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Major Operational Changes for 2018

AstroDan said:
If Alton really do need to save money, they should be shutting Cloud Cuckoo Land for the time being as a priority. And if the season starts well... re-open it in the summer.

Nemesis, the Rapids and Galactica should not be affected.
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I agree with the sentiment. CCL in its current form is obsolete anyway, boasting only 2 minor rides.

I would close, in replacement: Driving School, Frog Hopper, Carousel, Battle Galleons and Enterprise entirely, to mitigate the costs of the staggered openings and rapids closure.

The problem with the rides above is that they only use small numbers of staff anyway, so AT won't look to cut them! :(
 
WickerManiac said:
I agree with the sentiment. CCL in its current form is obsolete anyway, boasting only 2 minor rides.

I would close, in replacement: Driving School, Frog Hopper, Carousel, Battle Galleons and Enterprise entirely, to mitigate the costs of the staggered openings and rapids closure.

The problem with the rides above is that they only use small numbers of staff anyway, so AT won't look to cut them! :(
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What are family’s supposed to do if the first 3 are closed?
 
Poopoohead said:
What are family’s supposed to do if the first 3 are closed?
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With all due respect, families have CBeebies Land and Mutiny Bay. The loss of Cloud Cuckoo Land would be fairly minimal.

Don't forget, Blade would be back open earlier which is a family ride - and also RMT, and Duel.

Of course... closing CCL would not make up the money to run rides like Galactica...
 
Poopoohead said:
What are family’s supposed to do if the first 3 are closed?
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Nothing.

Ideally the park would be operating normally and cutting rides to meet a budget quota wouldn't be happening. It is not an ideal situation! :(

Also surprising to hear SAW ALIVE is re-opening. I can't help but feel these funds are more desperately required at AT as the situation at TP is no where near as bad!
 
It’s just frustration boiling over. There should be no bloody cuts at all! The resort is marketed as a short break for family’s, and that’s exactly what you pay for. You’d struggle to fill a day at present
 
I’m glad Merlin have at least had mercy on Thorpe Park this season as I’m very close by. 10pm closing during the summer and Saw Alive is good news.
 
Thorpe Park are presumably saving money in other areas. There were vast redundancies there recently and the scale of the park is much, much smaller than Alton Towers. As a result, there is less to cut...
 
Saw can go screw itself but the return of Summer Nights, even if unofficially, is a welcome return, those were my favourite days at the park back last time they run them, all the inbreds have knackered themselves out by 7 having been there since 9 and the park is like a ghost town for the last couple of hours.

27 rides in two hour is our record, we aim to beat that this year.
 
AstroDan said:
Thorpe Park are presumably saving money in other areas. There were vast redundancies there recently and the scale of the park is much, much smaller than Alton Towers. As a result, there is less to cut...
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True, they don't have an estate to fund and the footprint is smaller.

Also, Towers have had almost every possible cut or redundancy in the back office inefficiencies, so now the only thing left to cut is the hours and rides!
 
I still think if Merlin can’t afford to operate Alton Towers, they should sell it on and Varney can focus on his latest obsession with midway attractions and Sea World instead.
 
It should be said amongst all of this, I am quite sure the last thing the ATR management actually want to cut - is the rides.

But it would appear that there is almost little else to cut now. The transport service, entertainment, cleaning team, reservations department, back office, gardening staff have all been massively reduced/removed/outsourced and so now... there's little else.
 
Would ATR save any money by outsourcing the food outlets to brands again e.g. Burger King, KFC, Pizza Hut, like they used to do up until the late 2000s-early 2010s?
 
IanSR said:
If money is so tight, why not mothball the place for a year?
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There would probably be lots of angry protests if that were to happen. Just imagine the newspaper (Mail) headline:
"Breaking News! Alton Towers to close down for a year!"
 
skyscraper said:
There would probably be lots of angry protests if that were to happen. Just imagine the newspaper (Mail) headline:
"Breaking News! Alton Towers to close down for a year!"
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Yup, then imagine the queues when the place re-opens.

Regarding F&B, you only save money by outsourcing catering if you outsource to a true third party at a lower cost than it costs you to do it yourself, if you outsource to another department who owns the franchise it doesn't work.
 
Ok I think more of a debate should be the reasoning for this - yes to save money but why? And what for ? What are Merlin preparing for?

In my line of work this happens for one of three reason
1) pending sale of asset or group
2) pending administration
3) maximising profit or turning around a loss

I generally cannot see any of those three being relevant as you can discount each point. So why are they doing this
 
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