Liam T Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I can't see much of a bother with this cut, apart from skyride* most of the major rides opening at 11am people don't get too by that time, it took me a good hour at a slow walking pace to get to Hex alone so from when the park opens to Dark Forest is a good hour wasted walking, but Duel!? why Duel!? *My bus doesn't get to towers till 11 anyway so its okay for me Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 Air and thirteen is very irritating. Air they could just open one station and staff for two later in the day. But nooo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted June 13, 2012 Report Share Posted June 13, 2012 I think the Air and Th13teen situation is ridiculous, indeed. Mainly as Alton is such a huge park - people are going to end up touring it fully, twice, just to get the rides done. I often start at Valley at around 9:30am, with some Nemesis and Sub Terra, do Air and Ripsaw, and work backwards round to Duel, then RMT, hitting Rapids by 11:00am for opening. Clearly that won't work now as Air will be closed as will Duel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stokesyboy Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 I think the Air and Th13teen situation is ridiculous, indeed. Mainly as Alton is such a huge park - people are going to end up touring it fully, twice, just to get the rides done. I often start at Valley at around 9:30am, with some Nemesis and Sub Terra, do Air and Ripsaw, and work backwards round to Duel, then RMT, hitting Rapids by 11:00am for opening. Clearly that won't work now as Air will be closed as will Duel. I tried that last time I went, that route is brilliant, you can get about 5 runs on Nemesis in the ERT aswell! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crafty Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 You should draw this route on a map - sounds good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Why are Air and Thi3teen closed until 11? They are two of the park's most popular rides! In my opinion why not close Rita and something else as Rita's queue only builds up early due to poor capacity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deleted Users Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 This is really silly. The situation will be similar to when 13 fails to open for opening. You just see a mass of guests standing outside the entrance suddenly swarm up the Rita queue creating a massive wait time. If they had to open certain rides later, wouldn't X Sector as a whole be more logical? Oblivion has ridiculous throughput and the flats aren't popular in the first hour. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 The general consensus online seems to be that people are willing to accept the opening of 11:00am attractions. But not Air and Th13teen. Those two rides regularly command 30 to 60 minute queue times on medium and busier days! Remember - this applies on the busiest days of summer, Scarefest and Fireworks too! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Nemesis is open from 9, as always... The reasons they've cut them is due to the most amount of staffing. Literally it. We'll see the guest feedback first, before seeing if they'll make any adjustments to this - skyride cut lasted 3 days purely down to guest feedback. Enterprise and Submission were open for all due to guest feedback.TowersTimes do have a say in this as they voice it first. The parks attendance figures aren't overall shocking, they just are trying to hold onto the same profit margins. It's not good when there's already queues, sometimes amounting to a couple of hundred people, outside of these biggest two rides before 10am - even on the quiet days. It just looks bad - especially when one of those is their newest coaster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 Unfortunately it's really the only response the park has to poor attendance figures and the wider climate. Nemesis and AIR have been selected clearly for good reasons. The people that run these parks have been 'installed' forvery good reasons. These and businessmen and women who have degrees and years of experience in their field. They are not your cliche fat retarded park manager. I'm fine with staggered openings if they are needed for cost savings, probably the most acceptable form of cutting back there is. But the way they've done this is an absolute mess. For many reasons operationally it would surely be better to have whole areas closed than pockets of stuff inactive? It will just look really really poor and in a park the size of Alton simply not work for people trying to fit it all in to be expected to go back and forth from one side of the park to another to try and hit everything while it is open. What are these good reasons? I've not seen any. Just because these business men and women have degrees and years of experience doesn't mean they won't do stupid stuff and get it wrong. From recent history they seem to make bad decisions frighteningly often, and this can go onto the list of poorly thought out stuff they've tried to inflict on their guests this season. Not the words I'd choose, but since you suggest it they do a damn fine impression of a 'retarded park manager'. I'm not sure what they weigh though. Luke_A, Sidders and Mer 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 The issue I take is, that as far as I know, Alton Towers guest figures are up on 2011. But, since they are not meeting "targets", the park has to make cuts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 It was just a matter if time before something like this happened. After all, they've tried other cost-cutting methods, and they were reacted to badly. However, it's a shame as to that the rides they had to choose. Th13teen is their new coaster, and is still popular, so to open it an hour later isn't the best. Air being near to Sub Terra means that the sensible option would be to go for that or Nemesis afterwards. I guess it's not that big a deal really, but still a shame. As for people saying it will affect people's day, as they have to go back and forth to areas... As someone who doesn't visit reguarly, when I went last year I found myself revisiting areas of the park multiple times - in fact, I went to Forrbidden Valley, Dark Forst and X Sector twice. I still got on all the rides I wanted to go on and more; going back and forth didn't ruin my day at all. Yes, it will be a pain for some, but I don't think this is that big a deal - plus, look at the other options we could have had... