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Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

They definitely made it 5pm in advance because they saw how busy it'd be - I think Smiler was 75, Wicker Man 65 and every other coaster was 40-45 at one point - which makes me think 10-5 still wasn't good enough for today.
 
The hours will definitely be changed for mardi gras. I really wouldn't be surprised if its 9pm close as I feel it'll be as late as other events
 
djtruefitt said:
Maybe they are slightly listening. The park close was 5pm today and not 4pm. However they still haven’t made any amendments to park opening hours after this weekend.

So as it stands this weekend is 8pm close, weekdays are then 4pm and the rest of the weekends are 5pm. Even with Mardi Gras starting in a weeks time they haven’t announced any changes to the hours, which I would expect might put some people off from booking.
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Well I hope they are listening, but I doubt it very much. I haven't been this season because I work weekends and it's not worth going for a crappy 6 hours. I've been checking the website every day for the past week waiting for the park closing times 2 weeks today to be announced.

If it's 8pm Thursday Friday then we want to book a 2 day trip and hotel stay. If it's 4 or 5pm crap then it's not worth our time. I want to go, my children want to go and the Mrs wants to go but I just can't justify spending £500 to spend 2 measly 6 hour days in queues with a 3 hour drive there and back. It's rediculous that I'll happily hand them that money tomorrow if they just let me know what I'm paying for!

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Apologies for a double post, but as of today (Sunday 16th of May), a day which marks the last day of published 8pm ride closures until Scarefest, there's still a barrage of 4 and 5pm closures published for the coming weeks.

Tomorrow marks the opening day of GG, a heavily marketed, low throughput dark ride, a "new" area, the opening of indoor dining where you'd think the park would want to be encouraging guests to take the time to spend money on a sit down meal, the opening of all other indoor attractions and the reopening of the 45min long AT dungeons. And the closing times? 4pm. Yes, just 6 hours in the park. The first weekend of all these attractions and restaurants being open? 5pm, a mere 7 hours park time.

It's quite plausible that tomorrow you could spend 3 hours, half your day, just doing GG and the Dungeons. Want a sit down meal, ride on Thirteen and Wickerman? Well that could well take you up to the end of the day.

The following weekend when some schools begin to break up for half term and a new event with promises of "rides as the sun goes down"? 5pm closes yet again!

I haven't been yet this season and it takes me 3 hours to get to the park. I'm sat here right now, credit card sat next to me, willing to book an overnight stay and 2 days on park for the 5 of us on 28th and 29th. That's over £500 Alton could have right now if they just let me know what I'm giving them my money for. There's no point in handing over such a large amount of money for 2 incredibly short theme park days with 1 to 2 hour queues, where there's 5 new attractions I want to try and need to find the time for them.

If the hours are to stay as they are currently published (bearing in mind you have the start of Mardi Gras by then as well) then that's crazy. If they're not, then it's totally unacceptable that the website has not been updated. They might as well put a post on their website saying "you know what? Just piss off and don't bother coming." How many other people across the country have decided to plan an AT trip then logged on to the website, seen those hours and not bothered booking and found something else to do instead?

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I'm going on the 28th so hoping for the same outcome as you! Weekends will certainly change to 8pm I'd assume, weekdays should be 6pm minimum now all rides will be open.
 
I strongly suspect hours will be extended from what is currently on the website. For example next Saturday is actually sold out if you try and book tickets but it is listed as a 5pm close which is highly unlikely.

It’s a case of poor communication once again. The first round of 8pm closings were only confirmed a couple of days before the season started, and it seems it will be the same this time around too.
 
Danscott22 said:
I'm going on the 28th so hoping for the same outcome as you! Weekends will certainly change to 8pm I'd assume, weekdays should be 6pm minimum now all rides will be open.
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Can you imagine taking kids on a 3 hour journey on the 28th (which is a Friday) for them not to get on their favourite rides and experience the new ones? Anything less than 8pm will be unacceptable, but it's just as unacceptable that we're all here guessing. We all really want to go but I don't see why I should hand over money until I know what I'm buying!

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Matt.GC said:
Can you imagine taking kids on a 3 hour journey on the 28th (which is a Friday) for them not to get on their favourite rides and experience the new ones? Anything less than 8pm will be unacceptable, but it's just as unacceptable that we're all here guessing. We all really want to go but I don't see why I should hand over money until I know what I'm buying!
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And by the time the closing times are announced, those days will be sold out! (Just like next Saturday) :mad:
 
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Matt.GC said:
Can you imagine taking kids on a 3 hour journey on the 28th (which is a Friday) for them not to get on their favourite rides and experience the new ones? Anything less than 8pm will be unacceptable, but it's just as unacceptable that we're all here guessing. We all really want to go but I don't see why I should hand over money until I know what I'm buying!

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I think saying not getting an 8pm closing on a Fridays during term time is “unacceptable” might be exaggerating as it would be fairly unprecedented really. Except scarefest and fireworks (and now maybe Oktoberfest) I don’t think they’ve opened past 6pm on a term time weekday ever really. I think during school holidays and weekends 8pm is realistic but 6pm is a lot more likely in term time.
 
I’m surprised tomorrow hasn’t been extended to at least 5pm ! The opening day of their new attractions and they’ll turn everyone away at 4pm seems like a weird choice
 
Re: Mardi Gras hours. People need to calm down.

It is poor that ATR haven't yet advertised the hours for Mardi Gras (what the hell are they playing at!?), but you'll be looking at extensions at least 2 hours on weekends/holiday periods vs. what is currently on there. The park have been burned a little recently with their blanket weekend 8pm closes, especially with the bad weather. So they are probably now a little more hesitant.

Closing times are largely dictated by pre-sales/pre-bookings. Recently, 10k+ has pretty much meant 8pm closes. From next week, I would estimate that will shift upwards slightly (perhaps 12 or 13k) due to the extra capacity on rides.

It will not be 5pm next weekend nor on any weekend or holiday date during the event.
 
jon81uk said:
I think saying not getting an 8pm closing on a Fridays during term time is “unacceptable” might be exaggerating as it would be fairly unprecedented really. Except scarefest and fireworks (and now maybe Oktoberfest) I don’t think they’ve opened past 6pm on a term time weekday ever really. I think during school holidays and weekends 8pm is realistic but 6pm is a lot more likely in term time.
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Perhaps I'm getting a little carried away on that day, but 4pm is not OK on a day where they have a new event, extra attractions to go on and will likely be an in service day for some schools that are off the following week.

I feel slightly reassured that the following day may be extended, but it's still ridiculous that it's not on the website so close to the time. Why should I, or anyone else traveling a distance, hand over any money when we run the risk of a 4pm and 5pm close? We've gone from feast to famine with hours this season and that's just downright incompetence. Since I owned my last season pass, the only time I'm ever guaranteed to go now every single season is Scarefest when I know they'll have decent closing times for certain. This seems like a "will they, won't they" style lottery, waiting for enough people to book based on an advertised 4pm close to decide whether to open for a full day or not. It's chicken and egg.

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I'm guessing they still aren't getting enough guests on weekdays for them to think it is worth opening longer than 4pm.
 
Not sure you’ll get any sunset rides though only being open until 7pm! Thought there might be some days open until 8 or 9pm!
 
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