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Stargazing Pods

GaryH said:
You have hit the nail on the head. I have said many times that visits to Alton are never consistent. Maybe try going on a weekend and seeing the difference ;)
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The pricing would suggest that occupancy is in the high 90s for that weekend....

Public pricing based on 2A2C:

Splash - £531
ATH - £376
Village - £900(!)
Cbeebies - £448

Maybe they should build some more accommodation :rolleyes:
 
Rick said:
This thread is painful. We've been up in the Lakes camping this past weekend for a couple of nights in the big family tent, the place was ram jammed with people using accommodation and facilities far less palatial than what is planned here.
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Yup but you had your own tent, your own equipment etc, and so did everyone around you. Certain types of people enjoy this type of holiday (I do, i'm going camping next week) So if I have my own camping equipment why would I pay to stay here?
 
Croftybaby said:
Yup but you had your own tent, your own equipment etc, and so did everyone around you. Certain types of people enjoy this type of holiday (I do, i'm going camping next week) So if I have my own camping equipment why would I pay to stay here?
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You may not, but others may do for the following reasons...
  • If you want to stay on property, you can't do that in a tent
  • Pitching and striking a tent for a family of four or more requires significantly more effort than using this sort of accommodation - particularly for a one night stay
  • This has broader appeal for those who 'don't do camping'
  • Kipping in a barrel provides greater certainty when it comes to weather
  • Although similar, the experience is different
For me, camping is something we do away from the parks. Each to their own.

Horses for courses. The same reason I have a car and a bike.
 
@Rick, for the EV price, was that a Woodland Lodge or a Treehouse?

Where should we expect this accommodation to be priced, out of interest?
 
GaryH said:
I would expect £900 to be a treehouse. Which.....is false advertising given that they are not in any way a treehouse!!!!
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@Matt N It was a treehouse, the lodges are sold out. If only they were building more non-hotel accommodation :rolleyes:

I suspect the pricing will start around Enchanted Village numbers, or perhaps a little lower. There will be a honeymoon period with a newness tax and they'll find the number that works.

Although on paper, these things have less amenities than an EV Lodge, I still think there is an inherent charm for families in this platform that is so far lost on most members on this forum. Time will tell.

As a final thought on this, the platform has been a huge success at Legoland Germany (we had a great time there!) - see TripAdvisor, I still don't understand why people think it will suck at Alton. Is it a cultural thing, is what Alton are planning fundamentally different or just plain old enthusiast cynicism?
 
The reason I think it will suck is due to...
1 M£rlin
2 Only 12 showers for potentially 400 people
3 No dedicated eatery, Leaving only the Crooked Spoon (that already cant handle a full occupancy of only lodges) to serve breakfast to the Pods, Lodges and "Treehouses"
 
To start, I think the barrels at Legoland Germany are designed better (at least they do actually look like barrels) with more appealing landscaping surrounding them. These barrels sheds at Alton Towers don't have the same novelty design, and the landscaping doesn't seem to have been thought about to the same degree as it is at Legoland Germany. The lack of paths between the sheds is also a little worrying, as it could potentially get a little muddy.

I really don't think they'll be able to price them anywhere near the prices of the other accommodation offerings. To put it simply, why stay in a barrel shed which has fewer and inconveniently located facilities and is less comfortable, when you can stay in another of the onsite offerings which has better facilities and is more comfortable for a similar price?

I'm not going to say that this type of accommodation isn't suited to Alton Towers, but it's the way they intend to execute it that worrys me the most. When "Alton Towers Barrels" was first heard of, my first thoughts went back to this concept which was originally for the Enchanted Village.
AT-lodges-huts.jpg

I think, just becasue something is going to be a "budget" offering, that doesn't mean they shouldn't do it well.
 
I don’t have any objection to this type of accommodation, it’s the total lack of imagination on Merlin’s behalf. It’s quite clear that they have put in the least amount of effort possible to get this built.

Nothing seems to have been done to ensure this looks aesthetically pleasing (in contract to the Legoland barrels), little to no theming or landscaping and a distinct lack of amenities for eating, entertainment and washing/showers.

It will also further water down the experience guests receive in the existing accommodation since 400 extra people need to be squeezed into the already overcrowded and poorly run restaurants and bars.

