2022: General Discussion

[Skyscraper]

Does anyone know why Hex is still down? I’m sure it was also down for the last few weeks of 2021 season too but could be wrong.

Correct, it was closed during Scarefest and was waiting for a part I think.

 

[Danscott22]

But it was open at Christmas - so the issues will be unrelated.

 

[D4n]

Long queues and downtime across the park today. Very poor to not extend ride close.

Wouldn't have happened last season.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Glad I went yesterday instead of today!

 

[AT86]

This smells like BS.

 

[Mattie boy]

Classic case of we can't be ars** is it ?

 

[Danscott22]

Yeah that’s some bull right there. Should say “we’ve closed Wicker Man early because we can’t be bothered to keep it open late on a one train service”

 

[s_g_k]

This smells like BS.

Was fine yesterday? Maybe the queue line is too poorly lit for guests to navigate after dark?

 

[Steve74]

I think the reason is legit - I was in the queue last night when it got dark after 6pm and the queueline got very dark, especially from the shop round to going under the lift hill. So I think they are justified in the decision. Imagine if someone fell down the steps in the queue - all hell would be let loose in the media over them having no lighting on. The chain lighting is there as usual but there is no generator to power it.

 

[AT86]

Then get a generator in to power it then

 

[Steve74]

Then get a generator in to power it then

Well clearly they've decided not to. And there is probably a secondary reason too of having staff working another near 12 hour day as the staff wouldn't finish much before 8 like last night. Maybe they don't have enough staff today to keep it open longer.

 

[Danscott22]

If only it were running more than one train - the queue would've been empty likely before it has the chance to get dark.

 

[s_g_k]

The clocks go forward next weekend so if it’s still on one train, the park will have to think of another reason to close it early.

 

[Steve74]

If only it were running more than one train - the queue would've been empty likely before it has the chance to get dark.

Yeah true, but for whatever reason it wasn't. Personally, I'm glad they opened it on 1 train rather than kept it closed.

 

[AT86]

Indeed, if this lighting situation is genuine then it is a problem of their own making (not having enough usable trains), there are solutions to overcome this (using the queue line lighting that is in place) but they have chosen not to bother doing that.

This leads to a poor customer experience. It’s not good enough.

 

[Poisson]

The generators have turned up but they're in the coach park

 

[Dave]

I suspect the bigger issue is the staff, if they have a 2hr queue at close then they have quite a big shift extension and they probably don’t want to be upsetting the team on the first weekend.

 

[Benjsh]

Was fine yesterday? Maybe the queue line is too poorly lit for guests to navigate after dark?

Translation:

Too many people join the queue for the night ride and they are too cheap to pay the wages to staff to keep the place open.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

And last year they shocked us with 8pm closes, from one extreme to the other!

 

[Dave]

Translation:

Too many people join the queue for the night ride and they are too cheap to pay the wages to staff to keep the place open.

I really don’t think it’s a cost thing, in the grand scheme of things it wouldn’t be expensive. It’s possible it’s a WTD concern or they just want the staff not to be over worked. It’s also possible they want the ride back in tech services hands earlier in the evening to sort out the problem with the trains.