Alton Towers News

[Ian-S]

Still doesn't solve the problem of focusing the lens though.

From what I remember of the bit about it on click, the headsets are wireless, similar to the 5.8ghz used for drone/plane fpv setups (infact they looked like a modified fatshark in the clip), so you'll probably be handed them as you enter the grouping area and told to set them up by sliding the buttons on the side/bottom until the crosses line up, according to what I've been told it's quiet a quick exercise for someone to do (talking fpv here, but it's the same principle).

From what I remember of AIR, there's plenty of time while loading for you to make any final adjustments.

For me what's more interesting is how much they're spending on this (if infact it is VR googles) since the good ones are nearly £500 a piece, and they'll need to be good or it'll end up being a disaster.

Oh just thought, simulator sickness + proper motion, I can see the ride being closed for clear up more than it's open early in the season....

[Coaster]

I really don't see why Air needs more than just a general refresh - of all the rides at Alton in need of substantial work, I would have thought Air would be one of the lowest down the list.

Personally I don't rate it at all but the public seem to like it and there are other rides at the park which would benefit from the money.

[Ian-S]

The VR should have been put on Thirteen, would have been much better to simulate you falling down a lift shaft or something instead of flying through the solar system.

[stretchy]

13 gets excellent exit polls. Air doesnt. My gues is this is why Air was chosen as it is seen as the week link in the coasters.

[Benin]

13 gets excellent exit polls. Air doesnt. My gues is this is why Air was chosen as it is seen as the week link in the coasters.

 

Merlin run by left wing BBC confirmed...

[Coaster]

Alton Towers have announced plans to axe up to 70 more jobs;

 

Quote

Alton Towers announces plans to axe up to 70 more jobs

 

Another 70 jobs are set to be axed at Alton Towers as the resort continues to cut costs following the Smiler crash.

 

Hundreds of salaried staff across the theme park and hotels are being consulted over the planned redundancies in the run-up to Christmas.

 

Alton Towers cut 98 jobs earlier this year in response to falling visitor numbers in the wake of 2015's Smiler accident.

 

While the business has now started to recover, bosses are still seeking to make 'further efficiencies' ahead of the 2017 season.

 

Workers, including hotel staff, managers and supervisors, were told about the jobs cuts the day after the park's end-of-season fireworks event. A 30-day consultation period begins on Monday.

 

One staff member, who did not wish to be named, said: “When we were told about the redundancies people were very upset and angry. Some have been there for up to 12 years.

“It's the timing that's the worst thing. I know they have to make savings, but we've all just been working really hard during the fireworks, and then the very next day they tell us this. It's just before Christmas as well."

 

Alton Towers operator Merlin Attractions was handed a £5 million fine in September after admitting health and safety breaches over the Smiler crash. Two teenagers – Vicky Balch, then 19, and Leah Washington, then 17 – both lost a leg in the collision.

 

Last month Merlin announced an overall growth in revenue of 10.6 per cent and improved trading at Alton Towers, but with visitor numbers still 'some way below' 2014 levels.

 

An Alton Towers spokesman said: “As part of Alton Towers' continued recovery we have been looking at ways to improve our operating model.

 

“A detailed review of operations has been undertaken across the business to seek further efficiencies and increase flexibility. As a result of this review, Alton Towers Resort can confirm that it expects to make between 60 to 70 redundancies ahead of the 2017 season.

 

“Alton Towers will work closely with all those affected in order to support them through the consultation process and any subsequent requirement for alternative employment and job search activities.

 

“This was an incredibly difficult proposal to make and it has not been taken lightly. However, we are committed to the long term development of the resort and believe that this action now, together with a continuous programme of investment, will ensure its future growth, which is so vital to the local economy."

 

Community leaders hope the future will be brighter for the theme park and its workers.

 

Jonathan Shepherd, chairman of Alton Parish Council, said: “Not a huge amount of people from the immediate area work at Alton Towers so it won't have a massive impact to jobs locally.

 

“I hope that Alton Towers can improve their situation because their existence does benefit the local community.

 

“If they're struggling they have to make cuts but we hope that they go from strength to strength after this."

 

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/alton-towers-announces-plans-to-axe-up-to-70-more-jobs/story-29888221-detail/story.html

 

Awful news, Alton is already in a dire state this year and it seems it's only going to get worse.  I'm starting to wonder whether Merlin are trying to run the park down to the ground, because that's what it looks like.

 

I'd like to put focus on this;

Quote

Last month Merlin announced an overall growth in revenue of 10.6 per cent and improved trading at Alton Towers, but with visitor numbers still 'some way below' 2014 levels.

 

Of course visitor numbers are down, they've shut half the park!
Ride closures, food and beverage closures, entertainments budget cut, the list goes on... then they wonder why visitor numbers are down?!

 

There isn't enough for families to do anymore, therefore they won't go, it's as simple as that.

