Thorpe Park: General Discussion

To stop planes hitting it on the way to Heathrow???

If a plane has gone that far off the approach path and is low enough to hit Stealth, then it is already going to crash, and no amount of blinking lights will help.

Just goes to show my in depth knowledge of that London doesn't it.
And shouldn't you be in bed at this time Diogo?

Nope. Tonight's cricket was cancelled
It's not so much knowledge of London, as knowledge of aircraft. Go watch some Air Crash Investigation

If an aircraft is that far off the flight line. It would not be heading for Thorpe

delta79 said:

If an aircraft is that far off the flight line. It would not be heading for Thorpe

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Exactly, it'd be heading for a watery grave in one of the reservoirs!

If you are talking about the beacon on the top of stealth its nothing to do with flight path however it is a marker that dictates an unusually high structure in that area. you also need to remember that not all aircraft would be flying at high altitude, a light aircraft or helicopter may well be flying at less than 200ft.

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) sets standards, usually adopted worldwide, for the performance and characteristics of aviation warning lamps. (taken from wikipedia)

DiogoJ42 said:

Exactly, it'd be heading for a watery grave in one of the reservoirs!

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Not necessarily *cough* Hudson River *cough*

As if Thorpe couldn't get any more random.. the Kiddy drop tower and the bog standard Rock'n Tug from Weymouth Sea Life have appeared in Canada Creek!

Like, I dunno. I'm just speechless. It's as if that park has a new manager every year. Does anyone at Merlin know what direction Thorpe is heading in?

Aren't the rides from Weymouth sea life the same that were at thorpe in the octopus garden a few years ago?

Lordy said:

As if Thorpe couldn't get any more random.. the Kiddy drop tower and the bog standard Rock'n Tug from Weymouth Sea Life have appeared in Canada Creek!

Like, I dunno. I'm just speechless. It's as if that park has a new manager every year. Does anyone at Merlin know what direction Thorpe is heading in?

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I think part of the issue is that they acknowledge the extreme thrill direction they were going in alienated families, even those with teenagers. So they are trying to tone some of the park down a little (hence Angry Birds). But yes adding kiddle rides makes no sense if there is nothing else for under 8s to do.

No these aren't rides that used to be at Thorpe. They are completely unthemed bog standard rides that you'd see at a seaside fair.

Removing all the kids rides in the first place was a silly move, especially when they still have Flying Fish and that kids beach area. Replacing them all with Storm Surge was even worse.

Angry Birds land is just as bizarre if you ask me, as is I'm a Celeb and DBGT, both following the failure of Saw Alive. Wouldn't be surprised if Loggers reopens with a sponsorship by Cillit Bang.

If anything it's Alton that could do with more rides for kids dotted around the park.

Thorpe receiving a second hand Kids rides seems very bizarre and random.

Perhaps this is how they intend to fix the Ghost Train? A rockin tug might actually work well simulating the demons attacking.

Thorpe just don't have a clue what direction they want to take the park in!

They made a big mistake when they attempted to market the entire park for thrill seekers only. You can't just accommodate for one market, completely alienating another. They couldn't seriously have expected all families with young children to take the initiative to visit Chessy instead.

Now they're attempting to be more inclusive of the family market, yet they're going about it in an incredibly half hearted way.

Hilarious.

I'm sure they'll theme them though.

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What next...?

Derek Acorah's Ghost Train?

andeyhart said:

They made a big mistake when they attempted to market the entire park for thrill seekers only. You can't just accommodate for one market, completely alienating another.

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I think you can, but it's easier to do that at the other end of the market, ie families.

Rick said:

I think you can, but it's easier to do that at the other end of the market, ie families.

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yeah, take Paulton's Park for example.

The Rock 'N Tug looks like it's still on the Weymouth Sea Life Centre's website, but since the area seems to be closed for the winter that probably doesn't mean much. I wonder whether they're replacing it with different rides, scaling back on rides or dropping the rides element all together. It doesn't look like they've got many ride to scale back on. It also looks like at some point the Tower has been renamed Jurassic Skyline (wasn't it originally the Weymouth Eye and then something else?). I seem to remember reading that the tower hadn't done that well. I also recall at one time them adding a land train between the Sea Life Centre and the Tower (might be wrong on that one, or it might have been a third party running it?).

There's always a bit of schadenfreude in seeing a Merlin attraction struggling, and I know some people would be pleased if it wasn't just the theme parks taking a hit, but I do have a soft spot for the British seaside and Weymouth. It would be a shame if the Sea Life is being cut back.

Edit: After a quick Google the land train operation was owned by the council, but in 2012 Merlin were given a five year lease on it. The landtrain only runs for the summer but it is mentioned on the website on the 'other tickets' page. The original five year lease may have ended after last summer.