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2018: General Discussion

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Those queue times reflect an inexplicably busy day for the park during the Easter midweek period. I'm glad to see the marketing is working, but an hour's wait to get in to the park, and then half an hour for Fastrack sounds far too close to Thorpe Park for comfort.

Ride Times offers us a glimpse into the operations of the park that we previously we not offered, but I must say, I can't ever recall breakdowns being as much of an issue at Alton as they have been recently.
 
Benzin said:
I'm not sure what you mean, but my point is more; it's majority of school holidays, of course it will be busy...
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I think the point was that the park was dead during Easter 2016 and not that much busier during Easter 2017. So things have definitely picked up this year, although I would still love to know today's gate figure and see how it compared to pre-cuts busy day gate figures.

:)
 
Well they want the visitors so let's serve them should be the philosophy. Tesco would be laughing all the way to the bank with this footfall so why can't merlin treat them well (then guess what they'll be back with more on top) did any of the team go to buisness school? The place is really lacking attractions today. A replacement for ripsaw, nemesis subterra and CATCF replacement would help no end but hey ho let's make them wait 70 to 100 minutes for the few things that are open! Goodness knows what it would have been like if rapids closed as first announced. The place is worse than legoland was last summer! And it's only April

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Are they having all these technical issues or they simply using it as an excuse?

Seems to be Oblivion one day then thirteen the next, then Rita. Nemmy only one one train and WM having teething issues is simply making it worse too.

Or am I being paranoid?
 
Benjsh said:
Are they having all these technical issues or they simply using it as an excuse?

Seems to be Oblivion one day then thirteen the next, then Rita. Nemmy only one one train and WM having teething issues is simply making it worse too.

Or am I being paranoid?
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Technical issues will not be an excuse for anything; if a ride is closed then there is an issue. But that does not mean to say that more issues than in the past are not down to budget cuts, as well as the possibility that safety systems on rides are more sensitive post-Smiler.

:)
 
themeparkfan said:
What a shambles Rita down and runaway mine train down, nemisis queue massive and still only on one train. At this rate park will need to open to 7pm or if it continues they will have to in the summer.

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Nemesis is on a one train service because the other one is in pieces in the maintenance shed for, you guessed it, maintenance ;)

Sidenote: What is it with all the people comparing Alton Towers to their local Tesco's?
 
Row 2 out of action too what do they do over closed season? After waiting for over 60 mins in queue people around us are getting a bit annoyed

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Fast track is getting out of control! only letting fast track people through merge point we have been waiting best part of 20 mins being told we have to wait for steps to clear. How? ? They keep letting fast track through?

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themeparkfan said:
Fast track is getting out of control! only letting fast track people through merge point we have been waiting best part of 20 mins being told we have to wait for steps to clear. How? ? They keep letting fast track through?
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Put in a complaint about this on the iPads, on social media, at the box office or by writing to Merlin. I think Alton Towers have always been pretty fair with the ratio of FT : Peasants that they let onto a ride (especially compared to say Thorpe or Chessington in my experience), so I imagine this will be sorted with a gentle reminder to the employee. This is exactly the kind of change Alton can do easily, which won't cost them any more in staff budgets.
 
Some people took 3hrs to simply get in the park. Arrived at 10 and got in just before 1 so they say. Surely not that bad is it?

Lots of people saying they've done 1 ride by 3pm.

What an absolute joke this place is becoming. I know recent years have been bad but this is really something else.
 
MakoMania said:
I think we should all go on the park one day, hog the Ipads and destroy Merlin's lovely KPIs :p
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Apparently Towers is “up there among the best in the Merlin KPI league tables” We need a map of where these 30 iPads are

Guest satisfaction is key
Since the well-publicised Smiler accident in 2015, Alton Towers Resort ceded the crown of UK’s busiest theme park to its Merlin stablemate Legoland Windsor. So there are clearly big expectations of Wicker Man. Yet attendance is one thing, guest satisfaction is another. Here the park is already performing well, according to Head of Product Excellence, Wayne Burton.

“We listen to our guests in a variety of ways,” he tells us. “There are about 30 KPI [key performance indicator] iPads throughout the resort, collecting live information about our guests’ day with us. We also have a mystery shopper programme, monitor social media and respond to every Tripadvisor review. Although I can’t reveal numbers, Alton is already up there among the best in the Merlin KPI league tables.”
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https://blooloop.com/features/wicker-man-alton-towers-wooden-coaster/
 
ringo said:
Apparently Towers is “up there among the best in the Merlin KPI league tables” We need a map of where these 30 iPads are



https://blooloop.com/features/wicker-man-alton-towers-wooden-coaster/
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99% of them will be in CBeebies as nothing goes wrong in there and the yummy mummies love filling out surveys

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Double post. But what ya gonna do. :p

6pm ride close extended tomorrow and the weekend.

Think even towers are shocked at how busy they are.

We may even see 7pm ride close in the summer at this rate
 
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I haven’t been to Towers this year but what people are describing (3hrs to get in, and one ride by 3pm) sounds bad. But is this not a positive sign? It seems that the number of people drawn in by Wicker Man has far exceeded the park’s expectations. Maintenance and relatively low staffing may indicate this. Hopefully poor ride reliability and staff shortages can be ironed out before the summer, and Alton can have a good year financially.
 
While Wicker Man has had it's technical issues these past few weeks, it's also encouraging to see that, at least when properly functioning, it seemingly eats through guests much faster than some of it's older siblings. Especially important given it's lower height restriction, and therefore, greater accessibility to a wider range of guests. This presumably indicates strong harvest for the Beornen, too!
 
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