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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
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Poopoohead
TS Member
Fix the train
Poopoohead
TS Member
I was just going on information earlier in the thread, it was only on one when I visited in June.
Just an observation that it's completely unacceptable for an operator the size of Merlin to run a major coaster on one train for such a long time
Just an observation that it's completely unacceptable for an operator the size of Merlin to run a major coaster on one train for such a long time
Matt.GC
TS Member
I visited in March, June and 2 weeks ago and have only seen 1 train operation on Colossus each time. Of course that's not to say its been like that everyday this season.
Mind you, I think I'd rather sit in the laid up broken train for a couple of minutes than actually endure riding the working one.
Mind you, I think I'd rather sit in the laid up broken train for a couple of minutes than actually endure riding the working one.
joelpagett
TS Member
I have been this season and it was definitely on two trains in May, as I got stuck on the brake run for about 10 minutes. I haven't seen in since though.
Who broke the coaster in the coaster jar, Themeparkmania broke the coaster ....
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djtruefitt
TS Team
You are sometimes actually better to visit Thorpe on a busy day than a quiet day due to their policy on one train operation, plus I notice as the seasons gone on we seem to have more late openings on rides (official ones, and not just rides that aren't ready for 10am which again is a regular occurrence at Thorpe).
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Matt.GC
TS Member
Yesterday was absolutely appalling! I feel for the people who actually paid at the gate to get in and I find it unbelievable a park can show such contempt for it's paying customers.
All coasters, as usual, on 1 train with the exception of Saw. No I'm a celeb or Rapids due to the ridiculous decision to shut them for the rest of the season despite the parks poor reputation for down time (Rumba is in a terrible state as it is, SBNO it looks absolutely derelict!). The remains of Slammer and Loggers Leap publicly rotting away. No Rush due to it's ongoing issues. No Vortex. No Stealth. DBGT did it's daily breakage half way through the afternoon and was closed for the rest of the day. Samurai shut early.
Despite their best efforts to manufacture queues by running everything on one train, it was hard to find things to do before the stingy 4PM ride close. I overheard people saying comments such as "it's just as well we got in on the free tickets they gave us the last time the park was like this." and "Is there nothing left to do? Why is everything always closed when we come here?".
I felt like going to guest services myself, but couldn't bear to watch the poor lad at the desk getting destroyed by angry punters.
All coasters, as usual, on 1 train with the exception of Saw. No I'm a celeb or Rapids due to the ridiculous decision to shut them for the rest of the season despite the parks poor reputation for down time (Rumba is in a terrible state as it is, SBNO it looks absolutely derelict!). The remains of Slammer and Loggers Leap publicly rotting away. No Rush due to it's ongoing issues. No Vortex. No Stealth. DBGT did it's daily breakage half way through the afternoon and was closed for the rest of the day. Samurai shut early.
Despite their best efforts to manufacture queues by running everything on one train, it was hard to find things to do before the stingy 4PM ride close. I overheard people saying comments such as "it's just as well we got in on the free tickets they gave us the last time the park was like this." and "Is there nothing left to do? Why is everything always closed when we come here?".
I felt like going to guest services myself, but couldn't bear to watch the poor lad at the desk getting destroyed by angry punters.
Matt.GC
TS Member
I had a great day at Thorpe not long ago, I actually have a lot of time for the park itself. But the way it's operated is unacceptable.
Brean Leisure Park showed less contempt for me last weekend, and they don't even bother providing soap for the toilets and have half naked ladies spray painted on the side of family attractions!
I have always wondered why Merlin were so quick to butcher rides at Towers yet Thorpe has a shit ton more... I'm guessing they've recently realised this too....
It's odd how the parks are all run so differently, yet they have the same owner... just look at the different operations on Spinball and Fury, I've queued in a huge queue for Spinball, and with no break downs it's eats it's queue, yet a small queue for Fury resulted in a 45 minute wait!
Also, even on really quiet days at Towers, Smiler was on 3 trains, Rita 2, Thirteen 2, Oblivion 4 (seriously why can't they reduce this to 2?) and Galactica 2, yet Thorpe has coasters on 1 train even on busy days...
It's odd how the parks are all run so differently, yet they have the same owner... just look at the different operations on Spinball and Fury, I've queued in a huge queue for Spinball, and with no break downs it's eats it's queue, yet a small queue for Fury resulted in a 45 minute wait!
