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Opening Hours: A comparison around the UK and Europe

AstroDan

AstroDan

TS Team
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I have quicky drawn up a comparison between major and mid-tier parks around Europe's minimum operating hours in 2017.

Clearly, different cultures around Europe have different habits. The Spanish and Italians, being in those warm Meditteranean climes, have always been known for long evenings, eating late and instead having a siesta. Meanwhile, those in Northern Europe tend to wrap up and head indoors. City parks also have it a little easier, as guests can simply flow out and right back into local transport, hotels and amenities. But nevertheless, check out the differences between these parks' hours.

The hours shown are first the minimum hours, and then the longest daily hours. It should be noted that for the vast majority of parks (easily over 3/4), the minimum hours are only on a small number of days in early and/or late season. However, for some parks, such as Nigloland, Alton Towers and Chessington, the minimum hours are actually what is seen on a significant number of days - possibly up to or over half of all operating days. For easy reference, parks under Merlin control are in bold.

N/S/Y - Does this park have an end of day show/event on a significant number of days? Y means daily. S means sometimes (i.e. in summer, or for late closes), N means no (I would still put N if the park for example has fireworks on one or two days a year, as this is more a special event rather than a habitual way of keeping guests inside the park).

Check it out (they are ordered in groups, from longest minimum hours to shortest):

PORTAVENTURA: 1000-2000, 10 hours / 1000 - 0300 17 hours - S

PUY DU FOU: 1000-1900, 9 hours / 1000 - 2230, 12.5 hours - S
EUROPA-PARK: 0900-1800, 9 hours / 0900 - 0000, 15 hours - S
PARC DISNEYLAND: 1000-1900, 9 hours, 1000-2300, 13 hours - Y

FUTUROSCOPE: 1000-1830, 8.5 hours / 0830-2330, 15 hours - Y
PARQUE WARNER MADRID: 1130-2000, 8.5 hours / 1130 - 0000, 12.5 hours - S

HANSA-PARK: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2030, 10.5 hours - S
PARC ASTERIX: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2200, 12 hours - S
PHANTASIALAND: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2000, 10 hours - N
GARDALAND: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-0300, 17 hours - S
MIRABILANDIA: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2200, 12 hours - S
EFTELING: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2300, 13 hours - S
TOVERLAND: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2300, 13 hours - S
WALIBI HOLLAND: 1000-1800, 8 hours, / 1000-2300, 13 hours - N
WALIBI BELGIUM: 1000-1800, 8 hours / 1000-2300, 13 hours - N

PLOPSALAND: 1000-1730, 7.5 hours / 1000-2230, 12.5 hours - N
HOLIDAY PARK: 1000-1730, 7.5 hours / 1000-2300, 13 hours - S

THORPE PARK: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2200, 12 hours - N
CHESSINGTON: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2000, 10 hours - N
NIGLOLAND: 1030-1730, 7 hours / 1000-1900, 9 hours - N
HEIDE-PARK: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2100, 11 hours - N
MOVIE PARK GERMANY: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2200, 12 hours - N
LISEBERG: 1500-2200, 7 hours / 1100-2300, 12 hours - N
LEGOLAND BILLUND: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2000, 10 hours - N
LEGOLAND GERMANY: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-2100, 11 hours - N
LEGOLAND WINDSOR: 1000-1700, 7 hours / 1000-1800, 8 hours - N

DRAYTON MANOR: 1030-1700, 6.5 hours / 1030-2100, 10.5 hours - N

BLACKPOOL PLEASURE BEACH: 1100-1700, 6 hours / 1000-2200, 12 hours - N
ALTON TOWERS: 1030-1630, 6 hours / 1030-2100, 10.5 hours - N

SUMMARY: How do Gardaland manage it!?!?!
 
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bluesonichd said:
Nice work. And who would have thought Alton Towers would be at the bottom of the pile. Even worse than Blackpool o_O
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The thing with Alton Towers is, unlike most of the parks listed, their minimum hours (1030-1630; 6.5 hrs) are actually found on a LOT of days during the season. And on weekends, they only add on 30 minutes. And, what makes it the worst park in the entire list, is that only for some 50 days (ish) per season, does the park open later than 5pm. In fact, around 75% of the season, the park only offers guests 6 or 6.5 hours of ride time - which makes it the shortest hours on the list.

