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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Almost certain, given that the longest wait in the park is currently 25min despite the fact that the curse of the "S"es has struck again (Samurai, Saw, Stealth and Swarm are all closed, along with Loggers to break the rule)
 
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And I thought Thorpe had sorted themselves out this season, but it seems not! You would think by July the late openings of rides would be well gone, it's coming to peak season now.

Really does show how greasy Merlin have got if they can't operate all rides all day without them running on one train or being closed!
 
Thorpe have no scrapped stagerred openings and all rides are scheduled to open at 9:30, half an hour earlier than the advertised opening time in fact. Probably the best service of any Merlin park in the UK to be honest.

Obviously some engineering checks may over run and rides might open late but the vast majority are ready for 9:30 and pretty much all rides are ready for 10:00 which is the advertised park opening time.
 
They'll still be on one train though, completely negating the great idea by having the rides pretty much stop for 30 minutes so they can get the second train on...
 
Benzin said:
They'll still be on one train though, completely negating the great idea by having the rides pretty much stop for 30 minutes so they can get the second train on...
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I agree that the time it takes to add second trains can be pretty excessive but unfortunately if all rides are to be open for park opening time then engineers will only have time to check one train and then carry out the second train check once all the other rides have been signed off and the park has opened. This is what I've been told by the park anyway and, to be fair to them, it does make perfect sense. The only way to open coasters on two trains would be to have stagerred openings so that the other smaller rides can be checked later. People on here would complain if they did that too. Thorpe can't win.
 
Enter Valhalla said:
I agree that the time it takes to add second trains can be pretty excessive but unfortunately if all rides are to be open for park opening time then engineers will only have time to check one train and then carry out the second train check once all the other rides have been signed off and the park has opened. This is what I've been told by the park anyway and, to be fair to them, it does make perfect sense. The only way to open coasters on two trains would be to have stagerred openings so that the other smaller rides can be checked later. People on here would complain if they did that too. Thorpe can't win.
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Many parks get all of their coasters open on time and at full capacity. It's a theme park, and if a major theme park is not able to do this then they have flaws. My opinion on the matter anyway.

:)
 
Rob said:
Many parks get all of their coasters open on time and at full capacity. It's a theme park, and if a major theme park is not able to do this then they have flaws. My opinion on the matter anyway.

:)
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Fully agree, Towers have no issue getting all their rides on full capacity for 10am from a practical point of view. They just don't because they are cost cutting.

Sounds to me like Thorpe are making excuses.
 
They don't need to have staggered opening or one train operation at 10am. They just need to employ enough staff in tech services to get the job done.

As others have said, Towers can do it.
 
It will be down to cost, they won't employ enough techies to get all the rides done, I believe that is why flying fish closed early last season because it was due to open for February half term and there aren't enough techies to do the winter maintenance before February.
 
Thorpe's maintenance issues continue - there are currently 10 rides closed, including everything from Saw right the way round to Mr Monkeys and 3 of the lost city flats (it was all 4, but Vortex has now opened).

It seems they urgently need to expand their maintenance operations, as their current system is inadequate.
 
Is there really nothing new about this supposedly massive dark ride coming next year? I know construction has started, but progress is looking slow, and we were definitely starting to hear more about SW7 from a promotional perspective less than a year before opening...
Just surprising how quiet things are. I thought Thorpe would start milking it as soon as they could tbh.
 
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So, half the rides are closed, and there has been no marketing for a major new ride set to open next year. Either laziness, bad luck, or budget cuts.

Looks like fright nights this year will be the rides closed.
Scared already
 
Leah said:
So, half the rides are closed, and there has been no marketing for a major new ride set to open next year. Either laziness, bad luck, or budget cuts.
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Or... they've not announced it just yet. Nothing unusual about that. The Swarm was announced in the August prior to it opening. There's not some crazy reason linked to budget cuts for everything that you perceive that should be happening that isn't, it's all been painstakingly planned out for months, or years. Wait.
 
To be fair, Marketing only really kicks in during the actual Summer and FN...

They're probably thinking how they can flog a dark ride in typical Merlin fashion too...
 
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