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Stargazing Pods
- Thread starter Matt N
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- stargazing pods
Doublethink
TS Member
Got to get people buying the bottled water at £2 each!
Just seen this in the local rag... https://www.nottinghampost.com/news/local-news/250000-luxury-camping-site-opens-2769826
Sure, on a lot smaller scale than the Stargazing Pods. Way better pod size, way better facilities, way better pricing etc. Merlin take note! BBQ's & kitchen area too so you can self-cater... aah, but that would dent the profits of Merlin's "quality catering outlets".
Sure, on a lot smaller scale than the Stargazing Pods. Way better pod size, way better facilities, way better pricing etc. Merlin take note! BBQ's & kitchen area too so you can self-cater... aah, but that would dent the profits of Merlin's "quality catering outlets".
AT86
TS Member
So the reviews continue to roll in.
In the interests of balance there are handful of good reviews but these seem to be far outweighed by the negative ones and don’t give much detail. This is evident in the overall star rating versus the other accommodation, even if it is early days.
It seems there has been a big oversight in the availability of drinking water, some drinking fountains on the facilities building could fix that pretty quickly though, if they can be bothered.
Even the taps in the toilet block are mixer taps so you end up brushing your teeth in warm water. Just more evidence on the lack of thought that went into this whole development.
In the interests of balance there are handful of good reviews but these seem to be far outweighed by the negative ones and don’t give much detail. This is evident in the overall star rating versus the other accommodation, even if it is early days.
It seems there has been a big oversight in the availability of drinking water, some drinking fountains on the facilities building could fix that pretty quickly though, if they can be bothered.
Even the taps in the toilet block are mixer taps so you end up brushing your teeth in warm water. Just more evidence on the lack of thought that went into this whole development.
Stuntman707
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
It's concerning to hear there are only 6 toilets per sex. Health and Safety rules dictate a minimum of 5 toilets per 100 people so there should be at least 10 per sex. The reviews echo exactly everyone's concerns about this on here though.
djtruefitt
TS Team
I’ve had a look at towers Tripadvisor, and overall they’ve had a fairly good few days, except when you see the pod reviews.
Biggest complaint I’ve seen is about breakfast, people saying they’ve had to queue 40 mins for a reheated cold bap. Someone even said they gave up waiting and didn’t bother.
Then again how they ever thought serving 400 bacon rolls would ever be easy, especially when most guests will want to be at the park for 9.30 for ert.
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Biggest complaint I’ve seen is about breakfast, people saying they’ve had to queue 40 mins for a reheated cold bap. Someone even said they gave up waiting and didn’t bother.
Then again how they ever thought serving 400 bacon rolls would ever be easy, especially when most guests will want to be at the park for 9.30 for ert.
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speedy
TS Member
Yeah if that's accurate that's really poor, cooking bacon rolls on a largel scale arge r isn't difficult! I don't think I've ever had to queue for a hotel breakfast before. At least breakfast is included though!
RicketyCricket
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Taron
Vick Narney on Rogue Traders please.
Croftybaby
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I may book if I get the chance to see the moon!
Imagine the Rogue traders team chasing Varney up the Stargazing path (no innuendo) he almost trips on a dodgy bit of crappy tarmac, the team and cameras nearly catch him before he dives into one of the pods and theres Matt Albright in his Yummy Mummy disguise costume trying to pry the door open. "VARNEY, WE ONLY WANT A WORD ABOUT THE BAPS!"
Imagine the Rogue traders team chasing Varney up the Stargazing path (no innuendo) he almost trips on a dodgy bit of crappy tarmac, the team and cameras nearly catch him before he dives into one of the pods and theres Matt Albright in his Yummy Mummy disguise costume trying to pry the door open. "VARNEY, WE ONLY WANT A WORD ABOUT THE BAPS!"
