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Nemesis: Sub-Terra

Andrew said:
It’s probably been asked in the past but how many staff members were required to run the ride and how many were assigned to each post?

I always thought it was a shame that there was only the one drop on the ride really. Different drop patterns similar to Tower of Terror would’ve made its re-ride value go up drastically. Obviously this could affect the throughput but still...
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Depended on how many where in the finale but not including cover for breaks you had:

Entrance - 1
Batching - 1
Baggage - 2
Pre show - 1
Drop room - 2
Operator - 1
Finale - 1/2

Suspect there would be at least 2 on relief.

Compare that to Hex which is a far bigger dark ride which has 4 staff not including break cover.
 
Dave said:
Depended on how many where in the finale but not including cover for breaks you had:

Entrance - 1
Batching - 1
Baggage - 2
Pre show - 1
Drop room - 2
Operator - 1
Finale - 1/2

Suspect there would be at least 2 on relief.

Compare that to Hex which is a far bigger dark ride which has 4 staff not including break cover.
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Just shows the difference in attraction design between Alton Towers / Tussauds Studios back in the late 90s and Merlin Magic Making more recently. MMM designed it in the same style as the Dungeons, a staff heavy guided experience with 4/5 show rooms. Whereas with Hex it was designed by AT/TS as a self-guided experience where the pre-recorded audio guides you through after batching and only the ride at the end needs staffing.

I get why some of the additional staff roles are required at Sub Terra that aren't linked to show, an entrance host is needed on busier days as the height requirement is 1.4m therefore you don't want families to be turned away at batching after a long queue. Whereas Hex only has a 0.9m restriction so the risk of turning people away at the batching point is much lower. Also due to the way the tower works it would be quite possible for loose items to get trapped on the ride so the bag store is needed, maybe free lockers would have cut the staff requirement down though? But they should have been able to run without the pre-show host at least.
 
Dave said:
Depended on how many where in the finale but not including cover for breaks you had:

Entrance - 1
Batching - 1
Baggage - 2
Pre show - 1
Drop room - 2
Operator - 1
Finale - 1/2

Suspect there would be at least 2 on relief.

Compare that to Hex which is a far bigger dark ride which has 4 staff not including break cover.
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A colossal waste of resources it was too. The premise of the ride was good by itself. It didn't need all the actors. All it needed was a really good pre-show film recorded, get a good audio soundtrack and some effects and run the ride with the standard 4/5 staff you'd typically find on such an attraction.

Obviously the issues with the harnesses didn't help either. That was the main issue.
 
Benjsh said:
A colossal waste of resources it was too. The premise of the ride was good by itself. It didn't need all the actors. All it needed was a really good pre-show film recorded, get a good audio soundtrack and some effects and run the ride with the standard 4/5 staff you'd typically find on such an attraction.

Obviously the issues with the harnesses didn't help either. That was the main issue.
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Its the baggage that is harder to eliminate, as the risk of them getting trapped somewhere is high. Whereas on Hex you can just put a bag at your feet. Maybe some kind of storage box opposite you, or a net under the seat (Disney style) may have worked.
 
jon81uk said:
Its the baggage that is harder to eliminate, as the risk of them getting trapped somewhere is high. Whereas on Hex you can just put a bag at your feet. Maybe some kind of storage box opposite you, or a net under the seat (Disney style) may have worked.
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It was a great concept that was badly planned out in numerous different aspects. Baggage being one I totally agree.
 
I suppose with baggage they could have tried to incorporate something similar to Rita where you can get access to it on both sides, just before you go into the preshow and just after you exit

The other option would be full on lockers outside of the attraction which you can rent for free
 
Andrew said:
I suppose with baggage they could have tried to incorporate something similar to Rita where you can get access to it on both sides, just before you go into the preshow and just after you exit

The other option would be full on lockers outside of the attraction which you can rent for free
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and lockers would likely still need at least one member of staff for when things go wrong (have you been to Universal in Florida). That role could probably be combined with the host most of the time maybe.

But yes, solve the baggage issue and they might be able to run with four like Hex (host/batcher, operator, two ride hosts checking restraints etc)
 
I would just add baggage cages where the current baggage is, do it like Galactica with a sliding door, so your bags are safe whilst your group is in the ride, the doors can be moved by the batcher/pre show host.

I mean you could spend money and have automatic baggage but that’s for a cost.
 
At this point Id love for the building to just be demolished and put Sub Terra out of its misery. The building makes for a terrible entrance to Forbidden Valley and is a horrible location for any indoor attraction, it would always struggle to work there.

Way too much of your typical day out at UK theme parks is spent around ugly warehouse boxes squeezed in. Especially one with scaffolding, a shipping container and an old vehicle plonked next to it. It's just not entertaining, and after a while stuff like that gets so tiresome. Look at Thirteen and the whole of Dark Forest. The park experience becomes too bleak after a while

Sub Terra I enjoyed as a random filler attraction (after it got redesigned), Im sure lots of visitors did too. But the problem was it wasn't a filler attraction to build and operate, so it just didn't work out. Even Project 42 was so limited by the building
 
This attraction being pants upsets me more than it does most. Because I'm old enough to remember Alien Encounter at WDW and this ride was probably the closest thing to it that I have done. Wasn't as good obviously but definitely had the same feel about it and backstory.

Can't believe they messed it up. A simple drop tower ride with some minor effects. Argghhhh!!!!
 
Work has been spotted taking place...

IMG-20210504-WA0002.jpg
 
Interesting! Is there a chance it could be for Scarefest, or is a 2022 use of that building more likely?

I wouldn’t rule out anything, to be honest... stranger things have happened than Nemesis Sub-Terra reopening after 7 years shut (by 2022, it will have been 7 years since the ride last operated).
 
I'd highly doubt it'll reopen as Sub-Terra, it's been dormant for 6yrs and has had another attraction in the same location in the form of P42. Round about this time in 2018 I spotted some of the Ents management lurking around the area, so it's a good guess it could be used for Scarefest - however I'm not really sure what else they could do with the building. P42 was incredibly limited by the space, so anything new would have the same issue. Of course, they could just give it a "soft retheme" as such.

Or maybe they're using it as an extra green room so the other ones don't get overcrowded due to distancing.
 
Could you imagine if they’ve seen the positive effect of the temp flats and have been given the all clear from Merlin to just *open* Sub Terra on the 17th May along with the rest of the indoor rides ?

I understand that the ride system is still perfectly functional , and it would explain why all the P42 stuff was removed
 
TheAverageNerd said:
I would love if that happened, and I will gladly eat my size 12 shoes if it does.
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I did notice that speaker and the queue time board appeared to be switched on on my last visit a few weeks ago . If they’re really driving for Rides per head it would be a great move - even though it’s capacity isn’t amazing it’s a longer experience so keeps quests out of other queues
 
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