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2021: General Discussion

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Could the food / beverage closures be down to the following
1) supply issues
2) staffing issues - my local town reportedly has 3,000 hospitality jobs going (Stratford Upon Avon)
3) capacity - reduced park capacity that is
 
Jb85 said:
Could the food / beverage closures be down to the following
1) supply issues
2) staffing issues - my local town reportedly has 3,000 hospitality jobs going (Stratford Upon Avon)
3) capacity - reduced park capacity that is
Click to expand...

I expect that staffing issues due to brexit and COVID is a big part of it, apparently there is 500 vacancies across the park and hotels.
But the main issue is that they adapted the park to save money when crowds were low following the Smiler incident and no effort has been made to rebuild. That’s why we have funfair rides (retrosquad) as well as the food vans. Many of the closed outlets are completely gone and would need significant work to remove-open, also it’s not just front line staff then but managers and chefs that the park would be lacking. As AstroDan discussed in the food and beverage thread they just don’t know how to run the park to cope with the guest numbers they used to get.
 
I suspect there may well also be a lack of certainty about how long this boost in visitor numbers will last. It could well be that the park is doing as well as it is due to the pent up demand and lack of foreign travel.

If foreign travel opens back up and next season sees a fall in guest numbers when they have spent significant money bringing these closed outlets back to use only to have to shut them again it would be a waste. On the other hand bringing in temporary vans until they have a better idea on the trends in guests numbers carries less risk.
 
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AT86 said:
I suspect there may well also be a lack of certainty about how long this boost in visitor numbers will last. It could well be that the park is doing as well as it is due to the pent up demand and lack of foreign travel.

If foreign travel opens back up and next season sees a fall in guest numbers when they have spent significant money bringing these closed outlets back to use only to have to shut them again it would be a waste. On the other hand bringing in temporary vans until they have a better idea on the trends in guests numbers carries less risk.
Click to expand...

But in general we are talking about returning to the park of 8-10 years ago, its not something that hasn't been done before. They should have been planning how to return the park back to "normal" following the drop in guests after the Smiler incident and what are they going to do in a few years as guests returned even without the pandemic issues.
They had a plan to add a new more permanent BBQ outlet partially replacing the Tavern which never happened.
 
Jb85 said:
Could the food / beverage closures be down to the following
1) supply issues
2) staffing issues - my local town reportedly has 3,000 hospitality jobs going (Stratford Upon Avon)
3) capacity - reduced park capacity that is
Click to expand...
I think staffing issues will certainly be a factor, there seemed to be more agency staff than Alton staff yesterday, almost every ride entrance had someone in a branded hi-vis.
 
Kraken27 said:
Did you look carefully at the back of the high-vis? I would not put it past Towers to try and get some staff in on the cheap wearing high-vis's like in the article linked below...!
http://www.cgmcrc.co.uk/offenders-contribute-438000-hours-community-payback/
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Ha ! It wasn't community payback, some three letter acronym security company. I was curious to understand if they were fulfilling standard host duties at a ride entrance, with height measurement etc.

... but not curious enough to take much notice.
 
So here’s a general discussion point (I don’t think it warrants a thread of its own)

With the Retrosquad set to leave at the end of the season, and The World of David Walliams also in need of enhancements, it’s (in my opinion) naive to think both issues will be addressed for 2022. Given that what do you think is more important to be addressed for next season?

- 3 Replacement Flat Rides for the Retrosquad
- Further additions to WODW

Personally, I think WODW *could* coast on the success of GG until 2023, so my vote goes to new flats . But I’d be curious to hear your thoughts
 
Rick said:
Ha ! It wasn't community payback, some three letter acronym security company. I was curious to understand if they were fulfilling standard host duties at a ride entrance, with height measurement etc.

