pluk Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 6 minutes ago, KingNemesis said: A lot of people don't want to queue these big queues No one wants to queue these big queues. These queues which are big largely because of fastrack in the first place. JoshuaA, MattyMoo and dragon2000 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingNemesis Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 1 minute ago, pluk said: No one wants to queue these big queues. These queues which are big largely because of fastrack in the first place. Fine, probably should have rephrased, a lot of people won't queue these big queues, unlike some who will just grit there teeth and step in line. The comment in regards to large queues due to fastrack, depends how it's done and who's running the show on the fastrack queue. Thorpe is awful for overselling fastrack and letting every fastracker on instantly as soon as they get to the front, however Towers are a bit more sensible and don't tend to see as much overselling of Fastrack and usually remains pretty on top of. I have never seen huge fastrack queues at Towers, However I swear every time I visit Thorpe, fastrack is bigger than the normal queues. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 There are ways to combat the queues that help everyone though, rather than those willing to pay... The constant upselling in parks is very different to be offered a £1 chocolate bar in Smiths, I've not paid £50 for the privilege of being in Smiths for one, which is why a lot of complaints at the cost of the park seem levied towards cost of food, car park and Fastrack... Rather than bombard people with offers, perhaps improving the experience of everyone would help? Nicer queues, better atmosphere, some of the more basic theme park solutions would be better than pop ups on your park app... Matt 236, pluk and dragon2000 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Yuck! What a dreadful idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingNemesis Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 1 hour ago, Benin said: There are ways to combat the queues that help everyone though, rather than those willing to pay... The constant upselling in parks is very different to be offered a £1 chocolate bar in Smiths, I've not paid £50 for the privilege of being in Smiths for one, which is why a lot of complaints at the cost of the park seem levied towards cost of food, car park and Fastrack... Rather than bombard people with offers, perhaps improving the experience of everyone would help? Nicer queues, better atmosphere, some of the more basic theme park solutions would be better than pop ups on your park app... I'm not denying those facts, however... I was aiming the generic upselling to people who are just generically complaining about upselling, it's something that just happens. I would love better atmospheres, better queues and better experiences but at the end of the day that won't reduce the queue time, If 1,000 people enter the queue as it is and 1,000 enter a nicer atmospheric queue, there will still be 1,000 people in the queue. They may not mind queuing as much if they had queue line interaction but it would still be the same amount of people in the line. At the end of the day people pay for fastrack because regardless of how nice the queue is, it's a queue... I have never heard a member of the public say "Oh doesn't Ride X have a nice queue (Not Thorpe's X)" or "Quick, lets get in the queue for Ride X, you get to see the ride really well!" People want to get to the front and on the ride as quick as possible and some are prepared to pay for that privilege. If no one was interested in it, it would be scrapped. There are always going to be people who buy fastrack, for example those visiting from far and wide for one day and once a season are not going to get on everything if the rides are on an hour plus so may choose to buy fastrack to ensure there rides. I personally would never buy fastrack and yes, much like everyone I'm not a fan of it but I can see why people buy it and I can see why Merlin push it so much, to make a profit. Which is, surprisingly what a company wants to see, regardless of organisation and sector. There are other parks that Merlin own that do fastrack a lot lot worse... ThemeParkLover 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Tbf this is just a modern version of people at the entrance selling it. I've not got any real issues with it as long as it comes out of the allocations (which im certain it will). CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 Putting it into perspective (as one who isn't a fastrack fan), which may have been mentioned. If mobile fastrack ticket purchases are taken out of the existing proportion of Fastrack currently sold, then it is completely acceptable. However, if the sale of mobile fastrack will be added on top of current fastrack allocations, then it is completely unacceptable. Towers seem one one of the better handlers of paid queue jumping so hopefully they've got this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted August 22, 2016 Report Share Posted August 22, 2016 When I heard about this, I knew there'd be uproar about it, but I don't see the problem. Fastrack is happening at Towers. It's a fact and it's simply not going to go away. And people do want to buy Fastrack - a perhaps sad fact is that people always go in with the mindset of "Oh, when we get there, we'll buy Fastrack so we don't have to wait so long". So why frustrate people by making them wait in a long line* to buy Fastrack tickets when you can let them buy it for themselves via their phone? It's quicker, more staff effective and keeps everyone happy. Fastrack will still be regulated in the same way, and so long as the affect that has on the main queue is minimal, then everything is okay in my books. *I feel like people will say 'If there's a long line to buy Fastrack, then people won't bother and will just go in a long line for a ride'. No. No they won't. People are silly and want to feel special, and will quite willing wait almost as long to hand over their money so they have the privilege to skip a queue. CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtjammy16 Posted August 23, 2016 Report Share Posted August 23, 2016 On 8/17/2016 at 8:39 AM, Benin said: Why do those rumours keep coming back? Omg top bants etc. I literally just noticed now that the posts I read were from 2013.. Oops Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 On 20 August 2016 at 11:25 PM, pluk said: Crazy queues to buy it are a good thing - it stops people buying it! I was being served at the Resort Box Office a few weeks ago, getting my annual pass printed. Quite a large queue formed behind us, with lots of people clearly queuing for fastracks. Somehow the box office computer systems became jammed while I was at the kiosk being served, and the staff announced to the queue that there would be some wait before the system would be up and running again. For us this wasn't a problem, as we were on our way out of the park anyway and were in no rush. It just amazed me how the vast majority of people in the queue waiting to buy fastracks decided to