As with many things Merlin, it had the potential to be a much better project.
 
Rick said:
@Matt N It was a treehouse, the lodges are sold out. If only they were building more non-hotel accommodation :rolleyes:

I suspect the pricing will start around Enchanted Village numbers, or perhaps a little lower. There will be a honeymoon period with a newness tax and they'll find the number that works.

Although on paper, these things have less amenities than an EV Lodge, I still think there is an inherent charm for families in this platform that is so far lost on most members on this forum. Time will tell.

As a final thought on this, the platform has been a huge success at Legoland Germany (we had a great time there!) - see TripAdvisor, I still don't understand why people think it will suck at Alton. Is it a cultural thing, is what Alton are planning fundamentally different or just plain old enthusiast cynicism?
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Thanks @Rick! If the platform has been successful at Legoland Deutschland, then I don't see why it wouldn't be at Alton, personally. I have high hopes that Alton will include more theming than is seen in the application, as they included many extra touches in the Enchanted Village that weren't in the application.

Out of interest, @Rick or anyone else who has stayed at Legoland Deutschland's barrels, roughly how much do they cost? That might give us an idea of how much these will cost.
 
@Matt N I don't have time to do a full comparison, which you almost need to do given the dynamic pricing that is used. So, as a one off, one night comparison for the night of 29th August based on 2A2C B&B which is worth very little, comes out at almost exactly the same:

AT Enchanted Village - £275
LL Germany Barrels - €315 (£279.86)

That said, it's worth noting that per cap spending and accommodation prices in LLP is higher than RTP.
 
The main objection with the new Enchanted Sheds is that we cannot understand why they would want to build even more accommodation when:

a) Splash Landings closes part of the year as they cannot fill it
b) The water park is full to capacity and too small
c) All hotel restaurants are full to capacity at peak times
d) Hotel bar areas (x2) are too busy to accommodate people from existing hotels
e) Tree top quest closed due to cost savings
f) Theme park is an absolute shambles
g) Existing hotel rooms are dated, particularly Splash Landings and in need of a refurb
h) Housekeeping this year has been poor with complaints of dirty rooms
i) Lack of facilities for these new sheds

If all these were not issues then I would guess the majority of us wouldn't feel so negative about the new accommodation being built.
 
Rick said:
@Matt N I don't have time to do a full comparison, which you almost need to do given the dynamic pricing that is used. So, as a one off, one night comparison for the night of 29th August based on 2A2C B&B which is worth very little, comes out at almost exactly the same:

AT Enchanted Village - £275
LL Germany Barrels - €315 (£279.86)

That said, it's worth noting that per cap spending and accommodation prices in LLP is higher than RTP.
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Ah OK. So the Stargazing Pods might be priced lower than Legoland's Barrels. Thanks @Rick!
 
The thing is that in Germany and mainland Europe, there is a thriving competition between rival parks. Therefore they are more motivated to offer something better there or people will quite easily go elsewhere! The only park to rival Towers is Blackpool and tbh, i'd rather go there to ride Icon (plus dark rides and flat rides) if i'm travelling to the north west. I don't want to stay in pods, I want a clean guest house or hotel with friendly staff and a private bathroom.
 
A thought occurs:
Just how exactly are you and yer partner supposed to clean yerselves up "post-holiday-fun" without your own bathroom? Swagger in to the communal ablutions block with a wad of tissue between your legs and be all,
"Don't mind me guys, just queefing out my husband's baby gravy."?

(Many apologies to the team if this is too much outside the tavern. I understand if you want to edit it, but I feel it's a valid point, regardless of my choice of language.)
 
They’ll just do a Morwenna...

Alton Towers sex ban: You can ride, but not romp

The move came after guests complained adrenaline junkies were continuing their fun well into the night.

One angry visitor claimed the noises coming from the room next door were “louder than the screams from the Nemesis ride” and had ruined their trip.

To protect its family-friendly reputation, Alton Towers has now barred late-night adventures in some hotel sections.

Morwenna Angove, sales and marketing director at the Alton Towers Resort, said: “We want people to enjoy themselves.
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From 2010
https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/146805/Alton-Towers-sex-ban-You-can-ride-but-not-romp
 
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