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2025: General Discussion

Numbers being down doesn’t automatically mean finances are down too - think of the savings they will have made on things such as axing the entertainment staff, removing events, replacing staffed games with claw machines and the like.

Full disclaimer I have no idea how either their numbers or their finances are looking this year compared to others 😂
 
Dave said:
Seriously don’t get why people think attendance is down. Merlin would not have given them budget for Friday of fireworks if attendance was down. It was around the same time last year that Merlin cut the opening times for Towers mid season because attendance was poor, if anything the mood music suggests the opposite.
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Its more due to the fact look on the pathways they are a lot emptier than they used to be. Used to be people everywhere

Mick said:
Full disclaimer I have no idea how either their numbers or their finances are looking this year compared to others 😂
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Do Merlin even display their finances in reports
 
Hid said:
Its more due to the fact look on the pathways they are a lot emptier than they used to be. Used to be people everywhere
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There’s every possibility that attendance is spread better than it used to be. The peaks might not be as high, but I wouldn’t be surprised if midweek lows were busier to compensate. The midweek days have certainly seemed busier in recent years.

With the cheap Discovery Pass and general changes in working patterns in recent years, it wouldn’t be a great surprise to me. And given that midweek is 5 days and the weekend is only 2, any rise in midweek visitation would more than offset a fall in weekend visitation.
 
I saw a very similar post from my local leisure centre about 3-month passes being introduced for the summer, similar to the annual passes Merlin have just introduced.

Given the timeframe of both passes, it’s clear they’ve seen a new industry trend elsewhere and are giving customers more ways to get customers to give them money. This is consistent with other trends within the wider leisure industry, give people more ways to pay and keep the growth going.

Not necessarily because attendance is down, the industry seems to be holding steady at the moment. More so looks like keeping growth going but that’s just my perspective from what I’ve seen. Don’t take my word as gospel.
 
Matt N said:
There’s every possibility that attendance is spread better than it used to be. The peaks might not be as high, but I wouldn’t be surprised if midweek lows were busier to compensate. The midweek days have certainly seemed busier in recent years.

With the cheap Discovery Pass and general changes in working patterns in recent years, it wouldn’t be a great surprise to me. And given that midweek is 5 days and the weekend is only 2, any rise in midweek visitation would more than offset a fall in weekend visitation.
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Midweek is five days?

News to me, I thought midweek was Wednesday, or more broadly, Tues, Wed & Thurs.

Weekdays are not midweek.

Lots of people take Fri/Mon off to tag the weekend...so they are generally busier.
 
rob666 said:
Midweek is five days?

News to me, I thought midweek was Wednesday, or more broadly, Tues, Wed & Thurs.

Weekdays are not midweek.

Lots of people take Fri/Mon off to tag the weekend...so they are generally busier.
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That was potentially clumsy wording on my part, sorry… I think I meant weekdays rather than midweek.

Even still, I’d argue that based on anecdotes and tidbits from queue times, the off-peak weekdays generally used to be quieter than they are now. From what people have said, it seems as though the days where you could go to the park on an off-peak weekday and guarantee that it would be extremely quiet are dead.

And given that the weekdays comprise 5 days of the week while the weekends comprise only 2, I would argue that any rise in weekday visitation would more than offset a fall in weekend visitation, which would potentially explain why visitor numbers have apparently risen overall in recent years, but peak weekend days are less busy than they used to be.
 
Fridays and mondays are often considered weekend days for people who regularly work rota weekends.
Many workers get friday/sat off, or sunday/monday off, or indeed fri to mon off inclusive if they work the weekend before.
My good lady now only works a four day week on a full time contract, every friday off.

And the Towers used to be very dead indeed on low termtime weekdays, my favourite days of a couple of thousand punters in the whole park are long gone.

Rather similar to your recent Paultons trip Matt.

I think the cheap passes were designed to stop such days happening.
 
Dave said:
Seriously don’t get why people think attendance is down. Merlin would not have given them budget for Friday of fireworks if attendance was down. It was around the same time last year that Merlin cut the opening times for Towers mid season because attendance was poor, if anything the mood music suggests the opposite.
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I don’t doubt Dave’s intel - but if I was a bean counter, I don’t get why budget for fireworks would be an overall indicator of the season’s performance. If the season was going really well, surely we’d be seeing it first in the opening hours across the rest of the season - not just investment for a few days at the end?
An extended budget for Friday of fireworks might better reflect strong pre-sales for Saturday and Sunday.

</bean counter>
 
Jordan said:
I don’t doubt Dave’s intel - but if I was a bean counter, I don’t get why budget for fireworks would be an overall indicator of the season’s performance. If the season was going really well, surely we’d be seeing it first in the opening hours across the rest of the season - not just investment for a few days at the end?
An extended budget for Friday of fireworks might better reflect strong pre-sales for Saturday and Sunday.

