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Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

rob666 said:
Families have always had holidays abroad have they?
Not in my living memory they haven't.
Even by the seventies, "continental" travel was more for the rich and adventurous only, middle class family holidays abroad were very much a rarity, not an expectation.
Parks are quiet, even very quiet, at the moment because disposable incomes for non necessities are rapidly diminishing.
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Always relative to the scope of this conversation..... sorry, I should have been more clear.

The argument was that visitor numbers were down due to holidays, this cannot be the case as in recent times Alton Towers has most of the time been busy in summer months. Yet in the same period, families have always taken regular holidays. They have been a big thing for 2, 3 decades, maybe even longer, so this cannot be the cause.
 
Danscott22 said:
It was 6pm last weekend never mind two weeks ago! Nothing justifies losing 3 hours from last year, I'm sorry but it doesn't. An hour, yes. But not 3. We all understand it wasn't going to be 7pm/8pm again, but the amount lost is drastic. I swear some of you would say "oh well crowds are dead so 10-2 would be justified".
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I think it depends what your perception of value is based on. Personally, I'd much rather visit on a 10 - 4 close and ride everything I wanted with minimal waits than on a day with with a couple of extra hours and waits double or triple.

Especially at Alton Towers where fine dining or long form shows that take a chunk of your day are hard to come by.
 
Yup, I have avoided holidays and busy weekends for about two decades.
Must be an age thing Rick!
Will be interesting to see how the season unfolds regarding opening hours, Blackpool as a town has been busy, but the Beach has been very quiet this year apparently.
 
And this is why I will probably only visit for Scarefest this year. Was going to book Oktoberfest but it will be a struggle sinking 10+ beers plus getting on rides if they kick you out at 5pm.
 
Davezilla said:
And this is why I will probably only visit for Scarefest this year. Was going to book Oktoberfest but it will be a struggle sinking 10+ beers plus getting on rides if they kick you out at 5pm.
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Scarefest has longer opening hours true, but it’s also incredibly busy and queue times can be horrendous if you go whilst it’s half term. My way of seeing it is not so much “what are the longest opening hours” but more like “when can I go that will maximise the amount of rides I can go on or avoid the longest queues”.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
Scarefest has longer opening hours true, but it’s also incredibly busy and queue times can be horrendous if you go whilst it’s half term. My way of seeing it is not so much “what are the longest opening hours” but more like “when can I go that will maximise the amount of rides I can go on or avoid the longest queues”.
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I usually go mid week when it's much quieter but still open until 9pm. Or so it was last year anyway.
 
Strange that opening day of Mardi Gras the rides closing at 5pm would have thought they would have been open until 6pm?

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Does the average punter really care that it's Mardi Gras/Oktoberfest/Festival of Thrills? (Exception is Scarefest)
Any event is secondary to our aim, which is going on rides.
Some of the enthusiast side seem to come across more demanding of park operations, and theme parks in general.

If you're going to AT for Mardi Gras/Events etc then the rides are not your main priority, the event is. I really don't think joe public is going to Merlin Parks for the events, so ride availability/opening times are about right.

We had a great midweek visit Monday, totalled 16 coster rides, stopped for lunch/drink and was absolutely shattered come 4pm so the weekday operations didn't need to be any longer.
 
Sambiasso said:
Does the average punter really care that it's Mardi Gras/Oktoberfest/Festival of Thrills? (Exception is Scarefest)
Any event is secondary to our aim, which is going on rides.
Some of the enthusiast side seem to come across more demanding of park operations, and theme parks in general.

If you're going to AT for Mardi Gras/Events etc then the rides are not your main priority, the event is. I really don't think joe public is going to Merlin Parks for the events, so ride availability/opening times are about right.

We had a great midweek visit Monday, totalled 16 coster rides, stopped for lunch/drink and was absolutely shattered come 4pm so the weekday operations didn't need to be any longer.
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I don’t really know, to be honest. Your average guest might not necessarily know about the events, as they aren’t really advertised on TV or anything (you’d have to look at the events list specifically to know that Towers held any events aside from possibly Scarefest), so with that in mind, rides will likely be the primary goal for those guests.

