daboywunda Posted October 7, 2010 Report Share Posted October 7, 2010 Hiya Dan... Thanks for the reply.. I can assure you that Nemesis was only on one train Weds 29th until mid morning as I headed straight over there from ERT to find a 15min Q with one train running - And I thought "oh, 1 train operation, must be expecting a quiet day then" (especially given that Spinball was running 5 cars and Oblivion on 4)- Granted, the 2nd train was introduced later that morning and stayed that way for the majority of the day, so its possible that a technical fault was responsible. The Q boards were saying Nemesis Q @ 35 mins (and was also updated a few times with 40 mins on Ride Hopper too - until the 2nd train came on)Rita also did start the day with one train I believe, but as I was whoring myself out on Th13teen at the time there is every possibility I may be wrong (it was definitely on 2 trains when we got bored of 13 at about 10:45, but seemed to only be launching one at the very start of the day)But, putting this all into context, I do have to say that Alton seem to have more control and grasp of their throughputs and seem to know exactly when to increase their capacity to allow for a quicker queue munching period - but to be fair to both parks, I tend to find that when operating full capacity both parks are really good... Its just the knowing when to increase capacity that seems to be the problem.But again, back to the original point of both parks being a business not a charity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 a 30 minute queue with one train involves standing in the same position for an extended period of time, or not actually moving very far at all. With two trains with the same amount of queue time, you move a lot more and is a much more satisfying experience!Thats not exactly true when in my experience, with fastrack running, they will get one train and the main queue gets the other. So to conclude, no matter when you visit Thorpe, there will be a point where you you may have to queue for something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted October 8, 2010 Report Share Posted October 8, 2010 Didn't Thorpe famously once say they'd always run Stealth on two trains? Always always always. #addingtothefun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 I'm going to throw a spanner in the works..From a member of the general public on Thorpe Park Official's facebook page from yesterday:"Stealth closed, queue times huge due to only running one car on each ride (and estimated queue times a joke!). This is my 4th time and will definately be my last.Get your act together Thorpe!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThrillSeekerMatt Posted October 15, 2010 Report Share Posted October 15, 2010 It's pretty funny to read some of the comments people write on the FB pages for all of the Merlin attractions.I was reading a very funny one w while ago when Alton Towers were asking people what they would like to ask the creators of Th13teen, some of the comments were a bit negative Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted October 27, 2010 Report Share Posted October 27, 2010 Ahh can't be arsed to read 6 pages, so hopefully people haven't mentioned this.One train inferno, 30min queue.. is incredibly frustrating when you know on two trains, it'll be 5-10mins. It was frustrating, particularly when the next time I visited, it was quieter (still a dead day though) and had two trains. Fastrack.. gah, its not available on "dead" days!!Unless they have a problem, air will always run 3 trains, 2 stations if the queue is 20mins on one station. The rest of the coasters don't particularly have a problem, as they will very quickly add extra shuttles/crafts/cars/trains should there be a queue.It doesn't cost much more to run an additional train.. maybe one extra staff member, and a slight bit more on wear and tear. It's barely worth mentioning when compared to a guests overall experience.Maybe this is why the park is currently advertising for Product Excellence Analysts and other random rubbish like that?! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Unless they have a problem, air will always run 3 trains, 2 stations if the queue is 20mins on one station. The rest of the coasters don't particularly have a problem, as they will very quickly add extra shuttles/crafts/cars/trains should there be a queue.Maybe this is why the park is currently advertising for Product Excellence Analysts and other random rubbish like that?!Firstly, one of the last times I went too towers I queued 70 minutes for Air on two trains with two stations. Why? it was painful. Secondly, do you know what a product excellence analysist is? Someone who analyses feedback data and passes on it to relevant managers in a bid to attempt to evolve a product or service or generally what they are doing well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Firstly, one of the last times I went too towers I queued 70 minutes for Air on two trains with two stations. Why? it was painful.Peter did actually cover himself on his comment by going "Unless they have a problem"...Air always gets long queues anyways regardless because of it's lower throughput and problematic loading system (Prepare for Air... Actually no row 3 seat 2)...Secondly, do you know what a product excellence analysist is? Someone who analyses feedback data and passes on it to relevant managers in a bid to attempt to evolve a product or service or generally what they are doing