Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

[RoyJess]

The trouble is, Alton/Merlin consider that gate numbers of 3000 or less as a quiet day, however any other non Merlin Attraction would consider gate numbers of 3000 or more as unusually a great day in terms of business

At the end of the day, regardless of gate numbers, 4pm closure for any attraction this time of the year is just really unacceptable.

 

[John]

Yeah from my experience and from watching vlogs so far this season, operations have definitely improved on last year; whether it's different staff, more staff, more training, more motivation and incentives to improve operations who knows, but it is definitely paying off.

The main issue with midweek operations is that typically Oblivion and Galactica will both be on 1 station. Smiler operations were also very poor on my only recent midweek visit.

 

[AstroDan]

Alton Towers should only close at 4pm if there is literally not a queue over 15 minutes. And even then, it kind of demonstrates how downsized the theme park is now compared to of old.

Sunday is possibly the best day of the week to visit now. Operations are generally better than midweek and you get till 5pm.

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[spinba11]

App says ride close is 6.

 

[ScottishChris]

I think the hours are based on cost. Merlin most likely believe (and are possibly correct) that their hours return the best profit. Longer hours mean more staffing costs and more utilities costs and really, would the increase in guests offset this? I'm not saying I like it, but I can see how it may be their justification.

I would much prefer a 12 - 7pm operating day - but this may cause problems with group bookings.

 

[RoyJess]

App says ride close is 6.

Queue lines closed at 5pm today.

I just want to turn this on it's head and try and see it from another perspective. I don't know how other themeparks operate, but from what I know, the Merlin parks advertised closure times are the queue-lines closure times. So if there is let's say for example that there is a 60 min queue, then the ride actually closes at 5pm and not the 4pm stated time.

However, other non Merlin parks that I've visited, close the rides at the advertised time and not the queue line. I've known other parks to closed the queue lines earlier than advertised to ensure that the rides are closes on time, especially if the queue is long.


Which ever way the park runs it queue line closures, it's really swings and roundabouts.

Saying that, I still think that Alton can be a little more generous with their opening times

 

[rob666]

You been nicking my stash again Rick?

 

[spinba11]

Queue lines closed at 5pm today.

I just want to turn this on it's head and try and see it from another perspective. I don't know how other themeparks operate, but from what I know, the Merlin parks advertised closure times are the queue-lines closure times. So if there is let's say for example that there is a 60 min queue, then the ride actually closes at 5pm and not the 4pm stated time.

However, other non Merlin parks that I've visited, close the rides at the advertised time and not the queue line. I've known other parks to closed the queue lines earlier than advertised to ensure that the rides are closes on time, especially if the queue is long.


Which ever way the park runs it queue line closures, it's really swings and roundabouts.

Saying that, I still think that Alton can be a little more generous with their opening times

I replying to Dan.

 

[Mikw]

We don't even bother with midweek at towers anymore the 4pm opening hours and mediocre weekday oppperations mean you get on so little. Sundays now are our go to- opps are better and you get hours longer on park with similar crowd levels.

You should try it, i've had some great midweek visits this season. In May and Early june i racked up ride counts of over 20, including dungeons a couple of times.

Even this Thursday, when the park was heaving, i got on Nemesis 7 times, The Smiler 4 times and Galactica a couple of times, all before 12.30pm.

 

[Rick]

You been nicking my stash again Rick?

Haha! I fear the new puppy had more to do with that post than I did!

School trip season does seem to be unusually heavy this year - which is positive in terms of seeing that continued recovery, but it's probably fair to say that days like this are a test of the park's capacity to handle such crowds. That said, you end with a slightly false demographic mix because you end up with an usually high number of thrill seekers and less of the well balanced family crowd the park typically attracts.

I do read some of the posts in this thread and wonder if some people have forgotten just how busy the park once was and that this problem isn't really new. On the 'Daytripper' coach back to Lancashire on our school trips, we'd have conversations along the lines of "Did you go on (the) Nemesis or (the) Oblivion?" because it was a given you hadn't managed to get on both. Thunder Looper and Corkscrew were doable if you 'pegged it' across the valley before you had to get back on the bus.

 

[AstroDan]

The key difference is that they used to have several more rides and open to 6pm on days where lots of queues were 60+.

Because there are no longer support rides, people's rides-per-head is lower.

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[Ethan]

Even this Thursday, when the park was heaving, i got on Nemesis 7 times, The Smiler 4

How did you get on the smiler 4 times?

 

[rob666]

SRQ

 

[Jb85]

The key difference is that they used to have several more rides and open to 6pm on days where lots of queues were 60+.

Because there are no longer support rides, people's rides-per-head is lower.

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It’s amazing really the amount of rides that have disappeared in the last 10-15 years without replacements.

