Diesel Posted February 12, 2012 Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 I'll take this opportunity to say that on the AP day only around 12-15% of the gate figure were guests of AP holders. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 12, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2012 12-15% is actually a lot, think about that in terms of 1000 people (150 of them Non AP)Then of coarse think of ride capacity of around 1000 per hour for most coasters, basicly its about an extra 10-20 minutes queue time per 1000 guests!(Terribly maths I know, but still its a lot for what it was!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liam T Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 PREMIERE SCREAMINGThursday 15th – Sunday 18th MarchDust off your tux or your little black dress because you’re invited to the ‘Premiere Screaming’ of THE SWARM, Europe’s tallest winged rollercoaster!Experience a premiere with a twist as the red carpet is rolled out and THE SWARM comes to life to begin its mission of complete annihilation.Guests are invited to take a death-defying flight for their lives through scenes of apocalyptic devastation as they are picked up and dragged on the wings of THE SWARM.War is coming… http://thorpepark.com/plan-your-visit/events.aspx Cornflakes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Can't wait to see what this is like; I think actors? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Needs more details...Can MAP holders go? How much is it? How much of the park is open? etc... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 (edited) Give me this Merlin. Do it, go on, I dare you!Do they do that every day? Edited February 17, 2012 by Sidders : One question mark will suffice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 17, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 Its such a shame Thorpe are not doing an AP day! It was the perfect opportunity to reddem themselves but no, they would rather hide and hope everyone forgot that they ever did preview days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saz Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 But I thought the park opened on Thursday 15th March? Unless they are changing the proper 'opening date' until Monday 19th March and having a four day Swarm preview only? Hopefully we will get some clarification.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 I highly doubt that it is a 'preview event' in honesty; what's the point in having a four day long preview event? The dates are the first four days of season, so it's probably just a 'long opening weekend' with a name that bring in as many people as possible.We're probably looking at actors (and when I say that, I mean 'more actors', as hopefully there'll be one lurking around during weekends or something...) on the island / round the park, and hopefully something else with a bit of 'shazam' if you will. Nice to see Thorpe making an effort with the public opening of the ride, as opposed to 'here's our new coaster, it opens today, have fun' that we've seen with previous coasters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 17, 2012 Report Share Posted February 17, 2012 I just thought that it like a starting event with the rest of the park open but just like actors around the area and stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 18, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Lets be completely honest by Saturday midday, The Swarm will have broken down with a 3 hour queue!At least they open on Thursday, because its almost 99.9% sure to have a breakdown on its opening few days at least there will not be 2-3 hour queues! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Lets be completely honest by Saturday midday, The Swarm will have broken down with a 3 hour queue!At least they open on Thursday, because its almost 99.9% sure to have a breakdown on its opening few days at least there will not be 2-3 hour queues!What makes you so certain that something will go wrong? I'm sure they've learnt their lesson from Saw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 Considering Raptor barely had any issues and is as simple as a normal coaster I doubt Swarm will have much problem on opening...B&M Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles1 Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 I would be surprised if there were many problems. it may be slower loading at first than it should be, but thats just because its new to the staff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TraX Posted February 18, 2012 Report Share Posted February 18, 2012 B&M have promised Thorpe some ridiculously high level of operational reliability, that they are confident with (ride operation at least). I think we can be sure to avoid anything like the horrendous SAW opening in 2009. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well lest think negativly, that way if anything 'does' go wrong you will not be dissopointed!I never hold up against new rides, its the first time it has to face an actual full day of running, yes they do test for hours and hours but it is completely different when you have thousands of guest coming through every hour!So fingers crossed it does stay open, I am coming late Saturday after the Chessington AP day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdamY Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well mechanically these are no different to standard sit-down / floorless B&Ms, so I doubt there will be a problem in all honesty. Saw was made by a company with less of a record for reliability, and on top of that was the most complex one they'd built at the time in terms of blocking, dual on/offload etc so it's understandable in a way that it suffered. I have every confidence that this will last opening week fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan9 Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Well lest think negativly, that way if anything 'does' go wrong you will not be dissopointed!I never hold up against new rides, its the first time it has to face an actual full day of running, yes they do test for hours and hours but it is completely different when you have thousands of guest coming through every hour!So fingers crossed it does stay open, I am coming late Saturday after the Chessington AP day!Sorry, but why is it completely different? You keep making all these points on a whim with such confidence but nothing to really back it up with. They do simulate long-term running during testing. The fact that there are suddenly people on it doesn't suddenly mean everything's going to collapse (metaphorically). Assuming it has the same procedures as any other new B&M and I can't see why it wouldn't, I can't remember the last time a B&M had major problems as soon as it opened so why should The Swarm be any different?Think negatively, great idea, because all I've wanted to do was to wait and wait for Thorpe to add something worthwhile and exciting for once, and then just assume it'll be crap. Yay... pluk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 There will be downtime in its first few days, but the park will probably be expecting this as generally when a rides new it will have a few minor issues. Unless Thorpe have shovelled out money to ride operators, flown them all to Gardaland and got them trained on Raptor, then for most, The Swarm will be completely brand new. But that's okay, Inferno had a few small issues in its first few days of operation. Hence why it is a very good move for Thorpe to be opening on a weekday. Saw was a catastrophic mistake and the park is being very wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diesel Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 I think the park have gone about wisely with staff training starting nearly 2 weeks ago. This give plenty of time for staff to get used to the rides features, functionality and how the ride acts in situations. And as previously said the park is opening on a weekday which gives a nice slow start for both the ride and the staff.I believe the ride is currently being run religiously like a normal operational day. This should iron out any teething problems that may surface. