I'm going to sound a bit weird here, but I prefer the park to have some queues, I don't like it being so quiet. More people in the park adds atmosphere, and queuing makes you feel like you are in a theme park! Plus it builds some anticipation for the ride you are about to go on. However, i'm not saying I like queuing hours and hours, but some 15-20 minute queues are ok!
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Midweek Theme Park Closures
MaxPower
TS Member
I'd take zero queues any day of the week thank you very much.
Any form of queuing does my head in!
Were parking attendants waiting to charge them the £6 parking exit fee
Don't forget Fasttrack tickets for a quicker exit
rockstar223
TS Member
Towers really need to start taking this seriously. RideTimes is showing all of the rides as being open (and the park is closed today)
Matt.GC
TS Member
I've got the week off work this week. I've got friends who can go with me today and tomorrow and the park is bloody closed!
So if you see a fat guy wondering around on his own around the park on Thursday, say hi. Won't let their reduced opening schedule ruin the first week off I've had this year!
So if you see a fat guy wondering around on his own around the park on Thursday, say hi. Won't let their reduced opening schedule ruin the first week off I've had this year!
I wonder why the ride time website was showing 0 queue times on all the rides
In all seriousness, as much as I don't like all of these cuts, we mustn't forget that Merlin could potentially be slap with a very hefty fine potentially ruining into a seven figure sum. They obviously need to keep some money aside until they know for sure how much they will have to pay out and hopefully only then they will be able to loosen their purse strings a little bit more.
jon81uk
TS Member
Its not half term (that would be 30th May) but next Monday (2nd May) is still a Bank Holiday so there might be more people who decide to take the full week off, as you only need to use four days leave to get a week.
Bump to an old topic but I wanted to share this one...
My sisters brother in law went to the Towers on Tuesday of this week, and was angry to find the place closed.
He parked up and had his picnic while watching other angry prospective punters arrive.
He saw a couple of dozen cars arrive and turn round in about half an hour.
He chatted with quite a few, all were very unhappy, saying that they should have advertised the closures better,
all vowed to give Merlin a miss for a while due to the midweek closure.
My sisters brother in law went to the Towers on Tuesday of this week, and was angry to find the place closed.
He parked up and had his picnic while watching other angry prospective punters arrive.
He saw a couple of dozen cars arrive and turn round in about half an hour.
He chatted with quite a few, all were very unhappy, saying that they should have advertised the closures better,
all vowed to give Merlin a miss for a while due to the midweek closure.
themeparkfan
TS Member
Ive just checked the kids half term and found it to be 31st October to 4th November and guess what!!!! AT closed midweek while kids off school. Just great!!! What great planning business wise kids off school and close??!!
ThemeParkCrafter
TS Member
I am starting to get fed up with people who expect the park to always be open, even when it would be a very quiet off peak day and the park could lose money from lack of people, just because they think they are more important than management. Worse still, when people are going to the parks and don't look at opening times before so they then complain that the park was closed, when it was clearly stated online, is starting to really annoy me. This is nothing new, Legoland have done this for many years but of course, people have to moan. People especially enthusiasts always seem to forget that Merlin is a business and will make their decisions based on money.
Danny
TS Contributor
There are plenty of theme parks across the world that are open almost every single day a year (that aren't operated by Disney, before that card is pulled). On top of that, people pay good money for an annual pass, with some paying a higher price for a VIP annual pass. The value for money is is significantly lower with the inability to visit the park on certain dates, and I particularly made the most of the off peak days one year, yet the entry fee and pass fees continue to increase.
Enthusiasts do recognise Merlin are a business and know that decisions are impacted by money, but true enthusiasts also recognise and have had the luxury of being able to visit theme parks in off peak periods such as December where the concept of a closed season doesn't even exist, nevermind midweek closures.
ThemeParkCrafter
TS Member
I have reads this forum many times but I have seriously had enough with people complaining about park being shut and going there without realising, yet opening times on the websitr clearly stated the park was shut that day. Your argument about other parks being different I disagree with because UK parks get the most trade from uk school holidays as oppose to holidays from international places.
Ted
TS Member
There is no one on this forum that stupid enough to go to Towers on a day it's closed without checking before hand.
ThemeParkCrafter
TS Member
But multiple people have, whether enthusiast or not.
This is the first year that Alton Towers has closed on any day during the season.
The information is on the website, but I for one have never checked opening days at Alton before visiting...
In 30 years of visiting, all you needed to know was opening day and closing day.
Only this year the opening has changed, and if you are not a coaster geek, just an occasional theme park visitor, you generally expect things to remain the same unless you are clearly informed otherwise.
A lot of people have turned up, after a couple of hours driving, to a closed park, for the first time in 30 years.
Perhaps Merlin should have advertised the closures actively.
Towers must have lost a lot of money, for a lot of years, by opening every day in the early and late parts of the season.