... but not curious enough to take much notice.
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PPS Security are the name I saw earlier in the season. I suspect they're just helping with security type issues, social distancing etc rather than any ride host duties
 
Alsty said:
PPS Security are the name I saw earlier in the season. I suspect they're just helping with security type issues, social distancing etc rather than any ride host duties
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That was my assumption ... but yesterday they were fulfilling roles that don't really fit into that bracket. Like I mentioned, the staff at the Nemesis entrance and the Fastrack entrance had their hi-vis on.

Have you had any altercations with them @imanautie
 
Rick said:
That was my assumption ... but yesterday they were fulfilling roles that don't really fit into that bracket. Like I mentioned, the staff at the Nemesis entrance and the Fastrack entrance had their hi-vis on.

Have you had any altercations with them @imanautie
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I've had no issues with Alton security either in house or agency!

Edit: I've had them question some stuff I have on park but they check with a supervisor and go oh ok, no stress
 
tayspru said:
So here’s a general discussion point (I don’t think it warrants a thread of its own)

With the Retrosquad set to leave at the end of the season, and The World of David Walliams also in need of enhancements, it’s (in my opinion) naive to think both issues will be addressed for 2022. Given that what do you think is more important to be addressed for next season?

- 3 Replacement Flat Rides for the Retrosquad
- Further additions to WODW

Personally, I think WODW *could* coast on the success of GG until 2023, so my vote goes to new flats . But I’d be curious to hear your thoughts
Click to expand...
I personally wouldn’t be at all surprised to see permanent replacements for at least some of the Retrosquad for 2022. They seem to have gone down fairly well, and flat rides don’t cost much money!

I dare say we may also see something happening with Sub-Terra’s space for 2022 based on the recent happenings. Whether that’s the ride reopening or something else entirely, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something.
 
Alsty said:
PPS Security are the name I saw earlier in the season. I suspect they're just helping with security type issues, social distancing etc rather than any ride host duties
Click to expand...

You can't do pretty much any ride [safety] related role at Towers (& I assume the other Merlin Parks) without passing the generic training. This basically teaches you how to perform a height check & to keep out of ride areas. Even to litter-pick you have to pass the generic training, then be assessed on the litter-picking manual (I am not joking). Each ride you work on will have it's own manual, verbal assessment & multi-choice test to pass.

So it's far more likely these PPS Security staff were just performing basic security / crowd control / social distancing enforcement. They would probably be able to perform an indicative height check on a ride entrance - but the final check would be down to a fully trained ride host on the station platform. The hosts decision is the definitive one.
 
Matt N said:
I personally wouldn’t be at all surprised to see permanent replacements for at least some of the Retrosquad for 2022. They seem to have gone down fairly well, and flat rides don’t cost much money!

I dare say we may also see something happening with Sub-Terra’s space for 2022 based on the recent happenings. Whether that’s the ride reopening or something else entirely, I don’t know. But I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw something.
Click to expand...
I'd like a Sub-Terra re-opening/retheme and flats to replace Funk'n'Fly, Mixtape and Roller Disco for next season
 
Matt N said:
I personally wouldn’t be at all surprised to see permanent replacements for at least some of the Retrosquad for 2022. They seem to have gone down fairly well, and flat rides don’t cost much money!
Click to expand...
I've said it before but I'll say it again, I would love to see a pernament Smashing Jump in X Sector on Mixtape's plot, heavilly themed into the area. :)
Given Mixtape's popularity, fun factor and relatively low intensity, it's a no-brainer.
 
Skyscraper said:
I've said it before but I'll say it again, I would love to see a pernament Smashing Jump in X Sector on Mixtape's plot, heavilly themed into the area. :)
Click to expand...
I reckon that would be a great fit, and I think the possibility of a permanent Smashing Jump is very much on Merlin’s radar, as a Smashing Jump is being considered as one of the potential support rides within the upcoming Amazon Land at Chessington!
 
Agreed we need some permanent flats to replace the retrosquad next season. I think that should be towers top priority. Some good quality flats too, not ones like enterprise or blade
 
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