well.Surely that's what the park's managers should be doing? Rather than some random person brought in especially for the job? It's not like any of the parks (general, not just Thorpe) have overally complicated feedback forms now is it? I'm obviously missing something there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Surely that's what the park's managers should be doing? Rather than some random person brought in especially for the job? It's not like any of the parks (general, not just Thorpe) have overally complicated feedback forms now is it? I'm obviously missing something there...Generally the position comes under a department, in this case it comes under Guest Services. Which of course we all know are generally where we go for feedback, good or bad.To have someone who works alongside the department managers makes thigns easier then a GS host running around wasting time. The position as I remember being described was mainly for the grouping of feedback and processing the data into which area it is specified such as, Rides & Attractions > Good > Staffing > *complement* or Food & Beverage > Bad > Food > Food being cold when served.It just makes it easier for the park to process it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted November 8, 2010 Report Share Posted November 8, 2010 Firstly, one of the last times I went too towers I queued 70 minutes for Air on two trains with two stations. Why? it was painful.Because of a problem with one of the crafts. It's quicker having two stations, two trains running. Higher throughput. Hence why that happened. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Generally the position comes under a department, in this case it comes under Guest Services. Which of course we all know are generally where we go for feedback, good or bad.To have someone who works alongside the department managers makes thigns easier then a GS host running around wasting time. The position as I remember being described was mainly for the grouping of feedback and processing the data into which area it is specified such as, Rides & Attractions > Good > Staffing > *complement* or Food & Beverage > Bad > Food > Food being cold when served.It just makes it easier for the park to process it.The Product Excellence Analyst works for the Product Excellence Manager - PEA analyses 'leaving surveys', mystery shopper scores, touchscreen scores, ride availability/throughputs/queue times, same other parkwide Commercial Operation availability; the PEA then churns this all out to the PEM and they in collaboration create a weekly 'Park Excellence Report', which shows all of that in stats for the park (trust me there is pages upon pages of it, absolute insane amounts of data), and also agains LLW, CWoA, London Attractions individually and AT.This helps out all teams across the park in congratulating certain areas on the park in their operation, and also displays areas to improve upon.So no Ricky, you are pretty much totally wrong - you may be thinking of the Guest Services Administrator who processes all complaints and praises for the park and churns feedback to department managers and then that is fed down to immediate Line Managers. They also reply to individual complaints and also helps investigations out - for example a complaint about poor food quality. Coasterfreck and James6 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ricky Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 The Product Excellence Analyst works for the Product Excellence Manager - PEA analyses 'leaving surveys', mystery shopper scores, touchscreen scores, ride availability/throughputs/queue times, same other parkwide Commercial Operation availability; the PEA then churns this all out to the PEM and they in collaboration create a weekly 'Park Excellence Report', which shows all of that in stats for the park (trust me there is pages upon pages of it, absolute insane amounts of data), and also agains LLW, CWoA, London Attractions individually and AT.This helps out all teams across the park in congratulating certain areas on the park in their operation, and also displays areas to improve upon.So no Ricky, you are pretty much totally wrong - you may be thinking of the Guest Services Administrator who processes all complaints and praises for the park and churns feedback to department managers and then that is fed down to immediate Line Managers. They also reply to individual complaints and also helps investigations out - for example a complaint about poor food quality.Maybe if you read the job description you wopuld see it comes under Guest Services and Front of House. May be different at that s*** place you work at but its certainly seems different at TP. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kevin Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Maybe if you read the job description you wopuld see it comes under Guest Services and Front of House. May be different at that s*** place you work at but its certainly seems different at TP.Nope I'm actually pretty sure I'm right having spoken directly to the ex Product Excellence Manager at TP, who has now moved higher within the park.Stop starting an argument over something so very petty Ricky. JoshC. and Dan9 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 It'll be the same as what the other parks has, which is what Outfit is talking about. Only noticed this after me posting about it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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