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2016: General Discussion

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I've always used ERT to go to Forbidden Valley first thing in the morning.

The only reason ERT still exists these days is so then there is an 'exclusive' perk to advertise to hotel guests. It's pretty much pointless these days, best to use it to get to the areas you want to be in first when the park fully opens.
 
AndrewH said:
It's only sonic opening at 9:30 everything else opens at 9:00 I believe
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Tom.B said:
When it was first reported, Alton Towers had said that everything on the ERT line-up will be opening at 09:30, however this was a printing error as they have since confirmed that everything on the line-up will open at 09:00 apart from Sonic Spinball which will open at 09:30.

I hope that clears everything up. :)
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That's better :)

Looks like we all don't get much choice of what we want to ride for the first 30mins of ERT, well it's not like we were getting much of a choice in the first place :rolleyes:
 
Surprised that all the ERT rides are around the x-sector area when the focus this season is FV. Why do you want to take people away from your new ride?
 
Leah said:
Surprised that all the ERT rides are around the x-sector area when the focus this season is FV. Why do you want to take people away from your new ride?
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They've paid to get in the park anyway...
If they want to ride Galactica they will walk over to Galactica...
 
We mainly use ERT for CBeebies land but disappointing that more of the thrill rides are open so that DH can get them done quickly and get back to help with the kids!
 
Controversial post alert!
I'm actually quite happy with this year's ERT, from a purely selfish point of view. When Oblivion was on ERT in 2014, I would only do Oblivion then wait for the Smiler to open and do that. I could get up to 8 rides on Oblivion in the hour (on a good day), and then when it was removed from the line-up last year I was very disappointed. In fact, I don't think I made any use of ERT in 2015.
 
Leah said:
Surprised that all the ERT rides are around the x-sector area when the focus this season is FV. Why do you want to take people away from your new ride?
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I think this could be a clever move - the people that really want to go to Galactica first will, but this may try and sway them not to. Remember that the new Rollercoaster Restaurant is in that area of the park also, and if everyone was to go there early, they may be less likely to return to the area for lunch, if at all, during the day. Just a thought.
 
I presume it's more that they assume the focus for guests will be Galactica this year anyway. By moving ERT to X Sector/Spinball it might spread guest flow.
 
Leah said:
Surprised that all the ERT rides are around the x-sector area when the focus this season is FV. Why do you want to take people away from your new ride?
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Guest flow is indeed the answer. It's fair to expect that a lot of guests will head straight for the new ride when they arrive, even though it is right at the back of the park. They don't really want that as it doesn't help with queues in FV. If they can lure ERT guests to X-Sector first, then they may move on to Dark Forest and you have a more even spread of guests.

Disney invest millions in understanding and altering guest flows, although they clearly have a lot more guests.

:)
 
Don't they want big queues though, more fast-track? See what you mean about guest flow though - FV isn't the best area in terms of handling guests.
 
Leah said:
Don't they want big queues though, more fast-track? See what you mean about guest flow though - FV isn't the best area in terms of handling guests.
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Towers aren't quite PortAventura! One of the basic rules of theme park is encourage high levels of guest satisfaction as this is what drives the all important repeat visits. Long queues do not equate to guest satisfaction.

:)
 
Thats really quite poor this year and gives no incentive for people to have ERT, be it from the point of sale of advance tickets, annual passes or hotel guests. Just Oblivion? Really? What about families with kids not quite old enough for that, but old enough to go on the likes of Thirteen?

Really getting worried what this year at AT will be like!
 
Let's face it, there will never be an ERT lineup that everyone is happy with. Th13teen was a bit of a nightmare for ERT on what I would call I quieter morning, due to having to need a mostly filled train. Oblivion is pretty easy to get loads of rides on, so I personally think it's quite a good one to have. Just like when The Smiler was new you will see two sets of people going into the park, those of to FV for Galactica and those for ERT. Having everything over two different sides will nicely spread guests out.

I shall hear no complaining of queues and fast tracks until everyone has visited Port Aventura. 2 hours into the "30 minute" queue for Baco and that was nowhere near boarding. Fast tracks are a necessity at PA, I've bought one at Alton which was for The Smiler, 2 months (Ish?) after it first opened.
 
GaryH said:
Thats really quite poor this year and gives no incentive for people to have ERT, be it from the point of sale of advance tickets, annual passes or hotel guests. Just Oblivion? Really? What about families with kids not quite old enough for that, but old enough to go on the likes of Thirteen?

Really getting worried what this year at AT will be like!
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Don't forget you have Spinball too. Okay there's not a wide selection of rides to choose but there's still two coasters and a flat for people to pick from.

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I'd like to see the park look at the lineup and assess it during the season too. CBeebies popularity wasn't particularly affected by the Smiler incident but the park heavily was from a thrill perspective. Perhaps if the demand for thrills does rejuvenate this season the lineup could change too.

Regardless of this though it is an easier setup from a crowd control point of view. Check tickets near Corner Coffee and allow free roaming of that corner of the park.
 
I know its popularity will be low this year, although if they threw The Smiler in to the ERT line up (maybe later this year?) I think that would entice more guests into that area in the morning, and expand what's on offer for ERT.
 
The Smiler will continue to attract sizable queues on busy days (in line with the new overall lower resort attendance mind). My prediction.

Putting it in ERT with Oblivion would help offer your average punter an enticing alternative to heading straight over to Forbidden Valley. Will be interesting to see how much attraction power the refurbished Air can provide first thing in the morning, compared to the frenzied rush usually generated towards a genuinely brand new attraction.
 
Sku said:
Will be interesting to see how much attraction power the refurbished Air can provide first thing in the morning, compared to the frenzied rush usually generated towards a genuinely brand new attraction.
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I reckon that Air will generate big ques as people are going to want to experience the latest offerings.

I remember when the log flume was revamp and turned into the bathtubs, the queues for the flume during that season were huge even on what you would considered a quiet day.
 
Enterprise? This'll kill it finally. It struggles to run a full day it seems....

O/T

Synky said:
We mainly use ERT for CBeebies land but disappointing that more of the thrill rides are open so that DH can get them done quickly and get back to help with the kids!
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DH? Mumsnet? (From Pistonheads and there was the slight legal wrangle)
 
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