March 12, 201510 yr comment_204939 They don't make as much profit as you'd think if I've heard correctly. Blade is one of the least popular and well on its way out anyway, although unoperational rides always give a terrible impression. What rides are you thinking about anyway? They don't SNBO rides on a whim or queue basis, Beastie and Submission were justified I think. By your reasoning Ripsaw, Duel, Enterprise, etc would be removed as well. Oh wait.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204946 They don't make as much profit as you'd think if I've heard correctly. Blade is one of the least popular and well on its way out anyway, although unoperational rides always give a terrible impression. What rides are you thinking about anyway? They don't SNBO rides on a whim or queue basis, Beastie and Submission were justified I think. By your reasoning Ripsaw, Duel, Enterprise, etc would be removed as well. Oh wait. Submission should not have left the park, but to remove it without replacement is just poor. The same applies for Beastie, they removed that and then left the park for years without a proper children's coaster. There's also Corkscrew, removed because it wasn't as popular despite it still being a good ride (and one that could have been relocated easily), Black Hole (I understand that was because they didn't want to maintain it, but yet again this was an area with a SBNO attraction in it for years), and changing Toyland Tours to CATF in an attempt to make it more popular. Ripsaw and Enterprise still get long queues on busy days, and Duel only keeps the queue down because it has a high throughput.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204947 Why are the cuts necessary? They make more than enough profit to operate everything so I can't see how they can justify it. This is what I don't like about Towers, as soon as a ride fails to get 60 minute queues on a regular basis they either SBNO or remove them! Rides aren't going to stay hugely popular forever, but that doesn't mean that they aren't a fundamental part of the lineup. I can see them getting complaints about this, especially in the summer as there will now be one less ride in the area to cope with the crowds.The cuts are because the budgets have been cut from on high.Alton Towers have no wish to close their rides whatsoever. Corkscrew? A good ride? It had no place in a modern Alton Towers. I fully disagree with the changes but many of your other examples, Jamie, are ill informed.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204948 The cuts are because the budgets have been cut from on high. Alton Towers have no wish to close their rides whatsoever. So do Merlin control the budgets? If so, it's a poor show that they aren't even giving them enough to operate all their rides. And people wonder why M£rlin get so much hate?
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204949 Yes. Merlin provide a budget to the park. Alton Towers have the highest overheads of all the UK attractions. Therefore there is more to be slashed.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204950 Yes. Merlin provide a budget to the park. Alton Towers have the highest overheads of all the UK attractions. Therefore there is more to be slashed. But people pay for a service, it's not really good enough to have a perfectly operable ride SBNO, it's an essential part of the park's lineup and popular with families. Forbidden Valley is one of the park's best areas, but with a ride in clear view (or worse, hidden behind some tatty fence) closed it will lose some of it's "magic." Budget cuts which don't affect the paying guest are okay, but this isn't.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204952 Aww I shall miss Blade. I mean I never rode it really but it had its place. Who remembers the days off the meandering old queue line. Good times. I'm sure Astrodan will now trump me with his memories riding it as a proper pirate ship. God dang it.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204955 I indeed recall riding it when it was in Fantasy World!But that is a long... long... time ago, back when AstroDancer was in town, too!
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204960 Did moving the entrance actually make it more popular in the end? I'd argue it didnt really. Even though you'd think more people cluster around Nemesis, it just ended up more tucked away. Blade was a cool niche ride but very boring in the grand scheme. Rides get removed or shut for many greater reasons than because they decline in popularity, it's much more complicated than that. But still the sight of an unoperational ride is never a good thing, that's why I'm so glad they bothered paying to remove Submission rather than let that sit there too.
March 12, 201510 yr comment_204976 People pay for a service and its not acceptable to have SBNO rides? *cough* you're talking to ex-BPB here, so where do we start?Whip, Turtle Chase, Space Invader 2, Bling, Vikingar (Water Chute), Cableway, Gold Mine, Rollercoaster, pretty much always the yellow Steeplechase, PMBO is SBNO whenever someone farts near it, Superbowl, Trauma Towers... Need I go on?
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205032 *cough* you're talking to ex-BPB here, so where do we start? Whip, Turtle Chase, Space Invader 2, Bling, Vikingar (Water Chute), Cableway, Gold Mine, Rollercoaster, pretty much always the yellow Steeplechase, PMBO is SBNO whenever someone farts near it, Superbowl, Trauma Towers... None of these attractions are still SBNO at the park, they have either been removed, replaced or refurbished, the only exception being maybe the Space Invader building although that serves as the pizza restaurant now. As for Steeplechase, that's only supposedly when it's not busy enough to need all three, or there's a problem with one (although I'm not defending it, all three lanes should be open all the time) and with PMBO would you rather be stranded part way round the course in freezing wind or have it closed? I'm not sure why BPB is being brought up anyway, this discussion is about Alton Towers closing Blade.
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205034 I think for a park the size and popularity of Towers it is unacceptable to do budget cuts after another apparently successful park season [have the 2014 figures properly appeared yet]. They should be increasing their this instead of cutting it, or at least keeping it the same. People complain about Thorpe having rides down and everything, but at least they're trying to get everything up and running again and I've even heard of budget increases in some areas of the park too.
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205055 Cuts are big. 12noon opening on some rides this year apparently. Wonderful way to treat their paying guests. But yes Blade, I hope they remove it quickly if they don't want it anymore. Nothing worse than it standing there empty.
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205057 Staggered openings? That doesn't sound good, nor does a ride not even being open because of budgets. If profits are falling because of a lack of guests reducing the experience on offer isn't going to help. The idea is to drive people towards the park, not away from it.
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205068 Alton Towers had practically 3m guests last year. It's doing brilliantly well. Madness.
March 13, 201510 yr comment_205078 3m guests means very little, if they all got in for free it would be useless. Its how much is spent per guest that merlin cares about. They want maximum profit, so as many people spending as much as possible while they spend very little themselves.
March 17, 201510 yr comment_205338 According to their Twitter, it's going to be open from 21st March until further notice
March 17, 201510 yr comment_205340 This is great news (for now), as it shouldn't really have to close until 2016. If only towers could now learn from all their other mistakes and start running their park like the world class resort it deserves to be.
March 17, 201510 yr comment_205349 If only towers could now learn from all their other mistakes and start running their park like the world class resort it deserves to be. I'm sure they would love to, if they had the money to run the place!
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