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Farce-track

thefatone said:
The only way to solve that practice is by reporting it to Guest Services.. by stating that they said it was an hour when the queue board said 25mins but you queued 10. That'd raise the issue.
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I believe it had already been reported by the groups ahead of us. To be fair on the information board it probably was 25 minutes before we arrived as the queue was dropping. I just mentioned it because it showed that the person in question was going out of their way to lie about the queue time despite evidence right behind them stating otherwise.
 
What I meant by that was that it was obvious they were way overstating the time, not that the queue board was also incorrect.

Either way, the more people who complain about one particular issue, the better!
 
did you get the name of this staff member, if so it would be good to report it with their name so if way of selling is not endorsed by the park, they can take appropriate action.
 
So, Scarefest stuff has been announced on the website etc etc etc.

A big change here it seems is the way they operate the free hotel fastrack. This year, instead of having a pass for up to 6 people on 4 rides (which created massive fastrack queues on those select rides), they're instead offering the use of fastrack entrances on the following attractions for one hour (until 11am):
Oblivion, Nemesis, Air, Rita, TH13TEEN, Nemesis Sub-Terra, Runaway Mine Train, Hex, Duel, Submission, Enterprise, Battle Galleons, Charlie & The Chocolate Factory.

More rides, but effectively replacing ERT instead of giving them fastrack tickets for use during the day. Much much much much MUCH better in my opinion - should reduce all those issues they had last year of 2hr queues on those rides with hotel fastrack :)
 
Very interesting idea – presumably the theory being that the main queues don’t generally get too long until after 11am, though I suspect Rita could struggle as it wouldn't take many people repeat riding to swamp the queue.

It would also make the decision of whether or not to risk doing the Smiler first thing even more difficult, as there's even more incentive to get as much done in the first hour as possible.
 
Really like the new hotel option for Scarefest, should avoid the silly fastrack queues that happened last year.

Someone has been having a good think this time round :)
 
I also think this years idea is much better for hotel guests that last year. There were times last year when Oblivion and TH13TEEN had fastrack queues over 45 minutes, because all hotel guests were given fastrack on these rides. At least this year, there is only one hour when hotel guests can use it, and it covers a lot more rides than the few last year.

Personally I don't think hotel guests should be offered anything during scarefest. Just because you get ERT during the rest of the year, that doesn't mean they should give you something else during Scarefest. If that is the case, then why shouldn't annual pass holders or people who buy tickets online also get free fastrack during scarefest? I bet half the guests who stay over don't even know about ERT until they check in.
 
I think it's a fair perk to give people. The hotels are meant to be a premium experience and the amount of 'premium' things you get for staying there seems to dwindle. It could be argued to be fairer than any other time of year too, considering the hotels are arguably at their most expensive during Halloween b


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk.
 
I believe AT are actually taking note of whats being said on these forums for this year to try and make Scarefest a good event and I applaud them for doing so.
 
The choice offered in the Scarefest Fastracks is good. Even without queues, in an hour you can maybe get on three rides tops inclusive of faff time. With the wide choice, I bet this won't even make much of a difference to normal queue lengths, and hotel guests still feel like they're getting a bonus.
 
I still think that hotel guests shouldn't get a replacement for ERT over Scarefest. The best bonus they should get over non-hotel guests at Scarefest is the obvious one that they get anyway; they can stick around on park until ride close at 9PM knowing that they're not going to have to drive home afterwards feeling shattered. That said, if Towers insist on giving them a perk anyway the new system sounds like a big improvement over last year's.
 
Cheese said:
I still think that hotel guests shouldn't get a replacement for ERT over Scarefest. The best bonus they should get over non-hotel guests at Scarefest is the obvious one that they get anyway; they can stick around on park until ride close at 9PM knowing that they're not going to have to drive home afterwards feeling shattered. That said, if Towers insist on giving them a perk anyway the new system sounds like a big improvement over last year's.
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To be fair ERT is a part of the normal season hotel perk, i don't begrudge the resort wanting to try and maintain some sort of perk during Scarefest.

It certainly beats stupid queues on Oblivion and Th13teen.
 
I would like to throw a cat among the pigeons with this hotel fast track over scarefest. If people here are comparing it to compensation for hotel guests losing ERT what about MAP holders and on-line tickets that also loose out? I accept adding these groups to then first hour would also make the Fast track useless but maybe allocate so many for each ride and you get to choose 1 or 2 rides on first come first served basis. Would encourage more people in earlier making them possibly spend more money through the day.
 
This certainly is much better than fastrack for Oblivion and Thirteen. It should in theory work a lot better as the park will be at its quietest between 10am and 11am, and there should be a spread of hotel guests across all the rides.

I do think hotel guests should get some form of perk. You pay a lot to stay in the hotels these days and without ERT perks are severely limited.

:)
 
Well, I went to Thorpe yesterday and there was a guy selling fastracks outside Stealth. The board said the queue time was 35 minutes but the guy said "it's actually about an hour...but only five minutes with a fastrack". I hate fastracks with a passion so decided to join the main queue as normal. 20 minutes later we were done, not an hour, 20 minutes!!

This method of fastrack selling is deceptive morally wrong!

I wish I had something witty to say here.....
 
Does anyone know if people stopping in Scare rooms get this perk?
Says nothing on the Scare room page but technically is a short break during halloween?

Was pretty sure you do but just asked the Towers Twitter and confirmed the fact
 
KingNemesis said:
Does anyone know if people stopping in Scare rooms get this perk?
Says nothing on the Scare room page but technically is a short break during halloween?

Was pretty sure you do but just asked the Towers Twitter and confirmed the fact
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Scare room guests get all hotel perks (well all being this single one). So yes you get the FT ticket.
 
Very occasionally I will use fast track, that was before I got a map. When I went on August 10th, I was trying to make the smiler last ride of the day, round about 4, joined single queue, wasn't even moving, then decided to join main queue, yes it was moving, but very slowly after waiting 40mins I gave up, just wished I bought a fast track for that ride.
What if alton towers decided to do what pleasure beach do and use q-bot system?
I've used the speedy pass service at pleasure beach during the summer, and thought it was a good service, from £10, only downside is they require £50 deposit for the tamagotchi looking device.
 
To be honest, I've seen people using Q-Bot at Legoland but don't really know what the format is with using them. They differ from normal fastracks in some way?

My issue with fastracks is that it doesn't just offer an improved experience over the norm, it's actually detrimental to the experience of non fastrack users, almost as if you're being penalised for choosing not to buy one.

Whist I can see how they're tempting, the fact that they slow the main queue down by such a margin sticks in my throat.



I wish I had something witty to say here.....
 
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