Alton Towers General Discussion

[Stuntman707]

1 hour ago, Marc said:

They can’t offer an exchange / refund - they are non refundable - I didn’t think that particular tweet was that bad just abit tounge in cheek? I like the reply’s to it mind saying she can do what she wants with her tickets - will look abit silly if they end up being blocked by them!

Towers have updated their response and have offered an exchange at their discretion. The terms only say they are non transferable. Still it’s the correct response they should be giving and I’m glad they have backtracked and apologised for this.

 

[MattyMoo]

15/10 on the justice scale.

[Marc]

Usually there’s a re-validation fee to

change the date (£5 I think) - judging by the late reply I guess the responses got them to think twice on this one!

 

I still don’t think the original reply came across how they intended it mind!

[Coaster]

Well, I suppose that response is better than nothing.

[Benin]

8 hours ago, Marc said:

Usually there’s a re-validation fee to

change the date (£5 I think) - judging by the late reply I guess the responses got them to think twice on this one!

 

I still don’t think the original reply came across how they intended it mind!

 

Perhaps, the wording is awful though and it's a stupid thing for any social media account to say to a prospective guest... Should've just said something about "if you need to change the date on your advance ticket please contact such and such"...

[Ringo]

Towers aren’t happy with a vlogger breaking the rules today

 

https://mobile.twitter.com/altontowers/status/995692063390920704

 

 

 

[MattyMoo]

But... but... Mr. Worldwide is elite, no? Rules are for normal guests

[streetmagix]

Thing is, the ride board doesn't say you can't film on the ride. The only warnings are about taking cameras on at the owners risk. I've taken my camera on the rapids before and the staff had no issues with it.

 

I can't say I blame him for leaving Alton Towers, from the outside looking in they seem to be in complete disarray last year and this year.

[yeah]

14 replies... ugh I bet each and every one of them is attacking AT for daring to reinforce their rules at the expense of Lord Sanbrooke...

[Stuntman707]

All the constant daily vlogging is getting ridiculous this year. At the end of the day, Towers are in their right to enforce the rules of their rides and discourage people who think it may be ok to do that. There is on-ride photography for those kinds of pics.

Its a shame some people can’t just enjoy a ride in the moment without trying to get their phones out mid-ride. Thorpe staff have been more on the ball enforcing the rules this year, saw them eject two people from Rush for queue jumping and warn a guy for trying to film on Flying Fish.

[pluk]

No interest in this guy, or vlogs in general. Find them an embarrassment.

I've never known any issue with pics and filming on rapids. Has always been generally accepted, and if no mention on the ride board then Towers are making themselves look a bit silly.

If your bum remains on the seat, there's no problem.

[JoshC.]

I guess the concern from the park's perspective is that if someone has a camera out, they won't be holding on, which risks a person falling out of their seat / into the water. There's also the case where someone could drop their phone into the water and jump in to grab it. Unfortunately there's a lot of stupid people out there.

 

Towers do say on their map and website that filming and photography isn't allowed on any attraction (so technically not even the monorail or Skyride if we wished to be pedantic). To say it doesn't explicitly say it on a ride restriction board is a bit of a grotty loophole which ends up with us having stupid, spoon-fed restrictions and over the top safety rules.

 

This specific situation is obviously all the more high profile because we're looking at a well known enthusiast, who is an ex-employee of the park. It sets an example to over 20,000 people. Can understand why Towers don't particularly want them to go 'hey, we're breaking park rules and we get cool stuff from the park'.

 

 

There's also the cynic in me which wonders if this is Theme Park Worldwide trying to just get more publicity. All publicity is good publicity as the saying goes..

[Mega-Lite]

About time someone put this clown in his place, nice work Alton Towers!

[Matt A]

The wording on the signage doesn't help the situation much either, I would take what it says to mean you can film as long as you are careful. ?‍♂️

 

[Coaster]

I'm fully supportive of not allowing cameras onboard, but unfortunately the signage infers that cameras CAN be used but at the owner's own risk.  This invalidates Alton's statement, they need to be consistent with rules like this as they have made themselves look very silly on this occasion.

 

Also if the use of cameras is dangerous (as they say), they are putting people in more danger by miscommunicating that use of cameras is at the owner's discretion.

[pluk]

10 hours ago, EpicSmatty said:

The wording on the signage doesn't help the situation much either, I would take what it says to mean you can film as long as you are careful. ?‍♂️

 

Exactly this. AT are wrong to have tried to publicly chastise someone who has in reality followed their own rules. 

 

As Barron says, to put it down as 'all rides and attractions' would include monorail and skyride. But that is clearly a nonsense, so clear unambiguous signage at each ride entrance is how it should be managed.

 

There's nothing wrong or inherently dangerous with filming on the rapids.

[JoshC.]

1 hour ago, pluk said:

Exactly this. AT are wrong to have tried to publicly chastise someone who has in reality follows their own rules. 

 

I don't think this is being emphasized enough here.

