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2018: General Discussion

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RoyJess said:
I've said this before, 2018 should have been Alton's come back year and prove to the world that they are a top quality place to visit, so far they have complete blown it this year. Will the reversal of the staggered opening times from the 2nd of July be a chance for them to redeem themselves or will it be too little too late to reverse the damage that they done to their reputation this season?

A bittersweet victory :)
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I agree that staggered openings do not give off the best of images, but the guests seem to be flocking back to Alton in their droves this year, so I reckon it is their big comeback year and that we will see the cuts reversed for next year!
 
Matt N said:
I agree that staggered openings do not give off the best of images, but the guests seem to be flocking back to Alton in their droves this year, so I reckon it is their big comeback year and that we will see the cuts reversed for next year!
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The only reason that guest are flocking to Alton is the Wicker Man.

If guest have a great time, they will return. That is half of the battle in building your customer base.

If guest have a bad experience, they will not return, they will go elsewhere. This is where Alton has failed this season.
 
To have a decent day at the park in 2018 you are required to arrive by 9am at the latest, know every in and out of the park, walk quickly from attraction to attraction without getting lost and know which rides tend to have shortest queues when. This seems to be why we had a decent day on Sunday, unfortunately the same cannot be said for people unfamiliar with the park.
 
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MakoMania said:
To have a decent day at the park in 2018 you are required to arrive by 9am at the latest, know every in and out of the park, walk quickly from attraction to attraction without getting lost and know which rides tend to have shortest queues when. This seems to he why we had a decent day on Sunday, unfortunately the same cannot be said for people unfamiliar with the park.
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I'm not sure that's necessarily true. It depends what your aims for the day are. We've been turning up at lunch time of late and had great days - we didn't ride everything, but we didn't want/plan to.
 
Rick said:
I'm not sure that's necessarily true. It depends what your aims for the day are. We've been turning up at lunch time of late and had great days - we didn't ride everything, but we didn't want/plan to.
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That works if you have a season pass, but I'm from Scotland so of course I want to ride everything and I'm sure most people do too. I don't think it's too much to ask!
 
If you only experience half the park do they let you pay half the prices?

Thought not.

In that case to get what you pay for (it the chance to do everything you want to) isn't too much to ask.
 
matthewgcole said:
I never thought I'd see the day where Alton Towers being able to operate the majority of their attractions between the hours 10am and 4pm was a cause for celebration. How far we've fallen.
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I never thought Woolworths and BHS would go bust. I never thought my local M&S of 30 years would close despite having an 80 year lease left on the shopping centre unit. Prefer Merlin to reduce hours than close their doors permanently. I don’t like the reduced hours and wish they didn’t but I understand why they do it. It is the times we are in (IMHO)

PJ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
RoyJess said:
The only reason that guest are flocking to Alton is the Wicker Man.

If guest have a great time, they will return. That is half of the battle in building your customer base.

If guest have a bad experience, they will not return, they will go elsewhere. This is where Alton has failed this season.
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And unless something changes this is how they will fail year upon year. Alton largely depends on UK visitors. If the park was in Orlando it would be a different story.

Gate figures will be up this year due to WM as you say but unless Merlin plan to build a new coaster every year numbers will dwindle.

If they up the budget, sort out the poor operations and cut the queues people will return and keep coming back.

What's the point in spending millions on a new attraction only to chase people away by cutting budgets to run the entire operation. It doesn't make sense.
 
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It really is a "Better than nothing" attitude. Yes we know it's hard times but what grates me is this demise is all of the park/company's own making and it has been foreseen for many years.
It seems many people are just happy to take what they are given these days with brands, what happened to the customer being king? Maybe it's a new generation. Slightly off topic... McDonalds is another example where the better than nothing system seems to be thriving. The past 3 visits I've been and ordered just a hamburger iv'e been told to wait in the parking bay. McDonalds used to be king of fast food! Still waiting a few minutes for a burger is better than nothing I suppose...

I'm blaming you youngsters :p So busy taking selfies you can't see the big corps laughing at you in the background.

(my first old git post?)

:) :)
 
Really? I did.

What the hell was Woolworths USP? It surprised me they lasted that long. Pick and mix by the front door as well? Madness.

The writing was on the wall for BHS for decades as well and it's only M&S's assets that keep them going. Both have/had broken business models not fit for the 21st century.

All the signs are that there's no worldwide decline in the theme park industry. Only in parks that are poorly run.
pj said:
I never thought Woolworths and BHS would go bust. I never thought my local M&S of 30 years would close despite having an 80 year lease left on the shopping centre unit. Prefer Merlin to reduce hours than close their doors permanently. I don’t like the reduced hours and wish they didn’t but I understand why they do it. It is the times we are in (IMHO)

PJ


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
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Log Flume's Dennis said:
Online theme parks are killing real life ones. In the 90's if you wanted to ride a rollercoaster you had to physically ride one, whereas now you can just fire up YouTube, watch a few rollercoaster POV videos and it's largely the same experience.
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And soon you will be able to stick your VR headset on and wander a themepark.
Ride the coasters without queueing, fastracks or self centred vip passholders :D

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GaryH said:
Doesnt this hot weather make you miss the Log Flume?! Oh, and the waterfalls on the rapids which I wish to god they would put back on!!!!
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That's kinda why we tried to get on Congo river rapids yesterday was so hot. But think everyone else had the same idea
 
I'd give anything for the chance to ride the log flume just one more time.

When I die all my deceased relatives will have to get out of the way because I'm heading straight for the flume. I wonder if decommissioned/demolished rides are all in the same place in heaven or if they're set out like separate afterlife theme parks?

Either way, I'm going to be standing on a flume turntable with Moses and Kurt Cobain within seconds of dying.
 
flume's give a sensory experience like no other, serenity to white knuckle drops, to large ducks all in one ride? What does Nemesis do? a couple of flips, whoop-de-do.

I guarantee if Towers said "guess what, we've reinstalled all the old rides" people would go straight to the flume.

hold on tight, it's flume time! is what me and my friend Greg used to say. He has diabetes now
 
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