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The Retrosquad: General Discussion

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Well, whatever the reason, clearly to the budget holders the business case for new permanent flats doesn't add up.
 
I think this will be the last year of the retrosquad. It is clear that investment has increased at AT with the duel refurb and nemises retrack.

If sw9 is set to open 2025 i can see an influx of flats for their investment strategy over the winter of this year before the 2024 season.
 
lee2804 said:
I think this will be the last year of the retrosquad. It is clear that investment has increased at AT with the duel refurb and nemises retrack.

If sw9 is set to open 2025 i can see an influx of flats for their investment strategy over the winter of this year before the 2024 season.
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Let's hope so hey. 4 or 5 rides needed would cost, what, £10m?
 
Poisson said:
I'm not sure how the business balances CAPEX, but if Duel is tied to 2023, 2024's budget is Nemesis and 2025 is Horizon. Can't see where the cash is coming from for flat rides sadly
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I’d be surprised if there was more cash on top of what is announced, but they are spending £17m on Jumanji at Chessington and then another £30m on the Waterpark in quick succession. So I suppose there could be more money in the pot for Towers as their flagship UK park.
 
Looking at the app, Spinjam is open today but Funk n Fly is not. Makes sense as the former was seen being set up in drone footage recently. Does mean that Galactica and Blade are the only rides open in FV though.
 
Would 4 flat rides really cost that much. I know running costs have to be taken into account but would that be much more than for the retrosquad.

Im sure if they went and said we will buy 4 flat rides from 1 manufacturer they would get a good price.

Look at chessington they have installed essential a fairground ride in a miami but themed it up so it doesnt look out of place.


i wouldnt be against them taking of the fairground lights and permanently installing the retrosquad with theming for the areas they are in.
 
Poisson said:
The Retrosquad rides are either rubbish or unsuitable or both. For what's meant to be the best park in the country, can they pick something better to install permanently
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Spinjam is good though and fairly suitable if they were to theme it into X Sector. I agree on the others.
 
Not really. A low capacity travelling model that was struggling at times with the hammer it got from park operations. Unsuitable.
 
Poisson said:
Not really. A low capacity travelling model that was struggling at times with the hammer it got from park operations. Unsuitable.
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Spinjam has actually been really reliable, with not much downtime at all. Funk n Fly was the worst, followed by Mixtape. Although I won't ride Spinjam, it's great to see an intense flat ride at Towers for the first time in a while.
 
Jb85 said:
Let's hope so hey. 4 or 5 rides needed would cost, what, £10m?
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It's not just the initial cost of buying and installing them though. There's running costs, additional staff (hosts and potentially tech staff) costs, training, maintenance and possibly insurance (by that I mean more rides = higher insurance? not sure). With recruitment as it at the moment, it has been far wiser for Towers to rent rides complete with operators rather than having to find their own staff.

While the Retro Squad hasn't been ideal, they helped get them out of the pandemic and personally I'd far rather see the combination of temporary flats for 3 or 4 years where Towers are paying a minimal amount (compared to 3 permanent flats) for 3 rides plus a refurb of Nemesis and Duel and Project Horizon, rather than 3 permanent flats and 1 or more of those investments not happening which - and we'll probably never know - could've been the choice they had.
 
See this is why I never thought the retro-squad should have come back for a second year. It's just going to become something they'll do long term because they can get away with it in nearly a COVID free year.
 
I like Spinjam, Funk’n’Fly isn’t bad either so I’m not too mad as everyone else, but I don’t think we should be grateful for temporary rides, as that really is setting the bar low 😂
 
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