Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
I think it runs out at the end of the season, I would advise against buying one because it is currently very difficult to get a prebook slot.
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2020: General Discussion
Danscott22
TS Member
Queues seem to be dipping down after 5pm on some attractions so that could make for a great 3 hours on a 8pm close to get a lot done, along with a good plan at the start of the day I can see my ride count next Saturday being quite high! Obviously will spend some time in the Oktoberfest area but it will likely just be for food and checking the entertainment out.
Burbs
TS Team
We found this yesterday, got loads of rides in after 5pm, Dark Forest was dead, as was Forbidden Valley. We were very impressed with the operations yesterday, queues moved quickly and waiting times were less than advertised all day across the board. Even Smiler at capacity was only 45 mins.
Danscott22
TS Member
This is what I'm hoping for, noticed Oblivion regularly dropping down to 10 minutes or less like it typically does which is great to see as well.
Burbs
TS Team
Yep, even from the first indoor tunnel bit of the queue (the station pass on the lowest level) it was only 15 minutes ish.
djtruefitt
TS Team
You’ll find if guests are well spread out in the queues then the queue times will be a lot lower than advertised. We only queued about 25 mins for wicker man and that was from near the entrance, Smiler in all extensions can only be 40 mins as well.
Connor98
TS Member
Can vouch for that with the wickerman, I only queued about 35 mins from just into the extension queue. I've only been on Smiler 4 times this season, but that's due to many reasons... Mainly I find the queue line horrid so to know its not as bad as it looks when it's in the extension, I might give it a go now
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Swarm Chris
TS Member
First visit back to Towers this year, and overall had a good day, with high guest compliance in queues and staff really on the ball throughout. Queue times generally shorter than advertised - two thirds extension queue Wicker Man was 40 minutes, noting there were no fastracks today and oddly almost zero RAP queues.
My concerns were managerial level. Firstly about half the hand sanitisers I tried were empty. This included 3 in a row in Dark Forest at barely 10:30, which is ridiculous and clearly no one has been tasked to check them before park open. Secondly, switchback queues are something that should have been fixed by now with simple screens like they have at the RAP merge on Wicker Man. I ended up with groups directly either side of me, and it seemed to me that the cause was people misjudging where the next marker would be, more than just plain ignoring them today. Given there were more than 6 of us in close proximity, Towers could find a compliance issue cropping up.
Nemesis and Skyride had a fair bit of downtime. Nemesis felt like it had a few hours out around lunch time, and Skyride didn't open until the afternoon. Whilst Oktoberfest was well attended late afternoon, and seemed to be a nice addition to the front of the park. The music on Towers Street also gave me a slight Bubbleworks vibe, which was a bonus.
My concerns were managerial level. Firstly about half the hand sanitisers I tried were empty. This included 3 in a row in Dark Forest at barely 10:30, which is ridiculous and clearly no one has been tasked to check them before park open. Secondly, switchback queues are something that should have been fixed by now with simple screens like they have at the RAP merge on Wicker Man. I ended up with groups directly either side of me, and it seemed to me that the cause was people misjudging where the next marker would be, more than just plain ignoring them today. Given there were more than 6 of us in close proximity, Towers could find a compliance issue cropping up.
Nemesis and Skyride had a fair bit of downtime. Nemesis felt like it had a few hours out around lunch time, and Skyride didn't open until the afternoon. Whilst Oktoberfest was well attended late afternoon, and seemed to be a nice addition to the front of the park. The music on Towers Street also gave me a slight Bubbleworks vibe, which was a bonus.
“Only 45 mins”
That’s literally my maximum tolerance for queueing...
Exactly why I’m avoiding the UK parks, switchbacks open with no screens in between lanes and no mask requirement in the queues. Just been in germany where they have screens in switchbacks AND masks- it’s so much safer than over here!
Burbs
TS Team
God forbid you visit any park on a moderately busy day then. 45 for The Smiler from there is great, considering it'd typically be 120+.
I was at europa on Saturday and it was sold out. The pathways were rammed but the longest I had to wait was 25 mins for silver star...
