Major Ride Closures 2016

[QTXAdsy]

At least they know there on thin ice with these closures

I think it really means the park itself is on thin ice...

 

[Spark]

I think next season will see a lot more offers like 241 tickets etc, they won't reduce the entry as it will then be a sour point when it's put back up after visitor numbers increase.

At the moment I can't help think the park is going in similar ways to the American Adventure as it too used to keep rides closed especially during off peak days and maintenance was then reduced (hence the early removal of their flume)

 

[CoasterCrazyChris]

Personally I hope the park totally bombs in 2016 and deservedly so.

Things have to get MUCH worse for them to ever get any better.

If next year works out for them as a result of these cuts all we have to look forward to is more continuous decline and mediocrity.

The last four years (and particularly the last 6 months for obvious reasons) make the years 2008-10 look like a golden era for Alton Towers and that really is saying something.

 

[Grand_Nash]

Merlin sat back and watched the cash flow in.

Alton towers was their cash cow, where people would spend a lot of cash and that's evident now.

Towers isn't making the money. Towers is going to get cut backs.

To reiterate my point. BPB couldn't afford to run it had gone past the edge, Merlin can and should run towers properly as the Jewel in their crown. It should be the wow if towers is as good as this we should go to madame tussauds, sealife etc

 

[MaxPower]

Even if visitor numbers don't detiriorate, people are going to hammer the park on review sites like Tripadvisor.

Chessington have had a real battering from upset customers these past few months, I'd expect the same for the Towers next year. Which could prove more detrimental to the park in the long term.

 

[Leah]

Even if visitor numbers don't detiriorate, people are going to hammer the park on review sites like Tripadvisor.

Chessington have had a real battering from upset customers these past few months, I'd expect the same for the Towers next year. Which could prove more detrimental to the park in the long term.

People gave towers bad reviews last season for having 2 rides closed, next season will be interesting

 

[BreakdanceLover1234]

I think that this is an opportunity for Alton-to get some new rides! We have been lacking some decent rides for ages and Ripsaw is basically running on life support! What rides do you lot think that Alton should get to add to the thrill department? I could see them getting a Mondial Shake for either Forbidden valley or X sector. It could be renamed DYNAMO!!!

 

[Skyscraper]

I think that this is an opportunity for Alton-to get some new rides! We have been lacking some decent rides for ages and Ripsaw is basically running on life support! What rides do you lot think that Alton should get to add to the thrill department? I could see them getting a Mondial Shake for either Forbidden valley or X sector. It could be renamed DYNAMO!!!

I'd love to see an Intamin Gyroswing (like Maelstrom at Drayton Manor) at Alton Towers!

 

[BreakdanceLover1234]

I'd love to see an Intamin Gyroswing (like Maelstrom at Drayton Manor) at Alton Towers!

Maybe if they excavate part of the land, that could be a possibility!

 

[Rick]

People gave towers bad reviews last season for having 2 rides closed, next season will be interesting

How do you think the ridership of The Smiler compares to that of Driving School and Charlie combined?

I don't really go on any of these rides, bar Hex - that's the one that I am a little miffed about. All the others make no real difference to my visiting to the park.

 

[Leah]

How do you think the ridership of The Smiler compares to that of Driving School and Charlie combined?

Actually, I do.

The smiler (and sub terra) apeal to a thrill audience, the minority last season, when the majority of guests visited for family rides. This season, towers are shutting out this majority, so in a sense, it is worse.

 

[Rick]

Actually, I do.

The smiler (and sub terra) apeal to a thrill audience, the minority last season, when the majority of guests visited for family rides. This season, towers are shutting out this majority, so in a sense, it is worse.

My question required a numeric answer - this is all being done due to guest numbers.

Alton have good data to determine how many people they are going to upset by closing these rides. Since the opening of CBeebies, the movement of families around the wider park has reduced hugely which will lessen the extent of the 'damage'.

There is hardly any reason for a young family to head to the extremities of the park these days. Nothing in Dark Forest and very little in X Sector and Forbidden Valley. I think a lot of this could part of a wider plan - we'll see.

 

[Spike]

It's nice to see that community moaning hasn't lost it's momentum. lol

Sub-Terra we know has had issues and not many people have been that enamoured with it anyway (me excluded as I adore it) Charlie, is another ride high on the complaints list. Does anyone even ride the Flume anymore? I can't remember the last time I rode it on a meet. Ripsaw has been on it's last legs for a number of years now and it needed retiring.

It's no secret that Alton has been hit hard last year and hundreds of people are losing their jobs and all some people can do is complain about rides they hardly ever go on, closed for a season.

I would much rather they retire some rides and close some for a season than something more drastic happen.