</bean counter>
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Being the ever-pessimist that I am, has the budget have been increased for Fireworks or will the original 2 day budget be spread over the 3 days with little to no increase meaning the quality of the display could be compromised?
 
Bianca Sammut to step down in September 2025

Full statement:

After much thought and reflection, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave Alton Towers Resort at the end of September 2025 to take up a new opportunity overseas. This decision hasn’t been easy, but it’s one that my family and I have made together, thinking carefully about what’s best for us both personally and professionally.

Over the past two and a half years, it’s been a genuine privilege to lead the Resort through some truly unforgettable chapters, from the legendary return of Nemesis Reborn, to unveiling the Curse at Alton Manor, launching Toxicator, re-imagining Hex and reinvestment into Skyride for future generations.

There has also been hundreds of smaller projects and everyday initiatives that have been introduced or re-introduced with fans and guests at the heart. Some of my personal favourites include Nemesis VIP Experiences, behind the scenes tours and track walk opportunities, weather-proofed queue lines, increased pre-season cosmetic work, enhanced theming for deeper immersion, and even small but meaningful touches, all with fans and guests at the heart.

Each of these projects and milestones has been driven by the same thing that fuels you, a love for the Resort and everything it represents.

As we head into an exciting summer and with Scarefest already coming to life, I’ll be staying on through to September to support teams and ensure a smooth handover. The search for the next Vice President will begin shortly, and I’m confident that the right person will step in to help lead the Resort into its next chapter.

Though I’ll be stepping away, Alton Towers (and particularly the people who make it the place it is) will always hold a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to see what unforgettable developments come next for the park and its fans.

Source https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/news/...ptJjepRHv8GYKO3ild_aem_gGcuzMQ9eULJjLLOl0kVAw
 
AltonLover123 said:
Bianca Sammut to step down in September 2025

Full statement:

After much thought and reflection, I’ve made the difficult decision to leave Alton Towers Resort at the end of September 2025 to take up a new opportunity overseas. This decision hasn’t been easy, but it’s one that my family and I have made together, thinking carefully about what’s best for us both personally and professionally.

Over the past two and a half years, it’s been a genuine privilege to lead the Resort through some truly unforgettable chapters, from the legendary return of Nemesis Reborn, to unveiling the Curse at Alton Manor, launching Toxicator, re-imagining Hex and reinvestment into Skyride for future generations.

There has also been hundreds of smaller projects and everyday initiatives that have been introduced or re-introduced with fans and guests at the heart. Some of my personal favourites include Nemesis VIP Experiences, behind the scenes tours and track walk opportunities, weather-proofed queue lines, increased pre-season cosmetic work, enhanced theming for deeper immersion, and even small but meaningful touches, all with fans and guests at the heart.

Each of these projects and milestones has been driven by the same thing that fuels you, a love for the Resort and everything it represents.

As we head into an exciting summer and with Scarefest already coming to life, I’ll be staying on through to September to support teams and ensure a smooth handover. The search for the next Vice President will begin shortly, and I’m confident that the right person will step in to help lead the Resort into its next chapter.

Though I’ll be stepping away, Alton Towers (and particularly the people who make it the place it is) will always hold a special place in my heart, and I can’t wait to see what unforgettable developments come next for the park and its fans.

Source https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/news/...ptJjepRHv8GYKO3ild_aem_gGcuzMQ9eULJjLLOl0kVAw
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Could be good or bad thing we will never know unless could it be a sign merlin are planning to leave Towers interesting one for sure
 
I don’t know if this is the universal view on her, but I hold a fairly positive opinion on her. I think she bought energy and passion, understood the problems, had a clear vision of what she wanted the park to be, but sadly the park has had a couple of weak years and with the rumours and upheaval around Merlin you couldn’t blame anyone who looks to further their career elsewhere.

In football terms it reminds me of a club that’s got a rotten owner, changing the manager can only do so much when the problems are higher up.
 
A leader stepping away before a replacement has been found isn't something to be celebrated, especially when no interim has been announced.

Alton Towers needs a period of leadership stability. It's truly never really recovered from The Smiler crash, Varneyisms and the COVID period.

Bianca represented a bit of a fresh start and visible notable changes started to be made. Some projects haven't appeared on the horizon as fast as I would have liked, but generally the park was starting to move in a positive direction.

We won't know if this was truly her decision to leave, or whether she's been asked to step aside as part of Fiona Eastwood's restructure. I'm hoping it's more of the latter, as it would suggest that there could at least be a long term solution. The park needs one.
 
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