I have done the Towers on a number of days when the staff have literally outnumbered visitors, over the last 30 years.
And Merlin continue to open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays in low season, the park has been dead, and they will still lose money on those days.
BPB has amazed me for the last few years by opening every day in the season from Easter to the end of the loominations,
they must have lost money hand over fist by doing so, with staff outnumbering punters by a factor of 2:1
The information is on the website, but I for one have never checked opening days at Alton before visiting...
In 30 years of visiting, all you needed to know was opening day and closing day.
Only this year the opening has changed, and if you are not a coaster geek, just an occasional theme park visitor, you generally expect things to remain the same unless you are clearly informed otherwise.
A lot of people have turned up, after a couple of hours driving, to a closed park, for the first time in 30 years.
Perhaps Merlin should have advertised the closures actively.
Towers must have lost a lot of money, for a lot of years, by opening every day in the early and late parts of the season.
I have done the Towers on a number of days when the staff have literally outnumbered visitors, over the last 30 years.
And Merlin continue to open on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays in low season, the park has been dead, and they will still lose money on those days.
BPB has amazed me for the last few years by opening every day in the season from Easter to the end of the loominations,
they must have lost money hand over fist by doing so, with staff outnumbering punters by a factor of 2:1
Danny
TS Contributor
The people attempting to visit the parks closed on midweeks can probably be sourced from two categories:
1] Having done so on a previous occasions and the park being open. Many people have utilised the midweek dates in past years to get the best value for money, and rightfully expected the same again this time round.
2] People with no common sense who don't have the inkling to check availability before they plan such events.
It ultimately stems down to the expectations of parks that charge premium prices, yet fail to deliver on premium products. I can't say I blame people for visiting midweek to make the most of the value for money, however more the fool they are for not checking social media beforehand.
1] Having done so on a previous occasions and the park being open. Many people have utilised the midweek dates in past years to get the best value for money, and rightfully expected the same again this time round.
2] People with no common sense who don't have the inkling to check availability before they plan such events.
It ultimately stems down to the expectations of parks that charge premium prices, yet fail to deliver on premium products. I can't say I blame people for visiting midweek to make the most of the value for money, however more the fool they are for not checking social media beforehand.
Rob
TS Team
I have no sympathy for anyone who turns up on a day that the park is closed. It's not hard and doesn't take long to check the website to look at the opening hours. Assumptions are always dangerous.
Alton Towers changed, possibly forever, on June 2nd 2015. So much of what we see now is down to the events of that day - midweek closures, closed attractions and food outlets, shorter opening hours, one night less of fireworks, a revised SW8; the list goes on. Alton Towers is a massive theme park that likely costs a fortune to run yet their revenue is down massively. It appears that the park was somewhat rammed on Saturday with long queues for all coaster and even Enterprise had a 45 minute queue at one point! Apparently there were roughly 15,000 guests on park, hardly a number that would usually equate to such massive queues. Even when the park seems busy this season the limited ride availability and capacity issues on The Smiler and Galactica make it look a lot worse than it is. Peak days used to be classed as over 17,000 guests and in 2010 there were 34 of these days in the season with a further 119 days of between 11,000 and 17,000 guests. 2010 was an unusual year (Morwenna did a great job at getting people to the park) but there were only 8 days in the main season with under 5,000 guests on park. That number this season would be a lot higher.
So the midweek closures for me are understandable. I understand them far more than closing the likes of Hex and Driving School or slashing the on park food offerings. Danny is right when he talks about expectations though - Alton Towers is priced as a premium theme park but it is in no way (bar some of the coasters) able to offer a premium experience.
Alton Towers changed, possibly forever, on June 2nd 2015. So much of what we see now is down to the events of that day - midweek closures, closed attractions and food outlets, shorter opening hours, one night less of fireworks, a revised SW8; the list goes on. Alton Towers is a massive theme park that likely costs a fortune to run yet their revenue is down massively. It appears that the park was somewhat rammed on Saturday with long queues for all coaster and even Enterprise had a 45 minute queue at one point! Apparently there were roughly 15,000 guests on park, hardly a number that would usually equate to such massive queues. Even when the park seems busy this season the limited ride availability and capacity issues on The Smiler and Galactica make it look a lot worse than it is. Peak days used to be classed as over 17,000 guests and in 2010 there were 34 of these days in the season with a further 119 days of between 11,000 and 17,000 guests. 2010 was an unusual year (Morwenna did a great job at getting people to the park) but there were only 8 days in the main season with under 5,000 guests on park. That number this season would be a lot higher.
So the midweek closures for me are understandable. I understand them far more than closing the likes of Hex and Driving School or slashing the on park food offerings. Danny is right when he talks about expectations though - Alton Towers is priced as a premium theme park but it is in no way (bar some of the coasters) able to offer a premium experience.