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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

ihaveaspergers said:
This may be part of the reason...
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Isn't that a good thing, though?

Oh dear! Doesn't sound good if The Swarm is closed for the season; hopefully the ride isn't facing any serious technical problems! I certainly wouldn't want it to go the way that G Force is possibly going!
 
Matt N said:
Isn't that a good thing, though?

Oh dear! Doesn't sound good if The Swarm is closed for the season; hopefully the ride isn't facing any serious technical problems! I certainly wouldn't want it to go the way that G Force is possibly going!
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From what @spinball told me I wouldn't be surprised if it's shut for the season.

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spinba11 said:
Trust me it will re open at some point
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Do you reckon that'll be later this season or next season?

There's nothing on Thorpe's website about it being shut for the season; just checked. I am relieved to hear that it won't be removed!
 
Benjsh said:
However what i will say about the place is for all the good ride hardware they do have there.......I always seem to leave the place feeling slightly underwhelmed.
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^ A perfect summary of Thorpe.

On the plus side... Despite attempts at butchering it, Tidal Wave is still possibly my favourite themed attraction in Europe. That soundtrack on WWTP radio got me into the Beach Boys, Big Bopper, Everly Brothers, The Hollies etc as a youth. And even now I can sit there and enjoy it.
 
Very mixed bag from Thorpe at Fright Nights yesterday.

On the positive side the park wasn't too busy (luckily), with a good atmosphere on park after dark.

Unfortunately in terms of attractions this year they have clearly gone for quantity over quality. I did six of the seven scare "mazes" and they varied in quality from very average to shockingly, unbelievably poor.

Platform 15 was good fun and something quite unique... much better than the other two woodland mazes (Blair Witch is well acted but unbelievably short at around 2 minutes). The only two proper mazes, Living Nightmare and Saw Alive were also just ok...the latter is technically probably the best maze this year which is very sad considering it is now stale as anything and when it was first added to the Fright Nights line up it was really nothing outstanding from the other mazes. Both of these indoor mazes were poorly acted but the good quality of theming largely makes up for it.

Two of the "scare" attractions were truly embarrassing to experience. Vulcan Peak is a bag over head maze where *literally* nothing happens inside. There are no actors. Truly awful. Dead Creek Woods is a pleasant stroll along the railway line... at best a glorified scare zone you have to queue for.

Another embarrassment of an attraction for the Screamplex Cinema 4D...showing in 2D because the "4D effects hadn't been programmed in". However this was not revealed until inside the theatre when the doors were locked and guests were informed they were not allowed to leave. The independently made horror shorts shown there were ok... But I don't visit Fright Nights to watch 2D horror films and this attraction felt like a trick.

We wouldn't have bothered with so many average Halloween attractions but unfortunately all the coasters were closed for most of the evening due to "high wind speeds" even though it was not very windy. Despite this we did manage night rides on Saw, Inferno and Colossus. If the place had been busy queues for the mazes would have been truly horrendous with virtually no rides open.

Swarm seemed to be operating as usual yesterday (until closing due to high wind speeds along with the rest)... I would be very surprised if it was closed for the rest of the season as stated above.

So overall Fright Nights this year, not great, definitely quantity over quality. The worst edition of the event I've done despite it being pleasantly quiet.
 
^ I'm not gonna bother with Fright Nights this year.

This may be a tad controversial but it's not intended to be. Last Fright Nights I visited, 80% of the actors were 18-20 year old 5ft tall girls straight out of drama school. And they are way too OTT. Appreciate their effort and the make up effects but they're not scary whatsoever.

Back in its peak there was that 7ft tall beardy bloke in the freezer/asylum who was genuinely intimidating.

HHN at Universal get their casting spot on. There are minimal 'acting' sections and no 10 minute speeches... Just incredible effects and genuine scares.
 
Given how wildly popular Fright Nights is, it just never seems to evolve in any meaningful way. I am not one to judge without visiting, which I won't be this year, but, with the exception of the more theatrical Platform 13, it seems to me that every maze is now completely interchangeable. And even Platform 13 contains some variation of 'zombie' as the central foe. Do they just have one make-up department and one mass orientation for actors now? Utter gubbins.
 
I must be in the minority here but I just don't really enjoy scare attractions at all and not because I'm scared. I just find them really predictable and samey.

Remember going in Pasaje del terror at Blackpool many many moons ago with mates who all came out bouncing about and wanting to go back in and all I wanted to do was get back on Nashy, Big Dipper and The Pepsi Max (as it was known then).

Only ever been in a few mazes where I genuinely felt it was worth the fee.
 
I can't say I've ever experienced one other than some scare zone-style roaming actors in County Hall in London, but they frightened me to death! So I don't like the idea of scare attractions because I go to theme parks to have fun, and getting jumped at and touched by a scare actor is not my personal idea of fun; I'd much rather be riding rides than being scared to death! However, as many theme parks seem to put roaming actors around the park anyway, I've decided that the best idea is probably for me to avoid theme parks completely during the month of October!
 
spinba11 said:
Apparently swarm is closed for the season.
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We can only speculate as to what is wrong, but it surely doesn't help that Merlin doesn't give the budget for spare parts to be ordered in advance and stored at the parks.

I remember in 2013 when Oblivion at Alton Towers was shut for several weeks due to its lift hill chain box needing replacement. They didn't have the budget to pre-order spare parts so had to wait weeks before a new one was delivered from B&M. The exact same thing happened to Galactica last year and that was also shut for a very long time. Meanwhile SheiKra at Busch Gardens has not one but two spare chain boxes ready in case there is an issue with the current one. (They only take a couple of days to install and get going.)

We don't know what has happened with The Swarm, or even if it is true that it will be closed for the entireity of the park's busiest period of the year, but I just hope it isn't Merlin's budget constraints on spare parts that have lead to extended downtime yet again.
 
MakoMania said:
We can only speculate as to what is wrong, but it surely doesn't help that Merlin doesn't give the budget for spare parts to be ordered in advance and stored at the parks.

I remember in 2013 when Oblivion at Alton Towers was shut for several weeks due to its lift hill chain box needing replacement. They didn't have the budget to pre-order spare parts so had to wait weeks before a new one was delivered from B&M. The exact same thing happened to Galactica last year and that was also shut for a very long time. Meanwhile SheiKra at Busch Gardens has not one but two spare chain boxes ready in case there is an issue with the current one. (They only take a couple of days to install and get going.)

We don't know what has happened with The Swarm, or even if it is true that it will be closed for the entireity of the park's busiest period of the year, but I just hope it isn't Merlin's budget constraints on spare parts that have lead to extended downtime yet again.
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^spinball has told me that it's a broken chain, absolutely no how how he found out but I wouldn't be surprised if staff told him.

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How does a coaster chain break? I've never heard of that before, not saying that it couldn't happen though, I'm not an engineer.

What I have heard of fairly frequently though is a chain lift hill gear box breaking as described above.
 
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