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2019: General Discussion

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Ethan said:
I'm going thursday 20th June. Yes it's a weekday so should be quieter but do school trips start at this time?
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TBH, despite the kids have been off for 3* weeks over the Easter hols there's been school trips everywhere at the moment, but nothing like what you will get 2 weeks prior to the summer holidays

* Yes I know, kids have only had 2 weeks off, but it's 3 weeks if you take in consideration that schools have staggered their Easter holiday over 3 weeks between different regions

Ethan said:
How long would you say the queues will be?
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How long is a piece of string? It certainly would be quieter than a typical weekend or school holiday
 
DistortAMG said:
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If the turntable is sped up, boats will be dispatched faster and will thus arrive faster at the end, even though the main ride speed is the same.
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You are making the assumption there are an infinite number of rafts there, so the gap between them can always be reduced.
If there are not enough rafts to cause them to queue to get into the station, they would all bunch up on one side of the ride, at 40s (for example) between the bunch, then wasting a couple of minutes with no fresh supply.
The lift hill doesn't seem to have a queue at the current slow load speed, so speeding up loading without adding more rafts wouldn't improve throughput.
 
Good to see more of that Towers attention to detail when it comes to spell checking.

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On Friday the queue time board for NST/project 42 was switched on with the “???” Displaying once again like it was after scarefest.
 
As an enthusiast, it's frustrating to see 2 classics in nemmy and oblivion only on 10-15 min queues, compared to the other coasters which are 40-60 mins
 
Ethan said:
As an enthusiast, it's frustrating to see 2 classics in nemmy and oblivion only on 10-15 min queues, compared to the other coasters which are 40-60 mins
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That could be said to be partly due to efficient operations.

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Ethan said:
As an enthusiast, it's frustrating to see 2 classics in nemmy and oblivion only on 10-15 min queues, compared to the other coasters which are 40-60 mins
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They are still popular rides, they just have much better throughputs than other coasters. Think about how easy it is for restraints to be pulled down and checked on Nemesis for example versus the faff required to do the same thing on Rita. It means they can dispatch the trains much quicker, plus a Nemesis train seats 32 versus Rita’s 20.

Also remember the likes of 13 and Wickerman have lower height restrictions, increasing the popularity simply because there are more guests who can go on those coasters.
 
AT86 said:
They are still popular rides, they just have much better throughputs than other coasters. Think about how easy it is for restraints to be pulled down and checked on Nemesis for example versus the faff required to do the same thing on Rita. It means they can dispatch the trains much quicker, plus a Nemesis train seats 32 versus Rita’s 20.

Also remember the likes of 13 and Wickerman have lower height restrictions, increasing the popularity simply because there are more guests who can go on those coasters.
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Indeed, not to mention that Nemesis is quite a long way from park entrance. Oblvion is a bit of a short ride. I do like it, but once a trip is enough for me. Wheras the likes of The Smiler and Thirteen provide a bit more of an all round experience.
 
TheBolt said:
You are making the assumption there are an infinite number of rafts there, so the gap between them can always be reduced.
If there are not enough rafts to cause them to queue to get into the station, they would all bunch up on one side of the ride, at 40s (for example) between the bunch, then wasting a couple of minutes with no fresh supply.
The lift hill doesn't seem to have a queue at the current slow load speed, so speeding up loading without adding more rafts wouldn't improve throughput.
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I am not making that assumtion at all. Speeding up the turntable increases throughput. Take it from someone that has actually operated, maintained and serviced Intamin river rapids for quite a few years. Faster turntable directly increases throughput.
 
A few thoughts from my first visit of the season yesterday.

Ride operations were fantastic all day with the exception of a delay on Galactica. Wicker Man's dispatch times were nothing short of incredible, with the train entering the lift as the train before arrives back into the brakes. Similarly across the park queues were moving very fast, the staff seemed focused on efficiency and despite the crowd level being fairly busy queue times were kept largely manageable.

Having the single rider queue back on Smiler is brilliant, long may it last!

Areas of the park look in need of a clean, Oblivion's and Nemesis's station for example (even though the latter has only just been re-done, it's looking tired again already on the queue-line side). The cut scene in Oblivion's station video is horrendous and needs reinstating properly.

Wicker Man had no fire, it's unbelievable that this has become a persistent issue considering the ride is only in its second season and the foundation of the marketing was based around the (nonexistent) fire. They knew about issues with the effect last year yet it still doesn't work consistently. Extremely poor.