Also, even on really quiet days at Towers, Smiler was on 3 trains, Rita 2, Thirteen 2, Oblivion 4 (seriously why can't they reduce this to 2?) and Galactica 2, yet Thorpe has coasters on 1 train even on busy days...
Does anyone know what the real reason is for them running most of the coasters on one train when the park's busy? It might save some money on ride staff, for example The Swarm doesn't need the baggage kiosk open when there's only one train, but I can't see a significant reduction in the cost of ride staff. Not enough to justify the negative impact on guest experience.
I don't think any of the coasters need a minimum number of guests to stop them stalling, which is why Chessington sometimes runs Vampire on one train when there's a queue. In Vampire's case the train can stall before the second lift with a light train and depending on other factors such as weather. Because it's quite an old ride taking a train off is quite a lot of work and time consuming (they have to be winched backwards onto the transfer track). For this reason there might be a queue in the middle of the day, particularly if a lot of schools group are in, but if they thought it would empty out and be quiet later on in the day they'd leave it on one train. But I don't think that's applicable to the coasters at Thorpe Park?
There would be some savings on electricity, but pretty slight. There would also be some savings on wear and tear, for example I think Stealth's launch cable needs replacing after a certain number of launches. It could also be a ploy to sell more Fast Tracks.
Perhaps it's a combination of cutting down on ride staff, saving electricity, wear and selling more Fast Tracks? But if these are the reasons it does seem petty. I understand that they're a business, but it just doesn't seem worth it. They must have spent a fortune on rides such as The Swarm and Derren Brown's, and yet you visit and it feels like a park that's run on a shoe string. Is there some other key factor that I'm missing here?
P.s. it might be that parks get aggressive targets to cut costs, but more freedom to decide on how they do it? Alton Towers has closed quite a few rides recently (Charlie, Sub Terra, Ripsaw etc). Thorpe has also closed rides such as Slammer, but it's possible that Towers have been more aggressive at cutting in other areas? It's hard to know what goes on in the offices at these parks and why certain decisions are made. With the exception of Icon Thorpe and Alton have invested on a level that's been unrivaled in the UK for a long time. But when you take away big capital investments (which are impressive) it's hard to see how much more potential there is for Thorpe Park to improve their profits either by jacking up prices and upselling more, or by cutting their costs.
I don't think any of the coasters need a minimum number of guests to stop them stalling, which is why Chessington sometimes runs Vampire on one train when there's a queue. In Vampire's case the train can stall before the second lift with a light train and depending on other factors such as weather. Because it's quite an old ride taking a train off is quite a lot of work and time consuming (they have to be winched backwards onto the transfer track). For this reason there might be a queue in the middle of the day, particularly if a lot of schools group are in, but if they thought it would empty out and be quiet later on in the day they'd leave it on one train. But I don't think that's applicable to the coasters at Thorpe Park?
There would be some savings on electricity, but pretty slight. There would also be some savings on wear and tear, for example I think Stealth's launch cable needs replacing after a certain number of launches. It could also be a ploy to sell more Fast Tracks.
Perhaps it's a combination of cutting down on ride staff, saving electricity, wear and selling more Fast Tracks? But if these are the reasons it does seem petty. I understand that they're a business, but it just doesn't seem worth it. They must have spent a fortune on rides such as The Swarm and Derren Brown's, and yet you visit and it feels like a park that's run on a shoe string. Is there some other key factor that I'm missing here?
P.s. it might be that parks get aggressive targets to cut costs, but more freedom to decide on how they do it? Alton Towers has closed quite a few rides recently (Charlie, Sub Terra, Ripsaw etc). Thorpe has also closed rides such as Slammer, but it's possible that Towers have been more aggressive at cutting in other areas? It's hard to know what goes on in the offices at these parks and why certain decisions are made. With the exception of Icon Thorpe and Alton have invested on a level that's been unrivaled in the UK for a long time. But when you take away big capital investments (which are impressive) it's hard to see how much more potential there is for Thorpe Park to improve their profits either by jacking up prices and upselling more, or by cutting their costs.
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jon81uk
TS Member
They can run with slightly fewer staff with less trains (I think more staff are needed for evacuation?).
Also less wear and tear on wheels reducing maintenance.
Finally longer queues mean they sell more fast track!
Unicorns_are_lovely
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
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I'm really confused by the FrightNights info ... can anyone help me out? Is the FrightNight ticketed separately to the general daytime admission or do you go in at 10am and stay til 10pm like at Alton Scarefest? Thanks!!