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Selected rides opening from 11:00am - Reversed

Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Wobble World is 12-4 apparently. Not that anyone goes on it anyway..

As for all the list.. it's still only Air and Thirteen which have the problems. Not quite sure why they've closed thirteen when it only uses 9 staff (which is little for the big rides) and is only in its 3rd season.. and unsure why air isn't just staffing for one station until 11 or so instead either.

If these two were open, the cuts wouldn't really affect anyone and people just wouldn't mind.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I don't get how Thorpe can manage to only close a handful of smaller rides, and no coasters, when their season is far and away worse than Alton Towers'.

:(
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Perhaps the logic is that Air and Thirteen are more family-oriented rides, and most families will not get there by 11 anyway or will not want to ride the major coasters first? I imagine they have some sound logic on making this decision, it can't be as random as some on here are making out.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

We're stuck in a vicious cycle now, Merlin make a cut, we complain, they remove the cut and put in a new one, no one can win :-\
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Will they change the website?
thirteens page boasts about getting early ride time when you book online.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

To be fair, thirteen isn't nor was it on ERT. These changes begin from Monday, so they may update the site then.

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Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Charlee said:
We're stuck in a vicious cycle now, Merlin make a cut, we complain, they remove the cut and put in a new one, no one can win :-\
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And this was always going to continue... Until now. I think it's fairly safe to say that this will be the cut that sticks.

I'd love to be proved wrong, and if they face a public backlash then things may change, but I think that this will be the cut that stays with us.

The sooner Merlin float the better.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I can only echo what others are saying about Air. It wouldn't affect me, really, because I'm not that keen on Air and don't make much of an effort to rush to it at 10am, but it goes without saying that there will be a lot of disappointed people at the far side of Forbidden Valley come Monday!

Saying that, when I was there at the beginning of the season air was pretty much walk-on at 11am. A sight I've never seen before.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I suppose the distance from the entrance may have played some role in this decision.

Disappointing, but whatever.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Thing is, should we be seeing such a decline in park figures in a time where more people than before are choosing to vacation here rather than going abroad?

It's a spiral of decline. Two seasons ('10 and '11) of poorly-received attractions (if any at all) at the UK's three flagship theme parks, combined with far-from-modest gate price increases and a definite shift in atmosphere at the parks towards taking every last penny is starting to show its effect. And whilst this may just be a symptoms of Merlin parks, the sheer percentage of the market that Merlin own is enough to influence public perception of theme parks across the board. It's the telltale signs of short-term strategies which don't properly consider the effects in the longer term.

It's a real shame, considering that The Swarm and Sub-Terra are attractions which the public should be flocking to, but it will take just as many seasons, if not more, to repair the damage. One thing for sure, though, tarnishing the guest experience further with reduced ride opening times and other cost-cutting endeavours will not solve the problem.

And it's certainly hard to justify the budget cuts across the Resort Theme Parks division when Merlin are spending millions and millions and millions on throwing the mediocre midway brands into every corner of the earth.

This disappoints me so much :(
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Well I did say that if some rides opened later I would be ok with it so I can’t complain. I do think that Air and Th13teen are the wrong ride’s to open later. At the very least they could have chosen Oblivion which is a throughput monster so would be able to cope with a later opening. Of course ideally I think all the coasters should open at 10 (if not earlier). Also I’m baffled as to why this includes peak days as well as off-peak.

I suppose though that of all the cost cuttings schemes so far I find this the least offensive.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Rick said:
I suppose the distance from the entrance may have played some role in this decision.

Disappointing, but whatever.
Click to expand...

Could be. How many people spend an hour going on rides closest to the park entrance before walking to the furthest points (with the biggest attractions), though?

Tim said:
I suppose though that of all the cost cuttings schemes so far I find this the least offensive.
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True. Personally, anyway. Unsure if the general public will see it that way. Better than a full Skyride close!
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Well, this is exciting! TST's first 'Alton Towers Bad Decision' thread! (anyone think they snuck this decision through while the Alton Towers fansites are in a state of flux? Well, we still noticed!)

