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2021: General Discussion

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There was that time it was missing for ages, and the supports were near Galactica whilst the boat was dumped behind Duel, but it still returned.
 
The Alton Towers "graveyard" is a total misnomer, things always get stored there and every year people moan on Facebook about it. I imagine things get stored there for a reason. Even the old monorail train that's there is likely kept for spare parts, right next to the monorail depot where it's most useful.

Doesnt necessarily mean it will return though, who knows
 
I think at this point Blade will outlive Enterprise; I was watching that last year and it was going at a depressingly slow speed.
 
The Cardinal said:
I think at this point Blade will outlive Enterprise; I was watching that last year and it was going at a depressingly slow speed.
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I also think Blade will outlive Enterprise, reason being on my three visits last year (July, September, October) it was closed on all of them.
 
Blade will probably out live Enterprise as (apart from the OTT lifting drive wheel system) it's a lot less complex to look after. Realistically, scrap them both and get 7 new flat rides but that won't happen any time soon (but I imagine it could happen when they don't want to commit coaster levels of funding whilst the finances are still recovering from the pandemic)
 
Poisson said:
Enterprise as (apart from the OTT lifting drive wheel system) it's a lot less complex to look after
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Random thought but Id think this would be more simple to look after than the reversing wheel system on other pirate ships cos it would save on a more complex gear box design or something?

For some reason, I remember as a kid it was interesting seeing Blade's little wheels poppin up and down compared to swinging ships, is it a rarer design?
 
Generally I think outdoor attractions such as gardens and zoos are fairly safe. theme parks a bit less due to the queues, but still outdoors better than indoors. But in general going to Alton Towers is a lower risk than the pub so I don't see why they can't open sooner.

As Roy said though, eat out to help out probably didn't really help with control of the virus.
 
jon81uk said:
Generally I think outdoor attractions such as gardens and zoos are fairly safe. theme parks a bit less due to the queues, but still outdoors better than indoors. But in general going to Alton Towers is a lower risk than the pub so I don't see why they can't open sooner.

As Roy said though, eat out to help out probably didn't really help with control of the virus.
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Surely theme park queues wouldn’t be much different to any other queue at the moment, though? Supermarket queues, vaccine centre queues; as long as it’s socially distanced (as Alton Towers’ were last year), surely there’s no real difference between those and a ride queue?
 
I understand Merlin want to get their attractions open and all, but that quote from Francis Jackson regarding the benefits of theme parks is very much in danger of over egging the pudding somewhat.

Our attractions can help promote healthier, happier and more connected communities, whilst addressing many of the most pressing health, social and environmental challenges we will face following the COVID-19 pandemic. We know it will be an invaluable benefit to these communities for us to reopen as soon as it’s safe to do so.
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Matt N said:
Surely theme park queues wouldn’t be much different to any other queue at the moment, though? Supermarket queues, vaccine centre queues; as long as it’s socially distanced (as Alton Towers’ were last year), surely there’s no real difference between those and a ride queue?
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Supermarkets are needed to get food so are a different thing compared to leisure attractions.

I was comparing theme parks to zoos and gardens, which are outdoor attractions that don't generally require the same amount of queuing.
Gardens (outdoor parts of botanical gardens and heritage sites for exercise) can be open at the moment, so zoos being open is not a huge step from now. But theme parks is another step up again. Then indoor attractions is another step up in risk again and so on.
 
I think that with theme parks being outdoors, they'll likely be one of the first attractions in hospitality to open. And if pubs and restaurants should be open by May, I imagine places like towers should be open by april anyway
 
The answer seems simple to me, just turn all the ride shops into mini supermarkets - and then they can open up.
 
There's a potential problem though. Even if the government do allow certain places to open, they may still be telling people not to travel outside of their 'area'. For example, I'm hoping to do a couple of mountain walks in Snowdonia (complicating it more by travel between 2 countries) in the next couple of months but although they may be allowing more people to mix and children are going back to school etc I'll still probably be stopped from driving in my car to a mountain and not mixing with anyone. So, if Alton Towers is open but you're ordered not to leave your area and you're 70 miles away, what are you going to do?
 
BarryZola said:
There's a potential problem though. Even if the government do allow certain places to open, they may still be telling people not to travel outside of their 'area'. For example, I'm hoping to do a couple of mountain walks in Snowdonia (complicating it more by travel between 2 countries) in the next couple of months but although they may be allowing more people to mix and children are going back to school etc I'll still probably be stopped from driving in my car to a mountain and not mixing with anyone. So, if Alton Towers is open but you're ordered not to leave your area and you're 70 miles away, what are you going to do?
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If Alton Towers was put in that situation, I can't see them reopening the whole park because they would lose a lot of money. Perhaps they might just open Cbeebies, Mutiny Bay and X-Sector so that they have something for everyone without the cost. I would also want to know how 'local' is defined, if Manchester (about 40 miles away as the crow flies) is classed as local then they might have enough people to justify opening more, otherwise Stoke and Derby might not be enough to justify opening much.
 
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