Alton Towers/Merlin Typos & Grammatical Errors

[Adthoms]

"Soar" not "Sore" Towers, surely? That said, pretty sure I've "Sored" high on row 4 of the Smiler.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

"Soar" not "Sore" Towers, surely? That said, pretty sure I've "Sored" high on row 4 of the Smiler.

Was just about to put that, also noticed a Yankee 'favorite'.
Shame because it's a pretty good advert!

 

[Matt N]

This isn’t a typo, but could certainly be considered an error.

Alton Towers came under fire in the Facebook comments section for describing themselves as being “just outside of Manchester” in the below post; people were quick to remind them that the park is over an hour’s drive from Manchester:


I can understand where Alton Towers is coming from here, as the park isn’t terribly far from Manchester, but when the drive is over an hour, I’d argue that that is pushing the definition of “just outside”… if Alton Towers is just outside Manchester, then my location in the Forest of Dean is just outside Cardiff…

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I could drive to Winchester in 1 hr 25 mins, doesn't mean I'm anywhere near it!
(Admittedly that would all be on motorway but you get my point)

 

[AT86]

Someone’s been copying and pasting from the teams chat without paying attention.

 

[s_g_k]

Someone’s been copying and pasting from the teams chat without paying attention.

This is insanely clumsy and quite frankly embarrassing.

 

[Zeock]

This may be picky, but this point seems to have been repeated twice.

 

[Steve74]

I'm no Shakespeare or professor in the English language, but I think those two sentences would be better as:

The sedation wore off, and Nemesis awoke, angrier and more uncontrollable than ever before: she stirred into life, her fury heightened, and an unprecedented level of uncontrollability ensued.

 

[Night Watchman]

This may be picky, but this point seems to have been repeated twice.

You're not being picky. That's something that a business that claims to be 'second to Disney' should be embarrassed about. Imagine if a fire fighter only put out half a fire or a car designer forgot to put wheels on. Why don't they care about quality control? Proofreaders really don't cost that much.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

You're not being picky. That's something that a business that claims to be 'second to Disney' should be embarrassed about. Imagine if a fire fighter only put out half a fire or a car designer forgot to put wheels on. Why don't they care about quality control? Proofreaders really don't cost that much.

I'm pretty certain it's been AI generated, which is possibly why they haven't bothered with a proofreader. Technically it's correct, it's just awful storytelling.

 

[Matt N]

You're not being picky. That's something that a business that claims to be 'second to Disney' should be embarrassed about. Imagine if a fire fighter only put out half a fire or a car designer forgot to put wheels on. Why don't they care about quality control? Proofreaders really don't cost that much.

The thing with that analogy, though, is that unlike the two examples you mention, grammar is not a core part of Merlin’s business. I’m not saying they shouldn’t focus on it at all by any stretch (after all, I was the one who initially created the thread!), but if they’re getting everything else right, I’d argue that the odd typo or bit of repetition here and there isn’t a massive problem.

I do think they could benefit from a proofreader, however.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I've checked, it's not AI generated.

 

[Squiggs]

The thing with that analogy, though, is that unlike the two examples you mention, grammar is not a core part of Merlin’s business. I’m not saying they shouldn’t focus on it at all by any stretch (after all, I was the one who initially created the thread!), but if they’re getting everything else right, I’d argue that the odd typo or bit of repetition here and there isn’t a massive problem.

I do think they could benefit from a proofreader, however.

Grammar and copyrighting is entirely a core element of Merlin's business. Marketing is one of their biggest budget areas, and accurately communicating your offering is key to successful marketing.

This entire "if it's not a ride, it's not a core part of their business" narrative that has sprung up a few times recently (it also appeared in the F&B topic, for example) is nonsense from start through to finish. Merlin is one of the most prominent entertainment businesses in the country, if not the world. Their core business experience extends far beyond the day-to-day operation of visitor attractions.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I've checked, it's not AI generated.

AI checking tools really aren't full proof, don't always account for new models (Google's shipped 3(?) in the last week alone), and don't account for when something has been initially generated and then tinkered with. The tools also aren't consistent with each other, a simple free check I ran flagged it all.

