Would a Wristband system work at Alton Towers?

[Bert2theSpark]

So this year there has been the Garden days open for local people, and during the Gardens days there were quite a few people who were visiting the grounds who don't usually visit a theme park strolling around the grounds (Older Generations).

This got me thinking, what if Alton Towers were to implement a wristband system (not pay per ride), so you'd have visitors who were there for the rides and then people there on a cheaper ticket free to roam the Gardens and Towers, especially if there potentially a Heritage Tour and opening the Swiss Cottage as a Café (an idea I've seen floating around on the forum). Hell maybe they could use it to market Oktoberfest or even a proper Christmas event to more than just theme park guests (like Hyde Park Winter Wonderland) and could lead to Alton Towers making a wider offering in more entertainment that aren't necessarily rides.

Obviously they'd have to install admission turnstiles to the entrance of every ride much like at BPB, but they could open this system to work with phones or passes. This would obviously be expensive but could it be worth it, I'd expect some enthusiasts would be upset with a wristband system, but since this is a more mature forum, I'd be interested to hear you opinions. So what's everyone's opinion?

(This is a typical closed season thread, lol)

 

[BigT]

Don’t give Merlin ideas, they will still charge the same to get in then extra for the wristbands....,

 

[AT86]

Personally I am not a fan of the wristband approach, it somehow ‘cheapens’ the theme park experience for me and feels more like something that should belong at the end of a pier.

I am all for expanding the use of the gardens though, in 2021 they aren’t having any mid season close dates, but hopefully they will continue to find ways to utilise them more, it is a massive waste having them sat there with few visitors.

 

[John_P]

Definitely not a wristband system.

They should look at running guided tours of the gardens during the off-peak midweeks. Say starting around noon. 2 hours round the gardens, cup of tea on towers Street. A look in Towers Trading and then out the exit.

That way these guests are arriving and leaving at different times to regular guests.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

On a quiet day the park could split up and have three separate tickets
Towers and Gardens (with guided tours)
Cbeebies Land (and possibly a few other preschool rides)
Thrill Rides through the evening for children coming out of school
In these cases, rides are open only where there is demand saving the park money and they could have some entertainment on the latter ticket, perhaps have live music on the lawn on Friday Nights. The first two could keep going through the closed season so the park has some income and activity over the winter.

 

[pluk]

With fastrack (and abused RAP) it pretty much already does, just not necessarily with actual wristbands but it's the same principle.

I'd rather it was more expressly sold under a tiered system.

- entry, standby queue access only
- entry, time return fastrack access

Maybe a grounds access only ticket could have some value too, but would probably be more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Bert2theSpark]

I'd rather it was more expressly sold under a tiered system.

- entry, standby queue access only
- entry, time return fastrack access

That's quite a good shout to be honest, maybe a timeslot system could work in the park where you virtual queue on your phone upto until, say the last 15 minutes, wait in the queue and head off to the next ride. It would help guests to plan their day out better but I guess that would lead the paths around the park to be a lot more busy though.

 

[AT86]

That's quite a good shout to be honest, maybe a timeslot system could work in the park where you virtual queue on your phone upto until, say the last 15 minutes, wait in the queue and head off to the next ride. It would help guests to plan their day out better but I guess that would lead the paths around the park to be a lot more busy though.

Thorpe Park did try this approach via the ‘Reserve n Ride’ initiative a couple of seasons back, whereby to ride the coasters you had to secure a virtual time slot before joining the queue at the selected time for the last few mins.

I’m not sure why they didn’t roll it out, perhaps it impacted fastrack sales too much, or perhaps as you say the other parts of the park couldn’t cope with the number of people milling about that would have otherwise been in queue lines.

 

[rob666]

The technology failed...calling pluk...

 

[John]

The trouble with all of these virtual queue systems is that it doesn't affect the overall ride capacity, so guests will still get on the same number of rides regardless (on average). If people aren't in queues, you have to have somewhere for them to go. Thorpe doesn't, so the system didn't actually benefit anyone - it's better to have all those people in a physical queue rather than just milling about.

 

[pluk]

That's quite a good shout to be honest, maybe a timeslot system could work in the park where you virtual queue on your phone upto until, say the last 15 minutes, wait in the queue and head off to the next ride. It would help guests to plan their day out better but I guess that would lead the paths around the park to be a lot more busy though.

The faults with reserve and ride were many from an IT and implementation point of view, but the big and insurmountable issue in my opinion was their insistence that it had to operate with no standby queue. That's a lovely theory but just another example of marketing being the overlords of any development, wanting their 'worlds first queue free themepark' headlines. The reality is of course that ride reliability and throughput are not consistent enough to allow that to work. You either end up with empty seats going round or substantial queues building up even after the virtual queue. It'll be no surprise what Thorpe ended up with!

Having a standby queue gives a buffer to absorb variations in throughput and periods of downtime.

The trouble with all of these virtual queue systems is that it doesn't affect the overall ride capacity, so guests will still get on the same number of rides regardless (on average). If people aren't in queues, you have to have somewhere for them to go. Thorpe doesn't, so the system didn't actually benefit anyone - it's better to have all those people in a physical queue rather than just milling about.

That's absolutely true if everyone is using it, and why I find fastrack sales to the detriment of full entry ticket holders so abhorrent.
The difference being with a two tiered entry system is those paying for that level of ticket (or wristband) will get more rides using the system over someone not using it. It might sound like the same thing in a different order, but to me it's much more transparent and acceptable if some are knowingly buying cheaper standby only tickets and a much greater allocation can be given to timed return allocation.

