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Little Changes: What would you do?

Because lockers are a real faff and there would be a charge. I don't fancy paying for a locker on every visit!
I've used free lockers in Universal Studios and Chimelong Ocean Kingdom, but you're probably right that Merlin would charge for them! They are handy for leaving your bag before going on a couple rides, but I don't think they should be mandatory for everything, just bags.

And I'd still prefer the bag drop
 
There’s not a chance Merlin would introduce a free locker solution like Universal. They’d be chargeable like SeaWorld/Busch.

That's not a necessarily bad thing though. When I was last at EP it was nice to be able to put my bag, which had multiple days clothes and some snacks, somewhere and not have to lug it around park. I don't mind paying £1-£2 to have somewhere to store a heavy bag all day.
 
If we are talking about installing new lockers it would probably be a bigger investment than just staffing the existing baggage rooms. So they might as well just employee the extra people to reopen them. Short term it’s cheaper - and Merlin are all about the short term.
 
That's not a necessarily bad thing though. When I was last at EP it was nice to be able to put my bag, which had multiple days clothes and some snacks, somewhere and not have to lug it around park. I don't mind paying £1-£2 to have somewhere to store a heavy bag all day.
Yeah, but free is better :D

Let's be honest, we're being charged enough at theme parks. All these extra costs add up
 
That's not a necessarily bad thing though. When I was last at EP it was nice to be able to put my bag, which had multiple days clothes and some snacks, somewhere and not have to lug it around park. I don't mind paying £1-£2 to have somewhere to store a heavy bag all day.

You can already do this for a charge at Alton Towers and Europa-Park...!
 
Small Locker – £1 per hour, or £5 per day
Large Locker – £2 per hour, or £10 per day

A little too steep in my opinion. I think at EP it was €2 for a small locker for the day. At £5 / day I think I'd be willing to carry my bag round and buy a pint with my lunch.
 
Back on topic:
Audio round the park - Last I was at Towers there was a distinct lack of atmosphere, admittedly on a quiet day, which could've been partially solved with some audio

Towers & Gardens tours - Get someone with a little bit of knowledge and you can run something very low cost that could be reasonably popular on busy days or as an after hours offering. Alton Towers has a rich history, and the building and grounds to go with it, they should be utilising it.
 
While I disagree on the audio as it has been much better this year with more speakers around the place, I agree totally about the tower and garden tours, particularly now when the park is closed. They could easily do a tour on weekends during the closed season.
 
An improvement on the quality of food and drink on offer which extends beyond the average theme park fair. I see no reason to eat on park when it closes so early, because I know I can get 10x better food outside the gates. Okay keep the cheap options, but offer some nice options too.

Right now I'm not encouraged to spend more money after I'm inside the park as there is nothing of quality to purchase.

A little off topic and head in the clouds thinking :- I fancy the idea of turning the big hall in the towers into a fancy dining room, decorate it up and restore it to a regal banqueting room. Kitchen would admittedly be difficult to put in, but I'm sure it's possible. It would be a super perk for a spa day to go into the towers for a high quality meal. Host weddings and events in there too. It could really be spectacular. (It wouldn't exactly be a small change though, it would probably break the bank).
 
I'm fine with lockers, even if you have to pay a bit for them. I just don't take bags to theme parks, all you need is your phone, wallet and refillable water bottle.
 
My changes I would like to see for next year:

1. Absolutely NO staggered openings whatsoever - ALL rides to be open for 10am
2. 1hr ERT to return on peak days
3. Reopen Courtyard Tavern
4. Late night evening openings on selected summer dates
5. Remove vinyls from monorail windows
6. Improve food quality across the entire resort and hotels
7. Reopen Tree Top Quest
8. Fireworks displays to be 3 days not 2
9. Garden and house tours to be reintroduced (pre-booked only)
10. Sort out housekeeping in the hotels
 
Changes I would make...

1. Fire the people behind all the operational cuts at Alton Towers this year. (NB: This is not necessarily Alton management, it could well be people at Merlin HQ, or a mixture of the twe).
2. Recognise the potential Alton Towers has as a theme park.
3. Do everything possible to ensure that all visitors to Alton Towers have a magical day for the admission fee alone.

That would be a good step in the right direction. Zero chance of happening until Merlin get some serious competition from another theme park operator in the UK.
 
I’m mostly in agreement with everything that’s already been said but my small things would be...

1) Sort out the audio at the entrance to the Dark Forest. It bleeds terribly and is far too loud and distorted.

2) Refurb Oblivion. The queue and station buildings need painting with refreshed signage, I’d also like to see new TV’s and sound systems in the queue. If we were talking bigger things I’d like to see the trains replaced with floorless ones. My absolute must on Oblivion is the return of the “Don’t look down” audio.

3) Restore the mashed up soundtracks and videos on Oblivion and the Smiler to the original versions after they were butchered post June 2015.

4) Bin the VR off on Galactica and restore some kind of order to the poor girl.
 
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