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2014: General Discussion

The Burrito was okay, but it was not freshly made, and the sauces for the nachos looks so unappealing. I was looking forward to a Chicken Fajitas and Wedges, and was left very disappointed.

Even if they were the best Burrito's in the world, it is still a step backwards, reducing the menu.

It goes back to what I have been saying recently, they should be spending money, on increasing the seating area, to get more people in, and make more money, rather than cutting costs, and reducing the offering.

The fact that Pancakes, Pastries, Hot Dogs, and Ben & Jerrys were all closed further limited choice that is normally available in that area.

The fact that Waffle and Ice Cream, Towers Family Restaurant, and Refresh(Next to Ripsaw) were all closed is disappointing. Refresh been one of the few places on park that offers healthy food.

Some parts of the park look so tired, Dark Forest is an embarrassment as has been said earlier, and Nemesis and Air look so tired, it did not feel like it was opening day. Oblivion still looks great after its repaint last year, and if the coasters had a yearly cycle of been repainted, it would help massively. This would mean each big coaster is getting repainted every 5 years. Oblivion, Nemesis, Air, Rita, Smiler. And it was just make everything look so much fresher and better.

Ian
 
Personally I've never been much of a fan of Cantina, but hearing that they've cut the menu down even further is concerning and irritating.

I have to say though I was surprised by the number of F&B outlets which were closed over the weekend. It's never usually that bad is it?
 
A couple of years ago you could get the following from Mexican:

- Fajitas
- Burritos
- Nachos (these were on a nice large plate, they put cheese on and then heated it up in the microwave so that it melted, and you got all the dips included)
- Tacos
- I think there was some form of chilli pot option
- Kids meals

Meals came with wedges.


Here is the choice now:

- Burritos
- Nachos (not a main meal, cost £2.95 so more of a snack)

The burrito meal comes with some nachos and dips.



It's a great shame. They also seem to have changed the sour cream, it is now more like cheese flavoured foam than sour cream.

:)
 
CoasterCrazyChris said:
How can you be a Mexican restaurant and not serve fajitas?

That is just dumb.
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A lot of Mexican restaurants don't serve them, often because a Burrito is almost a Fajita with rice and beans added (and therefore a lot more filling). Chipotle is a great example of a mexican fast food menu http://www.chipotle.co.uk/ but it sounds like the Merlin Burrito's aren't made to order so I wouldn't expect them to be as good.
 
The burritos actually were alright, but it's the fact that that's all there is available that annoyed me the most, and that the wedges have been replaced with a few nachips in the meals
 
Josh said:
The burritos actually were alright, but it's the fact that that's all there is available that annoyed me the most, and that the wedges have been replaced with a few nachips in the meals
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The burritos are good it's just the fact that they are mainly filled with rice. I do miss the wedges as they had a nice seasoning dusted on them.
 
STUFF YOUR PARKING DEBATE! (joking of course)

THE WEDGES HAVE GONE FOR GOOD????

This along with a quite snotty barman telling me I could not get a MOCHA anymore in Dragon Bar and serving me a cappuccino in a normal crappy cup? The tall coffee glass, with a nice tasting mocha etc has just a little bit of class to it. Can't have that can we!! Oh no Mr bean counter!!!

I'm not being sarcastic when I say this, these little things make the trip nicer - who the hell is running the food & beverage? Mr Bland?

Truly clueless, I could oversee that operation better and no I'm not joking. McMerlin strike again (except, at a McRestaurant they tend to EXPAND menus not deplete them!)

It is getting worse every year, chipping away at the little nice things.

Merlin philosophy at the moments seems to be:

THIS IS TOO GOOD, MAKE IT WORSE.

Way to go.
 
So a quick run down of my thoughts at the starts of the 2014 season, both the good and the bad.

The Good

1) lots of repainting including: corkscrews, plaza, whole of Towers Street, Nemesis gun, whole of Cloud Cuckoo Land and twirling toadstool.

2) New theming in Burger Kitchen

3) Refresh of Corner Coffee (not sure on the colour scheme but it looks fresher).

4) XSell looks really good, the TV screens are fun too.

5) Burger Kitchen burger quality has improved (still not worth the cost).

6) Smiler queue extension not bad to queue in (but entrance now looks a mess)

7) Whole park (with some exceptions) seems clean and fresh.

8) the old advertising screens gone

9) speakers replaced on Towers Street

10) Both monorail and Skyride audio have stopped the over-hyped up selling, with the Skyride audio having a nice bit about the history of the gardens

11) New street entertainment is fantastic.

The Bad

1) Dark forest is an embarrassment, it's in a terrible state.

2) Food and Beverage, prices gone up a lot and quality in Mexican cantina has dropped (though the burrito was ok).

3) Smiler roulette, some cats smooth others bloody rough.

