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Monorail Refurbishment

 
You forgot that they need a CPC every 5 years as well. Considering we're trying to invest in electric vehicles and the zero emissions by 2050, scrapping a electric transit system and replacing it with diesel powered buses just doesn't strike me as a sensible decision. You'd need 4-5 buses for every monorail as well as the loading taking longer.
 
Actually, the thing that killed the monorail as a legitimate form of public transport is usually agreed to be.... Disney.

Walt and his mates were on to a winner, but they were too good. Whenever most people hear "monorail", they think "oh, that you mean that silly looking old thing at Disneyland?"
To them it's as daft as sticking a travelling ghost train in a tunnel and calling it Crossrail.

Well, either that, or that they start singing...
 
Some good discussion on the monorail and I've been going to Alton Towers for years, I've finally gave up on the monorail unless I get there very early from Newcastle, as the queues are just too long and I don't want to waste time waiting to get into the park when I can just walk it.

However, for me and others I bring to the park I WANT to be able to enjoy the monorail. Everyone should take the monorail into the park as it's a big big part of the experience.

There's the build up and excitement in the queues, the music in the queue line and the anticipation waiting for the monorail to come round. Inside the monorail (lose the vinyl towers), you can have some views going through the park. It doesn't matter if this is my first time at AT or my 100th, I want to see Forbidden Valley and in particular Nemesis roaring around the track. EVERYONE should experience that every time!

It's just a shame I/we now tend to walk because the queues are daft (sometimes over an hour).

There's nothing better than going over forbidden valley, then seeing entrance with the corkscrew and the Towers in the distance as a complete newby to the theme park, never mind me who's been loads who still finds it magical every time. I just hope they improve it significantly.
 
Godscrasher said:
However, for me and others I bring to the park I WANT to be able to enjoy the monorail. Everyone should take the monorail into the park as it's a big big part of the experience.
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I would agree with you but the mesh on the windows completely ruins said experience as you cant see a thing.
I remember the days going over Air, nemesis and haunted house and viewing them from up above seeing them go round thinking "oh boy excitement levels rising."
 
If the efficiency and capacity of trains is improved with a new monorail system I don't think it really matters how much longer the ride is, so long as you're not queuing beforehand and so long as you're kept somewhat entertained on the journey. It's a bit part of the experience and is definitely going to provide a ROI if it's done well. I thought the mascots/characters on each monorail that they used to have in the late 2000s was a really clever idea with the characters pointing out the rides that you were passing..............and then they got rid of it for a ITHOTMK remix and never brought the characters back.
Walking across a road/path is just dull and the layout of the path being around the car park and staff offices really kills the hype IMO. Having a second entrance at the hotel or god forbid a land train/bus would be even worse. Almost like a reversion of Alton Towers in to being more of a amusement park again instead of a theme park. Minus the amusement bit, and replaced with the mindless corporate bit.... I guess.
 
haha, only under the purely theoretical assumption that some expensive and excellent monorail system with a fantastic route going through the park being implemented I mean, it's not realistic and I'm not ever expecting it to happen. I think if that was the case, it would draw more visitors in; in the long term enough to be successful for the park. It's subjective because obviously your experience of the park could be let down by prices/car parking/food/something else etc (and that's obviously the case under Merlin anyway :) ), but if someone's first impressions of the park are amazing, I think that would contribute to them wanting to visit again. I think people forget just how integral the monorail is/was to AT and how it affects our perception of the place. But it's hard to describe it in more depth, because it's not something most of the GP are consciously thinking about. "Oh I'd love to return to Alton Towers because they have a nice monorail" :p Yeah you're not going to get much of that. It's more of a 'back of the mind' thing that improves their view of Towers. Monorail= part of overall theme park experience.
 
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All the monorail needs is putting back to how it was.
Reinstating...simple as that.
Frequent service, clear windows, fast moving queue.
Wouldn't sell as much express parking though would they.
 
Rick said:
@Sauron97 ROI how?
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Surely getting people on park quicker (before ride opening !) would lead to people wondering Towers Street spending more money on refillable drinks / fast track for the day? If anything they need to be ultra efficient in the morning and delay things in the evening - keep people in the lark to visit food outlets / souvenir shops....

Silly Merlin.... it seems the corporate bods are missing a trick
 
Slightly related, I'll never understand why Towers have gone back to a system of holding people back at the entrance plaza, rather than allowing all to roam Towers Street from at least 9am; open up the merch shops, fastrack booths and coffee / breakfast outlets at this time and they'd make an absolute killing.
 
Jb85 said:
Surely getting people on park quicker (before ride opening !) would lead to people wondering Towers Street spending more money on refillable drinks / fast track for the day? If anything they need to be ultra efficient in the morning and delay things in the evening - keep people in the lark to visit food outlets / souvenir shops....
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Depends what the 'I' is in the ROI. If someone gets in the park later, aren't they more likely to spend money on Fastrack? Plus the longer someone has a refillable drink, the lower your margin!

D4n said:
Slightly related, I'll never understand why Towers have gone back to a system of holding people back at the entrance plaza, rather than allowing all to roam Towers Street from at least 9am; open up the merch shops, fastrack booths and coffee / breakfast outlets at this time and they'd make an absolute killing.
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This is curious. They've done both so obviously have the numbers for both, but it does seem odd.
 
D4n said:
Slightly related, I'll never understand why Towers have gone back to a system of holding people back at the entrance plaza, rather than allowing all to roam Towers Street from at least 9am; open up the merch shops, fastrack booths and coffee / breakfast outlets at this time and they'd make an absolute killing.
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The early opening of Towers Street that I can recall was targeted very much at the Scottish school trips. The coaches for these often leave Scotland very late in the evening / early morning and travel through the night. When you have guaranteed coachloads of tired / hungry customers arriving from 6-7am each day it can make sense to open early - a captive market.
 
Rick said:
Depends what the 'I' is in the ROI. If someone gets in the park later, aren't they more likely to spend money on Fastrack? Plus the longer someone has a refillable drink, the lower your margin!
.
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But equally if they get in later, they are more likely to be in a rush and take less notice of the Box office. And ok, that's a fair point on the refillable drinks and costs, but if they are able to have the refillable drinks for longer, you could also argue they'd be more likely to buy them in the future. Less time to have them= less likely to purchase in future.
I think making a trade off between these kinds of things is too difficult.

I think the advantages of the monorail are that it's part of the experience. Investing in a new monorail accompanied by investment in the wider park is what needs to happen. It won't though.
 
When I worked at the place some 15yrs ago the Monorail was openly referred to by managers as being "kaput". They admitted there was no long term replacement plan in place even back then - and this is before Merlin arrived.

Had The Smiler incident not happened, we may have just stood a chance of a replacement / serious refurb. Given that The Smiler incident did happen, we're stuck with the refurbed trains, vinyls on the windows and wooden seats - until the trains finally give up the ghost, which will happen. They are 33yrs old now.
 
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