• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Fastrack Farce

It's simply beyond a joke, firstly how can towers mangers think lowering throughputs is expectable also fastracks it's shocking lets just take thirteen on Saturday how can they justife a 40 minute queue just for fastrack (this is a average queue for thirteen normaly) with a 120 minute main queue how can towers expect paying customers to queue that long at £45 per visit, they won't come again
 
In any service industry there will always be oportunities to pay for a better service, in more selective restaurants you pay for private dining, airlines give different different levels depending on how much you have paid, internet sales charge more for you to get your item quicker. Its a simple fact of life.

I am sure that you will all have paid for something less than the basic service at some point you just dont want to admit it. Alton offers the same options any one else does in life, the more you pay the better service you get. Its as simple as that, whilst fastrack does take up slots in the queue it is effectively "rationed" also to limit the effect so that AT do not reduce the "basic" level of service that you have purchsed with you initial entry cost although the rationing is done by price rather than limited numbers
 
This is the year where they've made the most cuts and squeezes so they're simply trying to claw back as many pennies as they can by bumping up the Fastrack sales.
 
Yes but the thing is, most of use don't have a problem with the park selling fastrack. We have a problem when they sell that many that the normal queue gets massiviely effected. Yes let the stupid people pay for fastrack and waste their money, but the park should NOT be allowed to sell that many that they cannot manage the fastrack queue properly and have to resort to having 3/4 of the rides capacity solely for fastrack. Its not on and I wouldn't be surprised if half the guests that day left feeling right royally brassed off with the park.
 
Towseriv said:
. Its as simple as that, whilst fastrack does take up slots in the queue it is effectively "rationed" also to limit the effect so that AT do not reduce the "basic" level of service that you have purchsed with you initial entry cost although the rationing is done by price rather than limited numbers
Click to expand...
Its really not as simple as that though... If Fastrack was truly rationed, it would not impact on queues to the extent which it does. Fastrack needs to be rationed in some way in order to not impact on what you describe as basic levels of service. Clearly on days like are being described, a basic level of service is not being supplied to anyone - be they 'normal' guests or those with Fastrack.
 
Towseriv said:
In any service industry there will always be oportunities to pay for a better service, in more selective restaurants you pay for private dining, airlines give different different levels depending on how much you have paid, internet sales charge more for you to get your item quicker. Its a simple fact of life.

I am sure that you will all have paid for something less than the basic service at some point you just dont want to admit it. Alton offers the same options any one else does in life, the more you pay the better service you get. Its as simple as that, whilst fastrack does take up slots in the queue it is effectively "rationed" also to limit the effect so that AT do not reduce the "basic" level of service that you have purchsed with you initial entry cost although the rationing is done by price rather than limited numbers
Click to expand...

This isn't a truism. I was a trainee manager in a very high class bar/restaurant, where I served many a celebrity/footy manager etc.

We had a Champagne Bar. That was reserved for people buying high end products, there was a private bar, and extra staff put on for this measure so that people could enjoy a finer dining experience.

It did not impact upon the service of anyone else. Some people wanted to go and drink a pint in the champers bar, but were not permitted. It was a different product/level of service. It was always in existence, and no matter how busy it got - or how much at times people moaned they wanted one, we never closed off more of the restaurant/bar.

There was a very minimal allowance - see this as Ultimate Fast Track. And it was, first come first served. You want it? Get there earlier. Simples.

What Merlin are doing, is akin to charging for tokens at the door, to get served faster and/or have a table, and/or actually be able to get a drink.

Go into your local bar, or supermarket (as this is a very public place, not elitist or sold as such), and find me a queue you can pay more to use.

What is more, this discourages general good service as a whole, causes more consternation and annoyance amongst guests - it's a dire model and there is no excuse for it apart from an absolute blatant abomination of capitalism eeking into an arena it simply has no place within.

It is terrible, it is getting worse, and it needs to go - simple as that, along with Merlin's penny pinching nonsense!

Shame on you Merlin!
 
Alton Towers is the best place in the world because, for a brief 50 seconds everyone shares the same experience. Everyone screams as Nemesis makes its first drop, everyone looks down into a giant pit at once on Oblivion, and every guest smiles as they see a giant duck light up as they ride around in a forest in a bath tub.

When Alton Towers try to make a two tier system; those that have to queue and those that do not, it just doesn't sit right with me. I'd love to see a Disney style system where you book in for times and then you arrive to take your seat. Surely this would be a fairer way to do it? Surely the queues would then be lower as well?
 
