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Little Changes: What would you do?

Baggage holds most definitely. I can't remember if it's Spinball and Dragon's Fury or just Dragon's, but they need a member of staff to take your bag at all times. Especially when you're riding on your own and you get put with a group of 3, having to climb over the person who has already took their seat to go to the platform to do the reverse is simply not practical. Thirteen and Smiler also have these problems in the current form

As for Single Rider Queues, I would like them to return ultimately but I believe there is a bit of rose tinted glasses going on here. It's not just a problem with Merlin but I've experienced it at Parc Asterix and another park. The things are just so easy to abuse. At Asterix and at Towers I've been there where a parent and a youngish person (8/9 maybe) was in the queue, said youngish person didn't want to ride with a stranger and only wanted parent. The ride op explained the rules of the SRQ but the parent wasn't having any of it as they only joined as the child wanted to ride. In the case of Asterix, the similar conversation went on for nearly 10-15 mins, by which time Oz'iris was going around empty trains as it held up the SRQ and normal queue, this was in May last year

I can see why Merlin got rid of them and yes I've more often that not had more times they've worked fine at parks, including Merlin and it's not that I'm visiting the parks with people, nearly all of my park visits are on my own but unless they are properly implemented and enforced without causing a delay to the normal queue, there is little point in having them.
 
It’s quite simple though really, just enforce the bloody things. Anyone demanding to ride in a group gets ejected from the park for breaking park rules.

I visit with a young family and their removal has had a huge negative impact on my visits, I only went twice last season
 
I agree about entertainment - the place feels quite soulless. There's just rides and a few F&B and gaming stalls (which are probably not open). Having entertainers roaming around, live shows and music etc would make the place more vibrant and "magical".

This. And some proper live instrumentalists, none of this amplified mimed faux-pop crap that we've been sparingly subjected to over the last few years. Hire a small, New Orleans-style jazz ensemble or a nice brass band playing some classic arrangements. Just look at what Disney do for Christsakes, how difficult is it to just copy from the best?
 
It’s quite simple though really, just enforce the bloody things. Anyone demanding to ride in a group gets ejected from the park for breaking park rules.

I visit with a young family and their removal has had a huge negative impact on my visits, I only went twice last season

I do agree with you, they need to be enforced properly to cut out the abuse, however, when the enforcement has a negative impact on the dispatch as a whole, it's not just the SRQs they're affecting it's the whole ride. As I say, I know it doesn't happen all the while and when I was in America roughly a year ago, they were a god send as I was with family who were not too keen on the more intense rides.

But, if say it's just the one member of staff doing the "routine", SRQ and Fast trackers, someone in the SRQ starts abusing it and mouthing off every 100 or so people because they've witnessed it happen before and got away with it, then the ride can and will run more efficiently without it.

Yes it is annoying to us as enthusiasts seeing empty seats when we see empty seats on Smiler, Thirteen etc but to the GP do they notice it? But you start dispatching rides with empty rows, or worse trains, because the staff member is preoccupied with trying to explain the rules of the SRQs; well the GP notice that and it puts a bad taste in their mouths.

The amount of times I heard similar comments when Nemesis last year was running two trains early in the morning but only loading one due to how quiet it was, yes they'd all be allocated on the next train and it's a marginal extra wait but they want to know constantly why the train/rows aren't being filled up, further delaying dispatch times.

We get it at work on the phone lines, you end up taking one longish phone call, the rest of the people in the queue will start demanding why it's taken so long to get through, especially when it says you are only 1 call from being answered, you explain the situation to that person, successfully deal with the caller and then the next person wonders why they've been waiting a long time, the process repeats itself and gradually a 5 min wait, turns to 10 mins, turns to 15 mins etc.

Not meaning to side with Merlin on the issues of SRQs but it was clear it wasn't working for them in its current form
 
It did work, there were very few problems, it was simply another method of saving a few quid.
This wasn't just a loss to geeks, it was a loss to young families as well, or couples with "scaredy cat" partners.
My wife was happy to come when I snook off for a quick nemesis fix, but if it takes half an hour I just won't leave her for that long...she would be too drunk by mid afternoon!
Another vote for single rider return...stuff baggage holds!
 
