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2020: General Discussion

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Swarm Chris said:
It is curious however that business units within the same operator, with a common overseeing health and safety department, are coming up with different interpretations. For example, Nemesis and Inferno operating seating differently; Congo being open and Rumba closed; and Tomb Blaster open but Duel closed.
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The parks all have a lot more autonomy from Merlin than the enthusiast community seem to think - decisions like what rides to open/close, where to cut staff, what operational changes to make etc. would all be made locally. Sure, they're made with guidance from Merlin, and I imagine decisions made could be overruled from above, but there won't be one person sat in an office going "right, Nemesis and Inferno can open, Rumba Rapids and Congo can't, Tomb blaster and Duel can" etc. etc.
 
AT86 said:
COVID-19 is the new TLC.
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To be fair ALL companies are going to use the Covid excuse. Working in the healthcare sector our bosses say covid 19 is causing cash flow problems, hence potential cuts on horizon. The entire high street is going to use covid to close 100s of shops and potentially 1000s of job losses even supermarkets even after the prelockdown surge are saying sales are plummeting. High street restaurant chains dissappear and even amazon are worried about profits as the surge in sales have resulted in increased costs in delivering goods etc and the list goes on........ And what do you guys worry about? No Duel! To be honest the ride is crap can anyone disagree on that point? All you Duel enthusiasts please come forward!
 
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themeparkfan said:
To be fair ALL companies are going to use the Covid excuse. Working in the healthcare sector our bosses say covid 19 is causing cash flow problems, hence potential cuts on horizon. The entire high street is going to use covid to close 100s of shops and potentially 1000s of job losses even supermarkets even after the prelockdown surge are saying sales are plummeting. High street restaurant chains dissappear and even amazon are worried about profits as the surge in sales have resulted in increased costs in delivering goods etc and the list goes on........ And what do you guys worry about? No Duel! To be honest the ride is crap can anyone disagree on that point? All you Duel enthusiasts please come forward!
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It's not the loss of any one ride that's the issue, it's numerous losses of rides over the years that's the issue, it all adds up.

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I'm so disappointed that single riders can't go on spinball as my family won't go on it and obviously I can't go on my own, so that's a ride out the window
 
Ethan said:
I'm so disappointed that single riders can't go on spinball as my family won't go on it and obviously I can't go on my own, so that's a ride out the window
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Yeah, that's bugging me as well. There was some speculaton that Thirteen might be the same when it reopens.

I hope not, as to lose two coasters for solo visitors would be a real shame
 
Swarm Chris said:
It doesn't surprise me that Towers and Blackpool have different types of ride open. Businesses, especially essentially specialist operators such as amusement parks, have had to do a fair degree of their own interpretation of what exactly COVID-Safe means. It is curious however that business units within the same operator, with a common overseeing health and safety department, are coming up with different interpretations. For example, Nemesis and Inferno operating seating differently; Congo being open and Rumba closed; and Tomb Blaster open but Duel closed.

Towers' recent cost cutting history certainly doesn't inspire confidence that there isn't cost cutting going on. But at the same time, to be COVID-Safe I would expect them to be using more staff, whilst attendance and therefore income will be low. So perhaps cost cutting is the sensible approach to take at this current time? Given they've maintained an entertainments team, could this be a rare case of quality over quantity?
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I don't suppose your far wrong there.

As we've seen with government guidelines, they're open to interpretation.

BPB has probably interpreted them differently to Alton Towers. Who'se right?

Up in the air at the moment
 
Mikw said:
Yeah, that's bugging me as well. There was some speculaton that Thirteen might be the same when it reopens.

I hope not, as to lose two coasters for solo visitors would be a real shame
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Well I don't think thirteen will be opening any time soon. It still remains to be seen how long Rita is closed as that will undoubtably reopen long beforehand
 
It seems to me that the closures are more of an excuse than for valid reasons. I understand Hex, but for example, why is the inside portion of Thirteen deemed to be a higher risk than opening Towers Trading?

The only differences I can see are that you can better control the distribution of people once they’re on Thirteen, but Towers Trading brings in money when it’s open, whereas Thirteen costs.
 
venny said:
It seems to me that the closures are more of an excuse than for valid reasons. I understand Hex, but for example, why is the inside portion of Thirteen deemed to be a higher risk than opening Towers Trading?

The only differences I can see are that you can better control the distribution of people once they’re on Thirteen, but Towers Trading brings in money when it’s open, whereas Thirteen costs.
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TH13TEEN is more a technical restriction.
There's also I suppose the fact that towers trading is retail where there's more advice then for rides.

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Ethan said:
I'm so disappointed that single riders can't go on spinball as my family won't go on it and obviously I can't go on my own, so that's a ride out the window
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You need a little imagination.
You stand near the entrance with a sheet of paper with" another single rider required" on it.
Not had to do it in a decade, but I have done it more than once.
Took less than ten minutes to get a seat share.
 
rob666 said:
You need a little imagination.
You stand near the entrance with a sheet of paper with" another single rider required" on it.
Not had to do it in a decade, but I have done it more than once.
Took less than ten minutes to get a seat share.
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I mean sure, why bother protecting yourself from a deadly disease if it means getting a ride on a pretty average coaster that he has probably ridden 50 times before.
 
Why can’t people ride a Spinball car alone anyway?

I’m 99% sure that riding Dragons Fury alone with no other people in the car is something which is permitted. Both rides have similar weight restrictions.
 
AT86 said:
I mean sure, why bother protecting yourself from a deadly disease if it means getting a ride on a pretty average coaster that he has probably ridden 50 times before.
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Ah yes...that was pre virus!
If im lucky, brain kicks in around 8 am.
 
AT86 said:
I mean sure, why bother protecting yourself from a deadly disease if it means getting a ride on a pretty average coaster that he has probably ridden 50 times before.
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Although I sort of agree that virus protection should be the main issue for everyone at the moment, if you sat one on each side of the ride, wearing masks the risk is probably very small. Sitting face to face shouting in a pub is a higher risk, at least on Spinball you are back to back.

dickie001x said:
Why can’t they load test dummies on every other row so that 13 could run?
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I would imagine there are rules that the ride can’t be run partly with humans and partly with dummies, possibly just for the simple reason that if a dummy falls apart and strikes someone in a row behind etc.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
Why can’t people ride a Spinball car alone anyway?

I’m 99% sure that riding Dragons Fury alone with no other people in the car is something which is permitted. Both rides have similar weight restrictions.
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You can't go on any coasters at towers on your own, that's been in place for many years.
 
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