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Park Hours: Updates and Discussion

It's a difficult week to predict as school holidays are so all over the place it's hard to keep track of. We've got schools off in my area this week and some who don't finish until Thursday

Easter is now 3 weeks really given the differences in terms dates.
 
I don’t know what is going on with the Waterpark, but there seems to be some pretty drastic cuts in the opening hours for the rest of season.

The latest it is now set to close is 5pm. This includes the whole of the summer holiday period and every weekend until November.

When the hours for 2024 were originally released every weekend was a 6pm close, and the summer was 8pm which was reduced a few weeks back to 6pm, and now to 5pm.

This is far too early to close this attraction. What are they playing at?

www.altontowers.com

Opening Times - Theme Park & Waterpark | Alton Towers Resort

Our Theme Park and Waterpark Opening Times vary throughout the year to it's best to plan ahead. Use our calendar to check what time Alton Towers opens.
www.altontowers.com www.altontowers.com
 
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AT86 said:
I don’t know what is going on with the Waterpark, but there seems to be some pretty drastic cuts in the opening hours for the rest of season.

The latest it is now set to close is 5pm. This includes the whole of the summer holiday period and every weekend until November.

When the hours for 2024 were originally released every weekend was a 6pm close, and the summer was 9pm which was reduced a few weeks back to 8pm, and now to 5pm.

This is far too early to close this attraction. What are they playing at?

www.altontowers.com

Opening Times - Theme Park & Waterpark | Alton Towers Resort

Our Theme Park and Waterpark Opening Times vary throughout the year to it's best to plan ahead. Use our calendar to check what time Alton Towers opens.
www.altontowers.com www.altontowers.com
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Is it likely a staffing issue? Very low pay, rural area, unsociable hours.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Is it likely a staffing issue? Very low pay, rural area, unsociable hours.
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Could play into it, however a quick look at the job site and there are no vacancies for life guards so it doesn’t appear they are trying to fill roles.

If these hours stand they will be the shortest since the Waterpark opened in 2003. Last year they kept it open until 10pm in the summer, so the difference is quite stark.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Is it likely a staffing issue? Very low pay, rural area, unsociable hours.
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I would expect getting qualified lifeguards is difficult.

Also with the hours, 5pm or 6pm won't make too much difference to the people who will go to the theme park and then spend the next day in the waterpark. Most will go in after breakfast at the hotel, so around 10 or 11am, then leave to head home by 5pm.
However the 9pm hours might have encouraged some people to have a short theme park day followed by a short waterpark evening, 4pm to 9pm or similar.
 
Cynical me thinks they've decided it is in their interests to make the waterpark an alternative to a day to the theme park rather than an add on to the same day. Want a couple of days on park and a swim? That'll cost you an extra night in a hotel room please.

That would all be very well if there were other worthwhile things to do in the hotels of an evening, the park had good hours, the hotels were reasonable value etc etc. For me it just gives me a further reason not to bother at all.
 
pluk said:
Cynical me thinks they've decided it is in their interests to make the waterpark an alternative to a day to the theme park rather than an add on to the same day. Want a couple of days on park and a swim? That'll cost you an extra night in a hotel room please.

That would all be very well if there were other worthwhile things to do in the hotels of an evening, the park had good hours, the hotels were reasonable value etc etc. For me it just gives me a further reason not to bother at all.
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I think its pretty much been that way for years though, except for the summer holiday period.
 
Probably very quiet after 5pm as people head out of the pool and go back to their rooms to get ready for evening dinner and entertainment in the hotels.
 
GaryH said:
Probably very quiet after 5pm as people head out of the pool and go back to their rooms to get ready for evening dinner and entertainment in the hotels.
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Perfect time to sell an evening ticket for those coming out of the park who don't want to fill their evening with galleon warbling, or just provide it to hotel guests as part of their otherwise not very fantabulous offering.
 
They seem to change the times on the website frequently, I wouldn’t be surprised if they change again before the summer, be it a change of heart or my suspicion an error.
 
It is plainly obvious that Alton Towers overall is having a poor season. Hours aren't very good, hotel rates are lower than they have been and now this waterpark hours cut.

Although the excitement over Nemesis carried them for the first few weeks, the stark lack of events and poor ride availability this season really is telling. The park is suffering after 10+ years of mismanagement and although I empathise with the new team, irrespective of who is to blame - it's just not good enough.

I relocated from Staffordshire to West Sussex last summer, and thought I would be chomping at the bit to get up to Alton Towers at least every 4-6 weeks. I haven't been since the end of March, and quite honestly I am not that bothered. I can think of better ways to spend my hard earned cash than on a sub-standard product at Alton Towers.

At this rate it will be Oktoberfest. When there's an event and more draw to a visit than the current damp squib.

If next year isn't back to 100%, then it really will be time to give up.
 
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Regardless of goings on at the park, it can’t help matters that the summer weather so far this season, like last season, has not been great. This June has been a very wet, cold month compared to a usual June so far; it’s already 20th June, and I was still wrapping up in winter-y clothes earlier this week!

That does not explain why Alton Towers have suddenly sliced the waterpark hours in half, though; surely an indoor waterpark would be brilliantly popular when the weather is poor?
 
AstroDan said:
If next year isn't back to 100%, then it really will be time to give up.
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Being pessimistic, better be saying farewell to TS if I'll be brutally honest with you mate.

I do feel for the current team trying to undo the years of mismanagement but even they must be wondering if they've underestimated just how major Towers' issues are.
 
It’s interesting that there have been some attempts with the new(ish) regime to reinvigorate certain aspects of the resort, but at the same time there are perpetual cuts happening concurrently. There doesn’t feel like there’s been much meaningful overall progression despite individual positive improvements.

It shouldn’t be any great surprise to the management what a state the park is in. We can all see it from the outside. It does feel like a bit of a death spiral if the cuts continue though. To pull the nose of the plane up, it requires constant focus and investment, not short term efforts whose effects are judged in the same short term.
 
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