However, it might be something that people would like to partake in when they’re at the park; I’m sure it probably is, in fact. If no one other than enthusiasts cared about the events, I don’t think Towers would be going to the trouble of running them; enthusiasts are ultimately a microscopic percentage of Alton Towers’ visitor pool. A lot of people do like food, drink, entertainment et al, so I can imagine that some people might well be spurred to take part in the Mardi Gras stuff if they see it.

I’ll digress that perhaps controversially, I’m not at all bothered by the events stuff. I might take a brief 5 minute look at the central area, but I don’t spend any major amount of time partaking in the event activities; rightly or wrongly, I go to Alton Towers with rides in mind. I’m going to the park during Mardi Gras (on the last day, in fact), but that’s more by coincidence than by planning to specifically visit Mardi Gras.

However, I know I am in a minority (around these parts, anyway), and I appreciate that a lot of people do like the events, so I will still applaud any event-related development at Alton Towers.
 
Sambiasso said:
Does the average punter really care that it's Mardi Gras/Oktoberfest/Festival of Thrills? (Exception is Scarefest)
Any event is secondary to our aim, which is going on rides.
Some of the enthusiast side seem to come across more demanding of park operations, and theme parks in general.

If you're going to AT for Mardi Gras/Events etc then the rides are not your main priority, the event is. I really don't think joe public is going to Merlin Parks for the events, so ride availability/opening times are about right.

We had a great midweek visit Monday, totalled 16 coster rides, stopped for lunch/drink and was absolutely shattered come 4pm so the weekday operations didn't need to be any longer.
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A day out at a theme park is exactly that - a day out. It's an experience, not just a ride tick box exercise.

I would argue it's the opposite to what you suggest. Geeks go to whore rides all day, Joe Public travels from far and wide and spends a small fortune for family memories.

If that wasn't the case, then other leading European parks wouldn't bother laying on all their entertainment and being open till 6pm all week.
 
Sambiasso said:
Does the average punter really care that it's Mardi Gras/Oktoberfest/Festival of Thrills? (Exception is Scarefest)
Any event is secondary to our aim, which is going on rides.
Some of the enthusiast side seem to come across more demanding of park operations, and theme parks in general.

If you're going to AT for Mardi Gras/Events etc then the rides are not your main priority, the event is. I really don't think joe public is going to Merlin Parks for the events, so ride availability/opening times are about right.

We had a great midweek visit Monday, totalled 16 coster rides, stopped for lunch/drink and was absolutely shattered come 4pm so the weekday operations didn't need to be any longer.
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So you can’t have a split priory of doing rides and what the event has to to offer and not be concerned that you’re going to be turfed out stupidly early?
 
Sambiasso said:
Does the average punter really care that it's Mardi Gras/Oktoberfest/Festival of Thrills? (Exception is Scarefest)
Any event is secondary to our aim, which is going on rides.
...
I really don't think joe public is going to Merlin Parks for the events...
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If this was correct, then the parks/business would not waste money on putting on these events
 
As I only go once a year I am 1 of them who don’t care about a event unless it’s fireworks.
I done scarefest over the past 2 years for the longer hours and night rides on Thirteen and Wickerman. Can’t wait to my daughter is 1.4m as it’s been 11 years since I went on Nemesis in the dark and really want to try the smiler.
 
It seems rather counter productive to close the park at 5pm on an event weekend. One of the main reasons for having events is to drive up in-park spending as guests see new and unique products they can eat, drink or buy to take home. If you are closing at 5pm, you are pretty much guaranteeing that all guests are only going to be having one meal on park.

Push that back to even 6pm and you will begin to get a proportion of guests that grab a second meal. 8pm was perhaps excessive for Mardi Gras last year, but 5pm this year is ridiculous. Hoping this won't be the case come Oktoberfest, a 5pm close could ruin the event.
 
Rob said:
Push that back to even 6pm and you will begin to get a proportion of guests that grab a second meal. 8pm was perhaps excessive for Mardi Gras last year, but 5pm this year is ridiculous. Hoping this won't be the case come Oktoberfest, a 5pm close could ruin the event.
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I doubt many guests actually grab a second meal on-park with a closure before 6pm, would need to be later still I expect as most people have dinner 5.30-7pm normally so most would leave at 6pm and get McDs on the way home.
There probably would be additional spending on snacks like doughnuts or icecream though and more people might take the time to do slower meals such as Rollercoaster Restaurant.
The park should also make a bigger deal out of the fact that RCR is open into the evening though.
 
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