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Major Ride Closures 2016

skyscraper said:
ouch, is that really how many buttons it's op panel had? strange for a ride that had a moving station!
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It had a very large op panel, and when there was a problem, the op had to press a very long sequence of buttons in a very short space of time, otherwise the ride would shut down completely and have to be evacuated... or something like that. :p
 
Leah said:
Why would it have closed last year. There is obviously some cost cutting going on. Yes, the flume is ultimately closing to make way for sw8, but I might believe it wasn't cost cutting if they'd actually started taking it down.
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delta79 said:
I do wonder how many repairs it would of required to keep it running until it was shut to be removed.
It has to come down to being cost affective for the little time it had left.
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The planning permission to take it down hasn't been fully approved and the like yet.

These things take time, it's actually pretty sensible to have it closed, if only because you can divert its fairly humungous maintenance budget to another ride/rides in the park, what's the point of patching something up that has reached the end of its useful life?

Also, as the SW8 project progresses (don't forget, it started a long time ago), it's helpful to have a site where the public cannot access it, and consultants/engineers/planners etc can access the site, without having to enter an active ride area.
 
So, the summer holidays are just about upon us, park hours are returning to normal and the park is opening on all days again BUT no word on getting any of these SBNO'd rides reopened.

What an absolute disaster this bloody theme park is.
 
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spinba11 said:
Normal park hours?? I remember when it shut at 7 all summer.
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Haha yes, you're right.

Well what I mean't was normal as in anything over 5pm. I mean they've been shutting at 4pm mostly this year, and that's taking the pi** when you consider normal business hours are 9 to 5! Britain's leading theme park couldn't even open for normal business hours!
 
PeteB said:
So, the summer holidays are just about upon us, park hours are returning to normal and the park is opening on all days again BUT no word on getting any of these SBNO'd rides reopened.

What an absolute disaster this bloody theme park is.
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They really need to start on those, Hex i believe is still having a load of structural work done in the ruins part of the experience so might not be "this week" but driving school needs to open.
 
PeteB said:
Haha yes, you're right.

Well what I mean't was normal as in anything over 5pm. I mean they've been shutting at 4pm mostly this year, and that's taking the pi** when you consider normal business hours are 9 to 5! Britain's leading theme park couldn't even open for normal business hours!
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4:30 not 4.
 
What's the chances of NST opening soon? It's pretty obvious that little work is going to be done on it (maybe they took my suggestion and put a sub species style animatronic in the ending to replace the actors? I can dream, right?). Im almost certain that they could open it today, but won't to save on staffing. What's the chance of it opening for the holidays though (unless the holidays have already started, the schools around me have another week)? I hope they do consider it, the park really needs more thrilling rides that aren't coasters - I think were down to enterprise.
 
The reopening of the SBNOs largely depends on whether they've budgeted for the additional staff / running cost for these attractions this year.

I would imagine Alton Towers hands are tied by the budget they've been dealt by Merlin, so I doubt we'll see any reopenings this year.
 
I still doubt that we'll see N:ST ever open again. The ride had decent impact in it's first season, and has a cult following among enthusiasts (I like the bulk of it, for one), but it was widely considered a massive flop, is poorly rated on guest surveys and is hugely expensive to staff. The park quite literally dug themselves into a hole with it.
 
The SNBOs won't open until 2017 at the earliest. The fact it's summer is irrelevant. I thought we all guessed they'd be closed for at least a year back in March?...
 
MaxPower said:
The reopening of the SBNOs largely depends on whether they've budgeted for the additional staff / running cost for these attractions this year.
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Surely though to a certain extent the budgets will be reviewed throughout the year depending on the actual performance against its budgeted performance.

I too would be surprised to see any of the rides open this year but It's not going to do their reputation any favours in the long term if people see half the rides closed and have to queue for hours to get on the rides that are open.

I guess it all depends on the current status of the SBNO rides, are any in a state that would allow them to be opened (even temporarily) at short notice and whether they high queues from the school trips an indication of whether attendance is likely to be up over the summer or its just the school trip period that was busier than expected. On ridetimes queue times today appear back at more reasonable level.
 
andeyhart said:
It's not half the rides though, is it.
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It's got to be at least half the rides in the too-old-for-cbeebies-but-not-brave-enough-for-bigger-rides category.

And I'll be suprised if we don't see at least an attempt to open one of the rides this year (maybe scarefest?). It won't be Charlie, Ripsaw, or flume as I highly doubt any of them will return. I'd be very suprised if driving school is to return (in its current form, at least). Hex will probably open early next year, but I would be suprised if it's finished by the end of this season. That leaves NST, which I doubt is having any significant work done, and will hopefully be complete by scarefest (another saw: alive?)

I think they will aim to have at least two of the three dark rides open next season to compensate for the lack of duel (which I am predicting will close for TLC next season after seeing the state towers have let it fall into recently).
 
andeyhart said:
It's not half the rides though, is it
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Lol no true, but as @Leah says how much of an impact it has on your day depends on the age and demographics of the group you go with. Personally for me it's quite noticeable on a visit as I would always include hex, sub terra and occasionally catcf as a break between coasters
 
Leah said:
It's got to be at least half the rides in the too-old-for-cbeebies-but-not-brave-enough-for-bigger-rides category.I think they will aim to have at least two of the three dark rides open next season to compensate for the lack of duel (which I am predicting will close for TLC next season after seeing the state towers have let it fall into recently).
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I might take some flack for cynicism here, but I don't think 'TLC' is much more than a PR campaign built around an excuse. It's a good move, but it's basically the park publicly acknowledging that they've let things go to rack and ruin. I just don't see Merlin investing more than the bare minimum in Hex or Duel or anything else, without being able to market it as a radical new experience. I am very fond of Hex, but I wouldn't mind seeing a tasteful redux of the story, which wouldn't be as marketable as a whole new ride, but I think something people would appreciate if done correctly.
 
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