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Midweek Theme Park Closures

We are a creature of habit, and if in previous years the park has been open 7 days a week during the open season, then why would you check before you travel?

I'm a regular visitor to various tourist attractions and I never check if they are open before I travel. The same goes for when I visit my local supermarket.

You just take for granted they they are open the same as they have always been.

Yes they are a business and they need to make a profit. But when you run a business, you will also get days when you make a loss. That is part and parcel of running a business.

For the UK number 1 theme park, that was still in profit after last year despite lower gate figures, to have these mid week closures, is not great. Also this week is going to be the Scottish half term and there will be no scarefest until Friday.
 
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Yeah I agree, AT has always been open every day so you cant blame people for turning up assuming it will be open. However, given this day and age with the likes of social media, I find it difficult to understand how some people can fail to see the constant messages from Alton on all their various channels as to when the park is closed!

I wonder however if they opened the park in midweek but offered lower admission prices if it would have encouraged more people to visit midweek..... given the pricing of the park and the hotels, there hasnt really been much incentive to encourage more people to visit.
 
I have had no problem with midweek closures, I just feel they haven't advertised the closures properly.
Not everyone uses social media, not everyone either has access or uses the internet, many people in rural areas have no internet reception.
I don't think that the Towers would have had many more punters if they dropped midweek pricing, most midweek off peak visitors seem to be season pass holders mopping up some extra visits.
With the ride closures, midweek closures and shutting of other facilities, I fear that the Towers is on a bit of a slide.

In a bit of a wander off topic, I'm resorting to a Blackpoo season ticket next year, mainly for a 30 minute journey instead of 2 to 3 hours, but also for the fully open park, for a full season, and watching a big new ride go through the south of the park...and an £80 season pass offer!
I was planning a trip to Thorpe, but with all the problems with the Ghost Train I just couldn't be bothered.
I don't think this has been a very good year for Merlin at all. The Dungeons, waxworks, Eye and Tower just don't interest me.
A season with Merlin was good for a one off, but the season as a whole has been rather less of an experience than I was expecting...Sealife made me feel sad seeing lots of the fish etc in small cages, the waxworks was really poor, looks like I will be buying the Sun for a week or so next year for my Towers visit next year.
 
rob666 said:
I have had no problem with midweek closures, I just feel they haven't advertised the closures properly.
Not everyone uses social media, not everyone either has access or uses the internet, many people in rural areas have no internet reception.
Click to expand...

How do you suggest they advertise them then? They can't go putting adverts on TV saying they're closed or sending letters to anyone who doesn't have the internet!

:)
 
I can imagine the TV advert if they somehow went through with that. "Visit the magical Alton Towers Resort! Except on these days. We're closed then so don't turn up and complain at us because we warned you"
 
If it has staff and you go without checking you are taking a risk. I found this out when my local Tesco went from 24/7 to shutting at 10pm on certain nights, a little extreme of a comparison but these things happen in business. There are also multiple unplanned reasons a park could close and this is another reason that people should be checking before they leave. Certain Sat-Navs will now tell you based your estimated arrival time whether your destination is closed.

I'm with Rob that I don't know what more the park could do. It's disappointing but is it much worse than when theme parks adjust their opening hours from one day to the next? (e.g. Oakwood on Wednesday was open until 18:00 on the 31/08/2016 but on Thursday 01/09/2016 they shut at 16:00)
 
Because that's totally more important than warning people of life threatening dangers. ;)
 
Another little puzzle, the Towers website says open until 4 weekdays this week, but the ridetimes site is still showing the rides as open now at 4:22.
Does this mean they have realised that schools are closed in some areas and they are opening to 4:30?
Hope this is right as I'm going Thursday afternoon, and it might be my last visit of the season, so I want to get all the rides in.
Edit...
The opening times part of their website says 4pm, the "banner" at the homepage says 4:30.

And one more afterthought, yes, perhaps they could have put a footer on the TV and press adverts this year saying they would not be opening midweek in low season, that seems most reasonable to me.
That or perhaps skywriting vapour trails in the sky over the whole nation.
That would have been more fun.
 
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I got told a week ago that whoever arrange this year's time table had really messed up and didn't realised until recently that this week was the Scottish half term.

I also hear from another source that we might see the return of the scarefest during the Scottish half term next year. :)

Don't hold me to the above information, only time will tell :)
 
The Sunday Trading Act 1994, limits retail outlets of over 3000sqft to 6 hours of trading on Sunday. This has been the case continuously for 22 years apart from the month the 2012 Olympics where on. Before that, these shops weren't allowed to open at all! Yet you should see the surprise, anger, disgust, upset and general misconceptions expressed at the front door of a supermarket at 4pm every Sunday afternoon. It almost beggars belief how ignorant people can be, then have the audacity to abuse others for their own mistake. There is nothing towers could possible have done to prevent people from turning up on a closed day. I live almost 3 hours drive away and I've never visited anywhere of that distance away without checking the opening times first.

I don't particularly like the midweek closures. But I would prefer the park to be closed 2 or 3 days a week and some food and retail closures if it meant we had proper opening hours and a full roster of rides on the day the park is open. That way the park would be providing a full and thorough value for money experience to guests and would help to maintain good memories and thus protect the parks reputation. But instead the park has decided to do both, which is a silly business decision in my opinion.

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This year has been somewhat frustrating due to varied school holidays. Obviously the park was closed at February half term but I wasn't able to go at Easter as the park was closed midweek during Lancashire Easter holidays and I only had the Tuesday free. Lancashire's autumn half term starts on 31 October so there is only the one day that the park is open in that week. I'm just hoping that the 31st isn't quite as busy as normal. I haven't seen any strong evidence of 31 October as a teacher day - what area was this in? Does make me question whether it's worth renewing our annual passes. Other parks have dealt with the varied school holidays much better.
 
Lots of schools off for half term in Lancs the week before Hallow'een, then taking the 31st as a training day.
I work mainly with oldies in the Ribble valley (Lancs), and many are busy babysitting grandkids in the last week of October.
I think a great number of schools have been allowed more flexibility in when to take their holidays over the last couple of years, I've heard lots of grumbles about kids within one family being off school at different times, because they have kids at primary and secondary schools, and needing sitters over two weeks for one week of holidays.
 
RoyJess said:
I got told a week ago that whoever arrange this year's time table had really messed up and didn't realised until recently that this week was the Scottish half term.

I also hear from another source that we might see the return of the scarefest during the Scottish half term next year. :)

Don't hold me to the above information, only time will tell :)
Click to expand...

I find that very hard to believe that. They would surely be more concerned that this week is half term in Leicestershire, around an hours drive from Towers, than Scotland (4 and a half hour driver from Glasgow, hardly a day trip)!

:)
 
It appears mid week closures are to return for 2017, including every Tuesday and Wednesday in June.
 
AT86 said:
It appears mid week closures are to return for 2017, including every Tuesday and Wednesday in June.
Click to expand...

That would not surprise me however we are a way off the 2017 season dates being announced and I'm almost certain Towers won't have made a decision yet.

:)
 
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