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Scarefest 2013: Discussion
I'm so annoyed by this - thinking of writing to Merlin and AT management to put across my frustration at just how bad this season has been. Ive booked 2 nights in ATH, was planning on going in on the friday night and saturday night. Well, thats the friday now gone. Feel like cancelling it out of principle.
As for people saying, ahh well, its only a few days, its not a big problem, WRONG, it is a big problem. Scarefest for many, me included is the highlight of the year, the atmosphere in the park late at night at scarefest just cannot be beaten anywhere. Walking around Zombie scare zone, waiting in the queue for ToTT or Sanctuary late at night in the darkness is such an experience.
If they are planning on closing early this will also mean less lighting, less effort spent on the mazes, less effort spent in the park in terms of night time atmosphere. Its a huge flop for the park if this goes ahead. Last year was pretty dire with most of the lighting missing (seriously, how much does the odd bulb cost), Alton are seriously at risk of alienating not just regular MAP holders but also regular members of the public who visit year after year for the odd weekend particularly at special events.
I dont care if you have to make cut backs in other areas, JUST DONT DO IT AT SCAREFEST.
As for people saying, ahh well, its only a few days, its not a big problem, WRONG, it is a big problem. Scarefest for many, me included is the highlight of the year, the atmosphere in the park late at night at scarefest just cannot be beaten anywhere. Walking around Zombie scare zone, waiting in the queue for ToTT or Sanctuary late at night in the darkness is such an experience.
If they are planning on closing early this will also mean less lighting, less effort spent on the mazes, less effort spent in the park in terms of night time atmosphere. Its a huge flop for the park if this goes ahead. Last year was pretty dire with most of the lighting missing (seriously, how much does the odd bulb cost), Alton are seriously at risk of alienating not just regular MAP holders but also regular members of the public who visit year after year for the odd weekend particularly at special events.
I dont care if you have to make cut backs in other areas, JUST DONT DO IT AT SCAREFEST.
Alastair
TS Team
Looks very poor on their part to be honest, although given what they've "decided" in the past, I still hold out hope that they will reverse this decision. I trust someone from Merlin/Towers is reading this thread and can see public opinion :/
AstroDan
TS Team
They can get lost.
This will be a fleeting Scarefest visit for me this year, never felt so negative about it - the event sees cut after cut after cut.
Three weeks in 2007 remember!! There was a week of 8pm closes then two weeks of 9pm! It was far longer, yet even though the event is now more popular, the flagship of the year, it'll barely be dark on those 7pm's!
The 'busiest' time of year too. That is the midweek evening trip gone out the window.
Alton are a joke. Who makes these decisions? Do they have any idea why it's a theme park? Do they know what other parks do? Who do they care about?
Park hours have been squeezed and squeezed the past few years. Apparently it's based on guest feedback according to Guest Services. That's a lie in itself!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
This will be a fleeting Scarefest visit for me this year, never felt so negative about it - the event sees cut after cut after cut.
Three weeks in 2007 remember!! There was a week of 8pm closes then two weeks of 9pm! It was far longer, yet even though the event is now more popular, the flagship of the year, it'll barely be dark on those 7pm's!
The 'busiest' time of year too. That is the midweek evening trip gone out the window.
Alton are a joke. Who makes these decisions? Do they have any idea why it's a theme park? Do they know what other parks do? Who do they care about?
Park hours have been squeezed and squeezed the past few years. Apparently it's based on guest feedback according to Guest Services. That's a lie in itself!
Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2
Slugjc
TS Member
Sometimes you've got to wonder at what they are thinking. Obviously some man in a suit has looked at a piece of paper and said "HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM these days will be quiet lets not keep the park open till 9, sod it we'll close it 7" To me that does something that I think is a trend in this country at the min, and that's penalise all the people who don't have kids. I would be extremely gaffed off if I had bought hotel tickets on the thought of riding all the way till 9, in which most of them will be. I'm going on the 30th (although stopping in a local B&B I aint paying those prices again for a jump premier inn with damp) and luckily its open till 9 but I would have throwing this laptop out of the window if it had shut at 7. So god knows how you people who have bought the hotel on the 7 closing must feel.
