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Monorail Refurbishment

It may be 15 minutes for some, but I'd have thought that as soon as you have kids in tow, that could easily double?
It is completely unacceptable to expect all guests to walk that distance, especially given the state of the path, and the slopes involved.
 
Towers is known for its ridiculous walk from the car parks to the entrance. Dollywood is also known for it, however I don't think you aren't allowed to walk as its so far, they have land trains running.

The sensible thing to do *if* the monorail was on its way out would be to make the meadows close to the entrance the primary parking. However that requires significant landscaping, infrastructure and then makes Very Idiotic People parking really not have much benefit.

Moving the entrance? And miss walking in and seeing the actual Towers? Not going to happen ether.

Likely option:
Main entrance to stay where it is for majority of day guests.
2nd entrance at Forbidden Valley for Hotel, Treehouse, Shed guests and Annual Pass Holders as a 'perk' and keeps the further car parks in use too.
- would probably need some carts to flog some tat though if people weren't leaving by Towers Street. [color]
 
Walking from the car park with a wheelchair in toe up and down those steep hills on the way makes for a good morning workout.

Can't fit Jess chair on the monorail and if we did, it's too bumpy for Jess. So we walk from the Resorts Hotels when we are staying over. I usually have a policy, that if I can walk it, I will. I walk for miles pushing a wheelchair each time I go out places. I'm fit as a fiddle as a result of doing so.
 
RoyJess said:
Walking from the car park with a wheelchair in toe up and down those steep hills on the way makes for a good morning workout.

Can't fit Jess chair on the monorail and if we did, it's too bumpy for Jess. So we walk from the Resorts Hotels when we are staying over. I usually have a policy, that if I can walk it, I will. I walk for miles pushing a wheelchair each time I go out places. I'm fit as a fiddle as a result of doing so.
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You know you could use disabled parking right?

Sent from my Swift 2 Plus using Tapatalk
 
Or they could just sort the current monorail out and install air gates while they're at it? No need for hideous land trains, new entrances, new car parks or tarting up the pathway then.
 
We have had the issues of long walks for the very young and disabled, could I add us old gits too.
I am not bad enough for a blue badge, but my old man's knees and hips mean the walk to and from the car park isn't an option.
We used to use the monorail, but the service is now so poor we have no realistic option other than express parking, and take a posh picnic to avoid the overpriced, poor quality food and drink.
They won't change anything, because change costs.
The system would work perfectly well if it was properly funded.
I can remember the day when one monorail car entered the station as the previous one left, that then left the station the moment it was full. The ramps were done at a constant shuffle pace, pretty much non stop.
In the good old days we never waited more than ten minutes for the monorail.
Fund it, and it works fine.
 
Agree about the monorail. On the weekend, we got there early both days and the queues for the monorail were down past the Adventure Golf. We ended up walking on the Saturday and yes, with a 6 year old, it turned out to be a long hard walk. Not that many monorail trains whizzing around either.

Its a shame they cant use the RCR entrance in the mornings for people with tickets, or hotel guests to help cut down on the queues.

In fact, that morning I found the whole entrance experience to be quite stressful. Had to collect bring a friend tickets (Season Pass £15 type) so after walking for 20 minutes with the little one, had to queue in the cattle pen, then get into a debate with the girl behind the counter who was trying to tell me I could only bring 5 friends per annum, not per day (as I had ordered tickets for the Sat and Sun). She wouldnt listen to me, and eventually a supervisor corrected her as she handed over the tickets. Also, she told me I should have printed them off at home, despite the website and Twitter telling me I cant do this for season pass tickets! Anyway....... the crux was when a bloke stood directly behind me, obviously fed up with waiting butted in over my shoulder and in choice language told her to stop talking to me about emails and correspondence and that I should get out of the way so he and his kids can be served as they had been waiting so long. Lovely chap.... didn't catch his name.

Then its to the very back of the lengthy queue to get in.

Needless to say the arrival that morning wasn't the best.

Oh, and upon leaving the park , the monorail queue was back to the toilets near the entrance plaza, so we opted to walk again back to the car.

Dont get me wrong, on some days even with a small queue for the monorail I will opt to walk, I quite enjoy it sometimes, but in a group with kids on a busy day, yeah, it can be hard work!
 
ihaveaspergers said:
You know you could use disabled parking right?

Sent from my Swift 2 Plus using Tapatalk
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I mostly do, but re-read and pay attention to my original post ;)

RoyJess said:
So we walk from the Resorts Hotels when we are staying over.
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Otherwise it's a long walk from the disable car park to the hotels, and considering it takes 20 mins for me to set up the wheelchair and transfer Jess from car to wheelchair and visa versa, it takes up less energy and quicker to walk than keep getting in and out of the car with a wheelchair.

Matt.GC said:
Or they could just sort the current monorail out and install air gates while they're at it? No need for hideous land trains, new entrances, new car parks or tarting up the pathway then.
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Jb85 said:
Just move the car parks - simples
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No they won't, too expensive, Merlin won't authorise budget for something like that, especially when they don't get a quick return on their investment.
 
Surely all the car park monies should be going into the transport system to get people in and out of the park?!?!?!?
 
GaryH said:
Surely all the car park monies should be going into the transport system to get people in and out of the park?!?!?!?
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Given that the car parking charge acts as a gate price supplement, especially for the low gate prices paid recently by annual pass holders, I don't expect that to be what they use car parking income on.

However, I do believe when the car parking change was initially introduced the reason given was to improve the infrastructure to improve travelling to the park. I also believe this was likely marketing bluster to stop people kicking up a fuss.
 
DistortAMG said:
Here's an image of one of the Monorail trains all shiny and new when it was at Expo 86 in Canada. Is it just me, or does the color scheme not look too bad. Even now? I'm not sure if I prefer the current vinyls or the original silver and blue.
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I think it looks pretty cool there, but also remember how tired they looked prior to their 'upgrade'. I wonder if they had left them long enough they would have gone past 'tired' and entered 'retro' territory, making them cool again.
 
Rick said:
I think it looks pretty cool there, but also remember how tired they looked prior to their 'upgrade'. I wonder if they had left them long enough they would have gone past 'tired' and entered 'retro' territory, making them cool again.
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That is true. They did look worn out by the time they had vinyls added. With some good English moss for added flair.
 
Didn't they used to have fabric seats that were all tatty and ripped, hence the replacement for low maintenance wooden benches?
 
I think that monorails are now perceived as un-necessarily expensive. Tom Scott has made an excellent video about the Wuppertal Monorail where he explains why monorails are so expensive and unreliable as well as giving other cheaper and more reliable solutions like light rail, trams and buses. Therefore, I expect that the monorail would be removed and buses or a road train would be put in its place with the added bonus that they can go anywhere so they can get guests around the park or they could run shuttles from major towns and cities nearby to the park.
 
@Thameslink Rail I am not sure you can compare the Wuppertal system with anything else! Plus, if you are going to predict the demise of the Alton system, using a 120 year old example that's going nowhere is perhaps not your best debate opener?!

Edit - Just checked out the video. That explains a number of the barriers to entry in terms of building a monorail and its attractiveness vs light rail, buses etc. Alton have already got the system, they have the infrastructure. They just need to find a way to keep what they have operating in a safe and cost effective manner.

Employing a bunch of PSV qualified drivers in coaches or buses that you have to buy, hire or lease seems like quite an expensive option to me!
 
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