If they didn't want to staff baggage holds, maybe they could put some lockers outside each ride entrance instead? Take Universal for example:

00866.MTS_.Still042-1024x576.jpg
 
If they didn't want to staff baggage holds, maybe they could put some lockers outside each ride entrance instead? Take Universal for example:

00866.MTS_.Still042-1024x576.jpg

I’m pretty sure it would work out cheaper to just employ 2 people to man the baggage holds than it would to pay for new lockers (which would probably also need some kind of staff presence to deal with issues). Certainly cheaper in the short term anyway, which is all Merlin care about.
 
I’m pretty sure it would work out cheaper to just employ 2 people to man the baggage holds than it would to pay for new lockers (which would probably also need some kind of staff presence to deal with issues). Certainly cheaper in the short term anyway, which is all Merlin care about.
It wouldn't if merlin charge,which they do.

Sent from my Swift 2 X using Tapatalk
 
Having been in the middle of an outright FIGHT that kicked off in the SRQ for Oz'Iris, when staff refused to give a BLEEP... They are a goood thing, but they need to be policed with a "zero tollerance" attitude. Anyone kicking up a fuss, queuejumping, or attempting to ride as a group MUST be shot on sight, no questions, no exceptions.
And then have their head mounted on a pike above the park entrance.
 
They work perfectly well if they are managed properly and have a positive impact for everyone, I don’t believe for a second people can’t understand the concept of a single rider. It’s just sheer selfishness and the sooner we stop pandering to this crap the better. Get security to remove anyone causing a fuss and I’m sure the message would be spread quite quickly
 
Remember the SRQ for Arthur having a hold up because a trio of French had decided they HAD to ride together and there were only 2 seats available and it was too difficult for them to work out who to leave behind... The ride op was extremely displeased by this (after 2 weeks of pure German theme park efficiency, Europa was let down by French people on a regular basis that trip)...

I also remember the guy on Flug von Damonen letting almost an entire side worth of SRQ through because the main queue decided to faff and that was ruining his efficiency vibe...

The issue is, much like with the RAP, most UK park guests see it as a free Fastrack type thing... And when they're told otherwise are confused and enraged by their own stupidity...
 
I also remember the guy on Flug von Damonen letting almost an entire side worth of SRQ through because the main queue decided to faff and that was ruining his efficiency vibe...

See I've always seen SRQ as a benefit to situations like this, sometimes the main queue can be absolute fools and refuse to move, I've many times whilst working on rides let a bunch of other people through the fastrack or SRQ because it's a waste of my operations when I could be filling seats.
 
I’d like to take a pressure washer around Forbidden Valley and wash down those standing boulders to spruce up and give the look of a newly excavated area once again.

Have a huge purge on all of the overgrowth in and around the pit.

I’d give the entrance sign a paint so the red lettering stands out as it’s currently looking very faded from the elements.

Fix (or just turn on) the waterfall underneath the drop into the first inversion.

Basically I’d like to get the area to look a similar condition as it was in the 90’s

Lastly I’d close Just Chicken, then transform it into a take out small version of Rollercoaster restaurant (reduced menu) with some outdoor tables and a bar so you can enjoy a pint whilst watching people plummet underground.

All little’ish changes :)
 
Lastly I’d close Just Chicken, then transform it into a take out small version of Rollercoaster restaurant (reduced menu) with some outdoor tables and a bar so you can enjoy a pint whilst watching people plummet underground.

The shop directly below the drop used to serve beer.

But I wouldn't actually do anything that reduces further the amount of indoor seating. The fried chicken place if anything needs more seating, not converting to take out anyway. There is alreay an under-used takeout place in the building next to the drop.
 
The beer was three pounds, for half a pint of naff lager in a plastic bottle...Carlsberg I think...expensive now, incredibly expensive back then.
It remains one of the most expensive pints of my life.
Probably.
I can remember my wife waving her bottles at me as I went down the hole.
 
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