BigAl
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Forbidden Journey
And before anyone posts, yes, I have made a topic about drinks capsules.
My visit to Alton Towers today has finally made me want to make this topic. No, need to. Why is it that Merlin are incapable of making a simple, decent drinks capsule? Many, many people also complain about them and I wonder if they'll ever decide to just get it right?
Here are a couple of MAP capsules from the past two years...
A closer inspection...
Gripes with the 2011 bottle:
Now onto this years MAP bottle...
Gripes with the 2012 bottle:
The bottle this year looks so much better over the ones before that, but now I can't fill this years without it leaking everywhere with the slightest nudge. The 2012 bottle just reminds me of the one from 2010 which looks like 2011's, only it had no cap, which meant your drink would go everywhere if it leaned or fell (not ideal if you're at a theme park).
And yes, Merlin's improvement to 2010's bottle design was to simply add a cap onto the end and assume that would solve everything.
So who designs these things and why are Merlin accepting them as okay to use at their parks? I mean the 2012 bottle is just abysmal!
Let's take a look at what other parks out there have. Recently I went to Florida for just over a couple of weeks and brought back these capsules from Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, the Kennedy Space Center (sorry is the American spelling annoys anyone
) and Wet N' Wild...
And now for a closer look at them all:
Universal Studios bottle:
Although the straw didn't agree with the bottle and constantly bends when you slide it into both slots to prevent your drink from spilling out the ends, the fact of the matter is, it does its job well. It looks great, it's cheap and it didn't leak once. If only Merlin could emulate Universal's 100+ drinks machines as well!
Busch Gardens bottle:
If this had a cap on the end, it'd be my favourite of them all. Busch's capsule is the sturdiest of all of the bottles that I'm comparing and it looks great. What's more is they offered a couple of other colours, in case the Cheetah Hunt design or yellow colour wasn't to your taste. Of course, this isn't as important for Merlin (though it would of course be nice), as they need to get the one bottle correct before they try and do a range. If the bottle design isn't correct, making loads of variations will be a costly mistake. My only niggle was the fact that this bottle lacked a cap, so the ability to leak was still there, though I do like the carry handle as you don't have to hold the cold bottle or get your hands sticky if you went a bit mental whilst filling it up.
KSC bottle:
This was the best performing bottle of them all. As long as you don't trap the cap in between the lid and body when you refill, this bottle is what Merlin really needs to aim for. It looks great, the sticker doesn't come off when it gets damp from either drink going down the side when you fill it up or from condensation, it doesn't leak at all and again, the carry handle is a nice addition over the straps on the pest that is the 2012 bottle strap which always gets caught in the lid.
Wet N' Wild bottle:
Similar to Busch's bottle, except this bottle wasn't quite as sturdy and the handle slips off on one side from time to time. If this bottle had a cap and a better handle, it'd be just as good as the one from Kennedy Space Center.
If Merlin can get a bottle that looks as good as any of these and is as practical and well-made as either KSC's or Busch's then that would be this problem solved!
In my mind, the bottle needs to be pretty much what KSC's is like, only I'd perhaps add a strap onto the sides like Merlin's silver bottles (but with better clips) and I'd also lower the slot for the straw nto prevent the sides of the cap from getting caught in it.
I also dislike the way in which staff at Merlin attractions deal with the drinks capsules.
The very first time I got one a few years back, I was given the ordinary red one even though I asked for and paid for a silver MAP one. Even though I questioned whether or not it was correct, the person who served me in Refresh @ Ripsaw told me it was correct. After going back and trying to use it again, as expected, we were refused refills, so we went to Guest Services, explained, presented the receipt, etc...
With the latest 2012 capsule, we've had to replace it twice. Oh no, wait, just once. Why? Today we took the broken capsule in the images to be replaced, only to be told by Alton's Guest Services that it wasn't their problem, even though the year prior we'd been directed to go there by the Box Office staff. So this time we were told to go back to the Box Office, only to be told that there aren't any more MAP capsules left because they've stopped making them. Instead, they just gave us a piece of paper with some details on and told us to make a complaint (which we're currently in the process of writing-up).
So now I'm stuck with a broken bottle and they can't replace them because they don't do them any more (hopefully because Merlin have realised themselves just how atrocious they are) and we still have a few months of the 2012 season left.
I'll try and get back to you all with their response in due course.
What I'll also add is that today, once we'd realised that we were stuck with the broken bottle we decided to go and get it filled up for a drink (not full however, we ask the staff not to fill them completely full so our hands aren't covered in pop once we've got it back) before we went back to the rides. Upon tasting the drink, what should have been Sprite tasted like fizzy water. Okay, this isn't a problem that only occurs at Merlin's attractions, however, can't Merlin get this sorted out too? I think a simple solution would be to let staff have a small cup every few hours for free to ensure that each flavour still has enough syrup, so that guests don't have to queue again to tell them that the syrup has ran out and to get a refill. I'm sure staff will appreciate free drinks and less people coming to them to complain. Anyway, that's just an idea.
By the way, I'd love for anyone on here who has a drinks capsule from somewhere else other than Merlin to post a picture of it and provide a review (sad, I know, but perhaps if we, or at least I... ... show them how a drinks capsule should be, they'll take on-board some of this and get the 2013 capsules right. Ammending them will not only mean less people requiring replacements or their money back, but also less complaints for them. That can only be a good thing, no?
Haha, only just realised that my images look like a police line-up of criminal capsules!
The shame!
-__-
Extremely sad rant over.
My visit to Alton Towers today has finally made me want to make this topic. No, need to. Why is it that Merlin are incapable of making a simple, decent drinks capsule? Many, many people also complain about them and I wonder if they'll ever decide to just get it right?
