2012: The 'downhill' season?

[Scott]

It might seem premature to be writing something that, on the face of it, looks like a season review. Which to be honest, it generally is. However, we're near enough to the end of the season now to reflect well enough on what has gone on... The only saving grace can be Sacrefest and Fireworks - and it will be interesting to see if this year's event is well received after 2011 Scarefest was widely regarded as poor by the site.

It's strange to look back to the start of the season and see how we all had so much hope. 2011 was a horrible year for the park in many ways, and it was horrible for enthusiasts too (even though I wasn't on TTF at the time I am aware of the mass petition sent to AT as well as Merlin's copyright attacks and so on). 2012 seemed to bring some fresh new optimism, alongside a couple of new attractions. Although weather was poor, the park was praised during Feb HT for its operations and determination to get rides to work! Impressive stuff and something to look forward to throughout the season? Perhaps.

The season began slightly negatively though - with Sub Terra v1 being an unfinished and poorly worked attraction at its opening. However, this seemed to be out-weighed by the fact that most members who were visiting commented on how cheery the park felt, how welcoming the staff were and how fantastic the general atmosphere of the whole of Towers was! Something definitely improved on from 2011 and something that was well received and a positive start to the season...

What started so well though, seemed to slowly evaporate as the season went on. Cutback after cutback, followed by U-turn after U-turn from Merlin and the park seemed to force the originally great atmosphere out of the park and as we began to hit peak season reports of poor service, long queues, Fastrack abuse and more became rife on the forums! Whatever promising start there was back in February and March had soon seemed to drift into negativity - despite the positive reviews of Terry v2. On top of this, a poor run of bad luck with ride maintenance caused more headaches. Blivvy has been suffering all season and of course there was Rita's cable snap!

What started so well has seemed to become a bit of a poor season in terms of satisfaction, maintenance and general 'feel' of the park (something echoed by the recent thread on queue close information) - but where do you think it all went wrong? Was it the attempted cuts? The ride downtime? The overselling of Fastrack? A combination of everything? It just seems so strange to have felt so positive in the early weeks and months before the positivity crumbled when peak season kicked in!

Hopefully the park will have an amazing Scarefest and Fireworks and here's to SW7 in March!

 

[BigAl]

Am I allowed to compare this year to the Titanic? Lot's of things have contributed to this season being poor, but for me, Merlin have been the iceberg.

 

[AstroDan]

Alton Towers did not have a very good 2011 season, either (cue: The Honest Truth thread). However, 2012 has been compounded further with the most ridiculous range of cost cutting measures, including a reduction in park opening hours and a mass of U turns.

It's been pretty embarassing by all accounts for such a major attraction. I have never known anything like it at Alton Towers - even under Tussauds during the later stages.

I hope 2013 does not cause the noose to tighten even more, because there's not a lot more they can squeeze out of Alton Towers.

I can't even imagine what it must be like to be in a position of any authority there.

 

[tothetowers]

I think you've just got something of your chest, which everyone has being silently thinking but not had the guts to come out with it

Pray to God 2013 will be a better season

 

[Scott]

I think you've just got something of your chest, which everyone has being silently thinking but not had the guts to come out with it

Pray to God 2013 will be a better season

Ha, everyone's been saying it! Just look at some of the threads on this board to see what I mean...

 

[BigAl]

It'd be awful for the staff at Alton if SW7's opening year is overshadowed by more gloom. :/

 

[Harv]

It'd be awful for the staff at Alton if SW7's opening year is overshadowed by more gloom. :/

I know, it must be highly depressing for them.

I do, however, have my doubts as to whether SW7 will actually deliver. Another Sub-Terra would just about kill the positivity that remains.

I agree that this season has been a little disappointing but I think it's just going to be harsh reality now. In honesty, when was the last season that anyone sat back and felt that the season had gone better than average?

 

[AstroDan]

The 2010 season was superb.

Events, sparkle, passion.

Since then, 2011 and 2012 have been poor by comparison.

 

[Scott]

I agree that this season has been a little disappointing but I think it's just going to be harsh reality now. In honesty, when was the last season that anyone sat back and felt that the season had gone better than average?

The overwhelmingly disappointing thing about this season is that it felt better than average at the start even though the new attraction was an early failure! Despite this people felt a buzz and a warmth around the park that has been eroded as the weeks have gone by - something that should have in fact grown and spread as Ice Age was received well and Terry v2 has been loved too!

It's truly a shame that the park looked like it was going to be okay this year... only for it to have yet more life sucked from it.

 

[Blizzard]

I seriously hope merlin just sell AT to someone who's willing to keep it maintained & re-create the magical atmosphere AT should have.

Something that really bothers me is actually about SW7! The theme its going for is "Run Down, Derpressing, bland", how is this magical? Oblivion was built with "Magic" in mind, giving it an modern, clean & futuristic look, this is called "Magic".

