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2020: General Discussion

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So if towers aren't allowed to operate rides with sand bags and dummies when people are on it, does that mean minimum capacity rides won't be able to reopen when the park opens. That mainly applying to th13teen but also I'm assuming single riders will struggle to get on spinball as most people are in groups of 2s or 4s and if there's 2 others in a car, you won't be able to go on because of distancing.
It will be easier for singles to go on spinball because the 2 people min on coasters (apart from 13 and smiler which are manufacturers rules) is a park rule so in theory that could e changed temporarily.
 
It will be easier for singles to go on spinball because the 2 people min on coasters (apart from 13 and smiler which are manufacturers rules) is a park rule so in theory that could e changed temporarily.
So with th13teens being a manufacturer rule, that surely means the ride won't be able to operate. I'm not worried about the smiler as the minimum is 8 and you can reach that still sticking to social distancing. With 13 you need nearly the whole train so it's impossible to follow social distancing so surely it won't open
 
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Warwick Castle is also opening up the gardens & grounds from this weekend. It really is good to see Merlin being proactive in starting things slow and testing the procedures out ready for the wider opening.
 
I’ll give merlin credit for opening the ground/gardens. Only niggle I have is the cost of £12. Now for towers that isn’t too bad as the gardens are very spacious, but charging the same for Warwick castle seems a bit much. Obviously people may think different but i just think it should of been a tad cheaper.
 
I’ll give merlin credit for opening the ground/gardens. Only niggle I have is the cost of £12. Now for towers that isn’t too bad as the gardens are very spacious, but charging the same for Warwick castle seems a bit much. Obviously people may think different but i just think it should of been a tad cheaper.
The pricing is strange but Warwick is most certainly worth £12 considering you’re getting access to over 60 acres of land to walk around.
 
The pricing is strange but Warwick is most certainly worth £12 considering you’re getting access to over 60 acres of land to walk around.

Drifting slightly off topic now but my main issue with the charge of £12.50 at Warwick Castle is that it is pretty much the standard price of the attraction (using a BOGOF voucher).

This is part of the problem with flooding the market with discount vouchers. It creates confusion around the actual value of the product on offer.
 
I’d argue that Warwick Castle may actually be better value at £12 than Towers, because having been to both before, I’d say that the gardens at Warwick Castle are quite a significant part of a day there, whereas Alton Towers’ gardens... not so much.

I must admit, I think I’ve only been in the Gardens once, and even then it was only as a scenic route between Forbidden Valley and Dark Forest. My mum and dad were rather surprised at how steep the paths were in the Gardens and how hard it was to navigate your way through them, and as such, they both agreed that we were never to set foot in the Gardens again. I do like viewing them from the Skyride, however!

I’m not criticising the value of Towers’ Gardens by any means, however, as I think that it’s fantastic that they’re opening them at all, and I would happily pay £12 to walk through them if I were more into that sort of thing!
 
£12 for access to Alton Towers Gardens and grounds may be a little on the pricey side (but Alton Towers is, and always has been expensive).

But as a comparator somewhere like Trebah Gardens in Cornwall which is similar design to Towers in that it is a valley garden is £11 entry. So it’s not a million miles away price wise.

I sincerely hope this isn’t a flash in the pan and it actually gives the company a re-focus on the Gardens, I was very pleasantly surprised at the state of the gardens last year but there is no denying they need more care and attention.

There are so many possibilities for opening the gardens on mid-week close dates, during winter, packaging them into a short break options etc etc. I really hope this leads on to bigger and better things.
 
£12 for access to Alton Towers Gardens and grounds may be a little on the pricey side (but Alton Towers is, and always has been expensive).

But as a comparator somewhere like Trebah Gardens in Cornwall which is similar design to Towers in that it is a valley garden is £11 entry. So it’s not a million miles away price wise.

I sincerely hope this isn’t a flash in the pan and it actually gives the company a re-focus on the Gardens, I was very pleasantly surprised at the state of the gardens last year but there is no denying they need more care and attention.

There are so many possibilities for opening the gardens on mid-week close dates, during winter, packaging them into a short break options etc etc. I really hope this leads on to bigger and better things.

I too would like to see them open on their own but the problem with gardens is they are seasonal so maybe a few days in September and autumn would be good but the peak would be spring/summer depending on the type of planting.
 
As someone who’s not been able to receive their season pass yet due to it being collect @ attraction, anyone know how I can go about booking at the season pass rate? And then hopefully collecting my pass there?

Reached out on social media but don’t know if they’re monitoring their accounts at the moment.

I just DM'd Towers on Twitter and they sent the barcode number from the pass. I guess if putting 0's works also then that's easier, though doesn't really provide me with much confidence in the robustness of the booking system!
 
I too would like to see them open on their own but the problem with gardens is they are seasonal so maybe a few days in September and autumn would be good but the peak would be spring/summer depending on the type of planting.

Absolutely it’s never going to be the biggest money maker in the world. But if they deem the demand to weak to open the theme park on midweek days in April, May & September, it’s an ideal time to just open the gardens with very little outlay (couple of staff on turnstiles/tickets and maybe open Corner Coffee for refreshments).

Many garden attractions (such as my previously mentioned Trebah Gardens) are open all year round though, so there could be more opportunities.
 
Absolutely it’s never going to be the biggest money maker in the world. But if they deem the demand to weak to open the theme park on midweek days in April, May & September, it’s an ideal time to just open the gardens with very little outlay (couple of staff on turnstiles/tickets and maybe open Corner Coffee for refreshments).

Many garden attractions (such as my previously mentioned Trebah Gardens) are open all year round though, so there could be more opportunities.
Alton have a fair few non theme park related ways to make money, I'm sure guided tours of the site could be something history fans would like!

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Absolutely it’s never going to be the biggest money maker in the world. But if they deem the demand to weak to open the theme park on midweek days in April, May & September, it’s an ideal time to just open the gardens with very little outlay (couple of staff on turnstiles/tickets and maybe open Corner Coffee for refreshments).

Many garden attractions (such as my previously mentioned Trebah Gardens) are open all year round though, so there could be more opportunities.
They could even register with the National Garden Scheme (https://ngs.org.uk) or have some tie in with the National Trust. Both of those organisations would help get people visiting who probably wouldn't normally visit Towers
 
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