Too little, too late. They can shove their wooden coaster, and their season pass, where the sun doesn't sun.
I can't believe people let them treat them with such contempt, and then celebrate when the world's second, only to Disney, largest operator whines that they can't possibly get everything checked and opened for 10am, but they'll try really, really hard to get it done for 11.
Pathetic.
^^ THIS
Alton Towers is supposed to be the UK's flagship theme park?!?! I'm sorry, but it's simply not good enough. Staggered opening between 10am and 11am *might* be swallowable if the closing time wasn't such a joke. The short number of hours the park is open is the main reason it simply isn't worth a 6hr round trip to go for the day. The expense of the hotels and poor quality means I don't want to stay overnight anymore either.
(It's also not feasable to check the ride status in the morning before setting off)
It should be: 9.30am limited ERT.
All rides open at 10am, close at 6pm, a full 8hr day.
If needs be, consider closing CBeebies Land earlier at 5pm instead of opening other rides so late.
(The demographic that's aimed at will be taking their tired hungry kiddiwinks off for dinner by then)
I know everyone says that park numbers dwindle late afternoon so there's no reason to stay open to 6 or 7pm, but the question there then is WHY? Why do people leave early?
People cut their lossess when they're not having an enjoyable time. You stay longer when you don't actually want to leave! Or when there is some incentive to remain, eg fireworks, Disney Dreams show etc etc.
People think about how long their journey home is, and where they're going to get a bite to eat for dinner. I can't recall AT ever encouraging non-hotel guests to stay and eat at the hotel restaurants for example. Yet we do this at EP all the time.
Past experience. There is nothing more depressing at the end of a great day than a massive queue to leave on the monorail, so setting off that little bit earlier to avoid congestion on it and out of the car parks might avoid that.
And numbers aren't the pure reason to cut the hours. So much is psychological, which of course doesn't fit neatly onto a spreadsheet but it truly does matter.
If you tell someone that the park is open 10am - 7pm, maybe they won't stay that long but in their minds they know they
can. They can have a full day, they can go on a lot of rides. They can afford to take that time for an extra cup of coffee or eat a meal, they don't feel pressured, they don't feel rushed. And probably, they
will end up staying later than intended. And certainly they will come back.
Tell someone the park is only fully open 12am - 4pm... They're not going to have a full day. Doubtful they'll get on all the rides they'd like. Not without FastTrack that you definitely need, but have to pay for on top of your entry. There's no time to eat leisurely, so you grab the poor fast food offerings and regret it. When the park kicks you out you pay the £6 car parking charge and leave with a nasty feeling you've been ripped off. Next time, they won't be coming at all. At best they might with a voucher or clubcard points, but certainly not at full price. They'll be the first ones to complain to their friends about it too.
Cuts to the end product that you're asking people to pay their money for can only go so far and they hit that wall long ago. It doesn't matter how cheap or expensive something is, if people feel they are getting value for what they've paid they will always be happy to pay that bit more. I mean, an AT season pass is cheaper than going to a West End show in London, but I'm willing to pay for the latter over the former because I know I'm going to be entertained a top notch polished product.
The only thing tiding AT over at the moment is brand name and sentiment. Times are tough on everyone at the moment, people are spending carefully. So if you want to make sure that money goes on
your park, rather than on someone elses attraction, you have to offer more and you have to offer better.