I fear we will never get back to that level

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I have also found queue times to be ridiculously short at Alton Towers in the last four seasons. During Weekends and Holidays it is clear that longer opening times are needed. (Perhaps 10-6 weekends and 10-7 during the holidays). Weekdays are more difficult because the queue times are much shorter and there are some days when 10-4 seems sufficient. My suggestion on those days is to open Cbeebies Land 10-4 for children who are too young to go to school then open the main park 4-10 so children and teenagers can ride after school and get some night rides which usually wouldn't be possible until Scarefest when the park is much busier. Each group can ride when it best suits them and it would require fewer staff so the park could then have enough money to open every day however knowing Merlin this is unlikely

 

[RoyJess]

I replying to Dan.

Open Forum = Open Discussion

PM = Private Discussion

The key difference is that they used to have several more rides
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It’s amazing really the amount of rides that have disappeared in the last 10-15 years without replacements.

I personally don't think the park currently has less rides compare to years ago.

A good 20 to 30 years ago the park would have 2 main headline rollercoasters and the rest or the attractions were a good variety of flats, water, exhibitions and dark rides.

Now-a-days, we now have 8 main rollercoasters and very little in the way of filler/flat rides/attractions.

What the park currently is missing is a good variety of rides

As others have mentioned above, the opening hours back in the day were a lot more generous than today. However back then, park closure times meant ride closure closed on time and not the queue-line closure.

Also back in the day, once the rides closed, they would have the big top show started at closing time, so you had extra time in the park with some entertainment in the evening before you left to go home.

 

[AstroDan]

Open Forum = Open Discussion

PM = Private Discussion







I personally don't think the park currently has less rides compare to years ago.

A good 20 to 30 years ago the park would have 2 main headline rollercoasters and the rest or the attractions were a good variety of flats, water, exhibitions and dark rides.

Now-a-days, we now have 8 main rollercoasters and very little in the way of filler/flat rides/attractions.

What the park currently is missing is a good variety of rides

As others have mentioned above, the opening hours back in the day were a lot more generous than today. However back then, park closure times meant ride closure closed on time and not the queue-line closure.

Also back in the day, once the rides closed, they would have the big top show started at closing time, so you had extra time in the park with some entertainment in the evening before you left to go home.

There were definitely more rides years ago.

At one point Valley had 5 rides. Now 3.
Ug Land had 5 rides. Now 2.
Coaster Corner had several. Now 0.
Land of MB/Talbot St had 5? Now 3.
X Sector had 4. Now 3.

Not to mention loss of retail, food and show venues.

All these areas have lost significantly. The only area with more rides now is CBeebies.

I do agree the park has also lost balance within the rides it does have.

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[AT86]

However back then, park closure times meant ride closure closed on time and not the queue-line closure.

When was this out of interest? This certainly hasn’t been the case for the last 20 or so years. Advertised ride close has always been when the queue line closes and then they run the ride until the queue is empty.

In the Tussauds days they also operated the ‘magic 5’ policy where the queue lines would stay open an extra 5mins beyond the advertised time to give guests a good last impression being able to get on a ride at the very last minute.

 

[RoyJess]

There were definitely more rides years ago.

At one point Valley had 5 rides. Now 3.
Ug Land had 5 rides. Now 2.
Coaster Corner had several. Now 0.
Land of MB/Talbot St had 5? Now 3.
X Sector had 4. Now 3.

Not to mention loss of retail, food and show venues.

All these areas have lost significantly. The only area with more rides now is CBeebies.

I do agree the park has also lost balance within the rides it does have.

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I thinking back to my first visit back in 1987. I've seen attractions come and go over the years. On average over the years, the total amount of attraction today is about the average amount the park has had over the years. Yes there probably was a time when the park had more attractions than what it have today, but not that much more.

The only area with more rides now is CBeebies.

That is the thing, CBeebies has more attractions than ever before which balances out the rides/attraction that have been removed. Back in 1987, CBeebies area (or the farm) area never exists. Even the DV area never had a single ride on it.

I feel where we have felt the lack of rides is due to where as before we had a good selection of rides for any age group, now with the CBeebies, this has meant more rides have been targeted for the younger age group so it now feels like we have lost a lot of attractions aim at the older guest, especially for the ones that are too old for CBeebies and too short for the coasters group. Alton has limited their guest age range in the way of rides.

When was this out of interest? This certainly hasn’t been the case for the last 20 or so years. Advertised ride close has always been when the queue line closes and then they run the ride until the queue is empty.

In the Tussauds days they also operated the ‘magic 5’ policy where the queue lines would stay open an extra 5mins beyond the advertised time to give guests a good last impression being able to get on a ride at the very last minute.

I've been visiting Alton every year since 1987, so beyond your memories of what Alton used to be like

 

[AstroDan]

Most major parks close queues at closing time.

I can think of a small number of exceptions like Liseberg and Efteling.

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