Alright, SW7 isn't meant to be similar to Oblivion, but surely they could've come up with something a little more magical than just a worn, concrete box, a blackish track with some inversions, & a giant spider & a few shipping containers.

Ok, i'm going off topic to SW7, but what i'm saying relates to most new attractions merlin add, & their non-existant upkeep of things.

Will they ever learn?

:

 

[Adam]

I think you've just got something of your chest, which everyone has being silently thinking but not had the guts to come out with it.

Mate, I've been saying this stuff since 13 opened.

 

[Martin]

where do you think it all went wrong?

Six letters.

M. E. R. L. I. N.

 

[simps100]

Im abit of an outsider, living down near Thorpe i visit there more than i do towers.

I visited the park in February and enjoyed it very much so, but for me things from here went down hill quite quick. The cost cuttings started to kick in with the announcement of Submission / Enterprise being closed, which was U turned, then the 4pm closes which were a joke, again most of them U turned. Whilst none of these affected me directly i thought it made the park look very unprofessional, cutting what they can, and quickly going back on these when they saw the negative reaction on the social media sites.

Ive made a couple of visits in the last week (last Sunday and then Friday), neither of which were full days (on way and back to Blackpool!) but i did enjoy my time on park. I thought Nemesis ST was decent, staff were happy and cheerful and rides seemed to be running pretty well on a decent capacity.

What did frustrate me on the Sunday was that the park was pretty busy, major rides had around hour queues and ive noticed Alton have slowly caught up with the over selling of fastrack, whilst not as bad as it is down here its getting there... Ride close at 5 was not good enough, for a busy Sunday afternoon it was quite silly, especially when i know Thorpe was due to be open till 6 and actually extended till 7.. from what i gather Alton are not able to extend hours as easy at Thorpe have done this year.. not too sure why.. maybe someone can enlighten me on that one.

There just small things, but they do put me of visiting especially when the cost for me is quite high, and the distance from here. Either way i get the impression all the Merlin parks in the UK have been hit this year and hopefully next year will be a better year all round.

 

[AstroDan]

Alton are more reluctant to extend close because of two key reasons.

- Park operating costs are far higher
- It takes minimum 1 hour to clear the park.

They redefined the thresholds for ride close this season in order to close earlier and save money.

It shouldn't be an excuse but that is what Alton would say.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[delta79]

Blizzard,
Run Down, Depressing, bland theming for a ride is part of the magic of that ride, IF balanced with the upbeat, bright or futuristic theming of other parts of the park and rides.

Unfortunately this concept is let down by budget cuts in maintaining buildings and theming for the park so theming is not different and magical in a dark way.

 

[simps100]

Alton are more reluctant to extend close because of two key reasons.

- Park operating costs are far higher
- It takes minimum 1 hour to clear the park

It shouldn't be an excuse but that is what Alton would say.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

There fair points, i guess it would be better if the advertised hours were already abit more reasonable, they must have a fair idea of how many guests they are expecting, i expect next year may be abit different with SW7, well i hope anyway

 

[Scott]

i expect next year may be abit different with SW7, well i hope anyway

It's what we'd all hope for... but would be reluctant to expect unfortunately... SW7 should draw more guests and should make the park busier. The park therefore should stay open longer, at least at peak times... Yet, we've seen Thorpe have opening times cut despite The Swarm opening, so I'm not getting any hopes up!

 

[simps100]

i expect next year may be abit different with SW7, well i hope anyway

It's what we'd all hope for... but would be reluctant to expect unfortunately... SW7 should draw more guests and should make the park busier. The park therefore should stay open longer, at least at peak times... Yet, we've seen Thorpe have opening times cut despite The Swarm opening, so I'm not getting any hopes up!

I think thats the problem though, thorpe dont seem any busier, not like the year Saw opened anyway. The hours at thorpe are abit weird this year, they advertise to open at 10 but most of the time open at 9:30, obviously Fright nights have been cut which is a huge shame but i guess part of the cost cutting all the parks have had.

 

[Dylan]

My last visit of 2011 was the first day of Scarefest. Zero atmosphere on park, below average up charge mazes and generally quite disappointing (aside for the company, thankfully).
My only visit of 2012 has been the TTF@10 event where I didn't venture any further than Oblivion, once. I've felt no desire to return to be honest, from reading countless depressing reports on here. Granted they have improved over the season, but still, a poor show for the UK's flagship theme park I once loved.

 

[aru]

This season has been a bit depressing, but it is almost certainly not the worst we have seen. I remember cuts, opening hours, poor maintenance and shoddy events all being discussed during the bad Tussauds years. I think in the end we got two good attractions this year but it is a shame that they have been overshadowed by poor decisions and dreary PR.