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Stargazing Pods

They have covered all the paths in street lighting, not to mention the light from from the huge flood lights in the car parks. Even if you could actually stargaze out of these, you would struggle massively from the sheer amount of light pollution the resort gives off.

What an absolute joke.

I am struggling to find anything positive to say about Merlin these days, this upsets me. But it is what it is.
 
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I still wouldnt pay £80 a night when there are so many better alternatives in the local area.

Anyone notice how dirty the inside of the pod was in Shawns video from walking on the wet grass outside. How the heck are they going to keep these things clean when they cant even keep the hotel rooms clean?
 
Benjsh said:
I watched it an hour ago. Shawn was his usual polite self but you can see in his face and in his summary at the end of the video that he knows it's awful. He just can't say that it is as he likes Towers giving him access to preview and press events. It's a bit of dilemma for him. He can't bite the hand that feeds him too much.

I think he might even receive money from parks these days to attend and post positive reviews of new attractions on his channel. Clever from the parks too if they do. Very cheap advertising for them.
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It's not clever. It's just taking advantage of people who value money/free trips more than honesty and integrity in reporting.
 
Don’t these “influencers” have to state if they’ve received payment / freebies?

Any completely positive review of the sheds is suspicious, they should all be calling Towers out over pricing of these “budget” sheds. I know someone will fire back but you are paying a premium for staying on site, but they are still massively overpriced even with that taken into account.
 
BarryZola said:
It's not clever. It's just taking advantage of people who value money/free trips more than honesty and integrity in reporting.
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Clever from the Parks point of view. I thought that was pretty clear by me adding ''Cheap advertising for them'.
 
ringo said:
Don’t these “influencers” have to state if they’ve received payment / freebies?
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Basically, it has to be obvious yes. "They invited me out here" is YouTuber for "This is an ad"

The ASA guidelines
https://www.asa.org.uk/news/new-guidance-launched-for-social-influencers.html

I don't see it was taking advantage any more than Alton towers takes advantage of TV channels who play their adverts. The vloggers get paid for the content they produce, insights like this get views, people want to see it.

If a park wishes to force good quality ads on vloggers they usually say "no photos, we'll provide you with a press pack with footage and photos for you to edit into your videos".

Edit for clarity : they get paid from their views, not necessarily the parks. It's in an influencers best interest to get a first look, as they get a lot of views, and therefore earn more money. The parks generally provide free tickets or accommodation, which can be considered a form of payment, and best practice is to say yes we were invited here.
 
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BarryZola said:
It's not clever. It's just taking advantage of people who value money/free trips more than honesty and integrity in reporting.
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I dont think Shaun gets any money from the parks. He does get a press pass so he gets free entry to the event in return for his vlog, but, to be fair to him, he is critical and not always positive about what the park(s) are doing. He has been quite critical of Towers in the past, and i think gives a fair balanced report on the sheds, sorry, I mean pods.
 
Some people on this forum seem so obsessed with Shawn, wanting to discuss his videos at any possible opportunity. Jealousy perhap? I don't know.

Either way, Alton Towers do not pay fansites to come along and give positive reviews. And let's stay on the topic of the Stargazing Pods rather than how other fansites go about their business.

Thanks.
 
There was a ruling about a month ago where real A-Listers have to declare on Instagram if they are in a "paid partnership" with anyone they are posting about.

Whilst this does not apply to vloggers, many - such as Shawn - are quite clear that they have been invited to the park by Alton Towers, so they're on a freebie / press event.
 
Error said:
Crofty, cmon man £80 a night? that isn't like you, you aren't yourself.
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Haha. I ADMIT I did have a beer or two before writing that. But I think it's honestly a fair price that I would pay (and any of you who have met me know i'm a tight arse)
£20pppn with a bap and golf and ERT sounds like a good deal to me. If you compare it to these pods elsewhere that generally go for around £60 per night.

I think if I was offered this deal for £80 or a Prem Inn for £60 I would definitely choose the sheds.
 
Shawn buys a Merlin Pass every year, as do a lot of the other vloggers.

They get invited to the "Meet the Makers" events as well. So, they're not getting "free" entry to the parks, but they are getting the full press tour of new attractions. So it's not really a "paid partership", at least not by the letter of the law
 
Its about the 'payment' from views though that is the issue. Exclusive vids = More youtube income. If you give a bad review then you risk getting those exclusive videos.
Anyway as Rob wanted us to get back on topic...

I think Theme Park Worldwide video did highlight some of the issues we have been discussing here for months and highlighted some more. The dirty wet floors is a big one. The lack of toilet/wash facilities and their distance from the pods. The missed opportunity of installing a decent play park on the village green.

I Think a really nice play area is badly needed and it could be themed as an observatory or a slide in a massive telescope. If I recall the dis-chanted village does have some basic equipment? I think it's about time they spent out on something decent.
 
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Mikw said:
Shawn buys a Merlin Pass every year, as do a lot of the other vloggers.

They get invited to the "Meet the Makers" events as well. So, they're not getting "free" entry to the parks, but they are getting the full press tour of new attractions. So it's not really a "paid partership", at least not by the letter of the law
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Under the letter of the law money does not need to change hands for it to be considered a "paid partnership".
 
One thing mentioned in Shawn's video was how much space under the bed there was for storing cases etc. It sounded like the void went back the full length and width of the bed. Now, that might be good for storage but I dread to think how easy that is to clean. Who knows what detritus will be under there by the end of the season... probably best not to look!
 
Alsty said:
One thing mentioned in Shawn's video was how much space under the bed there was for storing cases etc. It sounded like the void went back the full length and width of the bed. Now, that might be good for storage but I dread to think how easy that is to clean. Who knows what detritus will be under there by the end of the season... probably best not to look!
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There's a fair bit of height to be able to clean under there, so don't think it should be too much of a problem. It is worth noting that there's a heater and fusebox underneath the right hand side bed though, so not quite full width on both!
 
Alsty said:
One thing mentioned in Shawn's video was how much space under the bed there was for storing cases etc. It sounded like the void went back the full length and width of the bed. Now, that might be good for storage but I dread to think how easy that is to clean. Who knows what detritus will be under there by the end of the season... probably best not to look!
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Well the easy to clean hotel rooms are hit and miss with regards to cleanliness so who knows!

Last time at ATH our room was disgusting, last time at splash or room was fine. Just so many inconsistencies across the resort in every area
 
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