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2020: General Discussion

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I understand the logic of not allowing single riders on water rides such as log flumes and Rapids - if someone was to fall in, the risk of no one noticing is of course higher than if there are a couple of people in the boat.

Not sure I get the reason for coasters not being able to dispatch with just one rider though, there must be a reason behind it somewhere.
 
AT86 said:
Not sure I get the reason for coasters not being able to dispatch with just one rider though, there must be a reason behind it somewhere.
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On coasters I operated back in the day, it was the case that a single rider on a train was not acceptable in case 'something' happened and there was no witness to it. In that particular case, two riders on a train had to sit in the same row.

But... different era, different country.
 
Rick said:
On coasters I operated back in the day, it was the case that a single rider on a train was not acceptable in case 'something' happened and there was no witness to it. In that particular case, two riders on a train had to sit in the same row.

But... different era, different country.
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That's the logic London eye use for the minimum of 3 rule, but it makes sense there.
 
Merlin entertainments everyone!
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Islander said:
Parks operate on the whole individually, they don't generally operate as a 'group' as the majority of enthusiasts mistakenly believe.

So, this is two individual failures rather than one :tongueout:
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Yep, it's just comical they both made the same error but opposite!
 
Islander said:
Parks operate on the whole individually, they don't generally operate as a 'group' as the majority of enthusiasts mistakenly believe.
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Yep I find this quite frustrating that people always talk about "Merlin" when in reality it is resort operations.

Disney has some cross-park operations (the same item of merchandise is often made but with different with Disneyland, WaltDisneyWorld and Disneyland Paris logos for example) but a lot of decisions are made locally in Florida and California. DLR and WDW fairly independently. The Merlin UK parks are similar, some things cross between them but a lot of decision making is local.
 
jon81uk said:
Yep I find this quite frustrating that people always talk about "Merlin" when in reality it is resort operations.

Disney has some cross-park operations (the same item of merchandise is often made but with different with Disneyland, WaltDisneyWorld and Disneyland Paris logos for example) but a lot of decisions are made locally in Florida and California. DLR and WDW fairly independently. The Merlin UK parks are similar, some things cross between them but a lot of decision making is local.
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Despite that it would be helpful if they were consistent between parks. I was allowed on Rumba Rapids on my own but not Congo River Rapids. Out of interest, what are other parks with Intamin Rapids and Maurer Spinners saying?
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Despite that it would be helpful if they were consistent between parks. I was allowed on Rumba Rapids on my own but not Congo River Rapids. Out of interest, what are other parks with Intamin Rapids and Maurer Spinners saying?
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Oh I agree, if a ride is operated due to a manufacturers requirement, this should be consistent.

I was more just continuing Islanders frustration about how people talk about Merlin/Tussauds and how they actually seem to operate.
 
Well, it is a bit of both. Merlin do have influence over their resort parks and hotels, for instance the food offerings have become homogenised and dumbed down over the years, and the safety protocols introduced post-Smiler look fairly consistent across their UK parks. However I agree there is also local autonomy and some parks do things differently to others. I'm not sure exactly where the line is drawn.

Perhaps one of the strangest to me is the "no re-rides" policy that exists at Alton Towers, but not at Thorpe Park... I do find it odd why things like that aren't consistent.
 
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Many years ago, I stopped on the rapids at the towers for about an hour...we lost track of the repeat count.
That and the runaway train.
Nemesis single rider could get "relaxed" as well.
 
By no re-rides policy, I was referring to the coasters :). It's been allowed on Rapids and Mine Train for as long as I can remember.
 
Mine Train is a coaster; do you mean the big 7 when you refer to “coasters”?
 
rob666 said:
Now come on, Blackpool ghost train is more of a coaster!
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How so? Mine Train does definitely coast; you definitely feel it pick up decent speed in those helices, especially the second one into the Rapids tunnel!

I admit that Ghost Train does work under gravity very briefly, however I wouldn’t personally call it a roller coaster. However, I admit that everyone has their own different interpretations; the definition of a roller coaster is surprisingly open-ended! For me, RCDB classification is pretty good at determining what is and isn’t a roller coaster, but I accept that that isn’t the same for everyone, and that’s fine by me!
 
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