 

Towers' responses are blunt and edging towards rude. Regardless of what the rule is or isn't, their tone of voice over Twitter stinks in this instance, and in many others. Saw a tweet where someone was asking for bus times to/from the park, and their response was effectively 'Google it'. That's dreadful.

 

The team running responses to social media posts clearly are terrible this year and need complete retraining on basic customer service and basic social media skills. Terrible image for the park, despite being so easy to get right.

[Benin]

It's not helped by the personal point scoring that seems to be going around a LOT of Twitter accounts recently... I'm not a fan of Sanbrooke or TPW but another account did basically grass them up for the image in question (why I'm not sure, I'm 100% certain Towers keeps tabs on plenty of relevant media accounts themselves), for some reason... I've unfollowed the account as a result because it wasn't needed to be done in such a public setting (if Towers REALLY cared about it, they would have contacted Sanbrooke directly to discuss it) and for such blatant point scoring (it's not the first time I've seen them do such nonsense)...

 

It's sad to see the UK scene becoming really petty these days...

 

 

Regarding cameras on rides, it's gotta be a common sense thing right? A flat out ban on all rides is just an over-reaction (so expect Merlin to do this) and will not be a great sign when someone gets berated for taking pictures of their kid on Sea Dragons...

[Stuntman707]

The signage may be out of date and social media may be quite blunt this year however they are still in their right to change and enforce whatever they want in their park. The rules around this were cleared up with operations by social media beforehand. There really shouldn’t be an arguement whether you can or can’t. 

[Ringo]

12 minutes ago, Stuntman707 said:

The signage may be out of date and social media may be quite blunt this year however they are still in their right to change and enforce whatever they want in their park. The rules around this were cleared up with operations by social media beforehand. There really shouldn’t be an arguement whether you can or can’t. 

Exactly and as people discovered yesterday the parks website, maps and entrance T&C’s all state you can’t film or take photographs on any ride.

 

Someone else on Twitter also found in Towers terms of entry you can’t take photographs or make videos for commercial gain, does a YouTube channel fall into that trap?

 

https://www.altontowers.com/terms-and-conditions/

 

Quote

Photography: 

Unless it is expressly prohibited, you are permitted to take photographs and recordings within the Attraction provided that these are solely for private use and are not sold or used for any commercial or public purpose.  By accepting these Entry Conditions, you acknowledge that Merlin may on demand have access to photographs taken and video footage captured by you and request that certain photographs and/or footage are deleted if they are deemed to be offensive to or infringe the privacy of other guests and/or staff. By accepting these Entry Conditions, you agree not to intentionally photograph and/or capture video footage of any individual without that person’s permission and you must adhere to all photography/filming restrictions in place from time to time whilst within the Attraction. From time to time Merlin or other authorised parties carry out photography and/or video recording in the Attraction, which may feature guests. Entry to the Attraction is deemed acceptance of these Entry Conditions, and you therefore agree that Merlin or any authorised party may use such images in perpetuity in any promotional, advertising or publicity material in any format whatsoever. You further agree that copyright in these materials rests with Merlin or such authorised party (as the case may be).  

 

[yeah]

Hmm.

 

 

If this is true and they were given permission, Merlin really need to sort this out. There seems to be a real disconnect between their rules on social media/website and their rules at all of their parks. I was told not long ago on Twitter GoPros are no longer allowed at Chessington, only to see someone ask if they can take their mounted GoPro on Dragons Fury and the answer was yes.

[Project LC]

A lot of places will have a no commercial gain clause about filming on there property. While technically YouTube does fall into that category most places are sensible enough to realise it's free advertising. The clause is mainly there to stop TV, adverts or films being filmed there without them getting paid for the production company using their land.

[ProudToServe]

I just think Alton need to make sure they know their own rules before outing someone on social media over something that is technically allowed. Seeing as the attraction says at owners risk, the website permit unless stated at the ride and staff have seem to say yes. If they are going to start picking people out on social media, they best start with the making sure their rules clear.

 

Tho all this is of the back of a twitter account who outted their picture to alton, trying to be all smug it seems.

[Mark9]

4 hours ago, Stuntman707 said:

The signage may be out of date and social media may be quite blunt this year however they are still in their right to change and enforce whatever they want in their park. The rules around this were cleared up with operations by social media beforehand. There really shouldn’t be an arguement whether you can or can’t. 

 

Kind of irrelevant. After the Smiler incident they built giant fences all over the place and after the rapids incident at Drayton last year, the Rapids was closed and that was the time to update their signage board. If they are going to call someone out like this, they have to have all their legalities in check such as the front entrance board or they just look stupid.

4 hours ago, Ringo said:

Exactly and as people discovered yesterday the parks website, maps and entrance T&C’s all state you can’t film or take photographs on any ride.

 

So a parent could in theory be ejected from the park for photoing their kids on 'In the Night Garden'.

[Benin]

Or taking photos on Postman Pat...

 

Or Get Set Go!

 

Or Charlie (when it was open)...

 

Etc. Etc.