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2026: General Discussion

Why was the location-specific requirement imposed?

I don't think the Thorpe Park app ever did

I heard that it may have been because AT were embarrassed by the long queue times and didn't want people outside of the park to see them

(I think one of the European Merlin parks had a geographic restriction as well; possibly Gardaland)

It doesn't matter to me now, anyway, as I deleted the app and permanently switched over to the Ride Times website as a result, and so it was a short-sighted decision by AT as the app could have been used to promote events etc
 
Ares said:
Given ongoing world events, and what I suspect will rapidly unfold in the next 2-3 weeks as supply shocks happen due to enormous LNG, Oil and Fertilizer constraints impacting energy and food to come (overall cost of living to increase dramatically even further) including fuel, travel and even energy restrictions to come by mid to late-April, how badly impacted over the course of a season and potentially far beyond are Alton Towers going to be in that scenario do we think - given its location and lack of public transport?

Claude seems to suggest that around 60-70% of annual visitors are probably within a 100-mile radius, which on its own isn't too bad even with fuel over £2 per litre to come. But if global fertilizer yields are down 75% on last year then your weekly food shop is about to increase in line with that too alongside energy bills uo enormously. Then it's a broader case of affordability and a wide-ranging impact to all businesses, but relevant to our interests the UK amusement industry as a whole.

I'm not sure at what % of attendance reduction things get really bad for AT, and given merlins overall operating loss of £56m from the latest report, how desperate they might have to get in terms of what assets they retain or let go of in the months and years to come.
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I don't know but couldn't it actually help the UK parks?

If people don't have disposable money, then instead of going abroad for a holiday then they might save their cash and just go away for trips within the UK instead. Alton Towers would surely benefit from that?

If you were relying on international customers then you might be in trouble though mind like their gateway attractions.
 
Well...
Having queued for over an hour for a two minute very cramped ride...no.
It was originally short, then got even shorter.
Massive queue, lousy throughput, lots of grumbly people in the queue, so removing it, like the weird toboggans on the Oblivion site, was a very good idea queue wise.
 
Hid said:
Anyone reckon Alton Towers removing the Park Railway was in hindsight a bad idea. Would be useful with Skyride being unerliable
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rob666 said:
Well...
Having queued for over an hour for a two minute very cramped ride...no.
It was originally short, then got even shorter.
Massive queue, lousy throughput, lots of grumbly people in the queue, so removing it, like the weird toboggans on the Oblivion site, was a very good idea queue wise.
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If it was still open it would probably be closed for essential maintenance anyhow
 
Hid said:
Anyone reckon Alton Towers removing the Park Railway was in hindsight a bad idea. Would be useful with Skyride being unerliable
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As Rob says it was a bit of a pointless ride, it doesn’t exactly take long to walk from mutiny bay to gloomy wood via the haunted hollow so imagine the same route on a train.

Plus (and Rob may correct me here) the TS to Valley bit of the Skyride is the route that has the lowest impact (you do get to avoid the horrid hill exiting gloomy wood but then the train had the hill from the station up to gloomy wood). The real benefit is the valley to dark forest leg which the train didn’t service.
 
At the time, it had a long sad queue of grandparents, with toddler grandchildren in tow.
Imagine a quarter of the Blackpool trainride, and back, with an hours queue at least, that moved very slowly.
All the pre teens to fifty year olds were in the Corkscrew queue.
 
A YouTuber – specifically, Colourfulthirlls (sic) – recently stated that she walked around 16 miles across Alton Towers’ opening weekend, and that she specifically visits AT in order to lose weight.

For what it’s worth, I also lost around 8 pounds during 2024, which was partly due to the amount of walking that I did across various theme parks that year – together with the physical exertion of the rides themselves (surveys show that it is the equivalent of a gym workout – see: https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/theme-park-rides-lose-you-1691017 )

I wonder if Alton Towers could somehow market the park as a fitness resort? After all, they already host the annual Run at Alton Towers event! Perhaps they could have ‘markers’ along Haunted Hollow, which show the distance travelled / calories burned?

There are a few ‘negative’ aspects of the park that actually unintentionally contribute towards this as well, although they would likely never draw attention to it:-

1) The persistent closure of the monorail and Sky Ride leads to additional walking, which will probably cause further weight loss

2) The awful and overpriced food on offer at AT may cause guests to avoid overeating

3) The exhaustingly long queue-lines for Oblivion and Nemesis
 
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You burn very few calories in a theme park queueline.
Alton is one on its own for walking in the uk.
...and do not ever believe anything in any of the red top papers, a ride on a coaster is absolutely nothing like a gym workout.
You hold on and brace briefly in a passive seated position...no work out at all.

Out of interest, does nobody do the gardens short cut anymore?
Even with my dodgy mobility I would still give it a shot with the skyride out.
 
rob666 said:
Out of interest, does nobody do the gardens short cut anymore?
Even with my dodgy mobility I would still give it a shot with the skyride out.
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Yeah, it's fine, although more people tend to do the Haunted Hollow (assuming going from entrance to Forbidden Valley). If coming from Dark Forest and going to Forbidden Valley I always think it's best to go over the white bridge and turn off to the right down the path and past the conservatories etc, instead of dipping right down into the gardens and going back up the steep hill.
 
BennyBoy said:
Yeah true, haven't they made it an all year round thing now for those that subscribe to the digital version? Or something along those lines...
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Not sure. It’s been my only annual interaction with the newspaper. But had been keeping an eye out as the offer was in March last year.
 
Having used the Sun free ticket system for many years, I am pleased to say the offer appears to be dead and buried for non subscribers to the Sun Fun Club, or whatever it is called this year.
I imagine Merlin have given up, the park is now far busier off peak with the cheap annual passes, so they have no need for filler offers anymore.
 
rob666 said:
Having used the Sun free ticket system for many years, I am pleased to say the offer appears to be dead and buried for non subscribers to the Sun Fun Club, or whatever it is called this year.
I imagine Merlin have given up, the park is now far busier off peak with the cheap annual passes, so they have no need for filler offers anymore.
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The park has a dedicated page on their website directing you to the various 2 for 1 offers, no mention of The Sun but a plethora of alternatives:

 
Well aware of the 2 for 1's that have been around forever...cereal packets, liquid soap, and chocolate packets have been standard for decades.
But this was two free tickets, for the cost of two stamps, for a specific date...a far better offer.
I got a paper every day anyway, so for two weeks I had great fun suffering the soaraway Sun...doubling up the offer at work and often with family on top.
Very hit and miss on what day you got, but we had two freebies, virtually every year, for over two decades...add on a two for one and you got four in for the price of one.
All on that nice Mr Murdoch.
 
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