Nemesis Inferno Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Well Thorpe opened today... That's as happy as I can be tbh, it was horrendous... Simple as, the main problem being that Thorpe were obviously not prepared in the slightest, with Rush still being worked on (and on the list of rides meant to be open), and although they cannot control the weather, if 2 of your major coasters cannot work when it's cold, what is the entire point of opening in the cold weather season at all? It must be embarrasing to see that Saw worked more than the pre-existing rides already built... So when we got to the park for opening, guess how many coasters were open... Go on... 0 The only rides open dot on 10 were Vortex, Zodiac (I guess), Banana Boat, Carousel, Det and Teacups (again I guess)... That's 6 rides! That's just stupidity... Did Detonator, the Banana Boat, Carousel before Inferno opened with a massive queue... Looked at Saw, the ride seems to look good... Still don't like the idea of the theme and I worry for the interior being rubbish since I hate the Saw films... Lunch was awful at the Glass House as we had to wait 90 minutes for the food to turn up, and that was probably only due to the fact we grabbed a team leader, fortunately guest services gave us some exit passes... Time Voyagers (rubbish) was followed by hopping up the exit on Inferno, before attempting NWO only for it to break down on us, so we gave up with an hour to spare... Colossus opened for 10 minutes the entire day... Thorpe just seems to get worse and makes that good last day seem a distant memory... Not looking forward to the fact I have to go back for Saw... Pictures hopefully should be seeable from this link: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=216630&id=558160219&l=6e1a2 Some pics are on facebook...
Purplepills Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 Sounds like opening day every year 90 mins for food too? That sucks. Shame you had such a crappy day, I quite like Thorpe when everything is working, but then normally when I am there something seems to break down/not open at all. Here's hoping that when Saw opens along with (hopefully) the rest of the park they've got eveything a lot more sorted and organised.
nemesis-storm Posted February 14, 2009 Posted February 14, 2009 I was also at the park today. To be honest the day pretty turned out as expected. As last years February half term event was exactly the same. So my expectations were pretty low ... You got to consider that it was discounted entry cost during this half term event, but thats not really an excuse on how many intended rides were either not open at all or broke down. I headed for Inferno first of all & found it closed due the temperature being too low . The ride was covered in frost, so there was no way they could of run it until it defrosted. Had quick go on detonator, the headed for X:NWO - which broke down 1 train away from us getting on it - after 20 /30 minutes we were told ride would not open & was given passes ae we exited. Yes the queue for Inferno was long - when it finally opened, but they operated it with 2 trains & the queue went pretty quickly. Stayed on Inferno for most of the day - queue got down to 5 mins & virtually walk on at times. Pizza Hut / KFC were open & were fine ! The day started off poorly, but with Inferno behaving itself most of the time & getting quite a few go's on it, soon made the day OK.
CreditCrazy Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 That sounds pretty bad, but I think opening days are usually pretty dull (at least the ones I've been to are). I went to CGA opening day for 2008, Flight Deck was closed, everything was dead, no excitement, no fun, no nothing. When I went back in July it was a pretty big difference. Same thing with Gilroy Gardens. So I can see how Thorpe Park was bad...but I don't know about that bad, that's just horrible.
Kennyweird Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 I had no idea Thorpe Park opens so early in the year. Seems pretty stupid if you ask me, especially in England.
robbalvey Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 Just playing devil's advocate here, according to the website it does say the following about this time period: Save over 15% off entry until 8th March with tickets for just £16.50 this February half term and weekends in March! (Normal admission is £24.00) *Only Selected Rides Available Rides available during this period: Colossus Nemesis Inferno Rush Detonator Vortex Time Voyagers X:\No Way Out Quantum Zodiac Mr Monkey's Banana Ride Chief Rangers Carousel Octopus Garden Please note: Extreme weather conditions may cause delays or result in some rides being unavailable. It seems to me they've made the terms and conditions of this period very clear. It only took me one click to find this and the "Only Selected Rides Available" quote was on the front page very visible. While I understand it's VERY frustrating to get to a park and find many rides closed either to operational issues or the weather, isn't it still nice to have the park open one month early to at least "hang out" in? I know when I lived in Baltimore and we had our parks closed from October to March/April we took the opportunity to go to Hersheypark during the winter event where there were NO COASTERS OPEN and very few other rides open just because it was nice to have a park to go to. And as far as weather goes, to be honest, this is one reason why many parks aren't open in the winter. Even here at Six Flags Magic Mountain we have rides that cannot operate if it's below 60 degrees or if the wind it blowing too hard. Yeah, it sucks, but ask yourself this - would you rather have a park to hang out in or not? Are you a season pass holder to the park? --Robb
max harvey Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 I went to the park yesterday and it was really fun because I met up with some people. But I think that if you want to go to the park to go on lots of rides then you are better off waiting until the park officially opens in march.
