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2022: General Discussion

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Matt N said:
I'm 19 and have never ridden Towers' coasters in snow (although admittedly I've never been earlier in the year than the middle of April, from memory). But I think the policy has definitely grown less lenient within the last 5-10 years; I remember seeing a Galactica POV where snow was on the ground once, whereas that would never happen now.

And correct me if I'm wrong here, but I seem to remember a very light sprinkling of snow being the reason for Wicker Man's opening being delayed by 3 days?
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Wicker Man’s opening was delayed by “The Beast from the East” - not just a light sprinkling!
 
Yes, I remember that well. I was there for both 'opening days'. The one you mention that never happened due to the Beast from the East, and then the one several days later when it actually did open eventually. The first riders were given a free Wicker Man pin too! :)
 
GaryH said:
I agree that in pat years the rides would generally open on time even with ERT in colder weather than what we have had. I wonder if it’s because there may be less engineers now so rides face longer delays to open.
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It’s because the manufacturers stipulate (and always have) a minimum operating temperature. Previously Towers would see this as “advice” (as do other parks), since the Smiler crash Merlin now strictly follow all manufacturer guidance.
 
Dave said:
It’s because the manufacturers stipulate (and always have) a minimum operating temperature. Previously Towers would see this as “advice” (as do other parks), since the Smiler crash Merlin now strictly follow all manufacturer guidance.
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Merlin are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If anything remotely serious was to happen on a ride [heaven forbid] & the media got hold of the fact it was being operated outside of manufacturers specifications... you can only imagine what the Daily Mail, Mirror & Sky News would make of it - Nick Varney would be ripped to shreds & would probably end up having to resign.

And the above is all before you consider the effect the Smiler incident had on Merlin's RTP performance. It took several years for them to regain the general publics trust. Any remotely similar incident would be WAY harder to recover from. They just can take no risks to the business as they need the gate income for future CAPEX projects.
 
Fair enough but how is it possible two Saturdays in a row that things didn’t open on time, and on the Sundays which had pretty much the same weather they did. It’s curious!!
 
Saturday morning was a hard frost with a cold wind from the north and a slow thaw.
Sunday was a slight frost with bright sun, little wind and a rapid thaw.
Can make a two to three hour difference...and it is my job to start as early as I can, so I can get to the coasters as fast as I can.
April is a typical tricky month for frosts...drives farmers mad...and sends grape growers out for a million candles.
Merlin can't afford the candles.
 
Kraken27 said:
Merlin are stuck between a rock and a hard place. If anything remotely serious was to happen on a ride [heaven forbid] & the media got hold of the fact it was being operated outside of manufacturers specifications... you can only imagine what the Daily Mail, Mirror & Sky News would make of it - Nick Varney would be ripped to shreds & would probably end up having to resign.

And the above is all before you consider the effect the Smiler incident had on Merlin's RTP performance. It took several years for them to regain the general publics trust. Any remotely similar incident would be WAY harder to recover from. They just can take no risks to the business as they need the gate income for future CAPEX projects.
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It’s more the insurers and HSE, which is why other UK parks seem to be taking a similar stance.

Fact is Smiler was operating in wind speeds above manufacturers guidance that fateful day, they won’t make the same mistake twice.
 
Popped along to Towers for a couple of hours on Saturday to take a quick look at the new Festival of Thrills event. Only saw the stages in Forbidden Valley and Mutiny Bay but I've got to admit that I don't really get it.

Sure extra entertainment is great, but all you can do is stand and watch it. And the quality of the acts I saw was average at best. It's the first year of the event so I will cut them some slack. Should it return next year I feel it would be better to have some tables and chairs near each of the stages along with a couple of food stands and somewhere to grab a drink. It would be much enjoyable if you could sit and enjoy some of the entertainment with a nice drink rather than just standing watching it, thinking that there are better things to be doing.

Also not overly keen on Fireworks music playing on Towers Street/areas where the Heritiage Sountrack plays. But maybe that is just me!
 
Rob said:
It's the first year of the event so I will cut them some slack.
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I do take your point, but at the same time, should we be cutting them slack on these sorts of things at this point?

This is the third new event of a similar type they have introduced in three years. Surely by this point, you'd expect that they would have got the basics down at least, like the provision of food and seating. After all, it's not like they don't have the facilities, we've seen them in use in past events like this one.
 
Alcohol sales next to each stage is, i would say, absolutely necessary if you expect people to mill around for more than the bare minimum amount of time.