Here are a couple of MAP capsules from the past two years...
A closer inspection...
Gripes with the 2011 bottle:
- Leaked easily
- Sticker wore-off easily
- Dull design
- Poor quality clips meant that the strap on the bottle kept coming off
Now onto this years MAP bottle...
Gripes with the 2012 bottle:
- Flimsy strap broke easily when we tried to take it apart to give it a good clean
- Just breathing on them makes them leak
- Straw doesn't reach the bottom and consequently, it is a pain in the backside to get the last 1/5 of your drink
- Stopped producing them too soon so replacements are now unavailable (at least at Alton Towers anyway)
- Strap gets caught in lid when you refill it
- Lid doesn't sit level on the bottle which doesn't help with the leaking issue
The bottle this year looks so much better over the ones before that, but now I can't fill this years without it leaking everywhere with the slightest nudge. The 2012 bottle just reminds me of the one from 2010 which looks like 2011's, only it had no cap, which meant your drink would go everywhere if it leaned or fell (not ideal if you're at a theme park).
And yes, Merlin's improvement to 2010's bottle design was to simply add a cap onto the end and assume that would solve everything.
So who designs these things and why are Merlin accepting them as okay to use at their parks? I mean the 2012 bottle is just abysmal!
Let's take a look at what other parks out there have. Recently I went to Florida for just over a couple of weeks and brought back these capsules from Universal Studios, Busch Gardens, the Kennedy Space Center (sorry is the American spelling annoys anyone
) and Wet N' Wild...
And now for a closer look at them all:
Universal Studios bottle:
Although the straw didn't agree with the bottle and constantly bends when you slide it into both slots to prevent your drink from spilling out the ends, the fact of the matter is, it does its job well. It looks great, it's cheap and it didn't leak once. If only Merlin could emulate Universal's 100+ drinks machines as well!
Busch Gardens bottle:
If this had a cap on the end, it'd be my favourite of them all. Busch's capsule is the sturdiest of all of the bottles that I'm comparing and it looks great. What's more is they offered a couple of other colours, in case the Cheetah Hunt design or yellow colour wasn't to your taste. Of course, this isn't as important for Merlin (though it would of course be nice), as they need to get the one bottle correct before they try and do a range. If the bottle design isn't correct, making loads of variations will be a costly mistake. My only niggle was the fact that this bottle lacked a cap, so the ability to leak was still there, though I do like the carry handle as you don't have to hold the cold bottle or get your hands sticky if you went a bit mental whilst filling it up.
KSC bottle:
This was the best performing bottle of them all. As long as you don't trap the cap in between the lid and body when you refill, this bottle is what Merlin really needs to aim for. It looks great, the sticker doesn't come off when it gets damp from either drink going down the side when you fill it up or from condensation, it doesn't leak at all and again, the carry handle is a nice addition over the straps on the pest that is the 2012 bottle strap which always gets caught in the lid.
Wet N' Wild bottle:
Similar to Busch's bottle, except this bottle wasn't quite as sturdy and the handle slips off on one side from time to time. If this bottle had a cap and a better handle, it'd be just as good as the one from Kennedy Space Center.
If Merlin can get a bottle that looks as good as any of these and is as practical and well-made as either KSC's or Busch's then that would be this problem solved!
In my mind, the bottle needs to be pretty much what KSC's is like, only I'd perhaps add a strap onto the sides like Merlin's silver bottles (but with better clips) and I'd also lower the slot for the straw nto prevent the sides of the cap from getting caught in it.
I also dislike the way in which staff at Merlin attractions deal with the drinks capsules.
The very first time I got one a few years back, I was given the ordinary red one even though I asked for and paid for a silver MAP one. Even though I questioned whether or not it was correct, the person who served me in Refresh @ Ripsaw told me it was correct. After going back and trying to use it again, as expected, we were refused refills, so we went to Guest Services, explained, presented the receipt, etc...
With the latest 2012 capsule, we've had to replace it twice. Oh no, wait, just once. Why? Today we took the broken capsule in the images to be replaced, only to be told by Alton's Guest Services that it wasn't their problem, even though the year prior we'd been directed to go there by the Box Office staff. So this time we were told to go back to the Box Office, only to be told that there aren't any more MAP capsules left because they've stopped making them. Instead, they just gave us a piece of paper with some details on and told us to make a complaint (which we're currently in the process of writing-up).
So now I'm stuck with a broken bottle and they can't replace them because they don't do them any more (hopefully because Merlin have realised themselves just how atrocious they are) and we still have a few months of the 2012 season left.
I'll try and get back to you all with their response in due course.
What I'll also add is that today, once we'd realised that we were stuck with the broken bottle we decided to go and get it filled up for a drink (not full however, we ask the staff not to fill them completely full so our hands aren't covered in pop once we've got it back) before we went back to the rides. Upon tasting the drink, what should have been Sprite tasted like fizzy water. Okay, this isn't a problem that only occurs at Merlin's attractions, however, can't Merlin get this sorted out too? I think a simple solution would be to let staff have a small cup every few hours for free to ensure that each flavour still has enough syrup, so that guests don't have to queue again to tell them that the syrup has ran out and to get a refill. I'm sure staff will appreciate free drinks and less people coming to them to complain. Anyway, that's just an idea.
By the way, I'd love for anyone on here who has a drinks capsule from somewhere else other than Merlin to post a picture of it and provide a review (sad, I know, but perhaps if we, or at least I...
... show them how a drinks capsule should be, they'll take on-board some of this and get the 2013 capsules right. Ammending them will not only mean less people requiring replacements or their money back, but also less complaints for them. That can only be a good thing, no?Haha, only just realised that my images look like a police line-up of criminal capsules!
The shame!
-__-
Extremely sad rant over.
