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Food & Beverage 2015

Playing Devils Advocate, the removal of alcohol discount from the annual pass brings Alton Towers in line with Disney parks...

People are always saying we should be more like Disney.
 
I've discovered to my disgust that as a single guest I'm no longer eligible to buy the all day dining package. Absolutely appalled at being treated like a second class citizen and the inference that as a single guest my custom is not valued. Upon complaining to Alton I was advised in a somewhat robotic fashion that my comments "would be passed to the Food and Beverage team". I'm not holding my breath as I doubt a single member of the team will be bothered to read my comments and / or act upon them.
 
Because I drive to Towers a lot, I don't drink on park, so this change doesn't affect me as much. I do drink at Fireworks, as I do like to stay on resort and drink that evening, so that's one day of the year when I would be affected. Despite this, I do fully appreciate why people are frustrated at this latest change. I do have a theory as to why this change has taken place, though. I have a feeling that alcohol pricing laws have changed, so by having a discount applied to alcohol for MAP holders, they might therefore be breaking the law, so this change has taken place in order to ensure legal compliance. I am fully aware that this may not be the case, as this policy has been in place at other Merlin attractions for a while, but it may be that they wanted to phase it in gradually.

I do wish to clarify that I don't necessarily agree with this change (even though it doesn't affect me as much as others), but I'm trying to understand why this change has been made.
 
Well, again, i'm so glad I didn't renew my pass this year. I love the way the Merlin scumbags release these little news stories (or dont as the case may be) AFTER people have bought them in the "SALE" that was not a sale. Yet another perk withdrawn.

You know what Merlin......... up yours, you can stick you parks and your annual passes where the sun don't shine.
 
Most people that drink alcohol have a psychological need/desire for it and will pay virtually anything. See £15 double spirits in nightclubs etc. The accountants will know this and were probably asking themselves why they allowed it in the first place!
 
Tom said:
Most people that drink alcohol have a psychological need/desire for it and will pay virtually anything. See £15 double spirits in nightclubs etc. The accountants will know this and were probably asking themselves why they allowed it in the first place!
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I swear your a Merlin accountant :)

Anyway as for this change, no one other than geeks are going to criticise them for this as there is a big drive at the moment to drive up prices of alcohol. My issue is for me it's another perk lost on a product that got a lot more expensive this year.

I don't own a MAP currently so it doesn't affect me but its solidified my intention not to buy one. It won't be long before the 20% discount moves to 10%.
 
Jonathan said:
Because I drive to Towers a lot, I don't drink on park, so this change doesn't affect me as much. I do drink at Fireworks, as I do like to stay on resort and drink that evening, so that's one day of the year when I would be affected. Despite this, I do fully appreciate why people are frustrated at this latest change. I do have a theory as to why this change has taken place, though. I have a feeling that alcohol pricing laws have changed, so by having a discount applied to alcohol for MAP holders, they might therefore be breaking the law, so this change has taken place in order to ensure legal compliance. I am fully aware that this may not be the case, as this policy has been in place at other Merlin attractions for a while, but it may be that they wanted to phase it in gradually..
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It's not that unfortunately. Supermarkets must play by the same rules and MAP discount didn't make it less than them.

If only there was a reasonable rationale to this decision... They use the idea that they're bringing Alton in line with others as an excuse but the reason Alton was deserving of the discount is because it's far more of a resort than the others!
 
Dave, only just mentioned on your FB story that I bet next year the discount on food and soft drinks will drop to 10%.
 
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Tom said:
Most people that drink alcohol have a psychological need/desire for it and will pay virtually anything. See £15 double spirits in nightclubs etc. The accountants will know this and were probably asking themselves why they allowed it in the first place!
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I can see your point but in my case this will bite the accountants. I drive but my partner will generally have a drink. 1 at lunch and 1 before we head home to let the traffic die down. The total saving on alcohol is say £1.60 a day (80p a time). However because you thought you were getting a "deal" I'd happily stump up the £5-£6 for a round (soft drink or coffee for me) plus more than likely the food bill.

Now we will skip the lunch time drink by bringing in Sandwiches and find somewhere else to go after the park shuts.

This won't apply to everyone but M£rlin will receive less money from us following this.

PS can anyone suggest any decent pubs with Parking near Towers for post park drinks? We head the Alton way (past JCB). Thanks
 
I've heard good things about the Blacksmith Arms in Alton itself, but I've never personally been there. I can recommend the Dapple Grey in Uttoxeter, which is just up from the station. It's a Marston's pub, and I quite like it.
 
Yeah the blacksmiths is quite nice, and the food is good as well. The Raddle also does nice food and drinks and has better scenery around it tho it's through some lanes.
 
jbrown29 said:
I've discovered to my disgust that as a single guest I'm no longer eligible to buy the all day dining package. Absolutely appalled at being treated like a second class citizen and the inference that as a single guest my custom is not valued. Upon complaining to Alton I was advised in a somewhat robotic fashion that my comments "would be passed to the Food and Beverage team". I'm not holding my breath as I doubt a single member of the team will be bothered to read my comments and / or act upon them.
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I'm sorry? Never heard of this being the case before. Why would they want to stop individuals from buying the all-day dining package? How did you discover it btw?
 
josht said:
Screw merlin screw towers the bars only serve basic cheap scum class larger anyway I hope the park will crash and burn until they see how much the park has been destroyed by money grabbing management
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I don't know why, but when I heard this news, I thought you'd be pretty unhappy, mate. :p
 
The parks to far gone it's been screwed out of decent rides and investment since 2002
 
MattyH said:
It's had decent investment in it, there's no denying that, it's more what the investment was spent on.
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It's not a decent investment then its clueless bankers looking for a quick fix Rita,thirteen and the smiler were all shocking for towers where as the European parks are getting decent b&m's
 
I used to get refused discount on alcohol with a Tussauds pass 10 years ago so I think this is a reinstatement of a rule rather than a new one.
Not a huge issue though, as long as they don't stop offering 20% on food for APs.
As for transactions with food and alcohol, the tills wi cope fine. We used NUS discount last year and the till gave discount on the chocolate bar but not the mug I bought.
 
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