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2018: General Discussion

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Steve74 said:
Do Wicker Man as one of the first if its not too busy, just in case it suffers during the day - but be prepared, while still awesome it could be a little slower than you expect. Then make sure you're in the queue at closing time then you'll get to ride it at it's most intense and fastest and you will notice a quite a difference in speed!
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Icing on the cake back row! Omg. I want to go back :(:(:(:(:(
 
Steve74 said:
The only thing that should better that is riding it in the dark on the back row!
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Now your really talking. At risk of sounding like the woman who is sexually attracted to roller coasters I love this coaster so much. People say it isn't intense and thrilling it is. The way it thunders around the track gives me goosebumps.
 
Snagglemama said:
Now your really talking. At risk of sounding like the woman who is sexually attracted to roller coasters I love this coaster so much. People say it isn't intense and thrilling it is. The way it thunders around the track gives me goosebumps.
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And I totally disagree with those that say its too short...it's not. Like almost all coasters at Towers, it is just the right length to leave people wanting more so they will re-ride it again and again
 
Steve74 said:
And I totally disagree with those that say its too short...it's not. Like almost all coasters at Towers, it is just the right length to leave people wanting more so they will re-ride it again and again
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I've never understood that analogy, it's not like you get off Steel Dragon or similarly long rides and wish they had been shorter to the point where you don't reride. A certain lengthy ride in North Yorkshire, maybe.
 
Rick said:
I've never understood that analogy, it's not like you get off Steel Dragon or similarly long rides and wish they had been shorter to the point where you don't reride. A certain lengthy ride in North Yorkshire, maybe.
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Agree with the sentiment, if not the example. ;)
 
Rick said:
I've never understood that analogy, it's not like you get off Steel Dragon or similarly long rides and wish they had been shorter to the point where you don't reride. A certain lengthy ride in North Yorkshire, maybe.
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Yes you're right, I thought Hulk at IOA was a little too long, but that won't stop me re-riding it. I guess what I meant was shorter, punchy coasters give you more enthusiasm to re-ride rather than the choice of re-riding or not.
 
IanSR said:
Quoted so you can't go back and edit out your fetish lol
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Lol tis not a fetish is a deep seated appreciation for wood o_O

Steve74 said:
And I totally disagree with those that say its too short...it's not. Like almost all coasters at Towers, it is just the right length to leave people wanting more so they will re-ride it again and again
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I always want to go straight back round and ride it again. How long do people want rides to be?
 
I've always felt that Towers coasters are some of the greatest for their re-ride-ability (bar The Smiler which for me is just a little bit long to want to re-ride straight after riding it once). It's just a shame now that it's a challenge to get even one go on every ride done in a single day, never mind any re-rides!
 
Oblivion and Rita are a bit too short, everything else (including Wicker Man) felt like it was an adequate length. I like the extra length on Smiler, though as you say I'm not in a rush to go back on after one ride.
 
I don't have any complaints about ride length at Towers, except for Rita which is too short.

I like long rides, but then there's The Ultimate. It's the only ride I've ridden that I would have liked more if it was shorter!
 
On a random note, what are we all anticipating in terms of park attendance this year compared to last year in the TEA Attendance report? Taking into account that Alton got dead on 2 million in 2017, I would expect an increase of between 10 and 20% in 2018, so an attendance figure of between 2,200,000 and 2,400,000. If we're really lucky, I reckon we could even see a 30% increase, which would take Alton's 2018 attendance to 2,600,000! One thing's for sure, though; I reckon, from what we have seen so far in terms of queue times and park crowd levels, we will see at least a 10-20% increase in attendance for 2018. I also think that there is a very high chance of Alton Towers reclaiming the title of Britain's most visited theme park in 2018 unless Legoland has a substantial attendance increase despite their relatively minor year. I'm certainly optimistic for Alton's 2018 attendance figure on the TEA report, as Wicker Man seems to have been a huge success thus far, both critically and commercially!
 
Matt N said:
If we're really lucky, I reckon we could even see a 30% increase
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The thing is, apart from Merlin shareholders, no one cares about the stats on these reports. They care about good operations, having decent opening hours, opening all rides from the start of the day and generally getting bang for their buck.

If we're really lucky, they provide decent operating budgets next year.
 
Stuie said:
The thing is, apart from Merlin shareholders, no one cares about the stats on these reports. They care about good operations, having decent opening hours, opening all rides from the start of the day and generally getting bang for their buck.

If we're really lucky, they provide decent operating budgets next year.
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I'm sure they will now that the punters are returning to Alton in force!

As for attendance as a metric and the TEA report, I personally find it very interesting reading when it comes out each year! Also, the TEA report is currently the best idea we have for quite a few theme parks.
 
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