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Towers Merch

My (brand new by the looks of it) Ice Age 4D polo arrived today! :)

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I found it odd to see individuals wearing old uniform on park.

As a collection piece, ok, but wearing it to the park is strange. It could also make guests think you're staff.

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This was being discussed in the shoutbox the other day, I do agree. I think the Ice Age 4D stuff is fine to wear on park as it's obviously a past attraction (back in May my friend and I wore our Ice Age 4D coats at Towers and bumped into two other people wearing theirs), but by golly definitely don't wear the Transport or Sales & Information stuff to the park :tearsofjoy:
I am suprised that they don't have a polite notice on their product page on the website, although the park can't really stop people turning up to the entrance with them on.
 
I think the Ice Age 4D stuff is fine to wear on park as it's obviously a past attraction...
Still says Alton Towers Entertainment on the back, though, doesn't it?

I've said it before, but selling off park uniform is just... odd, and very wrong. Shows a complete disregard for brand identity.

When we get rid of old uniform at work, we have to be careful to destroy/cut-up any logos before disposal, to ensure that no one can misrepresent the brand. To go to the other extreme and sell it off is just bizarre.
 
I am suprised that they don't have a polite notice on their product page on the website, although the park can't really stop people turning up to the entrance with them on.

They can't stop them turning up, but they could refuse / eject people from the park with them on if they wanted. It is private land after all, they can refuse anyone entry into the park and kick anyone out of the park, without a reason if they wish.

I have to say it is a bit weird wearing old uniform to the park, I might be a closed attraction and all, but from the back it does clearly still look like a current staff uniform, so the fact the attraction is closed, is irrelevant. I have seen the public get confused much more subtle. Maybe people wear them as a sort of staff member fetish sort of thing, maybe people get excited pretending to sort of be staff, who knows. Each to their own I guess.

But more interestingly concerning is the fact Towers allow it, people could easily be confused for staff when they are not, which in a worst case scenario could result in rude and obnoxious behaviour being thrown back at the person confusing someone for staff, which would essentially then be brand damaging.
 
I hope you are not trying to normalise our weirdo hobby Rick?
There is nothing normal about the enthusiast rollercoaster community.
...and your wacky worm count is???
Aye, true, certainly fair.

That said, I will not reveal my Wacky Worm count to a chap old enough to be my father who has been on the Wonder Pets Big Circus Bounce.
 
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Still says Alton Towers Entertainment on the back, though, doesn't it?

I've said it before, but selling off park uniform is just... odd, and very wrong. Shows a complete disregard for brand identity.

When we get rid of old uniform at work, we have to be careful to destroy/cut-up any logos before disposal, to ensure that no one can misrepresent the brand. To go to the other extreme and sell it off is just bizarre.

Same here - many moons ago I worked for a bank and when the uniform was updated to a new one, all items of the old uniform had to be returned so they could be sent back for recycling. This involved cutting all logos off to no-one could try and turn up at another branch in old uniform purporting to be staff. (Obviously a security issue).

I would have thought there is a potential child protection issue here too at Towers, if people with the wrong inclinations towards minors can easily obtain old uniform and potentially pass themselves off as staff.

I have even been asked in a Wetherspoons on Broad Street in Birmingham to turn my t-shirt inside out in the toilets as it was a current Wetherspoon staff t-shift and I was having an alcoholic drink (not allowed on-shift). Was only having the one drink too, so it's not as though I was drunk (it was lunchtime). If some Wetherspoon Managers care about the brand image... well, enough said as Wetherspoon standards are not particularly high! Says a lot about Towers standards.

Disney go way further - as you would expect, Their admission rules quite specifically state what is & is not allowed. Oddly I cannot see anything about dressing as a Cast Member, but you can be 99.9% sure you'd not get into one of their parks if you tried it.
 
Disney go way further - as you would expect, Their admission rules quite specifically state what is & is not allowed. Oddly I cannot see anything about dressing as a Cast Member, but you can be 99.9% sure you'd not get into one of their parks if you tried it.

Yes we once had an issue getting into DisneyWorld wearing a ti-shirt with an abbreiviated French Connection UK logo back when they were popular. They do pay attention to what logos and phrases people are wearing.

