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Closing Time: A discussion

Logistics are pretty easy though - everyone expects to work later if the park is busier.

I believe most expected to anyway as the website had originally stated 530 ride close. They've been able to extend ride close often, and with ease, a couple of years ago. Don't think there's any difference now.
 
I think a change in the opening times of the park also means a change in the attitude guests have towards the day. If guests know they have only a period between 10 and 5 and that this is quite rigid, they are understandably not going to be hanging around much at all, but are going to be trying to get around the vast site as quickly as possible. Extending the opening hours might be a strange at first, but I think guests respond quickly and would then take the day at a more leisurely pace - both enjoying themselves more and spending more money.

I know that, if I was at the park with friends or family and the weather was nice and I suggested just chilling with a few drinks outside a good while before joining another queue, I would probably get funny looks, simply because that is not what we came here to do; however, it's only not what we came here to do because we didn't think there would be time to do it.
 
What Jon said in a nutshell sums up a lot of what I think!

I, like many others, only visit Towers once or twice a year because of the distance... When visiting (even if going for two days at a time) you have the mentality that you must get everything done otherwise it is a wasted journey. Therefore stopping for any length of time is seen as a waste, especially when the park closes so early. If the park was open for a couple of hours, a longer stop would seem like a nice idea, particularly if the weather was good!

I'm not saying that I never stop when visiting the park, as the occasional break is a must! But a longer opening time would allow for a more leisurely day out, which is useful on a site as big as Alton's. It would also encourage passholders - who may not care about cramming as much in - to stay and spend in the shops and restaurants.
 
Isn't there a cut off time where AT have to inform all staff that ride close has been extended, if that time is a good few hours before ride close, it's a big gamble if guests will stay until the extended ride close.

With today's weather i'm sure 30 minutes to 60 minutes extra would have been welcome. :twirly:
 
Surely it's a given that on a busy day with nice weather that they will make more money in the extended hours of opening than they will need to spend on wages/ride running costs? It's especially baffling that other parks manage to do it with no issues at all. I think laziness and lack of conviction is the cause of this, the park just don't seem to value customer experience/value for money very much and haven't really for the past 3 years.
 
Even If they extended ride close by 30 mins but let people lounge on the lawns for a good couple Of hours afterwards and kept the surrounding outlets open, would be a vast improvement...I'd love to just relax on the lawns with a cheek pint after being on my feet for 7 hours.

It may well depend on what sort of managers work there, if they are very 'by the book' there may be issues regarding the working time directive I.e, keeping the park open until 7-8pm means staff won't be clocking out until 8-9pm, therefore not being able to come into work until 7-8am the following morning. Especially engineers who will have to be on park early for maintenance etc...who knows.
 
As far as i'm concerned the park should be open until an hour before it gets dark all year round.

In the summer the waterpark should be open until at least 10pm.
 
I don't buy the 'makes no financial sense' argument, as it really highlights that the only thought going through Management's mind is money. It SHOULD be about guest experience, and when there are 4 hours of sunlight left on a day where temperatures have reached 20 degrees, it is poor experience to be kettled out the park at 5.

There was never an issue with staff going home before when I worked there, and the decision would usually be made around lunchtime.

Keep the park open longer, people will enjoy their day more and also likely to spend more in park
 
The thing im thinking whilst reading this is peopledo want the park to open later, and why not. If your willing to keep spending then they should keep open, i dont think fianace is a big issue.

But, and this maybe all complete tosh its just me trying to piece together why they wont when other places will. So here is a list of the reasons why i think they close.

1) Cost, Staff aint cheap even if they are on min wage, still have to pay over time and add a bit on top due to unsociable hours (that may not be true). Then they are the obvious cost fo keeping rides operating etc etc etc.

2) Im not sure of anyone works for a company that can force you to spend a few hours more at work, but let me tell you on a warm day, the staff at AT might not want to work longer then they need to, especially after a warm and exhausting bank holiday.

3) Resctictions that are out of Towers control. Im talking about the council, do they let AT open late. Are there restrictions to the amount of hours AT can open in a day. We know that they have restrictions on the amount of fireworls displays they can have each year, is there a gentlemans agreement about this that any of us know, and with the Roper case coming up do they wont to give there lawyers anymore ammo to fire at them. Also traffic in the area. AT isnt the best place to get too at the best of times. Ok it opens late at Scarefest but that maybe part of the agreement

4) Just gets people away from the place so they can tidy up, do maintance and get people away from the Hotels that arent booked in.

These are some of my theories. Im sure they are more and i maybe post of i can think of them. You may agree or disagree but thats why i put this here.
 
Slugjc said:
The thing im thinking whilst reading this is peopledo want the park to open later, and why not. If your willing to keep spending then they should keep open, i dont think fianace is a big issue.

But, and this maybe all complete tosh its just me trying to piece together why they wont when other places will. So here is a list of the reasons why i think they close.

1) Cost, Staff aint cheap even if they are on min wage, still have to pay over time and add a bit on top due to unsociable hours (that may not be true). Then they are the obvious cost fo keeping rides operating etc etc etc.

2) Im not sure of anyone works for a company that can force you to spend a few hours more at work, but let me tell you on a warm day, the staff at AT might not want to work longer then they need to, especially after a warm and exhausting bank holiday.

3) Resctictions that are out of Towers control. Im talking about the council, do they let AT open late. Are there restrictions to the amount of hours AT can open in a day. We know that they have restrictions on the amount of fireworls displays they can have each year, is there a gentlemans agreement about this that any of us know, and with the Roper case coming up do they wont to give there lawyers anymore ammo to fire at them. Also traffic in the area. AT isnt the best place to get too at the best of times. Ok it opens late at Scarefest but that maybe part of the agreement

4) Just gets people away from the place so they can tidy up, do maintance and get people away from the Hotels that arent booked in.

