2020: General Discussion

[ChristmasPud]

this wasn’t even Merlin, the recent work on Duel was driven by the park.

Still a problem with Merlin, so many attractions are given "in house" treatment at Merlin parks now with minimal budget . The Duel in-house TLC was about on par with Tomb Blaster's recent MMM project, so no difference either way really. Both were disappointing projects (mostly down to budget, but some odd decisions too), slightly improved some things and worsened others, failed to bring back anything that once made these rides good.

To be fair on the park, most the lighting was ruined not long before the "TLC" project too, which was talked about at the time but seems forgotten by fans, when most of it was first changed to LED. TLC changed the lighting again, but still far too bright.

 

[imanautie]

I believe this is confirmation scarefest will happen.

 

[AT86]

Apparently 13 has been testing today and a queue appears to have formed at the Ride entrance.

No idea if this is significant or just regular testing to keep the ride in good order.

 

[Danscott22]

Apparently 13 has been testing today and a queue appears to have formed at the Ride entrance.

No idea if this is significant or just regular testing to keep the ride in good order.

You'd have thought if it wasn't going to open, staff would be turning people away.

 

[yoursilentface]

From what I've gathered, it seems to be a real mix. Some queue times are accurate, some are overestimated and sometimes it can be higher than stated. Look of the draw I guess, if a queue time has just been updated its probably more likely to be accurate, but if it hasnt been updated in 30-40 minutes then it's anyones guess.

I've been on sunday and monday and on the whole they've been pretty accurate

So accurate they put me off getting in the queue for Wickerman on sunday as it was 100 plus must of the time

On monday we started at spinball at 10...then did Oblivion,rita,galactica,nemesis,duel,rapids before 12 so after a quick look through sealife decided to brave the wickerman queue before home as we'd barely waited for anything all morning

It was an estimated 80 minutes and very very long because of distancing but it really goes down quickly you never seem to stand still.....we was on the ride in 35 minutes

 

[Ethan]

Apparently 13 has been testing today and a queue appears to have formed at the Ride entrance.

No idea if this is significant or just regular testing to keep the ride in good order.

Beg it opens tommorow so my sister can go on it as she's been moaning the whole time about it being shut

 

[John]

Word of caution re WM: we waited 80min opening weekend when it was advertised as 60. Queue was well into the extensions, took an hour from the entrance.

 

[Matt N]

Word of caution re WM: we waited 80min opening weekend when it was advertised as 60. Queue was well into the extensions, took an hour from the entrance.

How strange; for me on Sunday, it was advertised at 100 minutes and we only waited 35 minutes for the first ride. For our second ride, the queue was advertised at 75 minutes and we waited 55 minutes.

For us, Smiler was the main one in terms of underreported queue time; advertised at 60 minutes, but we ended up waiting 105 minutes.

 

[Ethan]

How strange; for me on Sunday, it was advertised at 100 minutes and we only waited 35 minutes for the first ride. For our second ride, the queue was advertised at 75 minutes and we waited 55 minutes.

For us, Smiler was the main one in terms of underreported queue time; advertised at 60 minutes, but we ended up waiting 105 minutes.

Damn 105! That's long. Don't think I'd wait that anymore

 

[AT86]

It’s interesting that Alton Towers seem to have kept their summer opening times the same as planned. 6pm ride closures start Saturday and seem to run through the summer. They have gone from having some of the worst opening hours to the longest (amongst the Merlin parks that is).

In July Chessington and Legoland have reduced ride close to 4pm and Thorpe to 5pm.

Pleasantly surprised Towers don’t appear to have followed suit.

 

[Ethan]

It’s interesting that Alton Towers seem to have kept their summer opening times the same as planned. 6pm ride closures start Saturday and seem to run through the summer. They have gone from having some of the worst opening hours to the longest (amongst the Merlin parks that is).

In July Chessington and Legoland have reduced ride close to 4pm and Thorpe to 5pm.

Pleasantly surprised Towers don’t appear to have followed suit.

I don't understand why they would when the queues have been long

 

[AT86]

I don't understand why they would when the queues have been long

The queues have been arguably longer at Thorpe but they have still reduced their openings for July from 6pm to 5pm.

