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What changes to operations should we expect post Covid-19?

In terms of annual pass. Why not charge £5 per booking and upon entry to the park the user recieves a £5 voucher to spend in park on food and drink? That way your not at a loss if you go but if your one of those blocking dates your at a loss.

Also I hope we will see a new range of food... Open up more stalls for people to picnic. Maybe have more grab and go options like sandwiches especially around the lawns.
 
Burbs said:
Also interesting that it doesn't mention anything about riders being separated/leaving seats empty.
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I personally don't feel the whole separating riders thing makes a whole load of difference, especially on a coaster. You'll be traveling at such speed that if the person on row one coughs then the person on say row ten is going to pass through that air almost immediately and possibly inhale some of it.

I suppose separating riders or leaving some empty seats might just add a perception of reassurance to guests though.
 
Another thing to bare in mind regarding the park when it reopens is Merlin’s approach to dealing with less visitors.

Their formula is pretty clear by now that if they expect numbers to be down then the budget to run the park will be reduced. Add the loss of revenue from being closed into the equation and I wouldn’t be surprised to see multiple ride closures / SBNO across the park as we saw after the Smiler incident. Expect staggered openings etc as well to save money.

Essentially Covid will become the new TLC when it comes to excuses to make operational cuts.
 
AT86 said:
Another thing to bare in mind regarding the park when it reopens is Merlin’s approach to dealing with less visitors.

Their formula is pretty clear by now that if they expect numbers to be down then the budget to run the park will be reduced. Add the loss of revenue from being closed into the equation and I wouldn’t be surprised to see multiple ride closures / SBNO across the park as we saw after the Smiler incident. Expect staggered openings etc as well to save money.

Essentially Covid will become the new TLC when it comes to excuses to make operational cuts.
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Can Merlin afford to make yet more cutbacks. The park needs to spread people about and we already have less attractions. Correct me if I'm wrong but since the smiler incident the parks down by 5 ish rides? Plus several will not be allowed to operate or if they do it will with few people.

If they do major cutbacks people won't see any value in visiting and won't visit. The parks already becoming a dull 6 flags place and if it's just coasters and cbeebies who's gonna go?

It's interesting the opening of wdw they are saying 50% capacity and no shows. Alton don't need to worry about the n shows part!
 
SuperMuscleMan said:
It's interesting the opening of wdw they are saying 50% capacity and no shows. Alton don't need to worry about the n shows part!
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True! Although they do have them in CBeebies so they will probably have to go in the short term.

One thing Merlin has taught me is that whenever you think they can’t cut back anymore. They find a way :p.

I get that some of it will be necessary, it’s just sad that when they are just recovering in terms of rides/restaurants etc re-opening from the 2016 cut backs that this comes in and potentially wipes a good amount of that away.

In the scheme of what is happening in the world it is of course small fry. But in the context of being a fan of the park it’s disappointing.
 
how many rides do we expect they would shut if they reopened. I doubt rides like hex or duel would reopen straight away. I think in just my personal opinion that if they are to reopen it will be rides that have a queue line completely outside or close enough I could be wrong but I guess the last thing people would want is to queue inside an enclosed place for gawd knows how long. I personally don’t think we will see the new David Walliams ride this year but as always I could be wrong
 
Mr Pearse said:
how many rides do we expect they would shut if they reopened. I doubt rides like hex or duel would reopen straight away. I think in just my personal opinion that if they are to reopen it will be rides that have a queue line completely outside or close enough I could be wrong but I guess the last thing people would want is to queue inside an enclosed place for gawd knows how long. I personally don’t think we will see the new David Walliams ride this year but as always I could be wrong
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Hex - no. Duel - I don't see why not. Unless they hard and fast wanted to shut all indoor attractions, with Duel it'd be very easy to allow only members of the same group to ride together. There's only 6 per car anyway, they're pretty spread out, and it has a high enough throughput to keep the queue moving anyway.
 
I could also potentially see things like Wicker Man's pre-show being skipped, and potentially even holding people outside indoor queue areas like Thirteen's and Smiler's if they are being really extreme on not letting indoor attractions open.

However, when the park was originally going to apply social distancing measures, the only attraction listed as being closed because of these was the Alton Towers Dungeon, if that's anything to go by.

Also, I saw some of you being concerned that household groups would be split up on rides, for example a small child wouldn't be able to ride Octonauts next to a parent. To reassure you, I saw that Skyline Park in Germany is considering plans to give out personalised bracelets or some sort of identification to each family group so that they can sit together on rides and come within 2m of each other, so if Merlin did something similar, that would eliminate that problem.
 
So with all this in mind. Is it worth going?

If I have to have an anal temp check, give my last four years holiday destination details, get a signed note from the doctor and am then greeted with a half working park and someone following me about with a bottle of dettol I think i'd rather just go to a beach. :p
 
Burbs said:
Hex - no. Duel - I don't see why not. Unless they hard and fast wanted to shut all indoor attractions, with Duel it'd be very easy to allow only members of the same group to ride together. There's only 6 per car anyway, they're pretty spread out, and it has a high enough throughput to keep the queue moving anyway.
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I think he probably meant the guns on duel to be fair. That's a lot of people touching them within the day and thus potentially spreading the virus.

Dont think the park will open at all at this rate to be honest. 2020 is going to be a total write off.
 
Burbs said:
I didn't even think about the guns. It could always work without the guns anyway (far more enjoyable if you ask me.)
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The HH was always better than Duel I agree. Wish they'd never have changed it to start with. It's not 'scary' when you are looking for targets etc. Totally defeats the object of the HH. I don't always even pick up the guns anymore either.
 
Just a thought but would it be financially worth the parks reopening this year. I was just thinking if they don’t/can’t reopen till around end of August/September time that leaves only 2/3 months of the season with reduced admissions. Once you take into account how much time and work it will take to get the park up to scratch refresh staff and test the rides prior to opening because at a guess I think the rides have just been standing unused for 2/3 months. It just seems a lot of work for little pay off, if social distancing is still in place and events are postponed then I can’t see it being financially viable.
 
They could possibly extend the season into the end of November to make some more money. Could even see a Christmas event with rides open like the German parks.
 
Who would want to visit a theme park in the cold and rain in December, especially if it was a 4pm close day.
And you had to deal with social distance too

o_O
 
If the parks can re-open ahead of next year, surely soft openings make sense just to test out procedures, training and work out which rides are feasible to be open under restrictions.

bluesonichd said:
Who would want to visit a theme park in the cold and rain in December, especially if it was a 4pm close day.
And you had to deal with social distance too

o_O
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I guarantee if the park was open during a war and was being shelled, somebody would be kicking off on here that they couldn't get on Wickerman because the park was closed and ridetimes was down. There will be enough people wanting to go in December :D
 
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