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 To go off topic Dan9, but its the same as an F1 car, Yes you can do thousands of laps of a circuit but its not until all 24 cars are on the track actually doing what they do does a team actually know how there car can perform under 'real' strains!Just because it is B&M does not mean it WILL NOT break down or have technical difficulties in its opening few days, Thorpe have to be prepeared for the worst that could happen (within reason) and so should we!I am not making assumptions out of thin air, I simply choose not to elaborate on all information that I have in regards to B&M or any other ride manufacturer!Don't all of a sudden come moaning on this forum if you find out that the Swarm was not up to scratch, I have been thoroughly messed around with these theme parks in recent times and therefore I have a negative view of it.Don't celebrate untill the fat lady sings, but don't get me wrong I can't wait to experience The Swarm! aTOMic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James6 Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Oh my god, they're doing all they can and it's a very reliable manufacturer. It's likely everything will be fine. Sidders and th13teen 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan9 Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 To go off topic Dan9, but its the same as an F1 car, Yes you can do thousands of laps of a circuit but its not until all 24 cars are on the track actually doing what they do does a team actually know how there car can perform under 'real' strains!Just because it is B&M does not mean it WILL NOT break down or have technical difficulties in its opening few days, Thorpe have to be prepeared for the worst that could happen (within reason) and so should we!I am not making assumptions out of thin air, I simply choose not to elaborate on all information that I have in regards to B&M or any other ride manufacturer!Don't all of a sudden come moaning on this forum if you find out that the Swarm was not up to scratch, I have been thoroughly messed around with these theme parks in recent times and therefore I have a negative view of it.Don't celebrate untill the fat lady sings, but don't get me wrong I can't wait to experience The Swarm!Performance isn't the point though, it's reliability. An F1 will still 'work' in the same way during a race as it would during winter testing (they do short fuel runs, long fuel runs, the lot, just like a theme park would simulate different amounts of running during testing). I think what you mean with the F1 example, is that teams won't know how fast their car is in comparison to the opposition until the season starts, which hasn't got anything to do with reliability. F1 cars could easily malfunction during testing or during the race, but the testing helps them understand all the variables and possible future hitches, so they can develop the car further to help 'iron them out', giving them less of a chance to go wrong during the ciritcal moments.Anyway, back on the point of The Swarm, I'm not saying that there won't be ANY breakdowns at all. As Mark9 said, all rides have minor issues here and there, but given B&M's track record I'm sure Thorpe will be expecting more than they got from Saw or Stealth's opening year. It's expected that all new rides have testing periods where they'll be run like they would on a normal operational day (like an F1 car would during testing, lap after lap...), which as Diesel mentioned is what's happening with The Swarm.Believe me, I've been going to Thorpe expecting the worst for YEARS now, usually I have a bloody good reason if I do ever decide to be optimistic with the place. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
th13teen Posted February 19, 2012 Author Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Its a fair enough point, but what I meant by the F1 comparison was, Teams really do not know how there car will stress under Pits, overtaking and major issues of marbles of which none can be totally predicted. Much like the humble Rollercoaster in comparison to technical difficulties!I have faith in B&M but...Lets stop the argument, we will wait and see in around 25 days! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan9 Posted February 19, 2012 Report Share Posted February 19, 2012 Its a fair enough point, but what I meant by the F1 comparison was, Teams really do not know how there car will stress under Pits, overtaking and major issues of marbles of which none can be totally predicted. Much like the humble Rollercoaster in comparison to technical difficulties!I have faith in B&M but...Lets stop the argument, we will wait and see in around 25 days!(Off topic point again, but they practice pit stops with the actual cars religiously in winter testing Marbles are down to the tyres, which isn't down to the car's design as all cars have the same tyre supplier, Pirelli, and they can simulate this during testing as well anyway. F1 teams will pretty much simulate all practice, qualifying and race situations with their car before the season starts. The only thing they don't know is how the opposition are performing, but as I said before, we're talking in terms of reliability and not performance as that's not relevant to a rollercoaster.)Yes I understand your point, things go wrong which aren't foreseen, but the way you worded it before made it sound like testing was just a 'does it actually work?' period, without any real thought put into it. As in F1, as in rollercoaster testing, all variables are thought of and planned out. (F1 has A LOT more variables than a rollercoaster does anyway, making this comparison a bit pointless now) The main point is, they won't just say 'oh let's wait and see how it does', every possible situation they can think of is taking into consideration before opening.Hardly an 'argument', just a debate but yes it's gone on more than is really necessary. I'm sure Thorpe went to B&M partly with reliability in mind, so I've got faith in them this time. th13teen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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