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Towers Loving Care

Wait what? Actually refurbishments? Tell this isn't a joke please!:eek:

That said, I'll only believe it all when I see the Nemesis station getting the much needed TLC it needs, then I'll be willing to take back, some of it at least, the bad raps I've given Merlin.
 
I suppose Merlin have now got resources to start on this three year program of improvements at Towers as they have finished with Chessingtons one, Dragon Falls having been completely ... er...

This is why there is negativity around this sort of thing. Obviously things should never get this bad in the first place. But beyond that whenever something is promised Merlin have repeatedly failed to achieve their stated aims even by their own low low standards. So no one has much faith in this, or anything else that they state they'll do.

We can only hope things will actually improve, but beyond a little attention grabbing flurry right now I won't be holding my breath.
 
I believe them this time, they need to after the year they've had. This could be the rebirth of all the parks, they need to show they are still an industry leader.
 
It's a fine example of politics. Lessens the blow of the negatives (we're shutting the park midweek / reducing ride availability) and dresses it up as a positive (we've found some spare paint at Merlin Studios).

If played the same way as DLP has with its Major Refurb scheme it can only be a good thing - they acknowledged the park was looking tired and are putting in some real effort to get things back to how they should be. However, as others have said, Merlin have made it only too easy to be pessimistic about the actual quality of the work that will be done.

I'd rather they concentrated a large proportion of the refurb budget on one or two areas (Dark Forest, Nemesis) than spread themselves too thinly. We'll see how it goes.
 
Three things I hope are close to the top of the improvement list:

- the toilets - all of them
- road surfaces - especially the one leading to coach & disabled parking
- Towers Street - gives an awful first impression as people will always (rightly or wrongly) compare to certain other parks.

Lots of other things I know, but these are just my pet hates.
 
New signage, relaying dodgy paths, repainting tired out old rides? Surely this should be happening every closed season!

It's great that the park is improving, but for them to feel the need to release a press statement proclaiming that they're carrying out what should be standard maintence work demonstrates how low the park has fallen in people's estimations.
 
Reminds me of this...
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The fact that laying of new pavements has been brought up already makes me sceptical of the improvements. It's a welcome addition for sure, but the point I'm making is this:

General public be like - "towers is run down, tatty mess, everything falling apart, poor customer service, poor guest experience, extortionate prices, half arsed and ill maintained rides everywhere".

Towers response be like - "hey I know, lets have some new paving".

:banghead:

I mean ok, the block paving may not be the best thing for footpaths at a 'supposedly' world leading theme park, but it serves its purpose rather well and has never really been a cause for concern.

How about holding off on the new paving and sorting some higher priority issues first, like that bloody awful scaffolding around Rita and the buildings which are falling apart.

Not hating on it. Just saying, ya know, priorities etc.
 
I'm not so sure we should be sceptical. Merlin is a Plc after all and their main priority is their shareholders and getting them a decent return on their investments.

Now they can't afford to have their flagship park being dragged along by the rest. Not only does it damage their image, but it makes/made too much money for them before to just slug it out. They were perfectly happy using towers as a cash cow for many years whilst the investment went elsewhere because it still churned out good gate receipt numbers. Now that the bubble is burst with the Smiler accident, its shone a light on everything else wrong with the park with the gp, things we've complained about for years.

After the accident there was still 90 min queues in cbeebies land and people crammed into the hotels. But with Nemesis being 21 years old, Thirteen being a bit of an anti climax and their new flagship investment coaster closed and shamed in the media, people started to look at what was actually on offer and that is what Merlin execs will be thinking.

To get the best return and to get people back, a new Sw ride seems like a foolish investment at the moment and I suspect now that the money from any future big project will be invested instead into refitting the park, retheming and pockets of small investment. Perhaps even some flat rides. It will all be about winning back public confidence in the park and is the low cost to benefit ratio solution.

Although that would kick any future coaster into the long grass unfortunately, I happen to think that this is completely the right decision. Going around Thorpe the other week you realise just how neglected most of AT is these days and the park will need to learn to walk again before it starts running.
 
Problem is, the guest experience is going down the toilet at the expense of pleasing the shareholders...

That at some points there was a belief that Merlin wouldn't invest in anything with no potential return on investment (I.e. Fixing up the parks) shows this issue... When you're closed for 5 months every year there is no excuse for not fixing up paths or theming if it needs doing... At least DLP have the excuse of 365 day a year operation in their case, and even in their worst state it's still better than a majority of parks globally...
 
RIP Ripsaw

From TST Facebook:

Following our reports from last month of ride closures/removals for 2016 - we can confirm that Ripsaw is being dismantled and much of the queueline, including theming, now lies in the car parks.
Click to expand...
 
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I think if the theming is going to be skipped, alton should sell it giving the money to merlins magic wand.
 
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