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Is Alton Towers too cheap?

Thameslink Rail

Thameslink Rail

TS Member
Favourite Ride
The Smiler
Please hear me out before commenting that Alton Towers is a rip off (I agree it often is however I will get to that).
What I am talking about here is the main online admission fee, this has been in the mid 30s for at least a decade despite inflation being relatively high. At time of writing, I can book Scarefest tickets for £34 which is actually less than the online admission fee in 2014 (according to https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/adult-ticket-prices-1980-present.2978/)
At the same time, the quality of the product has reduced, the park is regularly closing at 4pm which never happened before 2016, there are also no shows outside Cbeebies Land anymore whereas before we had the 4D cinema and Mutiny Bay show which gave us something to do which didn't require queueing. We had improvements to both after Covid helped by VAT cuts however these changes didn't last long.
My question is: Should the admission fee be increased to pay for a better experience and if so, how much would people be willing to pay for entry?
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Please hear me out before commenting that Alton Towers is a rip off (I agree it often is however I will get to that).
What I am talking about here is the main online admission fee, this has been in the mid 30s for at least a decade despite inflation being relatively high. At time of writing, I can book Scarefest tickets for £34 which is actually less than the online admission fee in 2014 (according to https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/adult-ticket-prices-1980-present.2978/)
At the same time, the quality of the product has reduced, the park is regularly closing at 4pm which never happened before 2016, there are also no shows outside Cbeebies Land anymore whereas before we had the 4D cinema and Mutiny Bay show which gave us something to do which didn't require queueing. We had improvements to both after Covid helped by VAT cuts however these changes didn't last long.
My question is: Should the admission fee be increased to pay for a better experience and if so, how much would people be willing to pay for entry?
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No.. the park has been in a steady and consistent decline for the last 2 decades, yet the gate price has risen.

Therefor, it is pretty clear that an increase in gate prices would be just that, an increase in gate price. The park would probably not improve because of that.
 
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Yes I think they are too cheap, as you say entry prices haven’t risen significantly in quite a long time but the costs in energy and staff to the park are going to be a lot higher than ten years ago. Considering Paultons charge £45 all year, that seems a fair price.
 
There has been a real terms cost decrease in the entry price to Alton Towers.

£34 in 2014 is equivalent to £47.26 today, when taking inflation into account.

Effectively, Alton Towers tickets are 28% cheaper today than they were just over a decade ago. This will absolutely be having a negative impact on the park's ability to invest, and it also matches / tracks the decline of the park's fortunes.
 
Flipping the question a bit, I'd rather pay more for a better experience (the current options are cheap/standard or super-expensive/FP). A small upcharge could allow rides to be fully staffed/max throughput, or for other customer experience improvements.

For us (3 people) it's almost £1000 for a night at the hotel plus 2 days of park and F&B, including travel. £10 on the gate price is going to make a positive difference to me, if the customer experience is better. For price conscious customers, I wonder how much extra on-park spend they make (and whether AT/Merlin can actually track it the same way they can with MAP customers).
 
Smiley said:
For us (3 people) it's almost £1000 for a night at the hotel plus 2 days of park and F&B, including travel
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For less than this you could go to Efteling but stay for 2 nights with 3 days park entry (plus swimming pool access) and an infinitely better experience imo.

Flipping the question a bit, I'd rather pay more for a better experience (the current options are cheap/standard or super-expensive/FP).
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I'm like you in that i'm happy to pay for a better experience but as you say, at AT (and Merlin parks in general) this amounts to purchasing a FT so that you have a better experience than other people which is somewhat unpalatable. I like that everyone at Efteling is (hopefully) having a good experience rather than walking past sad faces in a main queue resigned to a 90 minute wait that you're worsening.

I do think the parks are too cheap, in that sense that like streaming services they diminish the perceived value of what you are using. In the case of Merlin, there's a lower expectation for things to be good because you've paid so little. Oh well, we'll come back next time. People aren't coming back next time at Disneyland because they can't afford to so it needs to be great there and then as their reputation relies on it.
 
Smiley said:
For us (3 people) it's almost £1000 for a night at the hotel plus 2 days of park and F&B, including travel.
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Bowser said:
For less than this you could go to Efteling but stay for 2 nights with 3 days park entry (plus swimming pool access) and an infinitely better experience imo.
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I would say this is because the hotels at AT are still a little too expensive. Although due to the inflation rising faster than their prices its not as bad as it was a few years ago. But in general I think the AT hotels have always been a little overpriced and definitely expensive. But the day ticket is currently too cheap.
 
