Contacting Merlin re: 'Problems At Alton'

That all comes about from not having enough time at the park because of hours being cut and queues being made longer by Fastrack being mismanaged and the new loading procedures.

Proper shows and parades work at every other major theme park across the world. There's no excuse for why they wouldn't work in the UK. Times may have changed, but a show like Peter Rabbit on Ice would be just as popular today if people had the time to appreciate them.

To say Drag has gone out of fashion is rubbish drag is and will always be popular. The Hip Hop grannies were drag . Theatre is full of drag also night clubs and that's what ATH did in there night entertainment. All the main jokes used in this years pirate show are all jokes pinched from old drag characters from alton Towers and they are still funny. I'm not saying bring it back. But is and will always be a classic and classics don't age.

I think in some way shape or form things like Drag will be seen in Towers ents, the reason this years Pirate Show is so much better is it takes a lot from the tradition of Panto (drag central).

This topic is a bit off.... topic

Most of the problems listed at the start of the thread are not unique to this season. I honestly wouldn't bother with a letter - the guest feedback scores combined with the feedback AT is getting on social media will be making it pretty clear to management the the mood is low.

AT only really care about the perception of the general public, and are therefore looking for trends. Individual letters are not going to change a thing (unless it is a serious complaint). Merlin will mostly be blind to complaints until the statistics are released to them about poor guest feedback. They are seemingly low this year so hopefully a debate might be sparked about how to improve things (hopes!).

GaryH said:

While yes there have been improvements, for me, the follow things stand out which have deteriorated over the years:


11) The Smiler - hardly open and no communication with guests when its closed

12) Hotels - rooms in ATH looking dated, bathrooms are tatty, evening entertainment poor with just 1 singer singing the same songs each night, band only there on selected days in the summer

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I know I'm in the minority, but I am loving AT this year.

I haven't got those really old memories of AT like other people have, so I guess in a way I'm seeing it with fresh eyes. The first time I went was the year Air opened. A few years ago I had a MAP and got a bit fed up towards the end of the season. But this year I've got one again and I'm just loving it.

Re The Smiler. I went towards the end of April in the year that Th13teen opened, and it had been down for several weeks. We were told on arrival that it was closed. Compared to this, since 15th April this year I've been to AT 11 times. I've been on The Smiler 16 times, and have hardly ever been help up by down time. I just don't think it's doing as badly in its early days as Th13teen did!

Also re the hotels, I've only recently discovered them through my TST friends. Maybe they've gone downhill, but to me right now, they are amazing and magical.

I know I am in the minority here, but I don't think Price is a problem if you fix all the other issues. Alton Towers should be a premium experience, with premium rides and premium shows.

If everything else was sorted out, with the BOGOF vouchers, it would represent an excellent day out. Even at £30 on the gate, if everything else was sorted out, it would still be great.

Alton Towers is a business, and it therefore needs to make a profit. Some people might not like that, but its a fact. I think the problem is that the people pushing for the park to make as much profit as possible don't realise that they are creating a short term win, for a long term loss.

The last few years, the economy has been struggling, but it is starting to show signs of recovery now. Over the last few years, peoples budgets have had to be tightened, so instead of flying away, they have gone to local attractions. Merlin should of used this opportunity to really sell the parks as a premium experience, and build some brand loyalty, so when the economy does recover people will want to come back, instead of going else where.

My big worry is come the middle of 2014/early 2015 as the economy recovers, and people start having more money to spend, they will start going to Disneyland Paris, or further abroad, for holidays, and will not bother with Alton Towers due to there previous negative experiences over the last few years.

This season has seen some great additions, but each great addition has had a balancing negative effect.

Hotels for example, have got the new Moon Voyager rooms, which are charged more expensive than the other rooms, but I am sure this will drop as they convert more. The negative side of things is that the hotel bars have increased prices while providing a worse product.

Oblivion has been re-painted and looks fantastic from a track point of view, but the actual trains themselves still look tacky.

I find the trick to enjoying my days out as Towers is to enjoy being there with great friends, and not worrying about everything else, as there is nothing we can do to make any difference, but if someone does win the Euro Millions, Merlin might be tempted to sell you the park for €100 Million.

Ian

The only way to get around the issue of the early shut at scarefest is....................... get thousands of people to turn up all at once at 6:30. If you know a few thousand people. set away

The problem is that while Alton Towers is a premium price, it's not quite hitting premium quality. The minute they get a great addition, something happens that throws everything off balance and people end up viewing the place in a negative light again.

The hotels hit the premium feel very well I think. Especially the Alton Towers Hotel which I actually prefer over Disneyland Paris' resort hotels! The theme park needs quite a bit of improvement before it's in the same league. I think entertainments will be one of the biggest parts of making Alton Towers stand out further and improve. Which to be fair since 2008 they have done loads, it can only go up from here hopefully. There's a lot of fantastic people working in that department.