At the end of the day, outside merlin, Disney/universal or uk parks, 45 minutes is considered a high waiting time.
It’s really sad UK parks aren’t going above and beyond to make it safe for guests. Yes, social distancing markers are well laid out and plenty of cleaning and hand sanitiser...
BUT
Wearing masks on the rides is pointless if you aren’t going to wear them in queuelines. I would argue that the queue is a higher risk environment standing near to people for up to 2 hours without masks side by side in a cattlepen. In efteling, they have plastic screens. In germany/Belgium/France, masks are compulsory in queuelines and normally coupled with screens or alternate rows of cattlepen blocked off. I cannot see the logic in leaving cattlepens open here in the uk with no masks or Perspex screens. It’s not just merlin at fault though, it’s the exact same issues in Blackpool and Drayton manor. At least paultons have mandated masks in queues now.
BUT
Wearing masks on the rides is pointless if you aren’t going to wear them in queuelines. I would argue that the queue is a higher risk environment standing near to people for up to 2 hours without masks side by side in a cattlepen. In efteling, they have plastic screens. In germany/Belgium/France, masks are compulsory in queuelines and normally coupled with screens or alternate rows of cattlepen blocked off. I cannot see the logic in leaving cattlepens open here in the uk with no masks or Perspex screens. It’s not just merlin at fault though, it’s the exact same issues in Blackpool and Drayton manor. At least paultons have mandated masks in queues now.
imanautie
TS Member
The logic is that because the markers are staggered you won't be standing next to someone even when the queue line zigzags.
Danscott22
TS Member
I would happily wait 45 minutes for The Smiler to be honest, my maximum waiting cap differs with each ride, like for example 50 minutes for The Smiler and I'd be fine, whereas Thirteen for example my limit would be 30. Wonder if queues are dipping slightly because the Oktoberfest area holds a lot of people at once?
Swarm Chris
TS Member
It's possible we might see queues drop later in the afternoon. Today by about 4pm, Wicker Man had dropped to 20 minutes advertised, and the lawn was busy.
RicketyCricket
TS Member
I don't mind a long wait if it's a fast moving queue. Anything over 45 mins at the Merlin parks is torture.
I know the logic, but when the markers have faded off or people don’t stick to them, the reality of the matter is you can be sandwiched in with someone either side of you.
They haven’t thought it through properly at all, a lot of the european parks have staggered markers and Perspex screens and mask requirement. Only having one measure (staggered markers) is the minimum amount possible a park can get away with, and it isn’t keeping people as safe as it could be. Add in masks and screens and you are making it as safe as possible. Europa park has masks, screens and staggered markers, so they’ve gone to the maximum effort possible to make it safe for guests, and that’s partly down to the German government’s better direction to their park, and look how germany are doing with the virus compared to the uk.
I just don’t get why we are doing the minimum possible in queuelines. On the rides themselves we have hand sanitiser, cleaning and masks, but in the queues (which in my opinion are quite a high risk environment) people can be standing sandwiched together in a cattlepen for over an hour without masks or physical distancing if the markers are ignored. In my opinion this is not ok and should have been changed a long time ago.
O
Orange Ribena
This is all very true. I always thought that queues were the most dangerous area as you are stuck in a confined space for a long period of time. But trying to get the regular grumpy and self involved British public to stand on a line never mind wear a mask is a difficult enough task.
Honestly, I'm bored myself carrying about these people anymore. I've just accepted that we might as well just go about our business as normal now. If I get covid and die so be.
djtruefitt
TS Team
I find the problem with a lot of the markers where there are cattle pens is there are very large gaps between them, so that you are never stood next to someone. However when you are in the queue and the people in front move ahead you naturally go to follow, only to find there isn’t actually a marker for you to stand on, as you expect them to be every 2 metres, when some of them must be a good 10 metres apart. I’ve even done it myself when queueing.
of course that’s the cheaper and easier option than using screens, and they’ve only added the screens when fastrack was introduced as that will make them money.
of course that’s the cheaper and easier option than using screens, and they’ve only added the screens when fastrack was introduced as that will make them money.