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Thorpe Park: General Discussion
Rollercoasters4Life
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
Should do what Shambhala does at Port Aventura - they installed a countdown timer below the Op cabin (same place as The Swarms Op cabin, above where the train leaves the station) and each time a train is despatched the timer restarts and it pushes the rides hosts to hurry up and get people in and get the next train out ASAP - also cuts down stacking. It's not 100% perfect, but gets the staff to realise to push for faster despatches or spot on times. On Shambhala the time was to dispatch a train at least every 2 minutes or before.
Sam said:
Should do what Shambhala does at Port Aventura - they installed a countdown timer below the Op cabin (same place as The Swarms Op cabin, above where the train leaves the station) and each time a train is despatched the timer restarts and it pushes the rides hosts to hurry up and get people in and get the next train out ASAP - also cuts down stacking. It's not 100% perfect, but gets the staff to realise to push for faster despatches or spot on times. On Shambhala the time was to dispatch a train at least every 2 minutes or before.
DiogoJ42
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
They have one of those timers on Inferno, but the staff simply ignore it and faff about throwing things at eachother, or trying to get the queue to join in a sing-along. :
The best thing they could do for throughputs is actually bother to run their rides at full capacity all the time, rather than constantly adding and removing trains all day.
They have one of those timers on Inferno, but the staff simply ignore it and faff about throwing things at eachother, or trying to get the queue to join in a sing-along. :
The best thing they could do for throughputs is actually bother to run their rides at full capacity all the time, rather than constantly adding and removing trains all day.
Re: Thorpe Park
They don't work. They've got the wrong attitude and structure at thorpe to make it work really.
Swarms throughputs were pretty good whenever I visited, I cant imagine backwards seats making any difference to the physical checking.. just faff if guests are being idiots, as always.
They have them on colossus and stealth as well. Why? For this reason.DiogoJ42 said:They have one of those timers on Inferno, but the staff simply ignore it and faff about throwing things at eachother, or trying to get the queue to join in a sing-along. :
They don't work. They've got the wrong attitude and structure at thorpe to make it work really.
Swarms throughputs were pretty good whenever I visited, I cant imagine backwards seats making any difference to the physical checking.. just faff if guests are being idiots, as always.
Islander
TS Member
Thorpe Park
Plus bonuses are never going to happen in the current climate
Thorpe did have an interesting initiative last year - was called something along the lines of the 'throughput challenge', and involved pin badges as rewards. I don't know the ins and outs of it, but I think it involved pitting various ride teams against one another.
Problem with that is that there will always be circumstances outside of the staff's control that affect the throughput, and it'd be unfair to penalise for that.Sam said:
Plus bonuses are never going to happen in the current climate
Thorpe did have an interesting initiative last year - was called something along the lines of the 'throughput challenge', and involved pin badges as rewards. I don't know the ins and outs of it, but I think it involved pitting various ride teams against one another.
DiogoJ42
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
It obviously didn't work very well.
Here's my idea: punish staff who fail to meet their targets with electroshock aversion therapy. They'll soon learn to shut up and crack on, rather than waste time turning off the music to sing "Call me maybe" over the whole Swarm island's PA. Seriously, we could hear it from Roast and Rellish. I can only asume the op thought "ZOMG! Iz a mikrofone! I iz on teh Pop Faktor!"
If I was in charge, that would be an instant sacking and lifetime ban from all Merlin attractions. Knowing Thorpe, she's probably a manager by now. :
It obviously didn't work very well.
Here's my idea: punish staff who fail to meet their targets with electroshock aversion therapy. They'll soon learn to shut up and crack on, rather than waste time turning off the music to sing "Call me maybe" over the whole Swarm island's PA. Seriously, we could hear it from Roast and Rellish. I can only asume the op thought "ZOMG! Iz a mikrofone! I iz on teh Pop Faktor!"
If I was in charge, that would be an instant sacking and lifetime ban from all Merlin attractions. Knowing Thorpe, she's probably a manager by now. :
KingNemesis
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
I wonder if they are going to queue split for back rows.
