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2018: General Discussion
Dangerous Dave
TS Member
Onsite today, the 30 minutes earlier opening for school’s isn’t access to ERT. Rita and Thirteen are open from 9am ! Unadvertised bar arrows pointing school groups in that direction. I only found out as the employee on the queue front of Oblivion told me to do them first and get back for the queue for the Smiler then do Oblivion which should still be walk on.
I managed 2 runs on Rita and Thirteen on the front of both and near the front of the queue for Smiler opening
I managed 2 runs on Rita and Thirteen on the front of both and near the front of the queue for Smiler opening
Austin Towers
TS Member
I see for a limited period you get a free fastrack if you purchase a season pass.
No wonder people hate this product. They hand them out when a ride breaks down and now this to add to the fastrack queue and slow the normal queues down even more.
Fastrack is a premium product which costs the park nothing. It should be a paid for product only so to keep the fastrack queues to a minimum which (1) Keeps the main queue moving quicker and (2) Gives better value for money to those who have paid for fastrack.
No wonder people hate this product. They hand them out when a ride breaks down and now this to add to the fastrack queue and slow the normal queues down even more.
Fastrack is a premium product which costs the park nothing. It should be a paid for product only so to keep the fastrack queues to a minimum which (1) Keeps the main queue moving quicker and (2) Gives better value for money to those who have paid for fastrack.
BarryZola
TS Member
What time are the turnstiles open in the morning this week for AP holders? Was thinking about going up to Towers for a few hours tomorrow early doors. Is Wickerman on ERT? Good idea to go straight to Wickerman first thing at the moment? All the questions! Not been for a few months.
speedy
TS Member
I just hate it in general. IMO passes should be for people with disabilities onlyI see for a limited period you get a free fastrack if you purchase a season pass.
No wonder people hate this product. They hand them out when a ride breaks down and now this to add to the fastrack queue and slow the normal queues down even more.
Fastrack is a premium product which costs the park nothing. It should be a paid for product only so to keep the fastrack queues to a minimum which (1) Keeps the main queue moving quicker and (2) Gives better value for money to those who have paid for fastrack.
What time are the turnstiles open in the morning this week for AP holders? Was thinking about going up to Towers for a few hours tomorrow early doors. Is Wickerman on ERT? Good idea to go straight to Wickerman first thing at the moment? All the questions! Not been for a few months.
The gates seem to be open from 9am onwards with the queues on the right for those with ERT (staff are checking). As for heading straight to WM - hard to say given its not opened first thing lately. However, personally, I would on the off chance it does open at 9.30/10am so you get in the queue and have chance to ride it. Either that or aim to get there before ride close to get on it.
Dangerous Dave
TS Member
Gates were open before 9 this morning we made the gate for 09:05 off the Monorail which was also running early, plenty of people already in the park.
Rita and Thirteen were running from 9 and still walk on at 09:25
If you time it right you can hit all the main rides before lunch. I went Rita x 2, Thirteen x 2, joined the Simlier queue just before it opened, Oblivion then a quick walk to Nemisis which was a 15 min wait then onto the River Rapids which was a 10 min wait and I have just sat down for lunch.
Rita and Thirteen were running from 9 and still walk on at 09:25
If you time it right you can hit all the main rides before lunch. I went Rita x 2, Thirteen x 2, joined the Simlier queue just before it opened, Oblivion then a quick walk to Nemisis which was a 15 min wait then onto the River Rapids which was a 10 min wait and I have just sat down for lunch.
IDB
TS Member
I queued behind a lady recently who opened her purse to give someone a fast track ticket. It looked as if she had a deck of cards in her purse but they all turned out to be fast tracks!The fast track is also for a large number of people. My friend got one a few months back and there was 10 of us, they said no problem, all 10 of us could fast track on that one ticket!
themeparkfan
TS Member
Nice to see they are learning after last week. Long may it continue into the summerGates were open before 9 this morning we made the gate for 09:05 off the Monorail which was also running early, plenty of people already in the park.
Rita and Thirteen were running from 9 and still walk on at 09:25
If you time it right you can hit all the main rides before lunch. I went Rita x 2, Thirteen x 2, joined the Simlier queue just before it opened, Oblivion then a quick walk to Nemisis which was a 15 min wait then onto the River Rapids which was a 10 min wait and I have just sat down for lunch.
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Dangerous Dave
TS Member
Nice to see they are learning after last week. Long may it continue into the summer
What was annoying is none of it was advertised, it was luck I found out Rita & Thirteen were open early.
The park time was extended yesterday to 17:30 early on and the time updated on the screens around the park but the official twitter account was still saying they are closing at 5 and some rides closed in CBeebies at 17:00 then reopened 5-10mins later when they realised they were opening later as the ride attendants weren’t aware of the extended opening time.
It did mean I got another ride on the Wickerman so can’t complain too much.
Alsty
TS Member
Casting my mind back to the early 2000s, there were (generally speaking) three ways to get on big coasters like Nemesis and Air:I just hate it in general. IMO passes should be for people with disabilities only
I'm not sure how it works now but I gather the exit pass is actually just a Fastrack ticket, and you enter via the merge point? The problem facing the park is when there's so much downtime, all of those evacuated guests are joining the paying Fastrack guests and restricting the throughput of the main queue. While Alton Towers may(?) be restricting the number of paying Fastrack customers they can't always predict in advance the number of guests who will be issued it as a form of compensation, and those extra people can overwhelm the system.
Dangerous Dave
TS Member
All this is only going to make more of the public think rides are unsafe. If I was Intamin, I would sue Merlin for bringing my product in to disrepute.
I asked about this today , it’s due to the water level in the lake that the water drains to when not in use. The long period of no rain means it’s running low and they claim no current method to top it back up manually as it was never thought it would get that low.
The water level needs to be above a certain level for the uplift. I did a google and the water level was a factor in the over turned boat that killed four people on the lift in Australia.
It was 7 riders a boat today with the entrance manned checking ages.
Also noticed that compared to Legoland’s rapid ride the backs are much lower with no padded headrests.
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bluesonichd
TS Member
7 in a boat. ? What if they are all fat heffers ? Maybe the need some bathroom scales down there and start weighing everyone first