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2020: General Discussion

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I know someone who just waited 30 minutes for Oblivion instead of the advertised 70, so yeah times seem to be quite off.
 
With the queue times being exaggerated and we all know that, is the park any different to what it would normally be at this time of year? Surely no one can go to Alton towers in the summer holidays and possibly expect the queues to be shorter than they are
 
Fantastic news; closed days in September and October have now been removed and replaced with 10am-4pm days, with the park open every day until the end of the season on 8th November:

Great move, in my opinion!
 
Thameslink Rail said:
I am split on this, personally I would have preferred longer opening hours on the weekends than opening on low demand days but at least this is an improvement.
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Although I agree in general as longer hours is always better, due to the cap on numbers per day opening more days will get the park more money. I don't think it matters if the hours are 10-5 or 10-7, they can likely only allow the same number of people in.
 
Should never have been closed midweek to start with anyway in my opinion, what with it being "only second to Disney" and all that. Still, good to see.
 
Danscott22 said:
Should never have been closed midweek to start with anyway in my opinion, what with it being "only second to Disney" and all that. Still, good to see.
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I still don't get what measure they are using for that 'second only to Disney' quote. No Merlin parks touch the visitor numbers of Universal.
 
Thameslink Rail said:
I still don't get what measure they are using for that 'second only to Disney' quote. No Merlin parks touch the visitor numbers of Universal.
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They’re using the combined visitor numbers of all their attractions worldwide, by which measure they are second only to Disney. Universal are only 4th.
 
Matt N said:
They’re using the combined visitor numbers of all their attractions worldwide, by which measure they are second only to Disney. Universal are only 4th.
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I take it therefore they are including Madame Tussauds, Dungeons, Sealife, etc. In which case there isn't really a fair comparison.
 
Danscott22 said:
Should never have been closed midweek to start with anyway in my opinion, what with it being "only second to Disney" and all that. Still, good to see.
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Merlin as a group are the second largest operator of visitor attractions based on the number of guests worldwide.
That has no relation to the operation of Alton Towers really.

September weekdays have always been some of the quietest days of UK theme parks. We don’t have the same operations as Disney with fireworks every night and significant amounts of international guests. Other major theme park chains such as Six Flags also have closed on quiet weekdays as well.
 
imanautie said:
Your best bet is probably to see if there's a host in the Rita/TH13TEEN area and ask them.
(Or ask a Rita host).
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This whole single riders thing is putting me off going. 9 out of 10 of my visits are on my own. With Spinball out of the equation, The Smiler being on a massive queue (and one group per row which makes it awkward for single rider) and Thirteen uncertain, i can't see much point making the journey.
 
Mikw said:
This whole single riders thing is putting me off going. 9 out of 10 of my visits are on my own. With Spinball out of the equation, The Smiler being on a massive queue (and one group per row which makes it awkward for single rider) and Thirteen uncertain, i can't see much point making the journey.
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Smiler will put two single riders in the same row but not next to each other, so it's not too bad.
 
pluk said:
Fantastic! It's still not worth a 7 hour round trip drive for any of this year's meagre opening hours. 6 hours open for a park the size of Towers is pathetic.
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Oh, i don't know. The quieter days with the short hours are often the best days. You can easily get in a huge ride count.

Not sure if that applies with Covid though.
 
imanautie said:
Smiler will put two single riders in the same row but not next to each other, so it's not too bad.
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Thanks, that's not too bad.

It's a ride i'll queue for for a while as it's a long ride and i always enjoy it. Might book to come soon then. I often feel a bit awkward being a single rider, so tend to try and pick quiet days to go. So usually avoid the summer holidays and weekends. But this year is all messed up anyway.
 
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