Anyway, this is annoying but not the end of the world. Certainly, it's better than the early closing decision, and the no Skyride decision. If you plan your day well, it shouldn't affect the amount of rides you can fit into a day at all (especially, as, thankfully, the Skyride WILL be running!). But it's not great.

Will be interesting to see how things go next year with SW7: maybe with the increased visitors the ride will hopefully bring, they'll be able to have the whole park operating properly. Or maybe they'll use the new ride as an excuse to close more of the old rides.
 
Selected rides opening from 11:00am

What is saddening (and something I only just realised while getting caught up in the thread) is that we are even finding ways to justify this at all.

I know this is the most pleasing way for the park to make cuts but the fact is that we shouldn't need to be in a position to be justifying these decisions. Whilst this may be the best of all the cost-cutting so far, I can't be the only person who thinks that there shouldn't be any cost-cutting at all...

Towers should not be being put in a position where it is physically unable to open fully for a whole day and Merlin's tight profit margins are crippling their Theme Parks. If something does not change soon, we will see more drastic problems appearing no doubt.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I think we all agreed after the Skyride and early closing farce that rides opening later in the day would have been much more acceptable. Can't help but wonder if we've had an impact on this decision.

Regardless, the one thing I don't get is why the cuts are necessary. Guest attendance figures are fairly average are they not, but they've been plugging this new Sub Terra ride so surely that must be bringing people into the park this year? Granted it won't be as big a pull as a new SW but should still be keeping guest numbers up.

Then you've got the increased gate price, increased parking, more upsells on park than ever and they've also been adding more of their own branded food outlets. Given all of that I find it impossible to believe that profits are lower and require cuts.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

PeteB said:
Then you've got the increased gate price, increased parking, more upsells on park than ever and they've also been adding more of their own branded food outlets. Given all of that I find it impossible to believe that profits are lower and require cuts.
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Visitor numbers have been down big style this year, so this counteracts the increased cost for parking. Although there is more upsells, it doesn't actually mean they are selling more stuff either.

We've seen an increase in the gate price, but we've also seen the '40% off' offer extended twice now, which will be hitting profits. Alton Towers Trips has also just announced that they offering tickets at cost price - £20.40 - so although they gate price is high, the price being paid, and the income being generated is much lower.

Things make looke rosey from the outside, but on closer inspectiom, it's not always the case. :'(
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Danielle said:
Rick said:
I suppose the distance from the entrance may have played some role in this decision.
Disappointing, but whatever.
Click to expand...
Could be. How many people spend an hour going on rides closest to the park entrance before walking to the furthest points (with the biggest attractions), though?
Click to expand...
There's still enough rides and attractions to keep people busy, surely.

I do wonder if the policy is flexible though. For instance, if Nemesis is down for whatever reason at opening - can they open Air instead or will it still be being tested or perhaps waiting on staff who are trained to run it to arrive?
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Rick said:
Danielle said:
Rick said:
I suppose the distance from the entrance may have played some role in this decision.
Disappointing, but whatever.
Click to expand...
Could be. How many people spend an hour going on rides closest to the park entrance before walking to the furthest points (with the biggest attractions), though?
Click to expand...
There's still enough rides and attractions to keep people busy, surely.
Click to expand...

Oh, there's plenty to do. I mean, it's not as if they're keeping all of the major attractions closed during the first hour. I just know, from experience, that some people like to head straight to FV to do Air with no ridiculous queues first. I'm well into my Nemesis/Oblivion runs by 11am, so wouldn't bother about heading over to Air afterwards when the queues have already taken hold. Like I said, though, not a problem - Air isn't a must-do ride for me. And, to be fair, apart from the annoyance of being told it's closed on arrival, are the general public really going to miss the extra hour? At least there are other attractions in the same areas of the park to keep them occupied.
 
Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Danielle, It's a bummer for guests with ERT... I'll quite often go and whore Nemmy during ERT before joining the Air queue just before 10 so I can get an early ride or two on Air.

Although it may not effect you, there will be people in similar situations to me when visiting who then either have the choice of hanging around for an hour with not a lot to do (as I don't like Ripsaw or Blade) or going off to a different area of the park and coming back later.

The same applies to those that ERT whore Rita before waiting for Th13teen to open.
 
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