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WTF Merlin?

So, is Stealth dead again? Down all day yesterday, still down today.

I think it's the end of the road for Accelerators.
 
Tonkso said:
So, is Stealth dead again? Down all day yesterday, still down today.

I think it's the end of the road for Accelerators.
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I know that Thorpe have been in regular contact with Intamin about the issue.

I don't think it's the end of the road for Accelerators. Stealth has been very reliable the last few years, a hiccup (though not ideal) is by no means cause to sound the alarm just yet. And the others around the world seem to largely be fine.
 
JoshC. said:
I know that Thorpe have been in regular contact with Intamin about the issue.

I don't think it's the end of the road for Accelerators. Stealth has been very reliable the last few years, a hiccup (though not ideal) is by no means cause to sound the alarm just yet. And the others around the world seem to largely be fine.
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To be fair to Thorpe, it's now testing. They've clearly worked hard to get this thing back online.
 
My single largest gripe with Nemesis reborn was the removal of the front-row queue line to add some extra theming into the station without having to extend the building. This was enough for the ride to shoot down my rankings as the front row (to me) makes such a huge difference to the ride experience, especially on inverts. So removing the option to wait longer for an uncompromised ride experience resulted in a ride with a 1/8 chance of having the intended experience with all of the scenery and near-misses as intended.

We recently went to Thorpe Park on Wednesday and finally got a front-row ride on Hyperia, after around 10 attempts (as probability would dictate). It was one of the best experiences I have ever had as a 15+ year enthusiast. In my last cred review, I excused the lack of a front row with the presumption that it was a year-one measure to ensure the throughout was maximised when the queues were at their longest. Now, that excuse is gone, and their policy to require the 1/10 lottery for rows is arbitrary.

So, I have to ask the question. Why is Merlin so fiercely against having extra queues for the best experience?! Oblivion is an early outlier, the smiler and Wicker man are the first cases of this ongoing trend (though they are less consequential) but NR and Hyperia are genuinely detrimental to the potential experience.

Is this an intentional decision? If so, what is the justification??

(As per my last few posts, I am over exaggerating the issue, but I am still curious why such a deliberate decision has been made?)
 
Changa said:
My single largest gripe with Nemesis reborn was the removal of the front-row queue line to add some extra theming into the station without having to extend the building. This was enough for the ride to shoot down my rankings as the front row (to me) makes such a huge difference to the ride experience, especially on inverts. So removing the option to wait longer for an uncompromised ride experience resulted in a ride with a 1/8 chance of having the intended experience with all of the scenery and near-misses as intended.

We recently went to Thorpe Park on Wednesday and finally got a front-row ride on Hyperia, after around 10 attempts (as probability would dictate). It was one of the best experiences I have ever had as a 15+ year enthusiast. In my last cred review, I excused the lack of a front row with the presumption that it was a year-one measure to ensure the throughout was maximised when the queues were at their longest. Now, that excuse is gone, and their policy to require the 1/10 lottery for rows is arbitrary.

So, I have to ask the question. Why is Merlin so fiercely against having extra queues for the best experience?! Oblivion is an early outlier, the smiler and Wicker man are the first cases of this ongoing trend (though they are less consequential) but NR and Hyperia are genuinely detrimental to the potential experience.

Is this an intentional decision? If so, what is the justification??

(As per my last few posts, I am over exaggerating the issue, but I am still curious why such a deliberate decision has been made?)
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I think that front row queues have become less of a priority with operations being a factor in this.

With Hyperia, there has been intention to introduce a front row queue however with the ride being very popular still, it hasn't been introduced as of yet.

I don't know if the plans have changed or if this is still intending to happen.

I personally think it's not a bad thing not having a front row queue due to the extended queue times with it.

I'd say we are also seeing more single rider queues to support operations which are well received.

I'd say that if Merlin are against front row queues, they would have phased these out already which the ones they're in haven't been removed yet.

I'd imagine the ones there already will stay unless there's a reason for it's removal.
 
Changa said:
My single largest gripe with Nemesis reborn was the removal of the front-row queue line to add some extra theming into the station without having to extend the building. This was enough for the ride to shoot down my rankings as the front row (to me) makes such a huge difference to the ride experience, especially on inverts. So removing the option to wait longer for an uncompromised ride experience resulted in a ride with a 1/8 chance of having the intended experience with all of the scenery and near-misses as intended.
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Yeah, I completely agree. As well as the views, the intensity of Nemesis is massively different in the front and back seats. So much so, that some people may not actually like the ride in the rear seats. It could be argued that you are actually queuing for a different ride, whether you want to ride at the front or back. I prefer the ride so much at the front, I don't think I'd even bother riding it without a front-row queue, and that goes for quite a few major coasters. It's one of those little details that makes Merlin so much worse than Tussauds.
 
I agree, the lack of a front row queue is my biggest gripe with the new Nemesis. After spending 6 days at Towers last year in total and getting countless rides, I was pretty disappointed to not get the front row even once.
 
I usually just ask each time, you won't always get what you want, but sometimes, if they can, they will let you.

If you let being told "no, sorry" put you off asking next time, you're never going to hear that magic "yes."