Hex was absolutely stunning. To my knowledge everything was working with the exception of mist and the audio is back to its best in the vault. Gave me goosebumps, it was that good!

Duel remains a complete waste of potential, despite having all the foundations of a great dark ride it continues to be let down by unprofessional lighting and broken effects. What happened to phase 2 of the promised refurbishment?

My main criticism of yesterday would be that a 5pm close just isn't long enough when the park is anything but dead. Even with good ride operations and planning our day around the shortest queues the only ride we managed a re-ride on was Wicker Man (joining the queue at the end) and we had to skip the rapids and mine train due to not enough time. I'd therefore say the park still offers poor "value" in terms of a good day out, as there just isn't long enough to enjoy everything properly.

Overall, a decent day at Alton helped by hugely improved ride operations, but there's still a long way to go.
 
It's sad reading this thread and not feeling a hint of regret that I've not visited yet. In fact I've not been on park for nearly 5 years and I don't miss it nor do I feel I have to visit anytime in the near future. Doubly sad because it's where my passion for this hobby really blossomed and where I met Josh, but I'd rather spend a similar amount of money and go to a different country than trek down to Alton again.

:(
 
Dar said:
It's sad reading this thread and not feeling a hint of regret that I've not visited yet. In fact I've not been on park for nearly 5 years and I don't miss it nor do I feel I have to visit anytime in the near future. Doubly sad because it's where my passion for this hobby really blossomed and where I met Josh, but I'd rather spend a similar amount of money and go to a different country than trek down to Alton again.

:(
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I feel the exact same I've not visited since before Wicker Man opened and yet I still have no urging desire to return anytime soon, I'm not sure what it is but there's something missing from Alton that 5 years ago made me visit almost monthly. Maybe it's that lack of "magic" that was ever so common or how Alton has become yet another generic Merlin attraction money grabbing from every corner you turn; for example, I dont want to be sold NowTV at a theme park thankyou very much!
 
I agree that Wickerman is operating fairly smoothly this season. I have noticed that the pre-show does sometimes hold up the queue. There was nobody at the platform when exiting on one ride on Thursday; and whilst the queues were short, there was always a queue outside.

Mine Trains queues are ridiculously long.... I think that is a combination of the slow loading method, where they won't let people get in line until the 2nd circuit, and won't load until everyone has left through the tiny turnstile.... but it is also demand, as there aren't enough other all family-friendly ride alternatives outside CBeebies.

The Skyride is a bit of a worry these days too.... it seems to stop every few minutes; and you have to worry if it will stop permanently one of these days.

The park seems to be operating better than last year; but it is not a world class theme park. Poor food, no entertainment outside CBeebies, badly maintained queues, the whole feeling of reluctantly letting you in the monorail and entrance experience gives you....

Its an absolute bargain with a season pass... most people are likely to be getting in for £10-£15 a trip. You have to wonder if that is part of the issue, going for the Ryanair model of cheap for the main service, but then scalping the punters on the upsell stuff. (I bet they've looked into charging for bags too).
 
TheBolt said:
The Skyride is a bit of a worry these days too.... it seems to stop every few minutes; and you have to worry if it will stop permanently one of these days.
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I wouldn't be worried about that - the short stoppages are to allow wheelchairs, pushchairs and the less abled to load and unload safely. It's always been like that.

(I bet they've looked into charging for bags too).
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They've been charging for bags since the "tax" was introduced. Although I had a bag last visit and I'm sure I wasn't charged for it - normally you can tell by the total being 4p or 5p extra like £5.04 or £10.05
 
TheBolt said:
The park seems to be operating better than last year; but it is not a world class theme park. Poor food, no entertainment outside CBeebies, badly maintained queues, the whole feeling of reluctantly letting you in the monorail and entrance experience gives you....

Its an absolute bargain with a season pass... most people are likely to be getting in for £10-£15 a trip. You have to wonder if that is part of the issue, going for the Ryanair model of cheap for the main service, but then scalping the punters on the upsell stuff. (I bet they've looked into charging for bags too).
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The season pass thing is a genius idea. Alton Towers, for most people, is a one or two visit park per year. If they can increase the footfall, they increase the on-park spending. The car park charge. And the social media footprint. Merlin are not silly, they know the economics and have likely played a blinder.

In terms of food. The food is not good, but it is what Americans call 'Park Food'. You do also have quite a choice IMO. I also don't think the prices are too bad including the AP discount.

If they had a quality, sit down place - honestly, would you use it? I don't think there is a demand for it. I do feel that a BBQ place (like BPB) would be a good option.
 
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