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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Smiley said:
Welcome to physics.
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I don’t like physics since I discovered I weigh more according to my finest chinesium scales standing up straight vs slouching.

I do find the idea of people trying to go for the fastest ride or most hang time based on the…dimensions… of the riders in the queue around them entertaining though
 
ringo said:
Currently testing with staff onboard, which as expected means people moaning


From: https://x.com/dean8001/status/1800474576599867890?s=46
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Fair point no?

If you’d paid full whack to get into the park for the flagship new coaster to be closed but you saw staff (not engineers) getting exclusive ride time would it not irk you?

It would me I think, not exactly great optics. Probably best to do it in the morning or evening before or after park opening/ closing if that’s what they’re going to do
 
Benzin said:
Much entitlement. Though I guess most Thorpe enthusiasts weren't born the last time a coaster opened there.

Staff always get a go first. And given the situation might as well use them as the guinea pigs.
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Yeah but they’ve had the go first, which was before it opened, before it then closed for 2 weeks due to an issue.

It’s totally different optics wise to have staff getting previews before the ride officially opened to doing so over 2 weeks after it officially opened when Thorpe are sending out social media messaging saying that they can’t commit to when it will open.

I don’t think it’s entitlement, it would annoy me if I was there. Just do it after park hours or something if they absolutely must do.
 
Josh555 said:
Fair point no?

If you’d paid full whack to get into the park for the flagship new coaster to be closed but you saw staff (not engineers) getting exclusive ride time would it not irk you?

It would me I think, not exactly great optics. Probably best to do it in the morning or evening before or after park opening/ closing if that’s what they’re going to do
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No, but then I understand that staff always test rides before opening to the public. It's mandatory.

You can't expect staff to come in early or stay late just to test a ride. Especially if it requires quite a lot of cycles.

This can only be good news, but of course entitlement takes over sometimes and somehow turns it into a negative.
 
Josh555 said:
Fair point no?

If you’d paid full whack to get into the park for the flagship new coaster to be closed but you saw staff (not engineers) getting exclusive ride time would it not irk you?

It would me I think, not exactly great optics. Probably best to do it in the morning or evening before or after park opening/ closing if that’s what they’re going to do
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Staff won't complain to the press when they get stuck at the top of the lift hill for 30 minutes.
 
caffeinesplash said:
No, but then I understand that staff always test rides before opening to the public. It's mandatory.

You can't expect staff to come in early or stay late just to test a ride. Especially if it requires quite a lot of cycles.

This can only be good news, but of course entitlement takes over sometimes and somehow turns it into a negative.
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I’m not sure entitlement is the right word.

Thorpe have been plugging this ride for months, a lot of people in the park will be there because they booked a trip on the basis of Hyperia being available - it isn’t just people like us showing up hoping it’s going to be open.

It’s one thing have an enthusiast stamping their feet that they’re not allowed on the first train of the ride and another having a parent have to explain to their kids why the ride which Thorpe are repeatedly saying isn’t ready to be ridden, is in fact being ridden by people.

Fairly sure Thorpe would have no shortage of takers for after hour over time or whatever if it meant getting to ride Hyperia.

It’s not a big deal I’m just not convinced that given the circumstances it’s the best PR choice, it isn’t the same thing as staff previews prior to the ride being officially opened - the difference between the two being nobody at all expects the ride to be available prior to the official opening whereas people will have literally booked (and paid and not being allowed to refund) trips today on the basis of Thorpe’s previous marketing that it would be open.

I just think they could handle it a little more delicately personally.
 
One days grace is fine..allows the staff in the shed to practice loading the trains again with small queues of people ready for the reopening. It's good for the parks staff as well, will probably give them a lift before a very busy season ahead..retail is hard and not very well paid. I'm going to be the last to deny them a perk.
 
Thorpe are obviously entitled to do this, but I don’t think it is the best look having staff rides whilst the park is open. Of course it could be to help with staff training, they want to train with actual people, but this should all have been sorted before the official opening.

But maybe this will be a sign it might open this afternoon? When I was at DLP a couple of years ago, we were there on the final day of Big Thunder’s scheduled maintenance. The fences around the ride had been removed and they allowed staff to ride it for about an hour or so. I was pretty sure this meant it would be opening, as the staff were having a great time! And of course, it did open!
 
caffeinesplash said:
It is a sense of false entitlement in my view.

You don't pay to ride Hyperia, you pay to enter the park and agree to the terms of entry and that rides may or may not be available for any reason.
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Not sure I agree with this.

Obviously part of the deal is that some rides may be closed, that’s just part of the fact that theme parks rely on complex machinery.

That said, I can’t agree that it’s entitlement to expect to get to ride the new ride which they’ve been plugging all year - if I’d booked to go today, I’d then not been offered a refund and I arrived to see staff riding it I think it would bug me. I wouldn’t go as far as to posting on Twitter about it and I can see your point but I just don’t think it’s the best look. It could easily have been done after hours, pay the staff a bit of overtime or whatever.

As I say, not a big deal but it’s not a huge surprise to me it’s got this response.
 
They probably should have closed off the wider perimeter for the ride. Would be frustrating as a regular guest seeing a bundle of people joining the queue but not being allowed to yourself.

No sympathy for enthusiasts though who know the deal.
 
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