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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

Depends on the ride team who are there in that particular moment. I've seen both The Swarm operate efficiently and quickly multiple times this season, as well as lazily with lengthy dispatches and stacking. Having worked for Thorpe and other Merlin parks I have noticed that different people bring varying levels of professionalism to the job. All depends on who the people are in that particular hour or on that particular day (depending on how a team likes to rotate its staff).
 
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Skyscraper said:
Do the front row if the queue isn't too long, it's the smoothest row.
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The weird thing is I had a ride last week (Middle of train in a back seat) and I was amazed that it was smooth as anything. I was expecting the usual rough ride but it was excellent. And to think that I laughed when someone earlier this year described having a ride on it that was “smooth as butter”, that’s what I had too. Didn’t chance a second ride on it though, didn’t want to jinx it!
 
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Shaggy_Dog_ said:
The weird thing is I had a ride last week (Middle of train in a back seat) and I was amazed that it was smooth as anything. I was expecting the usual rough ride but it was excellent. And to think that I laughed when someone earlier this year described having a ride on it that was “smooth as butter”, that’s what I had to. Didn’t chance a second ride on it though, didn’t want to jinx it!
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That person would have been me, both my rides back in April were super smooth. Genuinely was expecting it to be unbearably rough.
 
John said:
Capacity is dreadful though, 1 train FTL.
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I don’t think I’ve ever seen Colossus on 1 train before… I’ve only ever seen it on 2.

Come to think of it, I think the only Thorpe coaster I’ve ever seen on reduced capacity is Saw, which was running 5 cars on my most recent visit.

Has Thorpe started running things at full capacity more in recent years? I only ask because on my many visits, the park has only ever been running full capacity on stuff for the most part, but everyone always says about how dreadful the operations are and how everything is always on 1 train. Is this an issue the park used to have that they have rectified in recent years, or do I simply strike lucky with when I visit?
 
Matt N said:
I don’t think I’ve ever seen Colossus on 1 train before… I’ve only ever seen it on 2.

Come to think of it, I think the only Thorpe coaster I’ve ever seen on reduced capacity is Saw, which was running 5 cars on my most recent visit.

Has Thorpe started running things at full capacity more in recent years? I only ask because on my many visits, the park has only ever been running full capacity on stuff for the most part, but everyone always says about how dreadful the operations are and how everything is always on 1 train. Is this an issue the park used to have that they have rectified in recent years, or do I simply strike lucky with when I visit?
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Yeah it was on 2 trains for my visit back in April.
 
Out of all the rides I’ve often seen Colossus on 1 train. However sometimes with the operations and the amount it stacks it might as well be on 1 train anyway.
 
Thorpe always used to run their coasters on 1 train off-peak and often opened rides on low capacity even on busy days.

TBH Colossus was fairly well operated this evening - with 4 platform staff the dispatch times were decent, we only waited 35min from the shop at ride close
 
Pretty good ride on Colossus in the end, I hadn't ridden it in 10 years and it was a good deal smoother than I was expecting given recent reports. It does help to get the front seats of each car if you can wrangle it. And being of small stature fortunately negates any discomfort issues caused by limited legroom.

Nice to get an unexpected night ride as well.
 
Went to Thorpe for the first time in 20 years. Really busy and lots of school trips, it was full of kids.

Manged to get on Saw, Stealth and Swarm for the first time. Enjoyed them all.

One thing i have to mention though is the car park. Loads of sharp stones everywhere, and LONG queues to get out and people fumbled and fought with the car park machines. I have to say that the printed QR code i used took about 2 minutes to be recognised, with lots of repositioning. I'll never moan about Alton Towers car park again!
 
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Mikw said:
One thing i have to mention though is the car park. Loads of sharp stones everywhere, and LONG queues to get out and people fumbled and fought with the car park machines. I have to say that the printed QR code i used took about 2 minutes to be recognised, with lots of repositioning. I'll never moan about Alton Towers car park again!
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Took us ages to get out yesterday as well, which we weren't expecting having exited the park at around 7.50 on account of joining the Colossus queue at ride close.

For some reason my MAP wouldn't scan at the ticket barrier and the machine kept demanding £8, fortunately we had two MAPs between us and the other one worked for some reason. Very annoying though, and conscious of the anger radiating from the stationary queue behind us... Needs sorting out, definitely.
 
NuttySquirrel said:
Took us ages to get out yesterday as well, which we weren't expecting having exited the park at around 7.50 on account of joining the Colossus queue at ride close.

For some reason my MAP wouldn't scan at the ticket barrier and the machine kept demanding £8, fortunately we had two MAPs between us and the other one worked for some reason. Very annoying though, and conscious of the anger radiating from the stationary queue behind us... Needs sorting out, definitely.
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Hit the help button on the machine and then you read some of your pass number out when you get connected.
 
That's not really the point though. If you have a pass it should be a simple case of scan it & the barrier opens - reliably and quickly. They could even have a system that links your pass to your car numberplate so the ANPR system would let you out automatically if you have a valid pass. The current set up is just far too slow for the number of cars that need to get through, as judging by the queues lots of people are struggling to get out
 
John said:
That's not really the point though. If you have a pass it should be a simple case of scan it & the barrier opens - reliably and quickly. They could even have a system that links your pass to your car numberplate so the ANPR system would let you out automatically if you have a valid pass. The current set up is just far too slow for the number of cars that need to get through, as judging by the queues lots of people are struggling to get out
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When purchasing or renewing a pass that includes free parking there is an option to enter your reg, this should then link it to your pass meaning the APNR at Thorpe will let you out automatically.

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