2 Hours is a massive chunk. If it was Blackpool no problem as everything is tight together, but AT is so spread out. If you are caught up in the queue for the smiler at the wrong time that's the rest of the park out, away from x-sector. You would really have to do your homework to plan riding a few rides in the dark.
In the parks defence. I went scarefest 2011, and after 7:30 it was dead. We were going back to the hotel at past 9 and the monorail had only us 2 and 4 on there waiting. Towers street was also deserted so I can see there point if they have found a trend.
2 Hours is a massive chunk. If it was Blackpool no problem as everything is tight together, but AT is so spread out. If you are caught up in the queue for the smiler at the wrong time that's the rest of the park out, away from x-sector. You would really have to do your homework to plan riding a few rides in the dark.
In the parks defence. I went scarefest 2011, and after 7:30 it was dead. We were going back to the hotel at past 9 and the monorail had only us 2 and 4 on there waiting. Towers street was also deserted so I can see there point if they have found a trend.
stretchy said:
To be honest, I dont think it would. You have to remember that majority of people visiting alton towers are families. For kids to be walking around a theme park all day from 10am until 11pm it just wont happen.
What will attract people to the park will be the attractions on offer in terms of halloween stuff, family trick or treat, scare mazes, shows, etc. Last year as someone pointed out didnt feel like a halloween event.
Best year I recall was when they had the lazer and light show in her ladyships gardens, because it broke up the night and added an attaction for everyone to go and see. Lasted about half an hour if i recall.
Plus if the hotels are more attractively priced in the week for scarefest then it may encourage more people to stay over and thus stay later in the park.
Unfortunately scarefest is one of those events where cost cutting really makes a huge impact, and will make people think twice about visting year after year, and as such, every year, the event gets worse, and worse...... and worse....
IanB
TS Member
Reduced investment, leads to reduced guest numbers, which leads to further investment reductions.
Its a vicious circle, as others have said, the park needs to spend more, and reap the benefits of it. Now, I am not expecting them to go crazy, as the more you spend, the less profit you generate, but the event should be getting better each year, not worse, which is currently the case.
A third and fourth hotel should be on the cards, and the increased capacity, will mean more hotel guests, and more people stopping until later in the evening. Later opening hours will also increase the number of guests who think about stopping over, instead of leaving early to drive home.
Last years Scarefest was a disappointment for me, and not something I would recommend to anyone. From the sounds of things, this year is going to be worse.
Seeing and remembering going to other parks with late openings, Alton Towers and Merlin in general are 2nd best to Disney, and almost every other international theme park operator with late opening.
Ian
Its a vicious circle, as others have said, the park needs to spend more, and reap the benefits of it. Now, I am not expecting them to go crazy, as the more you spend, the less profit you generate, but the event should be getting better each year, not worse, which is currently the case.
A third and fourth hotel should be on the cards, and the increased capacity, will mean more hotel guests, and more people stopping until later in the evening. Later opening hours will also increase the number of guests who think about stopping over, instead of leaving early to drive home.
Last years Scarefest was a disappointment for me, and not something I would recommend to anyone. From the sounds of things, this year is going to be worse.
Seeing and remembering going to other parks with late openings, Alton Towers and Merlin in general are 2nd best to Disney, and almost every other international theme park operator with late opening.
Ian
Tom
TS Member
These sort of cuts are short-sighted because ultimately people won't come back a sthey are having less memorable experiences. They are actually jeopardising the park's future in the long term because income will be down in future years a s aresult of less visits.
Guest experience is the ultimate generator of revue and the ultimate securer of a theme park's future. There is a reason why smaller parks are trying to create highly-themed investments recently and why such parks are surving this recession.
Guest experience is the ultimate generator of revue and the ultimate securer of a theme park's future. There is a reason why smaller parks are trying to create highly-themed investments recently and why such parks are surving this recession.
Rob
TS Team
Scarefest is turning into a bit of a joke now really. Year on year there are cuts, and the event has got worse each year since 2010. I have zero excitement for Scarefest this year, I'm really not expecting much at all. It's a shame as usually it's something to really look forward to. It's the only real event at the park, they should be making a lot more of it than they do.