As per Thomas' post, now this is where I have no clue and I hand over to the experts on here, of which there are many, but am I not right in thinking there are queue systems available for booking times etc?

Surely, a couple of quid on the entrance price for a much better all round experience for all would be preferable?

Cue the Queue masters :)
 
Unfortunately, Fastrack won't be going anywhere any time soon. I can understand that there is a market for it, but it's just sold too much, and it gives us those awfully long queues that have been seen too often this season - and not just at Towers. Limiting it is, in my view, the only solution that could work. Disney's system from 2005 (I'm assuming it's the same now) is the best way of doing it, in my opinion - time slots, free, and first-come first-served. Oh, and they should be handed out in very strictly limited quantities, too. The other solution, which could work but I'm not too keen on, is whacking the price up. That way, less people will go in the Fastrack queues and more in the normal ones, thereby giving a better balance, which I believe that some people have already pointed out in this topic.

One final point I'd like to make in this post is related to EP. Here, there are no Fastracks whatsoever, and this, combined with their vastly higher throughputs than Towers, mean that the queues move a lot quicker (EuroSat's queue, for example, almost never stops moving). You may be thinking that this isn't exactly relevant, but if queues are moving quicker, then there's likely to be less moaning. Why? Say that queue A for ride A is 30 minutes and queue B for ride B is 45 minutes, but queue B is moving at a quicker pace than queue A due to ride B having no Fastracks available, then my logic dictates that those in queue B are likely to be more satisfied than those in queue A, as B is moving quicker, thereby giving the guests the impression that they're moving quicker.

If Towers do insist on selling Fastracks - and let's face it, they're going to be with us for a long time - then something needs to be done about it. How about trying to increase throughputs on rides and not leave any empty seats (safety permitting, of course)?
 
TheMan said:
As per Thomas' post, now this is where I have no clue and I hand over to the experts on here, of which there are many, but am I not right in thinking there are queue systems available for booking times etc?

Surely, a couple of quid on the entrance price for a much better all round experience for all would be preferable?

Cue the Queue masters :)
Click to expand...
There isn't a system, which is what makes it more farcical! You go to sales and information, buy Fastrack and then use it when you want... At least that's how I think it is at the moment anyway. Towers often also position people at ride entrances, quoting inflated queue times to flog more tickets there and then!
 
That was my point to Towers Jonathon, they "jeffed" off the single rider queue, to put a fast track only queue.

No one used it! Therefore trains were leaving with multiple empty seats, and the queue was horrendous. That is just poor, poor management, and someone at top has to have made that very deliberate decision.

They're going in the opposite direction, and have seemingly bought a fast track ticket to do so as it is moving that direction, at quite a speedy pace now!

mrbrightside said:
There isn't a system, which is what makes it more farcical! You go to sales and information, buy Fastrack and then use it when you want... At least that's how I think it is at the moment anyway. Towers often also position people at ride entrances, quoting inflated queue times to flog more tickets there and then!
Click to expand...

Sorry I meant anywhere, is there not a system that can be bought in mate?
 
Different places do it differently... The 'perfect' way of doing it would be a monetized version of FastPass at Disneyland Paris. You scan your park ticket, get a return ticket for a 30 minute slot later in the day and then do what you want until that time. The beauty of it is that you can only have 1 or 2 FastPasses at once. Of course, the drawback is that slots can fill quickly on busy days.

An alternative, but still using the current system, would be to sell Fastrack in timed slots and only allow so many to be sold for each slot. Thus letting, say, 20-30% of a theoretical hourly throughput be for Fastrack and no more. This would also aid ride teams as they would know how many Fastrack users to expect per hour and it would spread Fastrack usage throughout the day.

The present system allows for too much corporate greed.
 
How in anyway is a monetised version of FastPass better than the free version that even Alton Towers and other Tussauds parks once operated without any trouble?

There's no benefit to monetising it unless you happen to be wealthy and want to exclude those who cannot afford it. I find that idea elitist.

But as I expressed earlier it's utterly misguided to commoditise a service that is meant to make congestion flow more smoothly anyway. As soon as you monetise the system, you give the company incentive to ignore the original congestion-busting function in the name of making more profit, and they will continually do so, whether or not it hurts the customer experience.

Companies are too greedy to limit themselves. They cannot do it and should therefore avoid commoditising services that are meant to facilitate the smooth operation of delivering their product.
 