Now if Alton had somewhere like Loonsche land at Efteling then that would be amazing I just stayed they a much bigger than I expected and you can self cater if you wish, I booked early and got 4 nights and 5 days park for a family of 4 for just over £700 pounds they are dearer if you don’t get a deal tho , but are on a whole other level to anything merlin offers
Error
TS Member
I've no sympathy for those that have paid over the odds to stay in those pod thingy's and not had a great stay. It was clearly foreseeable
Completely agree.
Rob
TS Team
- Favourite Ride
- Steel Vengeance
And I've seen a review that said that the water was piping hot rather than warm. I real oversite considering that the sinks are not simply for washing your hands in these facilities.
I've no sympathy for those that have paid over the odds to stay in those pod thingy's and not had a great stay. It was clearly foreseeable
I agree to an extent. However some people may have booked them purely based on Alton Towers' own marketing campaign and without the knowledge that we all have on here. These people were always going to be greatly disappointed as you would expect more space for the price you are paying, better facilities and opportunities other than one or two cheap telescopes for stargazing.
Craig
TS Administrator
Agree with this, the price vs what you're getting as a product is completely and utterly wrong! One thing that's easy to forget too, is that for many Alton Towers is a one or two times a year visit, and due to the distance it's necessary to stay on resort. For example, it's a 6 hour round trip for me to go to Towers. That's fine for me as I'm more than used to it, but for a family with kids, not so much.
Going back to the tipi side of things, as some may have seen on Facebook I was in Liverpool on Sunday and funnily enough ended up in a tipi having a drink. Naturally, we all made an instant comparison to Alton Towers. Using @Sammy's picture as a comparison:
Stargazing Pods:
Hippie Chic Liverpool:
Proper flooring, proper seats, fairy lights and props and more importantly heating and air conditioning too. There's even a photo opportunity in the middle - essential in my view to encourage others to visit in the days of social media. Aside from the entrance arch, there's not much opportunity for this at Stargazing Pods! This place is what Towers should have aimed for rather than what we have now which seems completely and utterly devoid of any atmosphere. Half the stuff in the Liverpool picture I'm sure they'll have lying around in storage somewhere anyway, this isn't expensive stuff! Instead we've just ended up with a blatant rush job.
It's a complete own goal too, spend money on creating a decent experience and guests will stick around and spend their cash. Instead we've got what we have, and people will quite literally walk in, see the place and walk right back out again.
Let's just remind ourselves on Towers track record when it comes to major infrastructure projects...
1994 - Nemesis - opened on time, but Towers grossly underestimated the demand & were running night shifts rapidly building additional queuelines.
1996 - Alton Towers Hotel – think they actually pulled this one off on-time.
1998 - Oblivion - opened on time [but only just] but the ride and X-Sector area were barely finished. Construction workers quickly leaving the area as guests arrived [as witnessed on BBC “Magic Factory”]. Ride suffered horrendous downtime throughout the first season.
2000 - Hex - opened on time, albeit with a complete rush-job final theme with Prof Graham Nicholson, that was rubbish. Theme was changed within a couple of months of opening - probably back to the original plan they had been unable to get done in time.
2002 - Air - opened on time [just], but like Oblivion, the area was not ready & workmen were still leaving the area as guests were arriving. The ride was far from ready [even the B&M / Consign AG engineers admitted this] and downtime in the first few months was horrendous.
2003 – Splash Landings – a/k/a Crash Landings. Opened [just] for the marketing / press PR event, then promptly closed for two weeks for the hotel & waterpark to be actually finished.
2004 – Spinball Whizzer – opened on time, but fairly promptly closed due to safety issues [collapsing evacuation platform / staircase] on the sister ride, Dragons Fury at Chessington.
2005 – Now we saw some sense from Towers, i.e. not being hell-bent on having the new ride open for day 1 of the new Season. Rita opened 2-3 weeks after the park, initially one one train the 2nd train following soon after.
