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Do they ever want Alton Towers to recover?

Amongst the many things that Merlin get wrong at AT, I give them credit for one thing that they get right. The food may not be great (but it's no worse than McDonalds, etc), but I can take a huge bag of my own goodies to AT, purchased elsewhere at reasonable costs and they are fine with that.

Meanwhile at Blackpool Pleasure Beach you are likely subject to an invasive body cavity search by the Thompson Family (who seem to have a get out of jail free card on certain forums), for the cardinal sin of trying to smuggle a mars bar into the park (or was that just me?).

Anyway, AT will recover, but it will happen on Merlin's terms whether we like it or not.
 
After visiting the park last weekend, I am really worried about the state of the place.

Firstly, the hotels are in a shocking state. ATH looks dirty and tatty. The Secret Garden restaurant has seen its prices increase but the quality of the food and service really go downhill. The Dragon bar is always filthy, and no one is ever seen going around collecting empty glasses or cleaning up. I remember the day it was table service! The bar still has queues out to the door. Granted the entertainment has improved however. Noted as well the small arcade in the hotel is now card only payment, so you must buy a "games card" and top it up whenever you want to use one of the machines. Seems a little pointless to me!

CBebbies hotel just across the way looks awful and has spoilt the outlook from the hotel over the "once" garden area. The spa has also been wrecked by turning it into a dark, gloomy space, with no conservatory anymore, no outside sauna and no window area by the whirlpool to sit and enjoy the scenery. Not to mention how tatty it is inside.

Then we have Splash Landings hotel, which is open when it feels like and closed most of the time. The water-park is too small to accommodate guests from all 4 hotels, and the public, to such extent that Annual passes will no longer be available as they cannot guarantee entry. The hot bubbly wubbly pool outside has now been made into a cool pool like the others because they were worried about kids going into it (even though parents arent supposed to if under 5). The outside bit is open as randomly as the hotel, and the water temperature has definitely been turned down a notch.

Flambos was utterly shocking on Saturday night with a £15.95 pizza and pasta buffet with burnt pizzas, left overs, and chocolate fountain sweet dips with no chocolate fountain. As with ATH, service was non existent. Didnt venture over to Enchanted Village, but last time I stayed there we had to move lodges due to dirt and things not working in there.

Whoever reads the tripadvisor reviews as well needs to take stock, with reviews in most areas of the park and hotels being mostly negative. However, most responses are met with the usual cut and paste reply from the resort. With the hotels charging premium prices, and people not getting the experience they expect, less and less people will stay over again in the future. I certainaly would not pay more than £99 for a night in any of the hotels now.

As for the park, it looks very run down in places. Cloud Cuckoo land really needs some investment with CaTCF now laying closed for years. All the closed up shops and guest services outlets around the park (next to Rita for example), and the gardens are a state. As for Scarefest, the only effort was made on Towers Street, the rest of the park saw little if none, with Nemesis illuminated in bright white flood lights, nothing around X Sector, Rapids etc.

One thing I also noticed which I havent seen for a while now, is that the staff are noticeably looking fed up. Speaking to one of them in the hotels, they mentioned how morale is at an all time low, the cleaners are fed up working under this new company, many AT staff are employed now on zero hours contracts, and they feel the place is being run into the ground with the main emphasis on making profits.

How much of this is true I dont know, but you do feel it when you visit, and this weekend I felt was quite an eye opener and made me feel very "down" about the future of the park. I really hope SW8 breathes a bit of life into the park else I think the park will be in trouble going forward.
 
GaryH said:
After visiting the park last weekend, I am really worried about the state of the place.

Firstly, the hotels are in a shocking state. ATH looks dirty and tatty. The Secret Garden restaurant has seen its prices increase but the quality of the food and service really go downhill. The Dragon bar is always filthy, and no one is ever seen going around collecting empty glasses or cleaning up. I remember the day it was table service! The bar still has queues out to the door. Granted the entertainment has improved however. Noted as well the small arcade in the hotel is now card only payment, so you must buy a "games card" and top it up whenever you want to use one of the machines. Seems a little pointless to me!

CBebbies hotel just across the way looks awful and has spoilt the outlook from the hotel over the "once" garden area. The spa has also been wrecked by turning it into a dark, gloomy space, with no conservatory anymore, no outside sauna and no window area by the whirlpool to sit and enjoy the scenery. Not to mention how tatty it is inside.

Then we have Splash Landings hotel, which is open when it feels like and closed most of the time. The water-park is too small to accommodate guests from all 4 hotels, and the public, to such extent that Annual passes will no longer be available as they cannot guarantee entry. The hot bubbly wubbly pool outside has now been made into a cool pool like the others because they were worried about kids going into it (even though parents arent supposed to if under 5). The outside bit is open as randomly as the hotel, and the water temperature has definitely been turned down a notch.

Flambos was utterly shocking on Saturday night with a £15.95 pizza and pasta buffet with burnt pizzas, left overs, and chocolate fountain sweet dips with no chocolate fountain. As with ATH, service was non existent. Didnt venture over to Enchanted Village, but last time I stayed there we had to move lodges due to dirt and things not working in there.

Whoever reads the tripadvisor reviews as well needs to take stock, with reviews in most areas of the park and hotels being mostly negative. However, most responses are met with the usual cut and paste reply from the resort. With the hotels charging premium prices, and people not getting the experience they expect, less and less people will stay over again in the future. I certainaly would not pay more than £99 for a night in any of the hotels now.

