Just back from a FANTABULOUS weekend at the AT resort! Spent two days on park and two nights in the hotels (ATH then Splash).
So lets start with Friday night in ATH. Entertainment, as per usual , pretty bad, with the two male singers on the ship Hotel was very, very quiet however , surprisingly so. Had a peek at some of the new corridors and they are looking good.
Saturday, up early and into the park. Staff did the obligatory opening day count down from 10 then everyone was let in. ERT we opted for Oblivion, mist was working, cars still looking somewhat tatty (some of them) but its a great wake up ride. Park wasnt too busy all day and most rides about 25 min queue, except Thirteen which had tech problems with one car all day so had a 2 hour queue at one point, and Smiler which was 2 hours in the morning, and down to about 40 in the afternoon.
Hex was looking good inside, noticed some new (I think) UV paintings in the Octagon which can only be seen in the dark section of the pre show. Think they have added some flickering candles inside the ride as well - though I may be wrong. Duel was also looking ok, with everything seemingly working, including the tunnel and everything in the pre-show.
Ate in Burger Kitchen which was the downpoint of the day. Food was ok, but the queues! They had about 8 tills open, huge queues, and staff on the tills were taking 2 orders at a time, then waiting for 2 or 3 members of staff who were the runners to collect the drinks and food and bring it to the tills.
This resulted in very long waits (30 minutes), though im not sure how they could do it better, they need more slots between the tills and the kitchen to collect the food orders from I think.
Anyway, got on everything more than once and had a great day. Nightime was spent in ATH again, Secret Garden for food which was very nice, and entertainment the same as last night. There were 4 large hen parties in the hotel however, which took up most of the seating (not enough), and only bar was open in ATH despite the hotels being full, with long queues leading out the entrance of the Dragon bar. Why oh why do they do this? They have 2 bars, use them!
Anyway, some of the hen parties got a bit rowdy now and then, which left some families with small kids looking at them with some concern! Some of the groups were >20 girls. Dont get me wrong, im not complaining about large groups of very attractive females in one place, just not sure AT hotel is the "place".
They need more seating in Dragon bar as well, its a pity they have got rid of so much of the seating that was there before.
I had been told the music sounded a bit "off" (more than usual) that evening as they had turned off the bass due to complaints from nearby rooms!
About 11 we headed to Splash and sat in the bar there until 2am. The bar was pretty busy again due to the parties taking place, and to be fair, it was a good laugh I spent the second night in Splash and had a nice room (1439) on the top floor overlooking the empty waterpark outside. Empty as in no water in the pools, they were painting them blue again.
Next morning brekkie in ATH, nom nom and back in to the park. Walked through the hotels through Splash to find someone had puked in the small area between the two sets of double doors linking ATH and Splash, just before the waterpark. No doubt, one of the hen parties, and it stank. Another reason why AT shouldnt really be attracting such large groups of single sex parties - its not really a hen party destination I dont think - there is nothing really to do in the evenings, and having groups of drunken loud people around small children can spoil the family atmosphere for them. Puking at the entrance to the waterpark just adds to this, and from what I understand from friends staying in ATH, the room parties for the hen's staying in ATH had quite a few people in the rooms until the very early hours.
Anyway, second day on park, even quieter than Saturday, no queues for mostly everything, only thing that had a queue really was Smiler, which was 80 minutes (advertised).
Overall, it was a great weekend, the park looked good, had a nice feel to it and all the staff were excellent. Food in the hotels was also excellent, drinks still priced cheaper than some pubs I can think of and, well, I guess the company also helps.
Surprised I didnt bump in to anyone I recognised from TS though.
So lets start with Friday night in ATH. Entertainment, as per usual , pretty bad, with the two male singers on the ship Hotel was very, very quiet however , surprisingly so. Had a peek at some of the new corridors and they are looking good.
Saturday, up early and into the park. Staff did the obligatory opening day count down from 10 then everyone was let in. ERT we opted for Oblivion, mist was working, cars still looking somewhat tatty (some of them) but its a great wake up ride. Park wasnt too busy all day and most rides about 25 min queue, except Thirteen which had tech problems with one car all day so had a 2 hour queue at one point, and Smiler which was 2 hours in the morning, and down to about 40 in the afternoon.
Hex was looking good inside, noticed some new (I think) UV paintings in the Octagon which can only be seen in the dark section of the pre show. Think they have added some flickering candles inside the ride as well - though I may be wrong. Duel was also looking ok, with everything seemingly working, including the tunnel and everything in the pre-show.
Ate in Burger Kitchen which was the downpoint of the day. Food was ok, but the queues! They had about 8 tills open, huge queues, and staff on the tills were taking 2 orders at a time, then waiting for 2 or 3 members of staff who were the runners to collect the drinks and food and bring it to the tills.
This resulted in very long waits (30 minutes), though im not sure how they could do it better, they need more slots between the tills and the kitchen to collect the food orders from I think.
Anyway, got on everything more than once and had a great day. Nightime was spent in ATH again, Secret Garden for food which was very nice, and entertainment the same as last night. There were 4 large hen parties in the hotel however, which took up most of the seating (not enough), and only bar was open in ATH despite the hotels being full, with long queues leading out the entrance of the Dragon bar. Why oh why do they do this? They have 2 bars, use them!
Anyway, some of the hen parties got a bit rowdy now and then, which left some families with small kids looking at them with some concern! Some of the groups were >20 girls. Dont get me wrong, im not complaining about large groups of very attractive females in one place, just not sure AT hotel is the "place".
They need more seating in Dragon bar as well, its a pity they have got rid of so much of the seating that was there before.
I had been told the music sounded a bit "off" (more than usual) that evening as they had turned off the bass due to complaints from nearby rooms!
About 11 we headed to Splash and sat in the bar there until 2am. The bar was pretty busy again due to the parties taking place, and to be fair, it was a good laugh I spent the second night in Splash and had a nice room (1439) on the top floor overlooking the empty waterpark outside. Empty as in no water in the pools, they were painting them blue again.
Next morning brekkie in ATH, nom nom and back in to the park. Walked through the hotels through Splash to find someone had puked in the small area between the two sets of double doors linking ATH and Splash, just before the waterpark. No doubt, one of the hen parties, and it stank. Another reason why AT shouldnt really be attracting such large groups of single sex parties - its not really a hen party destination I dont think - there is nothing really to do in the evenings, and having groups of drunken loud people around small children can spoil the family atmosphere for them. Puking at the entrance to the waterpark just adds to this, and from what I understand from friends staying in ATH, the room parties for the hen's staying in ATH had quite a few people in the rooms until the very early hours.
Anyway, second day on park, even quieter than Saturday, no queues for mostly everything, only thing that had a queue really was Smiler, which was 80 minutes (advertised).
Overall, it was a great weekend, the park looked good, had a nice feel to it and all the staff were excellent. Food in the hotels was also excellent, drinks still priced cheaper than some pubs I can think of and, well, I guess the company also helps.
Surprised I didnt bump in to anyone I recognised from TS though.
. Not sure how you would combat large groups/parties though.
