• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Quick Questions

Also (might not happen due to Covid) even though we drive, we always leave luggage with the porters (so we can put car keys in the bags and not have to worry about losing on a ride) and they bring it to the room for us. So if you check in when you arrive in the morning, when you collect the key in the afternoon/evening you can then go straight to the room and your bags should be waiting for you.
 
Hi Chaps, hopefully this is the right place to ask, could do with some advice! I emailed Merlin ages ago but as usual they havent got back to me...

So I bought a new merlin Gold pass a few weeks ago, and then tried to get one for the mrs a few days later and they had sold out (Are still sold out)

I booked myself with my pass to go on the 16th and 17th april, my original plan was to get her into Alton towers with the friends and family discount linked to the pass on the 16th, then take advantage of their "upgrade" option to buy a gold pass and have the days ticket refunded (£27 ish) but im not sure if passes will be availble to buy in park if they are sold out online??

Also we want to go for both days, the 2 day friend and faimily tickets works out at £55, wheeras 2 days regular price is £48 as they do that extra day for £10, but if we do that, not sure if we can upgrade to a gold pass in the park?? o_O

Any experts out there with pearls of wizdom? Thanks!! :)
 
AT86 said:
As far as I know new passes are not available to buy either online or at attractions. They have pulled them from sale until further notice, except for renewals.
Click to expand...
Balls, ok thanks. Just dont wanna waste $$.
If i buy one of the £27 friends and fambo tickets, do they still do that "return the next day for £10" offer in the park?
 
Roary said:
Balls, ok thanks. Just dont wanna waste $$.
If i buy one of the £27 friends and fambo tickets, do they still do that "return the next day for £10" offer in the park?
Click to expand...

as the park is pre-book only I don’t expect they will be selling tickets on-park at all. If you want to make sure you can get in then better to pre-book a 2 day ticket.
 
jon81uk said:
as the park is pre-book only I don’t expect they will be selling tickets on-park at all. If you want to make sure you can get in then better to pre-book a 2 day ticket.
Click to expand...
And yet they still advertise on the website that booking online is a "saving" against the "on the day" price. Even though on the day is not an option. I highly doubt that is legal. I doubt even DFS would do that

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk
 
Matt.GC said:
And yet they still advertise on the website that booking online is a "saving" against the "on the day" price. Even though on the day is not an option. I highly doubt that is legal. I doubt even DFS would do that

Sent from my VOG-L29 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Worse still, last time I checked they are still displaying 'on the day' prices which aren't even available
 
This might seem like a random question about a bizarrely minute detail, but why is it that Thirteen and The Smiler (and only Thirteen and Smiler, might I add) have signs warning about “strong magnetic fields in the area, which may affect pacemakers and mobile phones”?

I know this probably seems like an odd query, and perhaps an overly minute detail to focus on, but I do wonder, as none of the other rides have this warning. Even Wicker Man, which is newer than both, doesn’t have one of these signs around.
 
spinba11 said:
They and Rita are the only rides to use magnets.
Click to expand...
Ah right; makes sense, as I seem to remember Stealth having a similar warning over at Thorpe!

I take it in Rita and Stealth’s case, this is because of the hydraulic launches and associated components, but I’m slightly confused as to where magnets might be used on Thirteen and Smiler, I’ll admit. Is it something to do with the braking system, or some kind of anti-rollbacks?

I may well have not seen the sign at Wicker Man; I’ll have to find a photo of the safety sign and take a closer look!
 
Ah right; I know Wicker Man also utilises magnets of some sort for its anti-rollbacks, as the planning application mentioned a “silent magnetic lift system”. I think Smiler might also use magnetic anti-rollbacks, correct me if I’m wrong.

Bizarrely, I also discovered that Wicker Man’s safety sign changed colour at some point between the Meet the Maker event and the ride’s public opening, for some unknown reason! At the Meet the Maker event, it was pale and had the appearance of a burnt scroll, but it was switched to black by the time the ride opened, which I’d never noticed previously, and I’m not entirely sure why the park changed it so late on!
 
On Rita & Stealth the fins that drop into the launch track just before the launch happens are magnetic and come back up as soon as the train has launched. They are magnetic brakes to stop the train in the event of a rollback off the launch. Without them the train could just rollback and collide with the other one that would be somewhere in the station.
 
Kraken27 said:
On Rita & Stealth the fins that drop into the launch track just before the launch happens are magnetic and come back up as soon as the train has launched. They are magnetic brakes to stop the train in the event of a rollback off the launch. Without them the train could just rollback and collide with the other one that would be somewhere in the station.
Click to expand...
And the same fins are are on the break runs on The Smiler - you can hear the "shht shht shht" of the pistons setting them in place and releasing them accordingly when you're standing under it (the last stretch of queue before you enter the indoor bit is the best place to see and hear them in action):



On a personal note, I find all that sort of thing fascinating to watch on any coaster or machinery, but then I'm just geeky!

EDIT Thinking about it though, are the brakes on The Smiler magnetic or just standard friction ones?
 
Last edited:
Smiler mostly uses magnetic brakes, it also has a set of magnetic trims on each airtime hill that are retracted if the train isn't going particularly fast.

There will usually be a mechanical brake to bring the train to a complete stop after the magnets but almost all of the work is being done by the magnets rather than friction brakes.
 
Can anyone recommend places near Alton Towers and Thorpe park where my parents can work/drink coffee while I'm at the parks so they don't have to pay the entry fee when they don't want to go on any rides?
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Can anyone recommend places near Alton Towers and Thorpe park where my parents can work/drink coffee while I'm at the parks so they don't have to pay the entry fee when they don't want to go on any rides?
Click to expand...
Not sure on Thorpe but for Towers, you have the hotels or any pub in Alton village! Also you have a cafe/restaurant called the Rambler's Retreat which if you continue on the path past the chained oak tree you'll eventually come to it I think. Never been there but it looks great. If you turn off the main road by the Alton Bridge pub and continue on that road I think you'll get there by car.
https://www.ramblersretreat.co.uk/
 
Thameslink Rail said:
Can anyone recommend places near Alton Towers and Thorpe park where my parents can work/drink coffee while I'm at the parks so they don't have to pay the entry fee when they don't want to go on any rides?
Click to expand...

If they want to work as well then Starbucks at Uttoxeter (just off the A50) is probably a good bet. About 15 minutes from Atlon Towers and has wifi.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top