Ride Availability in Uk parks since 2020

[Themeparksandy1981]

Now I looked for a topic but I can’t find 1 and I’m not sure what it’s like across Europe and America but what I noticed in the last 5 years in the uk is how often rides are unavailable in theme parks or go down for long periods of time.
Now for example at Drayton Manor today and it was advertised the Bounty been unavailable for over a week now so could be waiting for parts but over the course of the day the river rapids closed and didn’t reopen, Air race was also down for roughly a hour, Loki also had a failed start while we were on it and had to wait roughly 15 mins as Maintenance were at Gold Rush which also had broken down on the break run

We were let off and they rebooted the system and did 2 test runs and we were allowed back on but Gold Rush they managed to get the train back into the station and they tested it continuously for another half hour will the ride reopened half hour later.
I got talking to some vloggers outside Gold Rush and they were telling me for ride availability Alton Towers it’s been even worst with some reporting they had spent nearly all day queuing and only got on 2-3 rides as they been queuing for over a hour and they been told to leave the queue as the fault can’t be fixed straight away.
Even the problems at Thorpe park with Hyperia with multiple closures and other rides unavailable.
Now before Covid I don’t remember seeing many rides going down, closed or unavailable on the days I visited the parks. Is it a parts supplier problem and the maintenance team are patching up rides to parts arrive, rides been to problematic compared to rides been installed years ago, Global warming with temperatures getting warmer every year and our rides can’t handle the heat/temperatures. I can’t get my head round the problems parks have now.

 

[Matt N]

I do think ride availability at Alton Towers, as it’s the main one people discuss on here, looks to have markedly improved this season.

Yes, there are still some closures (e.g. Rita), but from anecdotes, it does seem like the domino effect that blighted the park at times during 2023 and 2024 (wherein a number of rides would go down at once and things would go up and down like a yo-yo) isn’t seeming to happen nearly as much this year.

One thing that I would suggest might have affected long term ride closures at the UK parks (not so much the short term dips, but the multi-day closures like Rita) is Brexit. Some might think that seems tenuous, but it will be adding to lead times on parts and such from abroad, which will mean that the ride needs to be closed for longer.

It does seem like there have been more of these long-term closures following the pandemic countrywide, but I would cite Brexit as a potential reason, or at very least a contributing factor. Yes, the parks could arguably have planned for it better in some cases, but it is something out of the park’s control that is likely to be increasing lead times on parts (many of them will be imported from the EU).

 

[Bowser]

And yet doesn’t happen at Paultons…

 

[Matt N]

And yet doesn’t happen at Paultons…

Paultons still has ride closures. When I went, I seem to remember the Viking Boat (I think?) being closed for the day. Granted, not a particularly major attraction, but it was still an all-day closure.

It’s also worth remembering that Paultons has a newer crop of rides than most UK parks, and also a less mechanically complex crop of rides than some of the Merlin parks, which may contribute to their excellent uptime.

I’m not saying Paultons doesn’t have excellent uptime, but it is worth remembering some of these factors that might assist that.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

I do think ride availability at Alton Towers, as it’s the main one people discuss on here, looks to have markedly improved this season.

Yes, there are still some closures (e.g. Rita), but from anecdotes, it does seem like the domino effect that blighted the park at times during 2023 and 2024 (wherein a number of rides would go down at once and things would go up and down like a yo-yo) isn’t seeming to happen nearly as much this year.

One thing that I would suggest might have affected long term ride closures at the UK parks (not so much the short term dips, but the multi-day closures like Rita) is Brexit. Some might think that seems tenuous, but it will be adding to lead times on parts and such from abroad, which will mean that the ride needs to be closed for longer.

It does seem like there have been more of these long-term closures following the pandemic countrywide, but I would cite Brexit as a potential reason, or at very least a contributing factor. Yes, the parks could arguably have planned for it better in some cases, but it is something out of the park’s control that is likely to be increasing lead times on parts (many of them will be imported from the EU).

I did think Brexit and a shortage of parts is a problem like I make gauges for a living and even ordering plastic boxes to store our parts are made to order now. Its very rare now companies have stock of theses are to they sell them it’s dead money to them.
I know temporary ride closures happen and maintenance have been and it’s been a basic system reset and send a few trains or run a few ride cycles before reopening but I never seen them have to close so many queue lines. Is it that parks have less maintenance staff compared to before, I just can’t get my head around all theses closures and I can’t comment much on other parks as Drayton is my main 1 but I don’t think they had 1 day this season with everything open. The park been very busy this season and theses closures really don’t help visitors wanting to visit again.