With the loss of revenue Merlin have faced I assume they want to control staff costs as much as possible.

For some reason this isn’t being applied to Alton Towers. Perhaps due to the size of the park they can increase capacity further from next week to justify the additional cost of longer hours, whereas the smaller parks like Thorpe and Chessington can’t.

 

[AT86]

Rather surprisingly, the reduction in VAT has seen some price decreases.

The gate price has dropped from £58 to £53 from today. Meaning standard season passes are now £53 and anyone booking with 241 vouchers will pay less for entry.

 

[Rob]

Good to see that Merlin are passing on the VAT reduction's to customers rather than using it purely to help their finances. A sensible move!

 

[Steve74]

Good to see that Merlin are passing on the VAT reduction's to customers rather than using it purely to help their finances. A sensible move!

I guess the bean counters have worked out that they could/should make more money by reducing the prices than keeping them the same and pocketing the VAT reduction. Then there's the bad publicity if they did that!

 

[ringo]

I guess the bean counters have worked out that they could/should make more money by reducing the prices than keeping them the same and pocketing the VAT reduction. Then there's the bad publicity if they did that!

It’s great they did pass it on.

It’s a strange one, a tourism boss was saying customers shouldn’t expect the VAT cut as it was done to help businesses make money and we should be happy paying full rate VAT to support the businesses.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53411649

It is clear that many businesses will not be passing on the reduction. Malcolm Bell, chief executive of Visit Britain, said the chancellor's move was to support business, not help holidaymakers.

He said some firms had reported tourists calling them to ask for 15% off their holiday booking. "My message to customers is this is to help the businesses, not to reduce the cost of their holiday. It is only a temporary relaxation up to January."

Many attractions such as museums, parks and zoos, might also not pass on the reduction.

Bernard Donoghue, director of the Association of Leading Visitor Attractions (Alva), said he expected the VAT cut would go towards helping venues "repair their finances as opposed to being passed on to customers”

 

[Kraken27]

Good to see that Merlin are passing on the VAT reduction's to customers rather than using it purely to help their finances. A sensible move!

Given the fact that many people are seeing reduced incomes at present, Merlin would have been mad to pocket the extra cash. Even the likes of McDonalds have cut some menu prices too. Then there is also the small matter of the way Merlin proactively displayed the VAT element of their entrance prices in the past, calling on the government to cut VAT on leisure attractions.

With regard to the different operating hours at Alton Towers, vs Thorpe & Chessington, I am guessing it may the North-South divide at work to an extent. The majority of Merlin's RTP staff are seasonal & on little over the minimum wage. In rural Staffordshire they can probably pay the minimum required by law. In the supposedly affluent London area, they may have to pay a higher rate just to attract staff, let alone retain the good ones. Let's face it, around the London area you can easily pay £5 for a pint in a pub (assuming you wish to visit one - but we won't go there), in rural Staffordshire it's probably around £3.50.

 

[Steve74]

It’s great they did pass it on.

It’s a strange one, a tourism boss was saying customers shouldn’t expect the VAT cut as it was done to help businesses make money and we should be happy paying full rate VAT to support the businesses.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-53411649

But companies can claim VAT back so how does a reduction benefit them if they do not pass the reduction onto the customer? I was under the impression the cut was for the consumer, so it'll entice people to book those holidays, take days out etc. That would then benefit the leisure companies as they'll be getting more revenue.

Or am I missing something regarding VAT and the leisure/tourism industry - I'm no business expert - can companies claim back all VAT or just on certain products and services?

 

[AT86]

Any VAT that a company collects on anything they sell needs to be passed on to the HMRC. So now they only need to collect 5% and not 20% they could still charge the same price and pocket the difference for themselves, or they could pass the reduction onto the consumer.

It looks like Merlin are doing a bit of both, reducing some prices, such as gate tickets but keeping others the same (and so pocketing the difference) on others, such as hotel stays.

 

[Steve74]

Any VAT that a company collects on anything they sell needs to be passed on to the HMRC. So now they only need to collect 5% and not 20% they could still charge the same price and pocket the difference for themselves, or they could pass the reduction onto the consumer.

Oh yeah, never thought of it like that.