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Stargazing Pods

You know it is bad when the councillors, who are normally so supportive of the park, are against a development. I am not surprised though; the changes they made to the layout and the scrapping of some support facilities, all to save money, turned this development from something half decent to something lousy and poorly thought out.

JB1985 said:
Ok so design and plan a magical wooden cross valley coaster - rejection as it’s too wild and out of keeping with the area

Design some pods in a circular layout - I.e sensible and not ‘wild and out there’ - rejection

Honestly this is the first time I have actually felt sorry for Merlin. Shows you can’t win with planning committees
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This is very simplistic and ill-informed view. For starters this development has not been rejected, the decision has been deferred to give Alton Towers a chance to make improvements to the design. I am sure they would have got planning permission for their initial design however the cost saving changes that they made were poor.

:)
 
I don't feel sorry for Merlin at all. These are just sheds. That's it. And no doubt they will be overpriced sheds at that. If the existing hotels were amazing, well maintained, with good entertainment offerings, decent restaurants and bars, well priced and with high occupancy rates then yes, maybe I would support the expansion of more accommodation.

But the reality is that they cant even run their existing hotels very well, and visitor numbers aren't high enough to even warrant keeping Splash open all year round. And where do they expect all these extra people to rack up and watch evening entertainment, or sit down in a restaurant for a meal, or spend time in a waterpark, because all these facilities are already stretched when the existing hotels are busy.

Seriously, I just cant get my head around the "Enchanted Shed Village" at all. Why not just build more lodges and then lower the prices??

Anyway, this made me laugh in the news article..

"Speaking in support of the application, Neil Walker, of Alton Towers, said: “Alton Towers is important for jobs. It supports local B&B facilities and local suppliers."

Hilarious. Firstly, how does building more rooms benefit local B&B's exactly? If anything it will potentially take away customers who would use a local B&B. Secondly, local suppliers..... apart from the craft beer, what else does Alton use from local suppliers. The food is bland generic rubbish which is bought in bulk and used across all the Merlin parks. Yes, it may create more jobs, but what jobs? More zero hour jobs? If so, not interested, I dont even consider these people to be employed....
 
This is one of those threads that I try to pretend doesn't exist. Over 100 posts in and I still haven't come to terms with the madness of this "development". Yet the plot thickens and it gets more and more absurd as the weeks go by.

Now, it would appear, the local council are struggling with it as well.
 
Merlin have told their shareholders they will open 2000 new accommodation rooms between 2016 and 2020. They are clearly trying to do this as cheaply as they possibly can with little thought to the quality and practicality of the product, hence this awful pods idea with a couple of catering vans for food and no entertainment or bar to speak of.

Merlin have always done their accommodation ‘on the cheap’ if you look at the new hotels they have opened such as Azteca at Chessington, Castle Hotel at Legoland and CBeebies at Towers they are really just extensions to existing hotels with a different theme. They often share receptions with existing hotels and don’t have separate facilities such as pools, bars, baggage rooms, shops etc.

When Tussauds built Splash Landings they not only built rooms but a bar, restaurant, conference centre and waterpark. Now all we get are some garden sheds on a field with a toilet block and burger van. How times have changed.

However I do hope Merlin just give up on this one, the delay means they might struggle to get it open for the 2020 deadline so they will focus efforts on another park where they can get away with building something like this instead. Fingers crossed.
 
The layout of the proposal was questionable, however the pods will work, they are a tried and tested concept and have proven to be quite popular elsewhere
 
MakoMania said:
The layout of the proposal was questionable, however the pods will work, they are a tried and tested concept and have proven to be quite popular elsewhere
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Whilst they wouldn’t be my cup of tea I’m sure they would appeal to some. For me it’s less about the pods themeslves (although some theming or added touches to differentiate them from the same pods you can find at a campsite 2miles down the road would help) its the total lack of support facilities and poor layout.

This would share a car park with the Enchanted Village and anyone staying at the village would need to walk through the pods area to get to the Village, fine in the summer I guess but during the months that the pods would be closed due to cold weather you would be walking through an essentially closed down pod area from your car to reception - what a magical start to your stay.

The lack of proper eating/drinking facilities or even somewhere undercover is also poor - when it’s raining where is everyone meant to go? The existing bars and restaurants can’t cope as it is, add another 400 people into the mix and it’s even worse.
 
Your p
Rob said:
You know it is bad when the councillors, who are normally so supportive of the park, are against a development. I am not surprised though; the changes they made to the layout and the scrapping of some support facilities, all to save money, turned this development from something half decent to something lousy and poorly thought out.



This is very simplistic and ill-informed view. For starters this development has not been rejected, the decision has been deferred to give Alton Towers a chance to make improvements to the design. I am sure they would have got planning permission for their initial design however the cost saving changes that they made were poor.

:)
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You are no doubt correct I just find it very ironic.
 
MakoMania said:
The layout of the proposal was questionable, however the pods will work, they are a tried and tested concept and have proven to be quite popular elsewhere
Click to expand...

But there isn’t any new catering outlet to go with these. Where is everyone supposed to eat breakfast and dinner?
 
jon81uk said:
But there isn’t any new catering outlet to go with these. Where is everyone supposed to eat breakfast and dinner?
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Haven't they already got permission to expand the Crooked Spoon, or has that lapsed?
 
jon81uk said:
But there isn’t any new catering outlet to go with these. Where is everyone supposed to eat breakfast and dinner?
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The idea with these pods is usually that you take your own pre-cooked food or use a portable BBQ etc....

Not sure what Alton were intending, but that's how it usually works. It's much more of a camping experience than anything else really.
 
MakoMania said:
The idea with these pods is usually that you take your own pre-cooked food or use a portable BBQ etc....

Not sure what Alton were intending, but that's how it usually works. It's much more of a camping experience than anything else really.
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As far as I recall, there is no option to book without breakfast in the barrels at Legoland Germany.
 
There's no way in hades the M£rlin H&S jobsworths would ever allow guests to have their own barbeques. Hell, the vast majority of campsites don't even allow campfires these days (thus negating the only reason any sane person would ever go camping).
 
Probably getting these at a charge of £600 per pod per night

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