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2021: General Discussion

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Ethan said:
Ye haha we'll see about that. Still reckon Th13teen will be pulling the 60-90 min queues regardless of the waltzer being next to it
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Th13teen will still be pulling a ridiculous wait due to social distancing. But it is hard fact that the more support rides in a park, that waiting times are spread and therefore reduce slightly on large rides.
 
Plastic Person said:
And given the relative lack of season passes and BOGOF business, guest satisfaction will be seen as more important than ever. I remain firmly optimistic.
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The main source of poor satisfaction at the moment seems to be annual and season passholder bookings for dates. Will be interesting how that improves after July once most of the pass extensions have ended.
 
Benjsh said:
This thread is living proof of the power of marketing. Hahaha.
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It is. And Alton Towers have been the UK masters of marketing for 30 years or more. They excel at it.

RE: Your point that these rides are "tatty" earlier, you should note that two of these rides are practically brand new.

I would been keen to know if you would rather they weren't doing it, and instead leaving the status quo from 2020. I doubt anybody would want to see this as a long term fix for Alton Towers' ride stock problem.

I was pretty "WTF" when I was first told about it, but honestly - take a step back. It's pretty liberating to leave the irritation behind. If they're still here in 2024 then we'll start asking more questions.
 
I've found this thread to be mostly very positive. There were some understandable double takes when this first unfolded but I think it's plainly clear that these changes given the current circumstances are excellent.
 
Danscott22 said:
Funk 'n' Fly, Mixtape and Roller Disco all appear to have a height restriction of 1.2 metres to ride for anyone who hasn't seen!
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Interesting; I wonder why it’s so high? All of these seem like relatively family-friendly flat rides to me... though I guess they might become less family-friendly if put onto intense settings.
 
AstroDan said:
It is. And Alton Towers have been the UK masters of marketing for 30 years or more. They excel at it.

RE: Your point that these rides are "tatty" earlier, you should note that two of these rides are practically brand new.

I would been keen to know if you would rather they weren't doing it, and instead leaving the status quo from 2020. I doubt anybody would want to see this as a long term fix for Alton Towers' ride stock problem.

I was pretty "WTF" when I was first told about it, but honestly - take a step back. It's pretty liberating to leave the irritation behind. If they're still here in 2024 then we'll start asking more questions.
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They are fairground style rides you get everywhere. This is meant to be the flagship park in the UK and one of the best in Europe

It's okay to not be pleased with everything they do. I hate the idea that you have to simply think everything is great because they are trying. They are being praised for bringing in temporary rides due to their own ineptitude of not looking after the ones they had and eventually taking them out.

This is why Merlin have this community by the you know what's and why our theme park industry in the UK is on its backside.

You can roll a turd through glitter. It's still a turd.
 
But what's the point going in circles with it? We've all admitted they've made mistakes, most people will be pleased because at the end of the day people who go on the big coasters could see this as 4 extra things to do! That's my view on it anyway, just a little bit more to do - nobody can deny the marketing isn't a clever way of getting around things.

Especially if it leads to more permanent investment I'm all for it, plus I've heard that the style of ride that Mixtape is, is a very good ride and probably will be a popular choice.
Idk, I just don't see the point in being negative about it anymore when it's clearly an address to try and make things better, but maybe that's just me.
 
I also don't like the idea of because things have been screwed up in the past, we can't give them credit for what they're doing now. They've brought in 4 new flat rides, when it's been known for a while flat rides are what they are lacking, and people are annoyed. Are they brilliant top of the line word beating rides? No. But they are 4 new rides nonetheless. As @Danscott22 has said, what is the point in going round in circles anymore. Even if they're not for you, they fill space, add an interesting theme for the year which I imagine will be backed up with themeing and even new merch, and will eat up queue times at least to some extent, so are they really, really such a terrible thing?

Also before someone says I'm praising the park for doing the bare minimum or something shoddy, I'm not saying this is some fantastic show stopping life changing investment- it's just nice! New rides! Less empty space! Shorter queues! Cool theme! Woo!
 
Benjsh said:
They are fairground style rides you get everywhere. This is meant to be the flagship park in the UK and one of the best in Europe

It's okay to not be pleased with everything they do. I hate the idea that you have to simply think everything is great because they are trying. They are being praised for bringing in temporary rides due to their own ineptitude of not looking after the ones they had and eventually taking them out.

This is why Merlin have this community by the you know what's and why our theme park industry in the UK is on its backside.

You can roll a turd through glitter. It's still a turd.
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So what would you prefer? Forgive me as I haven't seen your posts so maybe you've clarified this elsewhere but would you rather that they just continued with absolutely minimal flat rides? This forum has criticised the lack of offerings/variety for a very long time. Investment has been very frigid in flat rides, and this may very well be what we need if we want a better future for the park. AT has fallen from grace, we all know this, but Rome wasn't built in a day, recovery needs time.
 
Benjsh said:
They are fairground style rides you get everywhere. This is meant to be the flagship park in the UK and one of the best in Europe.
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Yes the Twist and Waltzer are extremely common on the UK, but the Super Trooper and Smashing Jump are actually quite rare. Plus I think the Super Trooper is a relatively new ride type.
 
Benjsh said:
They are fairground style rides you get everywhere. This is meant to be the flagship park in the UK and one of the best in Europe

It's okay to not be pleased with everything they do. I hate the idea that you have to simply think everything is great because they are trying. They are being praised for bringing in temporary rides due to their own ineptitude of not looking after the ones they had and eventually taking them out.

This is why Merlin have this community by the you know what's and why our theme park industry in the UK is on its backside.

You can roll a turd through glitter. It's still a turd.
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Yes. But for various reasons there is currently no budget for major capital expenditures. Operating budgets seem to have been given a real boost though and Alton Towers are using some of this to hire in some temporary rides to boost capacity and give people more things to do during their day. Sure these won't be mind blowing experiences but I am sure they will be good fun.

If they do prove popular then they only help Alton Towers in producing a solid business case to Merlin that justifies the need for some new permanent flat rides. And that has to be a good thing, right? We all know how much Merlin need convincing when it comes to new additions they're not fully convinced about, just look at how long it took for them to eventually green light a wooden coaster.
 
Alsty said:
Park makes mistakes, gets criticised. Park tries to remedy mistakes, still gets criticised.
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I regularly compliment the park on the things it does well. Coasters are by and large great. Cbeebies is great for its target market. David Walliams from what we've seen so far looks to be very positive.

I just don't see this as a positive step. Sorry for having a different opinion to you all. Maybe it's just me though and me clinging on to the little bit of magic that's still left at the place. If I wanted fairground rides I could go to any run of the mill fairground / seaside type park.
 
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