Closure Culture: Were we too eager to see the Retro Squad go?

[Tim]

There are definitely influential individuals that were calling for the rides removal more than others. No doubt because they visit the parks even more than the average enthusiast, so for them it must feel like the Retrosquade were there for decades (comparatively). But they were not alone in that opinion, and an influencer only has sway if people agree with them.

Craig does raise some good points that could have also played into the decision. For example, I know the Jungle Coaster at Legoland Windsor was removed because it was too popular, yet had a woeful capacity (after the modifications). As most guests wanted to ride it but either couldn't, or had to queue for over 2 hours, the park experience and ridership scores improved dramatically once it was gone.

In particular I hadn't factored in the cost of keeping the Retrosquad (compared to the start of Covid) and how much downtime they had.

I do however maintain that they didn't have to go all at once. And a simple fix to helping them blend in would have been just to turn off or alter the music.
For example Europa Park bring in the Giant Wheel at Christmas. I presume it is also from the traveling fair circuit, and that's become an icon of the event.

 

[Craig]

For example Europa Park bring in the Giant Wheel at Christmas. I presume it is also from the traveling fair circuit, and that's become an icon of the event.

Yup, Bellevue Wheel is from Oscar Bruch and is a perfect example of how rides can be brought in temporarily. But I think that's part of the problem - if you compare the two, Alton's additions were a knee jerk reaction that showed a lack of foresight.

At Towers, the Retrosquad stuff was thrown in with no real thought of the distractions loud 80's music would have to the otherwise themed areas they were in. Aside from a good old vinyl job, there appeared to be little thought put into it other than more rides = happier customers. A decision that's perhaps fine for an amusement park, not so much for a theme park which should be catering to a wider guest experience. The duty cycles of fairground rides which would usually be operating at lower capacities for shorter periods wasn't considered. As was the lack of control and complexities of a third party running operations and maintenance on rides.

For EP, their ferris wheel fits well into the theme of their winter event, and takes up the space that would otherwise be an empty pool for a water ride. It's family friendly and provided a focal point when they (originally!) didn't have many running coasters. It's also incredibly high capacity, meaning people can get on with very little queue no matter how busy the park is. It also looks far more substantial and doesn't feel like a fair ride, it's much more like an attraction that should be at a premier theme park - the complete opposite of the Retrosquad.

I do see the reasoning that it would've been better to phase out their removal. From a pure "number of rides" point of view, that makes sense. But I can't help but think it was an ever increasing headache to deal with (and not just because of the blaring music!), so perhaps it was best to just bite the bullet, get rid and concentrate efforts on getting the place back to being a theme park again.

 

[Tom]

We don't need to be calling individuals out just because of some sort of weird vendetta people have against influencers/Youtubers/whatever - it's a cheap shot that frankly just isn't needed or even relevant to what's being discussed. The fact is there was a large percentage of people who wanted rid here on the forums and elsewhere on social media/Facebook groups too.

Ultimately, the decision will have come down to the practicalities of keeping them and will have been backed up with whatever research marketing carried out to justify the reasoning to keep or get rid of them. We're not privy to that research and feedback, but to suggest they'd action something purely on the feedback of influencers when they form such a small part of their guest numbers is crazy.

@AT86 I think hit the nail on the head. It's a chance to reallocate funds elsewhere to improve the theme park experience elsewhere - be that ents, tidying up the place or just generally having more staff around. They can then take the time to source additional attractions in the coming years.

Agreed, but certainly there is no vendetta from me. Was meant as a joke - but accept not the best.

Ultimately the topic is: are people ("we") too eager to see the Retro Squad go. I addressed that question. What I would say is the key is in the name, many influencers use their position to effect change and this may have been a demonstration of that. Nemesis coming back is more than sufficient capacity to make up for Retro Squad loss - but I'd maintain that many people would rather they have gone in any event.

 

[Mick]

Agreed, but certainly there is no vendetta from me. Was meant as a joke - but accept not the best.

Ultimately the topic is: are people ("we") too eager to see the Retro Squad go. I addressed that question. What I would say is the key is in the name, many influencers use their position to effect change and this may have been a demonstration of that. Nemesis coming back is more than sufficient capacity to make up for Retro Squad loss - but I'd maintain that many people would rather they have gone in any event.

It’s a good question. Had Hex and Nemesis not come back and they’d still been removed what would the reception be? Personally it wouldn’t have affected my day as I never went on them, but if it had a knock on effect of increasing queue times then that would affect my day, so there’d potentially be indirect effects rather than directly. And just from a reputation and momentum point of view, the park wants to be seen as expanding and increasing the offering rather than decreasing.

Alas, we have the two classic rides back and more rides on the way, so this won’t affect the parks current momentum in any way, in my opinion.

 

[ScottishChris]

I hated the Retro Squad concept. I didn't much like the attractions. As much as the concept was to add capacity, I don't think that they were the right idea.

If they wanted to add ride capacity, I feel themeing attractions to their areas could easily have been done (A scrambler in X Sector themed to Dr Kalman's Marmaliser - as a quick example). Doing this would have made them fit and seem 'less temporary'.

So... no, not to eager to see them go. It was ridiculous that Towers had them on site, branded the way they did.

 

[Relife]

The Retro squad are a monument to bad long term planning by Towers. They should never have been there let's alone more than one season max. The lack of flats and capacity has been obvious for a few years now so I'm happy to see them finally addressing it.

Bianca knows what's she doing, I think the mobile food offerings in X Sector should help bring a bit of atmosphere until next season at least but I don't think the Retro Squad will be missed at all.

 

[NuttySquirrel]

I won't miss them at all. They were naff, offensive and completely off-brand both visually and audibly.

I'm also not convinced that the increased capacity made a significant difference to the park. Throughput always seemed pretty woeful yet only on the very busiest days of the year did they ever seem to get queues more than 15-20 minutes, suggesting that people weren't fussed about riding them unless they really had no other options. I can't believe they served to decrease queue times for the likes of Smiler and Wicker Man as much as everyone thought they did.

If as we suspect there are no immediate replacements in 2024, then fair enough. I'd rather the park takes time to assess the existing line-up, identify key requirements, select suitable replacements and theme them properly than rush out to buy something ill-thought out and unsuitable.