Jump to content

Alton Towers General Discussion


themeparkmad

Recommended Posts

The reasoning for further cuts is because the midways are struggling now as well. But of course, Merlin won't cut them back or stop investing in stupid numbers of those even though it is clear people are fed up of them. Instead, they tighten the budget further on Towers because why not, they've already ruined the park. The second half of 2017 was actually really good for the park numbers wise and many were expecting a better 2018, if not at least the same plus WickerMan. But no, Towers gets a nice new coaster and a fresh amount of cuts.

 

Merlin sure know how to make money. Hopefully with falling out of the FTSE100 too the shareholders will boot Varney off and whip the company into shape. They have the money to do great.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Merlin seem intent on ruining Towers - so many peeved people on FB and quite rightly so.  4pm closures for a park the size of AT is daft and staggered opening times this year are ridiculous - seriously Nemmy and Galactica not open until midday?!  Nemmy is generally the first ride I head to when I visit and get a few rides in on that to start the day off- I wonder if they are opening that area at midday to get more business for the rollercoaster restaurant?! ?

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So what other parks proudly state that 'half of their rides will be open when the park opens'? Portaventura opens rides later but then it's often open until 10pm/12pm/3am(!) from a 10am open.

 

I want to see this as good news but assuming that Nemesis/Galactica now open at 11 isn't really that great. The fact that Nemesis was on ERT last year shows just how reliable it is (when was the last time it was down for an entire day?), I can kind of understand Galactica opening later due to it's VR and more complicated trains (see DBGT).

 

I want to be positive about Alton Towers but it still feels off. On the flip side I'm happy that Thorpe is getting later openings and things like SAW: Alive opening during the summer. I think it shows where Merlin's loyalty lies currently.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

YAY THINGS ARE STILL WORSE THAN LAST YEAR BUT THE WILL OF THE PEOPLE SHOWED THE ELITE WE ARE NOT TO BE TRIFLED WITH!

 

 

I sense this is only through the sheer will of a handle of Towers employees who know that the situation they're in is unwinnable, and that getting further operational budget from Merlin is akin to drawing blood from a stone...

 

This is not something to be celebrated...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 12/01/2018 at 9:52 AM, MattyMoo said:

SW8: "It's not a John Wardley ride, but it's a great, fun, ride" #burn :D

 

While his dark rides are indeed legendary and his contribution to the UK scene unrivalled, his reputation in some people's eyes as the World's best coaster designer is just silly, Nemesis is brilliance, the rest is alright, he isn't God.

 

As for the opening times s**tshow, not really much more I can add that hasn't already been said. I'm over getting upset or annoyed by Merlin cost cutting anymore. If it wasn't for the new coaster there's no way I'd even think about visiting this year, which let's be honest spoilers things a bit. Idiots.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good, so they should wind all opening hours back to 10am. In no way do I praise Merlin for making Towers reduce the opening times in the first place, but at least they weren’t as self destructing as to just stick to it and just let the backlash and complaints continue. Really they don’t need more negative online/media coverage than they already have. This whole opening hours thing should never have happened in the first place anyway.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In my opinion, this was a PR exercise.

 

Alton Towers announced hugely exaggerated cuts to opening hours & ride availability, then reversed them so they were slightly better but still massively cut back on last year.  Because they appear to have "listened to feedback" this caused people to see it as a positive.

 

If however, they had announced the finalised cuts to opening hours & ride availability first, people would have seen it as a negative and there would have been no positive to placate angry customers.

 

It's unbelievable that people are actually PRAISING them for reducing the value of the product?!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...