I’m not sure if they still do it anymore, but Towers used to have something called the ‘Magic 5’, where there was some form of policy that although ride queues were advertised to close at a specific time, they would actually be left open for another 5 minutes. It’s not exactly a huge burden to do so, but it’s a nice feeling for the guests which felt like they’d managed an extra ride prior to closing and they go home with an added spring in their step.
In the past I’ve experienced almost the exact opposite in Blackpool whereby the queues have closed 5 or 10 minutes earlier than they should have. You then feel like you’ve been cheated out of that last ride. It puts a horrible dampener on the end of the day and sends people home with a sour taste in the mouth. To be fair, I haven’t experienced this recently, but given the attitude demonstrated to closing times, it wouldn’t surprise me if it still happened.
What is more worrying is that, whilst the closing of queues 5 minutes early is probably an operator-level decision, the closure of the whole park early is coming from a high level. It appears so short-sighted to enact such a decision when the savings can only be relatively minor and at the same time alienate paying customers. I wonder if the attitude and decision was based on the rain yesterday. I believe the Rainy Day Return offer was enacted, which obviously provides a free return the next day. Is BPB’s logic that this entitles them to close earlier? Clearly this is not an acceptable excuse, but it might give an insight into the reasoning?
In any case, in the same season where BPB really need as many visitors as they can get (including those repeat visitors) to support the investment in Icon, these decisions could really hurt that attendance. It’s a very risky strategy.
