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WTF Merlin?

I wasn’t really sure where else to put this, but on the subject of Wicker Man being discussed a page or two back, they definitely seem to have done something to it recently that has affected the ride experience. There are a lot of people now saying it’s pretty rough, and some also saying that the ride is a lot slower. I can’t speak for the roughness, but it certainly looks noticeably slower in recent off-ride footage; it seems to crawl quite slowly through sections it used to speed through, and there have been reports of frequent stoppages on the lift hill due to block sections not being cleared.

I must admit I’m growing increasingly concerned about my next ride on it; I had an amazing experience in July, so I hope it doesn’t decrease massively in my estimations next time I ride.

I’d be intrigued to know; have any CFers been on it recently, and if you have, what were your thoughts?
 
Matt N said:
I wasn’t really sure where else to put this, but on the subject of Wicker Man being discussed a page or two back, they definitely seem to have done something to it recently that has affected the ride experience. There are a lot of people now saying it’s pretty rough, and some also saying that the ride is a lot slower. I can’t speak for the roughness, but it certainly looks noticeably slower in recent off-ride footage; it seems to crawl quite slowly through sections it used to speed through, and there have been reports of frequent stoppages on the lift hill due to block sections not being cleared.

I must admit I’m growing increasingly concerned about my next ride on it; I had an amazing experience in July, so I hope it doesn’t decrease massively in my estimations next time I ride.

I’d be intrigued to know; have any CFers been on it recently, and if you have, what were your thoughts?
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I’m due to be going on it tomorrow (today?) so I’ll report back.
 
Matt N said:
I wasn’t really sure where else to put this, but on the subject of Wicker Man being discussed a page or two back, they definitely seem to have done something to it recently that has affected the ride experience. There are a lot of people now saying it’s pretty rough, and some also saying that the ride is a lot slower. I can’t speak for the roughness, but it certainly looks noticeably slower in recent off-ride footage; it seems to crawl quite slowly through sections it used to speed through, and there have been reports of frequent stoppages on the lift hill due to block sections not being cleared.

I must admit I’m growing increasingly concerned about my next ride on it; I had an amazing experience in July, so I hope it doesn’t decrease massively in my estimations next time I ride.

I’d be intrigued to know; have any CFers been on it recently, and if you have, what were your thoughts?
Click to expand...
Hi, been to Towers a couple times in the past few months so here's my experience. The ride has definitely gotten rougher over the past season. In July/August it was fine but lately it seems to be getting much shakier. I wouldn't exactly say its unbearable, but there is a notable difference, specifically at the first entry into big bob. I'd say this is the roughest part of the ride, it really shook me about on my last couple visits. Honestly it's slightly worrying considering this is still a fairly new GCI, I have ridden much older GCI's and they've rode much smoother than WM is currently.

Personally I don't mind the roughness that much as I have quite a high roughness tolerance, although the ride has gotten significantly slower which has really caused it to suffer. I'm not exactly sure why, but everything after the first half is borderline forceless now. The flat turn used to give some OK laterals but now its just nothing - it really crawls through it - and the speed hill gives noticeably less airtime. I'm not sure why this has happened but the people I went with agreed that it seemed a lot slower. Even my back row night ride felt slow compared to how it used to be.

For me personally, the ride has become much less enjoyable these past few months, and has gone from my tied favourite UK coaster to not even being in my top 3 at Towers. Although that's just my opinion!
 
I had one ride yesterday on Wicker Man - a front row night ride. It was a good ride although it was quite rough relative to its level of speed and thrill. If it was as intense as, say, Wodan, it would have been unbearable. Hard to say if it was slower than in other years because the night ride will have made it seem fast.

I still enjoyed it. The lighting and effects on the Wicker Man himself looked good.
CrashCoaster said:
Imma just leave this here:-

metro.co.uk

Thorpe Park visitors ‘punched and harassed by roaming gangs of teenagers’

Thorpe Park has been hit by complaints of assaults, rowdy behaviour and overcrowding at its Halloween-themed ‘Fright Night’.
metro.co.uk metro.co.uk
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Looks bad.
 
Unfortunately it was my friends tires that got slashed, the whole day was horrendous from start to finish but the staff were trying their hardest to keep things under control but either ended up getting verbally abused or attacked in some cases.

I know most of you can imagine who the difficult guests were on a Sunday at Fright Nights...
 
