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Cuts 2015: How the consistency of the product is being eroded.

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It's been made clear on the AT website that off-peak days at the beginning of the season will end at 4:30pm, half an hour before previously advertised.

Ridiculous in my honest opinion. Guests are paying the same amount of money for their day on park, and staff, most of which are on minimum wage, will also be getting less money for the sake of cutting back by half an hour.
 
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The issue with public ownership is that growth (IE increased profits) must be demonstrated CONTINUOUSLY.

And before the silly talk begins, could we please also realise that this isn't Merlin stifling Alton Towers and forcing them into doing things they don't want to do. There is no distinction, they are the same entity.
 
They don't call days off peak, they simply reduce hours on quiet days.

Opening weekend has 5pm closes both days. The Mon-Wed after that are 4:30pm.
 
bluesonichd said:
is open day classed as off peek? are we being kicked out of park @ 430?! :oops:
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No, the park closes for us at 5pm both days. Thursdays are also 5pm close and so are Fridays I would imagine. This is according to the TS news page. I haven't been on the website to check.
 
At the moment the website only states Monday 23rd to Wednesday 25th March as 4:30pm closures. The weeks following that it goes back to closing between 5pm and 6pm. So at the moment only 3 days are shown to close at 4:30pm. Although I would guess they may make changes as the next few weeks progress.
 
Tom said:
The issue with public ownership is that growth (IE increased profits) must be demonstrated CONTINUOUSLY.

And before the silly talk begins, could we please also realise that this isn't Merlin stifling Alton Towers and forcing them into doing things they don't want to do. There is no distinction, they are the same entity.
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Actually that isn't completely true, Towers have a leadership team who make the operating decisions but the budget is set by Merlin. You can be forced into making a decision you disagree with if someone higher up the chain of command forces a no-win situation on you. You see this all the time if you talk to any manager of an organisation (i know many people who often have to).

I doubt very much the management at Towers are keen on any cuts. Indeed the general feeling you get when you speak to people within the resort is one of despondency.
 
This is making me chuckle now! So the first 3 week days of the season are 4:30PM close but the rest of the season is interchangeably 5/6PM close? Why? What's the point?
 
Tom.B said:
This is making me chuckle now! So the first 3 week days of the season are 4:30PM close but the rest of the season is interchangeably 5/6PM close? Why? What's the point?
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I wouldn't trust the opening times on that calendar more than a few weeks ahead.
 
The problem also is since 2008 the park have added more attractions than have been removed also those that have replaced older attractions such as thirteen replacing corkscrew require more staff to run. The overall staff required across the park will have increased and so will running costs of the rides/attractions however I imagine this isn't reflected in their operating budget and find it gets reduced/static each year yet have got cover these extra running expenses and stuff like rising in hour wages/salaries. This is not just a Merlin thing I have worked for a couple of public owned companies and it's the same sort of thing that every year they expect higher performance for less operating cost.

One thing that the park are great at is running the rides fairly efficiently and maximising throughout etc. I hope this area isn't where we start to see cuts as it is often where you see cuts at other parks.
 
There are three ways something can be done: properly, quickly, or cheaply. You can have any two of those, at the exclusion of the third.
 
Who knows for certain that staff hours will be reduced? Ride queues close at the advertised time but if there is a long queue at 4:30 then staff would work pretty much the same as if there is a short queue at 5pm. Don't forget staff still need to litter pick the queue and do several other closing tasks before home time. So they might actually only work 15min less with a half hour earlier ride queue close.
 
What people have to realise is that it doesn't matter how successful a previous season was, Merlin will be looking for growth at around twice the rate of inflation from all of its attractions. It isn't a case of 2014 was great OK we don't need to do anything, they are constantly looking for ways to increase profit even further.

Alton Towers knows how it has to perform and even if these apparent 'do-no-harm' Alton Towers managers that despair at Merlin's orders did/do exist, then they will soon be dispatched and replaced with someone that does understand the business model. It's also easy to say "well it isn't my fault, my hands are tied".
 
Tom said:
Alton Towers knows how it has to perform and even if these apparent 'do-no-harm' Alton Towers managers that despair at Merlin's orders did/do exist, then they will soon be dispatched and replaced with someone that does understand the business model. It's also easy to say "well it isn't my fault, my hands are tied".
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The operational budget is set by Merlin not by Alton Towers. It seems very micro-managed in that way. Hence why you get a F&B outlet refurbed twice in two seasons yet operations budgets are cut as they are separate and dictated externally.

And we fully understand what Merlin accountants want from the parks, i just question if the "product" can be sustained with this continuous drive for profit increase.
 
Dave said:
The operational budget is set by Merlin not by Alton Towers. It seems very micro-managed in that way. Hence why you get a F&B outlet refurbed twice in two seasons yet operations budgets are cut as they are separate and dictated externally.

And we fully understand what Merlin accountants want from the parks, i just question if the "product" can be sustained with this continuous drive for profit increase.
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You misunderstand where the ultimate control is and how that is implemented. This isn't colonialism here, ultimately the people Merlin want will be in the operational management jobs at Alton Towers. I have to say again there should be no distinction between Merlin and Alton Towers, it comes across as slightly disillusioned to think otherwise - although I accept that this is a fansite.

And on your second point, yes they will always push, but when they push too far into counter production, we see the trademark u-turns observed in recent years.
 
Why not reduce the price for off peak days say by £10 on a Monday Tuesday and Wednesday which would then compensate the shorter time avaliable in the park. This in turn might actually increase the amount of people who turn up on park
 
Tom said:
You misunderstand where the ultimate control is and how that is implemented. This isn't colonialism here, ultimately the people Merlin want will be in the operational management jobs at Alton Towers. I have to say again there should be no distinction between Merlin and Alton Towers, it comes across as slightly disillusioned to think otherwise - although I accept that this is a fansite.

And on your second point, yes they will always push, but when they push too far into counter production, we see the trademark u-turns observed in recent years.
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That goes against the impression you get when you speak to the people in those Jobs. A lot of Towers management have worked there since the old Tussauds days. They implement the budgets Merlin give them, doesn't mean they have to like the decisions that are made. Sometimes the only decisions you have are bad ones.

There are a lot of very passionate people at Alton Towers (and some less so), when you speak to them you get a glimpse of that passion but the corporate model Merlin have often ties their hands. Even some of the Merlin recruited staff come froma time when Merlin itself cared a little more about the product (the early Merlin days caring enough the refurb Skyride and Monorail and install some well rounded attractions in Mutiny Bay).

The ethos of the company changed, doesn't mean the staff don't care, but would you throw away your career to stand on a principle?
 
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Spark said:
Why not reduce the price for off peak days say by £10 on a Monday Tuesday and Wednesday which would then compensate the shorter time avaliable in the park. This in turn might actually increase the amount of people who turn up on park
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Don't be silly, they'll never reduce the price on "off peak" days. They'll increase in on "peak" days. Case in point: Thorpe.
 
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