It's really frustrating seeing this happening - it seems to be linked to the amount of guests on park rather than anything else.
Would people not bother booking hotels that week when they could be having 2hrs extra free the week after? Or at least not willing to pay the same pricing? Would the mazes be affected, as everyone naturally wants to use those in the dark, leading to excessive queues at end of the day or only the later tickets being fully sold for paid mazes?
We see this every year with the week before scarefest - the 5pm closes. The park is a ghost town. Why? Because they have extra hours with more attractions/events for the same cost the week later.
Surely all this is doing is making the quiet week even quieter, pushing more guests to visit on the busier weeks putting strain on the park for that week, whilst lowering everyones enjoyment of the park and those heavenly KPI scores they seem to care so much about. Return rates? Why would you want to return to do scarefest again if it's absolutely heaving?
Instead of cutting opening hours, why don't they look to cutting the staffing hours or reducing select attractions during the quieter week? Many a time you can walk around the farm and cuckoo land at 7pm to see it deserted, and visit the coasters to see them walk on with full staffing. Reduce the staffing as the park gets quieter and close the empty areas. Logical surely? Or is that too much effort to ensure the event succeeds?
Would people not bother booking hotels that week when they could be having 2hrs extra free the week after? Or at least not willing to pay the same pricing? Would the mazes be affected, as everyone naturally wants to use those in the dark, leading to excessive queues at end of the day or only the later tickets being fully sold for paid mazes?
We see this every year with the week before scarefest - the 5pm closes. The park is a ghost town. Why? Because they have extra hours with more attractions/events for the same cost the week later.
Surely all this is doing is making the quiet week even quieter, pushing more guests to visit on the busier weeks putting strain on the park for that week, whilst lowering everyones enjoyment of the park and those heavenly KPI scores they seem to care so much about. Return rates? Why would you want to return to do scarefest again if it's absolutely heaving?
Instead of cutting opening hours, why don't they look to cutting the staffing hours or reducing select attractions during the quieter week? Many a time you can walk around the farm and cuckoo land at 7pm to see it deserted, and visit the coasters to see them walk on with full staffing. Reduce the staffing as the park gets quieter and close the empty areas. Logical surely? Or is that too much effort to ensure the event succeeds?
AstroDan
TS Team
There's a few changes to be made on the Scarefest page of the AT website here.
You won't actually be able to "ride into the dark" or ride "till late" particularly at all on those days when it closes at 7pm; as it is actually only just about dark at that time.
It's only once the clocks go back that it's dark at 5.30/6pm.
A lot of guests who have visited these past few years for Scarefest, and do go on these days, are going to be very disappointed when it closes at 7pm; and they've been accustomed to 9pm (hell, remember the days of the Boiler House / Field till MIDNIGHT!?) for the past 6 years...
You won't actually be able to "ride into the dark" or ride "till late" particularly at all on those days when it closes at 7pm; as it is actually only just about dark at that time.
It's only once the clocks go back that it's dark at 5.30/6pm.
A lot of guests who have visited these past few years for Scarefest, and do go on these days, are going to be very disappointed when it closes at 7pm; and they've been accustomed to 9pm (hell, remember the days of the Boiler House / Field till MIDNIGHT!?) for the past 6 years...
Plastic Person
TS Member
The event has gotten more and more popular over six years and the investment and hours have been cut year on year. I was visiting the park regularly around 2004, during the dark days of DIC, and this is very possible worse than then. It's completely unacceptable and frankly bizarre for a park of Alton's stature to make these sort of decisions. Is the marketing budget dry too? Awful stuff.
From the events page on the offical website:
"What you need to know about Scarefest
The Theme Park is open each day from 10am- till late throughout the event. Early Ride Time is not available during this period. "
Yep, thats right, open until late throughout the event. 7pm is so late isnt it!!!
"What you need to know about Scarefest
The Theme Park is open each day from 10am- till late throughout the event. Early Ride Time is not available during this period. "
Yep, thats right, open until late throughout the event. 7pm is so late isnt it!!!