I have ridden both new coasters on the front row thanks to this, Nemesis Reborn lots and lots of times*, although I preferred back on Hyperia, and so started asking for that instead. I also almost always ask for the back on Wickerman, with a 90% ish success rate... That ride is just pointless unless you're in one of the back 2 rows, and unless they already have somebody that came through the preshow bypass waiting, they'll generally let you wait.

tl;dr, just ask, accept the answer when it's a 'no,' and try again next time. You will get a 'yes' when it's possible.

*Although it did take me a long time, and some pity, to get that first FR ride!
 
^
I've known Smiler hosts who deliberately put you in the back if you ask for the front.

Heh heh heh.
 
JoshC. said:
I know that Thorpe have been in regular contact with Intamin about the issue.

I don't think it's the end of the road for Accelerators. Stealth has been very reliable the last few years, a hiccup (though not ideal) is by no means cause to sound the alarm just yet. And the others around the world seem to largely be fine.
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I'm not sure I agree anymore, Stealth they'll keep but Rita perhaps not.

I used to defend Rita, a lot, but now I think it's time to go. Funnily enough, after another visit to Phantasialand over the weekend, I found myself measuring the plot sizes of both Taron and Rita. Rita takes up more space than Taron, which really surprised me. Then I found myself thinking, what could Alton do with a proper Blitz like Taron? Taron (height wise) is only 30ft taller, packs 1:40 of ride time compared to Rita's 25 seconds and a fun filled layout like Taron's would easily fill the space AND fit the Dark Forest theme better (a PROPER escape the Dark Forest ride). They'd have to do something about the launches, Taron's is loud ("Es ist zu laut!! Est is zu laut! Die achterbahn ist zu laut!!"), there's no way the locals would accept that.

Anyway, this is me playing with crayons, and in no way reflects reality. I do believe Rita may have had its day though, perhaps she can be cannibalised for parts to keep Stealth going.

Otherwise, back in fantasy crayon land, Stealth gets the LSM swing launch spike treatment... I would be very much okay with that.
 
Tonkso said:
I'm not sure I agree anymore, Stealth they'll keep but Rita perhaps not.

I used to defend Rita, a lot, but now I think it's time to go. Funnily enough, after another visit to Phantasialand over the weekend, I found myself measuring the plot sizes of both Taron and Rita. Rita takes up more space than Taron, which really surprised me. Then I found myself thinking, what could Alton do with a proper Blitz like Taron? Taron (height wise) is only 30ft taller, packs 1:40 of ride time compared to Rita's 25 seconds and a fun filled layout like Taron's would easily fill the space AND fit the Dark Forest theme better (a PROPER escape the Dark Forest ride). They'd have to do something about the launches, Taron's is loud ("Es ist zu laut!! Est is zu laut! Die achterbahn ist zu laut!!"), there's no way the locals would accept that.

Anyway, this is me playing with crayons, and in no way reflects reality. I do believe Rita may have had its day though, perhaps she can be cannibalised for parts to keep Stealth going.

Otherwise, back in fantasy crayon land, Stealth gets the LSM swing launch spike treatment... I would be very much okay with that.
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I think they'll try to keep Stealth going for a long time until it's impractical to do so.

With Rita, I think we'll see it potentially removed or converted to LSM. I can imagine that there could be an opportunity to move it to Gardaland as they don't have a launched coaster.
 
I can't wait to see Rita go (provided it's replaced, obviously - they'd struggle to build anything worse) and to be fair, I shall not shed a single tear when Stealth goes either. That ride type was a gimmick which has not stood the test of time.
 
Trax said:
I’m all in for dark humour, but this level of macabre is too much, even for me.
I guess the intern has gotten some time to reflect.
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Why does everyone always assume social media posts are made by interns? Most brands won't let anyone without years of experience in social media management anywhere near their social platforms 😅 And usually anyone who is new to posting for a brand will have their posts set to Approvals, meaning each post sits in drafts before a higher-up approves it. Brand social media isn't some lowly intern thing, which is why this slip up surprised me so much. That MAP tweet is wince-inducing, glad it was removed swiftly.

Merlins Intamin Hydraulic launch coasters, on the other hand, I hope they will not be removed swiftly!

I absolutely adore Stealth, it's my favourite ride in the UK and, having ridden 818 coasters, it still sits v. comfortably in my top 10. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like Stealth! I'm really hoping it has a good few years of life left.

I'm also a fan of Rita tbh, and Desert Race for that matter. Both rides were running brilliantly on my recent visits to Alton and Heide this year.
 
Serena said:
I absolutely adore Stealth, it's my favourite ride in the UK and, having ridden 818 coasters, it still sits v. comfortably in my top 10. Nothing gets the adrenaline pumping like Stealth! I'm really hoping it has a good few years of life left.

I'm also a fan of Rita tbh, and Desert Race for that matter. Both rides were running brilliantly on my recent visits to Alton and Heide this year.
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Part of me hopes that as more accelerators close the incentive to maintain it due to uniqueness comes into play. Possibly a fool's hope. In my wildest dreams I would like new trains with lapbars but I could only see that happening if there was some serious investment thrown at it, which seems unlikely.
 
Once the dust settles with TT2 (and it's deemed a 'success') I could see Zamperla targeting parks with existing Accelerator coasters for LSM conversion. Rita/Desert Race are basically scaled-up versions of Senzafiato/ThunderVolt, so they could be good candidates (ignoring Merlin and the investment required).

I suppose Zamperla may also be willing to purchase the coasters outright, retrofit them in-house, and then resell to another park like they did with ThunderVolt.
 
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