Alton Towers has made a change to a number of the resorts attraction opening times, resulting in certain rides opening one hour after the rest of the park (11am), this move is believed to be in a bid to make savings in what has been so-far a lean year for the UK theme park industry. The attractions to open at 11am are: Air, Th13teen, Duel, Skyride, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wobble World, Battle Galleons and the Driving School. Congo River Rapids and The Flume will continue also to open at 11am as they have done for a number of seasons now.
These cuts come after a number of previous attempts at cost savings that have been revoked over the last 4 months which included closing at 4pm on off-peak days, Enterprise and Submission closing for the season and restricted SkyRide operating days.
Alton Towers are not the only Merlin parks to suffer these cuts, Thorpe Park has closed its Saw Alive attraction until Fright Nights and a number of their attractions now open at 12pm, as well as the axing of their Fireworks event. Chessington World of Adventures have restricted openings on a number of park areas as has LegoLand. All parks have also had operating hours cut and shop openings restricted.
It is to be hoped that these measures are temporary and we will see full operation return very soon. To discuss this and more why not join us over at the brand-new TowersStreet Talk forums.
