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Towers Loving Care

DiogoJ42 said:
Unfortunately Merlin's track record gives us no reason whatsoever to think things will improve.
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See, I totally get where you are coming from here - their track record is poor.

But, at the same time, at no point have they ever come out and said they need to do anything like this. So this is new territory.
 
PeteB said:
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.
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There is a very wide ranging list of priorities being dealt with this winter. Paving areas which were previously vile (have you seen some of the tarmac in some areas) is part of this.
 
AstroDan said:
See, I totally get where you are coming from here - their track record is poor.

But, at the same time, at no point have they ever come out and said they need to do anything like this. So this is new territory.
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The pessimist in me would argue that Alton has lost its investment budget due to the unfortunate incident on the Smiler and has been left with nothing more than the maintenance budget. They've got to polish a turd somehow.

I will remain open minded about TLC - but if it accounts to nothing more than the bog standard minimal upkeep we see over the closed season with no real improvements we'll know its just PR.
 
Alton Towers have never really had an 'investment' budget for existing rides/attractions. Money has always come out of random pots here and there. This is now a new place, because they appear to be making a larger point of refurbishments.

Europa-Park always include refurbishments on their start of season videos, to show what they have been doing over winter. Obviously, EP never let their rides get to a sorry state before acting, it's very much plussing at EP whereas with AT it is rescuing from the brink of collapse...!

:)
 
I'm oversimplifying no doubt AstroDan, but you still have to wonder. Merlins model has always been pushing news over any investment no matter how small. We know budgets have been slashed dramatically - you'd imagine that if it was a choice between making a big deal out of the 'normal maintenance' or nothing at all... they'd choose the marketing.

Disneyland Paris have laid out solid plans for their major refurbishment program. Alton Towers haven't - granted, its early days - but it just makes me feel like this isn't some grand scheme after all.
 
How about removing Ripsaw, thats something we're all pleased about.... SO MUCH LOVE
 
AstroDan said:
There is a very wide ranging list of priorities being dealt with this winter. Paving areas which were previously vile (have you seen some of the tarmac in some areas) is part of this.
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Sounds promising!

The only area which immediately springs to mind with vile tarmac is the route to the left of the Towers which brings you to the bottom end of Dark Forest. There were many trip hazards along there including pot holes and random curbs or level changes.

It's never been a footpath they seemed fond of using tbh, there's not really much down there and it kinda took me by surprise that the Zombies scare zone was once located over that way.
 
PeteB said:
There were many trip hazards
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Is there a chance then that this was prompted by health and safety after the smiler and towers are making an event out of it. "Look, we know how to keep plants safe and make a theme park look half decent by replacing theming once every 7 years" :rolleyes:
 
One thing that concerns me with this is that I cannot see 'TLC' actually being implemented on a large scale, at all really. I'd say they have announced this new 'programme' to offer some sort of excuse.

Next year, you're bound to get people tweeting in asking 'Why is Hex closed??' or 'Why is Charlie closed?'. Now, Towers are clearly not going to turn around and say 'We're closing them due to budget cuts', because people will just say 'Oh because of the crash?' or 'Oh because these rides are also not safe?'. People will assume that the closures are in direct response to the crash, and then start to think those rides aren't safe either.

Towers would however be more likely to say they are closed due to refurbishments. Indeed some refurbishments will be carried out most likely, however I really cannot see this being a huge scale thing, It's just an excuse to get out of deep water. But, we shall see.

Hopefully this TLC thing is something good though, the park does need updating to meet with the demands of the public who are now exploring places outside the UK like Orlando, PortAventura & Europa Park.
 
The TLC scheme could be either brilliant or terrible idea. It could revitalise much dated and worn areas making them look fresh again. Then it could take some character out of the park, see theming down scaled or even completely removed. Just look at how worn Octonauts is just after a year (shocking).

Chessington shows pros and cons with how well the market square & more recent vampire entrance & Fish and Chips turned out, but then again the whole thing of Dragon Falls does concern me.
 
Anything to improve the presentation of the park is good and such a stunning location as Alton deserves it.

If the rumour of six ride closures and in particular The Flume is true, then I think they will have disappointed guests next year and reduced repeat custom as a result. I hope that truly world class replacements will not take too long.

AT needs to build on its legacy as a world class theme park, which I believe it has been and can be again with the right investment.

Anyway, just wanted to wish a Merry Christmas to all my fellow nerds.
 
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The TLC programme is effectively the realisation that it isn't financially rewarding to operate all rides next season, so they will close some over the 1-3 years it takes to recover guest levels to normal, but carry out minor touch ups while certain things are closed so that when the park does return to normality, things will look a little better. There is genuine intention in their long term strategy to create a more absorbing environment, I'm sure - it's just worth bearing in mind that this would never have happened had the Smiler not crashed.
 
To me though, I'm not sure it will be minor improvements to all rides, more like fixing the broken one's and making the park sound better. When you think about the rides that are closing:
  • Hex: broke
  • Sub terra: I assume it's broke
  • Flume: tired/old/part of the LTDP/frees a huge space
  • Charlie: one lift/broken effects/IP ran out
  • Driving school: probably gets more staff than visitors
  • Ripsaw: totally knackered
 
Whilst I understand that short term cost cutting measures may reduce losses or increase profits in the short term, with the competition potentially getting hotter ( for example Paramount Park), too much cost cutting could see them concede their position as the UK' 's number 1 park.

I would hate to see that
 
Altonadvocate1 said:
Whilst I understand that short term cost cutting measures may reduce losses or increase profits in the short term, with the competition potentially getting hotter ( for example Paramount Park), too much cost cutting could see them concede their position as the UK' 's number 1 park.

I would hate to see that
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The fact that Alton Towers remains the UKs no.1 just highlights how bad the country's theme park industry is nowadays, especially when you look at Europa and Phantasialand over in Germany.

The only thing keeping Alton at the top is the wonderful history and landscape.
 
The areas in need of a refurb in my opinion....

ALL toilets, which are totally disgusting.

Towers Street - Trees need cutting back, painting and new entrance design.

All Tarmac around Battle Gallions across to the towers, and around Spinball, all needs resurfacing and levelled.

Theme updates and paint jobs across entire park, especially Dark Forest which is a complete mess. Removing the scaffolding at Rita.

All monorails - paint them and remove the vinyls from windows!

Replace Submission, Blade and Ripsaw. Improving flat rides which are badly needed.

Painting EVERY queue line and sorting areas where huge puddles for, in certain ride queue lines.

Paint nemesis restoring it to as new glory, including the launch station.

Extraordinary Golf which is falling to bits.
 
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