April 11, 201312 yr comment_156445 Stuff happens... No point getting worked up about it, even if people will... Not within the park's control... Etc...
April 11, 201312 yr comment_156458 Hmmm, I know this isn't the parks fault but when this happened at Pleasure Beach a few weeks back they gave out free return wristbands - I wonder if towers did the same?
April 11, 201312 yr comment_156462 No point getting worked up about it, even if people will...Don't you worry, I ain't.
April 12, 201312 yr comment_156483 Hmmm, I know this isn't the parks fault but when this happened at Pleasure Beach a few weeks back they gave out free return wristbands - I wonder if towers did the same? It varies really, sometimes they might give out free tickets (or something along those lines like money off return vouchers and what-not)... They managed to re-open most things(?) though, and extended the opening time, so they did some stuff...
April 12, 201312 yr comment_156491 Extending the opening of rides by 30 minutes when they close at 5 in the first place isn't great, even Chessie are open till 6 at the moment. I believe they revalidated the tickets for another day so they did offer a few things.
April 12, 201312 yr comment_156493 My point was more towards that they extended the opening time when they didn't have to according to their own T&Cs... The short opening hours is another discussion all together...
April 12, 201312 yr comment_156494 I got your point, just wanted to make Chessie sound better for once
April 12, 201312 yr comment_156497 I got your point, just wanted to make Chessie sound better for once
April 25, 201312 yr comment_157607 Alton Towers used to only let guests in at 9AM who had Early Ride Time; but the last year or 2 they have been letting everyone in at 9, and checking at the queue entrances for valid ERT tickets to allow them on the rides... is this still the case this year, as would be great to get in before 10 and start queuing for The Smiler (when its opened obviously) ready for when it opens at 10. Thanks.
April 25, 201312 yr comment_157614 They let everyone in from 9, and most rides don't check for tickets so everyone can go on the rides before 10! Wonderful!
April 25, 201312 yr comment_157623 Yet they still advertise it as being a 'perk'... Not sure what to make of it really...
April 25, 201312 yr comment_157627 Most of the time it's a bit of a non-issue really, it's pretty rare for the rides to even fill all the seats during ERT let alone have any sort of queue. When trains are being sent half empty it's more trouble than it's worth to make people wait and probably causes a load of complaints. People who've booked online in order to get ERT may be a little annoyed, but as an AP holder I don't really care unless they start getting long queues during ERT.
April 25, 201312 yr comment_157629 ERT at Towers is pretty pointless, you spend most of the time getting into the park. (And don't even get me started on that rant, most stupid park entrance system ever! Clearly just put in to make money from the express parking!)
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157675 Express parking was the last carpark to the built, way after monorail actually. But continue moaning about the wonderful monorail system. Turn up earlier, it opens at 830 which is half hour before ERT even starts. Christ!
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157684 Turn up earlier, it opens at 830 which is half hour before ERT even starts. Christ! Would be good if they advertised that then!! IMO it should be just like any other theme park when you turn up and just walk in, rather than having to queue up for a monorail etc... There are plenty of places where the car park is right next to parts of the park, so the park should have been designed for the entrance to be where you can just walk in.
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157690 You mean the staff car park? Coach park? There is no room and they probably when building the car parks were told they could only put it in that area... So that's where it is... Towers is certainly a place that demonstrates the evolution of a park over time, where they had to design things along with the park's own evolution... It is simply not possible for them to have car park space of the size required to be at the park's entrance (hence the rumours of the second entrance by Valley, but I find that idea silly really)... The Monorail is a lovely way of entering the park, if they could improve the throughput of it on busier days it would be a lot better (and prevent queues to the toilets, which are rather off-putting and result in walking)...
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157693 The Monorail is a lovely way of entering the park, if they could improve the throughput of it on busier days it would be a lot better (and prevent queues to the toilets, which are rather off-putting and result in walking)... Well exactly, a throughput increase would be good because the queue is usually ridiculously big for it! (I know it basically has to take most people going to the park but that is even more reason for the throughput to be increased in my opinion).
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157697 Woodland walk for ERT! Used to love that. So much this... Why they don't have it open anymore for ERT (or indeed, during or AFTER the day) is beyond me, as most guests don't know it even exists...
April 26, 201312 yr comment_157700 I love the monorail and yes I will be in the car park for 08:15 tomottow to catch the 08:30 to Towers Street and will be almost at the front of the queue or even the front if I'm lucky. A short walk over to Nemmy is around 10 mins, so you get a good 50 mins ERT, more if you go to nearer attractions. The only downside with ERT is that the rides are so spread apart.
April 27, 201312 yr comment_157708 Would be good if they advertised that then!! IMO it should be just like any other theme park when you turn up and just walk in, rather than having to queue up for a monorail etc... There are plenty of places where the car park is right next to parts of the park, so the park should have been designed for the entrance to be where you can just walk in. http://www.altontowers.com/hotels/hotel-guest-benefits/ - although not the best page, as it's for guests in the hotel, they do advertise it. Towers has always had it - before the monorail, they had a coach style transportation system. It's been unique and quirky. Dunno how you find a queue (longer than the walking time of 10mins) during ERT. Monorail has a pretty decent throughput - 500 every 10mins. So 3000/hour on busy days. It's minimum is 1800/hour!
April 27, 201312 yr comment_157711 So 3000/hour on busy days. It's minimum is 1800/hour! Exactly, and the average attendance rate (I believe) is 12,000 visitors, the majority of which use the monorail. It's capacity is not high enough.
April 27, 201312 yr comment_157712 Would be good if they advertised that then!! IMO it should be just like any other theme park when you turn up and just walk in, rather than having to queue up for a monorail etc... There are plenty of places where the car park is right next to parts of the park, so the park should have been designed for the entrance to be where you can just walk in. When Alton Towers went down the theme park route it was obviously inspired by Magic Kingdom's method of getting to the park. However unlike Alton Towers, Magic Kingdom has an even worse problem with the only way getting there by a very slow boat, train cars or a monorail system. You can't do the walk unlike Towers. Considering that park has 70,000 people on average getting there way to the park, Alton Towers monorail problem seems so much more irrelevant. It's 12,000 on average a day seems rather small fry. Besides those 12,000 people won't all be arriving at the same time. I've been visiting for years and I've never waited more then ten minutes for the monorail. I think the monorail is a great way to get to the park as it helps stagger people getting to the entrance, gives you a sneak peak onto your day and allows less over-crowding at the entrance and on any hand, if 3,000 PPH is its absolute minimum then it must be able to get through much higher when it has more trains going round.
April 27, 201312 yr comment_157732 Exactly, and the average attendance rate (I believe) is 12,000 visitors, the majority of which use the monorail. It's capacity is not high enough. The car park (including the grass ones) only has capacity for 5000 cars. Obviously you usually get way less. On 5 trains, even on the busiest of days at the end of the day, the queue is never more than 20mins, usually a fair bit less. 1800pph is on 3 trains which'll be the minimum during the morning/evening peak.
May 5, 201312 yr comment_158427 According to TowersStreet, Submission had both arms running at some point today. Good to see work going into other parts of X-Sector, this area of the park should be looking very good when The Smiler opens.
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