 

[RoyJess]

I still rode the flume when it was open, I usually get about three rides in a row without getting off if there was no queue. I love it, it was my first ever ride I rode at Alton back in 1987, the ride had dinosaurs dotted around it in the woods, they roar and the dark drop was pitch black which led you to a display of cave men and saber tooth tigers. Much better ride back then now today.

I personally think closing 6 rides without replacing them is a bit drastic. The park tried to save some money with cuts at the start of this season and when the incident happen, this really cost them more than what they saved.

 

[haydn!]

Closing un-popular, high-maintenance or rides with poor operational cost to value ratio makes perfect sense in the short term. The park effectively lost around £30-40million a year in turnover from the gate numbers decline. No business, in any market, or especially one as debt ladened as Alton Towers Resort Operations Ltd, can take that hit without some form of impact.

Tightening the belt now, until their reputation, and then gate figures improve is the right thing to do. If they continued to operate beyond current means, they'd only impact their ability to re-invest heavily in the future.

 

[Leah]

Very unlikely to affect anything, but when I last went on ripsaw, I heard someone say " I'm not going on that, it doesn't looks safe". Would closing a ride that (few) people call "unsafe" look bad? (and tbh, the sounds it was making near the end of the season didn't sound too safe)

 

[Meat Pie]

Woh woh woh..... I leave for a couple of years and I come back to find they want to close Hex?

But Hex transcends the largely vacuous medium that theme parks attractions in this country has become and shows us what a well crafted ride experience should be! Its not just a ride, its a realisation of artistic ambition, theatre techniques and experiential design which hits on all four of Pine and Gilmore's 'Realms Of Experience' - Entertainment, Educational, Aesthetic and Escapist - whilst expertly drifting between the four types of involvement - Absorption, immersion, passive participation, and active participation.

The psychology of the structure of the experience, the soundscapes created within the rooms and hallways, the genuine setting, the unfolding of the story and the bold move to leave the end ambiguous so the audience can interpret their experience how they feel, all combine to created an experience as intelligent and sophisticated as it is enjoyable and suspenseful.

They can't close it. I shan't allow it! We must schackle ourselves to the entrance gates until we save this one of a kind piece of experiential art. Whose with me comrades?!

 

[Coaster]

Closing un-popular, high-maintenance or rides with poor operational cost to value ratio makes perfect sense in the short term. The park effectively lost around £30-40million a year in turnover from the gate numbers decline. No business, in any market, or especially one as debt ladened as Alton Towers Resort Operations Ltd, can take that hit without some form of impact.

Tightening the belt now, until their reputation, and then gate figures improve is the right thing to do. If they continued to operate beyond current means, they'd only impact their ability to re-invest heavily in the future.

But how will their reputation improve if they close rides and make further budget cuts?

I can understand the need to close Ripsaw, but it needs to be replaced as the flat ride lineup will be very sparse without it.

 

[Matt.GC]

Woh woh woh..... I leave for a couple of years and I come back to find they want to close Hex?

But Hex transcends the largely vacuous medium that theme parks attractions in this country has become and shows us what a well crafted ride experience should be! Its not just a ride, its a realisation of artistic ambition, theatre techniques and experiential design which hits on all four of Pine and Gilmore's 'Realms Of Experience' - Entertainment, Educational, Aesthetic and Escapist - whilst expertly drifting between the four types of involvement - Absorption, immersion, passive participation, and active participation.

The psychology of the structure of the experience, the soundscapes created within the rooms and hallways, the genuine setting, the unfolding of the story and the bold move to leave the end ambiguous so the audience can interpret their experience how they feel, all combine to created an experience as intelligent and sophisticated as it is enjoyable and suspenseful.

They can't close it. I shan't allow it! We must schackle ourselves to the entrance gates until we save this one of a kind piece of experiential art. Whose with me comrades?!

Agree with everything apart from the shackle part

 

[RoyJess]

Just because a ride don't get big ques don't mean that these rides are not loved or someones favorite. The problem with today's society, we are all obsessed with the latest must have/must do. Theme parks are no different and people flock to ride the latest new ride. The park downfall is the fact they have always feed off this fact by focusing on the next new big ride and leaving the rest of the park to rot to the fact that they can then replace it with the newest ride.

Nemesis is a brilliant ride and one of the best in the world. Yet nowadays it don't get the queues like it used to or nothing like the Smiler gets. It doesn't meant that Nemesis should be removed or replaced (I know it not going to be removed soon, but I mention this as an example). I personally think if the incident didn't happen on the latest SW, but happened on another older SW, then the park guess numbers would not have been affected so much .

My other gripe with the park, especially with this last season when the stagger opening times was implemented, that is having your choice of rides and when you would like to ride them taken away. With the amount of rumored ride removal planned, if this was implemented, then our choice of rides would be reduced.

I agree with that the removal of Hex is a real shock and a big mistake, this has got to be the best themed dark ride and it also relates to the history of the chain Oak.