is NOT cheap for a ride per person, but I think there is justifiable reasons behind it and also the people in London are willing to pay these token prices.

In fact winter wonderland showmen recieve 50% of all money made. This is why you see a lot of rides after WW usually have new improvements cause of that extra cash boost

Sod the hatred for Air (it's an awful ride, would prefer a topscan actually). It allows contactless payment. It was exciting.

To anyone who has visited this year, what have cycles been like on gladiator: last year they were poor so I can't imagine them being any better.

I found this video of a 10minute cycle on gladiator, really really hoping for this if I ride, definately worth the £9 and look how it hangs upside down at the beginning as well

To anyone who has visited this year, what have cycles been like on gladiator: last year they were poor so I can't imagine them being any better.

I found this video of a 10minute cycle on gladiator, really really hoping for this if I ride, definately worth the £9 and look how it hangs upside down at the beginning as well

lol they werent poor. When I went last year I got a really decent ride on it where the gondola spun for a while then it went full speed. Also went on for a long time too

Air (it's an awful ride, would prefer a topscan actually).

Absolutely. I said pretty much the same thing as I got off of Bling for the first time.

Air is my faviurote flat ride ever..

Admittedly I have ridden it about 3 or 4 times... And on one occasion had a ridiculously short cycle and the pricehad gone up to £6! This was at Bristol Balloon Fiesta... I'm dreading what its going to be like at Hyde park winter wonderland, even though I'll still go on it.

Went yesterday with a mate who paid for me. Only did one of the fun houses, the spinny thing that loses the floor, and of course the coasters. We will start with the staff abit rude sniggering and talking in there own language. The first coaster we went on was my 23rd cred Ice mountain coaster a fun little spinning mouse with surprise airtime a fun little spin. Christmas coaster quite a fun coaster. And last but not least Wilde Maus XXL oh my what a fab little cred and my 25th cred. Throws you round the headchoppers were scary the airtime was good in the photo I looked petrified. Will be going back Thursday.