If not I can imagine some people going " but I want to go forwards"
I wonder if they are going to queue split for back rows.
If not I can imagine some people going " but I want to go forwards"
BigAl
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
Tim
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
Nice idea. My only concern would be if that is too much weight to add to the cars?
BigAl said:B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
Nice idea. My only concern would be if that is too much weight to add to the cars?
Alastair
TS Team
Re: Thorpe Park
Too much weight? This isn't puny Pinfari bi-rail you know, have you seen the thickness and width of the Wing Coaster track?! I'd guess you could place an elephant on a specially designed train and it would have as much fun as any human
Tim said:BigAl said:B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
Nice idea. My only concern would be if that is too much weight to add to the cars?
Too much weight? This isn't puny Pinfari bi-rail you know, have you seen the thickness and width of the Wing Coaster track?! I'd guess you could place an elephant on a specially designed train and it would have as much fun as any human
Tim
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
Is now a good time to point out I studied Engineering
Based on pre-existing B&M rides this would certainly be near/on/over the weight limit. There are two really crucial limiting factors, the train’s actual weight (If you hadn’t realised B&M trains are damn heavy to begin with) and the effect of the wing.
So let’s talk about the track first. We know that the most people you can get on a standard B&M Diving Machine is 8 (10 without the floor). So we already have a problem because Wingrider track isn’t as thick so doubling the capacity from 4 to 8 could be a problem.
Then we have the more serious issue of weight on the wing. The seats sit on the end of a cantilever beam (meaning it’s supported one end and free at the other). This is not a good shape for holding large weights because the force being applied on the wing becomes the product of actual force times the distance away from the supporting point. Basically what this means is that adding two more seats on one wing is equivalent to 4 seats on top of the main carriage (at a guess). Even if adding these seats doesn't push the vehicles design beyond its safety limits you would likely get the Furius Baco effect were the weight causes vibrations and this makes the ride uncomfortable.
I’m not saying the idea's impossible just not as feasible as it may look (and certainly not Elephant proof ). A Zac Spin is a slightly different case because the trains actually hug fairly close to a side facing track meaning they don’t have a wing as such.
Alastair said:Tim said:BigAl said:B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
Nice idea. My only concern would be if that is too much weight to add to the cars?
Too much weight? This isn't puny Pinfari bi-rail you know, have you seen the thickness and width of the Wing Coaster track?! I'd guess you could place an elephant on a specially designed train and it would have as much fun as any human
Is now a good time to point out I studied Engineering
Based on pre-existing B&M rides this would certainly be near/on/over the weight limit. There are two really crucial limiting factors, the train’s actual weight (If you hadn’t realised B&M trains are damn heavy to begin with) and the effect of the wing.
So let’s talk about the track first. We know that the most people you can get on a standard B&M Diving Machine is 8 (10 without the floor). So we already have a problem because Wingrider track isn’t as thick so doubling the capacity from 4 to 8 could be a problem.
Then we have the more serious issue of weight on the wing. The seats sit on the end of a cantilever beam (meaning it’s supported one end and free at the other). This is not a good shape for holding large weights because the force being applied on the wing becomes the product of actual force times the distance away from the supporting point. Basically what this means is that adding two more seats on one wing is equivalent to 4 seats on top of the main carriage (at a guess). Even if adding these seats doesn't push the vehicles design beyond its safety limits you would likely get the Furius Baco effect were the weight causes vibrations and this makes the ride uncomfortable.
I’m not saying the idea's impossible just not as feasible as it may look (and certainly not Elephant proof
). A Zac Spin is a slightly different case because the trains actually hug fairly close to a side facing track meaning they don’t have a wing as such.
Ian
TS Team
Re: Thorpe Park
I seriously am amazed that they're even considering this idea! When I visited Thorpe Swarm was one of the best ran rides there I thought. The whole setup seemed really efficient and well done. But as we know, Thorpe don't seem to like either of those really, so they seem to have set out to ruin it with this idea
While I think it's a cheap and rather naff way to re-market the ride I definatly think it's an interesting one to try, and I will no doubt ride it. But it's more the impact it's going to have on ride operations that concerns me.
