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2023: General Discussion

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EarthlyKnight27 said:
Tis my opinion. But, I can't seem to find any actual reason anywhere... Unless I'm looking in the wrong places
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It is simply cost related. The shorter the hours, the cheaper the wage bill.

4pm closes were introduced post Smiler incident at a time when visitor numbers were down and costs were under scrutiny and they have remained ever since, however due to guest numbers increasing in the last few years the number of 4pm close days have reduced slowly.
 
Matt N said:
That’s intriguing…. could it have something to do with the fact that the ride still has shared lap bars?

Flying Fish at Thorpe has single lap bars, but I’m not sure about Scorpion Express.

I’m not sure why RMT would warrant a 1.1m height restriction other than that, though. It’s admittedly a good bit more intense than Octonauts, the other 0.9m coaster, but unless they’ve had a problem with smaller kids getting squashed on some of the corners or something, I can’t think of why that would make it require an increased height restriction.
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Scorpion Express has shared lap bars so, if your theory is correct about the lap bars, Scorpion Express would have a 1.1 m height restriction like RMT if it reopens.
 
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I love that now if you are 1.2 metres tall you can ride Th13teen, Wicker Man & Spinball on your own, but to ride RMT, Rapids, Marauders or the Blade you must be accompanied by an adult :tearsofjoy:

The clear indicator there is all the rides that need an adult have a shared lap bar, or no restraint at all. Them pesky kids standing up ruining it for the well behaved ones 🤔
 
Josh said:
I love that now if you are 1.2 metres tall you can ride Th13teen, Wicker Man & Spinball on your own, but to ride RMT, Rapids, Marauders or the Blade you must be accompanied by an adult :tearsofjoy:

The clear indicator there is all the rides that need an adult have a shared lap bar, or no restraint at all. Them pesky kids standing up ruining it for the well behaved ones 🤔
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The ride is over 30 years old. Making this change now is bizarre.
 
Rob F said:
Doesn't DLP big thunder mountain has shared lap bars, it says hello as an ultimate family thrill machine …
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So does The Dragon at LegoLand Windsor, presumably they have the same insurance for all Merlin parks? Dragon has optional seat belts for the left hand passenger if deemed small enough.
 
Bowser said:
So does The Dragon at LegoLand Windsor, presumably they have the same insurance for all Merlin parks? Dragon has optional seat belts for the left hand passenger if deemed small enough.
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The Dragon has seatbelts as well though doesn't it?
 
Bowser said:
Yep, did mention the left passenger side seatbelt :D

If that's the difference maker i wonder why AT wouldn't install those instead, can't be much work/expense?
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Ah are you talking about the Dragon or Dragon's Apprentice? I rode the former a few years ago and I remember using the seatbelt as I couldn't undo it. 😂🤦‍♂️
I was on my own and had to get an adult to undo it as it was twisted.
 
I won’t post it here for privacy reasons, but there was a comment on one of the passholder groups discussing the height restriction changes alleging a young child of a friend sustained a fairly significant injury necessitating surgery last season after riding RMT.

If that’s the case, I can understand why the height restriction has been changed and it would appear the shared lap bar theory is correct.
 
Leigh said:
I won’t post it here for privacy reasons, but there was a comment on one of the passholder groups discussing the height restriction changes alleging a young child of a friend sustained a fairly significant injury necessitating surgery last season after riding RMT.

If that’s the case, I can understand why the height restriction has been changed and it would appear the shared lap bar theory is correct.
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If that’s true, I’m surprised that it didn’t make the news…
 
If that is the case they should be taking more significant steps to amend the trains and/or restraints to remove the shared lap bar so they can improve safety and maintain the height requirement.

Merlin still taking the cheap option that impacts guests days out when it doesn’t need to is frustrating.
 
AT86 said:
If that is the case they should be taking more significant steps to amend the trains and/or restraints to remove the shared lap bar so they can improve safety and maintain the height requirement.

Merlin still taking the cheap option that impacts guests days out when it doesn’t need to is frustrating.
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In fairness, leaving expense aside changing things like the restraints on RMT would take a significant amount of effort and time to get sorted (and I don’t think bodging a set of seat belts on would cover it - which would also have the side effect of ruining throughout). I don’t think they could’ve planned gutting RMT’s trains to fit individual lap bars with the time they had available over closed season anyway, if it’s even possible at all with the current trains which I don’t think it is.

I would hope discussions are taking place for 2025 though.
 
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