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Do they ever want Alton Towers to recover?

jon81uk said:
It went up from £20 to £30 last year, I don't expect it to go up again soon.
Also if you have Apple pay (or I assume android pay works too) then as it uses a fingerprint to verify, it will work over £30 as the fingerprint replaces the PIN. Although some retailers haven't set the devices up properly.
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So theres nothing stopping them, it would be nice as it should be faster and help the rbo queues

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jon81uk said:
I had a quick google for news, found something about the launch of umlimited queue-jump for £65, three times the gate price at the time, http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/880195.stm

Also an interesting review of Nemesis back from 1994 http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-e...h-all-the-hanging-around-dominic-1449192.html
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Hmm, if they've got news from as far back as 2000 then the article is probably still around somewhere. It was either 1998 or 1999, I think it was more focussed on Tussauds than an article about Alton Towers.
 
Isn't contactless rising to £50 in the not too distant future? More than one retailer has told me that recently.

Before we get lost in the magical days of Tussauds ownership - they brought a paid system in under their ownership.
 
It's all part of the NWO plot to make cash illegal, so they can have total control over our lives. Dis the government? Then they will cut off your bank card!
 
Rick said:
Isn't contactless rising to £50 in the not too distant future? More than one retailer has told me that recently.
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I don't think anything's been confirmed yet - I work in retail myself - but it wouldn't surprise me if the contactless limit does go up to £40 or £50 in the not-too-distant future.
 
Rick said:
Isn't contactless rising to £50 in the not too distant future? More than one retailer has told me that recently.
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That's just a rumour. Retailers want this as it cuts down transaction times, particularly in fast food and convenience.

But £30 is already causing problems. There are gangs stealing bank cards, which is an easy thing to do and they no longer require a PIN to be able to access a lot of funds. The cards tend to ask for PIN entry after being used 3 times in a row but this is not always the case, especially if used in quick succession. Even if it stops them at 3, that's still £90 minimum per stolen card which would rise to £150 if retailers got their way. They tend to buy goods that are easy to sell on such as cigarettes.
 
..and based on my experience of merchant services, it's the retailer that often looses out with the chargeback.
 
PeteB said:
Even better - how about they return the park to the automated timed ticket machines that gave you free Fastrack? The system Tussauds invented which is now used by Disney.

Start putting customer service and guest experience before profits, therefore making bigger profits. Seems to work well for everyone else. Who'd have thought. :rolleyes:
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Err, no.

Free Fastrack just makes queues worse.

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Rick said:
Before we get lost in the magical days of Tussauds ownership - they brought a paid system in under their ownership.
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Most the Tussauds board resigned once it was taken over by Charterhouse and then DIC. Became a very different company run by very different business strategy - which failed quickly and they soon sold up, whereas the parks had been at their fastest growth and popularity before Pearson sold Tussauds. A huge amount of change happened. :)

Also kind of relevant to this topic - Pearson Tussauds (with much lower prices and far less penny pinching than we expect today) were able to make lots of profit & expand quickly with Alton Towers and Chessington, but Merlin can't make profit from their entire resort theme park division? I don't know why, but something's up!
 
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Rick said:
Gate number I heard was not far off insane. I don't remember a Scarefest like that, for a long long time, anyway.
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Sorry go bring back a discussion from earlier in the thread but from what I have heard insane would be an accurate description of Saturday's gate figure! I think it was the busiest day at Alton Towers for a number of years.

Alton Towers have had a fantastic Scarefest with guest numbers far higher than they were expecting. The gate figure for 2017 as a whole should be significantly better than 2016 but still will not be back to pre-Smiler levels. Alton Towers had a poor start to the season, things started picking up from around July onwards.

It's great that Towers are currently out performing other Merlin theme parks at the moment though, there certainly has been a recovery over the last few months!

