October 15, 201212 yr comment_142619 Storm Surge I wouldn't mind, but don't actually WANT them to remove, and X they should keep and refurbish, not get rid of. Never.
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142634 Storm Surge I wouldn't mind, but don't actually WANT them to remove, and X they should keep and refurbish, not get rid of. Never. How anyone can actually like X:\No Way Out is beyond me. It really is.
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142636 How anyone can actually like X:\No Way Out is beyond me. It really is.Different people have different opinions. Personally I think that X:/No way out a great ride, but it has more potential in terms of effects etc... As for Storm surge, I'm not bothered really as to what they do with it. The fact that it usually has a big queue just means less people on the other rides in my opinion (If Storm surge still had functional spinners on the slide and it wasn't so ugly then I would like it - when it opened last year I thought it was good but now that it doesn't spin it is completley boring.)
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142645 Agreed, X is a good, fun ride and takes in lots of crowds quickly as well, yet it does have potential to be a better ride, but Thorpe obviously don't see this.
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142650 X no way out shakes you around like this and they wonder why people throw up....
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142651 Yeah, but its a good ride and fun with friends, Colossus shakes you around like that, even worse. I bet you still like it don't you? Because its bigger and faster?
October 15, 201212 yr comment_142662 Personally I think that X:/No way out a great ride, but it has more potential in terms of effects etc... Yes, that is it. X is not a great ride, but it is absolutely full of potential as an unusual bit of hardware, if only they'd put the effort in theme wise. I'd be more than happy with the 'new' for 2013 being an x full of sounds and lights and smoke and effects, it would be a totally new ride experience if they did it properly, even if the track stayed the same.
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142694 Let's be honest, there isn't going to be a new major attraction next year, the most we will get is a flat rid. But I hope they will refurbish the whole park. They should give al the rides a fresh cost of paint, retheme some of the dated rides and replace some rides with newer models eg. Detonator, x no way out and vortex Erm, no, this will never happen and has never happened in any theme park... This also sort of happened when Thorpe replaced Zodiac with Cyclone. Was probably the exact some model, but they did replace it.
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142719 Yes but detonator and X are nothing like that ride. They are theme park rides, not carnival attractions which can be swapped and changed
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142732 This also sort of happened when Thorpe replaced Zodiac with Cyclone. Was probably the exact some model, but they did replace it. Because the original Zodiac model was ancient and prone to throwing pods into trees... Sometimes rides do need replacing, but why replace rides which have nothing wrong with them?
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142737 If Thorpe have been heavily investing in the last 10 years, maybe they need to increase the amount of investment as the park is lacking behind all of the other Merlin parks in my opinion.
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142739 If Thorpe have been heavily investing in the last 10 years, maybe they need to increase the amount of investment as the park is lacking behind all of the other Merlin parks in my opinion. You what? Thorpe have added a new attraction to some description every season since, and including, 1998. In the past ten years, they've spent around £80 million on new attractions (quick guestimate to be honest there, but it seems about right). I really can't think of many parks that have had this level of investment, and if you exclude Disney and Universal parks, I can't think of any (though correct me if I'm wrong here). Thorpe have thrown ride after ride at the park, and realistically, the list of options available to them for 'round rides' (ie non-coasters) is becoming smaller and smaller. Their level of investment does not need to be increased really. However, one year with no new additions would not be a bad thing. There's plenty of things which can be done to attract guests, and rides at the park which could do with a revamp and even be marketed as new due to that. The park has plenty of options open to them, and with their two year marketing strategies that seem to occur for coasters, no doubt next year there'll be some form of Swarm-related pulling power to try and bring in the guests. The introduction of the Snoozeboxes will certainly be an interesting factor. Say what you want about how they look, the troubles it may show with the plans for a hotel at Thorpe or whatnot, but they will be used, and they will attract guests to come to the park (even if it's for longer, as opposed to completely outright). In other words, what I'm saying is that a new ride / attraction is not necessary to bring in new guests / more guests, or to be recognised. The last time the park didn't add anything, 1997, they won awards for being the best family park in the country (or something along those lines), so no new rides never spell doom and gloom necessarily. Meh, I'm probably rambling now, but pretty much - Thorpe's investment is high enough, whether or not there's a new attraction next year, Thorpe will still do things to attract people and all should go to how they plan..
October 16, 201212 yr comment_142742 They don't need a new ride... They need to improve the atmosphere and look of the park, as currently, it's a bit lacking in both those areas...
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142747 As long as it doesn't do a towers and lose 250,000 guests in a year due to lack of new ride
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142757 I think there is a fundamental point there... No new attractions = no real reason for a memeber of the GP to return that year. Alton Towers did indeed loose 250,000 guests the year they added nothing... it speaks for itself really.
