2014: General Discussion

[Johno]

I'm avoiding taking too much of a position on the appearance as it's a 2 year project but the food is mediocre and the service crap. When we went some peoples meals had to be returned to the kitchen FIVE times before it came out right, staff where nice enough but seemed completely un prepared.

Why they didn't bring half the wood cutters staff to TSBG to help and train some of the new guys in Woodcutters I don't know.... Well actually based on F&B management this season I can guess why.

On the plus side if they improve the food quality, the choice is quite good.

But just why is it a 2 year project?

Cost? It can't be 'that' prohibitively expensive to just get it sorted and done in time for your brand new attraction opening...

Time? Well they hadn't started much til a few weeks before opening...

Lack of thought, lack of interest, lack of motivation? Oh Merlin..

 

[Dave]

Think it might have been a last minute decision to do it.

 

[Rob]

It will have been another last minute decision. If they'd planned it for a while then they had more than enough time to get the job done in one go.

The food that I had was fine, in fact my chicken and ribs were really nice, so no complaints there. However the service was poor. I had to wait over 10 minutes at the till whilst one staff member tried to process something unrelated to my order, great customer service there. I felt for the staff member who was trying to serve me as he was somewhat helpless and just kept apologising. I ordered a chicken and ribs combo and when my food did come (after at least a 30 minute wait) it came without the ribs. Others had to send their steaks back up to five times as they only knew how to cook them well done. They were also determined to bring us a Towers St. Special burger despite no one having ordered it; the same chap brought it out time after time despite us saying it wasn't for us!

Thankfully the manager was very honest and gave us refunds on our food. It was clearly not ready to open on Saturday though, the staff hadn't had anywhere near enough training.

 

[IanB]

It was a little very embarrassing, they would of been better off keeping it closed another month, and then opening it.

I was just waiting for someone to trip over, I am not sure what to call it, but it was like what you put between two joins of different floor material. I saw a waiter with food in their hand nearly trip over it twice anyway.

The men's toilets were a mess as well, water from the taps came out to fast, causing the side and floor to be soaked, and the cubicles look like they have been re-used a dozen times, with more holes than Swiss cheese in the cubicle walls.

I am not going to talk about the food, its the same old same, which you can get at Weather spoons, but double the price, and worse quality.

As with most things at Tower, it is just a very frustrating experience. The potential is their to deliver something magical, but they seem to lack the motivation/investment to do it.

 

[BigDave]

I think I can see what they are trying to do. Lets make a Woodcutters, but with more room and better capacity. It seems like they have created something with much worse quality and half the capacity due to poorly trained staff.

They clearly weren't ready and apart from a bit of a paint job, it looks almost the same. I hope they do a lot of work over next closed season as it really needs it. I was looking forward to going there when I visit next, but now not so much.

 

[Dave]

So a few friends where at Towers yesterday and said the park was absolutely heaving (as busy as some Scarefest days) Yet guess what!

The park closed at 6pm!

I despair sometimes.

 

[Burbs]

So a few friends where at Towers yesterday and said the park was absolutely heaving (as busy as some Scarefest days) Yet guess what!

The park closed at 6pm!

I despair sometimes.

 

[Rob]

It sounds like yesterday was the busiest day of the season so far, seems mad that they didn't extend.

Today was strange. The park felt really busy and the car parks proved that it was yet the queues were all fine. The Smiler has a long queue in the morning but that settled down to about half an hour by the afternoon. All other coasters varied between 0 and 30 minutes.

 

[jon81uk]

The park never extends past 6pm except August so I don't think that should be a surprise to anyone.

I would guess if the car park is busy but coaster queues small then everyone is in CBeebies Land!

 

[Rob]

The park never extends past 6pm except August so I don't think that should be a surprise to anyone.

I would guess if the car park is busy but coaster queues small then everyone is in CBeebies Land!

Well no but when there's over 20,000 people on park 6pm is early! It's obvious that they were never going to extend though. Thorpe however did extend their opening on Saturday!

Yesterday though it wasn't that everyone was in CBeebies Land. The whole park felt busy but the queues were all relatively short. It was really nice actually as there was a great atmosphere on park yet we got on every coaster in the park without any long queues!

 

[jon81uk]

Maybe, and this is an unusual thought, that the increase in Annual Pass sales means there is are less guests trying to fit in as many coasters as possible each visit. If you have an annual pass and therefore know you will come back later in the year maybe people are taking it slower and that means more people in the park but not in the queues? Could also be improvements in despatch and throughput.

 

[smudge]

Could also be improvements in despatch and throughput.

I have noticed this too, especially this season. Air, Nemesis & The Smiler, noticeably quicker despatch times compared to last year.

I don't this AP's have a big impact still. You only need to look at ERT to see how little difference it makes. It would be interesting to know how many people are on park, at any one time, with AP's though.

 

[Cheese]

The weather makes a big difference. If it's warm and sunny the park can be packed with people that are happy to just enjoy being outside. Drayton Manor was similar at Sandwich Meet 2012 if I recall correctly; huge crowds but perfectly acceptable queues.

 

[Poisson]

Could also be improvements in despatch and throughput.

I have noticed this too, especially this season. Air, Nemesis & The Smiler, noticeably quicker despatch times compared to last year.

Maybe because they are focussing on it......

 

[Balb0wa]

I went today, i like cbeebies land, the place was pretty busy with little kids and push chairs, towers must be loving the extra revenue, not so keen myself, its normally quiet!

Not many coaches or school trips, just folk with little kids.

 

[smudge]

With the smiler only increasing towers' attendance by 4.2% last year, I sincerely hope that cboobies doesn't top that this year. I fear that could mean no more large investments and a park full of IP's [/pessimistic]

 

[James]

4.2% increase is still good and I'm sure even if there is an increase this year it will be thanks to The Smiler as well as CBeebies Land.

The Smiler missed out two months of the main season last year, broke down a lot and of course from 2010 onwards the park hasn't quite created anything mesmerising (I know The Smiler is far from it but there's no arguing it's the most unique UK thrill ride since the Tussauds days - outside of breakdowns, it's a winner with the public). So it was always going to be very difficult for there to be a decent rise in guest figures. The Smiler has continued to have long queues this year on most weekends and in the holidays so I think there is a continual interest that has continued on from last year. CBeebies Land will be an obvious hit too so I think they will do really well this season!

I doubt a rise in guest figures will make then go towards IPs more. Merlin know IPs guarantee a certain number of guests so I guess it depends how they want to develop their parks with that.

With The Smiler, CBeebies Land and the Enchanted Village all over three years Towers is getting big investment from Merlin. When it comes to big investment I don't think we need to worry. My main concern is Merlin's cutting corners and all these yearly budget cuts, which seem to be putting immense strain on all the UK parks.

 

[Olii]

There's currently an air ambulance on park in the main field at the end of Towers Street. Staff and vehicles with flashing lights on had to keep people from going on the field. I have a pic but can't put it on from my phone.

 

[Burbs]

There's currently an air ambulance on park in the main field at the end of Towers Street. Staff and vehicles with flashing lights on had to keep people from going on the field. I have a pic but can't put it on from my phone.

Really?! Not saying you're not telling the truth, but can anyone else confirm this?

Edit: Just searched on Twitter and there are a couple of tweets that confirm this!

 

[Scott]

It's not actually that uncommon for it to happen.

The roads around Alton aren't great and if a guest has some kind of emergency the easiest way to get help is through the air ambulance. It probably isn't anything to do with a ride or attraction but someone has probably taken ill.

Whatever it is I hope the person involved has a speedy recovery.