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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-25
LMaybe it’s time to reevaluate. The park has ZERO room for error and capacity, equalling a terrible and expensive day out.
Zero Cost:
Open Hex
Open Skyride
Open CRR
Cheap options:
Retheme dungeons
Reopen 4D cinema
Run existing rides at max capacity 24/7
Blade replacement
Open the Towers and Gardens for free “managed” walking tour
Medium cost:
Bring back the main stage and create new show
Mutiny Bay show
X Sector Flat ride
Extend park opening
High Cost:
Accelerate Project Horizon
And all the above
They won’t do any of these
And when PP closes it will get worse
The warning signs are there as they have been last year
Trip advisor, Google reviews, blogs/vlogs, time for the content creators to speak out (unless they like their cushy perks too much)
Zero Cost:
Open Hex
Open Skyride
Open CRR
Cheap options:
Retheme dungeons
Reopen 4D cinema
Run existing rides at max capacity 24/7
Blade replacement
Open the Towers and Gardens for free “managed” walking tour
Medium cost:
Bring back the main stage and create new show
Mutiny Bay show
X Sector Flat ride
Extend park opening
High Cost:
Accelerate Project Horizon
And all the above
They won’t do any of these
And when PP closes it will get worse
The warning signs are there as they have been last year
Trip advisor, Google reviews, blogs/vlogs, time for the content creators to speak out (unless they like their cushy perks too much)
Last edited:
Absolutely. In the parks defence they’ve managed to reopen Toxicator with an hour to go until park closure. Galactica remains closed…
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
Danscott22
TS Member
I feel sorry for anyone who's visited today and had to put up with the terrible availability but I also feel sorry the the park in the same way. It's not acceptable but they obviously don't want to have things shutting all the time. Rita for example was closed for over 6 hours and never re-opened. I hope it's just early season teething for everyone's sake
Zeock
TS Member
I hope so as well. The quick re-opening of Toxicator clearly shows that Towers can move fast when necessary.
Danscott22
TS Member
Probably will be significantly quieter tomorrow so hopefully things run smoother and then they've got 4 days closed to *try* and iron things out
MaxPower
TS Member
It's hard to feel sorry for the park when for most of last season availabilty was atrocious and for the last few years the opening days have been a debacle.
They have had plenty of time to get their sh*t together regarding this issue and make the investments needed to improve things, but for whatever reason this keeps happening.
It's not down to some extraordinary bad luck or some other outside influence that this keeps happening, it's down to poor planning, poor management and lack of investment.
Whoever is ultimately responsible, whether that be Merlin or the park itself, they deserve no sympathy from anyone paying their hard earned cash for their sub-par product.
Just because it's opening day, doesn't give them a pass to run the place like a shambles.
VerticalLoop123
TS Member
Tony Blair is going to come to sort out alton towers- New Towers. Operations, operations, operations. Tough on queue jumping- tough on the causes of queue jumping.
Jokes apart today was not great- felt very sorry for those people who only come once a year! The app was looking very depressing with a large number of closed rides. Could’ve really done with some fillers like Hex and some entertainments.
flyingguitar
TS Member
I was at the park today, let me sum up my thoughts:
It was an opening day:
IT is quite common for the first month to have worse ride availability (maintenance crews and ride crews are getting back into running the rides, the rides haven run full with guests for a while, issues are bound to crop up) and the buy out days had many significant rides closed, meaning it isn't really the same as opening. I think as the season progresses it will get better, I am waiting till summer to look at how good availability is.
Ride OPPs were really good (Mostly):
appart from nemesis rita and gal (didn't see rita and gal so not sure about them) opps were quite good
Wicker man was only on 2 trains, but was operating like it was on 3, when the second train entered the brakes, the first was heading out practically the same if not before, props to the wicker man team.
oblivion was operating as well as it could have, with the main delay being people messing with bags (which is pretty typical)
spinball, smiler and 13 were also opperating well
Trains avalible:
Trains avaliable was better than last year (we now have 6 on obliv, 2 wicker, 2 13, etc).
They don't help them self:
They could have started the season a bit slower, without alton after dark, and toxi opening as I think it was massive crowds because they have many events at the same time not helping, making massive queues and putting more pressure on the rides. if alton did a smaller soft opening a few weeks ago , then introduced alton after dark, then opened toxi it could have eleviated some of the problems.
It was an opening day:
IT is quite common for the first month to have worse ride availability (maintenance crews and ride crews are getting back into running the rides, the rides haven run full with guests for a while, issues are bound to crop up) and the buy out days had many significant rides closed, meaning it isn't really the same as opening. I think as the season progresses it will get better, I am waiting till summer to look at how good availability is.
Ride OPPs were really good (Mostly):
appart from nemesis rita and gal (didn't see rita and gal so not sure about them) opps were quite good
Wicker man was only on 2 trains, but was operating like it was on 3, when the second train entered the brakes, the first was heading out practically the same if not before, props to the wicker man team.
oblivion was operating as well as it could have, with the main delay being people messing with bags (which is pretty typical)
spinball, smiler and 13 were also opperating well
Trains avalible:
Trains avaliable was better than last year (we now have 6 on obliv, 2 wicker, 2 13, etc).