I do not have a problem with fast passes, if it means that the revenue generated from it is invested back in the park, or means that a bigger, better themed ride can be built.

I remember reading a previous thread, and it was suggested that limiting the number sold to 5-10% of the ride capacity per half hour block. This was the best way of allowing parks to increase their revenue without creating longer significantly longer queues for people not willing to pay extra.

The problem Towers has is that it does not limit the number it sells, and does not allocate a specific time to use your fast pass, and this is what is causing these 30-45 minute queues for quests using fast passes, and 90+ minute queues for normal guests.

In a ideal world, they would scrap the system, and not have any fast passes, similar to Europa Park, but the problem with that, is that Alton Towers is not a family run business, and needs to make a profit.

Would people be happier to see the ticket prices go up, to make up for the lost income of fast passes? Is it better to have a cheaper standard gate price, and allow people who can afford to pay for fast passes to subsides that cheaper ticket, then just scrapping the fast pass system, and just making everyone pay more to get in?

Alton Towers need to reduce the number they issue, and increase the cost significantly. If you issue half the current number, but double the price and allocate a specific time, it would solve the current problems Alton Towers has.

I just fear by the time Merlin realise what they have done to the UK Theme Park industry, it will be to late, and people will have given up on UK Theme Parks. I think the Monopoly they have is damaging the reputation of Theme Parks within the UK, and do not see a solution to this problem.

Alton Towers is starting to feel a lot like those Theme Parks I used to run in Rollercoaster Tycoon 1, where you could charge £40 to get in, and then £5-6 on top per ride you wanted to go on.

Ian
 
Europapark are getting paid FastTrack soon so it's nothing reserved for the commercial parks, also Towers do limit the fast tracks sold. The trouble this weekend is that hotel guests had fast track too so there was an extra 2000 knocking around and they didn't reduce the numbers available to sell. Also throughputs have decreased dramatically on Oblivion and Rita and this also hasn't been factored in.

Perfect storm really
 
Meat you crack me up dude ;D but I love your idealism - and guess what, you are absolutely right!

The thing is, what you recognise rightly from a more socialist viewpoint, has absolutely been recognised from a directly targeted raw capitalist viewpoint - in so much as - they spotted that avenue to monetise annoyance, so took a system that could work better, and made one worse, that you have to pay much more money to get out of.

Like Meat says - and you won't always find us in agreement ha-ha :D - Merlin is too greedy to limit itself. It is in fact, gorging on the customers pockets now, and is like that annoying crap bag at every school (in my day) who followed you around saying...

"Gis a crip mate"

They want every darn penny they can get from you, and your experience is becoming less and less of a concern. Shortly, for those of a Monty Python discernment, Mr Creosote may presently be gorging on the proverbial after dinner mint...

Merlin, are getting out of control.
 
IanB - That's rubbish. Alton Towers built Nemesis and the Haunted House as well as lots of other classics without Fast Track revenue.

There is no need for these tickets, it's just money that goes in the shareholder's pockets. The park is not strapped for cash and could be as well themed and maintained as any of the major European parks if they chose to do so. The reason they don't is due to a lack of any competition in the UK, allowing them to rest on their laurels and do as little as they feel they can get away with (Well that's what the finance money men up the chain in Merlin make them do anyway).
 
Just Fastrack itself as a concept is utterly unethical and disgusting.

Trading standards should crack down and ban it as a practice.

The analogy is, someone paying more for a loaf of bread, and that causing you to have less bread because you paid the standard amount.
 
The paid fast track quota hasn't gone up though, it's clearly just the addition of free hotel FT and lower throughputs. Towers do tend to stick to their quotas they will just increase the price of FT in future. Where they sometimes fail is using FT as a complaint compensation or to reimburse hotel guests for loss of ERT, these extra FT don't however result in a reduction in the sales quota.

And trading standards won't care because Towers are breaking no rules.

And Towers profits are propping up less profitable parts of Merlin.
 
Hotel fastrack is ridiculous, whatever made them think they had to compensate guests for the loss of ERT with fastrack...

An interesting thing is, the park apparently wanted to replace it this year with a one hour timeslot for the hotel guests to use - effectively creating an "ERT" for them. The hotels refused.

Nemesis seemingly received a huge load of complaints last year, relating to fastrack and the sheer amount of hotel fastrack. The solution? Remove nemesis from the fastrack, and add it to thirteen instead, so now that has the 2hr queues.

They really, really, need to sort this thing out as it affects EVERYONES days out over this busy half term.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top