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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-24

Jonathan said:
There's always one, isn't there? :rolleyes::p
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Back in 2019 I had a one-shot Fastrack for Oblivion after upgrading my Standard Season Pass to Premium, so I rode alone using that while my dad and a friend rode Smiler. I was the last person into whichever air gate I was assigned, so the last person on, and couldn't be bothered to walk all the way to the baggage rack and back again. When the host came to check my restraint they handed my bag to another host, who put it on the rack.
 
Iā€™ve got another question, come to think of it; if Oblivion supposedly had such a high throughput when it opened, how did it attract waits of up to 3 hours?

This question actually came from my parents. They said about having waited 3 hours for Oblivion in its opening season, and were very perplexed when I told them that it supposedly had a higher throughput than Silver Star in its initial years (this discussion took place when we were stood in Silver Starā€™s queue, and my parents picked up on how quickly it moved).
 
Alsty said:
It's just mathematics. If people join the queue at a higher rate than the ride throughout then the queue will grow.

New rides tend to attract people whereas with older rides people are less inclined to wait for them.
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I know that, but I did think 3 hours seemed very high for ; Towers, even in the 90s, never had anywhere near the visitor figures that Europa does now, and Silver Star, whose throughput Oblivion allegedly exceeded in its initial years, never had a queue longer than 20 minutes throughout my recent Europa trip. And thatā€™s before you take into account Europaā€™s vastly higher guest figures; they attain about double what Towers got in 1998.

Even with the newness factor of Oblivion in 1998, I wouldnā€™t have thought that the queue should ever have gotten much above an hour with that kind of throughput and the guest figures that Towers had in 1998. Towers also had no Fastrack back then in the same vein as EP doesnā€™t now, so Iā€™ll admit that Oblivionā€™s queue supposedly being 9 times longer than that of an identical or lower throughput ride of the same calibre in a park with double the guest figures does surprise me, even when the newness factor is taken into account.
 
People not putting their belts on.
People trying to take shoulder bags on.
Oversized people doing the walk of shame.
Tying laces tighter before putting belts on...loads did that.
Going for a wee in the queueline.
Stopping at the gum wall.
Minor breakdowns.
Idiots in groups of five/six/seven who insist on all sitting in the same row, then argue over who sits next to who.
People screaming to get off after the belts were locked.
More than half the people in the whole park being in that one queue.
People who insist on taking a brolly up there because it is raining.
Skyscraper being "that person" who gets on last as a single rider with a bloody great backpack.
There is your first dozen reasons Matt, I bet we can dig up another dozen.
Oh thirteen, puke.
 
Matt N said:
I know that, but I did think 3 hours seemed very high for ; Towers, even in the 90s, never had anywhere near the visitor figures that Europa does now, and Silver Star, whose throughput Oblivion allegedly exceeded in its initial years, never had a queue longer than 20 minutes throughout my recent Europa trip. And thatā€™s before you take into 9account Europaā€™s vastly higher guest figures; they attain about double what Towers got in 1998.

Even with the newness factor of Oblivion in 1998, I wouldnā€™t have thought that the queue should ever have gotten much above an hour with that kind of throughput and the guest figures that Towers had in 1998. Towers also had no Fastrack back then in the same vein as EP doesnā€™t now, so Iā€™ll admit that Oblivionā€™s queue supposedly being 9 times longer than that of an identical throughput ride in a park with double the guest figures does surprise me, even when the newness factor is taken into account.
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I remember queueing 3.5 to 4 hours for air on opening day.

SW's used to be a HUGE deal, way more than what they are now..not only was it around the turn of the internet becoming a normal thing. Secret Weapons used to seriously innovate more than now.

You could not do anything without hearing about Alton Towers new coasters in the weeks leading upto the park opening. Everywhere you looked, Alton Towers marketing machine was in full swing, making the British public VERY aware of what was coming. Much more than these days.

The yearly figures you seem to quote as a bible fail to account for the variations in day to day gate numbers. Lots of people used to go visit these rides from far and wide very close to opening.

The parks used to be hugely busy when the secret weapons opened, they were a BIG deal. This cannot be under estimated..much of a bigger deal to the public than what they are these days when they open. This I would argue is more down to the theempark being more established in the UK now and people having a much larger range of entertainment things to fill their time with.

I can remember Oblivions queue being out the entrance, using the full queue. I can just about remember that.

Sometimes Matt, you've gotta pull your head out the data and look at it in a bit of context. Data can tell you alot of things. But not everything.
 
I can honestly say that the Nemesis queue was longer, thinner, but slower, than Oblivion's in the comparative early years.
Done more than three hours for both early on, weekends and holidays were hell.
Nemesis twice in a day took just under six hours...all the other rides being pretty much walk on.
Oblivions queue was a fat, short, shuffle, to loud drum and bass.
Again, all the other rides, bar nemmy, being walk on.
The organisation of both ride teams was absolutely top notch, blivvy's eight functioning queuelines in the station a joy to watch.
I remember getting on Oblivion at the end of the first season on a weekday in termtime within five minutes, so I never bothered queueing more than half an hour after that.
Even the water rides got three hour queues early on.
 
New ride at popular theme park = big queues. There's not really anything more to it, so there's no point looking at factor x x y x z; etc. Everyone wanted to ride Oblivion in 1998, because it was new, original, exciting.
 
The likes of The Smiler and Wicker Man also never got queues hitting 3 hours. 100 minutes to 2 hours, possibly, but never 3 hours. And those rides have lower throughputs than Oblivion did.

But yes, I do acknowledge that things were very different back then.
 
Matt N said:
The likes of The Smiler and Wicker Man also never got queues hitting 3 hours. 100 minutes to 2 hours, possibly, but never 3 hours. And those rides have lower throughputs than Oblivion did.

But yes, I do acknowledge that things were very different back then.
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Ahem, within the first hour of Smiler opening on it's first day, the queue was over 3 hours long! šŸ˜‰
 
Matt N said:
The likes of The Smiler and Wicker Man also never got queues hitting 3 hours. 100 minutes to 2 hours, possibly, but never 3 hours. And those rides have lower throughputs than Oblivion did.

But yes, I do acknowledge that things were very different back then.
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Both did, early on, scarefest, and lots of peak days.
Fasttrack, RAP abuse, and failure to follow the rap policy on timings, has a lot to answer for.
The trick with big new rides is to enjoy all the other ride walk on's first.
 
Haha, just been going through the old Wickerman topics...
Three hours common first weekend, after snowy weekday soft opening walk ons.
With breakdowns, some were in the queue for five whole hours for those precious early day rides.
And as with pretty much all new rides, constant breakdowns and queue clearances for those who had waited for two or three hours as well.
I remember air being very bad.
 
Yeah, was about to say I distinctly remember entering the queue just after five on opening day, and not coming off well after eight. So I've definitely queued more than three hours for The Smiler. Never done since mind.
 
Matt N said:
The likes of The Smiler and Wicker Man also never got queues hitting 3 hours. 100 minutes to 2 hours, possibly, but never 3 hours. And those rides have lower throughputs than Oblivion did.

But yes, I do acknowledge that things were very different back then.
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The Smiler 100% did in 2013 - frequently between 150-180 minutes iirc. Wicker Man also hit 3 hours a fair amount in 2018.
 
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