Queues were not great until 2:30 or so. So game was either upped or people had left .
Been typical of all weekdays since opening - takes a long time to get things going
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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-24
- Thread starter Ethan
- Start date
Been typical of all weekdays since opening - takes a long time to get things going
Any updates on trains for the rides. Th13teen and wicker on 3? Smiler on 4? Rita on 2?
Danscott22
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
I saw this morning that Rita was back on 2, someone posted on socials, not sure on the others.
I was there today, drove up and didn’t get into the park until almost 12, partially due to the painfully slow monorail which took almost half an hour from joining the queue (which was inside the station) to actually getting to the gates.
The above aside, it was mostly fine inside the park itself. We took our time a bit as we’re here for 2 days, and managed 6 rides with an hour break, only disappointment was Thirteen closing when we were almost at the front of the queue, but we’d only been in the queue for about 5 minutes at that point.
The above aside, it was mostly fine inside the park itself. We took our time a bit as we’re here for 2 days, and managed 6 rides with an hour break, only disappointment was Thirteen closing when we were almost at the front of the queue, but we’d only been in the queue for about 5 minutes at that point.
Operations definitely improved a little as the afternoon went on yesterday due to crowds dispersing however there were still multiple breakdowns during the day causing huge downtime.
Literally nothing except Oblivion was open at 10am and even that broke down and closed for almost 2 hours during the day.
All in all for me it was a total shambles of a day, the 2 hour queue for galatica only for it to break down and then for me to go to nemesis, queue 40 mins and then that also break down was the cherry on the cake.
It’s an unacceptable that even on a rainy cold off peak day like yesterday when the park was relatively quiet you’re still seeing an average of 40-50 min queues and in some cases much longer.
If you’re going over this Easter weekend I can only wish you good luck cause from what I seen yesterday the rides/staff are nowhere near up to the task of dealing with the park at full capacity.
Literally nothing except Oblivion was open at 10am and even that broke down and closed for almost 2 hours during the day.
All in all for me it was a total shambles of a day, the 2 hour queue for galatica only for it to break down and then for me to go to nemesis, queue 40 mins and then that also break down was the cherry on the cake.
It’s an unacceptable that even on a rainy cold off peak day like yesterday when the park was relatively quiet you’re still seeing an average of 40-50 min queues and in some cases much longer.
If you’re going over this Easter weekend I can only wish you good luck cause from what I seen yesterday the rides/staff are nowhere near up to the task of dealing with the park at full capacity.
venny
TS Member
I got the impression that since the takeover and Bianca’s arrival there might have been some changes to improve ride reliability. However from reports here that doesn’t seem to be the case and there are five fewer operating rides than there were in 2022.
Are there actually any signs that there have been serious material changes to improve the situation or are we just being fed a load of spin?
Are there actually any signs that there have been serious material changes to improve the situation or are we just being fed a load of spin?
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Ug Bugs
If the park's empty, there's no one to wait in the 60 minute queue and there's also no one to operate the rides. What's the problem?
RustyRider
TS Member
I was there yesterday and I expected problems, but not this! Between opening and about 1:30pm was an absolute shambles. What didn’t help was the absolutely ludicrous decision to allow school trips into a theme park that was already going to be busy due to a lot of school also starting Easter holidays, couple that with the downtime was a recipe for disaster really.
Joined galactica on a “10”minute queue, that took 50 mins.
nemesis taking a good hour to get going and then closing after queuing for 40 mins (waited it out)
TWO, yes two hour wait on wicker man as they decided to add the 3rd train once the queue line was already full and then had problems getting it running smooth.
Thing is, breakdowns happen, poor training and efficiency in the station is unforgivable in my eyes. Shocking dispatches and loading on most of the big rides, oblivion dispatching with multiple empty seats on several occasions. SRQ on the smiler being outside of the building and empty seats somehow going around was a personal highlight for me!
Still had a great day though as while people were queuing outside unopen rides, we just whored curse and sub terra.
Joined galactica on a “10”minute queue, that took 50 mins.
nemesis taking a good hour to get going and then closing after queuing for 40 mins (waited it out)
TWO, yes two hour wait on wicker man as they decided to add the 3rd train once the queue line was already full and then had problems getting it running smooth.
Thing is, breakdowns happen, poor training and efficiency in the station is unforgivable in my eyes. Shocking dispatches and loading on most of the big rides, oblivion dispatching with multiple empty seats on several occasions. SRQ on the smiler being outside of the building and empty seats somehow going around was a personal highlight for me!
Still had a great day though as while people were queuing outside unopen rides, we just whored curse and sub terra.
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Dave
TS Founding Member
Those that are in the know suggest there are material changes occurring in the background but it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment.
But we keep coming back to the old rides and 15 years of neglect issue. I do think however, Merlin need to review their pay structure for maintenance teams to keep good staff.
Suppose an early Easter doesn’t help, the park usually has 1 more week of closed season and often 2 weeks of bedding in time before the busy period but they should be able to work around that.
This is what frustrates me. AT knows that even on their most quiet days they can run rides with all cars and they won’t be empty.
So run them all from the start and keep the queues down.
Dave
TS Founding Member
This is what frustrates me. AT knows that even on their most quiet days they can run rides with all cars and they won’t be empty.
So run them all from the start and keep the queues down.
They don’t deliberately start on reduced train numbers. They sometimes plan to be on one station with Oblivion and Galactica but usually if that’s the case it will be on that all day as that’s what they have staffed for (no point running two stations of staff on days when the ride is walk-on with one station).
Usually if a train comes on late it’s because it wasn’t signed off before opening, so linked to the maintenance issues the park are having.
What I would say is that whilst all the staff here are really friendly and nice, there’s quite a blatant lack of training.
I’ve no idea if that extends to operations as it does waiting staff but the impression I get is certainly that it’s not a massive surprise given experiences in the restaurants etc.
Again, it’s not a bad attitude or for want of trying, it’s just fairly clearly poor training.
I’ve no idea if that extends to operations as it does waiting staff but the impression I get is certainly that it’s not a massive surprise given experiences in the restaurants etc.
Again, it’s not a bad attitude or for want of trying, it’s just fairly clearly poor training.
BarryZola
TS Member
The thing is, there aren't really any walk on days anymore as they're clearly incentivizing schools to book trips on traditionally quieter days or incentivizing people through lower ticket prices on those days. So they need to cough up and staff the place properly on weekdays as well as weekends. And that goes for ride staff and maintenance. Try to run the place properly everyday, it's not much to ask. Merlin: "Oh no, people might get to ride something without waiting in a queue, we must be operating too efficiently. Quick, cut down on staff immediately"! Get it sorted you absolute bells.
Here now and again a good number of closures with even Curse and Sub Terra closed now as well.
The thing is when they inevitably start to open over the next half an hour or so nobody will convince me that it couldn’t easily be avoided. If you can get the ride open by 10-30 you can get it open by 10, it can’t be some glaring major issue, it’s just slack operations and it’s incredibly annoying.
The thing is when they inevitably start to open over the next half an hour or so nobody will convince me that it couldn’t easily be avoided. If you can get the ride open by 10-30 you can get it open by 10, it can’t be some glaring major issue, it’s just slack operations and it’s incredibly annoying.
Dave
TS Founding Member
It will be because they don’t have enough maintenance staff to get morning checks done by 10. It’s no excuse as they should have them but they clearly don’t.
Everything so far this season screams of a lack of tech services staff.
Danscott22
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
Thirteen has actually opened before 10:30 which is a surprise considering recent form
It's a shame we don't know about bank holidays at least a year in advance so we don't get caught out and can plan around them isn't it