Thankfully there is at least some redemption with Scarefest and Fireworks, but even then it's only a handful of days in the scheme of things and they are all condensed together in October/November, whereas a lot of parks stagger their late closes around the season better.
 
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Some more UK Theme Parks opening hours for comparison.
Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft. http://pleasurewoodhills.com/plan-your-visit/opening-times/

Minimum 10-4 (6 hours)/ Maximum 10-6 (8 hours)

Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach http://www.pleasure-beach.co.uk/uploads/2017-Opening-Times.pdf?d=130716

Minimum 12-5 (5 hours)/ Maximum 11-10 (11 hours with Seafront Fireworks)

Paultons Family Park https://paultonspark.co.uk/park-information/opening-times

Minimum 10:30 - 4:30 (6 hours)/ Maximum 10 - 5:30 (7.5 hours).

Lightwater Valley https://www.lightwatervalley.co.uk/pages/opening-times

Minimum 10:00-4:30 (6.5 hours)/ Maximum 10 - 6 (8 hours)

Flamingo Land http://www.flamingoland.co.uk/plan-your-visit/opening-times.html

Minimum 10 - 4 (6 hours)/ Maximum 10-6 (8 hours).

Considering Alton Towers is meant to be the UKs Number 1 theme park, it isn't looking that way any more.
 
swalesuk01 said:
I thought the fountain show at efteling was on every night at closing

Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
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You are right - but as Aquanura is on every day, during the day also, it isn't something specific which ONLY runs at close.
 
AstroDan said:
You are right - but as Aquanura is on every day, during the day also, it isn't something specific which ONLY runs at close.
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When I have been the actual show only runs at the close, they do have a medieval show that runs twice a day also.


Sent from my E6653 using Tapatalk
 
Garda is smack bang in a major tourist destination, probably why they can have the longer hours...

Aquanura is only run as the 'proper' show at park close (aside from the few days it occurs twice a day in busy season), during the day they have some random shows, much like how DLP have been doing a few times as well with the Dreams tech...
 
I don't like or agree with the reduction in opening times at Towers. But to compare Towers' opening times with every other major theme park in Europe isn't entirely fair, as none of the others had an incident as horrific and detrimental to business as the crash. I'm not for one second blaming the crash on *all* the cuts we've been seeing, but the crash is still a HUGE reason why the cuts have increased so rapidly in the past two years. At the very least, Towers' opening hours would be further up the list, roughly where Thorpe's currently is, had the crash not happened. Still could be better, but they certainly wouldn't be rock bottom like they are today.

The fact is, until visitor numbers throughout the year increase significantly, we will continue to see cuts. I get the argument that Merlin should not be offering a limited product in order to tempt back guests, and that the regular visitors are being punished somewhat by the depleted ride line up and tighter opening hours. But the fact is (and I've heard this first hand) there are still many people who believe Towers is unsafe and will refuse to visit or take their children back there - longer opening hours and all the TLC rides reopening won't make the blindest bit of difference to these people in that respect. Towers really are caught between a rock and a hard place, as on extremely quiet days (and some of those off peak days last year were literally a ghost town), there isn't a lot of incentive or financial benefit for them to be open a longer than 6 hours.
 
andeyhart said:
But to compare Towers' opening times with every other major theme park in Europe isn't entirely fair, as none of the others had an incident as horrific and detrimental to business as the crash.
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In 2010 (the year I visited actually) there was a death and three severe injuries at Tibidabo in Barcelona (positively a piece of space debris when compared financially with the galaxy that is Merlin) when one of the flat rides literally collapsed mid-ride and the vehicle fell onto another ride. The park reopened within a month with its normal 12pm-11pm opening hours, and that remains the case today. And as I say, that's a park with an infinite amount less financial resources than Alton Towers, backed by Merlin have at their disposal.

The Smiler incident may have had some bearing upon these cuts, but ultimately they're somewhat of a convenient and ever wearing veil that disguises the true motive which is that Merlin care nothing for quality or guest satisfaction, and everything for profit and pleasing their shareholders.
 