Shockwave Posted February 15, 2009 Posted February 15, 2009 Personally, if I were going to a park at this time of the year which has just opened up from the winter break, I'd expect things not to run smoothly in the first place. So I can't say I'm surprised that things haven't opened on time or there have been delays, especially with the cold snap we've been having over here. I remember going to Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the cold with Robb & Elissa about 3 years ago, when we got upto the Big One for what must have been the last ride of the night, and it broke down. That was unfortunate, but I wasn't apalled, because for a start I was having a good time and second I half expected it. Same with Alton Towers a month later, the monorail was shut due to the cold, and the operations still needed a bit of tweaking. I'm going back to Pleasure Beach next weekend on their winter weekends they're running, so I'll have a photo trip report next week, no doubt with a few broken down rides on the day!
Nemesis Inferno Posted February 16, 2009 Author Posted February 16, 2009 Robb I did indeed realise that list of rides and the terms... But Rush wasn't shut due to weather... Seats weren't even on the ride, so that's false advertising there... Logic shoud dictate that if you rides do not work well in the cold, should you not bother with it? Problem was that everything was poor on opening, searching for open rides proved to be the entertainment for the day as well as watching Saw test... I would rather go to a park like Thorpe (with it's lack of decent atmosphere) with rides actually open, not when it's painfully obvious they want the money when they hold you at Colossus' shop when it was shut Colossus did apparently open yesterday, but Saturday the trains had dummies on, and considering the lack of queues late in the day, I can imagine the GP were much more angry with the park than we were, yes we have APs, that's why we don't care as much, but it's still not good on the park's name for the guests who turned up and paid on the day (even though there was a larger percentage of chavs)...
AsherOodles Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 These posts just remind me of last year. Opening day was amazingly awful last year too, so this year I decided to go a few days later. I'm going tomorrow, hopefully Thorpe might be running a bit better, but I really doubt it. But still, Thorpe can argue that they warned people that certain rides wont be open. At least I get to hang out in a theme park, I haven't been to one for so long. And maybe get some pictures of Saw testing..
ericmichaellucas Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 I too have been upset by the opening day messes that Thorpe Park always have. It's more like a training/full dress rehearsal for the new temp staff for the season. I can almost guarantee that the park will be fully operational March 14th when the Media will be watching them for the opening of saW - the ride. This would be a perfect day to go, but be prepared for it to be very busy. After the press have left and the cameras have been out away, expect the park to have some more down time until the park is pretty much sorted around easter time.
TPDave Posted February 16, 2009 Posted February 16, 2009 After the press have left and the cameras have been put away, expect the park to have some more down time Are you implying the park can "turn on" it's technical faults the second the press leave? I don't get your logic... Dave
AsherOodles Posted February 17, 2009 Posted February 17, 2009 Just got back from Thorpe Park. I've been reading the posts about Opening 'thrill chill' day, and I am glad I decided to go a few days later this year. Everything was open, as far as I know, at 10am except for Colosus and Rush. Colossus opened around 11:30 and Rush never opened (someone told me that it did eventually, but I never saw it myself), but it was advertised that Rush would be closed before entering the park. No complaints from me about 'Thrill Chill', managed to get on everything that was advertised for about half the price. Last year and from what I've read, this years, opening day wasn't too great, but today was brilliant, got to see some progess on Saw and minimal wait times all day too.
tpoa Posted February 19, 2009 Posted February 19, 2009 Well NWO was closed because people were sick on it and the ride had to be cleaned about 6 times. Rush is still having maintenance work being done. Nemesis Inferno had a problem with ice making the track rusty so had to be sorted before it could be fully run. would you rather go on a ride when it is safe to do so rather than know the job was done slack and not to standard. Also nemesis is not held togerther by tape! they are just markers
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