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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-25

Hid said:
Either the parks quieter or more likely because all the rides are open and operating efficiently its impacting the queue times.

School Trip season is very often the busiest part of the season, then Scarefest and Fireworks 2nd most then Summer after
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I didn't say busiest time of year.
Later on in the summer school holidays, the ride queues are usually an hour to an hour and a half.
This year it is much quieter.
 
I am actually not too worried about the amount of people as queue times don't represent everything I think it's more spread out throughout the year now and thr fact all the rides are open where as last year there was no Toxicator, Skyride or Hex. All quite high capacity rides.

Towers have also had pretty great ops this year. Very efficient.
 
Given the fact the park have persisted with the 7pm closes during the last two weeks of August and the apparent lack of any operational cuts to reduce costs it suggests they are happy with revenue.

Having said that there have been more promotions at this time of year than you would expect, but that is across all Merlin parks, as well as the likes of BPB and Drayton too. So I suspect that is driven by reduced general demand for theme parks given the economic backdrop, as opposed to any specific issue at Alton Towers.
 
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AT86 said:
Given the fact the park have persisted with the 7pm closes during the last two weeks of August and the apparent lack of any operational cuts to reduce costs it suggests they are happy with revenue.

Having said that there have been more promotions at this time of year than you would expect, but that is across all Merlin parks, as well as the likes of BPB and Drayton too. So I suspect that is driven by general demand for theme parks given the economic backdrop, as opposed to any specific issue at Alton Towers.
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Also Towers was a lot quiter in 2016 right after the accident I remember that year well
 
rob666 said:
I didn't say busiest time of year.
Later on in the summer school holidays, the ride queues are usually an hour to an hour and a half.
This year it is much quieter.
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There are still just over 2 weeks of holidays left.

It’s not quite the death knell people are thinking it is. This time last year they were cutting left right and centre, yet the 7pms are still 7pms and most things are opening at 10am comparatively to last year.

I’d say that’s a good sign.
 
AltonLover123 said:
There are still just over 2 weeks of holidays left.

It’s not quite the death knell people are thinking it is. This time last year they were cutting left right and centre, yet the 7pms are still 7pms and most things are opening at 10am comparatively to last year.

I’d say that’s a good sign.
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Depends where you live. Most Leicestershire kids come back straight after the bank holiday

There will be fewer kids still on holiday from now onwards
 
D4n said:
Depends where you live. Most Leicestershire kids come back straight after the bank holiday

There will be fewer kids still on holiday from now onwards
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Either way, the crowds have been more spread this year. Pre school trip season, there were busier weekdays than usual. It’s just that people aren’t just going on Saturdays and Sundays anymore.
 
AltonLover123 said:
There are still just over 2 weeks of holidays left.

It’s not quite the death knell people are thinking it is. This time last year they were cutting left right and centre, yet the 7pms are still 7pms and most things are opening at 10am comparatively to last year.

I’d say that’s a good sign.
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Some schools round here are back after the bank holiday, for a longer half term.
And please don't forget in this great united nation of ours...the kids in Scotland are going back right now.
 
Bowser said:
Have the shorter queue times and/or quieter parks been reflected in the southern Merlin trio or is this just an AT observation?
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I have heard people say Thorpe has also been unexpectedly quiet in terms of queue times this summer, but Chessington and Legoland have still appeared relatively busy whenever I’ve looked.

I’m not saying crowds aren’t lower this year, but could operations potentially play a role at Alton and Thorpe? It seems as though ride availability has stabilised, and both parks do seem to be going through a relative spell of good throughputs at the moment!
 
Matt N said:
I have heard people say Thorpe has also been unexpectedly quiet in terms of queue times this summer, but Chessington and Legoland have still appeared relatively busy whenever I’ve looked.

I’m not saying crowds aren’t lower this year, but could operations potentially play a role at Alton and Thorpe? It seems as though ride availability has stabilised, and both parks do seem to be going through a relative spell of good throughputs at the moment!
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To be honest I have seen an improvement in all Merlin parks ops and throughputs.
 
Matt N said:
I have heard people say Thorpe has also been unexpectedly quiet in terms of queue times this summer, but Chessington and Legoland have still appeared relatively busy whenever I’ve looked.

I’m not saying crowds aren’t lower this year, but could operations potentially play a role at Alton and Thorpe? It seems as though ride availability has stabilised, and both parks do seem to be going through a relative spell of good throughputs at the moment!
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I agree with you. I know I called out lower visitors numbers earlier this month but after some deeper thought, reliability is far better this summer than it’s been for years, and we have Hex, Skyride and Toxicator. I know we had Flávio’s and The Blade last year but their throughputs do not compare to having Hex, Skyride and Toxicator open.
 
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