Alastair said:
In 2010 (the year I visited actually) there was a death and three severe injuries at Tibidabo in Barcelona (positively a piece of space debris when compared financially with the galaxy that is Merlin) when one of the flat rides literally collapsed mid-ride and the vehicle fell onto another ride. The park reopened within a month with its normal 12pm-11pm opening hours, and that remains the case today. And as I say, that's a park with an infinite amount less financial resources than Alton Towers, backed by Merlin have at their disposal.

The Smiler incident may have had some bearing upon these cuts, but ultimately they're somewhat of a convenient and ever wearing veil that disguises the true motive which is that Merlin care nothing for quality or guest satisfaction, and everything for profit and pleasing their shareholders.
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If you look at the cuts before the crash they were nowhere near as severe as what we saw last year. Going from staggered area openings in early 2015 to 5 mothballed rides in early 2016 is not the next natural step, it's a massive increase in cuts as a result of a catastrophic event. Had we not had the crash, I'm sure there still would have been cuts in 2016, but not on the same level. No one can convince me that 5 closed rides would have happened had the Smiler not crashed. I do not believe in that case that Merlin are using the crash as a smokescreen for cuts they've always wanted to do.

Towers are a park in recovery and they're still a long way off being over the repurcussions of the crash. It may not seem like it when most people who visit the park don't mention the crash anymore, but it's the people who are not visiting that is the problem. I don't agree with Merlin's methods of dealing with the after effects by making such drastic cuts, but I can understand their reasoning that, sadly, there isn't much point in having the park open longer than 6 hours on days where it's almost certain to be dead. Yes, Merlin are profits driven, and yes, the opening hours haven't been what they should be for a theme park of Towers size and reputation for a while now, but I do believe the further cuts to Towers' opening hours this year are proof of the repurcussions of the crash. If not, why are Thorpe and Chessington open for longer? If the cuts are entirely down to Merlin's greed, then why is it only Towers, their flagship park, that is open for 6 hours on off peak days, and not 7?
 
True, although there were some off peak Saturdays I went last year where the park wasn't open much longer, and no queue was above 45 mins. No matter how long the queues are in proportion to the opening hours, the only issue that will concern Merlin is that there are still far less people visiting the park, including on Saturdays, then there used to be. As long as this is the case, Merlin won't see the point in Towers being open for longer hours. And as I said in my first post, this does punish the people who actually visit the park, sadly.
 
andeyhart said:
True, although there were some off peak Saturdays I went last year where the park wasn't open much longer, and no queue was above 45 mins. No matter how long the queues are in proportion to the opening hours, the only issue that will concern Merlin is that there are still far less people visiting the park, including on Saturdays, then there used to be. As long as this is the case, Merlin won't see the point in Towers being open for longer hours. And as I said in my first post, this does punish the people who actually visit the park, sadly.
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But, the problem is - on some days there are still over 10,000 people in the park. Indeed there were a good number of days last year when the park was into the teens-thousands. But due to the absurd 'one size fits all' approach that the park takes to its operation, it means that when there is a busier day, the opening hours are inadequate, the range of rides is inadequate, the catering provision is inadequate and the infrastructure is inadequate. They barely extend ride close anymore. They can't simply open mothballed food outlets. They cant suddenly whip open rides that don't have an ADIPS certificate anymore and have had parts removed. They can't suddenly bring in a load of back up staff that are no longer on their books.

:(
 
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AstroDan said:
But, the problem is - on some days there are still over 10,000 people in the park. Indeed there were a good number of days last year when the park was into the teens-thousands. But due to the absurd 'one size fits all' approach that the park takes to its operation, it means that when there is a busier day, the opening hours are inadequate, the range of rides is inadequate, the catering provision is inadequate and the infrastructure is inadequate. They barely extend ride close anymore. They can't simply open mothballed food outlets. They cant suddenly whip open rides that don't have an ADIPS certificate anymore and have had parts removed. They can't suddenly bring in a load of back up staff that are no longer on their books.

