Fireworks 2016

[bluesonichd]

Well I guess you can't please everyone. A few disappointed people who couldn't get in.
At least 30 odd thousand got in tho.
A shame that 20 thousand of them were probably disappointed they got in. Shambles of food and bev and a so-so show

 

[DiogoJ42]

And as far as seeing enthusiasts, I saw people from here walking around the park and outside dragon bar in the evening. Even my dad realized that you were enthusiasts due to someone wearing a swarm hoodie and some people in fright nights hoodies.

Err... Hi....

 

[ThatAlexGuy]

I thought the fireworks weren't bad. As this was my first year seeing the fireworks it's the best I've ever seen! Which also means that was the worst I've seen...

The video on the otherhand... Cringe AF! and as a visual effects student, I felt even I could have done better than that...

 

[Martin]

I loved last year's show so was really looking forward to this year's, but I was really disappointed.

The screen was a great idea and the lighting was incredible but the videos were really annoying and took up too much time. Fair play to them for trying something different and being ambitious, but it just didn't work. When the videos stopped and it was just fireworks, music and lights, it was great. The music was far too quiet and too stop-start, and the finale really underwhelming. Hopefully next time they'll go back to having just a loose, simple story that gets on with it like last year that doesn't get in the way of fireworks set to pop music.

It seemed short this year too so hopefully next year binning off the videos and actors will let it be longer again.

 

[jon81uk]

Did anyone hear about the hotels? There was chaos there too.

Apparently security staff had been put on the doors and were turning away all non residents.

The whole place is an absolute shambles.

When we arrived back at the hotel at 9:10pm there were staff at the door and signs stating it is open for residents only. Wasn't a problem though and there was no chaos at all. We didn't know our room number yet (checked in at 9:30am so no room assigned til 3pm) but they let us walk through Splash to get to ATH with no issues. Didn't feel chaotic, just that they were keeping hotels for residents only, which I think many hotels do at busy times in many cities.


Got to the bar at 9:45 and there was about a 4-5 person queue, but it was moving, I've been in far busier bars! The issue was that all the staff were behind the bar, no one was collecting glasses which meant the bar was then starting to get short of specific styles of glass. Again they probably only needed two extra staff but hadn't quite planned on it being so busy. The bar then closed at 10:45 which felt a little early, but I assume they try to limit the amount of noise of people coming back to rooms.
No issues with our stay at ATH at all, sorry that it wasn't so great for everyone.

 

[Spike]

Wow, It looks as though Alton made a huge boo-boo this weekend, why on earth they cancelled Friday I do not know. Whilst it's nice to see the park hitting 24k+ after recent events it can't of been pleasant for those on the day with 6 rides out of action which help with queues and the poor offerings of food on park.

I managed to watch 3 videos of the display and found it to be okay, the fireworks did look a bit on the cheap side in comparison to other years but the execution seemed okay. I liked the twist on ITHOTMK and always like that as an ending, the chaotic middle of the piece was really good but the final crescendo was very much lacking and petered off in comparison.

I hope Alton learn from this and bring it back to 3 days and get their bloody rides open, staff moral must have been awful on the day. Sort it out Alton!

 

[jon81uk]

Wow, It looks as though Alton made a huge boo-boo this weekend, why on earth they cancelled Friday I do not know

They didn't cancel Fridays fireworks, they were not planned for at the beginning of the season, following the low guest numbers on fireworks Friday 2015 due to the Smiler incident. At the time it was the right thing to do and they couldn't predict how guest numbers might have changed.

 

[Rob]

Would pre-booking solve the problem? There will still be people that will turn up not realising that you have to pre-book. The disable viewing you have to pre-book and that has been like it for the last two years. The disable viewing was fully booked before the event, yet many people still turned up to gain access to the disable viewing not realising that you had to pre booked. Many wheelchair users were turned away and had to find alternative viewing spots around the park. Despite the platform being fully booked up, only half of the wheelchair users that had pre-booked a space actually turned up. So for the last two years, the viewing platform was only half full. This meant that some people got turned away for nothing.

Another concern would be like pop concerts and high profile sport events, and that all the pre-booked tickets gets snapped up withing minutes of going live on line, only to re-emerge on the internet at over inflated prices.

If they make it clear that annual passholder have to pre-book then it's not their problem if people turn up without having booked. I assume it is free of charge to book the disabled viewing area? That would explain why people might book it and then not turn up. Pre-booking for annual passholders will only work effectively with a small charge. You'll get the odd person who doesn't turn up but it should prevent a mass of pre-booking just in case.

Ticket re-sale shouldn't be a problem as pre-booked tickets would be linked to a specific annual pass.

Of course then there is then the debate of should all tickets be pre-booked? So no on the day sales (meaning no BOGOFs). I don't think they will go that far.

 

[Spike]

They didn't cancel Fridays fireworks, they were not planned for at the beginning of the season, following the low guest numbers on fireworks Friday 2015 due to the Smiler incident. At the time it was the right thing to do and they couldn't predict how guest numbers might have changed.

Maybe my post wasn't as clear, by cancelling, I meant cancelling the Friday night this year not that it was running and was cancelled at the last minute.

 

[jon81uk]

Of course then there is then the debate of should all tickets be pre-booked? So no on the day sales (meaning no BOGOFs). I don't think they will go that far.

