Would a Wristband system work at Alton Towers?

[Poisson]

No.

Wristbands slow down operations with faff and aren't needed. POP is the superior option.

 

[RoyJess]

I wouldn’t like to see a wristband system, but I do think they could massively reduce the OAP price, as they are generally the market who would go and visit the gardens. And are unlikely to be doing the rides, or if they are it would only be a few family rides. You could then market the really cheap oap rate and the gardens together.

I'm sure that there are plenty of OAP's that still ride the big rides.

I agree they should reduce the OAP prices, in fact they should let them in for free.
Stuff the gardens.

So it be free entry for you then Rob?

 

[AT86]

There would of course always be some people that fit the ‘OAP’ category that would absolutely enjoy the rides and therefore might be able to purchase a reduce price OAP ticket and benefit from it. However I suspect there would also be a significantly larger number that would never dream of visiting Alton Towers for the rides but would visit for gardens/grounds and Towers so it would be tilted massively in the parks favour.

As a wider point, I wonder how many grandparents would love like to attend with their families but are put off by the ticket price because they wouldn’t go on any rides at all. Offering this reduced OAP price may well encourage them to tag along with the family and of course they will most likely spend money on food and drink whilst there and maybe even treat the grandkids to some items from the shops.

The park already offer an off peak parent and toddler ticket (although it’s not advertised particularly well), so this could be an extension to that.

 

[jon81uk]

not Thorpe or Legoland though as there's not enough for non-riders at these parks).

Legoland is pretty good for non-riders or slow-moving rides only I think. The park is centred around a model village really, and "things made from Lego" for me is more important to the park than rides. There is also the train and a few other slow moving rides that are suitable for everyone. It might actually be better than Chessington for rides for all-ages.

I agree though that there is no point going to Thorpe Park if you don't like thrill rides.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I think there needs to be some way of guaranteeing a minimum number of rides, I know people who have gone to parks on particularly busy days or days with poor reliability and have got on 3 or fewer rides (which at £10 a ride really is not good value). If the park is busy then it should stay open longer so everyone gets a fair number of rides in, If ride reliability is bad then guests should be compensated (and the maintenance department need to get their act together, Merlin parks seem to have way more downtime than most other parks I have been to). If this means closing on quieter days then so be it.

 

[Poisson]

How would you do that? I could lap Nemesis on 2 trains with no FT really all day or you could do about 4 rides if you opt for single train Rita, crap throughput Oblivion and then 3 train Smiler with a massive FT queue.

Best for guaranteeing rides is removing FT and install queue busting flats.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

How would you do that? I could lap Nemesis on 2 trains with no FT really all day or you could do about 4 rides if you opt for single train Rita, crap throughput Oblivion and then 3 train Smiler with a massive FT queue.

Best for guaranteeing rides is removing FT and install queue busting flats.

But unless you have been to a park before you won't know which rides have higher capacity (and looking at the length of the queue or the time on the board is not foolproof either). Perhaps allow guests to reserve popular rides in advance and if required, run those rides into the night.