Also, on the subject of train weight, does anyone have any idea how much a Wing Rider train weighs? Nemesis apparently weighs 10 tonnes when it's sat in the station empty, but according to Wardley that increases to a whopping 40 tonnes on the tightest corners! Reallys makes you realise how much strain the track is under
I seriously am amazed that they're even considering this idea! When I visited Thorpe Swarm was one of the best ran rides there I thought. The whole setup seemed really efficient and well done. But as we know, Thorpe don't seem to like either of those really, so they seem to have set out to ruin it with this idea
While I think it's a cheap and rather naff way to re-market the ride I definatly think it's an interesting one to try, and I will no doubt ride it. But it's more the impact it's going to have on ride operations that concerns me.
Also, on the subject of train weight, does anyone have any idea how much a Wing Rider train weighs? Nemesis apparently weighs 10 tonnes when it's sat in the station empty, but according to Wardley that increases to a whopping 40 tonnes on the tightest corners! Reallys makes you realise how much strain the track is under
BigAl
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
Obviously the current design of wing coaster might not be suitable, but in a few years time they may have come up with something that can handle the weight and force.
It all depends on whether or not parks would want such a machine? I think a few major parks would be interested in a 4D or free-spinning back-to-back winged coaster. Someone after a decent throughput such as Universal Orlando (they're interested in a B&M wing coaster or flying coaster for the Jurassic Park expansion)?
Just think, a single train of just 4 rows could hold 32 riders! Anyway, I'll leave it at that as this is going off topic.
Obviously the current design of wing coaster might not be suitable, but in a few years time they may have come up with something that can handle the weight and force.
It all depends on whether or not parks would want such a machine? I think a few major parks would be interested in a 4D or free-spinning back-to-back winged coaster. Someone after a decent throughput such as Universal Orlando (they're interested in a B&M wing coaster or flying coaster for the Jurassic Park expansion)?
Just think, a single train of just 4 rows could hold 32 riders! Anyway, I'll leave it at that as this is going off topic.
Alastair
TS Team
Re: Thorpe Park
NO
Seriously though that was interesting to read, I've heard about the roughness on Furius Baco but had no idea what caused it.
Tim said:Alastair said:Tim said:BigAl said:B&M could do something with this. Why not design rows for wing coasters with back-to-back seating to fit more seats in but in a smaller amount of space? They could then provide every kind of seat position facing forwards or backwards and it would work even better with a 4D option in the future.
Nice idea. My only concern would be if that is too much weight to add to the cars?
Too much weight? This isn't puny Pinfari bi-rail you know, have you seen the thickness and width of the Wing Coaster track?! I'd guess you could place an elephant on a specially designed train and it would have as much fun as any human
Is now a good time to point out I studied Engineering
NO
Seriously though that was interesting to read, I've heard about the roughness on Furius Baco but had no idea what caused it.
Tim
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
well in the case of Furius Baco there could be loads of reasons but it has something to do with the wing design and presumably the weight verses the rigidity of the wing structure.
This is of course off topic as I very much doubt you'd be able to add trains like this to The Swarm without having to seriously modify the ride... but it's interesting and certainly an idea I can imagine happing somewhere (it just needs a few major design changes to the standard Wingrider first).
well in the case of Furius Baco there could be loads of reasons but it has something to do with the wing design and presumably the weight verses the rigidity of the wing structure.
This is of course off topic as I very much doubt you'd be able to add trains like this to The Swarm without having to seriously modify the ride... but it's interesting and certainly an idea I can imagine happing somewhere (it just needs a few major design changes to the standard Wingrider first).
ThemeParkJack
TS Member
Re: Thorpe Park
Looks like some heavy inspection has occurred at Thorpe Park.
Looks like some heavy inspection has occurred at Thorpe Park.
