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2026: General Discussion

Josh555 said:
Because they don’t want to pay the people that they would need to pay to be prepared.

It really is that simple.
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Surely the maintenance team are FT though and work throughout the closed season barring any annual leave they take off.

Does anyone know the arrangements they have for annual leave out of interest? Are they made to take all or most of their leave during the closed season? Or are they free to book time off when they want?
 
Didn't someone mention that they have an apprenticeship programme or something, so they're not paid loads whilst learning? Then obviously when they're fully trained with a few years experience they're likely to jump ship somewhere else for better pay and then you get more inexperienced trainees in? Assuming that when fully qualified Merlin's pay and conditions are still a bit rubbish compared with what you can get down the road at JCB or somewhere else?
 
I think its quite clear from today management has fortress mentality where they all compliment how such a good job they are doing and not listening to any feedback
 
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BarryZola said:
Is anyone not a vlogger now? I'm not exaggerating when I say I'm seeing quite a lot of what seems like 8 year olds walking around with proper camera gear. Even just since last year the numbers seem to have grown noticeably. Probably a discussion for another topic. Just an observation.
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Just seen a blogger outside curse with his camera on a tripod, taking vox pops about how excited people are about this season. He was cribbing those questions from a cue card 🤨
 
DanJB said:
Just seen a blogger outside curse with his camera on a tripod, taking vox pops about how excited people are about this season. He was cribbing those questions from a cue card 🤨
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The Office Smile GIF
 
When you look at what is holding AT back at the moment, in my opinion it’s budget and staffing, and these are the two restrictions that every decision made by management has to fit with.

So when you look at things such as opening the park half an hour later or having some rides opening an hour later, I give them the benefit of the doubt and say they’ve considered it a need must with the constraints they have, rather than them thinking they've got an exciting new idea that will **** off customers and make them a fortune.

I am not defending it, and it is not acceptable, but I strongly believe park management will be doing their best within the circumstances they find themselves in. Im sure they’d love a greater revenue budget to play with, and more engineers to get rides up to capacity and signed off, but they have to work with what they’ve got.

It feels like managed decline.
 
And so the negative social media posting begins:

While I don’t deny that there are clearly some issues for the park to iron out still, I think the rock bottom rhetoric is overblown and it does seem as though ride availability has improved somewhat on the last couple of opening weekends (universal weather closure aside), from the sounds of things and the glimpses I’ve had at the queue times.

Yes, some things are closed and that’s not great, but it seems like they’ve generally managed to get better at avoiding that horrid yo-yo effect of things repeatedly going up and down again that dogged so much of 2024, as well as the early days of 2025. When things are open, it seems like they’re better at staying open than they were.
 
Matt N said:
And so the negative social media posting begins:

While I don’t deny that there are clearly some issues for the park to iron out still, I think the rock bottom rhetoric is overblown and it does seem as though ride availability has improved somewhat on the last couple of opening weekends (universal weather closure aside), from the sounds of things and the glimpses I’ve had at the queue times.

Yes, some things are closed and that’s not great, but it seems like they’ve generally managed to get better at avoiding that horrid yo-yo effect of things repeatedly going up and down again that dogged so much of 2024, as well as the early days of 2025. When things are open, it seems like they’re better at staying open than they were.
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Similar content creators that will have no doubt had a brilliant time at Pleasure Beach last week, despite rides not opening and this only being communicated the day before, staggered openings, and long queues!

It’s not great wherever it occurs, but Alton Towers being a failing theme park is clearly the chosen narrative. TPW as an example is basically declaring the place in existential crisis based on half a day! The signs aren’t promising and I know he really wants the best for the place, but it’s just such hyperbole.
 
Mick said:
Similar content creators that will have no doubt had a brilliant time at Pleasure Beach last week, despite rides not opening and this only being communicated the day before, staggered openings, and long queues!

It’s not great wherever it occurs, but Alton Towers being a failing theme park is clearly the chosen narrative. TPW as an example is basically declaring the place in existential crisis based on half a day! The signs aren’t promising and I know he really wants the best for the place, but it’s just such hyperbole.
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Like I said earlier the opening is clearly a bit pants today but I do think there’s some saltiness about the creator programme being stopped as well
 
Davezilla said:
Your Rage Bait Experience Guide will be drooling at the negative content they can upload later.

I've checked ride times a few times today and every time all major rides are showing as open, has downtime been minimal so far?
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that! They are still and always will be Pleasure Beach Experience in different clothing in my opinion, so no UK park will match that place for them, especially Towers as they always seem to have it in for them for some reason.
Matt N said:
And so the negative social media posting begins:

While I don’t deny that there are clearly some issues for the park to iron out still, I think the rock bottom rhetoric is overblown and it does seem as though ride availability has improved somewhat on the last couple of opening weekends (universal weather closure aside), from the sounds of things and the glimpses I’ve had at the queue times.

Yes, some things are closed and that’s not great, but it seems like they’ve generally managed to get better at avoiding that horrid yo-yo effect of things repeatedly going up and down again that dogged so much of 2024, as well as the early days of 2025. When things are open, it seems like they’re better at staying open than they were.
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Of course everyone's entitled to complain about the apparent decline, including vloggers, but when you're as big as him the the theme park world with a total of nearly half a million subscribers on YouTube alone, you have to go a bit careful about what you're saying and how you're saying it. He's not saying anything bad or untrue, but it's the overall negative vibe he often puts across. For various reasons, Towers isn't at its best at the moment, so if I were him I'd be acknowledging the bad bits (of course) but then getting behind the park and encouraging people to visit; not be totally negative all the time which will inevitably put some people off from planning a trip. This year is likely to be extra tough for all parks if fuel and energy costs continue to rise because of continuing events in the Middle East and having extra negativity from some of the biggest influencers won't help matters.

To try and keep it balanced and not just a dig at TPWW, I guess what I've said above goes for all vloggers, big or small; they all need to get behind the parks and support them over the coming season and even more so if it turns out to be a bad summer weather-wise.

It will be interesting to see if his vlog and others from today are all negative and briefly mentioning positives or vice-versa.
 
To say I am not a TPWW fan is putting it mildly, however it is not their job, nor any other vloggers to get behind and support theme parks because of problems caused by cost of living. It’s the job of the parks to deliver an experience that meets the expectations of their guests.

For many, Alton Towers is not delivering that at the moment - it’s their problem to fix and that’s how people will put their hands in their wallets and pay to come back.
 
Davezilla said:
I've checked ride times a few times today and every time all major rides are showing as open, has downtime been minimal so far?
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I’ve been checking too and does seem like barely any downtime which is great. On the flip side queue times have been awful all day and that’s with all rides being available which lets face it is quite rare.

Steve74 said:
He's not saying anything bad or untrue, but it's the overall negative vibe he often puts across.
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To plays devils advocate I’ve always found his content to be overwhelmingly positive so the fact he is so down on AT, a park which is very special to him, speaks volumes. Watching something you care about, even a theme park, decay in front of your eyes isn’t a pleasant experience.
 
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