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Hex [2024 Refurb]: General Discussion

Danscott22 said:
Thanks! I knew it was 0.9 but I’d never seen the 1.2 without an adult before!
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Makes sense though, particularly following the Drayton Manor rapids incident to ensure most children are supervised. Although 1.2m probably means most over 10s can ride without adults anyway.
 
Ah I apologise for bringing it up I just had no idea the unaccompanied height was 1.2! The unaccompanied height for Marauder’s Mayhem is 1.3 and I find that even more bizarre that it’s 0.1 higher than Hex
 
Danscott22 said:
I wonder what’s wrong with this now 🤔it seems to be having so many problems
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I'm confused too. It's odd when a much older and smaller model of it in Drayton Manor (The Haunting) rarely has any mechanical faults with the madhouse section ever, and was ran by a small company while Hex, a few years younger, has so many more problems and breakdowns... odd isn't it.
 
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Danscott22 said:
Ah I apologise for bringing it up I just had no idea the unaccompanied height was 1.2! The unaccompanied height for Marauder’s Mayhem is 1.3 and I find that even more bizarre that it’s 0.1 higher than Hex
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Why is that bizarre? The movement and forces are much stronger on Marauders than they are on Hex.
 
Squiggs said:
If you're surprised by Marauders, then you may want to sit down - the Royal Carousel is also 1.3m unaccompanied
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Its quite common for carousel rides to have a rule of those under a certain height cannot sit on horses at all and have to go on a stationery vehicle.
 
There seem to have been a number of lighting and audio improvements throughout the show sections during the downtime. The vault however is in a sorry state of affairs. The chanting towards the end of the cycle is totally inaudible, and there is a horrendous knocking sound by the vault exit doors during the ride. It did not sound great at all, and it wouldn't surprise me if it's given up the gut already.
 
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Trooper Looper said:
I'm confused too. It's odd when a much older and smaller model of it in Drayton Manor (The Haunting) rarely has any mechanical faults with the madhouse section ever, and was ran by a small company while Hex, a few years younger, has so many more problems and breakdowns... odd isn't it.
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Not really. It's the difference in company attitudes. Merlin don't care if something goes down in the day effects wise, if the ride still runs, they'll fix it later. Much later. Drayton often have problem with some of the screens and projectors, and the first thing they do? the op goes to the faulty screen or projector, tries to fix it, apologises to the guests and restarts the show. If it's a bigger issue, they'll fix it overnight. It's just a completely different style of management and basically having people that care about the experience not the ride, I mean look at the job titles for goodness sake. Alton- ride attractions host, Drayton- Rides Guest Host. The idea is to put a good guest experience out, rather than a good ride uptime.
 
immelmanloop said:
Not really. It's the difference in company attitudes. Merlin don't care if something goes down in the day effects wise, if the ride still runs, they'll fix it later. Much later. Drayton often have problem with some of the screens and projectors, and the first thing they do? the op goes to the faulty screen or projector, tries to fix it, apologises to the guests and restarts the show. If it's a bigger issue, they'll fix it overnight. It's just a completely different style of management and basically having people that care about the experience not the ride, I mean look at the job titles for goodness sake. Alton- ride attractions host, Drayton- Rides Guest Host. The idea is to put a good guest experience out, rather than a good ride uptime.
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Eh?

If a screen or projector goes down at Towers do you really think someone doesn’t go and try the switch it off, hit it, switch it on routine?

In general Towers use more complex show controls for their effects, these are not all that simple to reset. Drayton don’t really have many rides with that level of complexity. In some cases using cheap options has certainly bitten Merlin (projector room on the Smiler springs to mind), but in general the show controls are fairly high quality.

As for Hex, it’s clear that there is a bigger issue which those in the know are not going to reveal. Although Hex is a bit younger than the haunting it operates longer days in general (Haunting doesn’t always run the entire day and it doesn’t run as many cycles these days) and as it’s the bigger model the stresses and strains on the ride system will be higher.
 
Going back a few posts, I would have thought one of the reasons why Hex is having problems now when the older Haunting is not is due to the fact Hex has without a doubt been ran harder most of it's life.

They have never really ran the Haunting to the highest of throughput they could, usually with large breaks in between cycles. Even now. A single group of people are only in the house at one time. So perhaps 10 to 15 minuites between mad house cycle.

Hex on the other hand, has been ran much harder, usually as a group of people leave the Vault, a new group is ready to go in the Vault. That combined with, longer operating hours and frequent off season operating times such as Christmas mean Hex has had a much tougher and hardworking life.
 
Dave said:
Eh?

If a screen or projector goes down at Towers do you really think someone doesn’t go and try the switch it off, hit it, switch it on routine?

In general Towers use more complex show controls for their effects, these are not all that simple to reset. Drayton don’t really have many rides with that level of complexity. In some cases using cheap options has certainly bitten Merlin (projector room on the Smiler springs to mind), but in general the show controls are fairly high quality.

As for Hex, it’s clear that there is a bigger issue which those in the know are not going to reveal. Although Hex is a bit younger than the haunting it operates longer days in general (Haunting doesn’t always run the entire day and it doesn’t run as many cycles these days) and as it’s the bigger model the stresses and strains on the ride system will be higher.
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Exactly, it may look like it's Merlin not caring but in fact it's probably the opposite, more to do with how much downtime would be needed in order to investigate and fix the problem - that would annoy far more people than an effect not working (unless the effect was integral to the ride running of course). The intermittent flames on Wicker Man is a case in point. For example, if they were working at park open then stopped mid-morning, the whole ride would have to be shut down in order for an engineer to (a) enter the ride area and (b) climb Big Bob to investigate. All that down time complete with testing just to get the flames on again for a couple of hours. Flames that should be working for the maximum effect of the ride, but don't have to be for riders to have a great experience the coaster - and certainly wouldn't warrant an hour or two's downtime in what is normally a 6 or 7 hour day.
 
DistortAMG said:
I wish they had shot the main cinema room video in film, rather than video. [...]
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I imagine that this is the least of their worries when the ride is suffering mechanical issues which mean the entire attraction is closed...!

Hex was once again closed when I visited on Saturday, with no staff on the entrance to suggest there were attempts to open anytime soon.

We're surely looking at the end of the road for this once mesmerising experience?
 
Sazzle said:
I imagine that this is the least of their worries when the ride is suffering mechanical issues which mean the entire attraction is closed...!

Hex was once again closed when I visited on Saturday, with no staff on the entrance to suggest there were attempts to open anytime soon.

We're surely looking at the end of the road for this once mesmerising experience?
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Unless Merlin are willing to spend a lot of money, though with the Nemesis (and strongly rumoured Duel refurb) you do have to worry they might not find the cash to do anything with Hex. Which would be a real shame.
 
Hex can’t go. If it does, it’ll be a dark day. It epitomises the ambition and excitement to make AT a world class resort. The theming, setting and music are incredible. The moment you enter you know you’re in a world class dark ride,

Can you tell I love Hex 😀
 
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