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2021: Opening date & Tickets Onsale

AT86

AT86

TS Member
So in a super organised move, tickets for 2021 are now available for purchase! I guess they need all the cash they can get right now, so making the tickets available just increases the cash flow a bit for them.

It means the opening date looks to be confirmed as Saturday 20th March 2021. Right now tickets can be booked until end of September - and the good news is, it appears there are NO midweek close dates for the first time since 2016! :)

Furthermore the approach of weekend and school holiday tickets being more expensive than midweek seems to have been kept. Midweek is currently £34 for adults, schools holidays and weekends £38.

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Here’s hoping for 2021 to shape up as a better season than 2020!
 
Unless they've got any good bribes I won't be renewing my pass for the first time in many years so this is something I won't have to make a note of for a change. Also, let's be honest, for the measly £4 you'd save for going on a weekday there'd probably be no skyride, lack of food stalls etc open, rides opened later, park close at 4pm and all the usual money saving measures.
 
I just hope the premium rate season pass is still available next year - 8 visits in this truncated season for only £78 quid, including parking too.

ALL of those visits have included the Skyride and full ride availibilty too.
 
AT86 said:
Do you think 2021 will be a worse season than 2020 for passholders?
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Covid restrictions are here to stay for another year or two at least. The combination of over selling of passes and gate restrictions, plus Merlin need to rake in as much money as possible = disappointment to pass holders
 
BarryZola said:
Unless they've got any good bribes I won't be renewing my pass for the first time in many years so this is something I won't have to make a note of for a change. Also, let's be honest, for the measly £4 you'd save for going on a weekday there'd probably be no skyride, lack of food stalls etc open, rides opened later, park close at 4pm and all the usual money saving measures.
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But for that £4 less you could have 15 minute waits instead of 90 minute waits. I think it is easily possible to have a much better day on a weekday compared to weekends, even if the hours are an hour shorter.

Having said that I don't think 4pm closure is ever a good thing, it should be at least 5pm, even if the water rides open later in the cooler months. But I would always take a quieter 10-5 weekday with lower waits over a busier 10-6 weekend dat.
 
RoyJess said:
Unless you are a pass holder o_O
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Get the back of the queue, my valued customers they say. I've renewed my BPB pass with pleasure at a lovely discount but Merlin can take their pass and get away with it.
 
Not defending them reneging on a clear deal with passholders who have purchased in good faith that they should be able to use their passes more than they have been, Covid or not.

But I hope this whole passholder scandal of 2020 highlights the issue of filling your theme parks up with passholders who you've sold a pass to at a bargain basement price, rather than trying to create higher quality experiences that can command a higher day ticket or pass price. Again, not defending what has happened to passholders but the last few months clearly show that the park and Merlin in general have too many passholders who they've relied on to keep attendance high rather than attracting new or occasional visitors. That's fine when you don't have to limit numbers (although even on sell out days, it was only really ride and food capacity that limited them at Towers, not actual space available in the park for SD), but it's not a viable business model long term with the parks clearly relying more on day trippers and short break visitors than their push to sell cheap passes to everyone would suggest.

If you look at the positives for 2021, there's been a general consensus, especially among us, that AT has been reduced to a cheap and cheerful day out over the last few years, with stingy opening hours, closed days, closed attractions, poor operations, lack of events and entertainment etc. A lot of those complaints have seen a significantly reversal this season, many of them clearly planned before the pandemic such as Oktoberfest, a longer season planned and the like. Of course we should reserve judgement until we have more details, but having an early look at 2021 does show that there is potential for this trend of improvements to the park experience continuing into 2020.

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I reckon they might wanna lay off the cheap single park 'season passes' in future. Long before Covid it was remarked by several people on here that they were way too cheap and when Covid came around it only added to the issues of trying to book a day to Towers as there must have been a significant number of 'season pass' holders on top of Merlin pass holders. This is coming from a Merlin pass holder who was considering getting a Towers 'season pass' instead next season. Not sure if I'd rather they just get rid of the cheap passes though and just pay more for the Merlin pass but get a better experience. Obviously not sure if I'll be getting anything yet though. Depends what their booking system will be like next year.
 
Tokyo Disney have for the time being completely ditched their annual passes, cancelling and refunding all existing customers. So there's potential for an industry shift in perspective on annual passes as a result of this year.
 
Covid is clearly going to be around in the world for another season. To carry on selling such cheap passes in the UK would just lead to dissatisfied pass holders or an unsustainable business model.

The variable day pass price structure is a good move and makes perfect sense and should have been implemented long ago. Why wouldn't you discount days where the park is cheaper to run and needs more guests but charge more on days where you could potentially be at capacity?

I just hope we see an end to heavy discounting at Towers in general. Lack of discounting doesn't hurt Europa, a park that was a mere shadow of Towers in the 90's but has become one the greats of the world in the decades since. You can't get your mate in for free by buying a box of German cornflakes or get in all season for 50 quid there and the park quality has benefited from it.