I do think the costing at Alton Towers makes little sense, the car park charge is too expensive, especially considering you can't get there any other way, but it seems they've increased this instead of increasing gate price. I'd rather the left parking where it is (or actually reduced it), and increased the gate price slightly, but this would have to be done slowly.
 
While the park entry is to cheap I could see people not coming if you raised prices unless something drastic happened. People now expect:
  • Poor food choice
  • Poor food quality
  • Terrible customer service
  • Long queues
  • Restricted hours
  • Little entertainment
  • Tired areas
  • Constant upsells
I truly believe they should go back to the 90s style of presentation:
  • House name food brands so value and quality of food is perceived as good value and encourages guest spend.
  • Only a upsell service like VQM but priced stupidly high.
  • Higher entry prices which mean better opening hours.
  • Premium hotel experience and pricing, with adjustments in restaurant quality and pricing to match.
  • Regular investment into new rides and or a seasonal show or two... Much like the oblivion show on the lake.
In addition and blue sky thinking I would also create exit hub:
  • A food / entertainment complex where Galactica is that acts as the exit portal of the park.
  • Preferably indoors it could house multiple food establiments.
  • House 365 attractions (open all day off season)
  • House 3 or more family rides.
  • Open from 3pm it's designed to be somewhere the family at the end of the day can have sit down meals.
  • Attractions can't be accessed during the day in main season hours until 3pm.
  • Encouraging 2 meals onsite.
Know you guys will find lots of pit falls but in summary, Quality up, prices up, add-ons reduced but massively increased in price, better hours, hotels a premium experience.
 
Quite happy to pay more if
-Opening hours are longer
- Food was better
- Ride availability was better
- consistent entertainment
- new rides every couple of seasons

Until then they can jog on, as soon as you charge more expectations go higher. Best providing value for money until you can offer a better experience and justify higher prices
 
Quantum said:
Quite happy to pay more if
-Opening hours are longer
- Food was better
- Ride availability was better
- consistent entertainment
- new rides every couple of seasons

Until then they can jog on, as soon as you charge more expectations go higher. Best providing value for money until you can offer a better experience and justify higher prices
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When Eurostar were stopping at my local station I could easily be at Disneyland Paris in about 4 hours from my front door. I had a off season annual pass so the cost of entry was about £12 per day if you total up days spent in park. I could get to the resort and back for £60 ish and would stay overnight nearby for about €44 a night.

So comparatively it was cheaper to go to Disney from the south east... But the main reasons why I would go is the longer hours, entertainment and choice of food. Although DLP is not know for it's food it's far better than Alton. I could be dull and save on a McDonald's or splash out elsewhere. The pricing for premium experiences is at Disney by they also have village to give much better options.
 
Whilst I agree with the principle the park is too cheap for what it needs to be, I honestly don’t know if the public at large would stomach an increase to something like £45 particularly with the decreased purchasing power over the past 3 years or so. Especially if the park is going to play Russian Roulette with ride availability…

People want an affordable experience first and foremost, if the price goes up to go towards upkeep and investment, the public won’t make the connection with the improved experience (especially if that’s what the public have expected previously) and will assume the park is price gauging.

However, with the shifts in the UK theme park market over the next 10 years, there’s probably room to put the ticket price up to £55-£60 as people will have the relative comparison to Universal (which will be £100+ per person) and could perceive Towers as better value for money, if they lean in heavier with CapEx investment.
 
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Bert2theSpark said:
However, with the shifts in the UK theme park market over the next 10 years, there’s probably room to put the ticket price up to £55-£60 as people will have the relative comparison to Universal (which will be £100+ per person) and could perceive Towers as better value for money, if they lean in heavier with CapEx investment.
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In contrast, I actually think Universal coming could put Alton in a less favourable position to increase prices.

If Alton vastly increases their prices, it puts them in the direct firing line with Universal. With Universal’s big IPs and big budgets, a head-on battle with them is one that Alton/Merlin would almost definitely lose.

But if they remain cheaper, the Merlin parks become a palatable option for guests who don’t want to pay Universal’s prices. Price is a legitimate dividing line the parks could use with Universal; particularly in a cost of living crisis, there are people who can’t or won’t pay Universal’s prices, and these people are who the Merlin parks could appeal to, in my opinion. Being budget is a way a business can be successful; look at Butlin’s, Wetherspoon’s or Ryanair, as a few shining examples. Yes, they might not be quite as glamorous as some of their more upmarket competitors, but they provide excellent value for money and this keeps people flocking to them.

If Merlin can do this as opposed to increasing prices and pivot into being successful within this kind of space, they’ll be fine in the wake of Universal.
 
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