Sheepie Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Please be aware that on off-peak days, Mystic East and Wild Asia will open at 11:30am until further notice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Please be aware that on off-peak days, Mystic East and Wild Asia will open at 11:30am until further notice. Ah. now we're truely back in the old days of Tussauds. All we need is duel operator on Trucks/Carousel and Griffins/Sea Dragons and it will be 2007 all over again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Please be aware that on off-peak days, Mystic East and Wild Asia will open at 11:30am until further notice. Lol wut? Then again, for a park that gets about 10 people in on many off peak days, it makes sense... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 I do wonder why the park even opens at this time of year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted May 2, 2012 Report Share Posted May 2, 2012 Thorpe Park: Reduced opening hours, Saw Alive closed. Alton Towers: Reduced opening hours, food outlets hours cut. Chessington: Reduced opening hours, Wild Asia/Mystic East open at 11:30am Legoland: Reduced opening hours, cuts to events (I.e. laser event) Any more anyone can think of? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 This decision has an absolute minimum affect on guests. It is not uncommon for these areas to not see guests until 11am anyway when they soon discover that they're unable to go on the majority of the rides due to 1.2m height restrictions. On days like these it is the smaller rides such as Sea Dragons and Tiny Truckers that are popular, not the bigger rides. It's not until 12pm that things start to "pick up", when people have made their way to the back of the park. Once local school finish their working days then things get busier then, too. It is practically public knowledge that the theme park division of Merlin are having to make cut-backs this year in our double dip recession. It is Merlin wide. Chessington have gone for an option that has little, to no affect on the most important people, their guests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 I think all the theme parks have done there best so that their cut backs dont affect the guest experience, Alton tested the waters with closing rides / closing at 4 but with the backlash they thankfully went back on this, the reduced hours there / closed food outlets probably are not a huge effect on peoples days. Thorpe closed Saw alive, which even when it was open on the busy days this year was very unpopular and will probably close at the end of the year, again the open hours are not a big deal, especially when the park usually will open 30 mins earlier on weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted May 3, 2012 Report Share Posted May 3, 2012 It is good that the parks are selecting things which have a minimal effect. But what is next? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAJiME Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Depends what gate figures are like, doesn't it. We should think ourselves lucky that our parks open mid week outside peak season at all. I'm heading to the USA next week and wanted to go to BGW to pick up a season pass mid week, but its only open Fri-sun at this time of year. In fact, I'm not sure why Chessie does open mid week tbh. I feel bad for staff working those areas of the park, but from a business perspective its just silly to waste money on attractions that are dead (like, literally) before 11. It doesn't effect us at all. Why the complaining? I personally think being spoilt by the weather in march and now this horrid onslaught is having a huge effect. It will encourage people to postpone, and some of those people will loose interest in the idea of going at all. Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Depends what gate figures are like, doesn't it. We should think ourselves lucky that our parks open mid week outside peak season at all. I'm heading to the USA next week and wanted to go to BGW to pick up a season pass mid week, but its only open Fri-sun at this time of year. In fact, I'm not sure why Chessie does open mid week tbh. I feel bad for staff working those areas of the park, but from a business perspective its just silly to waste money on attractions that are dead (like, literally) before 11. It doesn't effect us at all. Why the complaining? I personally think being spoilt by the weather in march and now this horrid onslaught is having a huge effect. It will encourage people to postpone, and some of those people will loose interest in the idea of going at all. According to people who work at the park, gate figures are clocking in around the 250-750 mark. Which to put into perspective is, if everyone went and rode Dragon Falls first thing, would only equate to a 30/45 minute queue. The thing is right, at the beginning of the year when Alton were saying they were going to close an hour earlier, people were rightly up in arms about the opening hours and one of the things suggested was closing Chessington completely because its gate figures equate to essentially nothing, barely breaking even and having masses of rides just sitting there waiting for people to arrive. It has been like this for years, I can remember sitting at Dragons Fury and having the first rider turn up at the ride at 10:30m, half an hour after park opening (the ride then broke down with the car stuck at the top of the lift, whey!). My worry will always be, if closing Mystic East and WIld Asia doesn't cut out enough money then whats next? Close Forbidden Kingdom and Mexicana until 12? Make Truckers/Carousel and Sea Dragons/Griffins dual operator? It's not beyond them because they did this consistently in 2007. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Not too sure why the parks continually open early when they don't get people offpeak. As mentioned with towers when they were cutting down to 4pm, why not just open later? More people are around between 4-5pm than between 9-10am. Why not act like the non-merlin parks around the UK, and just open the entire park later by an hour midweek? Not really going to affect anyone but hotel guests then... