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2023: General Discussion

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Had a nice time at Alton towers it was over busy on the Thursday it was mad with long waiting times also think there should be more coke freestyle around the park as there to far apart but still had a great time on the Thursday
 
TheSneakyFerret said:
So was in the queue for Galactica on Thursday. Was next to be assigned to our rows and then all of a sudden a bunch of school leavers with 4 teachers came from the RAP queue and occupied the whole train! There is no way all of them could of been RAP! All the teachers sat in one row and all the kids sat in the others without an adult!
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It could have been a SEN school tbf...
 
Double post update. Oblivion and Spinball both advertising queues but walk on and the smiler riding like an absolute bag of spanner’s. About to try some food but the non merlin discount on the food vans may put me off completely. Entertainment has been fantastic across the park so far so that’s great to see
 
Connor98 said:
Double post update. Oblivion and Spinball both advertising queues but walk on and the smiler riding like an absolute bag of spanner’s. About to try some food but the non merlin discount on the food vans may put me off completely. Entertainment has been fantastic across the park so far so that’s great to see
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To be fair, the food prices are lower than last year at Food Street. Even without discount, prices are competitive vs. take out food options with discount across the park. Jambalaya and Gumbo are both £8... compare that to Burger Kitchen prices and it really isn't bad.
 
Connor98 said:
Brilliant atmosphere here at the park, sat with a beer listening to the sax player in the sun! Already been on 4 coasters. Not too busy at all, consistent operations and pleasant staff. So far so good.
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Also had a very enjoyable annual visit courtesy of The Sun vouchers for the total cost of a £7 parking pass. Which to be fair you could wave any barcode on your phone to the carpark barrier staff and they’d let you out.
 
AstroDan said:
To be fair, the food prices are lower than last year at Food Street. Even without discount, prices are competitive vs. take out food options with discount across the park. Jambalaya and Gumbo are both £8... compare that to Burger Kitchen prices and it really isn't bad.
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I did try the food and after checking out the pricing I agree it’s quite reasonable! I had Mac & Cheese with pulled pork and it was definitely a nicer option than the Aramark outlets. And I’ll second the fact the drinks stalls serve better beers too. Despite them trying to charge me twice the first time and having to show them I’d already paid and then inputting 9.50 for a pint the second time! Good job I was looking else I’d have paid it!
 
Quite certain ride close has been extended today which is nice to see (when I booked for today I am certain it was 5pm close as I planned travel around that). It is a busy day but operations are great and queues moving quickly. There are very minimal RAP queues which is perhaps quite telling operations wise.


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I was thinking about coming to Alton towers next week via public transport, which is something I've never done before, does anyone have any suggestions?
I see there's a one a day bus from uttoxer which gets to the park at about 9:50am and one that leaves at 5:30pm.

Is Uttoxer station the best bet I'm guessing so as it's the closest just planning this trip I'm shocked at how lacking public transport is to the park, getting to Uttoxer is easy but then theres only 1 bus a day and a taxi costs £22 to get to the park (standard rate for the company I called).
 
Based on peoples' previous experience of other "special" days is coming to Alton Towers on Father's Day a terrible idea? Does it get incredibly busy?
 
dave___ said:
Based on peoples' previous experience of other "special" days is coming to Alton Towers on Father's Day a terrible idea? Does it get incredibly busy?
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Best way to tell is by checking Alton towers crowd calender and checking the dates of previous years on father's day, should tell you average queue times and crowd levels to give you a rough idea.
 
If this is the queue-times.com one, It's great and has a decent selection of parks on it. I don't put too much faith in the future date predicted crowd levels as they can be hilariously wrong at times, but check similar dates on previous years to get a good idea of how busy it might be.
 
Yea I'd expect to see some hints and teasers around the park for next season and then seeing the hype build up towards the end of next season and then marketing campaign over closed season.

What intrigues me is just how far are they going to take the mystery aspect with it being an indoor attraction, obviously they'll have to make some reveals to build hype but wonder how much mystery will be around it come opening day.
 
George W said:
Yea I'd expect to see some hints and teasers around the park for next season and then seeing the hype build up towards the end of next season and then marketing campaign over closed season.

What intrigues me is just how far are they going to take the mystery aspect with it being an indoor attraction, obviously they'll have to make some reveals to build hype but wonder how much mystery will be around it come opening day.
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Knowing towers theyll do well at keeping a secret, until marketing let some Z lister on it the day before opening on This Morning and all will be ruined 😂
 
Popped down to the park for a cheeky hour in the evening sunshine. For all that we throw at it one can't deny that this is a magical place.

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Quite amusing being the only one on the monorail heading towards the park, I'd hoped to arrive about 3 but due to M6 traffic it was more like 4pm. Lots of people still in the park however, including a lot of school groups that had stayed late; really do think these summer evenings ought to be 10-6pm, or at least for there to be an option to extend them.

I had less than an hour but managed to get on Spinball (advertised 25, waited 10) and Smiler (20 minutes in SRQ). I would have got on Oblivion as well had it not broken down whilst I was queueing. Wickerman didn't open today else I might have tried to get an end of day ride. Smiler was running pretty well especially for a outer seat.

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Mainly just a really lovely evening to enjoy the park and grounds. The Mardi Gras bar on the lawns remained open after ride close so I got myself a cheeky half to enjoy in the sun. Staff were all very pleasant today, a pair of gardeners with leaf blowers were at work in Haunted Hollow as I was walking to the Galactica exit who very respectfully stopped work and quieted their tools whenever anyone came past.

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We give this park a lot of stick - and ride availability is clearly still an issue - but it really is a special place and it deserves a bit more love from us all I think!

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