They don't help them self:
They could have started the season a bit slower, without alton after dark, and toxi opening as I think it was massive crowds because they have many events at the same time not helping, making massive queues and putting more pressure on the rides. if alton did a smaller soft opening a few weeks ago , then introduced alton after dark, then opened toxi it could have eleviated some of the problems.
CoventryBee
TS Member
Another fantastic offering from Alton Towers. I’m due to come to the park in April but I may postpone my visit. I have no desire for the place anymore. 
Blackhole_Sun
TS Member
Not very good today for availability or reliability. Everyone who states “it will get better” and “it’s only early in the season” are pretty deluded. It’s like this every year throughout the season until the end.
That being said we went in with the mindset that we wouldn’t get on much, we didn’t, so it helped with our expectations. These kinds of days ruin it for GP.
Some of the worst ops I’ve seen on Nemesis earlier in the day, spectacularly bad it almost deserves an award.
That being said we went in with the mindset that we wouldn’t get on much, we didn’t, so it helped with our expectations. These kinds of days ruin it for GP.
Some of the worst ops I’ve seen on Nemesis earlier in the day, spectacularly bad it almost deserves an award.
Do we know that’s why they’ve been kept shut?
If that was the case I’d argue the park needs the capacity over the extended ride time currently
Leigh
TS Member
2 on Thirteen and 2 on Wicker Man isn’t good. It’s barely acceptable in either case.
Rita was also on 1 for the five minutes in the day it was actually open. Sorry, but that’s completely unacceptable.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
I asked Guest Services for a free Fastrack ticket, due to Toxicator closing after I had queued for an hour (and I never got to ride).
They offered me a free day return ticket instead, but I told them that this wasn't much good because I am a Merlin pass holder.
They eventually agreed and gave me a note with instructions to e-mail Alton Towers, but I was surprised at their hesitation (reluctance?) because surely Fastrack tickets are cheaper than day tickets and so would be the preferred method of compensation anyway?
They offered me a free day return ticket instead, but I told them that this wasn't much good because I am a Merlin pass holder.
They eventually agreed and gave me a note with instructions to e-mail Alton Towers, but I was surprised at their hesitation (reluctance?) because surely Fastrack tickets are cheaper than day tickets and so would be the preferred method of compensation anyway?
GooseOnTheLoose
TS Member
Fastrack tickets may be cheaper, at face value, but they end up costing the park more. There's much stricter limited availability of Fastrack, compared to park tickets, so the value of them is higher (even if the face value isn't).
A free return visit means that the park is likely to get additional and further spend from you. You'll have to pay for parking again £12, thank you, and will likely spend on F&B and/or merchandise.
A free return ticket is always preferred from the park, because they get a second chance to have you spend more money. Fastrack solves your problem, it doesn't help them.
You're also not entitled to a guaranteed ride on an attraction, whether you queued for it or not, which is why there will have been some additional hesitation. The queue evacuation due a freak plumbing accidents isn't strictly the park's fault, and you're well aware of the caveats of attractions being subject to availability. Additionally, how does the park actually prove that you're telling the truth and haven't chanced something based on an app report? It's all a bit of a minefield.
I do feel for the park as im sure the staff and managers just want everything to work. Unfortunately the aging rides and underinvestment over the years is taking its toll on the operations. With only 9 thrill rides of which 7 are coasters they really don't have a lot of backup when things go wrong. The sewage leak was unfortunate but had the rest of the line up been operating well it wouldn't have been too bad, but that of course was not the case. I know it's day one but it does resemble last season already.
Merlin not opening chessington and Thorpe this weekend really doesn't help either as this could have reduced the crowds a bit giving them time to get up to speed. Maybe even a soft opening yesterday could have eased the opening day problems. If Alton want to go all out with a new ride and an event they really need to be prepared for the crowds and have everything operating at max capacity. Let's hope day 2 is better than day 1.
Merlin not opening chessington and Thorpe this weekend really doesn't help either as this could have reduced the crowds a bit giving them time to get up to speed. Maybe even a soft opening yesterday could have eased the opening day problems. If Alton want to go all out with a new ride and an event they really need to be prepared for the crowds and have everything operating at max capacity. Let's hope day 2 is better than day 1.
flyingguitar
TS Member
compared to last year it is a big improvement,
from what I recall
13 was on 1 for like a month, the smiler was on like 2 (I remember standing in the station just waiting for the trains to return for a while) I think oblivion was at 4 or 3, but doesn't make too much of a difference as it always stacks, Gal was also quite low.
TBH wickerman team today on 2 were probably close to achieving the average you see on 3, they were really good, a train would be entering the mag breaks, as the other one was leaving or ascending the lift (I honestly thought it was on 3 until I got to the station)
2 on 13 also isn't great
but considering it is only Rita this year which is dramatically short of trains (not the whole line up) I consider it a big improvement.
Secret Weapon
TS Member
This was my main thought; they probably don't want to set a precedent for compensating people with free Fastrack passes whenever a ride breaks down, given how often it seems to happen - plus the added headache of deciding how long you need to have been in a queue before qualifying for said pass.