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2018: Wicker Man - General Discussion - SPOILERS! - Part One

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I would have thought after all these years that Merlin as a company would start implementing smarter package hold solutions. There are plenty of options out there and surely must be more cost effective that two extra staff members per rollercoaster?
 
KingNemesis said:
I would have thought after all these years that Merlin as a company would start implementing smarter package hold solutions. There are plenty of options out there and surely must be more cost effective that two extra staff members per rollercoaster?
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Because that would involve spending money.

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KingNemesis said:
So does paying two staff members £6.50 an hour for 7 hours a day. Probably more cost effective to pay outright for smart lockers than paying for the staff over a season
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In the long run it's cheaper to have automated lockers like the ones they have elsewhere in the resort but it's merlin so long term financial planning isn't a strong point.

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After a buying the unit. The cost will be paid off by not paying two members of staff.

Anyway. Do you think they could go with bags on ride?

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Credit I News

Need I say anything about it...
 
ihaveaspergers said:
In the long run it's cheaper to have automated lockers like the ones they have elsewhere in the resort but it's merlin so long term financial planning isn't a strong point.

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And from a finance perspective such an investment could be classed as capex if large enough (ie park wide) so could be depreciated over say 5 or depending on policy 10 years. Meaning the effect on current years profitability is negligible.
 
delta79 said:
After a buying the unit. The cost will be paid off by not paying two members of staff.

Anyway. Do you think they could go with bags on ride?

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Universal Studios have automated lockers and still need 1-2 members of staff to assist with issues etc. Better to build some wooden shelves in a room and just pay the staff rather than buy an expensive locker system and pay the attendant. Lockers are only worthwhile if people leave their belongings longer than the free while you ride period and pay for locker use and I think Brits are too tight to pay ;)​
 
I never had an issue with the old lockers on Air. Place your bags in a metal cage and either have a staff member slide the door across or automate the system like on Blue Fire. Speaking of Blue Fire I’ve seen them load and send a train in 20 seconds with this baggage system so I fail to see the supposed drawback of increasing station faff.
 
Tim said:
I never had an issue with the old lockers on Air. Place your bags in a metal cage and either have a staff member slide the door across or automate the system like on Blue Fire. Speaking of Blue Fire I’ve seen them load and send a train in 20 seconds with this baggage system so I fail to see the supposed drawback of increasing station faff.
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It does depend on plenty of other factors too to be fair. Train design is one - Mack launch coasters, B&M flyers and inverts (for example) are easy to cross over the train to get to the other side to put bags in. Standard sit down coasters are more fiddly, and it takes people a lot longer to move about than you'd expect.

Culture also plays a part in this. Germans are efficient people, so they'll naturally use bag boxes on stations more effectively. British people, especially at theme parks, are a bit more self-entitled, expecting everything to either be explained step-by-step, done for them or that they can ignore the rules. This adds a lot of faff and time to the bag box procedure.

It then comes down to whether there's enough space in the station to deal with all the guests. Colossus at Thorpe is the perfect example of not enough space - you've got all the guests getting off the ride and the ones trying to put their bags in the boxes, plus staff, all in that tiny offload area. Delays are inevitable.

Bag boxes in the station can work on some rides, but it needs to be in a good scenario. Wickerman probably could have them in the station if it's explained clearly enough, but they'll probably see it as a safer option to stick with a bag room for the mid term.
 
Tim said:
Speaking of Blue Fire I’ve seen them load and send a train in 20 seconds with this baggage system so I fail to see the supposed drawback of increasing station faff.
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Isn't Europa Park where they don't actually do physical restraint checks?
 
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