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Traveller day?

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The thread exists @Sku because its a well known fact that over Easter groups of travellers descend on Towers and cause trouble. Its not fiction, its not racist, not based on colour, creed, background, colour of their socks, its based on fact. And because some people see it better to hush hush things is why they get away with what they do.

The comment about dress sense was tongue in cheek and I was actually more referring to the attire some geeks wear as opposed to travellers but hey ho, some prefer to jump on their high horse immediately because they got out of bed the wrong side this morning.

As for being disrespectful, try telling that to the member of staff who was threatened on Sunday on Nemesis when the ride was closing, or to the member of staff in the Scarefest maze who was punched, or to the staff who were attacked in Haunted Hallow a few years back over Scarefest, or to the members of the public who have to put up with their queue jumping and subsequent abuse and threats of violence that follow should you confront them. And yes, I have been to the park on many a travellers day and seen and experienced it myself. I know some of the security staff in Towers and they dread this weekend (and Scarefest).

As for geeks who go and steal ride signs etc, as far as I am aware, this is very rare as the majority of park enthusiasts actually have respect for the park they visit. While it may be the odd one or two enthusiasts who do something untoward, its a large group of travellers who are hell bent on causing trouble, and with all due respect to you, taking a sign isnt on the same scale as actually physically attacking someone.

I will be respectful to them when they decide to show some respect to the rest of the park guests and not just act like idiots who think they own the place.
 
There a two type of traveller, one are close to the stereotype. The other are more friendly and thinks about the wider population.
My town have some perminate travellers. They are an intresting bunch, Kept in line by the elders. They have landscaped their camp to be less noticeable and keep the area clean. They also help with 'visiting' travellers, and even have a short stay area on the camp, which has helped with moving visitors to a suitable location.

It is a shame that Alton has the more lively travellers visit in a big group.
 
Every year we get a thread like this, and without fail people struggle to discuss it in a sensible manner. I have cleared this thread of posts that were not lending themselves to constructive discussion relating to the thread.

If this thread does go the same way again then it may be locked.

Thanks.

:)
 
delta79 said:
They are an intresting bunch, Kept in line by the elders.
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We noticed last time we visited on a "T-Day" (a few scarefests ago), that the elders were very much in charge. Whenever they were about, the younglings behaved themselves. Unfortunately there seemed to be only one elder for every two hundred teenagers, so it was impossible for them to keep the whole herd under control all the time.

As for "respect", as I have said before, it doesn't matter who you are to me, including my own parents: respect needs to be earned. Act like sub human scum, and that's how people will view you.
 
Is it actually advertised as a traveller day or is it just when they seam to turn up?
 
It's in no way official, they just turn up. I think it coincides with a certain race day in Uttox?
EDIT: Thinking about it, maybe that's where all the elders are? The kids that aren't interested in racing go to Towers instead?
 
I don't know how it will work for Scarefest this year, with it being spread out over 2 weekends and a full week.
 
Ah right ok.

What I was getting at earlier was that segregation and exclusivity breeds hatred/bigotry.

But if it's not official... There is nothing that can be done! Nobody should be turned away for who they are as not everyone is the same.

The only thing that can be done is security being vigilant. And in this day and age should be a huge priority any ways.

Come to think of it. I didn't see a single security guard on opening day this year.
 
Alton does have undercover security people.

As others have said, it usually correlates to a large race meeting in the nearby race course as to when they turn up.
 
Must admit, Traveller day isn't unbearable, just not as fun as usual with the tense atmosphere. Had a good chat with several of them on the times I have gone on that day and they were perfectly reasonable. Only visit of the year? Don't go on it.
 
Towers must know when they are coming.
I've never seen police and security at towers like I did on Sunday
 
kris3012 said:
Towers must know when they are coming.
I've never seen police and security at towers like I did on Sunday
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Towers most definitely are aware of them visiting as it is the same two days every year. Security and police presence is high throughout the resort on these two days.
 
I notice towers do try and put people off visiting on these days, looking on their Twitter if people asked about how busy Sunday would be, towers replied saying they expected it to be very busy.

They should add a note on the website as well really to put people off. They must get so many complaints on the day, even if it's not their fault.
 
Hmmmm...... To be honest, it depends how much you let things get to you. If you can ignore some people jumping the fences and joining mates in the queue infront of you after you've waited an hour, then it probably won't bother you too much.

It's more the trouble they cause towards the staff and the vandalism that takes place.

I agree with what's been said above in that this Sunday was the most police I have ever seen at the park. It was very noticeable from the minute you drove through the main entrance.
 
I didn't realise it was travellers day before I went but I soon realised when I got there even before they arrived (I was there at 8.50 for ert) police and security was everywhere
 
Ash123uk said:
Is it really that bad?
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Depends on how busy the park is. Think I'd find it unbearable if I was in a long Queue being queue jumped or stuck near someone unpleasant. I went on a day when all rides were walk on, and only really found travellers around their towers, in the scarezones and around nemesis at the end of the day (admittedly though, the latter two were not good experiences). The staff are always great about it though, so I didn't really feel threatened at any point.
 
I haven't been at towers when they've been there but I have at BPB, and I would not recommend going if you have kids or are offended easily.

They shout, swear, shove people out of the way and queue jump. One guy behind us in the queue for wild mouse happened to glance at a traveller and in return got "what the fuck are you looking at?! I'll knock you out". Pleasantries all round..
 
I've only been at Alton Towers once on a traveller day, watched a staff member at a Skyride station get verbally abused by a group that queue jumped, pushing other guests (quite literally) and then being threatening towards the staff member. Luckily they jumped over the fence and ran off to Dark Forest. The staff member dealt with it very well (threatened them with being removed from the park, then alerted security when the travellers ran off), but being a guest standing there, you don't feel like you're in a fun theme park, it really puts a damper on your day.

It's not just the travellers themselves that make your day uncomfortable, it's the heightened security presence. You see so much security and it doesn't feel right... there's an atmosphere and it's not the good kind.

Oh and I saw a large group outside CATCF with 2 or 3 people fighting it out in the middle, with the rest around chanting... stay classy.
 
Visited once on a traveller day.. my friend went into DF toilets, got stuck in the middle of a group of girls fighting whilst she was trying to get out of a cubicle and got punched in the face! Two black eyes and a look over from the medics later, we both decided that we would be avoiding the day altogether in future. Towers really were fantastic with the whole situation but the sad thing was that you could tell they had dealt with it a lot.
 
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