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2021: General Discussion

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Ethan said:
Its interesting you say that because I'm pretty sure most queues were shorter than normal. Didn't wicker man regularly get upto 2 hours pre covid or have I just made that up!
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It depends how you work them out, considering the number of people on park I would consider it busy. Certainly with the likes of Thirteen for example, one of those affected the most by social distancing the queue was far beyond anything I would've waited for!
 
Ethan said:
Its interesting you say that because I'm pretty sure most queues were shorter than normal. Didn't wicker man regularly get upto 2 hours pre covid or have I jus trade that up!
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My experience last season was that the advertised queue times were inflated, most were up to half the advertised time. For example, the best ride for queuing was Spinball - advertised often at 30mins + yet the queue was just at the start of straight leading up to the station. Often the queue wasn't even 5 minutes!

The physical length of the queues was far greater because of social distancing. So if you took SD out of the equation and still had the restricted numbers in the park, the queue length and wait time would have been equal to - and in most cases less than - a non-restricted season.
 
Ethan said:
Its interesting you say that because I'm pretty sure most queues were shorter than normal. Didn't wicker man regularly get upto 2 hours pre covid or have I just made that up!
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Go on a weekday in school time (pre covid) and it was often walk on. I managed 14 or 15 rides in one day without waiting longer than 2 mins.
 
Benjsh said:
Go on a weekday in school time (pre covid) and it was often walk on. I manged 14 or 15 rides in one day without waiting longer than 2 mins.
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Yup I think that's the issue. Last year when the park reopened we pretty much had every day at "capacity". There were no 'quiet' days really. If the queue times are advertised as so high it puts people off queuing no matter how long the queue actually is, as does a queue which spills out the entrance even if it is relatively fast moving. Having these additional rides increases the number of rides that people can get on during the day, and gives them that low queue option when the coaster queues are long.
 
Craig said:
Yup I think that's the issue. Last year when the park reopened we pretty much had every day at "capacity". There were no 'quiet' days really. If the queue times are advertised as so high it puts people off queuing no matter how long the queue actually is, as does a queue which spills out the entrance even if it is relatively fast moving. Having these additional rides increases the number of rides that people can get on during the day, and gives them that low queue option when the coaster queues are long.
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Yeah absolutely.

In theory Towers should be able to handle busy days though. They have 10 coasters, 3 of which are B&M's so have pretty good throughputs even if they might not achieve the numbers they once did. Wickerman usually gets the trains out quick too.

I have only visited the park once on a busy / peak day in the last 6 to 7 years though but that's been through choice. I don't want to wait 1.5 to 2hrs for a ride I have ridden hundreds of times. So I choose to just book a random day off in the week every 3 to 4 months and usually head down to Towers for the day.
 
As I mentioned a while back, they'll be extremely glad that the roadmap means there's potential for a lot of social distancing restriction to be lifted so early. I'd almost certainly assume that they expected restrictions similar to last season to be in place for the vast majority of the summer, hence the planning to have the flats come in for the season.

If they can get through the first 2-3 months of opening, weather permitting they're likely banking on the second half of the season being a corker for them. More rides available, and hopefully some decent events announced building on the changes last year - really looking forward to it!
 
Craig said:
As I mentioned a while back, they'll be extremely glad that the roadmap means there's potential for a lot of social distancing restriction to be lifted so early. I'd almost certainly assume that they expected restrictions similar to last season to be in place for the vast majority of the summer, hence the planning to have the flats come in for the season.

If they can get through the first 2-3 months of opening, weather permitting they're likely banking on the second half of the season being a corker for them. More rides available, and hopefully some decent events announced building on the changes last year - really looking forward to it!
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I envisage UK tourist attractions, especially outdoor ones, are going to have a very good year.

A) We've all been locked up for months and are gagging to get out for longer than 45 mins to an hour.

B) Many people (not all) will have managed to save a bit of extra cash over the last 12 months with having no places open to spend their money

C) Foreign holidays look unlikely for a good few months as yet.

I can see most of our bigger parks doing well and it's badly needed.
 
Craig said:
Thirteen for example, one of those affected the most by social distancing the queue was far beyond anything I would've waited for!
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Blime me the queues were certainly a lot longer than normal for Th13teen last season. Don't think wicker man and smiler were too bad
 
Probably already been discussed on a page but is the £15 bring a friend ticket option for season pass holders happening this year do we know?
 
GaryH said:
Probably already been discussed on a page but is the £15 bring a friend ticket option for season pass holders happening this year do we know?
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I thought they weren't doing season passes this year? In which case the £15 tickets wouldn't be sold.
 
Yeah I got my new season pass for 2021 this week after cancelling last years but I was wondering more about the bring a friend tickets...
 
Benjsh said:
I envisage UK tourist attractions, especially outdoor ones, are going to have a very good year.

A) We've all been locked up for months and are gagging to get out for longer than 45 mins to an hour.

B) Many people (not all) will have managed to save a bit of extra cash over the last 12 months with having no places open to spend their money

C) Foreign holidays look unlikely for a good few months as yet.

I can see most of our bigger parks doing well and it's badly needed.
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Yeah I think this is what they are planning for, particularly point C. That was an effect last year too, but I think it's going to be even bigger of an effect this year especially if you cannot travel abroad without proof of both jabs which I think some countries are thinking about. And as they're planning all adults to have their first jab by end of July, there is no way the second will be administered to all by the end of the summer.

Ethan said:
We'll find out in 40 minutes
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I know the original link was abused so is probably dead, but should we be watching the MAP or Towers site at 12.30? Or will Merlin post the link on Social Media at 12.30?
 
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Steve74 said:
Yeah I think this is what they are planning for, particularly point C. That was an effect last year too, but I think it's going to be even bigger of an effect this year especially if you cannot travel abroad without proof of both jabs which I think some countries are thinking about. And as they're planning all adults to have their first jab by end of July, there is no way the second will be administered to all by the end of the summer.
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I think even with the possibility of travelling abroad in Summer, many will not as the uncertainty means they're more comfortable securing breaks in the UK as opposed to abroad.
 
Craig said:
I think even with the possibility of travelling abroad in Summer, many will not as the uncertainty means they're more comfortable securing breaks in the UK as opposed to abroad.
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Oh of course yeah that too. And given the state of the UK hospitality industry at the moment, many will choose to stay here regardless of health uncertainties to support our economy and this industry and help it get back on it's feet
 
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