• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

Alton Towers really do need to take a leaf out of the book of many European parks, who combine longer opening hours with superior F&B options. The outcome? Guests stay for longer and also spend more on F&B, as there is more time in the day to enjoy this and not have to worry about getting on everything. Guests have a better day overall, and spend more money.
 
Is it me or have Oktoberfest hours now been updated? Hours on Friday-Sunday are now until 6pm, with 5pm closes on other days. I “think” they were originally scheduled to close at 4 or 5pm on Fridays.

It’s such a small increase I may be imagining it, but I do have a sinking feeling that Oktoberfest hours may well now be the shortest we’ve ever seen for the event.
 
venny said:
Is it me or have Oktoberfest hours now been updated? Hours on Friday-Sunday are now until 6pm, with 5pm closes on other days. I “think” they were originally scheduled to close at 4 or 5pm on Fridays.

It’s such a small increase I may be imagining it, but I do have a sinking feeling that Oktoberfest hours may well now be the shortest we’ve ever seen for the event.
Click to expand...

They haven’t changed.
 
The shorter hours are a nightmare. They dont give you anytime to stop and breathe as you have to go from coaster to coaster all day to try and get them all in.

We would love to try one of the restaurants but feel unable to as we know if we did we would miss out on rides.

I think they should open till 8pm during the summer holidays. They would have increased costs with wages and energy but i think ppl would spend more on food and drink. I know we would
 
lee2804 said:
The shorter hours are a nightmare. They dont give you anytime to stop and breathe as you have to go from coaster to coaster all day to try and get them all in.

We would love to try one of the restaurants but feel unable to as we know if we did we would miss out on rides.

I think they should open till 8pm during the summer holidays. They would have increased costs with wages and energy but i think ppl would spend more on food and drink. I know we would
Click to expand...
Unfortunately most people don't, they either stay in the hotels, so would leave around 6 or 7pm to eat at the hotel, or knowing they have a two hour journey home they leave by 7pm to get home at a reasonable hour, stopping for food on the way.
If they were to do it then selective nights, such as Friday and Saturday to 8pm would be better and weekdays to 6 or 7, varying depending on the weather.
At Scarefest people will stay later as there is something different, there is the chance to ride in the dark and do scare mazes. There is no incentive to stay late in the summer really. I think they need to consider making a reason to stay later that makes those summer evenings different, similar to is done for Oktoberfest.
Rollercoaster Restaurant is of course open late anyway, but I don't think they would get that many extra food sales against the cost of running rides for a lot longer.
 
Last edited:
lee2804 said:
The shorter hours are a nightmare. They dont give you anytime to stop and breathe as you have to go from coaster to coaster all day to try and get them all in.

We would love to try one of the restaurants but feel unable to as we know if we did we would miss out on rides.

I think they should open till 8pm during the summer holidays. They would have increased costs with wages and energy but i think ppl would spend more on food and drink. I know we would
Click to expand...
I know what you mean, but there is always time in the day for ten minutes in the gardens on a nice bench.
Jogging from coaster to coaster, checking out apps, all stressed out does not always make for the best day.
 
If there was an improvement in advertising the summer event, advertising the gardens, opening the Towers, having more entertainment (even getting an indoor seated theatre in the long term), improving F&B offerings and pushing all of these 'non ride' activities, then guests might be more obliged to stay on the park, go around at a more leisurely pace and enjoy their day out.

At the moment, you've got limited operating/park hours, and the day is a case of rushing around and 'Can I get on everything by 5pm?'.

Events such as Scarefest and Oktoberfest show people will stay for longer when there's more to do, why not explore some aspects of these events and make them more permanent?
 
  • Like
Reactions: Ash
Doesn't even need to be an event, just a short TV/web advert saying open all summer up to 9pm or whatever they fancy, even if it is only Fri to Sun
 
They need something to keep people there in the summer if they have later hours, some big end of day show or something would be good. Or make a real event of it like Oktoberfest is. Just opening rides until 8/9pm with no real promotion or event then people won’t stay.
 
Thinking of taking my daughter this Thursday, been checking queue times last few days and they have been very long.

They likely to stay long all week? As if so, may give it a miss as she is only 9 and really hates queuing to long.
 
Thameslink Rail said:
The last few days of the summer holidays tend to be among the busiest as folks who went on an international holiday arrive back in the UK and want one last treat, your best bet would be to go on a September Sunday I think.
Click to expand...

Yeah was thinking that. I made the mistake of attending Blackpool Pleasure Beach the Saturday just gone for their late night riding and it was so busy 🤣

Thanks mate.
 
Some minor changes to park hours - Monday 4th Sep has been extended from a 5pm close to 6pm and Tues 5th/Friday 8th Sep from 4pm to 5pm.

This week does appear a fair bit busier than the last few have been, but they are still sticking to 6pm closes which is a shame.
 
I think aside from Scarefest etc, going beyond 6pm is pretty unlikely to happen at the moment. Until the park sort out the longer term issues with tech services managing to sign everything off each morning, we're only likely to see the odd extra hour or so. They've struggled to get the majority of coasters open on time this week.

Not defending the park with this by the way, I want to see those extended hours as much as anyone. But until they sort that, there's little point as those extended hours only serve to exacerbate the issue.
 
Very true that. I get the feeling that the culture around working at the park needs to change in order to attract and retain the right people in sufficient quantities. That’s as true for tech services as it is for the other park roles. I think there’s been too great a reliance on leaning on staff’s loyalty in the past.

If Bianca is true to her word, it sounds like changing that culture might be an area of focus. It’s much needed, but it won’t happen overnight. It does bring into focus how much change has to be worked through to get something as seemingly simple as extensions to opening hours in place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top