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142758 Ahhh, but was the loss of guests solely because of no new attractions? There's always something more to things, as last year was a HORRID year for all Merlin parks, not just Towers...
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142763 I think there is a fundamental point there... No new attractions = no real reason for a memeber of the GP to return that year. Alton Towers did indeed loose 250,000 guests the year they added nothing... it speaks for itself really. Which is ridiculous in itself. Alton did lose 250,000 guests but then the year before they added a very successfully advertised rollercoaster. The attendance year per year has been sustainable for a while if I'm right. Our parks rely to heavily on new rides. If they gave people excellent value for money and a right royal good time, people would attend regardless of whether there was a new attraction or not.
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142764 The difference is AT marketed a glorified runaway mine train for two years. Thorpe will be marketing a world class coaster experience.
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142773 Yep, and that's been EXTREMELY successful in bringing in the crowds this year hasn't it? Oh wait, no, Thorpe aren't hitting the numbers they expected are they?
October 17, 201212 yr comment_142779 It's also arguable that some guests don't return because of the state/running of the park. Because I'm an enthusiast it's different but when I had been with my parents before they were disgraced with the state of some of the rides (mind this was a few years back), the lack of atmosphere and the closure of 4 rides (2 roller coasters, 2 flats). So just reiterating my point, I would much prefer them to not add a new ride and give some TLC to the current infrastructure of the park.
October 18, 201212 yr comment_142834 Which is ridiculous in itself. Alton did lose 250,000 guests but then the year before they added a very successfully advertised rollercoaster. The attendance year per year has been sustainable for a while if I'm right. Our parks rely to heavily on new rides. If they gave people excellent value for money and a right royal good time, people would attend regardless of whether there was a new attraction or not. But many people wouldn't make the very long trip to Alton Towers from the south if there isn't anything new to experience.... I know many people who didn't, Myself included!
October 18, 201212 yr comment_142835 Not to mention the price... haven't really paid much attention, but Alton is now £45 on the door... I appreciate there are BOGOF and online booking discounts, but thats a hell of a lot of money. Organising a work outing there next week and naively thought it was in the £35 region still. Hmmph. The days do sting and you have to work really hard to get value for money - I.e. eat at the right restaurants, bring your own drink, don't buy a beer, don't play any of the games, pick a quiet day so you don't get fasttrack, try to avoid parking... It adds up and puts me off going. And thats as a fully employed, coaster enthusiast - god knows how kids can afford it.
October 18, 201212 yr comment_142837 Not to mention the price... haven't really paid much attention, but Alton is now £45 on the door... I appreciate there are BOGOF and online booking discounts, but thats a hell of a lot of money. Organising a work outing there next week and naively thought it was in the £35 region still. Hmmph. The days do sting and you have to work really hard to get value for money - I.e. eat at the right restaurants, bring your own drink, don't buy a beer, don't play any of the games, pick a quiet day so you don't get fasttrack, try to avoid parking... It adds up and puts me off going. And thats as a fully employed, coaster enthusiast - god knows how kids can afford it. Is that Alton specific? Because the same can be said of ALL the Merlin parks... But many people wouldn't make the very long trip to Alton Towers from the south if there isn't anything new to experience.... I know many people who didn't, Myself included! And I'm sure Storm Surge made loads of the North stream down the M6 to experience it... Would rather a park get a well thought out addition rather than cheap and rushed (which is why Towers' 2011 addition didn't materialise)...
October 18, 201212 yr comment_142864 when I had been with my parents before they were disgraced with the state of some of the ridesMust add that several of my non enthusiast friends have also said this during this year. It doesn't help that Saw Alive and Canada Creek Railway (and Fungle Safari the last three years) are all standing as if they are rides that should be open, but simply closed that day. On top of that one of my friends who had never been before commented on the poor condition of the foilage in Saw The Rides queue line and said "Are they that tight and money grabbing that they don't employ gardeners". If time was spent making the place look nice and removing SBNO rides then I believe they could easily get away with not having anything new as people would want to return. The place looking run down And no new ride could possibly put people off.
October 18, 201212 yr comment_142880 To be fair we have to give Thorpe credit because it's all man-made (I think) and it doesn't have the natural beauty that Alton Towers have but it would be nice to see at least a little effort go into maintaining rather than re-investing, re-investing and then add second-hand eyesores which really (in my eyes) don't help the ride line up at all, especially with the marketing strategy they're going down. Storm Surge does not scream 'thrill', although it's great fun with friends but never worth a queue longer than 15 minutes. I posed a question to Thorpe about the state of the park (must notably Colossus) and they responded and acknowledged the feedback and said they'd pass it on to the relevant team, I just hope it really isn't just thrown out the window.
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