• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Selected rides opening from 11:00am - Reversed

Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

mrbrightside said:
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.
Click to expand...

That's what I meant when I mentioned that I'm already way into my Nemesis/Oblivion whoring by 11 (having done what you do yourself - joining Air's queue for 10), so would have to come back to Air/TH13TEEN later and probably wouldn't do so because of the queues that would have already formed.

I was referring more to the general public who are quite open to joining a 2 hour queue for Air - will joining it an hour later matter to them?
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I don't genuinely think Merlin's overall motives are good, i think the fact that cuts where suggested before this season started certainly indicate there was an ulterior motive... (stock market float)

HOWEVER since then the whole industry has been hit hard by low guest figures, as said above i think that's due in part by silly decisions (and Merlin are not the only ones... Drayton have a similar problem). But if there is any theme park i have sympathy for (and i swear this isn't fan-boy related) its Alton Towers because it is a money pit. If Towers make these cuts (plan 3 this year) then i really have to consider that it may be needed. Oddly enough despite being the Number 1 theme park in the UK it has never been that profitable, it is maintained because companies are scared to sell it and potentially see someone else make a financial success of it.

I don't agree with any of these late closures in principle, but assuming something has to give i can forgive FOR ONE SEASON ONLY the late opening of every ride on that list except Air and Th13teen (especially Air due to the queues she generates). That said this season Alton Towers has been i think the strongest park of any and Merlin need to see that potential.

I think members here are more accepting of this situation not due to any fanboyism but because we just can't seem to get beyond the cuts and instead feel we have to acknowledge they have (bar Air and Th13teen) taken an option that affects guests the least.

At the end of the day its a few years late but the recession has finally caught up with the UK leisure industry.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

What I find frustrating is that my visits usually start at one corner, then I work my way round. If I don't start at Dark Forest, it'll be Forbidden Valley. So its a bit of a pain that they've decided to do this. I suppose only an hour isn't that bad in the grand scheme of things, but its still annoying.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Well I think we've all been expecting another cut one way or another.

From a personal point of view the only thing that really disappoints me is the fact Th13teen is closed. We usually whore Rita in ERT and then wait for Th13teen to open at 10am.

I'm not defending the cuts but it begs the question what are Altons operating costs and how much will this ultimnately save them?
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

smidgey said:
Well I think we've all been expecting another cut one way or another.

From a personal point of view the only thing that really disappoints me is the fact Th13teen is closed. We usually whore Rita in ERT and then wait for Th13teen to open at 10am.

I'm not defending the cuts but it begs the question what are Altons operating costs and how much will this ultimnately save them?
Click to expand...

I would envisage that it saves sufficient funds to make it viable. It's clear that Merlin wanted to keep all of the areas of the park open even if it means only one major ride in that area, they probably think that the perception of a whole area being closed until 11 would be worse than just one ride.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

The way some people are acting... "Woe is me, the sky is falling..." This is just another excuse to add to your list of hating Merlin... And for no good reason to be honest.

Think about this logically, how is this affecting a normal guests day?...

Not at all...

How is this affecting an enthusiasts day?

Not that much... You have to alter when to whore air in the morning...

Another cost cut eh? They've been told to cost cut, they have a figure they have to make at the end of the day, it is a business owned by a sole money making company.

They have listened to their fans and got rid of all the previous cost cutting options, but at the end of the day they have a financial goal,

if they do not reach that goal, the company in charge will most likely throttle the costs in later years.

And this is probably one of the best way to do it,

I think the line up they chose is a very odd one... I would say close the whole back of the park till 11, so dark forest, CCL and hex... You can whore valley and X sector... Till it opens.

To be honest, blind Merlin haters are just as annoying as blind Merlin fanboys.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

What I don't understand is why close the popular attractions?! If they have to close some attractions then fine, until the wizard is killed there is nothing anyone can do. But open the rides at 11 which don't have a queue before then anyway, such as Oblivion, Submission and Enterprise, and keep the popular ones open.

I don't know who comes up with these decisions but you'd think they'd make better choices about what to do.
 
Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Why not close smaller rides till 11.
2 of the major coasters seems a bit overkill.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Fredward it will affect normal guests Alton Towers is one of the largest themeparks in Europe (in square footage of space) yet has the shortest opening times of the major parks. Its now hard for guests to navigate the park and get on everything without back-tracking.