continue to wait in this queue. I couldn't help but think - You're waiting in a queue to spend money on something that will help you skip a ride queue... why not just save your money and go and wait in the ride queue? pluk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted August 27, 2016 Report Share Posted August 27, 2016 One day they'll sell you something to skip queue whilst queue to skip the queues. Whoops silly me, better not give them more ideas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cptnmingo Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 So update then, we visited not too long ago to check out Galactica. Honest thoughts? Not all it's cracked up to be but still a fun little ride. I had actually never had a chance to ride The Smiler yet so that was pretty exciting and it is now one of my top 5!Walls are up for SW8, very pirate themed which is interesting, looking forward to seeing what they actually call it in the end bearing mind Thirteen was SW7 or something? Sub Terra is also still closed for refurb. You can also see the abandoned log flume from the sky ride and it looks pretty creepy!As usual my wife and I made a vlog of our day, it was actually a surprise trip for her. Hope its okay if I leave this here for those interested? If not then ignore me Sent from my Nexus 5X using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThemeParkLover Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Wow I've just found the towers loving care Twitter page. This is such a good idea, why don't other parks do this it shows they are trying to improve the little things in their park. Thorpe could really benefit from this. cptnmingo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Other parks don't tend to market repaints as additions though that's the issue, they just do them... JoshuaA and Cal 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieN Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Indeed. Theme park TLC shouldn't be considered a marketable addition to a park - it should be considered a necessity. JoshuaA 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Yes, as much of a good this TLC scheme is, parks shouldn't be rewarded for doing something that is expected to be a normal occurrence at all major parks. imagine how much triumph and fan there would be if Didney, Efteling and Europa announced every time they refitted a ride or added new lighting like Merlin have for the TLC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 22 minutes ago, Matt Creek said: Yes, as much of a good this TLC scheme is, parks shouldn't be rewarded for doing something that is expected to be a normal occurrence at all major parks. imagine how much triumph and fan there would be if Didney, Efteling and Europa announced every time they refitted a ride or added new lighting like Merlin have for the TLC. Lots of things Merlin do, they don't announce to a website/twitter, they just do it. Just because Alton Towers did a Tender loving care thing does not mean that Thorpe and Chessington have followed suit. I think the parks do deserve credit when they 'plus' an attraction, particularly as geeks, we're very hard when an attraction is refurbed in the wrong way (Tomb Blaster, I'm looking at you). If a ride is improved in some way, be that a Colossus repaint (If that ever happens) or X No Way out trains turned forwards (Which was a positive change, even if I personally don't like it), we should be more giving with our praise when its a positive change. Besides, with the examples you gave, Disney jump on the chance to promote massive changes to a ride whether that be Star Tours changed to a new version or a massive refurb of Thunder Mountain. Europa did the same with Whale Adventure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted August 29, 2016 Report Share Posted August 29, 2016 Also, European enthusiasts make a big deal out of Efteling refurbs / refreshes (a recent example being the recently announced Python work). One has to wonder why theme parks need a platform to show how they're improving the little things in the first place. 'Regular' guests shouldn't need to be that invested in the tiny things anyway, and the guests who do care should spot them without being told. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 To be fair, when Efteling spend €2million refurbishing a restaurant, I think people are allowed to go a bit ott for them... What they doing to Python? Actually adding theming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 http://www.looopings.nl/weblog/5903/Efteling-investeert-in-toekomst-Python.html 'Major repairs' apparently, and there's been more rumours of actual theming coming too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CharlieN Posted August 30, 2016 Report Share Posted August 30, 2016 But I think there's a small difference between "loving care" and making improvements. For example, the fact that Rita's entrance and surrounding area was being improved by vines and posters I think was a very good thing to do, and one that the park didn't have to do. Therefore when it was announced under the TLC programme, I wasn't thinking 'why are they telling me this?' To me that was a noticeable improvement and one that isn't expected in theme parks world wide. What I wasn't happy about was that pressure cleaning Battle Galleons (for example) was being marketed as a wonderful thing due to the TLC scheme. So, sorry if this post sounds contrived and slightly confusing, but my point is that I'm fine with theme parks advertising improvements (E.G Python or Rita) but what I'm not fine with is Theme parks advertising every time they pick up some rubbish. JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 Does anyone know the parks opening times for the weekends of September to October because on their website all it says is Quote Themepark : Open Water Park: 10-4 outdoor area closed Whilst its nice to know the park is open then it would be really useful if I knew what time it was open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 It is now listed with daily opening times on the banner across the home page but only shows 1 week worth of opening times. Generally it is open until 6pm until Sunday 3rd September and then Monday 4th is open till 4:30 and Tues and Weds in September are closed. Edit - Seems that on the mobile version it still has dates from Mid August with 6pm listed. View it on a desktop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StevenVig Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1710010/alton-towers-smiler-rollercoaster-stuck-leaving-passengers-trapped-in-the-air-for-an-hour/?CMP=spklr-_-Editorial-_-FBPAGE-_-TheSun-thesun-_-20160901-_-News-_-559906523 Smilers in the news again, particularly love the video clip with the small child that says "That Ride needs to go" HA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted September 1, 2016 Report Share Posted September 1, 2016 Standby for Vicky / Leah / Joe appearing on Sky News/This Morning.... Interesting conversation here citing a "tyre cover" of some sort falling off. CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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