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Matt.GC said:
I just hope we see an end to heavy discounting at Towers in general. Lack of discounting doesn't hurt Europa, a park that was a mere shadow of Towers in the 90's but has become one the greats of the world in the decades since. You can't get your mate in for free by buying a box of German cornflakes or get in all season for 50 quid there and the park quality has benefited from it.
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I don't think anyone can argue with the quality at towers though. Yes I'd like to see more investments that aren't coasters, maybe a flat or dark ride, but in terms of the coasters lineup, it's world class. There's no other way to put it the coasters are fantastic at towers and we're very lucky. I wish people appreciated what we have as I'd take towers over Europa any day. Yes Europa has more entertainment, shows and a better experience, but I'm only interested in the rides anyway
 
Ethan said:
I don't think anyone can argue with the quality at towers though. Yes I'd like to see more investments that aren't coasters, maybe a flat or dark ride, but in terms of the coasters lineup, it's world class. There's no other way to put it the coasters are fantastic at towers and we're very lucky. I wish people appreciated what we have as I'd take towers over Europa any day. Yes Europa has more entertainment, shows and a better experience, but I'm only interested in the rides anyway
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Have you been to Europa Park?
 
Ethan said:
I don't think anyone can argue with the quality at towers though. Yes I'd like to see more investments that aren't coasters, maybe a flat or dark ride, but in terms of the coasters lineup, it's world class. There's no other way to put it the coasters are fantastic at towers and we're very lucky. I wish people appreciated what we have as I'd take towers over Europa any day. Yes Europa has more entertainment, shows and a better experience, but I'm only interested in the rides anyway
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Most of those aging coasters were built in an era when AT had higher attendance than EP, had entertainment, excellent family dark rides, themed everything they built to a reasonable standard, maintained the park better, shut at 7pm in the summer and didn't knock out season passes for the price of an on the day ticket.

I get the argument for wham bam thank you mam, £55 to whore a stellar aging coaster lineup as many times as you want on a rainy April day between 10 and 4 but it's hardly a long term sustainable business model is it and this isn't a Six Flags park. I could quite easily argue with the quality of Towers actually but that's off topic and is fairly well discussed on other threads.

A long season, with no closed days, decent opening hours, events and entertainment should be welcomed even if it means the end of heavily discounted entry.

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AT86 said:
Have you been to Europa Park?
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Yes and I will admit the experience and atmosphere is much better. The entertainment, shows, mix of rides is much better than towers. However in terms of the coaster lineups I personally prefer towers. I know that's a controversial unpopular opinion but I just think it provides more. Blue fire and silver star I was disappointed with, wodan tbf is superb and Euro mir I think is underrated. But I can obviously see why people think Europa is better because overall it is. But in terms of coasters towers have more and fill in more gaps
 
Matt.GC said:
Covid is clearly going to be around in the world for another season. To carry on selling such cheap passes in the UK would just lead to dissatisfied pass holders or an unsustainable business model.

The variable day pass price structure is a good move and makes perfect sense and should have been implemented long ago. Why wouldn't you discount days where the park is cheaper to run and needs more guests but charge more on days where you could potentially be at capacity?

I just hope we see an end to heavy discounting at Towers in general. Lack of discounting doesn't hurt Europa, a park that was a mere shadow of Towers in the 90's but has become one the greats of the world in the decades since. You can't get your mate in for free by buying a box of German cornflakes or get in all season for 50 quid there and the park quality has benefited from it.

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I don't know why we're arguing for a massive increase in entrance price. The lack of closed days recently and improved opening hours may not be sustainable if people can't afford to go on quieter days.

If you ask me, increasing the price - and ditching the season pass - is a receipe for more closed off peak days not less.
 
Mikw said:
I don't know why we're arguing for a massive increase in entrance price. The lack of closed days recently and improved opening hours may not be sustainable if people can't afford to go on quieter days.

If you ask me, increasing the price - and ditching the season pass - is a receipe for more closed off peak days not less.
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I'm advocating an increase in guest experience and an end to discounting rather than just jacking up prices. I've already said that I think variable pricing is a good idea. But surely the recent passholder ticket scandal has shown that the park relies more heavily on non passholder attendance than we previously might have thought for a decent income?

It's undeniable, as Merlin were a PLC, that they discounted and cut themselves into a corner. It's my personal opinion that they need to strike a value balance. Commercial decisions around pricing and operational expenditure are based on projections in which consumer opinion is also taken into account. If you ask someone, as so many Merlin feedback surveys do, if they think they've paid a fair price, of course they're going to say no and would probably say so until the park is free entry. It's a bit like asking most people if they think they get paid enough by their employers, hardly anyone says yes.

With places like Oakwood charging £35 to get in, I bet you most people think a trip to Towers is more expensive than it actually is. If they can't fill the park up without selling £55 season passes then their park clearly has problems that are nothing to do with pricing.

They've ripped people off in other ways. As gate prices have remained broadly flat, BOGOFs are found everywhere and season passes have been offered for £55, they've closed attractions, closed food options, decimated entertainment, slashed opening hours and operating days and opened an up charge attraction.

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No way is Alton Towers worth its gate price. Sure you can get discounts but that involves always bringing someone along to get the 2 for 1 offer. What if you just decide to go yourself. Not worth it. I'd pay £58 plus for Disneyland Paris but not Towers. Awful food, big queues at the weekend and really nothing but rides.

I also wouldn't buy a season pass again as the availability is very poor now.
 
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