I don't think Disney sell old costumes (but they do get "stolen" by cast and sold). They do sell off old hotel furnishings, this is one company who resell the old hotel stuff WREC Liquidators | eBay Stores but there has been auction houses selling old ride props and similar.
 
I find the selling of old uniforms a bit of an odd one. Alton Towers (and Merlin in general) are driven very much by their marketing and branding. There aren’t many theme parks around the world that have been able to create brands out of rollercoasters like Alton Towers have.

The Alton Towers name itself is pretty much universally known in the UK, people might not have visited or even like the place - but I would bet most people know the name and what it is. That kind of brand recognition takes years (decades even) and millions and millions of pounds to achieve.

The decision to flog off old uniforms for a few quid is a drop in the ocean compared to what they have had to spend on building the brand in the first place. The risk to the brand by the various methods mentioned by others already doesn’t seem worth it to me.
 
It's interesting to note that both the Ice Age coat and polo I've got are brand new. They must've been siting in storage for years now, so I can see why Towers want to get rid of them to make space. Both items were tagged up ready to be used though; at the bottom there is a barcoded label that would be scanned in order to add the item to an employee's account. (surpised they didn't remove it before shipping tbh)
 
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I can kind of get selling really old uniform, like ug land and retro uniforms. But I do find it odd to sell ice age which has “Alton towers resort entertainments” on the back, In their current branding and style. You also have “Alton towers transport” items and sales and information uniform. All of which could easily be confused for current uniform.
 
I can kind of get selling really old uniform, like ug land and retro uniforms. But I do find it odd to sell ice age which has “Alton towers resort entertainments” on the back, In their current branding and style. You also have “Alton towers transport” items and sales and information uniform. All of which could easily be confused for current uniform.

Totally agree. It's a huge risk to the brand reputation as the items are just a bit too similar in style to the current uniform. As I said previously, the risk on the protection of minors - who make up a lot of Towers guests - is huge should someone with the wrong inclinations use one of these items to con a minor that they are staff & then do bad things to them. You can just imagine what certain sections of the media (Mirror / Daily Mail) would make of such a story when it got out the offender had bought the ex-uniform item from the park.

The company I work for take child protection very seriously. If you report a maintenance issue with your accommodation the maintenance team will visit to put it right - but if they even suspect minors are present in the lodge without an 18+ adult also present, they walk away and return later.
 
That's quite an extreme example. Far more likely would be people drinking alcohol on park while wearing an Alton Towers Resort branded top, which just sets completely the wrong tone for onlookers.
 
That's quite an extreme example. Far more likely would be people drinking alcohol on park while wearing an Alton Towers Resort branded top, which just sets completely the wrong tone for onlookers.

But the number of people who buy that sort of thing is low. The number who buy it and wear it even lower. Then the ones who buy it, wear it to the park and drink alcohol is going to be smaller.

Yes I agree its not a great look, but the odds of actually seeing someone wearing one of these shirts on park is tiny. Also a majority who by it would probably be TS or TT forum members too!
 
But the number of people who buy that sort of thing is low. The number who buy it and wear it even lower. Then the ones who buy it, wear it to the park and drink alcohol is going to be smaller.

Yes I agree its not a great look, but the odds of actually seeing someone wearing one of these shirts on park is tiny. Also a majority who by it would probably be TS or TT forum members too!
Plus the shirts can be covered up with a jacket, unlike the coats which are always visible.
 
Yes I agree its not a great look, but the odds of actually seeing someone wearing one of these shirts on park is tiny.
I saw two people wearing old uniform on my last visit. They were at Woodcutters, and yes they were both having a beer.

Who knows how many people buy this stuff and then actually wear it on park. Maybe it's small, maybe it's not. My point is it shouldn't be anybody.
 
But the number of people who buy that sort of thing is low. The number who buy it and wear it even lower. Then the ones who buy it, wear it to the park and drink alcohol is going to be smaller.

Yes I agree its not a great look, but the odds of actually seeing someone wearing one of these shirts on park is tiny. Also a majority who by it would probably be TS or TT forum members too!
But it’s still just a risk you shouldn’t take with such an important brand.


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