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2018: General Discussion

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Ryan B said:
As far as I'm aware, the drop ride is intact. In the maze there was a staff member stood in there, obviously not an actor making sure that people didn't go off the path. It was quite dark but I was looking at the floor and it all looked essentially the same just with the seats blocked off.
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Yeah I saw it yesterday. It’s 100% intact. As is the entire ride and queue line which all looks in really good nick.

I’ve said it for ages, but if they were going to get rid of it it would be off the website by now, they wouldn’t have used it for a scaremaze (at least not a Phalanx themed one) and they wouldn’t have used the letters NST in the preshow for that scaremaze.
 
So that I don't go off topic, I posted my response to another thread here.

ringo said:
Such a terrible thing to tweet to customers and will always be remembered when things are rubbish at the park. 2018 certainly was the year of “It’s better than nothing” question is can they put the effort in and shake it off for 2019...
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I got to hear it from the park side, they are just as much frustrated with the way the park is being run. Not only do Merlin control the budgets, but it's them that implement and dictate most things. It's Merlin that has a say whether the Rapid waterfalls ever get turned back on or not, its Merlin that dictates what rides can operate under what weather conditions or not (I can confirm that Thirteen being down after dark is down to the low temperatures) and Alton also can't understand why they are getting a Dungeons when they are in need of some good rides for families that are too short for the rollercoasters but too old for CBeebies land. Alton don't really get a say.
 
But it’s still unacceptable to say it to customers, the very people who are paying that persons wage.

It also created a lot of negative comments at the time, people saying they wouldn’t visit if that’s the attitude of the park. And in this day an age the park deleted the tweet instead of just posting a reply whereby saying something like “we don’t always get things right and we’re sorry on this occasion our standards slipped” a simple message like that would of actually won people over and showed the park had humility instead of deleting the message and hoping it would fade instantly into the deleted tweet graveyard.

Can fully understand it’s Merlin that decide the safety and running of the park, the enhanced safety protocols obviously have to appear the same across each park which is why it’s better the decision is taken centrally, but it’s down to the park to communicate why a ride is down better - Thorpe do it better with the “weather delay” reason instead of “unavailable”.
 
Matt N said:
So, the 2018 season at Alton Towers is now officially over! And what a season it's been! I've loved this season, and I personally think it's been the best season Alton Towers have had in quite a few years (certainly post-Smiler, anyway.)! Out of interest, what have been everyone's highlights of the 2018 season?
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Completely the opposite for me.

Yes, Wickerman turned out taking us all by surprise with the quality of the theming and its experience. Yes, the high levels of patronage returned. Plus I thought Screfest, with more entertainment and a bigger effort made to include the whole park from music to roaming actors was very welcome and akin to some of events of yesteryear.

But I can't describe 2018 as a season in any other way other than the year the park hit a new low. With all the glitz and glamour of Wickerman, the documentary and the scene being set ahead of the season with an obituary/self congratulatory (still can't decide which) 2017 Fireworks, it's easy to forget the following:

# With £55 season passes, although I understand the strategy behind it, they have effectively down marketed the park another notch yet again. I'm doubtful investment will now follow based on the parent companies track record. Whilst some may see the increase in visitation as the park turning a corner, I see it as the birth of a new era of rock bottom prices with an experience to match.

# Despite predicted increases in guest numbers, the opening hours and opening days where worse than ever. They were so inadequate that they needed to be extended on a number of occasions at the last minute.

# No closed rides reopened, there was no excuse for this.

# Food and Beverage offering was just as bad as the season before.

# Single rider queues removed.

# Baggage holds removed. The Smiler one being boarded up with black chip board and having fake ivy draped over it!

# TLC has left so much still to do and should have achieved way more than it actually did and should have been a far bigger programme (although I accept the work was of good quality).

# Cloud Cuckoo Land operated in a completely unacceptable state.

# After on 2 seasons, the state of Galactica is also shambolic.

# Duel is also in a bad way. 2018 is the year that Duel did "a tomb blaster" and was brightly lit with ghastly purple LED lighting.

# Hands up who remembers the original intention to not open the rapids for the first part of the season?

# Like Duel, Galactica and CCL, when the Rapids did open, the gentle boat ride around an unthemed trough overlooked by an incoherently themed wooden coaster seemed like a pointless ride anyway.

# Need I remind anyone of what park operations have been like this season?

# Cuts intensified over the previous seasons, only this year there where guests to wait behind in the queues!

# The plain sheds and toilet block in a field where revealed to us this season. Even the local council told them they were too crap!
 
Matt.GC said:
Completely the opposite for me.

Yes, Wickerman turned out taking us all by surprise with the quality of the theming and its experience. Yes, the high levels of patronage returned. Plus I thought Screfest, with more entertainment and a bigger effort made to include the whole park from music to roaming actors was very welcome and akin to some of events of yesteryear.

But I can't describe 2018 as a season in any other way other than the year the park hit a new low. With all the glitz and glamour of Wickerman, the documentary and the scene being set ahead of the season with an obituary/self congratulatory (still can't decide which) 2017 Fireworks, it's easy to forget the following:

# With £55 season passes, although I understand the strategy behind it, they have effectively down marketed the park another notch yet again. I'm doubtful investment will now follow based on the parent companies track record. Whilst some may see the increase in visitation as the park turning a corner, I see it as the birth of a new era of rock bottom prices with an experience to match.

# Despite predicted increases in guest numbers, the opening hours and opening days where worse than ever. They were so inadequate that they needed to be extended on a number of occasions at the last minute.

# No closed rides reopened, there was no excuse for this.

# Food and Beverage offering was just as bad as the season before.

# Single rider queues removed.

# Baggage holds removed. The Smiler one being boarded up with black chip board and having fake ivy draped over it!

# TLC has left so much still to do and should have achieved way more than it actually did and should have been a far bigger programme (although I accept the work was of good quality).

# Cloud Cuckoo Land operated in a completely unacceptable state.

# After on 2 seasons, the state of Galactica is also shambolic.

# Duel is also in a bad way. 2018 is the year that Duel did "a tomb blaster" and was brightly lit with ghastly purple LED lighting.

# Hands up who remembers the original intention to not open the rapids for the first part of the season?

# Like Duel, Galactica and CCL, when the Rapids did open, the gentle boat ride around an unthemed trough overlooked by an incoherently themed wooden coaster seemed like a pointless ride anyway.

# Need I remind anyone of what park operations have been like this season?

# Cuts intensified over the previous seasons, only this year there where guests to wait behind in the queues!

# The plain sheds and toilet block in a field where revealed to us this season. Even the local council told them they were too crap!
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Well, when you put it like that! :)
 
MakoMania said:


Kind of ironic given that you can never actually ride the back row of Nemesis these days.
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Unless you are me :p all back row.
Gk4bG7c_d.jpg
 
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