2006 – Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – another cock-up. They grossly under-estimated demand & had to introduce “family hours” [that were not policed] to try and ensure the target market could ride it without a horrendous queue.
2010 – Th13teen – they managed to pull this one off pretty well.
2013 – The Smiler – opened later than planned, hardly unexpected as even enthusiasts inexperienced in construction could clearly see they had started to build it way too late. (Towers, of course, blamed the bad Winter weather). The rest is history – botched surveying (look at the X-Sector toilets roof that has been hacked off), bits falling off the ride onto the queue & this is before “the obvious”. Again, demand grossly underestimated & temporary queuelines quickly added.
2018 – Wicker man – all credit to Towers, they really pulled it off here. Brilliant ride with amazing theming. The opening day fiasco has to be put aside due to the weather, which is obviously beyond Towers control. There were, however reliability issues.
2019 – Stargazing Pods – the less said the better! Opened on time but the initial reviews say it all.
Based on the above, we have 3 major infrastructure projects opening on-time with few / if any issues. 2 opening late / with major issues. 6 opening on-time, but with on-going gremlins that affected the first season of operation in a big way.
Hardly a glowing school report for the UK’s No1 Theme Park… run by the company that is second only to Disney remember!
1994 - Nemesis - opened on time, but Towers grossly underestimated the demand & were running night shifts rapidly building additional queuelines.
1996 - Alton Towers Hotel – think they actually pulled this one off on-time.
1998 - Oblivion - opened on time [but only just] but the ride and X-Sector area were barely finished. Construction workers quickly leaving the area as guests arrived [as witnessed on BBC “Magic Factory”]. Ride suffered horrendous downtime throughout the first season.
2000 - Hex - opened on time, albeit with a complete rush-job final theme with Prof Graham Nicholson, that was rubbish. Theme was changed within a couple of months of opening - probably back to the original plan they had been unable to get done in time.
2002 - Air - opened on time [just], but like Oblivion, the area was not ready & workmen were still leaving the area as guests were arriving. The ride was far from ready [even the B&M / Consign AG engineers admitted this] and downtime in the first few months was horrendous.
2003 – Splash Landings – a/k/a Crash Landings. Opened [just] for the marketing / press PR event, then promptly closed for two weeks for the hotel & waterpark to be actually finished.
2004 – Spinball Whizzer – opened on time, but fairly promptly closed due to safety issues [collapsing evacuation platform / staircase] on the sister ride, Dragons Fury at Chessington.
2005 – Now we saw some sense from Towers, i.e. not being hell-bent on having the new ride open for day 1 of the new Season. Rita opened 2-3 weeks after the park, initially one one train the 2nd train following soon after.
2006 – Charlie & the Chocolate Factory – another cock-up. They grossly under-estimated demand & had to introduce “family hours” [that were not policed] to try and ensure the target market could ride it without a horrendous queue.
2010 – Th13teen – they managed to pull this one off pretty well.
2013 – The Smiler – opened later than planned, hardly unexpected as even enthusiasts inexperienced in construction could clearly see they had started to build it way too late. (Towers, of course, blamed the bad Winter weather). The rest is history – botched surveying (look at the X-Sector toilets roof that has been hacked off), bits falling off the ride onto the queue & this is before “the obvious”. Again, demand grossly underestimated & temporary queuelines quickly added.
2018 – Wicker man – all credit to Towers, they really pulled it off here. Brilliant ride with amazing theming. The opening day fiasco has to be put aside due to the weather, which is obviously beyond Towers control. There were, however reliability issues.
2019 – Stargazing Pods – the less said the better! Opened on time but the initial reviews say it all.
Based on the above, we have 3 major infrastructure projects opening on-time with few / if any issues. 2 opening late / with major issues. 6 opening on-time, but with on-going gremlins that affected the first season of operation in a big way.
Hardly a glowing school report for the UK’s No1 Theme Park… run by the company that is second only to Disney remember!