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Syndicate of parents

I think the way most parks (Attractions) charging by age, claiming anyone over 12 is an adult is wrong. It would feel less wrong if it was 16 or 18, or there was a 12-18 bracket and then adults, but I think the fairest way to do it is charge by height.

The underlying problem is that Merlin Parks have become a Rip Off, and even with the BOGOF Vouchers still do not provide a family of 4 a good value day out. No matter what you did to change the age/height bracket you fell in to, it would still leave a sour taste in your mouth.

Ian
 
I think it was someone called Carolyn Wright that posted the message originally. She posted yesterday and again today saying that Alton Towers had now replied - I think she is trying to diffuse the situation from the bandwagon idiots.

The constant reposting of her original message is a joke and I've started taking swipes at people for it now because it defies intelligence.
 
It has been annoying to see so many idiots allowed to operate a computer.

I did a post about the ride host saving the ducklings from the rapids and have had a lot of likes and comments on it but still get people moaning about the price of a family.
Simple answer work it out, if you can afford it don't go and don't moan about the price afterwards.



But this sort of rubbish really annoys me, its nothing but the I WANT I DESERVE COMPENSATION culture:

"I visited Alton Towers yesterday (29/8/12) and travelled 3 hours down the road and found it very disappointing as we stood in the que for the Sonic ride and we were notified that there was a 50 minute wait only to be standing there for 2 hours and only a few from the front to be told that it had technical difficulties. They tried to sort it but couldn't and we were then advised to go on another ride.
By the time we managed to get on a ride it was after 1pm which was very upsetting as my teenager and 9 year old were not at all too happy.
Also later in the afternoon the same thing happened on air but only waited 50 mins to get on that and not 2 hours. I think in the whole day we only managed to get on 5 rides.
It would be courteous to receive free tickets for the 4 of us considering the price it costs to get in and we travelled down the night before with it being a 3 hour journey.

Very disappointing experience."
 
We (as in Towers fans and enthusiasts) all know that Alton and Merlin in general give people fastpass, free tickets and perks when things go wrong. Its a given that Guest Services hand fastpasses out like sweets if you have a complaint. For example, I sent Thorpe Park some feedback about the park and they replied by offering me fasttrack tickets for my next visit. I replied that I didnt want fastrtack tickets, just the problems fixed. Its just a plaster covering a bigger problem

Maybe its now got out into the big wide world that Alton / Merlin are a soft touch, or people have had a result and now its spreading like wildfire, or maybe people are generally peeved off with them. If people see a loophole then they will keep on exploiting it...

Facebook / Social networks are great to promote your business, but a nightmare when people have bad days as everyone can see it. Then of course if comments are deleted, that looks even worse...
 
Price should be done on height.

If you're over 1.4 metres, you should qualify as an adult. If you're under, then you're not. They're absolutely right.
 
Sam said:
Price should be done on height.

If you're over 1.4 metres, you should qualify as an adult. If you're under, then you're not. They're absolutely right.
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So if the chances of an adult (anyone over 18) is under 1.4 meters, they would pay child price? Wouldn't that also set of the argument again of "Its unfair they pay less than us because of height"
 
I find it funny that all these people waited till they got home to moan over Facebook just so others see it and join in and take a dig into the park on something that's been implemented for many years.
If you were that bothered and annoyed you'd visit Guest Services at the end of the day and complain since your more likely to get a better answer and result than just writing on a Facebook wall where your less likely to even get a response. At least Email or Call them instead of making a scene on their Facebook wall making them look bad, as again your more likely to get a better quality response.
 
Raptor_Dude said:
So if the chances of an adult (anyone over 18) is under 1.4 meters, they would pay child price? Wouldn't that also set of the argument again of "Its unfair they pay less than us because of height"
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Yes. That argument would be silly, given that people under 1.4 aren't allowed to take advantage of the main features of the product Alton Towers.

The world-class 1.4+ rides are overwhelmingly what justifies the gate price, so guests unable to experience them should not have to pay full price. That seems fair to me?
 
Sam said:
Raptor_Dude said:
So if the chances of an adult (anyone over 18) is under 1.4 meters, they would pay child price? Wouldn't that also set of the argument again of "Its unfair they pay less than us because of height"
Click to expand...

Yes. That argument would be silly, given that people under 1.4 aren't allowed to take advantage of the main features of the product Alton Towers.

The world-class 1.4+ rides are overwhelmingly what justifies the gate price, so guests unable to experience them should not have to pay full price. That seems fair to me?
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However, nearly all 12+ year olds are over 1.4m and there are a fair few who are younger which are also over the height. I agree height charging would be good - but it would actually presumably cost those who are moaning even more.

As I suggested earlier in the thread, Towers should open up their pricing structure slightly by saying to customers that if they can prove their child is over 12 but under 1.4m they can be charged the child price as they cannot experience the attractions of the adult price group. Or they could rename the price as 'Adults: An adult is classed as a guest aged either 12+ or 1.4m+"
 
The problem with a height measuring system is that it will inevitably lead to faff, i mean it works for smaller parks because of the lower amount of guests coming through the gates. I mean imagine that when being entered into the park every shorter person would require to be measured by one of the sticks they have on rides, I think the system is fair now and is reliable.
 
Ultrasonic height measurer, (like the one on the BMI scales that are in boots) may be useful if they do the height limit for price. Fit them to the pay booth, then the family walk though measurement taken and pricing worked out by the EPOS system.

 
Those things tend to be fairly unreliable though, and how could staff quickly check that people aren't standing on tip-toes, or have particularly chunky heels on?
 
I don't see how having a simple wooden height-measure attached to the ticket booth would be any more of a faff than a parent having to find ID to prove their child's age.

How on earth do they do it at the moment anyway? Is it just an honesty system?
 
very true, I did not take that into account. but i think the other would be the case. trying to get under the 1.4m limit to get in cheap then put chunky heal shoes on to try and fool ride staff.

Also I would like to know what parenting site has started the complaining off. as I would love to do a fake story about AT looking at tech for pricing by height, and it will mean young kids being charged full price and see if they shut up. ;D
 
I don't know, I looked all over mums net and found no trace of a seed to this. May just be on one of those miscellaneous forums where people with more opinions than brain cells chip in their two pennies worth.
 
You can bet your bottom dollar that the majority of these women that are complaining don't work. They have way too much time on their hands, even between Jeremy Kyle, coffee and cigarettes.

The scrounging and sponging, while using the economy as an excuse, is offensive to anyone that works or has ever worked hard to be able to afford days out.
 
I think I remember Gulliver's World had a sign in the queue at the ticket booths where if you were below a certain height, regardless of age, you got in for free or cheaper. But then again, it's cheap enough to get into the place anyway.

It works at Gulliver's World though simply because it doesn't attract a huge number of visitors most days. I think something like this at Towers, albeit it on a much larger scale, may work but will almost certainly bring faff with it.
 
Tom said:
You can bet your bottom dollar that the majority of these women that are complaining don't work. They have way too much time on their hands, even between Jeremy Kyle, coffee and cigarettes.

The scrounging and sponging, while using the economy as an excuse, is offensive to anyone that works or has ever worked hard to be able to afford days out.
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Are you planning on entering the Long Jump with that massive leap of logic...?

'I don't really have anything relevant or interesting to say about the topic, so I'll just throw in some stupid generalisations and insults aimed at working class mothers instead.'
 
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