4) Valley starting to show it's age even more

5) loads of F&B outlets shut.

Overall probably the best I have seen the park open in a long time, though really this sort of thing should be seen as standard and not something to get excited about.
 
Yes, I have to say, although there are still some issues the park in general is looking pretty damn good overall for the start of the season (Although, that's pretty depressing, considering it should always all be perfect at the start :p ), and the general experience seemed much better than in previous years.

I'm loving the new X-Sell and Blivy merchandise lines. It all seems so much more fresh and cutting edge, as the attraction should be. The new clothing in particularly is a big step forward. I think they've finally realised that people don't like these sort of things to look obviously like ride clothing, and have instead opted to go for the more subtle look, which is good. There's a lot of pieces in there that I wouldn't be ashamed to be seen wearing now.

However, it seems that F&B are really letting the park down. The number of outlets shut was ridiculous for opening weekend. It was more like what you'd expect at Fireworks, when they've began to run out of stock. Also, the quality and range seems to have taken a hit again, which is a shame, as whilst it was still not quite perfect, they seemed to be on the right path last year with the exception of Burger Kitchen. I really hope that they are addressing this behind the scenes, as it's going to be hell come the peak periods otherwise.

Many areas of the park, including Towers Street, Katanga, and X-Sector are looking pretty good, Katanga especially. There's clearly been some real TLC put in this year, and it shows. The park generally feels more alive and loved than it has for a number of years. Forbidden Valley is still one of the weakest, and the sooner it sees the sort of treatment which X-Sector has these past two seasons I feel it will always be a bit of a weak spot, given it is one of the busiest and more significant areas of the park. Bits are slowly coming through, such as the painting of the Nemesis gun this year, but they're still a long way off what the area once was. To me the best thing to do would be next season to crack out the original planning documents, and redo the biggest element (Nemesis station primarily) as per original specification. Although it is just one area it is one the most prominent, and it does have a significant impact on the park as a whole.

Dark Forest I'm not even going to go into. It's nothing short of an embarrassment. At the moment the area is more UG Land than I think UG Land ever was, and there are some giant holes (Quite literally) in the theming and quality. It seems as if literally nothing has been done this closed season, which is a shame, as the theme itself was such a good starting point, so badly done.

Cloud Cuckoo Land is looking brilliant for having a lick of paint, which is always good, so at least we aren't going to see a drop off when families are traveling from the bright, new, fresh area of CBeebies Land to the park's other younger family area.

Duel in terms of effects was looking pretty good for Duel on Saturday, and some bits such as the dining room are looking the best they have for some time, but there are still some big letdowns, most notably the ridiculous new UV lighting. I seriously hope that this is sorted out in the near future, as it's really spoilt the ride. It's looking closer to something I'd expect to find at the local traveling fair than a major dark ride in a leading park.

The new street entertainment is again good, and I especially like how the new traffic wardens are there both at the beginning and end of the day, wish everyone individually good morning and goodbye. It makes the day start and end that little bit more personally, and I can really see that it will make guests feel that little bit more valued. I'd still like there to be some more pieces of street theatre throughout the day, perhaps scattered a little more around the park, and it'd be nice to see some mascots appearing in the areas some more (Return of the Wraiths, maybe some Phalanx operatives/Nemesis cultists wandering around the Valley, and some more MoJ Smile Assistants/Men In Black style suits in X-Sector. It just makes the themes feel a little more expressed and integral).

The new audio on both the Skyride and Monorail is great in that it has taken a different approach, scrapping upselling in favour of culture and interesting information. The Monorail trains are a little hit and miss as to wether you can actually hear the audio, with Celebration perhaps being the best, and Strawberry the worst. I will say however, that I'm not a fan of the new voice. Whilst I love what he's saying I just think that he sounds a bit lifeless and bored. At least the old voices were a little more energetic and excited. I think it's just a case of finding the balance. A voice like Sir Algenon's on the Alton Towers Hotel doorbell is a good example of the balance being struck. A welcoming, friendly, trustworthy, more authoritative voice, but at the same time amusing and enjoyable to listen to.

Continuing on the subject of the Monorail I hope that they are planning on replacing the map featured in the car park station. Whist it has obviously been removed due to the new style map and updates for CBeebies, it really hits home just how awful the car park station is inside, and it's surprising what a difference it made. In and ideal world I'd like to see them repaint inside in a more appealing and vibrant colour scheme (Seriously, whoever chose that slight minty green colour in both stations deserves to be shot :p ), some brighter, more visually appealing lighting, and maybe along the wall where the map was have a full length print done, with maybe some big information boxes to fill it out about shows, prices, dining, etc. Just a bit of a guide for visitors as they arrive. They could even go so far as to integrate some screen into it, so that the ticketing screen for example doesn't look like it's just been shoved in as some last minute afterthought. Oh, and whilst we're on about screens, they need to sort out the AV again. All weekend I don't think I saw it working. Have they not had this year's DVD arrive yet, or is it just all broken? If the new stuff isn't available then they could just revert back to the old YourDay mashup video until it is. There needs to be something in there at least.

