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Ride Availability/Operations 2022-25

Hid said:
Alton must start attacking these comments and youtubers because they are being allowed to get away with it.

There a 4 youtubers who Alton really should be going after to stop the misinformation
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Unlikely to happen but I think these vloggers need to remember that they are called "influencers" for a reason: like it or not, their content will influence some people's decisions to visit parks. Of course they're within their rights to criticise parks for bad ops etc (and they should), but constant "glass is half empty" attitudes in their content will not help. You can have a bad day at the park but still put a positive spin on your vlog and encourage people to visit. Ignoring the fact that negative content = more engagement, I think some of them think that the more negative things they put out, the greater the chance the parks will listen and take action. While that may be the case in some instances, more often than not, it'll just put people off visiting which will reduce numbers and ultimately reduce investment long term. That's my opinion on the apparent negativity towards Towers/Merlin/Thorpe at the moment from many vloggers anyway.
 
Steve74 said:
Absolutely not, but as I said you can have a bad day at the park and show/explain the bad things but also balance it out with the positives of the day too.
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I would agree, I have had bad days at AT but it was much worse compared to their "bad days", take the example of that day when there was lightning in the area, but no storms they could have said that today was a bad day and set the context much better. Instead they just complained that no storms and the rides should be running, etc. Despite it probably poured it down by the time they were at the car
 
Steve74 said:
Part of me really hopes that Universal will not be the saviour of UK theme parks that many think it will be. Destroying Merlin = virtually destroying the theme park industry as we know it we have and be left with an expensive American IP based park. I've said it many times, some people will be in for a shock when they see the ticket prices, season pass prices and car parking prices released when it opens.
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In fairness that isn’t what the Twit seems to be calling for. They’re asking for Merlin to be destroyed, not the parks and for someone who cares about them to take over.

The conglomerate of UK parks is arguably a bad thing with the only public benefit being cheap access via annual passes, which is not without its own drawbacks.

I think many people desire alternative or independent ownership, particularly when they see parks like Paultons, Efteling and Europa flourish though at this point I don’t think that’s a realistic proposition.

I also don’t think people will be in for a shock with Universals pricing, it will be fully expected but you’ll get the quality level of experience you’ve paid for.
 
Merlin have underinvested in their parks for decades, and those problems are now coming home to roost.

I think there's a level of disillusionment from people who've seen what the parks used to be and what they are now. They have also seen what the competition has achieved by investing and looking after their assets.

I have been visiting Alton Towers for around 30 years and feel like it's been in a steady decline for at least the last 20. I don't feel the need for me, and others like me, to be positive about something that we don't feel positive about in the name of "balance".
 
Alsty said:
...I have been visiting Alton Towers for around 30 years and feel like it's been in a steady decline for at least the last 20. I don't feel the need for me, and others like me, to be positive about something that we don't feel positive about in the name of "balance".
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Likewise, but for a decade more.
Agree completely on the drop in standards, I would say the millennium was around the peak.
Operations not what they once were...especially on the monorail and Oblivion.
A less balanced offering.
Cheap passes and fasttrack are my real niggles, meaning longer queues generally, for more of the rides.
 
Ethan said:
Does anyone know why the park is operating Nemmy on 1 train on off peak days now? Seems a bit strange when they never used to do this
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Is this a recurring theme? Or does it happen to be the case today?

I can’t say I’ve ever heard of a specific strategy of one-train operation on off-peak days.
 
Hid said:
Is there a Storm at Towers today almost all the rides are closed
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It wouldn’t be that surprising if there was. Granted, I live 2.5 hours south of Alton (Gloucestershire), but the weather here is currently awful.
 
Ethan said:
Does anyone know why the park is operating Nemmy on 1 train on off peak days now? Seems a bit strange when they never used to do this
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They often used to do maintenance on one Nemmy train as soon as the schools went back (even though a lot of Derbyshire, for instance, don’t go back until Monday). It, in theory means they have both trains ready for Scarefest / October half term / fireworks.
 
Hid said:
Is there a Storm at Towers today almost all the rides are closed
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Go to Busch Gardens Tampa - as soon as lightning is detected within a big radius of the park, practically everything closes (so time to get in car & drive back to Orlando).

I’m about 45miles west of Alton & we have not got the storm - yet. The sky is ominously darkening though.
 
Friend is there now with family for first time ever, everything outdoors has been closed for several hours, somethings never opened and gangster granny down (with young kids so that was planned storm salvation) :(

Update: Granny has reopened!
 
Bowser said:
Friend is there now with family for first time ever, everything outdoors has been closed for several hours, somethings never opened and gangster granny down (with young kids so that was planned storm salvation) :(
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That's a shame for first time , definitely check the weather before hand
 
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