That said i agree with you that its the better option of all of the ones thrown at us this year.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

That is a valid point, but most gets don't seem to arrive on park till about 10.30 by the time they have done nemesis or Rita, th13teen and air would most likely have opened... (guess work! :p)

As I said I don't entirely agree with there decision of which rides to close... But fundamentally this isn't the worst move.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

So some rides open at 10 and some 11, from now until the end of Aug what time does the park close? Or actually the queue line?

Seems this will surely have a knock on effect on staffing hours as what are all these staff going to do?
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

It may do... But it may also be better for staff, by the sounds of things a lot of staff got shafted after the 4pm closure because a lot got less hours overall in the week once they changed back to 5, due to staffing budget set for an hour less each day.

Perhaps this means the teams on these later openers could go back to the original schedule and get better hours?
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

I don't think two of the main rollercoasters should be shut hopefully it will blow over like the sky ride situation a few weeks back. But will have to see what happens
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Not great news as ideally we want all rides open all day but i can see why they have done it! Alton needs to cut costs and this option is far better than some of the other options that have been put forward! I find when i visit Alton its not until 10:30/11:00 when most people enter the park! They aim to get there for 10 but by the time they have parked, got on the monorail, bought tickets and get into the park its 10:30 or later. Also they then tend to head for the nearest ride, this being spinball, etc which is why the queue is always so long. Air and Thirteen are a fair walk away from the entrance so people dont tend to walk all the way over to these rides first, especially Air which is why the first hour of the day Air normally has a small queue!

So i can see the thinking behind this, i think its a much better cost cutting idea compared to the others and personally its not going to affect my day!
 
Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Fredward said:
To be honest, blind Merlin haters are just as annoying as blind Merlin fanboys.
Click to expand...
But it isn't 'blind Merlin haters' is it? This is a decision which is admittedly the best they have come up with, but it is a decision that should not be happening at the UKs top theme park whose parent company want to compete at the highest level!

It's not blind hate, just logical.
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Dave said:
Fredward it will affect normal guests Alton Towers is one of the largest themeparks in Europe (in square footage of space) yet has the shortest opening times of the major parks. Its now hard for guests to navigate the park and get on everything without back-tracking.
Click to expand...

That is a very good point. I was speaking to a guest yesterday in the Sub-Terra single rider queue and he was saying how when you have a family it is so hard to get all of the park done in one day, as the kids want to do things that the parents don't and vice versa. I think he was on park for 2 days and was saying that the only way he found it manageable was doing one side of the park one day and the other side the next. Now obviously this isn't the case for everyone but clearly it is for some, and having major rides such as Air and Thirteen opening later isn't exactly going to help.

That said, if cuts are needed they are needed, and this is the best of the lot so far. I just wish it didn't include 2 major coasters.

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

Its only an hour though, if you head over to forbidden valley first thing for example by the time you have gone on Nemesis, Sub Terra and Ripsaw Air will have opened! So people wont have to back track and the only thing i can see this delayed opening time will affect is the order some people will of wanted to go on the rides!
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

This is poor, they should at least close one area until 11, instead of certain rides dotted around the place. Let me give an example.

After an hour of whoring Nemesis in ERT, you ride N:ST when it opens. However, when you do that, you can'r ride Air. Because you can't do any of nearby water rides or Duel, then you have to go, by the skyride, to Dark Forest. You ride Rita, and then wait for Thirteen to open. When you ride that, all the queues are massive, and when going back to FV, you have to wait 30 minutes at least. Unbelievably frustrating.
 
Selected rides opening from 11:00am

Matt H said:
Its only an hour though, if you head over to forbidden valley first thing for example by the time you have gone on Nemesis, Sub Terra and Ripsaw Air will have opened! So people wont have to back track and the only thing i can see this delayed opening time will affect is the order some people will of wanted to go on the rides!
Click to expand...
If you're there during ERT then by the time it hits 10 you will have already done Nemmy. A quick ride on Sub Terra won't take you up to 11 o clock and yes, the flats will be open but for people like me who don't like them.- you're stuck. No Skyride. No duel. No rapids. Nothing else down there for an hour! Frustrating indeed!
 
Re: Selected rides opening from 11:00am

siralgenon said:
What I don't understand is why close the popular attractions?!
Click to expand...

I would jump out and assume that Air and Th13teen have the most expensive hardware/software running costs. They are the two most technologically advanced rides on park. So I guess that's why? Although they are only opening an hour (or two) later than usual, so there can't be that much of a cost being saved? Just my guesswork.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top