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Syndicate of parents

Unfortunately, there are some people in existence - and these people tend to be quite vocal - who just can't (or won't) see both sides of the coin, and this seems to be the case here. ???
 
Probably Mumsnet or some other do gooders.

Thing is they do have a point. The rides are restricted according to height so it would make perfect sense to have the entrance bands based on this rather than age. This would probably mean many kids becoming 'adults' at a much younger age for most, so Merlin would do well out of it and it would be fairer.
 
I keep replying to these people, although I should really just stop myself from looking at it, as it is annoying me more and more each time! It's like a car crash though...I can't look away!
 
It's as if they've only started doing this now. :p

It's been 12 and over for longer than I've been visiting. The reason in obvious, and it's not profiteering. But as always, there's some silly people who latch on to some campaign without thinking it through. It's cute though.
 
Also, I find it quite sad and pathetic that some people are posting the original post as their own, and I applaud Alton's response of 'stop spamming the page with this comment, as any such comments will be deleted'.
 
For goodness sake! Even though they are younger I believe that they should pay the same. Twelve year olds go on all the same rides as adults and have the same experience. Disney charge an adult at 10! Nobody's complaining about that!

Sorry. Rant over.
 
Towers should stop being so nice about it, they are doing themselves no favours.

If an idiot is an idiot they shouldn't be scared to call them an idiot. Or just delete all that crap and PM them on how to make a complaint. Then tell them they are an idiot when they do that.
 
I think it should be highered, as the staff always think I'm under 12 so I have everything cheaper and I'd paid before I'd of collected them. I'd higher it to 14 where discount passes are offered around the UK and the children are more independent. I'd class a teenager as being a adult and considering I among many other 14 year olds start their exams now so they are really young adults.

And I wouldn't be surprised if it was Mumsnet, I don't know why they are complaining as most families normally use vouchers anyway and their tweens go free.
 
Everywhere in the world considers 12 to be the 'adult' age...

It was like that 10 years ago, quite clearly some bored trolls looking to whinge and provoke...
 
Here is my reply to these mardy mums;


because by the time a child reaches the age of 12, on average they meet the minimum height restrictions for just about every ride in the park. So thus they are not just limited to children's rides. So if a child can take advantage of every adult attraction (and will) then why should they pay any less? Its not based on their ability ti buy controlled substances (which may I add is a pointless and absurd comment). The height system is more or less universal among the entire entertainments industry. The park wont reply to every individual comment such as yours purely because of the pointlessness of this crusade this syndicate of mothers have taken it upon them self's to create. Anyway, price-wise the park offer great value for money, if you pay the full gate fee instead of using a 241 then your a mug and deserve to be the 45 quid poorer

I have not as of yet had one structured and intelligent reply ;)
 
The issue here is the world 'adult'. Simply change it to Juniors/Seniors or something gimmicky/made-up word.

Either that or start charging by height like Lightwater Valley (I assume they still do). Not sure why many others don't do this as well.

Ben is correct that it's basically about what you are able to do once within the park, that's how price is set.
 
Alton Towers standard gate prices may well be absurd and completely out of touch, but come on...

By the time a child is of age 10, 80% of them are 1.4metres tall.

By the time a child is of age 12, nearly every one of them is 1.4metres tall.

They should shut it moaning.
 
Tom said:
The issue here is the world 'adult'. Simply change it to Juniors/Seniors or something gimmicky/made-up word.
Click to expand...

I totally agree with you there Tom. 99% of people would probably associate an adult to be someone 18 years or older, at the very minimum, 16 years of age.

It would indeed be a good solution - without a pricing change - to change the name of the category that includes 12- (roughly) 18 year olds.

The twelve year old adult price stuff has much worse offenders than Alton Towers as a theme park (for example, buffets, or any other place to eat out*), so it's beyond me why people complain so much about Alton compared to anywhere else.

* A 12 year old in my opinion would not eat as much as a fully grown adult, and if drinks were included - would not be allowed to drink any alcoholic drinks.
 
Alton can't be blamed for this, the family should've looked up the prices before their visit, its simple logic really.
 
Facebook really haven't helped the cause, recently they've messed around with the settings so if a post is gaining some momentum on any 'likeable' page it'll show up on your news feed with the friends who have liked or commented on it. Seems like a new way to jump on the bandwagon! This is why you'll see a lot more posts with likes/comments.
 
In the past, we have "bombed" their wall/timeline with complaints about many things. How is this any different? Let them rant. It's not like Towers will listen to them.
 
Some of the posts are really rather entertaining.

"Imagine my surprise when I thought an already costly trip was going to be even costlier with 2 kids who can not buy alcohol or cigarettes legally are actually being classed as old enough by a family attraction!!!"

Imagine. JUST IMAGINE her surprise for a moment. I bet they had to call a team of experts to scrape her jaw off the floor. (Someone should tell her to be grateful her kids aren't old enough to smoke or drink yet, those are some expensive habits!)

People like this are quite happy to storm the Internet and complain when something goes wrong, and yet the concept of searching for important information (such as prices!) about a family day out before arriving at the venue seems completely foreign to them.
 
I
BULBOUS said:
Some of the posts are really rather entertaining.

"Imagine my surprise when I thought an already costly trip was going to be even costlier with 2 kids who can not buy alcohol or cigarettes legally are actually being classed as old enough by a family attraction!!!"

Imagine. JUST IMAGINE her surprise for a moment. I bet they had to call a team of experts to scrape her jaw off the floor. (Someone should tell her to be grateful her kids aren't old enough to smoke or drink yet, those are some expensive habits!)

People like this are quite happy to storm the Internet and complain when something goes wrong, and yet the concept of searching for important information (such as prices!) about a family day out before arriving at the venue seems completely foreign to them.
Click to expand...
Its laughable that the adult pricing is being compared to the ages in which you can buy cigarettes and alcohol. You used to be able to buy fags at age 16, but that didn't make the age of adulthood 16...

Alton need to state a fact much like Dan's to these people - to show that height based pricing would actually cost them MORE than a 12+ price would. It would be interesting though to see if Alton will pander to these moaners next season and introduce a 'junior' price point with something generally meaningless like a £5 reduction on price.

EDIT:

If I was in charge of Alton's PR, I'd respond by saying something like... 'We charge our full adult prices to over 12s as we believe that the vast majority of 12 year olds are old enough to experience all of our attractions fully. However, if you come to Alton Towers and can prove your child is over the age of 12 but under the height of 1.4m we will charge you the child entry price'
 
People begging for stuff on there in general infuriates me. I'm all for if you don't ask you don't get sort of mindset when haggling a car dealer or whatever, but that shouldn't be applied to getting an unfair freebie over the general public.

The pathetic lies and fabricated tales of financial hardship make me so angry!
 
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