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Park Operations


Daniel.S313

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I was in TP today intending to make it really casual - once inside the park staff were holding guests at barriers just the other side of the dome. the illuminated signs stated that Stealth was closed so decided to try Colossus, but got round there and that had not opened, moved round to Saw, where we were held at the gate for another five minutes.

Rode Saw twice and it certainly is a lot smoother. then went to Colossus and rode that twice.

Then ventured round the Stealth which was just opening and went on to make full use of that.

At times after 4p.m., no queue for Stealth but each boat on Tidal Wave was full, odd how we make our choices.

I could see that SWARM was virtually walk-on all afternoon.

This is just like what happened yesterday! There were short queues all day yesterday however after about 3/4pm there were no queues at all!
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Nice bit of forward planning from the park...

Important information! We know stormy weather is forecast early next week, but we are planning to be open as normal and only extreme weather conditions will affect our rides.

If extreme weather does affect any of our major attractions, then don't worry - you'll be able to come back for free!http://bit.ly/TPWeatherProof

So head down to visit us, but wrap up warm and take care when travelling!
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Where's Michael Fish when you need him to confirm the weather?

Something most parks do tbh but don't seem to ever advertise it... Chessie and Drayton I know have had this offer before as examples... But it's such a specific thing most of the time where it has to rain for 3 hours straight or some such crap...

Most of the rides won't shut unless it gets REALLY bad though... Like on that Summer Nights visit of mine earlier this year... Can't imagine things being as bad as that...

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I was hoping to get a little Trip Report done for my FN trip last Friday, but don't think I'll be getting round to it any time soon, so may as well just chuck in a few words about the operations-side of things from then...

-The park did seem quite busy when I arrived just before 6ish, but everyone was evenly spread around the park. All mazes seemed to have 60+ minute queues from what I could gather.

-BWP seems to open at 7? Website still says 6, so they probably should update that. :P

-Speaking of BWP, I noticed Rocky was still open long after I got there, so it looks like the various closing times for rides aren't set in stone.

-People may shoot me for admitting this, but I cashed in my Priority Passes I got from last Fright Nights (which, somewhat ironically, I got for complaining about Fastrack...). When it comes down to it, with only one visit to FN a year, and really wanting to do all attractions this time, I felt it as a necessity. Now, the park actually seemed to handle Fastrack quite well; there were very minimal queues for Fastrack queues (as it should be), and usually it was just one Fastrack group let in at a time.

Naturally, this led to only a few minutes wait. This IS how Fastrack should run; a premium service whereby some people are able to skip queues, whilst the masses use what should still be a quick-moving queue, with no noticeable affect to their queue experience. It's a shame as, based on what I heard from people who went, this was not how Fastrack was running yesterday.

-Most of the ride queues seemed to die down after 8/half 8ish, with only the mazes having substantial queues (ie 30+ mins). Despite this, the coasters still seemed to have trains flying out pretty quick.

-When I did Swarm at about half 8 (I think), there was no queue outside the station. Speaking to a couple of people in the station area, they said they had bought Fastrack for it, and the staff member "refused" to accept it, as there was no queue. They said they were going to GS after their ride to see if they could get a refund. Good on the staff member for refusing it, as it does leave them with a chance to keep something back from it (I dunno if the staff member recommended they got a refund though!)

-After half 9, the park seemed quite quiet, no queues looked above 10 or so minutes. Hopefully this isn't a regular occurrence; it's a shame to see the park reopen till 10, and yet many guests not take full advantage of it.

So all in all, park operations for this FN were A LOT better than last year's event!

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Yesterday would've probably been one of my best Fright Night trips if it wasn't for every maze we queued for having technical problems and the ridiculous over-selling of fastrack. Managers were telling people that fastrack had sold out for mazes, then a couple of people selling the fastrack had a word with the managers and started selling it again. This was when the queues were already ridiculous and the poor staff selling fastrack were mobbed by people. Was not a nice atmosphere at all last night but I'm sure Thorpe made a tonne of money from fastrack sales and the amount of beer they sold (the amount of drunk people was crazy).

On a more positive note, every maze (including Blair Witch) was excellent and the actors were all doing such a good job all night.

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Hi everyone! Due to overnight storm damage, and continued high winds and storms this morning, we are aiming to open at approximately midday today. We're sorry for any inconvenience this causes, we are working hard to get the Park ready for opening as soon as possible and we will keep you updated on the situation right here. Please travel safely if you are visiting us today

From Thorpes Facebook!

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And favourite FB comment of the year goes to this...

well u cant be working that hard iff u sre sitting there typing fb meassges

It's a shame that, once again this season, the weather is adversely affecting the park, especially at such a busy time of the year. Hopefully the park will be able to open up later!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The dark days of closed season are upon us once again, another season has come and gone. So how was 2013 for you? For me:

Highlights

-Ministry of Sound nights. So so so much better than I was expecting, a great all round event that showed the park at its best.

-X. I know the change was not loved by all but a big improvement for me. The laser only rides I've had were actually outstanding.

-TPM meets. Loving the generosity of the park with their time and access.

-The 'feel'of the place. I don't know why, things just felt nice this year. A nice relaxed atmosphere around the park.

-Seeing some effort go into general upkeep,

Lowlights

-The Marws, stupid gimmick. Just put it back now, you've had your 'fun'.

-Fastrack. If they were just getting used to running it or something I'd understand, but for how many years are we going to have to put up with mismanagement of it on a massive scale that ends up with no one being happy? Sort your numbers and times out.

-Slammer, doesn't even make a nice ornament. Even I think its time might have come, and I'm a fan.

-Rising carpark charges. Unjustifiable.

Overall, I like the way the park has been heading. Leaves me optimistic for whatever is to come...

Consider your self lucky the carpark charges in six flags are £25 and like £18 in cedar point just for the day! its Rediculous, although the smaller UK parks , car parks are free so I understand that point :P

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