:)
 
Rob said:
Sorry go bring back a discussion from earlier in the thread but from what I have heard insane would be an accurate description of Saturday's gate figure! I think it was the busiest day at Alton Towers for a number of years.

Alton Towers have had a fantastic Scarefest with guest numbers far higher than they were expecting. The gate figure for 2017 as a whole should be significantly better than 2016 but still will not be back to pre-Smiler levels. Alton Towers had a poor start to the season, things started picking up from around July onwards.

It's great that Towers are currently out performing other Merlin theme parks at the moment though, there certainly has been a recovery over the last few months!

:)
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In the spirit of thread, that's why I think there's absolutely an argument that the cuts are what are keeping people away and not The Smiler excuse.

2016 was pretty much dead, including summer holidays, right up to scarefest. Park puts on an event, lays on extra attractions and opens later and it gets significantly busier. Then Fireworks, in one of the quietest seasons in the parks history, park puts on an event lays on extra attractions and opens later park reaches capacity!

The beginning of 2017 worried me as it felt almost as quiet as the same days in 2016 did, despite improved weather on the days I went. Park closed at 4PM, SBNO rides still all over the place and no one comes. Summer holidays, much busier. Scarefest, park puts on an event, lays on extra attractions and opens later and park is the busiest I've seen it in a long time.

If the park doesn't reopen at least a couple more of the attractions in CCL, sub Terra and ease up on woeful opening hours next season then Merlin will have only themselves to blame for low attendance. It also needs a plan for Charlie, Duel, the state of the Rapids CCL in general and add at least 1 flat to Dark Forest going into the following seasons.

My worry though, is Merlin won't look at the evidence and take the view "we strip the money out and the suckers still come!".
 
I think Merlin are stuck inbetween a rock and a hard place.

Investment is needed, that's a given but with Brexit looming I would forgive them for airing on the side of caution. No one knows what will happen once we are out and they need to look long term in terms of keeping the park going.

Post-Smiler incident there was never going to be an immediate investment in the park, they knew that the park would suffer and have in my opinion done well despite lower attendance and the spotlight being FIRMLY on them. They have reacted well by investing in a new SW and when any paper or news source put out negative press they respond explaining what has happened which will put peoples minds at rest .

Now they need to look to the future of the park. More investment is needed and CCL / Sub Terra need sorting. But i think if we look at the situation from a distance they are on track to a decent 2018 season

You never know they might surprise us ;)
 
electricBill said:
Also kind of relevant to this topic - Pearson Tussauds (with much lower prices and far less penny pinching than we expect today) were able to make lots of profit & expand quickly with Alton Towers and Chessington, but Merlin can't make profit from their entire resort theme park division? I don't know why, but something's up!
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I promise I won't get into the "That's not how I recall it and I was there" routine, we've done that to death. However, on your final point, RTP makes money for Merlin. I don't have the figures in front of me, but operating profit was north of £35m last year, I am fairly certain. That's not spare change...

I don't have the energy to join in the fast track debate, either.
 
Well guys, lets look what has been busiest part of the 2017 . It has been the scarefeast and fireworks part of the season has it not? So as a business would you not look at how you could spread that magic and increase visitation to other parts of the season ? I thought that is how a buisness usually works especially a tourist attraction . So a proposal for next year is look at an easter eggtravaganza or a summer sizzling event? Late night rides till say 8pm and entertainment around the park with lots of food and beverage available to coin in the money. Surely this is what's needed for the recovery. I bet this would result in a turnover bigger than blackpool midway attractions and London attractions!

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Right guys just been discussing with my 11 year old daughter who loves easter idea with trampoline area for hopping fun and easter Egg hunt (would Cadbury be up for sponsoring it?)

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Cadbury have a deal with the National Trust for Easter, and got bad publicity this year for not referring to it as an 'Easter Egg Hunt' in marketing, so I doubt they'd be too keen on gaining more flack. But still a good idea, the problem is, as I understand it, the fireworks events loose money.
 
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