Right, so that we don't continue clogging up the Quick Questions thread with our baggage and loose articles, here's a specific thread for them. As has been stated, Towers will not allow any bags on the coasters, never mind how big or small. If you really don't want to use the in-station baggage racks you have three options: 1. Don't bring a bag and just secure your loose artiles in a suitable zipped pocket 2. Leave your bag with a non-rider 3. Use the paid lockers that are located around the park.
Just as I wrote a reply in the other thread @Skyscraper ! I was just saying that Alton would never have free lockers as they would lose out on the money for charging for the lockers.
Hence I think why Steve suggested an all-day pass for lockers. Universal of course insist on all bags of all sizes going in lockers and on some rides have metal detectors to ensure pockets are emptied too. But small lockers are free for the length of the ride+queue, so putting a bum bag and pocket contents into the locker is free. Rucksacks and similar size bags need a paid-for locker in most cases though. I do think AT should be better at offering lockers like Universal do, at least for inverting rides. For rides like Wickerman however bags should not be an issue really. I would generally say people should not be bringing a handbag, use zip pockets where possible for phone, keys and a bank card then leave everything else at home or out of sight in the car. If you can't do zip pockets then a small bag is better than bringing a handbag with absolutely everything in it, just pack the essentials!
Other park operators do it; for instance, Universal has free lockers on Hulk, Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit and Hagrid’s, as well as some of the dark rides (albeit these ones are outside of the queue line, so all bags would have to be deposited prior to entering the queue), and VelociCoaster even has them towards the end of the queue. I’d personally support a similar approach to the Universal one at Alton Towers, although perhaps the lockers could be made a bit bigger to negate the need to buy a jumbo locker. This does also mean I would be in support of there being metal detectors prior to the station; you’re not waiting for long in the station, and it’s a pretty foolproof way of ensuring that no one has loose articles on them before getting onto the ride.
Yeah my backpack is pretty big and some places I've been to only have tiny lockers for a bag half the size.
I would be 100% behind lockers during queue lines but not before the queue itself. Most queue have somewhere you could put them like nemesis queue, all you'd have to do is make sure the queue is on it's lowest length extension into the woods and put lockers in the old vending machine hut. Also lots of rides wouldn#'t need them as you could re open baggage holds. For example Thirteen and the smiler. Wicker man already has one. I just cannot see them doing it though. Firstly, it would cost a fortune to install and then they'd also loose out on the revenue for the paid lockers and I think they see the storage bins on ride platforms as suitable.
I wasn’t saying that they should do it for existing rides per se, just that maybe it would be a good solution for new attractions going forward to install lockers and metal detectors just before reaching the station?
Well with the last three SW's they've all had baggage holds that have then been removed barring one. Thirteen and The Smiler both had these that were then taken out and really all they need to do is keep their storage solutions open when the build them.
That wouldn't work as most queue lines at Towers don't pass the exit paths. Only works for rides where the queue and exit paths pass side-by side, like Arthur at EP and Velocicoaster at UIOA.
It could work if future rides were designed such that the queue and exit path passed near each other, however. The baggage hold rides do this anyway; if the baggage holds were demolished, you could easily fit a locker system where they are.
I know baggage solutions has been a discussion point on here for a while and I don't want to just come from a personal perspective but I think some of the solutions being suggested over the years are over thinking a solution to a problem that's maybe not as big as is made out? Towers has always had similar baggage solutions to now. There were times when they didn't design rides that necessitated a staffed baggage hold costing money to staff all day. Nemesis, Oblivion and Air have always had the station baggage holds and have acceptable throughput if operations are running well. Thirteen doesn't seem to suffer much having one on the platform. The Smiler and Wickerman would as they usually seem to have trains stacked and this holds the dispatch up. I wouldn't want an ugly baggage hold ruining the excellent Wickerman station either so maybe a locker room replacing their baggage holds? But I honestly don't think there's a need to whack ugly lockers all over the place. When I don't have the family in toe, the only things I carry with me is my phone and my car key and nothing else, both of which I secure on my person and take on with me. If I have the family, my partner will bring a back pack with us with some drinks, snacks, perhaps some sun cream, antihistamines, paracetamol and sanitary ware. Whoever has the bag goes through the air gates first and places in the baggage hold whilst the others sit down and pull their harnesses down. I see most other people when I'm out and about traveling light as well. Think about what kind of high value things you would possibly need in a theme park? For the majority of guests, it's simply a mobile phone and a car key which I understand why people would not want to leave in the baggage hold. Gone are the days when you needed a pocket full of change that would fall out on Submission or a wallet stuffed with bank notes. I don't even take a bank card, if I do I won't take the wallet with it and just secure it in my pocket. Impact on operations is probably the main problem rather than baggage. But many Europa attractions also have the same system and I don't see them racking up massive queues without hideous lockers and expensive to run manned baggage holds everywhere. I queued 50 mins for Silver Star last summer (standard queue here, considered long over there) and the station staff where so concerned with the queue, they called out in German and English to guests on the ramp about to enter the platform to get their bags off and loose articles packed away and where taking them off of us as we walked onto the train and put them in the hold whilst we sat down before checking our harnesses. It was incredibly quick. None of the faff you see over hear with people on the platform messing around with stuff whilst everyone else is waiting to be despatched.
We know that WM's exit platform was designed with space for future baggage racks in mind, so if they did eventually install some I would hope they would be themed and (like you said) not just bog-standard metal cages that look out of place. I do agree that lockers in the current baggage hold area would be the next best option though.
I don't think Wickerman needs a baggage store at all, just ride with bags at your feet, that's what we do at Blackpool and Disney. Secure small items in pockets and take as little as possible with you (as above, just phone, car key, bank card) and if you need a back pack for the family then take one to share. Maybe they could do the same as Universal and convert the Smiler baggage room to lockers, but it will still need staff to assist, so its probably far quicker/easier to operate the current cloakroom system. Universal need the lockers as they have determined that pockets need to be emptied too on some coasters as people were throwing coins from the ride.
That will never happen I'm afraid, RMT and Octonaughts require bags left on the platform and they are not thrill rides. Although the footwells on both of those probably arent big enough anyway. Don't Disney rides have pouches for bags and loose articles attached to the back of the seats on some rides?
Yes but the pouches won't hold much and I really wouldn't trust them to keep a phone secure on a coaster. Better off to leave small items in your pockets, rucksack goes at your feet with legs through the straps. Things like caps (or Mickey Ears) could go in the pouch.
Who's old enough to remember when the rides didn't even have storage bins? Many times I went on Nemesis and left by the side of each row on the floor were people's shoes and bags. You had to watch when you got off in case the person on the previous train left their belongings in the way. I'm not sure if / when the policy changed, but small bags such as bumbags were allowed back in the early 2000s when I worked there. It was even mentioned in the ride manual. So long as the bag was small and rotated to the side so it wasn't between the rider and the harness it was acceptable.
Alot of merlin’s bag restrictions were tightened after an incident occurred, that was bag/ bum bag related at thorpe.
