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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Thorpe's insistence on that it is operating at reduced capacity is laughable, especially given the two quotes and numerous pictures that indicate otherwise.

Now the police are conducting an enquiry on lack of social distancing, which if I remember one of the updated COVID regulations correctly, also places legal responsibility upon the operator.
 
Thorpe’s management is a joke, how can they claim to be operating a reduced capacity when they aren’t checking for prebook tickets? Is that a failure of the admissions team or an instruction from higher up?

All you have to do is walk up with a pass / ticket and your in no questions asked. So they may well have a limit of say 8k but there could be 10k in the park.

Frontline staff are doing great in these circumstances but again management is letting that effort down but it’s good it’s made the media, they need to be pressured into making change.
 
Honestly, I love Thorpe, it holds a lot of nostalgia for me and I do have enjoyable visits. Sadly it's getting worse with these issues arising though. Their Moto appears to be 'if it's a major problem let's just steer the guests away from noticing' - it's not good. Obviously travelers are an issue but there does appear to be lots of crime and antisocial behaviour that gets worse every year. They seem to have the more issues than any other park in the UK. The fact that these scumbags can just jump over the fence is ridiculous. The neglect is just sad too. It just seems like Merlin don't care.
 
And all of this, ladies and gentlemen, is why Thorpe Park will never ever rival the best parks. Its brief flirt with "this park is gonna be the UK's number one soon" in the mid 00s has actually ended up with "my god, get me out" - most of the time.

Mismanaged.
Misplanned.
Misguided.
 
AstroDan said:
And all of this, ladies and gentlemen, is why Thorpe Park will never ever rival the best parks. Its brief flirt with "this park is gonna be the UK's number one soon" in the mid 00s has actually ended up with "my god, get me out" - most of the time.

Mismanaged.
Misplanned.
Misguided.
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On the Chessington thread many have said that Chessington is beyond saving, could the same be said about Thorpe?
 
Chessington just sort of trundles along. It hasn't had any real investment in 20+ years, apart from the hotel - which was built with IHG anyway. They just get the same guests each year, who all pay their way and visit regardless of what the park adds.

It never really changes, just sort of gets a little bit worse each year. Whereas Thorpe nose-dived through bad planning and operations a decade ago and has never really recovered.

Had it remained the all-round family park that it was in the 1980s, it would probably be much more popular now.
 
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What’s clear is that even having Ian Crabbe as managing director of the parks things still aren’t working, does that point to needing to refresh some more of the on-site management because it’s clear something in the chain isn’t working.
 
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ringo said:
What’s clear is that even having Ian Crabbe as managing director of the parks things still aren’t working, does that point to needing to refresh some more of the on-site management because it’s clear something in the chain isn’t working.
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Merlin have a very self confident style that tends to avoid introspection and change but to be fair to Crabbe Thorpes issues are deeper than a year long change in management.

They have made themselves a Thrill Park, one that is easily accessible by teens and with that unfortunately comes antisocial behaviour. It would take a major and expensive shift back to a more family thrill audience to solve the problems Thorpe Park has.
 
If someone took the best bits of Thorpe and the best bits of Chessington and combined them you probably could have a quality family park. But then I think that is almost Alton Towers to be fair.
 
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AT86 said:
BBC news are now reporting Sunday’s events.

'Absolute carnage' at Thorpe Park Fright Night https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/newsbeat-54617387

Whilst they are completely separate events, reports like this and the stabbing earlier in the season won’t be doing the parks image much good. Especially amongst the parents who often drop their kids off for a day at the park.
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" Since it reopened on 4 July, the park has operated at approximately 50% capacity with new safety measures in place."

I may have started laughing when I read that, what's 100% capacity if recent days are 50?
 
imanautie said:
" Since it reopened on 4 July, the park has operated at approximately 50% capacity with new safety measures in place."

I may have started laughing when I read that, what's 100% capacity if recent days are 50?
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Don't forget that 50% capacity doesn't mean 50% of normal guest numbers. If the park holds 20k, but on an average day only 8000 visit, then 50% capacity is still a busy park.
 
Every year there are reports of staff at Halloween events being assaulted. I’m not just talking about Merlin or the UK, but around the world. One suspects that what gets reported in the papers is actually the small tip of a big iceberg. Clearly there are factors that can exacerbate the problem including alcohol and guests being allowed to dress up/wear masks.

I love Halloween events and for some parks they’re the only opportunity they get to do an immersive themed environment. However, staff also have the right to work in a safe environment free of assaults. Does anyone know how many staff are assaulted each year at these events? I suspect not. These are people on zero-hour contracts and no unions. Do the parks want to cut down on assaults? Probably, but they also don’t want to draw attention to them. They need to recruit actors, and that means focusing the spotlight on the fun side of scaring people, rather than the risk of assaults. Companies like Merlin want their brands to be associated with family entertainment, not with scenes like this.

Many of these events make a lot of money from alcohol and don’t want to turn that down. Security is expensive. And above all else, these parks want to ‘protect their brand’ and want to avoid acknowledging anything that could result in themselves being dragged into a lawsuit.

This isn’t just a problem with Merlin. But Merlin are one of the biggest companies in the UK and could take a lead on this. I know that this might not feel like the kind of thing that should be discussed on a public forum, but if not here, where? The number of theme park employees who get assaulted at some of the UK parks is the dark side of the industry that’s rarely acknowledged by the industry itself. Some of the stories I’ve heard from employees at UK parks are harrowing. Can theme parks directly control their guests? No. But what concerns me is that the parks are often more worried about protecting their family image, than protecting their staff.
 
Doesn't Thorpe generally limit guest numbers below the theoretical capacity anyway? Say 15k rather than 20k or whatever it is because the park simply falls to pieces when it's that busy even in normal circumstances.

What were queue times like over the weekend? If they didn't have 100+ minute queues on the coasters then guest numbers are down on normal Fright Night weekends. Similarly, with distanced queue lines they can't soak up guests like they usually can, making the pathways busier than normal. They also have fewer mazes this year and several rides closed so the park will seem busier for a given number of guests.
 
Swarm Chris said:
Currently the 3rd 2nd [edit] most read article on the BBC News website.

The official line from the park about capacity looks ridiculous to me. Reports the car park was full a few times, that's a very busy day even at normal capacity.
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That is busy, I thought Saturday was busy! Although there were no cars on the grass overflow (on the left as you drive in past ANPR)

It’s good that it’s getting reported on, Thorpe need to improve on things and obviously that fencing situation needs resolving... elsewhere it was mentioned the council allegedly wouldn’t allow a higher fence previously. Maybe they need to install a secondary fence (inside park) or do maintenance on the current fence and redo the barbed wire, even put some anti-climb paint on it.
 
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