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2024: General Discussion

Not sure where to post this, as its Merlin-wide not just Towers, but you can now get 25% discount on online ticket prices for friends and family when using your MAP. This is instead of the walk-up gate price as it used to be.

I think they will be abonding the false walk-up price soon now that no discounts are actually based on it. Stops people thinking they are getting an experience actually worth £68. Far better to state prices from £29 when you book in advance.
 
I wonder if changes to the ‘buy one get one free’ ticket offers on soap containers, cereal bars and milkshakes will be made too, as I believe these offers are also based on the gate price that no one actually pays.

Those have all pretty much expired and are being replaced with a discount off the online price. Kellogg’s recently launched this.
 
I wonder if changes to the ‘buy one get one free’ ticket offers on soap containers, cereal bars and milkshakes will be made too, as I believe these offers are also based on the gate price that no one actually pays.
Carex soap is now £5 off https://carex.co.uk/fantastical-rewards-at-alton-towers-carex/

Kellogg’s is now 25% off

Not sure if the Yazoo one has expired yet as the link to the terms on the website is broken.
 
Sorry for the double post. Just saw that more tours have been added, they must be selling well.

11am tours have been added on Saturdays in August and a random 4pm on a Sunday is also showing.

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I am not too surprised, they probably should have had a tour much earlier, I wonder how much of the public knew you could explore the towers, as I never recall it being something that was advertised and the entrance is quite hidden, and making it something guided and something to do I feel like people who dislike rides can easily choose to do it.
 
Not sure where to post this, as its Merlin-wide not just Towers, but you can now get 25% discount on online ticket prices for friends and family when using your MAP. This is instead of the walk-up gate price as it used to be.

I thought it was 50% off (I have Gold) or is that for every user its 25% now?
 
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I don't know what it was before because I never used the option. But 50% off now only relates to "Gateway" attractions - from the article:
If you are trying to book one of our Gateway attractions (think SEA LIFE, the London Eye, Madame Tussauds etc.) then you can continue to use the up to 50% gate price offer.
 
It was 50% off the gate price, it is now 25% off the online price.

I'm struggling to see how that's a better deal, I guess it probably works out better value on off-peak days but I can't help thinking that on popular days you might well end up paying more.

Much prefer the one-price offer of the Platinum Pass Share the Fun vouchers, though even those have gone up from £15 to £19 in the last year
 
As I’ve said in previous posts, Merlin have gone down this farcical path of devaluing their own product in terms of offers and annual passes they don’t even know what their own product is worth.

If they don’t know, how should their customers? They’ve trained their customers for a decade that their product isn’t worth what it says on the tin.

The sooner they go back to a respectable, gate price and increase the MAP costs the better.

Comparatively to football, the theatre, music events etc theme park tickets are absurdly cheap. If we want them to increase spending and quality we should expect to pay more.

£60-£80 across the board seems a decent price I think comparatively.
 
They have trained their consumers for several decades that the gate ticket price is false.
I have had two free tickets to the Towers, some years four merlin freebies, virtually every year for thirty years.
Sun reader offers have devalued the product, why pay full price, or even half price, when you can go for free.
I might have actually purchased a basic pass if freebies weren't so easily available.
Next one is trying the new thorpe ride for free...
Towers has shot itself in the foot with pricing since the Black Hole arrived in my eyes, we did half price tickets and 2 freebies in the year it opened, basically pay for one, get three free, we would have happily paid much more, but why bother!
 
It was 50% off the gate price, it is now 25% off the online price.

I'm struggling to see how that's a better deal, I guess it probably works out better value on off-peak days but I can't help thinking that on popular days you might well end up paying more.
25% off the online price is cheaper than 50% off the gate price.
On the day price is £68, so £34 with 50% off.
The highest online price (excluding fireworks when the vouchers are not valid anyway) is £44, so 25% off is £33.
 
It appears as though there have been some changes to Thirteen’s queue line so that main queue, Fastrack and ambulant RAP all merge at the baggage hold and go up the right hand side of the stairs:


Non-ambulant RAP still goes up the exit, with the original exit having been reinstated.

Would it be totally wishful thinking to hope that they might be preparing to reinstate a single rider queue on Thirteen that uses the left-hand side of the stairs?
 
It appears as though there have been some changes to Thirteen’s queue line so that main queue, Fastrack and ambulant RAP all merge at the baggage hold and go up the right hand side of the stairs:


Non-ambulant RAP still goes up the exit.

Would it be totally wishful thinking to hope that they might be preparing to reinstate a single rider queue on Thirteen that uses the left-hand side of the stairs?

I thought this, but it would be really difficult to manage access to the single rider line. All the queues that lead up to the merge are now in use, and there isn’t enough space to add one in without seriously reconfiguring the way the baggage hold works
 
I thought this, but it would be really difficult to manage access to the single rider line. All the queues that lead up to the merge are now in use, and there isn’t enough space to add one in without seriously reconfiguring the way the baggage hold works
That’s a shame, but if nothing else, moving ambulant RAP onto the right side of the platform should make things move a lot more efficiently in the station now that you don’t have people getting on from the exit side on every ride.
 
That’s a shame, but if nothing else, moving ambulant RAP onto the right side of the platform should make things move a lot more efficiently in the station now that you don’t have people getting on from the exit side on every ride.
Absolutely, I'm very happy they've done that! Long overdue and should be much better now. 😊
 
Anyone fancy some Charlie & the Chocolate Factory ride errr *checks notes* amputated arms?

 
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