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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-26

Last season's Spinball Whizzer wet weather change, where they halted all operations at the slightest bit of drizzle, appears to have been reversed. 3 riders per car in wet weather is back.

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Are things looking good more generally @GooseOnTheLoose?

We’re currently stuck in a queue merging from the M5 onto the M6, with a forecast ETA at Alton of around 1pm!
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Last season's Spinball Whizzer wet weather change, where they halted all operations at the slightest bit of drizzle, appears to have been reversed. 3 riders per car in wet weather is back.

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I was watching Coaster Dad’s opening day vlog, and he mentioned that the new Vice President had said to him that they had reviewed the ride closure policy during thunderstorms, and had managed to reduce the closure period down to 15 minutes from one hour like it was last season.

I think it’s good that Towers are making these improvements to operational procedures, even if it’s been overshadowed by worsening ride availability from maintenance issues.
 
Matt N said:
Are things looking good more generally @GooseOnTheLoose?

We’re currently stuck in a queue merging from the M5 onto the M6, with a forecast ETA at Alton of around 1pm!
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All coasters open apart from Oblivion and Runaway Mine Train.

Hex is currently closed. Major coasters are around an hour, exception is The Smiler at 90. Single Rider for that looks just as long.

With it being mostly school trips, I'm hoping it thins out a bit later!

Actual ride uptime is fine.
 
rob666 said:
...and schools are getting wise on the fact that school trips at the end of June and early July are hopeless crushfests. with only two or three rides all day.
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One thing I like about AT is that at least many of their rides use the giant metallic fences in the queue-line, which helps to prevent relentless queue-jumping whenever schoolchildren are there.

(Drayton Manor use the small fences instead, which are all too easy to climb over or under)

That said: I think a few AT rides still use the smaller fences, but the children seem to behave better at AT than they do at other parks anyway, for whatever reason.
 
Secret Weapon said:
One thing I like about AT is that at least many of their rides use the giant metallic fences in the queue-line, which helps to prevent relentless queue-jumping whenever schoolchildren are there.

(Drayton Manor use the small fences instead, which are all too easy to climb over or under)

That said: I think a few AT rides still use the smaller fences, but the children seem to behave better at AT than they do at other parks anyway, for whatever reason.
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13 is queue jumping kingdom where it weaves through the woods. It’s like a pre made parkour course
 
dave___ said:
13 is queue jumping kingdom where it weaves through the woods. It’s like a pre made parkour course
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Thirteen was actually the ride that I was thinking of that still uses an old fashioned type of queue, and also has a remote location (away from surveillance).

I rarely ever ride it, though (except on quiet days), which is probably why I haven't noticed much queue-jumping on it.

The 'metallic'-fenced rides I was thinking of were The Smiler and Nemesis, but I think Toxicator and Galactica may also have metallic fences in parts of the queue as well (I can't remember).

That said, even the 'wooden' queues at AT are still much better than the ones at Drayon Manor, as they are often taller and more solid / less porous, and sometimes even spiked at the top (I think).

The Haunting has no queue line fencing whatsoever and so kids just walk straight past you.
 
