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Towers Loving Care

There is a balance between cost driven and experience driven theme park management. And its a hard one to find.
 
If the park was owned by someone like Efteling, I think it could do the place wonders.

Efteling build modern rides with much charm and little shoe horning, yes retain the original charm and character of their early years.
 
Matt Creek said:
If the park was owned by someone like Efteling, I think it could do the place wonders.

Efteling build modern rides with much charm and little shoe horning, yes retain the original charm and character of their early years.
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But less people would go for 'not cool' coasters. The problem with general public is they like rides eg the Smiler just because it looks to them cool. If you asked a non enthusiast about a ride, they would want at a theme park, they would rather a thrilling attraction.
 
That's the most bizarre philosophy I've read all day. Families did not visit Towers in 2014 because they thought CBeebies Land "looked cool".
 
They visited because The Smiler is an impressive thrill ride by anyone's standards. The quality is not what it should be, but the concept is decent and the ride still fun... you know... certain things excluded.

Most of the public however have no comprehension of who builds what/how, it's just a new attraction, and not everyone likes coasters - I know plenty who don't, but still enjoy days out - so defining what would be "not cool...." etc is rather, wishy washy.

I am a coaster enthusiast first and foremost, and therefore, I want thrilling rides. But if all the public wanted was big out and out thrills, then no other attractions would be popular.

CBeebies land is a prime example as Danny mentions.

Yes, huge impressive coasters will be a draw, but that doesn't mean that smaller coasters that provide a hugely immersive experience aren't popular otherwise a certain Crypt based ride would always be empty...

If they'd have Eftling'd that ride, given it was actually a genuinely IMO (given some space away from it for a while) brilliant world first, that could have actually been a world class experience.

However, much like air, it's half a job.

Alton is becoming an also ran, where as with Nemesis and Oblivion, it was a PINNACLE attraction.

I have never seen an inverted B&M coaster or Dive machine I'd rather have than Nemesis or Oblivion. Yet neither are now the biggest nor "coolest" based on a very simple - "bigger is better" theory.

Obviously Rita was just thrown down, and The Smiler was a decent attempt, and even though I do love it - it does still lack the magic and finesse of Blivvy and Nemmy... yet it's a record breaker.

So basically, theatre & immersion do still count for a lot.
 
That is what you might think but unfortunately not the case. Ceebeies Land agrees with what I said. A child wants to see their 'favourite characters' and therefore believes it is cool, obviously unlike older people.
 
ThemeParkCrafter said:
That is what you might think but unfortunately not the case. Ceebeies Land agrees with what I said. A child wants to see their 'favourite characters' and therefore believes it is cool, obviously unlike older people.
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No, it doesn't. A child who watches Cbeebies wants to go to Cbeebies Land because they like it, not because they think it's "cool", they don't care about that.
 
Is Taron not a "cool" ride that many people would flock to ride? It's not a world first.
Is Blue Fire not a "cool" ride that many people would flock to ride? It's not a world first.
Is Helix not a "cool" ride that many people would flock to ride? It's not a world first.
Is Oz'Iris not a "cool" ride that many people would flock to ride? It's not a world first, it wasn't even the first in France.

I accept that a world's first is cool and everything was once a world's first, but I reject this notion that only world first rides are worth it. Not least because we're going to run out of world's firsts at some point, and then what? I wholly blame Merlin for introducing this mindset to the country, it's probably the most damaging thing they've done besides their discounting campaigns.
 
Does the track re-paint on Nemesis also extend to the station area?

If Towers wanted to publicise TLC in anyway then why not launch some sort of social media competition, or just plain competition- if Customers spot an area that isnt looking its best, take a photo of it, together with its location and be entered into a prize draw to win something and then the staff at Alton towers will come and rectify the problem ( or at the very least investigate it)
Maybe they could use the off peak closure days for a little TLC utlising staff who would otherwise be deployed elsewhere to do a basic bit of gardening/weeding/painting
 
chilli2 said:
Does the track re-paint on Nemesis also extend to the station area?

If Towers wanted to publicise TLC in anyway then why not launch some sort of social media competition, or just plain competition- if Customers spot an area that isnt looking its best, take a photo of it, together with its location and be entered into a prize draw to win something and then the staff at Alton towers will come and rectify the problem ( or at the very least investigate it)
Maybe they could use the off peak closure days for a little TLC utlising staff who would otherwise be deployed elsewhere to do a basic bit of gardening/weeding/painting
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I wish I lived in your world of dreamy optimism ;)

Back down to earth. Towers wouldn't want the public going around taking photo's of all the bad stuff that will end up all over social media, and the point of closing on the quiet days is that they won't have to have staff in on those days and pay for them. They won't just have staff hanging around twiddling their thumbs waiting for someone on social media to inform them of a bit of peeling paint near the toilets in Forbidden Valley that needs a bit of work.

A great idea other than that though :)
 
I can imagine the Mirror would take the photos and try to shame Towers again. But besides that, I do agree with @chilli2, it does sound like a good idea :)
 
Of course they would, they are human beings with common sense after all.

The powers above however...
 
Last season I took my kids around Ceebies Land and was shocked at how the In the Night Garden ride was showing terrible signs of things falling apart already. The queue line toys were all broken, the Ninky Nonk train wasn't moving around on the track and all the other theming was looking weathered and dirty. Really disappointing to see a little bit of escapism for the little ones leaving them totally underwhelmed. I was however very impressed by the Charlie and Lola house which was still looking amazing...clean, nothing broken and top quality theming.
 
A competition to upload photos of tatty parts of Alton towers to social media may be a headache to manage, a simple just send to alton towers would be easier.

As for the Ride ops, anyone should be able to do a bit of painting/weeding/sweeping and that should extend to all staff/employees at Alton towers, including those who sit behind a desk and spend the day working on unworkable/impractical new policies/ideas which they will never have to implement at ground level.

Its the little things that leave an impression, a little things such as the state of cbeebies land, theme elements loose/wonkey/damaged in the waterpark, scruffy gardens, toilets in a mess, peeling paint, rotten woodwork etc that leave an impression And if you skimp on the minor maintenance small things can soon escalate and become an expensive fix.

As it is this Towers Loving care thing will probably be no more than a marketing slogan, and at the very least just be an excersise in papering over the ever expanding cracks.
Next up Nemesis - Area 51, where as a result of a lack of maintenance and an unfortunate incident where a large piece of themeing detached from the old station and nearly fell on some customers near the exit, the station and associated themeing for Nemesis is removed and replaced with a plain industrial corrugated steel clad steel shed similar to the ones that house industrial units/farm sheds etc
 
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