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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

thefatone said:
Stealth is one of their most reliable - runs usually even in the coldest of conditions.
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Stealth is probably my favourite ride in the UK, bar the obvious, so I'm not deriding it don't get me wrong.

But seriously, that can run in February conditions?!
 
If it means more chance of a rollback, then I'm delighted :D

But seriously, two major coasters open?! That's poor, I hope the final version is a lot better.
 
Define "cold" though? Canada's Wonderland is in a country where sub-zero conditions are normal, but they still close the B&Ms (but not any of their 14 other coasters) when it drops below 5'C, because the manual says so. :p
 
TheMan said:
Stealth is probably my favourite ride in the UK, bar the obvious, so I'm not deriding it don't get me wrong.

But seriously, that can run in February conditions?!
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It should be fine - i remember visiting after a night of heavy snow - Chessington had closed, thorpe managed to open and at opening Stealth was pretty much the only coaster able to run in the conditions. It may roll back but thats not the worse thing in the world!
 
DiogoJ42 said:
Define "cold" though? Canada's Wonderland is in a country where sub-zero conditions are normal, but they still close the B&Ms (but not any of their 14 other coasters) when it drops below 5'C, because the manual says so. :p
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I see the "B&Ms can't run at below 5°C" statement banded about a lot but I'm sure it can't be true because I've ridden Dæmonen on a bitter January night whilst it was snowing.
 
Of course they can run at any temp. Most parks just play it safe and obey B&M's instructions.
 
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If that's the case, going back to Canada's Wonderland, only B&M could get away with building a custom coaster that isn't even designed to run properly in its working environment and then charge $ 28 million for the privilege. I know that B&M are famously unflappable on such matters but if I were Canada's Wonderland, for that price I think I would demand that B&M adjust their 5°C figure.

It's probably a case of B&M wanting to protect against even the slightest risk of one of their coasters stalling. Still though, a rollercoaster in Toronto not being allowed to run in the cold is almost as ridiculous as Jubilee Odyssey not working in the slightest breeze and being built on the seafront.

I'm glad that Tivoli seem to have let common sense prevail but who knows? Maybe they have special dispensation from B&M to run in the cold.
 
I suspect the reason B&M are very strict on the 5°C rule has less to do with stalling and more permanent damage to the ride hardware. Operating anything outside its ideal conditions causes more damage and given B&Ms reputation as the most reliable rides they want them to outlast the competition.
Mack (who also have a reputation of quality) have similar temperature rules on there bigger rides only due to Europa Park they have more of an incentive to push and test those limits.
 
I'd imagine the b&m recommendations have something to do with the warranty they provide. I'd imagine there are different levels of cover. Perhaps wonderland's is a higher level hence the inflated price and their reluctance to 'break the guidelines'.
 
Air was running last year when we had that snow and very little else was open, the only coasters were Rita and air. However it did get stuck after the breaks and before the kicker wheels so staff had to push it :p
 
I think the one area of cold weather working for alton towers is local power grid loading. in winter power grids are under more load for electric heating. couple this with cold stresses on the grids cable links will make local power failures more likely. from a safety of getting people stuck on rides and the media being full of alton tower killed our electrical supply. I think it safer for them to run limited rides.
This could be said of Thorpe park too.
 
The only rollercoaster I see having a major problem with the cold is Colossus, seeing as it is now rather unreliable. They should at least be adding Nemesis inferno to the ride line up. Although I can tell you that ALL of the rides can operate below 0, as on fright nights the temperature dropped to a nippy -2 for a while...
 
alee298 said:
The only rollercoaster I see having a major problem with the cold is Colossus, seeing as it is now rather unreliable. They should at least be adding Nemesis inferno to the ride line up. Although I can tell you that ALL of the rides can operate below 0, as on fright nights the temperature dropped to a nippy -2 for a while...
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The temperature extremes in this country are ridiculous. When I went on Halloween last year it was 23°C and t-shirt warm for most of the day!
 
Alastair said:
The temperature extremes in this country are ridiculous. When I went on Halloween last year it was 23°C and t-shirt warm for most of the day!
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It was like that at Scarefest on the main meet this year... though not quite 23º I don't think!

You could happily walk around in a T-shirt, which some did!
 
Thorpe Park's 2016 dark ride has been granted planning permission subject to conditions.

:)
 
Rob said:
Thorpe Park's 2016 dark ride has been granted planning permission subject to conditions.

:)
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Pics or STFU. ;)

:D

No seriously, how do you know? Any further details? Conditional on refurbing the Gothic Tower?
 
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