It doesn't read as though a professional copywriter, or story teller, wrote it. It does read as though someone delivered the right prompts to Gemini.

 

[Andrew]

Regarding AI:

It’s likely that they will write the content themselves and then feed it into the software for a “rewrite” so it has a clearer structure or tone of voice.

It’s quite a common practice these days but you normally re-edit what the AI churns out (so it sounds less robotic).

It looks like the additional edit isn’t being done hence it feeling more AI than it should be

 

[BSwiss]

There’s also a very good chance their marketing agency has a hand in this. TBWA have been working on the Nemesis project:

TBWA\MCR

www.tbwamcr.com

and its plausible on-site copy is within their remit.

I don’t want to discredit any party, but when messaging is jumbled, it’s often a case of too many chefs.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

The Americanisms also should probably have given it away, "mobilized", "modernized", etc.

I asked Gemini Advanced, which runs Gemini Ultra 1.0, to rewrite it and remove the Americanisms. I said that it sounded too AI like and asked for it to be written as a story. This is what it churned out:

The heart of Alton Towers Resort, Thunder Valley, once thrummed with the simple rhythms of life. A routine excavation shattered that tranquility, unearthing Nemesis – an alien predator from a realm beyond our own. This monstrous creature, slumbering for an age, was rudely awakened. Hunger and rage drove it to wreak havoc upon the land. The battle to contain Nemesis ravaged Thunder Valley, leaving a desolate scar that would become known as Forbidden Valley.

In 1994, with the situation spiralling out of control, a secretive military force known as the Phalanx was deployed. They subdued the beast with an unyielding cage of steel and soon Forbidden Valley was swallowed by an eerie calm, and the world assumed the threat had passed.

Many years later, rumours began to swirl. Whispers of strange movements around the Nemesis site started to be spread. In an attempt to ease public fears, the Phalanx reopened their research facility, promising their work served a higher purpose. Forbidden Valley was transformed into a fortress, bristling with cutting-edge technology and modern defences; the illusion of security took hold, but not for long.

Deep beneath the surface a dark secret festered. The Phalanx, consumed and corrupted by their pursuit of ultimate control, craved a terrifying monster they could control. A twisted plan was hatched, to breed an army of mutated Nemesis offspring. Nemesis Reborn would be The Phalanx's own secret weapon.

The Phalanx's own scientists voiced desperate warnings. They advised against the futility of controlling a creature so fundamentally changed, once which had been bound in steel and forcibly subdued for so long. The expert pleas of the scientists were ignored and Nemesis, forcibly sedated, became a nightmarish experiment. As with all volatile concoctions though, the sedation eventually faded. She awoke, filled with a primal, untameable fury.

The Phalanx's careful control disintegrated. Nemesis Reborn, now a force of unimaginable power, rampages unchecked. We, as riders, become mere thorns in her side, further fuelling her boundless rage. The Phalanx scrambles to regain control, but the outcome hangs precariously in the balance. Will they contain this monstrous creation, or will it usher in a new age of terror?

This passes the same AI detection tool.

 

[Zeock]

The Americanisms also should probably have given it away, "mobilized", "modernized", etc.

I asked Gemini Advanced, which runs Gemini Ultra 1.0, to rewrite it and remove the Americanisms. I said that it sounded too AI like and asked for it to be written as a story. This is what it churned out:

This passes the same AI detection tool.

That's a lot better than what is written on the website.

 

[Steve74]

With all this talk of someone using AI somewhere in creating these paragraphs of text, wouldn't it have just been easier and quicker for a human to have written it (assuming they did use AI of course)?! It reminds me of when I import data into a database, sometimes for the amount of data being imported it is quicker for a person to manually create the records than it is for me to write the import scripting and test it!

 

[jon81uk]

With all this talk of someone using AI somewhere in creating these paragraphs of text, wouldn't it have just been easier and quicker for a human to have written it (assuming they did use AI of course)?! It reminds me of when I import data into a database, sometimes for the amount of data being imported it is quicker for a person to manually create the records than it is for me to write the import scripting and test it!

“But AI will revolutionise everything”