There is no place for untimed fastrack VIP style tickets in my world!

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

The problem you got is only Alton and Merlin pass holders would use the gardens as they go on a regular basis. I go once a year now with my daughter and this year she’s Tall enough for the 1.2m tall rides so we spend a good 2 hours queuing for Wickerman, 90 mins for 13 and 45 mins for Spinball. Then the rest of the day went on the Blade, Rapids, Duel, Sea life centre, Sky ride and Go Jetters while my daughter also went on the Peter Rabbit ride and the driving school. We only had a break for lunch watching the live entertainment on the front lawn and dinner by Wickerman at the burger kitchen. Got to the park from opening and left half 8.

 

[AT86]

The problem you got is only Alton and Merlin pass holders would use the gardens as they go on a regular basis. I go once a year now with my daughter and this year she’s Tall enough for the 1.2m tall rides so we spend a good 2 hours queuing for Wickerman, 90 mins for 13 and 45 mins for Spinball. Then the rest of the day went on the Blade, Rapids, Duel, Sea life centre, Sky ride and Go Jetters while my daughter also went on the Peter Rabbit ride and the driving school. We only had a break for lunch watching the live entertainment on the front lawn and dinner by Wickerman at the burger kitchen. Got to the park from opening and left half 8.

To my mind, the idea behind making more use of the gardens is to attract a different demographic of guests that aren’t just there to get in as many rides as possible.

The gardens present an opportunity to tap into different markets to increase visitors and spending etc. In the way that CBeebies Land gave a massive boost to the preschool market, the gardens could have a similar impact for those interested in this type of attraction.

Alton Towers have somewhat condensed their target market down in recent years to those that just want ride after ride after ride. Mainly due to the fact they have removed everything else. If you take somewhere like Europa, they attract a much wider range of guests. The gardens could well be put to better use in gaining some of that business back.

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

To my mind, the idea behind making more use of the gardens is to attract a different demographic of guests that aren’t just there to get in as many rides as possible.

The gardens present an opportunity to tap into different markets to increase visitors and spending etc. In the way that CBeebies Land gave a massive boost to the preschool market, the gardens could have a similar impact for those interested in this type of attraction.

Alton Towers have somewhat condensed their target market down in recent years to those that just want ride after ride after ride. Mainly due to the fact they have removed everything else. If you take somewhere like Europa, they attract a much wider range of guests. The gardens could well be put to better use in gaining some of that business back.

Can see what your saying and when Shawn did his video of the gardens it did look and sound good to he said the price £12 and that put me straight off.
Like if they even did that you would have to pay for parking as well.

 

[AT86]

Can see what your saying and when Shawn did his video of the gardens it did look and sound good to he said the price £12 and that put me straight off.
Like if they even did that you would have to pay for parking as well.

Parking was free during gardens days this year. £12 is not too far off what some other gardens/grounds attractions charge, although there is more work required to bring the Towers gardens back up to standard in my view.

 

[Kraken27]

Alton Towers have somewhat condensed their target market down in recent years to those that just want ride after ride after ride. Mainly due to the fact they have removed everything else. If you take somewhere like Europa, they attract a much wider range of guests. The gardens could well be put to better use in gaining some of that business back.

Totally agree. Alton & Merlin are just focussing on the fast-buck to be made from their target market. If they want to attract a larger demographic of guests, they have a lot of work to do.

Look at the likes of Tivoli, Disney, Europa Park & Busch Gardens (Tampa) - the demographic of visitors you get at these parks is huge compared to Alton. A certain Walt Disney famously said something along the lines of "I am creating a park where the adults can have as much fun as the children" - and it's true. Disney like to play the fact down that Walt actually got his inspiration from Tivoli.

 

[WillPS]

I'd love the park to go down the wristband route, but my gut instinct is that the money which they'd make from those interested in having a walk around the gardens would be dwarfed by the number of non-riding parents/grandparents who'd save money.

What could maybe work is if the park wanted to wein themselves off half price/BOGOF vouchers, they could go down the three tier approach, with a cheaper wristband aimed at families allowing access to all the sub 1.4m restricted rides and an access-all wristband priced close to the current notional full price. They could then market it as an across-the-board price drop.

I think the exposure Merlin get from being on every pack of Kellogg's cereal, Carex handwash and Seabrooke Crisps is probably hard to give up on though.

 

[djtruefitt]

I wouldn’t like to see a wristband system, but I do think they could massively reduce the OAP price, as they are generally the market who would go and visit the gardens. And are unlikely to be doing the rides, or if they are it would only be a few family rides. You could then market the really cheap oap rate and the gardens together.

In off season I would certainly organise garden and towers tours as well.

 

[rob666]

I agree they should reduce the OAP prices, in fact they should let them in for free.
Stuff the gardens.

 

[Enter Valhalla]

I really like the idea. I believe that a standard entry charge should be in place and the option to upgrade to wristbands. I feel that this should be the case at Alton Towers and CWOA (not Thorpe or Legoland though as there's not enough for non-riders at these parks).

CWOA have done winter Zoo Days for years and these usually seem pretty popular and now that Alton are running Gardens only days, the wristbands idea just seems like a no-brainer. The caveat in my mind would be, as I always say with BPB, I would only ever want to see this WITH an entrance fee for non-riders.