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  1. toofpikk

    Coaster coffee table books

    UK Wise, you'll be hard pressed. I also collect books on theme parks. The first one that really jumped to mind was 'Made by Mack'. Disneyland Paris, from Sketch to Reality is pretty much the ultimate 'coffee table style' theme park book there is imo. Other good ones, which don't carry the same...
  2. toofpikk

    Best Park Throughputs & Availability

    Ok so maybe I’ve read this thread too fast but having been an operator there I can explain why Europa has some of the best ops in the world. 1. It’s essentially a showroom for Mack. If the rides don’t run well here, where they’re often prototypes, why would anyone invest in them? They have to...
  3. toofpikk

    Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

    As much respect and admiration as I have for John, it does seem like he's rather quickly becoming a poster boy for ALL the projects produced by the hundreds of MMM team members. Of course many of us, me included will be looking on with a touch of jealousy for having these opportunities. Let's...
  4. toofpikk

    Rides that required a second ride or series of rerides for you to fully appreciate them

    Interesting range of replies here. For me, it's the majority of GCIs. Definitely one of the nerdiest comments I've ever made here, but I've never had a great first ride on a GCI. The rides are so chaotic, it always takes at least a second lap to learn where to tense and lean to make the most out...
  5. toofpikk

    Alton Towers New Flat Ride?

    Kinda - (I gather) one of the briefing documents was put into the general access on merlins file management so any employee could have a look through it. Looked pretty crap. MMM need to have words with their file controller 🤣 But yes - i think the belief is that Horizon wasn't developed enough...
  6. toofpikk

    Universal considering UK theme park in Bedford

    Yes, it might help avoid any miniscule planning skirmishes. The way they're discussed in architectural circles, NSIPs essentially behave as a fast track for planning. Although local consultancy will still need to take place, they might not carry the same weight in criticising and changing a...
  7. toofpikk

    Alton Towers New Flat Ride?

    On a single cycle with no LPs, a top spin CAN get over 1000 riders per hour. Typically, however, due to the unforgiving restraint systems and the fact pretty much all the classic top spins run a double cycle, it's more in the region of 400-550.
  8. toofpikk

    Universal considering UK theme park in Bedford

    I saw people complaining about BBC's fact checking quality control going down the gutter recently - thorpe park? 490 acres? If you include all the land and lakes from the boundaries of monks walk and Staines Road, you're still struggling to reach even half that. Ofc Towers is bumped up by the...
  9. toofpikk

    Alton Towers | Nemesis Reborn | B&M Retrack | 2024

    Frankly - If Towers' marketing team were quick and creative enough, nerds wouldn't feel the need to do this. furthermore, if they were desperate for things to stay under wraps, they should literally do that, so when inevitably geeks start pushing boundaries like this, there's very little skin...
  10. toofpikk

    What ride do you have the most intangible love for?

    Vampire. I was the only worker who had it every single season for 7 consecutive years during my time there (which I always liked to assume was because I became the invaluable worker on it year after year hehe). I broke the throughput so many times, one halloween we got over 100 extra people on...
  11. toofpikk

    Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

    Can I take us away for the trims for one second, and can we start theorising the inversion names now please? I've been thinking about it for more than a day which means I've either missed key info or we need to start this discourse immediately. Some options I thought of: 1. Thorpe Roll 2...
  12. toofpikk

    Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

    Yeah they're probably still trying to work out a name for it. Not an uncommon thing to do for new rides either. I think my mates would have a better time understanding what a world's first twist is then a '270 degrees Double Inverting Corner Stall' a la Walibi Holland for Untamed.
  13. toofpikk

    Alton Towers | Nemesis Reborn | B&M Retrack | 2024

    The state of Merlin fencing in general is a complete joke. Perimeter areas and queue lines are the first impression guests get of an attraction, and if it looks like you're walking around a Travis Perkins timber yard; that's not exactly good storytelling. Queue lines aren't expensive to get...
  14. toofpikk

    Gigs 'n' Tours

    Man... This year? Easy Life Pendulum (Live) MK Andy C @ the O2 Hospitality @ Printworks Printworks Closing Weekend (Friday) Parklife Hospitality in the Woods Pre Covid I'd do 20+ events a year, but I guess the effect of working towards having a career, getting older, and not having so much...
  15. toofpikk

    What’s the wettest you’ve ever gotten on a non-water ride?

    I gotta ask when this was - I was an attendant on Rammy for 3 seasons and got investigated one particularly hot summer for getting guests 'too wet'. It was the last ride of the day, we had a 3/4 full gondola and sent it round normally, then my op did a PA asking if people wanted to go round...
  16. toofpikk

    What’s the wettest you’ve ever gotten on a non-water ride?

    Remember a particularly vicious ride on Goliath at walibi holland during a torrential downpour. That hurt. Bucket challenge on black buccaneer as a member of the rides team that season. Everyone with a bucket got appropriately drenched.
  17. toofpikk

    Best ride soundtrack

    Wrong. Wrong wrong wrong. You’re all wrong. The best sound tracks are nice and simple. 1. Talocan (Chiapas theme cycle) Simply the greatest piece of Theme park music ever written. The finishing touch on making a simple, humble flat ride quite possibly the greatest 2 minute show at any theme...
  18. toofpikk

    Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

    Interesting to see this breakdown. Would love to know what doc it's from. I know European parks use different measurements for average guest space usage in queues. I wonder if this is a standard UK/Merlin measurement or something the architect has suggested?
  19. toofpikk

    Thorpe Park | Hyperia | Mack Hyper Coaster | 2024

    It’s true. And it’s my biggest pet irk with the merlin parks at the moment. I cannot stand the unsightly form all merlin queues have taken in the last 10 years, with rotten unpainted wood barriers and fences holding you in line, or never ending cattle-pens (or in the nightmare scenario, both...
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