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2018: General Discussion
RicketyCricket
TS Member
The footage looks like Flight of Passage. But recorded on a potato in 1989.
Alastair
TS Team
Having just visited for the first time since the start of the season it's strange how downhill Duel has gone. Due to being lit up inside like a football stadium any form of thrill or atmosphere or scare factor has just gone completely. Those crass purple strip lights surely have to be sacked off, they're abysmal in every possible way - indeed I honestly think somehow in the course of the TLC they've managed to make it a worse overall ride experience.
D
Deleted member 583
The park is an absolute sham .
The amount of wheelchair users on park today, yet they still have a late opening of the sky ride.
So many closed units. Still. It's not a welcoming (lol) place at all.
Sure. We have a high quality wooden coaster. The Smiler is rotting. Everything else is neglected. The park relies on an almost 25 year old ride to be it's shining glory.
All in all, wasn't too impressed. First time I've left the park way before closing!
The amount of wheelchair users on park today, yet they still have a late opening of the sky ride.
So many closed units. Still. It's not a welcoming (lol) place at all.
Sure. We have a high quality wooden coaster. The Smiler is rotting. Everything else is neglected. The park relies on an almost 25 year old ride to be it's shining glory.
All in all, wasn't too impressed. First time I've left the park way before closing!
The Smiler really is rotting as well - it rises like its 20 years old, station falling to pieces and the queue just a hovel. I bet they really regret building it
themeparkfan
TS Member
Looking at queue times its been one of the most popular rides this year. Queue times similar if not longer than wickerman. So TLC would be very worthwhile.
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MakoMania
TS Member
The Smiler is a very popular ride, but the high fastrack allocation along with the removal of the baggage hold and single rider queue has made operation of the coaster slow compared to previous years.
It's been stuck on 3 trains for a while now as well, anybody know if the 4th train will be back soon? Would be good to have it back in time for Scarefest ideally.
It's been stuck on 3 trains for a while now as well, anybody know if the 4th train will be back soon? Would be good to have it back in time for Scarefest ideally.
Matt.GC
TS Member
I haven't visited since the spring.
From my experiences on the 2 visits I have had early in the season (using up the last few weeks of my MAP), reading this thread and a quick glance at ride times every couple of weeks, visiting the park seems a hassle.
This is despite them opening a brand new attration that I really like and give them absolute kudos for building.
I'm not rich, but I have money to spend on visiting theme parks and overnight stays. If I don't think it's worth it, then how must the thousands of guests they've 'sold cheap and piled high' feel in a run down 2 hour Smiler queue an hour before 4pm when they'll be promptly kicked out of the park to join a 30 min + Monorail queue back to their £400 per night non air conditioned accommodation?
From my experiences on the 2 visits I have had early in the season (using up the last few weeks of my MAP), reading this thread and a quick glance at ride times every couple of weeks, visiting the park seems a hassle.
This is despite them opening a brand new attration that I really like and give them absolute kudos for building.
I'm not rich, but I have money to spend on visiting theme parks and overnight stays. If I don't think it's worth it, then how must the thousands of guests they've 'sold cheap and piled high' feel in a run down 2 hour Smiler queue an hour before 4pm when they'll be promptly kicked out of the park to join a 30 min + Monorail queue back to their £400 per night non air conditioned accommodation?
BarryZola
TS Member
Yeah, and they've made it even harder to get a decent day on park as if it will potentially be a bit quiet they now just close for half of the week. Very few days where you'll get a really quiet one now so unless you like queueing for everything for hours on end you may as well not bother going (especially as they've now got rid of single rider).
themeparkfan
TS Member
Cost savings? Or opportunity to drive fast track sales? Or a bit of both?
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What I got told yesterday is that Merlin don't increase the budget each year for any of their attractions regardless of their profits. So the budget either remains the same or gets reduced. So when the minimum wage goes up and inflation goes up, this puts a squeeze on all the attractions budgets.
Even the Sealifes are notably suffering this season. Hunstanton sealife opening hours have been reduced to 11am to 4pm while the Great Yarmouth Sealife is 5 aquariums down this season and looking very bare. Most of the aquariums have been replaced with TV screens. Also due to the budget cuts, the Sealife are running faulty filtration systems which means that there are high levels of fatalities of the sea creatures due to the fact that Merlin won't pay for much needed equipment.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-43242081
I don't expect things will get better in the foreseeable future with any of the Merlin run attractions.
what days dou you normal visit?
John
TS Member
Smiler was on 4 a couple of weeks ago but the removal of the baggage room has slowed loading to the point where there is basically no benefit in them running the 4th - more often than not there will be 2 trains waiting behind the station by the time they dispatch.
MakoMania
TS Member
Yeah this does happen often but there are times I have been there this season with 3 trains running and the station is empty. Definitely still a benefit to be had by running 4, albeit less than in previous seasons.