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2023: General Discussion

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I think it might well have something to do with the shared lap bars, as Thorpe Park don’t appear to have altered the height restriction of Flying Fish, which has single lap bars.

Flying Fish is still listed as 0.9m accompanied and 1.1m unaccompanied on their website: https://www.thorpepark.com/explore/theme-park/rides/flying-fish/
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Unless Thorpe are simply slower at updating their website than Towers, that implies that Flying Fish is not seeing the same height restriction increase for 2024.
 
Individual restraints would almost certainly require a new train and I don't see Towers spending that sort of money on a >30 year old ride. The only way would be if they also replaced the track to guarantee the future of the ride. More likely they'll just get rid in the not too distant future and put up with the complaints about the height restriction in the meantime
 
Skyscraper said:
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.
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Ah sorry, I mean Dragon (the bigger one with the dark ride section to start). If you're riding as a pair then they tell the child to sit on the left as only that side has a seatbelt.
 
You can't just simply bolt seatbelts into the trains. Most of what you see is fibreglass and old at that, so it'll just crack. Would require full gutting, something to spread the load behind etc.

If there was an injury, they'd have changed the height restriction immediately. H&S doesn't usually wait until it is convenient.
 
these comments about injuries are dangerous, as pointed out if something serious had happened H&S would have closed the ride. The passholder groups are about as reliable as the Daily Mail.

More likely that Mack have issued new guidance for the shared lap bars.
 
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Suppose these days the size of a parent to child ratio is a lot larger than it was 30 years ago. So if you're sat next to big momma then you could in theory slip out under the bar if your feet don't sit flat on the floor to stop you?
 
Danny said:
There appears to have been some jetwashing in Dark Forest. Images from TA Facebook.

Rita, Clean of Speed.

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Do my eyes deceive me?! They are actually cleaning rides?! Good that they are finally doing this...just the fact though that Dark Forest was perhaps the only area on the park that rides could have gotten away without a jet wash due to the theme. Oh, well.

Give Smiler and Oblivion a wash and I'll be happy with that.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Do my eyes deceive me?! They are actually cleaning rides?! Good that they are finally doing this...just the fact though that Dark Forest was perhaps the only area on the park that rides could have gotten away without a jet wash due to the theme. Oh, well.

Give Smiler and Oblivion a wash and I'll be happy with that.
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Can't jet wash rust off Smiler
 
The same treatment is a must on The Smiler and Galactica but they seem a lot worse in condition than Rita was. Just shows how the simple things such as actually cleaning the machinery you own can make a difference.
 
jon81uk said:
They get a contractor in to jet wash some of the park every winter, it’s not a development.
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Agreed, I recall seeing photos of Rita being jet washed a couple of seasons back (maybe 2020?) so this in itself isn’t evidence of a step change in winter work. It’s always been done, just not enough of it.

Hopefully though they move on to more attractions in the coming weeks such as Smiler and Galactica as that would show more was being undertaken than recent years.
 
rob666 said:
I may have said it just once or twice before...but jetwashing alone in damp, green environments only lasts for a few months, then green as ever.
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That’s irrelevant because they should still look after the rides and clean them every winter. That’s like saying it’s pointless cleaning your car because it’ll be dirty again a few days later
 
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