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam P Posted June 14, 2012 Report Share Posted June 14, 2012 To be honest after returning from Port Aventura they do exactly the same throughout the day, granted whilst the park is open longer rides open late and close early, some only open at weekends this time of year! At 10am we had the option of Furious Baco, right by the entrance with an hour queue at 5 past, Rapids, Train and a few children's rides. Shambhala and Dragon Khan don't open until 11, with rides like Stampede, El Diablo, Log Flume and the drop tower not opening until 12. Whilst I don't want to defend Alton Towers for this, I think it could be a lot worse as a fair amount of rides will be open with the park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BenC Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 The issue I take is, that as far as I know, Alton Towers guest figures are up on 2011. But, since they are not meeting "targets", the park has to make cuts. Alton had a 5.5% drop in attendance (to 2.6m) in 2011, according to the recently-released TEA attendance report (pg 46). I don't know quite how accurate these figures are though. In the same report, Thorpe Park are showing as having enjoyed a 2.7% lift (to 1.9m)...in the year that Storm Surge was installed...?! Source: http://www.teaconnect.org/pdf/2011Report.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 He's talking about this year (2012) compared to last year. Figures were awful at beginning of the year, but I believe on same level, if not up, from last year now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Alton really has been moderately busy the past month... However, they have also changed the goalposts on what crowds constitute a 5.30 or 6.00 ride close, too... Sent from my HTC Desire HD A9191 using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 For many reasons operationally it would surely be better to have whole areas closed than pockets of stuff inactive? It will just look really really poor and in a park the size of Alton simply not work for people trying to fit it all in to be expected to go back and forth from one side of the park to another to try and hit everything while it is open. I agree with your post but in this case just a reminder that staff (may) be based in areas so it could be unfair to team X sector being unable to do an hours less work than team forbidden valley purely because the rides they were given to work on are unpopular. In that case management could sort out areas differently but for a huge park like towers it's a bit impractical having members of the same team in completely different areas of the park! Sorry, I agreed with the rest of your post Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 I appreciate the sentiment, no one likes to see those at the bottom of the pile screwed over for the benefit of those at the top covering their behinds. But in my opinion that all becomes below the needs of the guests. If the park has structured itself wrongly to deal with situations like this, then that should be the parks problem, not the guests. In terms of guest experience, what is being done now is simply not on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepie Posted June 15, 2012 Report Share Posted June 15, 2012 Agree with Pluk- the way staff are affected is not the concern of the guest and the experience they receive is above all other issues. That issue is something for the park to sort out behind the scenes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Staff are screwed anyway - those that work on air almost entirely just work on air, for example. In other news, towersstreet have found the monorail audio: http://www.soundsfishy.tv/alton-towers-resort-audio-video/ Listening to it here, really does remind me how inappropriate it is to setting a theme and creating a first impression. I'm glad the DVD on towers street side is screwed, the old theme is so much more suited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 I much prefered this theme in the station: http://youtu.be/nbZmhprwcgc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Just looked at the ticket price section of the Alton Towers website and have noticed the ticket prices have increased from £42.00 to £43.50. Not sure how long ago it changed but in early may it was definitely £42. Why is there always a need to increase already expensive prices further mid season. Pretty awful prices for those that don't have BOGOF tickets, and what with the car park charge as well. So much cheaper in the US. Take Cedar Point for example, they charge $51.99 which is roughly £33 and there is so much more to do and the place is open until 10pm most of the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bubbles1 Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 However, they don't have BOGOF, so is it really cheaper? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted June 16, 2012 Report Share Posted June 16, 2012 Well base it on the number of hours the park is open it is about the same (ONLY when using a BOGOF voucher at Alton Towers). Take an 8 hour day (10-6) at Alton Towers, works out £2.72 an hour. Cedar point is mostly open 10-10 which works out about £2.75 an hour. Cedar Point might not have BOGOF (and do you know that for sure?) but there are tonnes more rides to go on. I am fully aware that a lot of people use BOGOF vouchers but there is still a fairly high number of people who don't and pay full price, so in my opinion I still say it is more expensive at Alton Towers on average. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fred Posted June 17, 2012 Report Share Posted June 17, 2012 Its difficult to compare pricing abroad, mainly because the tax charged on admissions are usually way lower. Plus, barely anyone does visit towers without BOGOFs now. Shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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