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Hyde Park Winter Wonderland 2019

I'm guessing the track segment is locked from the control panel which would prevent an op sending a car out if there was a gap.

Nothing to stop them rolling a car off the end of the transfer track though!
 
Yeah manual transfers are fairly common. As Rick says, it depends entirely on that ride’s setup. Some will be aware, some may not (be it through design or modification...). A lot of transfers tend to have a dual locking mechanism, whereby to release the moving portion of track a bolt or stopper gets placed over the open part of the live section. This means if a vehicle is to move into that block it’ll hit the stopper rather than rolling off the end.

Remember that with fairs it’s a very different environment to most fixed parks. The crews will typically work on a small number of attractions (or even just one), and will know exactly how to handle that piece of hardware. There’s generally more of a sense of ownership (especially where it’s a family operation) and the incentive to keep a ride moving. All the while it’s stationary it’s not making you any money. If you break it you’re going to have a very angry showman who’s potentially lost a good chunk of their income on your case, rather than some middle manager filling out an incident report!
 
I went to Hyde Park Winter Wonderland for the first time today, and I thought I'd give you all some of my personal musings from the event as a whole:
  • The event as a whole is really nice, and it feels very professional. There's loads of stuff to do, including lots of food stands! I also think that it has quite a nice atmosphere with all of the lights on the rides at night!
  • I must admit, I was somewhat underwhelmed by Olympia Looping. Even though it's a good ride, and a brilliant piece of engineering for a travelling ride, I didn't think it lived up to a lot of the hype I'd heard. I wasn't a fan of the harnesses; they really dug into my shoulders. I also thought that the loops provided a very different sort of intensity to anything I've ever ridden before, and they made me feel quite nauseous, I must admit. Although I think that's more down to my own intensity tolerance than the ride...
  • Hangover massively exceeded my expectations! The drop was really forceful and packed a real punch, and the operator's music and commentary over the tannoy was a nice touch! The views from the top were also wonderful!
  • Even though I'm not a fan of the ride type, Ice Mountain was perhaps the most spinny wild mouse I've ever ridden; I could barely walk straight getting off! It also has some very good theming for a travelling ride, with some really nice theming items and a great lighting package!
  • Wilde Maus XXL was substantially more fast-paced than your typical wild mouse, although this also made it very rough. As such, I wasn't a fan at all, and I found the ride very painful. The big drops were fun, though, and the queue was certainly different, to say the least!
  • Euro Coaster actually exceeded my expectations slightly! It was certainly different, but I actually thought it was quite smooth given that it has a wild mouse-style layout. It wasn't brilliant by any means, but I didn't think Euro Coaster was a bad little ride for what it was!
  • If you want more in-depth thoughts, here's my trip report: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/hyde-park-winter-wonderland-2nd-january-2020.5331/
 
Sorry for the double post, but out of interest; for anyone who visited HPWW in 2019, was the purple and yellow Reverchon spinning coaster that turned up (I believe it was referred to as Spinning Christmas Coaster or something along those lines?) the Buwalda one (this one: https://captaincoaster.com/en/coasters/spinning-coaster-buwalda-foire)? Or was it a different one?

I'm only asking because the Buwalda one is the one I rated on Captain Coaster as it looked similar, but I wasn't too sure.
 
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Hyde Park Winter Wonderland has been cancelled for 2020. More details can be found here. The event is set to return in 2021.

I know we normally have a new thread for Winter Wonderland each year but it did not seem worth it with the event being cancelled.
 
Disappointing to see it cancelled but completely understand. It could be a good thing having a year out and allow them to refocus.

I’m wondering if Merlin will try and gain some extra money by doing something with Thorpe in December, only thing is the weather and safety protocols but if the right people were involved they might be able to pull off an okay event.
 
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