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2022: General Discussion

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Danscott22 said:
TowersStreet was so busy at the end of the day queues for Chocolate and Waffles and Ice Cream, also Donuts were massive. We queued for 10 minutes for an ice cream per my previous post, my dad said to me as a joke "we'll get to the front and they'll have sold out" and they actually had! :tearsofjoy: :sweatsmile: Group in front of us were last to get one.
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This actually sounds like the bigger issue than 4pm closures. Understaffed and badly stocked food and beverage operations wastes guests time and can ruin the whole day out if it is the last thing you do, leaving a very bad impression.
 
jon81uk said:
This actually sounds like the bigger issue than 4pm closures. Understaffed and badly stocked food and beverage operations wastes guests time and can ruin the whole day out if it is the last thing you do, leaving a very bad impression.
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Will be interesting to see how and if things change once Aramark take the reigns later in the year…


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I suspect the long queues for food on Towers Street were precisely because of the 4pm closure.

Lots of guests converging on the same area at the same time, having rushed around not eating all day.

Couple of years back I remember scenes of hundreds of people chilling on the lawns after rides closed at 4pm on a 25 degree summer day.
 
I guess we've all got differing opinions - I don't visit a lot, and I know some people here visit nearly every week, so obviously you don't care about the opening times. Just because I got on everything I wanted, does that mentality apply to every guest that was on park? Of course it doesn't. I'd have brought my tea there if I'd have had a couple hours more - my dad would've brought more than one beer whilst he waited for me. But that's the last thing I'll say, I still enjoyed the day, it was just very rushed.
 
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I guess there has to be a trade-off for the park if it's not that busy whether they'll make more money if they stay open later or not. However extending opening hours does mean that people spend more. They might stop for more meal breaks or have a sit down meal rather than takeaway, and might feel they have enough time to do an upcharge attraction like the Dungeons. If you're only just giving people enough time to do the rides they want you're getting their entry fee (or MAP subscription) but nothing else
 
Think the worst things about the 4pm closes are if you're heading home you'll be getting back to the motorway for right on the rush hour, usually with a 5pm close by the time you rejoin the major roads the traffic has died down a bit.

And if you're staying on the 'resort' it again shows up the complete lack of activities to do with the golf and swimming pool closing ridiculously early. So all you have is the bar and the small amount entertainment they put on. The only other option is sit in your room and wait to fall asleep.
 
There wasn't really anytime to watch Festival of Thrills acts either - they were only on from 12-3:30 or something. Each show time board had 2 black bits of fabric stuck over where there would've been 2 more shows. I only saw a bit pf The Smiler act whilst waiting in a 5 minute queue for Spinjam. The rest of the time it was just bypassing them.
 
John_P said:
Think the worst things about the 4pm closes are if you're heading home you'll be getting back to the motorway for right on the rush hour, usually with a 5pm close by the time you rejoin the major roads the traffic has died down a bit.

And if you're staying on the 'resort' it again shows up the complete lack of activities to do with the golf and swimming pool closing ridiculously early. So all you have is the bar and the small amount entertainment they put on. The only other option is sit in your room and wait to fall asleep.
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Exactly this.
4pm closing means hitting the motorways on either side right at the peak of rush hour.
Getting to the park for 10am means most punters travelling in the morning rush hour.
Better idea for the shorter days...open at 11, easier flow to the park, then close at 5, and avoid all the peak traffic.
And "just feeling rushed" on quiet days...that is just the geek coming out in you!
It is so quiet...you just must get everything possible done while you can.
Shorter hours are acceptable if you can do everything twice with minimal queues.
As soon as queues are more than fifteen minutes, hours need extending.
 
rob666 said:
Exactly this.
4pm closing means hitting the motorways on either side right at the peak of rush hour.
Getting to the park for 10am means most punters travelling in the morning rush hour.
Better idea for the shorter days...open at 11, easier flow to the park, then close at 5, and avoid all the peak traffic.
And "just feeling rushed" on quiet days...that is just the geek coming out in you!
It is so quiet...you just must get everything possible done while you can.
Shorter hours are acceptable if you can do everything twice with minimal queues.
As soon as queues are more than fifteen minutes, hours need extending.
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When I was checking what I should do next yesterday, at one point there was advertised: Spinball 25, Galactica 30, Rita 35, The Smiler 40, Wicker Man 40 - some people will have waited a couple of those most likely!
 
Towers customer services were fantastic today, the advisor answered my initial email less than a week after I sent it, then replied to my 5 responses in under an hour. Plus unexpectedly I can use my Rainy Day Return from last year on a Scarefest day, those of which were excluded in the past (now the only excluded days are Fireworks). Think that's what I'm going to do, as then I can go all out on the mazes. I just have to email them back when I have a date in mind. 🙂
 
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Skyscraper said:
Towers customer services were fantastic today, the advisor answered my initial email less than a week after I sent it, then replied to my 5 responses in under an hour. Plus unexpectedly I can use my Rainy Day Return from last year on a Scarefest day, those of which were excluded in the past (now the only excluded days are Fireworks). Think that's what I'm going to do, as then I can go all out on the mazes. I just have to email them back when I have a date in mind. 🙂
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I personally wouldn't class receiving a response in "less than a week" as fantastic. The response time of Towers CS is quite frankly abysmal - given the nature of their operations they should be on requests in under 48 hours max.
 
Alastair said:
I personally wouldn't class receiving a response in "less than a week" as fantastic. The response time of Towers CS is quite frankly abysmal - given the nature of their operations they should be on requests in under 48 hours max.
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I've recently experienced the pleasure of ordering a number of heavy and large items from the EP online shop, having them delivered on a premium first-class service and Brexit paperwork all completed. Within 4 days.

Anyway, drifting back on topic...
 
Alastair said:
I personally wouldn't class receiving a response in "less than a week" as fantastic. The response time of Towers CS is quite frankly abysmal - given the nature of their operations they should be on requests in under 48 hours max.
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Just checked, three days is all it took. Not bad at all if you ask me! :)
 
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