:(
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Agreed. Begs the question: what *more* can Merlin possible cut? 4 hour-days next season? 2-hour? Shut? This, to me, seems regressive and gives the impression they want to make AT some bizarre blend of a RTP (with the hotel aspect as it's most profitable) and a midway offering. I would also, too, like to know what is said during these Merlin board meetings with respective directors. Would love to know your opinion on this, thanks.
 
PuddoBearBoy said:
Agreed. Begs the question: what *more* can Merlin possible cut? 4 hour-days next season? 2-hour? Shut? This, to me, seems regressive and gives the impression they want to make AT some bizarre blend of a RTP (with the hotel aspect as it's most profitable) and a midway offering. I would also, too, like to know what is said during these Merlin board meetings with respective directors. Would love to know your opinion on this, thanks.
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I think,in truth, Alton Towers would say that they wish to plan for the future. They are protecting the financial losses where possible through the vast cuts to the operation. Year-on-year (both pre and post-Smiler crash), we have seen a reduction in the park's scope. Of course, these cuts have been rapidly accelerated since the end of 2015, when they were able to reset the cost base. Ultimately, they cut everything they could in the back room, and now it's the front-of-house product that is being affected. But Merlin are in denial about this, communicating that the park is seeing improvements when anybody dares challenge them. This, of course, is nonsense.

Regarding meetings; I have no doubt that the management at Alton Towers know that it is bad. Very bad. Of course, I think it would be foolish to ascertain that Alton Towers would have survived the Smiler crash had it not been for the muscle of such a large organisation as Merlin. But in this way of dealing with the park, I believe that Alton Towers are now affecting their guest figures by their own making. Yes, Smiler caused a drop. We saw that in the immediate aftermath when the park still had lots of rides and food outlets were all open etc. But now, we're seeing low guest flow along with a poorer product. A double whammy. People. Will. Notice. In fact, when I walk about the park, you can just sense this mood of despair. And that's in spite of the reasonable gestures they're making with #altontlc.

I don't believe that the way out of this mess is to downsize Alton Towers. Most certainly not.

I blame the Merlin board. Almost entirely.
 
AstroDan said:
I think,in truth, Alton Towers would say that they wish to plan for the future. They are protecting the financial losses where possible through the vast cuts to the operation. Year-on-year (both pre and post-Smiler crash), we have seen a reduction in the park's scope. Of course, these cuts have been rapidly accelerated since the end of 2015, when they were able to reset the cost base. Ultimately, they cut everything they could in the back room, and now it's the front-of-house product that is being affected. But Merlin are in denial about this, communicating that the park is seeing improvements when anybody dares challenge them. This, of course, is nonsense.

Regarding meetings; I have no doubt that the management at Alton Towers know that it is bad. Very bad. Of course, I think it would be foolish to ascertain that Alton Towers would have survived the Smiler crash had it not been for the muscle of such a large organisation as Merlin. But in this way of dealing with the park, I believe that Alton Towers are now affecting their guest figures by their own making. Yes, Smiler caused a drop. We saw that in the immediate aftermath when the park still had lots of rides and food outlets were all open etc. But now, we're seeing low guest flow along with a poorer product. A double whammy. People. Will. Notice. In fact, when I walk about the park, you can just sense this mood of despair. And that's in spite of the reasonable gestures they're making with #altontlc.

I don't believe that the way out of this mess is to downsize Alton Towers. Most certainly not.

I blame the Merlin board. Almost entirely.
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I agree. I understand the cuts to reduce the operating costs behind the scenes, i.e. outsourcing the call centre was cost effective without having any material effect on the guests' experience. However, it is my opinion that they will not attract repeat custom and entice new visitors if the product in the theme park (NOT hotels/second gate attraction) is becoming so poor.

I believe that the Directors are so devoid from the reality and the state of the park from their modest Head Office in Poole, that they see the £ moving closer to the green as a result of their cuts, pat themselves on the backs, and believe this is a viable way forward. They are totally and utterly removed from the state of the park that it is ran in a way that is unsustainable. I believe they will have serious problems when they open SW8, and the 000s of extra visitors don't flock because of the degraded product, then the Merlin board will "wake up" - especially when you have the likes of BPB being really proactive and ambitious.

For a park trying to attract more visitors, this is a weird way of going about it. :)
 
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