You can now book the Kellogg's BOGOF at https://www.merlinfun.com/book/ using a code printed on the inside of the cereal box. I expect there to be more of that type of offer and the pay on the gate offers to get phased out next year. I think the Sun tickets offer isn't running next year for a start and there are other offers that are ending as well I think.

 

[Rojo]

Wow, It looks as though Alton made a huge boo-boo this weekend, why on earth they cancelled Friday I do not know. Whilst it's nice to see the park hitting 24k+ after recent events it can't of been pleasant for those on the day with 6 rides out of action which help with queues and the poor offerings of food on park.

I managed to watch 3 videos of the display and found it to be okay, the fireworks did look a bit on the cheap side in comparison to other years but the execution seemed okay. I liked the twist on ITHOTMK and always like that as an ending, the chaotic middle of the piece was really good but the final crescendo was very much lacking and petered off in comparison.

I hope Alton learn from this and bring it back to 3 days and get their bloody rides open, staff moral must have been awful on the day. Sort it out Alton!

Between 8-9 on Sunday a few members staff were declaring it was their last day and they were not coming back next year. Apart from that I thought the ride ops were quite chipper. I got on the second to last nemesis ride and as we pulled into the station the last train was having a great time with cheering whooping. I think I saw John and Cheese queuing for this as I left the station.

The only negative for me was the free for all on the lawns. It really needs some sort of queue management as you had people pushing to get to FV against people trying to get to Towers Street.

I enjoyed the show (not as much as last year) and the screen was a great bit of tech. Hopefully this underlines a low season as AT start an upwards trend next year ready for a big 2018 season.

 

[rob666]

Jon81...No Sun reader offer next year???
Where have you heard this from?
Done it every year for as long as I can remember.
Won't be visiting until the new woodie comes along if that is the case.

 

[RoyJess]

Between 8-9 on Sunday a few members staff were declaring it was their last day and they were not coming back next year.

Sadly some of my friends are moving on from working at the park. But I'm still in contact via FB.

The only negative for me was the free for all on the lawns. It really needs some sort of queue management as you had people pushing to get to FV against people trying to get to Towers Street.

Unfortunately crowds are very unpredictable and we now live in a world where people just seem to push and shove (even in shops). I just simply waited a good 20 to 30 mins after the fireworks had finished before I move off the disable viewing platform, this is something that we have done every year at the fireworks. This was to allow the crowds to disperse and I still made it across to Nemesis and Galactic to get in some final rides in before the park closes. I even did Galactica in the dark without VR for the first time through the star-gate portal.

I never even had problems leaving in the car that night. I went straight out.

I had a couple of great days at the event. To me it was quiet obvious with no fireworks on the Friday and with the recent scarefest being more popular than recent times, it was a no brainier that we were going to have a busy weekend.

If they make it clear that annual passholder have to pre-book then it's not their problem if people turn up without having booked. I assume it is free of charge to book the disabled viewing area? That would explain why people might book it and then not turn up.

It was free to book, but I wonder if half of then actually did turn up, but they turned up later in the day and were refused entry at the turnstiles along with everyone else?

Pre-booking for annual passholders will only work effectively with a small charge. You'll get the odd person who doesn't turn up but it should prevent a mass of pre-booking just in case.

Ticket re-sale shouldn't be a problem as pre-booked tickets would be linked to a specific annual pass.

Of course then there is then the debate of should all tickets be pre-booked? So no on the day sales (meaning no BOGOFs). I don't think they will go that far.

I would also like to see all hotel guest (including pass holders hotel guest) automatically get guarantee park entry. I would also like to see wheelchair users staying at the resort hotels getting a guaranteed place on disable viewing platform as well.

If they make it clear that annual passholder have to pre-book then it's not their problem if people turn up without having booked.

Hello, this is Alton Towers we are talking about, since when do they ever make things clear, have you tried to navigate their webpage to find the appropriate information?


.

 

[jon81uk]

Jon81...No Sun reader offer next year???
Where have you heard this from?
Done it every year for as long as I can remember.
Won't be visiting until the new woodie comes along if that is the case.

I thought I saw it on here somewhere, or the TS Facebook page, but maybe I have not remembered correctly. But I'm sure it was said somewhere that the partnership between Merlin and The Sun is ending.

 

[GaryH]

With regards crowd management on the lawns - its been like this for years, unfortunately, peoples manners and sense of "entitlement" tend to get worse year after year and it turns into a scrum. What Alton DO desperately need is better flood lighting to come on after the end of the fireworks so people can see where they are walking. It must be terrifying for a kid if they loose their parents in that scrum of people.

 

[jon81uk]

I thought they actually got the lighting back on pretty quickly this year, it was started within a few minutes of the fireworks ending, with Towers Street first, then I think Spinball floodlights and then the generators. If you have small children you would be best standing still for a few minutes (and they announced this at the end of the show this year).

 

[PeteB]

What actually is the park capacity these days? I thought it was about 33,000 but I see a lot of people mentioning sub 25,000 here.

 

[ThatAlexGuy]

Maybe at one point it was 33,000 but due to the accident health and safety kicked into overdrive and reduced it. Just a speculation...

 

[andeyhart]

Isn't it still over 30,000?

 

[Burbs]

What actually is the park capacity these days? I thought it was about 33,000 but I see a lot of people mentioning sub 25,000 here.

I believe it is around 25,000. They have lost car parks over the years due to developments such as the Enchanted Village, and the car park next to it being exclusively for EV.