2023: General Discussion

[jon81uk]

Truly baffles me as to who is applying to these roles. Almost certainly unrealistic expectations for an almost guaranteed pitiful salary. Once again "Group Personal Pension" listed as the second to top perk, along with bank holidays bundled into the PTO count. Bizarre!

As has been said before many people go for these roles as they have a passion theme parks and they know they can get away with lower pay because people want to work for them. If you look at people like Wayne Burton who was the previous head of guest experience at AT and has moved up to do the role for the whole Merlin group, he started out as a ride op and obviously has a love for AT. That can of course be a good thing, Wayne ran the original TLC stuff that went out on Twitter, his passion was what improved the presentation of the park in those areas, its better than a "bean counter" who cares more about the feedback scores than what is actually happening.
But they still need to pay well enough to get the right people.

 

[Steve74]

Interesting but someone on Twitter posted a picture of a pass holder pre book for Mardi Gras where you had to pay £1.

Can’t find it now but wonder if this is something they are looking to bring in. And yeah it’s only a quid but fireworks started off at only a fiver and now it’s £25.

Could we see passholders having to pre book and pay for special events going forward? Mardi Gras, Scarefest, Octoberfest etc.


From: https://twitter.com/dean8001/status/1621132944243920897?s=46&t=TB1PiCl6rPGhklzerxZNgA

I saw that tweet too and when I checked and went through booking process for a Mardi Gras date, it was free. They did charge during Covid times didn't they when visitor numbers were limited by law? Reason was to stop passholders booking all the spaces causing days to sell out. But now they have the cap system which limits the number of future bookings you can make per pass per park, that isn't needed anymore.

IF a charge was ever introduced, I'd love to know the justification for it. Bit like the booking or admin fees on theatre and cinema tickets. I remember the early days of the internet when we were promised cheaper products and no admin charges applied because it was effectively a computer doing it all and not a person who needed to be paid, therefore costs lower and could be passed onto the consumer.

 

[rob666]

What might of been better is to do a flash mob, like the Alton ancestors do during Scarefest, they always attract a crowd because it's spontaneous and choreographed.

To be fair, there weren't enough punters on the park for any sort of event, it was a very quiet off peak weekday, the only days I care to visit nowadays...

 

[havaska]

Could we be seeing a 4th Retrosquad ride going here?

• Funk N Fly still in place (who knows what's happening with that!)
• Roller Disco gone but could return (didn't it leave the park last winter too?)
• Spinjam still in situ.

So could this be the place for the new one that Mellors were asking for last year - Jumparound?

We already have a 4th retro squad ride in Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango.

 

[Alsty]

Oversee touch-screen research, feedback processes and Mystery Visit Programme and communicate the key data to management team and beyond – it is vital that the previous day’s data is available for departmental team briefs etc….

Wait a minute, they have mystery visits to the resort? I'd be interested to know what kind of feedback they leave.

 

[Steve74]

We already have a 4th retro squad ride in Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango.

Well yes and no... yes because it is as in it's a temporary fairground ride and no because it's not branded and advertised as a Retrosquad ride

 

[GaryH]

I don’t see why the park insists on pre booking anymore except for fireworks. Nearly all businesses are operating as normal again after covid.

 

[Steve74]

I don’t see why the park insists on pre booking anymore except for fireworks. Nearly all businesses are operating as normal again after covid.

I guess this along with pre booking non-passholder tickets gives them a more accurate idea of how busy the park will be so can arrange staff more effectively for busy and quiet days

 

[Matt.GC]

I don’t see why the park insists on pre booking anymore except for fireworks. Nearly all businesses are operating as normal again after covid.

Operational budgetary accuracy, labour planning and because they've downgraded the park so much over the years, they need to control capacity. Can't let too many people in to one of the biggest theme parks in Europe now, they don't have the attraction or catering capacity to cope with it.

 

[BarryZola]

It's a bit cheeky though. Not exactly looking out for the best interests of your customers. All in the interest of saving a few quid at the expense of a more positive customer experience. Whatever week of the year it is should give them a GENERAL idea of how busy it will be. It takes the Mickey a bit that they want to be THAT precise about it when it causes your regular customers to be inconvenienced every time they want to visit. It is what it is though (and yes, some will say that you can just go and scan in without booking etc, but that is not the official word from Towers or an absolute guarantee when they state that you have to pre-book). It's just a pain in the ****.

 

[jon81uk]

It's a bit cheeky though. Not exactly looking out for the best interests of your customers. All in the interest of saving a few quid at the expense of a more positive customer experience. Whatever week of the year it is should give them a GENERAL idea of how busy it will be. It takes the Mickey a bit that they want to be THAT precise about it when it causes your regular customers to be inconvenienced every time they want to visit. It is what it is though (and yes, some will say that you can just go and scan in without booking etc, but that is not the official word from Towers or an absolute guarantee when they state that you have to pre-book). It's just a pain in the ****.

Disneyworld is getting the exact same complaints at the moment as they still have pre-booking.

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

What would help with the pre booking situation is if the booking system was actually decent. Apparently platinum passholders have some sort of new hub to use but it’s yet to be rolled out to everyone else.

 

[Trooper Looper]

Great to see the RMT get cleaned up and jet washed for this season!!


From: https://youtu.be/hWlf1eIel0A

 

[BarryZola]

They're scraping the barrel a bit for footage now, aren't they? I see they've gone for the pathetic 'giveaway' when they reach 1000 subscribers thing as well. Bore off.

 

[Danscott22]

No ones forcing anyone to watch anything
I don’t really mind the drone updates even if some of them aren’t the most interesting. Offers at least some insight to closed season I wouldn’t otherwise be seeing

 

[SMT_]

I like the drone footage, pausing certain points getting a focused look at disused queue lines and seeing parts of the park you don't see much of.

 

[Blackhole_Sun]

No one would throw up drones if Towers would communicate out a bit more than they do. They have the ability to show some closed season maintenance like Thorpe have. I guess they are busy fluffing up the Alton Manor marketing.

 

[MaxPower]

That's true actually, they are missing a trick by not posting more closed season stuff on social media which is probably a lot more interesting than the content they put out when they're open.

Especially in a year when they're dismantling their signature ride.

 

[James]

I noticed yesterday that Alton Towers is now on TikTok, good opportunity to show behind the scenes type stuff and hop on trends… unfortunately Towers social media is always tightly controlled by marketing so likely we’ll see nothing of interest as per usual.

Thorpe does social media better, Towers need to take notes.

 

[MaxPower]

Thorpe does social media better,

At least they have something...