These are some of my theories. Im sure they are more and i maybe post of i can think of them. You may agree or disagree but thats why i put this here.
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Points 1, 2 and 4 are moot because other parks manage to get around these "issues" just find. And I'm pretty sure that there is no restriction on them extending park opening by a few hours when it's only 5pm in the first place.
 
They're okay with staffing - everyones on zero hours, with no bound contracted hours and with contracts stating they may work longer hours, there's no overtime or unsocial hours in leisure industry so it's minimum wage throughout.

They also don't have an issue with opening hours - it's loud noises or events they've got restrictions on. So, technically there's nothing to stop them other than finances.
 
Alastair said:
Slugjc said:
The thing im thinking whilst reading this is peopledo want the park to open later, and why not. If your willing to keep spending then they should keep open, i dont think fianace is a big issue.

But, and this maybe all complete tosh its just me trying to piece together why they wont when other places will. So here is a list of the reasons why i think they close.

1) Cost, Staff aint cheap even if they are on min wage, still have to pay over time and add a bit on top due to unsociable hours (that may not be true). Then they are the obvious cost fo keeping rides operating etc etc etc.

2) Im not sure of anyone works for a company that can force you to spend a few hours more at work, but let me tell you on a warm day, the staff at AT might not want to work longer then they need to, especially after a warm and exhausting bank holiday.

3) Resctictions that are out of Towers control. Im talking about the council, do they let AT open late. Are there restrictions to the amount of hours AT can open in a day. We know that they have restrictions on the amount of fireworls displays they can have each year, is there a gentlemans agreement about this that any of us know, and with the Roper case coming up do they wont to give there lawyers anymore ammo to fire at them. Also traffic in the area. AT isnt the best place to get too at the best of times. Ok it opens late at Scarefest but that maybe part of the agreement

4) Just gets people away from the place so they can tidy up, do maintance and get people away from the Hotels that arent booked in.

These are some of my theories. Im sure they are more and i maybe post of i can think of them. You may agree or disagree but thats why i put this here.
Click to expand...

Points 1, 2 and 4 are moot because other parks manage to get around these "issues" just find. And I'm pretty sure that there is no restriction on them extending park opening by a few hours when it's only 5pm in the first place.
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thefatone said:
They're okay with staffing - everyones on zero hours, with no bound contracted hours and with contracts stating they may work longer hours, there's no overtime or unsocial hours in leisure industry so it's minimum wage throughout.

They also don't have an issue with opening hours - it's loud noises or events they've got restrictions on. So, technically there's nothing to stop them other than finances.
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Its the loud noises that maybe stopping them then. People leaving plus the rides themselves will fall into this. Like i said in point 3, they are already going to court about the noise and disturbance
 
By loud noise - I mean concerts and events. Limited to 3 fireworks days and a similar number of concerts a year I believe.

They probably have a limit to ride close, presumably 9pm. There's probably nothing to suggest they cannot close anytime up to this limit. If you look back even 2 years ago, weekends were 6pms at this time and summer was 7pm. They were only cut due to budgets, so could easily come back.
 
You look at the roper case. Main complaints are ride noise plus traffic. Im not defending AT i just want to put there side on virw rather then the stream of tears from this forumn.
 
Slugjc said:
You look at the roper case. Main complaints are ride noise plus traffic. Im not defending AT i just want to put there side on virw rather then the stream of tears from this forumn.
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Surely forcing guests to leave en-mass from 5pm creates needless traffic congestion? Extending ride close by an hour would at least has the potential to stagger leaving patterns somewhat and reduce the congestion a little.

5pm was simply way too early to be closing this weekend. The weather was nice, warm and sunny, the park was busy. People were simply not ready to leave so early given such conditions.

Sadly financial considerations now take precedent over guest satisfaction. Yes, it is right that the financial effect of extended park opening needs to be taken in to account to some degree, but it shouldn't be the be all and end all.

Other parks seem to manage extended opening hours ok, even those within the Merlin group, so why can't Alton Towers, the park that is supposedly the UK's number one theme park?

Sadly, this has been ongoing since last year, and I don't expect anything to change any time soon. Quite sad in a way, with a great new ride opening this year and taking a leap forward, we again to huge steps back with poor decisions regarding opening times. :(
 
Slugjc said:
You look at the roper case. Main complaints are ride noise plus traffic. Im not defending AT i just want to put there side on virw rather then the stream of tears from this forumn.
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I have looked at it - and planning permission beyond then. Everything states maintaining guest numbers around 3m mark, not increase or decrease them. Therefore traffic will be the same regardless.

It'll be a purely financial thing. Hopefully it'll change with smiler open.
 
Its very short termism to be focusing on the here and now costs. What about creating a day out experience that people remember and want to return for. Being abgry wheh you leave because the park was onlybopen for 7 hours is the wrong lasting impression
 
I suspect we may see a fair few extended openings once The Smiler opens. Or you'd hope so, as the park is undoubtedly about to get much busier.
 
I was only speculating. It must be more then fianancial as to why they don't. But does it really matter all that much. If they are cutting costs do they can build new and exciting stuff suck as the smiler them I'm all for it.
 
Slugjc said:
I was only speculating. It must be more then fianancial as to why they don't. But does it really matter all that much. If they are cutting costs do they can build new and exciting stuff suck as the smiler them I'm all for it.
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I really doubt it is anything more than financial reasons... And yes, it really does matter. The park is meant to be the UKs best and markets itself as this grand day out for everyone, yet it turfs people out at 5pm on a glorious day when the place is still busy. It doesn't add up and profiteering needs to be balanced with guest satisfaction.
 
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