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Maybe Chessington should take a leaf from Lego and open on selected days? This would save so much money. The amount of times the park was drastically empty when I used to work there was crazy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Chessington did only open for full on select days in september 2010, and on many occasions Griffin's Galleon opened from only 12-3 in September weekdays in 2011, it's been done before and has little effect, it's a move the park could easily make again but it does affect the staff members who will not be earning for 3/7 days a week minimum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 Chessington did only open for full on select days in september 2010, and on many occasions Griffin's Galleon opened from only 12-3 in September weekdays in 2011, it's been done before and has little effect, it's a move the park could easily make again but it does affect the staff members who will not be earning for 3/7 days a week minimum. If the staff thing is the issue that prevents this, then surely they should be made aware of this in their interview? Besides, majority of the staff already know what their getting into, and probably work Part-Time anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAJiME Posted May 4, 2012 Report Share Posted May 4, 2012 As mentioned with towers when they were cutting down to 4pm, why not just open later? More people are around between 4-5pm than between 9-10am.This. This is exactly it. I do not understand the opening times of any park. Every park seems backwards of what it requires. Maybe this is just my false judgement. I mean, what the hell do I know? But In the USA, parks open till 8, 9 or even 10 all the time. All year. Most of the year, even in the peak of summer, they are dead gone 6. It's the same with shops in the US, which open late every night of the week but are absolutely dead in the evenings. Why do they bother staying open late? Then you look at the UK. Our shops close busy, Thursday nights when shops open late are as busy as a bloody Saturday. The demand is there. With the parks, I'm not really sure - I've heard this logic that "Brits don't like to stay out late" but I don't buy it. But I certainly think if they are going to open mid week 11-5, or even 6, would make more sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 And people coming in at 9 are unlikely to be buying breakfast, whereas if you keep them there till 7 they are quite likely to buy dinner as well as lunch. It's win win for the park! As for the staggered area opening times, I'm all for it. Makes perfect sense when it is quiet and money saving is required, as long as it is made clear beforehand. With Chessington, surely the animal upkeep forms a rather major part of the parks running costs? These costs do not diminish when it is quiet so they may as well open. Just a guess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 Fantastic atmosphere on park yesterday. Chessington still has it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HAJiME Posted May 5, 2012 Report Share Posted May 5, 2012 I made the "keep people in the park as long as possible, maximize profits" argument re: Alton closing at 4. Half the point of theming is to get people to stay and enjoy a space for as long as possible, to encourage spending on food and drink. But perhaps staffing costs just outweigh it. Sent from my HTC Wildfire S A510e using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted May 28, 2012 Report Share Posted May 28, 2012 Two foreign European guests today: "what an absolutely beautiful park.. so much detail and we're very impressed.". Just thought I'd share because it actually made my day. Cornflakes 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Must have been from one of those European countries with crap parks then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 It depends where you look though, some of it really is beautiful. I'm guessing you weren't standing in front of the bare frame and crumbling façade of RMT when they said it. They do have funny money spending priorities sometimes. The time and effort they spend on some little things like the ornamental pond and waterfall on the way to Falls must be quite huge to keep them so perfect, yet they let a whole ride sit there and fall to pieces. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 29, 2012 Report Share Posted May 29, 2012 Must have been from one of those European countries with crap parks then Pretty much what I was thinking.. I'd be surprised if those guests were from Germany, Holland or France, for example. As Pluk says though, there are some beautiful areas at Chessie, and there are many good parts to it, with good atmosphere and detail. Just get some more investment and upkeep into the actual theme park and not the zoo and they'd be so much better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mer Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 I was just about to post about this, I found out about it because of the comments on the Facebook page! How awful I think the article's statement about her being taken to hospital conscious may be incorrect; family members that have been posting on the FB page say she is in hospital unconscious, fighting for her life, with fractured ribs and skull, and blood on her brain and in her livey and kidneys Of course if she is conscious then this is better news but I don't think the family would make an incorrect statement. Either way, I hope she makes a full recovery, what an awful thing to happen to her and her family, and for other guests to witness. This comment on the FB page is so saddening: "Waiting to hear news on the little girl who fell through the gap up on the bridge while queueing for Tomb Raider, was about 30ft up. We were there when this happened and didn't see any movement. My little boy and husband saw it happen & were so upset as was I seeing her lay there. They couldn't forget the sound of her hitting the ground so we just had to leave early. Also the thought that we prob wouldn't have noticed the gap either & what if..... How awful that no one working there noticed this, how could this happen?! PLEASE, let us know how she is." Very worrying how this happened tbh! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 8, 2012 Report Share Posted June 8, 2012 Horrible that it's happened, but if your kid has just wound up in hospital fighting for their life I think the last thing you'd be doing is posting messages on a facebook page. Wouldn't take any of those posts seriously, there's some odd people about. Having walked that walk a thousand times, there are no gaps close to being big enough for a child to fall through. Either the kid was lifted somewhere they shouldn't have been and fell from there, or part of the structure has broken creating a gap that shouldn't be there. Either way, hope she recovers soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doc Posted June 9, 2012 Report Share Posted June 9, 2012 That is terrible. Whatever the case, I do hope she makes a full recovery. Such a horrible thing to happen Looks as if Chesington may have a bit of negative media coverage on their hands soon. I personally have never been on Tomb Raider so I am not familiar with the area though I am surprised nobody picked up on the broken structure before then.. Again thoughts go out to her family in what is clearly a horrible and unfortunate time for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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