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2013: General Discussion

Jurassic Park as an IP never existed at Alton towers, even if only for a few weeks. The fact that the Dinosaurs existed in what was Fantasy World and then moved over to The Flume is just a coincidence :)
 
Not impressed with the ERT line-up this year.

When blivvy & nemesis was on you could easily get 2-3 rides on each in the morning. They are were the two biggest thrills in the whole park & getting them done early always meant we could take the rest of the day at a slower pace.

Ideally I would like air on ERT if no oblivion. Are there certain rides that cant open for ERT because they require extra testing? If so I imagine air would be one of them..?

For the 3 days i visited the park in FHT, spinball was always ready. Bottom line is that I think spinball or air (or both :) )should be added.

•Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE = waste of ERT IMHO
•TH13TEEN = not a bad ERT addition.
•Hex = a must ride, but rarely a long wait, so wouldnt use in ERT
•Heave Ho = can understand for families
•Marauders Mayhem = ditto above
•Nemesis = fantastic chance to get some rides in - an ERT must
•Runaway Mine Train = too out-of-the-way for me to warrant ERT normally when oblivion & nemesis were my first stops. Would maybe do this first now on the way to nemesis if no alternative to blivvy comes to light.
 
Not sure if this is new today or not, but Towers have updated their website to include details about opening, The Sanctuary, the return for £1 offer and The Smiler in may which can be found here Opening Week :)

The bit I like most is this:

The Sanctuary is a free scare maze included in the cost of entrance to the Alton Towers Theme Park.
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Considering I paid for it during Scarefest and never got to experience it I'm looking forward to this now ;D
 
What an absolutely stupid situation it is that they haven't revealed opening times yet. If they expect people to book more than a week in advance without knowing opening times they are seriously kidding themselves. It's just a few days now until opening! The park is going to seriously suffer from this and the delay with The Smiler, I think.
 
Tom said:
What an absolutely stupid situation it is that they haven't revealed opening times yet. If they expect people to book more than a week in advance without knowing opening times they are seriously kidding themselves. It's just a few days now until opening! The park is going to seriously suffer from this and the delay with The Smiler, I think.
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I'm annnoyed with that too! All they are saying is 'open'....well...HOW LONG!!?!
 
i am thinking of buying a merlin card or alton towers are they worth the money as i go to alton towers alot an if so hw much wud i save
 
Sonic Spinball will open for ERT where possible as far as I know.

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If you regularly attend Alton Towers, then I'd suggest getting one. But if you visit other Merlin Attractions, then I'd advise getting a Merlin Annual Pass. A individual Premium costs £195 or £176 with a 10% discount when buying online. While a individual standard pass costs £159 or £143 with a 10% discount when buying online.

If you want just a Alton Towers pass, then it's £100 net price, and £120 to buy at Alton itself.
 
For the ATcard, It depends entirely on the amount of times you visit a year. Visiting one or two times won't be worth it, however visiting a lot, will definitely make it worth the money.
However if you find your self visiting lots of Merlin places, like dungeons, thorpe lark, chessington, often, I suggest a Merlin Pass. There are also many benefits, such as the Thorpe park preview day, or hotel discounts.
Getting a pass is so much more worth the money than just buying standard tickets every time you visit.
 
I have a horrible feeling that the lack of opening times on the website is hiding some form of earlier ride closes. I really hope not though. Regardless of what they are going to be, they need to put them online ASAP, people do look at these things before visiting or deciding whether or not to visit.

:)
 
LiamC said:
The bit I like most is this:

The Sanctuary is a free scare maze included in the cost of entrance to the Alton Towers Theme Park.
Click to expand...

Considering I paid for it during Scarefest and never got to experience it I'm looking forward to this now ;D
Click to expand...

Same here. Having not experienced The Sanctuary in 2012 I'm very happy that I will be able to experience it this year, for free too. Which is even better! I had a horrible feeling they were going to charge for this but I'm very glad they've made the right decision by making it free.



Agree with the few above posts regarding opening times. Much like Rob I have a feeling they could be hiding some early ride closes. However it's not very good having no information whatsoever on operating times. Makes it impossible for anyone to plan their day, especially those who need to book tickets for public transport.
 
Whilst I think it's odd that opening hours are not up yet, I'm hoping that it's for a positive reason rather than a negative... Maybe shorter closes before May to allow for extra-long summer opening when The Smiler is finished? Or perhaps they're going to have more flexible opening hours which allows them to stay open for longer on short notice? Or maybe... it's just to cover up more early closes. I'm hoping it's one of the first two.
 
Some opening hours are now available, but there all between 5pm and 6pm...

Only maximum increase of 30 minutes during the month of May...
 
Yeah opening times can be found here: Opening Times

All pretty standard to be honest. It's a shame they don't increase the summer hours till at least 7pm :(
 
From TS News said:
Alton Towers have today released the first set of opening times for the 2013 season, only days before the park re-opens this weekend. This year has seen the opening times announced much later than usual, possibly in part due to the delays to new ride The Smiler – now due to open in May.

The most interesting thing to come from this year’s current set of opening hours is that the 4 PM close has now gone, with the earliest ride close being 5 PM instead. 4PM closures were announced for a number of off days last season, causing a negative reaction from both enthusiasts and park guests. As a result of this, the early closures were eventually scaled back.

The whole season has not yet been announced, but the majority of times seem to be set at 5 PM with a handful of 5:30 PM park closures. Moving into the peak summer months, July and August the park sees a number of 6 PM closures. Ride closes for September and October have not yet been announced, whilst Scarefest and Fireworks will see the park open until 9 PM.

ae0c728452564049a2f4d58.png


These opening times, taken from July, show the fairly random spread of differing times.

Alton Towers has often adopted a policy of flexibility in park opening times when the park is particularly busy, often extending the time the park closes on the day, and so changes are entirely possible during peak periods or during special events. In addition, amendments have often been made to opening times on the Alton Towers website over the course of the season, and it’s expected this will be the case during the course of 2013.
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http://www.towersstreet.com/news/2013/2013-opening-times-released/



Could we see more flexible opening times this season?
 
The 4pm closures remained during term time weekdays in September and October last year. Those periods have not been revealed this year as of yet, so it's possible they will be 4pm closures also.
 
There were no 4pm closes last year at all in the end. Were there?

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