2014: General Discussion

[Novas]

After crawling out of my winter slumber and reading the forum for a bit I must admit that I'm pretty gutted to have read so many disappointed comments about yet another half arsed Merlin closed season!

 

[smudge]

I'm quite impressed with this closed season actually. More noticeable improvements than the last few anyhow. Towers street looks nice, the toilets look nice(er) and the fencing does no harm realistically. Dark forest remains in the appalling state it always was though.

 

[thefatone]

Did anyone else who rode the Skyride today hear the new audio and think of DiogoJ42's post?

Amazing coincidence that they have moved from the modified Monorail upsell everything soundtrack to a "look at the views from the skyride" soundtrack at the same point that they may need to sell the idea that the Skyride is an attraction (and subject to closure in non peak times) as opposed to a part of the infrastructure.

Haven't they also changed the monorail so it's not upselling constantly anymore? This must mean they're now treating this as a ride and not a transportation system, must be late opening also!!!!!!!!!!

Or they just did it cos they realised it's much more important for guests to enjoy their day than feel very corporate down their throat stuff.

 

[Burbs]

Did anyone else who rode the Skyride today hear the new audio and think of DiogoJ42's post?

Amazing coincidence that they have moved from the modified Monorail upsell everything soundtrack to a "look at the views from the skyride" soundtrack at the same point that they may need to sell the idea that the Skyride is an attraction (and subject to closure in non peak times) as opposed to a part of the infrastructure.

Haven't they also changed the monorail so it's not upselling constantly anymore? This must mean they're now treating this as a ride and not a transportation system, must be late opening also!!!!!!!!!!

Or they just did it cos they realised it's much more important for guests to enjoy their day than feel very corporate down their throat stuff.

The monorail music was very quiet! I personally haven't ridden it in many years until yesterday, and according to the TST-ers I was with in the compartment, it was very quiet! Skyride seemed mega quiet as well. :/

 

[James]

I thought monorail trains were quiet last year tbh. Not sure if it's a volume thing or just a lot of faulty speakers although most of the time you cannot hear the audio on the trains clearly.

 

[Enk27]

The monorail was quiet but pretty sure in the morning it was telling me about about places to eat, encouraging going on the Smiler and Cbeebies land. In the evening it was mentioning scarefest and fireworks (and maybe the annual pass). So pretty much the same as last year.

I like the new skyride track but having read this thread in the morning I couldn't help chuckling when I heard it.

 

[AstroDan]

Dark Forest is a disgrace to the name of Alton Towers.

It needs a complete overhaul as soon as possible.

 

[Rob]

Dark Forest looks more like Ug Land that Dark Forest at the moment. Another more appropriate name would be Scaffold Forest. It is a complete and utter state and needs a significant investment ASAP. The winter weather has even cause part of Thirteen's station theming (the scaffold sheeting around where the track enters the drop zone) to rip apart revealing the corrugated metal underneath, I have no idea why they haven't replaced this.

 

[Sam]

Alton Towers, as usual, feels like one step forward, two steps back. The refurbishments (Oblivion shop, Corner Coffee) are great and the new Skyride audio is delightful and wonderfully engaging.

However, food & beverage has taken a nose-dive (scandalous Woodcutters price hikes and the gutting of the Mexican Cantina menu), the Dark Forest is repulsive and throughputs seem to have taken another tumble.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Dark Forest is a disgrace to the name of Alton Towers.

It needs a complete overhaul as soon as possible.

It is bad but is the theming much worse than say, X-Sector?

 

[Rob]

Dark Forest is a disgrace to the name of Alton Towers.

It needs a complete overhaul as soon as possible.

It is bad but is the theming much worse than say, X-Sector?

X-Sector looks brand new compared to the state that is Dark Forest.

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Dark Forest is a disgrace to the name of Alton Towers.

It needs a complete overhaul as soon as possible.

It is bad but is the theming much worse than say, X-Sector?

X-Sector looks brand new compared to the state that is Dark Forest.

Both have one big impressive theming feature.

The Marmaliser in X-Sector and Thirteen's station in Dark Forest. Oh and a nice entrance arch.

Other than that, the both fall pretty flat.

 

[Josh]

I was appalled at what has happened to the menu in Mexican Cantina, I've never been to an F&B unit before that literally only has one thing on the menu. They might as well rename the place "Burrito Meals" as that's all you can see on the walls inside :

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I remember how good the in-house F&B was around 2009/10 just after they kicked a lot of the chains out.

They havn't sustained it by the sounds of it.

 

[Rob]

Mexican was a huge disappointment. I had a lovely meal there on the last day of last season. However the menu has now been butchered and they only offer mediocre burritos. It used to be my favoute food outlet on park however I will not be returning this season.

 

[Craig]

Mexican was a huge disappointment. I had a lovely meal there on the last day of last season. However the menu has now been butchered and they only offer mediocre burritos. It used to be my favoute food outlet on park however I will not be returning this season.

Out of interest, when you say burritos is it just a tortilla with rice/chicken chucked on or is pre cooked and wrapped in a tortilla like they used to be?

 

[Danny]

I didn't eat in Mexican myself as I was simply using it as shelter from the brief negative turn in the weather, however the disappointment on everyone's faces spoke a thousand words.

The audio on the Skyride is a huge improvement compared to the upselling of years gone by. My only bone to pick on this matter is that the audio could slightly be turned up a notch. The upselling advert last year could still be heard even in a rowdy gondola, yet I found it difficult to hear the improved audio content in a half filled gondola this weekend. The same applies to the Monorail.

As I imagined, X-Sell is a dramatic improvement compared to its previous incarnation. Attempting to beat up Sam with an Oblivion bag on the screen has possibly be one of the most bizarre concentration requiring elements of the year.

I'm glad I managed to get a ruins venture in quite early this year, seeing as they were closed last year due to The Sanctuary. Yet again, I seem to always encounter new areas on each occasion I head inside.

The price increases on some of the food in Woodcutters was quite shocking. Admittedly I didn't eat in there but I'm fairly confident the price isn't justifiable, especially the scale of the increase in price.

As others have covered, Dark Forest is looking increasingly dire as each day goes by.

The extended queue line for The Smiler thankfully isn't as awful as I expected, but it does tarnish the look of the main ride entrance. Moreover, I actually had the smoothest two rides on it this weekend [both on front row] since the rides I had on the day it opened. The queue line drainage remains as a downfall and I was rather amused when I spotted a member of the GP wearing wellies in the queue line.

On a final note [perhaps for now], I noticed Hex parked a lot quicker than it did last season and during FHT.

 

[Benzin]

Seems like all the Merlin Mexican Cantinas have seen a distinct lack of menu items...

That said, last time I used one it was either Chicken/Beef/Veg Fajitas for your meal...

 

[Rob]

Mexican was a huge disappointment. I had a lovely meal there on the last day of last season. However the menu has now been butchered and they only offer mediocre burritos. It used to be my favoute food outlet on park however I will not be returning this season.

Out of interest, when you say burritos is it just a tortilla with rice/chicken chucked on or is pre cooked and wrapped in a tortilla like they used to be?

They are all pre cooked and wrapped in silver foil. And you get them with a few nachos and dips. The burritos themselves are ok but nothing special, the one I had at PA was far tastier.

 

[smudge]

Oh no! I have to disagree, I had a lovely Burrito and have always found the food good value. (The only meal that fills me up in towers barring pizza pasta (all-you-can-eat) and maybe a platter to yourself in Woodcutters)

The only thing lacking is the service, very slow.

Only ever have had the mexican beef though, so maybe other meals are not up to scratch.