Someone on Twitter said that The Smiler wasn't down, just displaying "closed" because the queue was at capacity. Hope they're right as i'm going tomorrow and haven't been on it yet this season
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2020: General Discussion
- Thread starter Danny
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Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
Great move, Merlin! I wonder why they’ve suddenly done this; maybe they fancied giving something back to their passholders?
Out of interest, when do the Fireworks reservations for MAP holders usually come out? My mum is getting quite angry that the tickets are on sale to the general public, but not for MAP holders, so I was only wondering so as we could get some idea as to when we can expect slots to become available.
Out of interest, when do the Fireworks reservations for MAP holders usually come out? My mum is getting quite angry that the tickets are on sale to the general public, but not for MAP holders, so I was only wondering so as we could get some idea as to when we can expect slots to become available.
DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
Giving something back Matt??!!
Its £1!
Its £1!
D4n
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Zadra
£1 that we didn't even have to pay until this year and which most current pass holders didn't sign up for.
Let's not big this up as an example of generosity.
Good news all the same.
@Matt N I’d check for Fireworks tickets after this change next week - they’ve stopped selling tickets for general sale at the moment too.
Maybe there has been many more complaints about the £1 fee, if I remember rightly it’s a grey area in the T&C’s unless they are classing these COVID days as events.
Maybe there has been many more complaints about the £1 fee, if I remember rightly it’s a grey area in the T&C’s unless they are classing these COVID days as events.
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
I never said the £1 fee was a bad thing; in this era of distancing and safety, I’d argue it’s almost expected to a degree. So in that regard, I think it’s very generous of them to let you book for free!
Forget the £1 booking fee, I still think that they should give MAP holders (especially those that purchased one prior to this pandemic) an option to suspend their pass until this pandemic has passed, they have clearly sold more passes than what they can currently accommodate capacity wise, so many complaints on FB about not being able to book a MAP/Season pass entry slot, but they can if they pay for on the gate ticket. Either way, charging or not charging the £1 booking fee, pass holders have been well shafted, this is certainly not what anyone had sighed up for when we all purchased our passes.
Burbs
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
£1 is neither here nor there. As has been discussed countless times, a refundable £5 would have worked much better, or even an open-ended magic money voucher would suffice. Getting rid of the fee is possibly not the best idea at the minute, unless they're dramatically increasing the capacities for the upcoming events.
BarryZola
TS Member
Totally and utterly bonkers change to make to the pre-booking terms. This will just make it easier for people to book many dates in the future without having to worry about the £1's stacking up and then will be able to decide later if it's convenient for them to turn up, therefore blocking out others from pre-booking just a single day here and there. They also should have limited it to 1/2 days pre-booking per person at a time with no more pre-booking allowed until the previous pre-booked date has passed. It just gets more ridiculous with this company I'm afraid.
Can i just say that i had a great visit today.
Pleasant surprise to see the Wicker Man had reopened for a start. Managed to get on everything i wanted to, operations top notch. Smiler, Obivion, Wicker Man, Thirteen, Spinball, all moved the queue rapidly.
Didn't notice any ride downtime today either, if you see "closed" in the app for The Smiler, they kept closing the queue for capacity reasons, but the ride was open all day.
Much more announcements today as well regarding mask wearing and Social distancing. Good show today.
Pleasant surprise to see the Wicker Man had reopened for a start. Managed to get on everything i wanted to, operations top notch. Smiler, Obivion, Wicker Man, Thirteen, Spinball, all moved the queue rapidly.
Didn't notice any ride downtime today either, if you see "closed" in the app for The Smiler, they kept closing the queue for capacity reasons, but the ride was open all day.
Much more announcements today as well regarding mask wearing and Social distancing. Good show today.
Also had a good day, again didn’t notice any down time when on any rides. Managed to do - 11 rides without rushing and grabbing a quick lunch.
Wickerman x 2, Smiler, Thirteen, Nemesis,Galactica, Oblivion,Rita, Runaway Mine Train, Hex & Duel.
As is well documented lots of areas looking tired, having done orlando and California Parks loads in the last 10 years and Europa and port aventura you realise how rundown and tired some areas are. Despite only being 30 mins from Alton, only been 3 times in the last 8 years. The worst areas IMO are forbidden Valley, x sector and Dark Forest. Can’t see much changing though anytime soon.
Wickerman x 2, Smiler, Thirteen, Nemesis,Galactica, Oblivion,Rita, Runaway Mine Train, Hex & Duel.
As is well documented lots of areas looking tired, having done orlando and California Parks loads in the last 10 years and Europa and port aventura you realise how rundown and tired some areas are. Despite only being 30 mins from Alton, only been 3 times in the last 8 years. The worst areas IMO are forbidden Valley, x sector and Dark Forest. Can’t see much changing though anytime soon.
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The problem is, whether Alton charge a booking deposit of a £1 or not, it is not enough to deter people from making a booking (or a multiple of bookings) and not turning up, which takes away from those that genuinely wants to go but can't because all the allocations have been snapped up.
If you start to charge a deposit of a higher value to deter people for making false bookings, this will obviously rub pass holders up the wrong way as it means that they will paying twice to get in.
A refundable deposit would be the way to go.
Even if you did pay a deposit, unexpected things do come along and there will be times where you make a booking and for some unexpected reasons, you are unable to attend.
Limiting people to one booking at a time, could also prove problematic for those that like to make a short break form visiting by staying at a local B&B/Hotel off site.
For me, I'll be staying away and not renewing my pass until this pandemic is all over. It will be Merlin's loss, not mine.
If you start to charge a deposit of a higher value to deter people for making false bookings, this will obviously rub pass holders up the wrong way as it means that they will paying twice to get in.
A refundable deposit would be the way to go.
Even if you did pay a deposit, unexpected things do come along and there will be times where you make a booking and for some unexpected reasons, you are unable to attend.
Limiting people to one booking at a time, could also prove problematic for those that like to make a short break form visiting by staying at a local B&B/Hotel off site.
For me, I'll be staying away and not renewing my pass until this pandemic is all over. It will be Merlin's loss, not mine.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
Do you think a charitable donation like Paultons are doing would solve the problem?
You would then get people not liking the charities on offer to donate to.
The best way Merlin could of done things was set a limit on the amount of “live” bookings and or a higher booking fee that was then redeemed as Magic Money only available to redeem on entry - anyone who failed to turn up forfeit the Magic Money.
No, not at all.
The whole point of purchasing a season pass, it to get value for money as well as the ability to visit when ever you want. During the pandemic, it either means that you can't get a pre-booked ticket or paying a additional booking fee which goes against the reason for purchasing a pass in the first place. On the gate purchase are not charged a booking fee on top of their gate ticket.
During the pandemic, it seems to be far better to purchase a day ticket.
Giving the money to charity don't change or justify them charging you an extra fee on top of your season pass to visit. It just defeat the object of purchasing a pass in the first place.
John_P
TS Member
I think the issue is we are getting to the point when everyone's extended Annual passes are starting to expire.
Merlin are still charging full price for them which to families that use them on a regular basis (say a park visit every week) would seriously question the idea of paying £150 each for a pass but the possibility of forking out another £40—50 each over the year due to these booking fees.
Merlin are still charging full price for them which to families that use them on a regular basis (say a park visit every week) would seriously question the idea of paying £150 each for a pass but the possibility of forking out another £40—50 each over the year due to these booking fees.
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