[yeah]

13 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

 

Awful news, Alton is already in a dire state this year and it seems it's only going to get worse.  I'm starting to wonder whether Merlin are trying to run the park down to the ground, because that's what it looks like.

Yes, by cutting costs because they lost money after a major incident, they are in fact trying to run the park down to the ground.

[Coaster]

7 minutes ago, ChessingtonSam said:

Yes, by cutting costs because they lost money after a major incident, they are in fact trying to run the park down to the ground.

But cutting costs is only going to have more bad repercussions on the park.  The Smiler is not the reason for the lower gate figures this year as far as I'm concerned, people go on it without thinking twice.  The fact that there is nothing for families to do (in a family park) is more than likely the reason.

 

Another thing is staff loyalty; making staff who have been there for 12 years and supported the park through good and bad times redundant is terrible, and it's going to have a negative impact on staff morale, which is one of the most important things in a theme park.  Alton used to be all about happiness, "the magic," where did all that go?

 

Alton needed to bounce back into 2016 with a fantastic year; this is something Merlin could afford to do.  Now it seems that 2017 will be as bad as (or possibly worse than) 2016.

[punks]

My thoughts go out to the entire workforce having been under threat for pretty much my entire career (steel industry) I know the feeling of dread and bleakness that surrounds the redundancy process. I hope those directly affected get back on their feet swiftly and Merlin truly do hold up their promise of easing their transition towards a new job.

It looks like more of a focus on hotel staff from the press release and surely this has to be the case because the park isn't exactly crawling with staff. Also, aren't alot of park staff seasonal? This excerpt exclusively intimates that salaried staff are to be cut.

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

[yeah]

8 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

But cutting costs is only going to have more bad repercussions on the park.  

Yes but it's something they have to do.

9 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

 The Smiler is not the reason for the lower gate figures this year as far as I'm concerned, people go on it without thinking twice

Yes it is because the people who are concerned don't go...

11 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

The fact that there is nothing for families to do (in a family park) is more than likely the reason.

That's not true, my family still had loads to do in July, plus outside of our community not many people even know about the closures. Besides, look at the closures. Sub Terra and Ripsaw weren't family friendly. The Flume and Charlie, yes but Wobble World simply wasn't family friendly, unless your children are under 5.

15 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

Alton used to be all about happiness, "the magic," where did all that go?

Its still there. In large parts. Maybe not for you, but it's still a very magical place, especially to those who don't know about all the redundancies and closures.

[Coaster]

5 minutes ago, ChessingtonSam said:

Yes but it's something they have to do.

Disagree with this given the amount of profit Merlin makes.

 

5 minutes ago, ChessingtonSam said:

Yes it is because the people who are concerned don't go...

Yep, fair enough.  Merlin only have themselves to blame for that.

 

5 minutes ago, ChessingtonSam said:

That's not true, my family still had loads to do in July, plus outside of our community not many people even know about the closures. Besides, look at the closures. Sub Terra and Ripsaw weren't family friendly. The Flume and Charlie, yes but Wobble World simply wasn't family friendly, unless your children are under 5.

Hex, The Flume and CATCF were key family attractions that appealed to everyone.  Sub Terra didn't really appeal to anyone (was usually walk on), and Ripsaw was a much needed filler attraction for Forbidden Valley.

How on earth would visitors at the park not notice the closures?  You only have to read complaints on the park's social media pages, listen to people talking on the Skyride as it goes over The Flume, or look at the queues for the few food and beverage places that are open; particularly on the park's fireworks event.

 

5 minutes ago, ChessingtonSam said:

Its still there. In large parts. Maybe not for you, but it's still a very magical place, especially to those who don't know about all the redundancies and closures.

There's nothing magical about the park at present as far as I'm concerned, it feels dead, void of any atmosphere and a shadow of its former self in every way - that's just my opinion though.

[Marc]

Just because Merlin (who them selves are in debts) make a profit does not mean there is a bottomless pit of money for their resort theme parks.

 

My thoughts go out to those affected by this news - it's not a nice situation for anyone, hopefully they are able to find new roles within or outside merlin quickly.

[Matt 236]

Such a shame the resort are making more cuts to the Resort, especially considering visitor numbers were starting to pickup. Then again, the huge fine will have resulted in many blows to them which of course from a profit business need replenishing. As a result, Towers are now perhaps the least successful of the four parks now.

 

Sadly with current situations and the never slowing paper and Balch articles, I don't think Towers will return to it's Pre-Smiler self until 2018 at the earliest.

 

It does concern me though if this could mean further ride closures in 2017? Blade and Enterprise first come to mind.

[Marc]

 

2 hours ago, Coaster Jamie said:

Of course visitor numbers are down, they've shut half the park!
Ride closures, food and beverage closures, entertainments budget cut, the list goes on... then they wonder why visitor numbers are down?!

