AstroDan Posted March 29, 2015 Report Share Posted March 29, 2015 Alton Towers was MUCH better this weekend. Operations pretty much as you'd want aside from some Th13teen downtime here and there. Throughputs generally much better and only 4 rides (Rapids - Flume - NST - Ripsaw) opened at 11am, which is actually less than opened late in 2014. Single Rider Queue on Nemesis has been removed with good intentions also, having spoken to ride staff. jon81uk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Odd operations today. Oblivion was only using the front of the station and had alternate cars going round empty. The smiler only has 3 trains at the moment as 2 are still in strip down. Apart from that everything was on low capacity with the exception of Rita. Not really complaining as more wasn't need as everything was walk on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AstroDan Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 If everything is walk on it is fine. Generally Alton Towers are quick to respond to capacity increases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Yeah, it's just what was going on with oblivion that I found confusing. They had enough people to fill all the shuttles but they kept sending 2 of the 4 empty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holtjammy16 Posted April 1, 2015 Report Share Posted April 1, 2015 Odd operations today. Oblivion was only using the front of the station and had alternate cars going round empty. The smiler only has 3 trains at the moment as 2 are still in strip down. Apart from that everything was on low capacity with the exception of Rita. Not really complaining as more wasn't need as everything was walk on. Â Why is any of that odd? well apart from oblivion Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 Was Nemesis on low capacity? That's rare if so.  Oblivion was probably doing that to reduce the time people have to wait to get off, otherwise there's a queue of shuttles outside the station. It makes very little difference to throughput. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mitchada04 Posted April 2, 2015 Report Share Posted April 2, 2015 Well I've been here for 2 days and going back today. The capacity on Park has been absolutely fine! We've walked onto nearly everything or had a 5 minute queue! Yesterday we went on a BTS of Smiler and they said the 4th train is being built for this weekend. Remember, up at Towers it's not school holidays til Friday. We were told yesterday and today are slow days with up to 10, 000 guests on Park. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 It appears Annual Pass holders no longer get discount on alcohol at Alton Towers (and this is / will become the case across all Merlin parks) -Â http://www.towersstreet.com/news/2015/annual-pass-alcohol-discount-removal/ Â I don't drink, so this doesn't affect me at all. Â Given that there are some exceptions to the rule, such as with cigarettes, I'm surprised that you could get discount on alcohol anyway. Â Is it really that big a deal though? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Doesn't affect me, but it's not on considering that food and drink is supposed to be discounted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 To me it is a big deal, this is why.... They've changed the benefits of the pass (which they're entitled to do in their T&C's) after the passes have been sold. Advertise benefits, sell passes, take benefits away. There is no regard for their existing customers, it's just a kick in the nuts and shows how little merlin think of its pass holders. I can't get a refund on my pass, if I could, then I would. Tired of Marlins BS now Coaster and pluk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaz Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 TBF this has always been a benefit I have enjoyed. Bit miffed they're taking it away, especially (as stated above) after the big push in January.  What they should do is put T&C's out there that state anyone with a pass purchased after April 5th 2015 won't get this benefit. Or state that any 2016 passes won't include alcohol discount. Meaning we know what we're renewing into.  Anyway, I hope things will change once/if the Paramount park opens Merlin will have to up their game for customer loyalty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Don't the T&Cs pretty much state that things can change without warning? Â It's a generic thing to have in any company... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graeme Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Don't the T&Cs pretty much state that things can change without warning? It's a generic thing to have in any company... Yes they do! But as my post States above, shows how little they value their customers by the fact they've done this, that's my point Coaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 To me it is a big deal, this is why.... They've changed the benefits of the pass (which they're entitled to do in their T&C's) after the passes have been sold. Advertise benefits, sell passes, take benefits away. There is no regard for their existing customers, it's just a kick in the nuts and shows how little merlin think of its pass holders. I can't get a refund on my pass, if I could, then I would. Tired of Marlins BS now Agree 100% with this. Â I don't care how they've twisted it legally, it's wrong. Graeme 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 You guys seem to have a lot of faith that Paramount will be better, what makes you think this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted April 7, 2015 Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Paramount park has an incredible amount of investment going into it. It was stated somewhere that medium term investment year would be around £30million. Its location is far better, it will be home to some very large IP's and will attract people from all over Europe, which means its competing with Disney. Regardless of if it is better than Disney and Europa or not it will have to be of similar standard. No one invests billions in something they don't think will succeed. Varney may have said that the PP people have little experience but I think he has forgotten the amount they are investing. If things start to go wrong then PP will just head hunt for someone who does have experience. The project is already at a stage where its about to apply for planning permission. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerfuffle Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Alton Towers have just announced the 'Big Six Challenge': http://www.altontowers.com/things-to-do/events/big-six-challenge  Commencing in May, this "challenge" simply invites guests to ride The Smiler, Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and TH13TEEN in one day. Of course, the only challenge I can see here is surviving the queues! Matt 236 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt 236 Posted April 8, 2015 Report Share Posted April 8, 2015 Alton Towers have just announced the 'Big Six Challenge': http://www.altontowers.com/things-to-do/events/big-six-challenge  Commencing in May, this "challenge" simply invites guests to ride The Smiler, Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and TH13TEEN in one day. Of course, the only challenge I can see here is surviving the queues! The difficulty of the big six is getting them all done with Towers queues and open hours (think I'll miss Rita). On another note, Towers have released the a Nemesis 21 talk to their YouTube channel (or at least parts of it) pluk, Cal and Kerfuffle 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 I've just seen that Alton Towers is only open until 5pm on May half term. Â That is absolutely pathetic, bear in mind that it's probably going to be packed that is the typical "we've got your money now deal with it" attitude. Â I was thinking of going but probably won't bother now, it's not worth the effort for that amount of ride time. Cal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Is there a 'recommended route' to take round the park to get the best out of a day there? We're there for 2 and a half days staying in the Hotel in June. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Is there a 'recommended route' to take round the park to get the best out of a day there? We're there for 2 and a half days staying in the Hotel in June. Â Stay in the bar probably is the best route... JoshC. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Is there a 'recommended route' to take round the park to get the best out of a day there? We're there for 2 and a half days staying in the Hotel in June. Depends on what they decide to open for ERT, what rides are on staggered openings (I've lost track on which rides open late now). Â There's no good way to go round the park now, I relied on SRQ's to make sure I got on everything, what with the removal of two of them and dismal opening times I think it's going to be quite hard to get on everything now, but with two and a half days you should manage it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Well as they now have staggered openings start at the forbidden valley with nemesis and air. Then go by what's near by. Leave the smiler until 4:45 or if you are lucky it may have a short queue around lunch. If you join the queue before closing then they will let you ride. Use the 2nd day to ride the rides you missed on the 1st. Most likely sonic spinball. Rita and the smiler will be the long queues so be prepared. However they will be nothing compared to what Thorpe gets. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian-S Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 LOL thanks, the Mrs will stick to the bar no doubt, her poor baby riding terror roller coasters, she's bad enough with a few hours at Thorpe, dread to think what she'll be like after 2 days at Alton...... we're going Thursday/Friday/Saturday so hopefully it won't be epic queues. Does Rita and Smiler have SRQ's? It's likely I'll be bottled on after a couple goes on them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Project LC Posted April 27, 2015 Report Share Posted April 27, 2015 Rita no longer has a srq but the smiler does Ian-S 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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