As for the park, it looks very run down in places. Cloud Cuckoo land really needs some investment with CaTCF now laying closed for years. All the closed up shops and guest services outlets around the park (next to Rita for example), and the gardens are a state. As for Scarefest, the only effort was made on Towers Street, the rest of the park saw little if none, with Nemesis illuminated in bright white flood lights, nothing around X Sector, Rapids etc.

One thing I also noticed which I havent seen for a while now, is that the staff are noticeably looking fed up. Speaking to one of them in the hotels, they mentioned how morale is at an all time low, the cleaners are fed up working under this new company, many AT staff are employed now on zero hours contracts, and they feel the place is being run into the ground with the main emphasis on making profits.

How much of this is true I dont know, but you do feel it when you visit, and this weekend I felt was quite an eye opener and made me feel very "down" about the future of the park. I really hope SW8 breathes a bit of life into the park else I think the park will be in trouble going forward.
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I think th water park passes have been stopped for a while? I’ve been after one for the last 12 months or so
 
I've been to Alton a good few times this season and I generally think that they are doing well.

You can look at the park with the view that the glass is half empty or half full. May not be the best park in the world, but it's the best that the UK has to offer.

Generally I felt the park has been very clean and tidy this year. If you compare it to Drayton Manor, personally I feel that Drayton is suffering more in terms of ride closures.

I got a good feeling that next year is going to get better with the new ride and court yard refurbishment. Duel is rumoured to be getting some TLC over the winter. Gate numbers are up this year and with the new ride next year, I'm sure that next year's gate numbers will be up even more.
 
Have to agree with Mako there. BPB currently offers a much better day out than Towers, and the new ride will surely beat SW8 without a shadow of doubt. Had a great couple of days in Blackpool late summer, and they treat their guests with much more respect than any Merlin establishment does.
 
Can only agree with the above about BPB upping its game in the last few years.
A varied selection of coasters intertwined on a modest site, wide selection of food and drink, ents on park every day, flats in abundance, six places to get a beer, 'spoons round the corner, and half a dozen rides with a roof for the rainy days.
Daily opening from early season...including Wednesdays, makes a big difference for me personally, and staff who don't ask "Are you having a fun day guys?" every hour.

The only thing sadly fading is the PBE website, but there are high quality alternatives!;)
 
Whilst I agree with so many of the valid criticisms, AT still wins out for me over BPB.

I could fill several pages with equally valid criticisms of any UK park if time permitted.

Whilst Icon will top SW8 for thrill seekers, I think SW8 will appeal to a bigger demographic which is what the park needs.

Also, as a thrill coaster, Icon will be going up against an aging, but brilliant Nemmie, and that is a different battle entirely.

Going up against any other UK thrill coaster before Nemmie is like preparing to take on the Soviet Union by invading the Isle of Wight
 
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I think SW8 will actually be very good looking at the construction that has taken place so far, and as I said above, I really hope it injects a new lease of life into the park and brings some of the buzz back. Hopefully with the courtyard refurbishment and some of the stalls opening again in that area, it should have a bit of life back to it again.

As for BPB, I think that appeals to a different group of people. Families will be more inclined to go to Alton, whereas Teenagers and adults more inclined to go to BPB.

I'm quite looking forward to next year actually, I think this year in terms of the parks has been quite a dull one.
 
GaryH said:
As for BPB, I think that appeals to a different group of people. Families will be more inclined to go to Alton, whereas Teenagers and adults more inclined to go to BPB.
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Perhaps you've not seen Nickelodeon Land? It's buzzing with atmosphere and entertainment, a lot more so than CBeebies Land and Cuckoo Cloud Whatever-It's-Called Land.

Plus they've got other family rides scattered throughout the park.

Drayton Manor also trumps Towers for a family line up.
 
To be honest, I'm just hoping Alton Towers aren't simply dismissing the fact they've got empty units (Charlie) hanging around. We've had no announcement about the future of that space, which makes me think they're just not bothered. Also the 4D cinema house. No update on the future of Duel even though it falls further into disrepair with each year. I'm really hoping we see lots more activity on the TLC Twitter over the winter, and they hike things up a bit in preparation for Wicker Man next year - which will see a big boost to attendance.
 
Another way of looking at BPB/AT is broadly class based...AT middle class/ BPB working class.
Some of my posh customers would never enter Blackpool willingy, but are happy to visit Lytham just down the road.
I love both, they each have individual good and bad features.
I also like the fact that BPB is family owned, decidedly not corporate.
 
I would say wealth comes into it when talking about the type of customer willing to stay in the accomodation at Alton Towers however....

But that's just my opinion of course.
 
MaxPower said:
I would say wealth comes into it when talking about the type of customer willing to stay in the accomodation at Alton Towers however....

But that's just my opinion of course.
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Don't forget Sun Readers with their creased up dirty vouchers £35 quid a night

They "get it every day" apparently!
 
rob666 said:
Another way of looking at BPB/AT is broadly class based...AT middle class/ BPB working class.
Some of my posh customers would never enter Blackpool willingy, but are happy to visit Lytham just down the road.
I love both, they each have individual good and bad features.
I also like the fact that BPB is family owned, decidedly not corporate.
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Being originally from rishton i love blackpool and BPB as it brings back very happy memories that i'm now reliving through my children(who also love the place)

We hired an apartment in st annes in the summer holidays and i must admit i wouldn't do that in blackpool even though we spent most of the week there!

I don't think there's a class difference in AT/BPB to be honest....the central pier family bar on the other hand:eek::eek:
 
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