Alton Towers is the market leader in the UK but is stuck with staying safe and not leading the market. I wonder though if that's purely down to the way in which Merlin operates, or if Alton Towers really feel that playing it safe is the best option. I'd rather hope it's the former that's stopping them. If so someone at Towers needs to push Merlin to allow them more freedom. I believe a few people at Towers were responsible for getting Merlin to sort out the mess that was Sub-Terra V1.0 last year. So they can persuade the bigger bosses.

I'm just worried under the leadership of Merlin, a company that is trying to float, Alton Towers will get no where for a long while.

James said:

The problem is that while Alton Towers is a premium price, it's not quite hitting premium quality. The minute they get a great addition, something happens that throws everything off balance and people end up viewing the place in a negative light again.

The hotels hit the premium feel very well I think. Especially the Alton Towers Hotel which I actually prefer over Disneyland Paris' resort hotels! The theme park needs quite a bit of improvement before it's in the same league. I think entertainments will be one of the biggest parts of making Alton Towers stand out further and improve. Which to be fair since 2008 they have done loads, it can only go up from here hopefully. There's a lot of fantastic people working in that department. I'm just worried under the leadership of Merlin, a company that is trying to float, Alton Towers will get no where for a long while.

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Totally agree - premium prices but not premium quality. People dont mind paying high prices if they get something which is worthy (look at the amount of people who dine in expensive restaurants for example).

While the hotels hit the premium feel on paper, I dont think they do when you are actually there. ATH for instance is now showing its age, the rooms are a bit tatty, beds which sag in the middle, windows not working, bathrooms in particular are very aged with cracked sinks etc. Entertainment has been cut back in the hotels this year which is unfortunate.

The biggest improvement in AT over the past few years have been the staff - without doubt, all happy, smiling, asking how your day is going, very helpful etc.

I just feel at the moment AT are resting on their laurels and keeping things at an "ok" level, rather than going that extra mile and making them "outstanding".

Yeah, I agree with your views. I suppose in hindsight there are things missing in the hotels. Entertainment has been lacking since 2002-2004 in the hotels. The rooms aren't looking too great, but (if rumours are true) they will all eventually be in the same league as the new Explorer rooms (not sure what the deal is with Splash as I never stay there).

The communal areas in both hotels are great however and especially the past few years a lot of work has been done, such as the fake bookcase filling the wall next to the big chair in the Alton Towers Hotel and new beach theming in Splash Landings - so communal areas have shaped up nicely. Hopefully the rooms will follow over the next few years.

How about in the letter say to them that if Merlin want even more money...they can sell off Alton Towers to someone more responsible and who knows how to run a theme park.

Simple!

Sadly the earliest we will see of Merlin no longer owning the park will be in 2052 when the lease between them and Nick Leslau expires. Obviously unless Merlin goes down before that.

Except the lease would be transferred if they were to dispose of the parks trade and assets

yeah that lease will be transferable if the operation changed hands. We can but hope

Can I add a couple of niggles...

The 17th July - I get told its summer holidays so can't get my corporate discount in the hotel.
We go to the waterpark when we are there, and the outside section was only open for a few hours and closed at 4pm, we asked why and were told - "well it isn't the school holidays". Its such a shame it was a roasting hot day too! But it seems to be summer holidays where it is profitable to them.

The phone system. The other week I wanted to ring the spa on a sunday - and tried numerous numbers but because they want you to pay using the 0871 numbers its remarkably difficult to find an OPEN phone line out of hours - even though you know there are people there. I don't actually care about paying (well ok a bit) but I find it frustrating that today for example as it is sunday I can't book Flambos for my next trip as although the restaurant is open I can't be bothered chasing phone numbers.

cinabar said:

The phone system. The other week I wanted to ring the spa on a sunday - and tried numerous numbers but because they want you to pay using the 0871 numbers its remarkably difficult to find an OPEN phone line out of hours - even though you know there are people there. I don't actually care about paying (well ok a bit) but I find it frustrating that today for example as it is sunday I can't book Flambos for my next trip as although the restaurant is open I can't be bothered chasing phone numbers.

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Agree. I hate the hotel phone lines. Even tho it's not a lot of money the fact that it's a premium rate number that starts with a completely unnecessary 2 minute automated intro message is really frustrating.

http://www.saynoto0870.com/ Try using this to find AT hotels alternative number. My dad used it to find the alternative number to thorpe parks helpline. Save yourself money. Merlin already have enough of it! PsssT. Also use it for other companies. It works for all premium phone numbers.