I'm also pleased to see that there seems to be much less advertising and plugging in general around the park. It doesn't feel anywhere near as prominent these days, with far fewer Fastrack and Towers2 posters being littered around the park. Another positive step forward in creating the right atmosphere.

I also noticed that on Nemesis at any rate they seem to be clamping down on Fastrack quantities and time slots more. People seemed to be arriving as larger groups, presumably people with the same time stamped tickets, and they were dealing with them all in one go. Whilst it did seem like a lot of people (Though that might have been owing to the fact they were using the exit ramp as oppose to the Fastrack entrance. I'm guessing they were short-staffed), the group size seemed very calculated and specific, and they were all gone after just two trains. I really hope that this will be continued throughout the season at least on the major rides, as it was striking the perfect balance between appeasing Fastrack visitors and the normal guests. Again, another very positive step forwards in changing for the better. So long as this is maintained (Which judging by how seriously the staff were taking it, it will be), then I'd hope that we're finally closer to a way where Fastrack can exist without ruining it for everyone else.

Praise given where praise is due, the park seems to be much more focused and on track this season than it has been in a number of years. Lots of the problems which have plauged the park for some time seem to be getting rectified. I'm generally feeling more positive about the park at the moment then I have in a very long time, so well done to them there. I don't know wether it's because it's hit home how dire the rest of the park could look beside CBeebies Land, or if there has been some other shakeup somewhere down the line, but whatever it is I'm grateful for it. Hopefully now the management and Merlin have seen how the park can and indeed should look more effort will be made to uphold these standards, rather than letting them lapse back into their old ways. Either way, good work Towers, and I hope we can all still be this positive come the end of the season :)
 
Its nice to see some positive comments about the park and hopefully things will continue to improve all season.

On the comments of some food outlets such as Waffles & Ices and Pasties being closed it is only the first week of the season and one of the quietest weeks of the year. All theme parks have some food outlets that will only open when it is busy and I would expect small items like pasties and ice creams to the the first to be closed seasonally.
However if pasties is closed in Mutiny Bay I would expect Corner Coffee to at least have a selection so that you can still get them somewhere!
 
jon81uk said:
However if pasties is closed in Mutiny Bay I would expect Corner Coffee to at least have a selection so that you can still get them somewhere!
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Corner Coffee certainly had plenty of fresh air available on the shelves. So much so I am surprised they didn't try selling it off as 'food'. :p
 
TheMan said:
STUFF YOUR PARKING DEBATE! (joking of course)

THE WEDGES HAVE GONE FOR GOOD????

This along with a quite snotty barman telling me I could not get a MOCHA anymore in Dragon Bar and serving me a cappuccino in a normal crappy cup? The tall coffee glass, with a nice tasting mocha etc has just a little bit of class to it. Can't have that can we!! Oh no Mr bean counter!!!
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They still have those glasses as my friends received hot chocolate in them. Can they not just put a bit of hot chocolate in the cappucino? (in before foodie rage).
 
Laura said:
They still have those glasses as my friends received hot chocolate in them. Can they not just put a bit of hot chocolate in the cappucino? (in before foodie rage).
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They can only do what the machine tells them now.

Basically, "computer says no" ;D
 
BigHairJoe said:
Just love the idea of bar staff taking orders from the coffee machine...
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Joe, it's at this point I have to be quiet or my suggestions may cross the line of good taste & humour lol!!
 
It's definitely disappointing to hear that things are being removed from menus or not being able to be done anymore - which seems to particularly be an issue on resort. I know how frustrated a lot of TST members get when they can't get their long island iced tea as its not on the cocktail menu anymore ;)

The hotels for sure should encourage creativity and spontaneity. It can be what makes the difference between a good and a great visit. Besides, if you're advertising cocktails in what is meant to be quite a high quality bar, the staff should be trained in making all sorts!

(I realise I slightly digressed from the points raised in above posts there...)
 
TheMan said:
Laura said:
They still have those glasses as my friends received hot chocolate in them. Can they not just put a bit of hot chocolate in the cappucino? (in before foodie rage).
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They can only do what the machine tells them now.

Basically, "computer says no" ;D
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All they need to do is put a shot of espresso into the glass (via the machine) and then fill it up with hot chocolate. How that's difficult is beyond me.
 
Probably a new member of staff who didn't see it on the till so presumed they don't do it?

Was it more than one person who said they don't do it, or are we going off one persons experience with one staff member?
 
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