We spent a while at the Dark Forest stage because the violinist was genuinely great and at the Mutiny Bay stage because we had bought a pint in the Courtyard and took it over. Not long at the other two stages.

The Galactica act is awful.
 
Danscott22 said:
I think the point is that a festival doesn't usually have seating, it's supposed to be a stand and dance style event (I'd assume) - which would also explain the lack of event style food.
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I think it really depends on if you are talking about the large corporate festivals or the smaller, more intimate festivals. I'm thinking more of the intimate festivals that are more on a similar scale to what is on offer here.

It is not unknown for some sort of seating to be offered, even if it's just a few hay bales or alike - many are set up to encourage folk to bring picnic blankets to sit out on the floor, though this obviously wouldn't be suitable for Festival of Thrills as all the stages are on paved areas.

I would definitely say all festivals are known for their food offering, though. The food trucks that have been present at literally every other event are literally the style of catering that appear at festivals up and down the land. For example, the sort of food on offer at Mardi Gras last year would be more in keeping with a festival style event than a Mardi Gras event. It does feel slightly ironic that the one event they've not brought them out for is the event where they would be most at home.
 
D4n said:
Alcohol sales next to each stage is, i would say, absolutely necessary if you expect people to mill around for more than the bare minimum amount of time.

We spent a while at the Dark Forest stage because the violinist was genuinely great and at the Mutiny Bay stage because we had bought a pint in the Courtyard and took it over. Not long at the other two stages.

The Galactica act is awful.
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I don't think alcohol should be a major focus of a day at a theme park so I disagree, they don't need more bars.

I think these stages are just meant to be something to stand and watch for 10 minutes, its not a fully staged show like they have on the lawns (I assume the Alegnon shows are happening this year), its more like watching a busker or a small sideshow. I've stood and watched bands, acrobats and dancers at Epcot in the past, none of those shows had any seating but we watched the 10-20 minute show. Same at Phantasialand with their acrobats in the China area.

AT should be offering fixed proper shows with seating, using the empty 4D cinema and the stage on the lawn, as well as shorter smaller shows which they are doing for this Festival of Thrill and for Mardi Gras next month.
 
I, and quite a few others, do think that alcohol should be a meaningful part of a day at a theme park, especially if there are music acts playing.
Having a beer while listening to music is a very popular idea among young people...
So I have been told by people several generations younger than my good self.
 
To me it just did not feel like much of an event, especially when compared to Mardi Gras, Oktoberfest and Scarefest.
 
I find this whole event odd to be honest. No theming/bunting on Towers Street, the stage on the lawns isn't being used (madness), no additional catering facilities... I'm not a fan of the fireworks music playing on Towers Street either, could they not knock up some custom music as they have done for other events?

I can't say I like music acts blaring out in each area either. I know the songs are kind of linked to the areas/rides, however it is mostly still pop music being played in themed areas (I know they have more than just pop singers before anyone shoots me down). It feels kind of tacky. The stages could certainly do with some seating at least.

I would have a 'Festival of Thrills' event as each area having a different type of act (so a magician in one area, dancers in another, acrobacts in one, sand artist in one, BMX show in another etc), then on the main stage have a number of singing acts throughout the day or a 'concert' type show, add the usual addition food vans and bar on Towers Street with theming dotted around and job done. I feel that would be something more unique and make you want to stay and watch different performances across the park.

There's no reason this event shouldn't have been on par with Mardi Gras or Oktoberfest, at the core it's the same formula as these events. I guess it's a case of budgets and being cautious with trying a new event. Hopefully it's successful so they can build on something for next year.
 
Other than the stages in each area there is nothing else to this event, there’s no theming around the park or on towers street. I was expecting some bunting and flags, etc like they do with the other events, but you wouldn’t even know there was an event going on.

I was expecting it more to be like Thorpe VIBES, with loads of colour and ride logos, etc across the park, I mean there wasn’t even any new merch for the event at all.

The stages are fine and have a bit of theming on them, but again that’s where it ends. Nothing is different with any of the rides or the areas, the way it was briefed was the rides coming alone with song and dance.
 
I think a major problem with this event is the fact that they made an 'event' out of it. If they would have just added the stages with a bit of music people may have thought it was a nice little bonus addition to their day. But Towers being Towers, they had to market it and try to make a big deal of it. On the other hand, I enjoyed the events on the lawn last year with loads of seating etc, those were actually really good.
 
I suspect that they have made a conscious decision to give the front lawns as long as possible before they start using them again, given the state they were in at the end of last year and the fact they were still recovering at the start of this season. Come the summer I am sure the stage will be in use again with the seating etc.
 
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