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I have spent the last two days at Alton Towers and resultantly, I have some throughput timings to share for anyone who’s interested! The timings I managed to gather were as follows:
  • Galactica (Theoretical: 1,500pph on 3 trains/2 stations) - 611pph (2 trains/1 station, average of 8, 27th March 2026)
  • Nemesis Reborn (Theoretical: 1,400pph on 2 trains) - 1,183pph (2 trains, average of 10, 27th March 2026), 1,227pph (2 trains, average of 3, 28th March 2026), 1,161pph (2 trains, average of 10, 28th March 2026) Note: The 27th March reading was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow dispatch, with the average interval being around the 90s mark prior to this.
  • Rita (Theoretical: 1,150pph on 2 trains) - 636pph (2 trains, average of 10, 27th March 2026), 715pph (2 trains, average of 10, 28th March 2026)
  • Spinball Whizzer (Theoretical: 950pph on 8 cars) - 513pph (5 or 6 cars, average of 10, 27th March 2026) Note: This number assumes 4 riders to a car, and the ride was running with 3 riders to a car on my ride, so the actual number would be more like 385pph. It is also worth me noting that this figure was brought down by 1 or 2 particularly slow dispatches, with the average interval sitting at a pretty consistent 23s otherwise.
  • The Smiler (Theoretical: 1,000pph on 5 trains) - 790pph (4 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 10, 27th March 2026)
  • Thirteen (Theoretical: 1,100pph on 3 trains) - 1,025pph (3 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 3, 27th March 2025), 901pph (3 trains, baggage hold closed, average of 10, 27th March 2025), 1,022pph (3 trains, baggage hold open, average of 5, 28th March 2026) Note: The 28th March reading was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow reading caused by guest faff at the end of the timing period, with the prior readings producing an average dispatch interval of 57s.
  • Wicker Man (Theoretical: 952pph on 3 trains) - 854pph (2 trains, average of 8, 27th March 2025), 901pph (unknown number of trains, average of 8, 28th March 2025)
If I were to offer a few general insights, I would say the following:
  • Operations were overall pretty good, but perhaps a little inconsistent, in my view. There were a couple of areas of weakness.
  • Nemesis Reborn was a consistent area of strength. On the Friday night in particular, they were slamming trains out at a relatively consistent interval of 90s or so, with little to no stacking; the average above was brought downwards by 1 anomalously slow dispatch. Saturday was a little less consistent, maybe averaging around the 100s mark, but even still, the operation was relatively smooth with minimal stacking. The staff were flying on here!
  • Thirteen was another area of strength when the baggage hold was open on Saturday, perhaps proving the impact a baggage hold can have for throughput, in my opinion. My average above caught one particularly anomalous dispatch with some guest faff in the mix, but they were averaging under a minute prior to this and were whacking the trains out at a rate of knots! Other than the one anomaly, 65s was the slowest dispatch while I was in the station earlier today; the operation was very, very slick! Stacking was minimal, and when I was on the ride, our train came out of the crypt to the sight of the train behind going up the lift hill to enter it! Friday was definitely slower on Thirteen when it was closed, with my snapshots showing a throughput more around the 900-1,000pph mark and an audibly slower average dispatch interval of more like 70-80s.
  • Wicker Man was a weird one. On Friday, it was running 2 trains, but was going fast enough that I thought it could have been running a slightly sluggish 3 train service; the staff were flying on there! On Saturday, the ride was running faster again, hitting around 900pph. I think 3 trains was possible based on the speed, but it seemed to run in a clockwork alternating manner of one very quick 80s dispatch interval followed by one slower dispatch interval of 2 minutes or so, which makes me think that it could have been a very fast 2 train service again today. The staff were doing incredibly well on here on Friday, but I think 3 trains would not have gone amiss given the crowd levels.
  • Galactica was a massive stinker compared to the other rides. The staff were trying their hardest, but my goodness, that queue moves slowly when the ride only runs 2 trains and 1 station. 600pph really isn’t ideal when the park is that busy.
  • I do think baggage holds on Smiler and Thirteen may have come in useful on Friday. Thirteen’s was open on Saturday, but I think the throughput boost from them being open could have been of use on Friday too. My readings from Thirteen would show that those holds really do speed things along, in my view!
 
Matt N said:
Galactica was a massive stinker compared to the other rides. The staff were trying their hardest, but my goodness, that queue moves slowly when the ride only runs 2 trains and 1 station. 600pph really isn’t ideal when the park is that busy.
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I don't understand why Galactica is always so slow. It surely can't just be the "flying position", as getting riders into position surely only adds a few extra seconds to the dispatch? (In hindsight, it might have been better if the ride returned riders to the upright position on the brake run rather than the station)

I realise that the trains only have 28 riders rather than the 32 of Nemesis, but this is still more than every other coaster in the park besides those two.

The ride is so slow that I rarely ever bother with it. Its only advantage over Nemesis (to me) is the single-rider queue, and this doesn't even operate on quiet days.
 
Secret Weapon said:
I don't understand why Galactica is always so slow. It surely can't just be the "flying position", as getting riders into position surely only adds a few extra seconds to the dispatch? (In hindsight, it might have been better if the ride returned riders to the upright position on the brake run rather than the station)

I realise that the trains only have 28 riders rather than the 32 of Nemesis, but this is still more than every other coaster in the park besides those two.

The ride is so slow that I rarely ever bother with it. Its only advantage over Nemesis (to me) is the single-rider queue, and this doesn't even operate on quiet days.
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I think the faffy nature of the restraints can’t help. They are a faff for guests and the staff alike to get locked!

When Galactica runs on its full 3 trains and 2 stations, it can actually be quite a queue muncher if operations are slick; last July, I timed it at 1,207pph, which is almost double what I timed it at yesterday! But unfortunately, this isn’t nearly as consistent as it should be, and the ride often runs on either only 2 trains or a slower dispatching speed than is ideal.
 
Why don't they run 2 trains with 2 stations? (Instead of 3 trains with 2 stations, or 1 or 2 trains with 1 station)

That seems like a decent compromise between speed, and not needing to use the third train.

Is it just as simple as AT not wanting to pay for 2 extra staff members?
 
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