 

There isn't enough for families to do anymore, therefore they won't go, it's as simple as that.

 

I imagine visitor numbers would be very similar with or without the closed rides - unfortunately things like this take time to recover from, even more so with the constant press attention they seem to attract!

[Mark9]

2 hours ago, Coaster Jamie said:

Alton Towers have announced plans to axe up to 70 more jobs;

 

http://www.stokesentinel.co.uk/alton-towers-announces-plans-to-axe-up-to-70-more-jobs/story-29888221-detail/story.html

 

Awful news, Alton is already in a dire state this year and it seems it's only going to get worse.  I'm starting to wonder whether Merlin are trying to run the park down to the ground, because that's what it looks like.

 

I'd like to put focus on this;

 

Of course visitor numbers are down, they've shut half the park!
Ride closures, food and beverage closures, entertainments budget cut, the list goes on... then they wonder why visitor numbers are down?!

 

There isn't enough for families to do anymore, therefore they won't go, it's as simple as that.

 

Of course visitor numbers are down, one of their biggest rollercoasters crashed!! 

 

No amount of Hex or Log Flume would have bought visitors in.

[Coaster]

So you don't think that closing seven rides at the same time would put people off visiting?

[Mark9]

16 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

So you don't think that closing seven rides at the same time would put people off visiting?

 

I do not, within the context of the Smiler crash.

[Coaster]

5 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

I do not.

Fair enough, I disagree though.

[Matt10]

I still think that people hear from social media about these closed rides and that does dissuade some people from going. I know myself that I enjoyed Alton far less this year with all the closed rides then last year when they were opened. I personally found I could walk around all day and not run out of stuff to do, whereas this year I felt as if there wasn't enough to do.

[Marc]

3 minutes ago, Matt10 said:

I still think that people hear from social media about these closed rides and that does dissuade some people from going. I know myself that I enjoyed Alton far less this year with all the closed rides then last year when they were opened. I personally found I could walk around all day and not run out of stuff to do, whereas this year I felt as if there wasn't enough to do.

 

Point is you still went, Coaster Jamie who stated if they went ahead with the plans to close the rides would not visit, still did.

 

The vast majority of our parks guests don't do an awful lot of research - most of them will simply turn up on the day without any idea rides have closed - it's hardly great but I'm certian had the rides been open visitor numbers would be no different to what they were.

[Coaster]

36 minutes ago, Marc said:

 

Point is you still went, Coaster Jamie who stated if they went ahead with the plans to close the rides would not visit, still did.

 

The vast majority of our parks guests don't do an awful lot of research - most of them will simply turn up on the day without any idea rides have closed - it's hardly great but I'm certian had the rides been open visitor numbers would be no different to what they were.

Clearly not enough people "still went" or gate figures wouldn't be down!

[Mark9]

1 minute ago, Coaster Jamie said:

Clearly not enough people "still went" or gate figures wouldn't be down!

 

People thought they'd get injured or die if they went on an Alton Towers rollercoaster. What part of that do you not understand?

[Coaster]

5 minutes ago, Mark9 said:

People thought they'd get injured or die if they went on an Alton Towers rollercoaster. What part of that do you not understand?

The fact that anyone can work out that out of the millions of people who go on all the rides per year, the accident on The Smiler was one extremely rare incident.

 

It's time to stop blaming The Smiler's incident for everything to do with the park's current state, it's common knowledge that reduced value for money with ride closures and everything else will put people off going.  I'm not suggesting that the incident hasn't had an impact at all, of course it has, but everything else will have only made things worse.

[JoshuaA]

I think Jamie has a point though..

There has been some backlash on closures, which might of caused people to feel discouraged from going..

I can why they're cutting Hotel Staff, there is barely enough to do at the resort to warrant more than a day..

Yes the incident was the main reason, but it still doesn't mean the closures don't affect the parks reputation and attendance..

[Marc]

20 minutes ago, Coaster Jamie said:

The fact that anyone can work out that out of the millions of people who go on all the rides per year, the accident on The Smiler was one extremely rare incident.

 

It's time to stop blaming The Smiler's incident for everything to do with the park's current state, it's common knowledge that reduced value for money with ride closures and everything else will put people off going.  I'm not suggesting that the incident hasn't had an impact at all, of course it has, but everything else will have only made things worse.

 

Yes - we know that - we are fortunate enough to be wel educated about the subject, we know the rides are safe, we know what happened was a terrible accident which won't happen again - problem is not everyone else does.

 

Its not "common knowledge" when I talk to my family saying I'm going to Alton towers they don't say why would you go there hex and Charlie are closed, they bring up the smiler incident. you clearly are unable to look past your own vendetta against Merlin and are unable to see the huge impact the Smiler incident has had on all the parks, and will unfortunately continue to have for a while yet.

 

The cuts, of course, do not help. But in the grand scheme of things they will make very little difference.