Not 100% if this really fits here, but I find it personally interesting that both Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno broke today to the point where they both did not reopen. I know for Thorpe, Inferno got stuck on the lift twice, after the second time it didn’t reopen.
 
Coasterfreck said:
Not 100% if this really fits here, but I find it personally interesting that both Nemesis and Nemesis Inferno broke today to the point where they both did not reopen. I know for Thorpe, Inferno got stuck on the lift twice, after the second time it didn’t reopen.
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Nemesis got stuck on the Lift too, about a 1/3 of the way up :)
 
Nicky Borrill said:
Nemesis got stuck on the Lift too, about a 1/3 of the way up :)
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Wasn't running at park opening the next day but was going again before lunch.

My WTF is what happened to the waterfall under the 1st drop? I heard the red was gone but not that this one was off completely. The moss suggests this is old news but still a shame for me. Oh and no single riders on spinball. And so much to grumble about my first ride on Wickerman - not even got both flame shoulders working today. Bah.
 
emoo said:
Wasn't running at park opening the next day but was going again before lunch.

My WTF is what happened to the waterfall under the 1st drop? I heard the red was gone but not that this one was off completely. The moss suggests this is old news but still a shame for me. Oh and no single riders on spinball. And so much to grumble about my first ride on Wickerman - not even got both flame shoulders working today. Bah.
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Sounds unfortunate. That waterfall was on at the weekend, as were the flame effects:

4hn3II4.jpg
 
Merlin have announced a limited edition “Merlin Discovery Pass”, it will be a weekday only pass for all UK Merlin attractions but features exclusions including all school holidays, halloween, firework and Christmas dates. It’s also worth noting that this new pass will be digital only, and it does not include parking or any other discounts.

It’s also been confirmed the old Standard and Premium passes are now officially no longer and two replacement products will be announced in the future.

Source: https://www.merlinannualpass.co.uk/compare-passes/new-passes
 
The pass is clearly being offered following feedback, and intended to be a somewhat niche alternative to their main offering. No bad thing really.

The main thing is waiting to see what the new passes replacing Standard and Premium end up being, as they could be very different.
 
Seriously tempted by this. I've yet to ride Wicker Man and never been to Chessington nor Legoland Windsor (those two being normally way too expensive).

Also, I'm only a ten minute drive from Thorpe but I haven't been there in several years because...y'know...Thorpe. And I'd only ever plan to go there weekdays in term time in any case.

However, it appears you can't just rock up at any time and flash the pass - you have to book in advance. Anybody have any experience of this? Do you have to book well in advance or are tickets generally still available close to the date? Are there any penalties for booking a ticket and not showing up?
 
FarleyFlavors said:
Seriously tempted by this. I've yet to ride Wicker Man and never been to Chessington nor Legoland Windsor (those two being normally way too expensive).

Also, I'm only a ten minute drive from Thorpe but I haven't been there in several years because...y'know...Thorpe. And I'd only ever plan to go there weekdays in term time in any case.

However, it appears you can't just rock up at any time and flash the pass - you have to book in advance. Anybody have any experience of this? Do you have to book well in advance or are tickets generally still available close to the date? Are there any penalties for booking a ticket and not showing up?
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The idea of pre-booking has only been around since attendance was capped due to covid. who knows whether it will disappear again once things are back to "normal" for the times this pass is valid for "off peak" i've not had any issues booking tickets as close as the day of the visit with . And there are no penalties for no shows.
 
airtime_uk_ash said:
The idea of pre-booking has only been around since attendance was capped due to covid. who knows whether it will disappear again once things are back to "normal" for the times this pass is valid for "off peak" i've not had any issues booking tickets as close as the day of the visit with . And there are no penalties for no shows.
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Cheers for the info. I'll go ahead and score a couple.

(Well, after Mrs Flavors has done her hair and make-up anyway. Didn't realise you needed to supply a photo.)
 
Can't quite understand why the Discovery Pass is being discussed here, it's a brilliant idea for those that do not want to visit at busier times, should be in the other thread.

Are people forgetting, or simply not grasping, the fact that the other 2 passes WILL be replaced? If they're no good when details are released, then fair enough, but let's wait and see.
 
Nicky Borrill said:
Can't quite understand why the Discovery Pass is being discussed here, it's a brilliant idea for those that do not want to visit at busier times, should be in the other thread.

Are people forgetting, or simply not grasping, the fact that the other 2 passes WILL be replaced? If they're no good when details are released, then fair enough, but let's wait and see.
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Shouldn't be talking about the other passes here ;)
 
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