Alton Towers ride closures

[Chris Brown]

Shame really, Hex is a great ride but never really draws a queue so i can sort of understand. I dont think Alton explained what it was well enough to make people want to try it. I always assumed it was some boring walk through thing as did all of my friends, the first time i rode it was when i visited with CF last year.

 

[Chris Brown]

Shame really, Hex is a great ride but never really draws a queue so i can sort of understand. I dont think Alton explained what it was well enough to make people want to try it. I always assumed it was some boring walk through thing as did all of my friends, the first time i rode it was when i visited with CF last year.

 

[SilverArrow]

Word of the forum grapevines is that it has problems 'parking' in the load/unload position and that vekoma have been out to fix it numerous times to no avail.

That's not to say that this isn't also a cost saving decision too.

Sent from my XT1039 using Tapatalk

 

[furie]

Shame really, Hex is a great ride but never really draws a queue so i can sort of understand.

It may no draw much of a queue, but it does still eat people. It's 100 people capacity and there are the three pre-show areas.

I don't know if they hold people longer in the initial area to get a larger number of people onto the ride, but I can't remember it ever being below about half full in the ride. So 50 people each in 4 shows per 20 minute total queue/show/ride time is still eating 600 people an hour. That's not bad.

Obviously that isn't the whole story as I couldn't tell you exactly how many it will run with (it once ran one Halloween evening with just me and Maxi-Minor_Furie - but that was the last cycle of the evening).

It does seem like an odd decision to make just for cost saving - there must be some kind of substantial cost to keeping it going. Maybe there are maintenance costs in keeping up to a decent standard this year so rather than spend, just leave it SBNO for a season until finances recover.

 

[Ian]

It must cost a fortune to preserve the fallen branch. All the other branches that fell from trees several hundred years ago would have rotted away by now.

 

[Lofty]

Doubtfully. More like "a cost effective solution to is bombarding Galactica with staff".


Sent from my iPhone 6 using Tapatalk.

 

[Martyn B]

There's nothing on that link to suggest it closed? Might be because it's the mobile site though.

But I've seen a screen shot of what it said, and there's nothing to suggest it would be closed all year.

 

[PeteA]

If the rumoured rides are closed for part or all of the season, then it will be a sad day for Alton Towers. For a park that size to only have one operating dark ride would be such a shame. That coupled with the fact that they are all (with maybe the theme of Sub-Terra an exception) all family rides.

 

[Martyn B]

So it seems like it could be a very depressing year to visit Alton. As the weeks go by, it seems more and more likely that these ride removals rumours are indeed true. And add that to what appears to be a massive reduction in food and beverage options. Nothing is actually confirmed, but Towers Street is reporting that there are quite a few outlets that may not be reopening this year. Including the Courtyard Tavern and Mexican Cantina (Courtyard Tavern has already been boarded up, apparently).

I just don't get it.

 

[zazobo]

It's such a shame.. half the joy of AT is the lovely atmosphere. It'll feel pretty sad with half of the attractions/restaurants boarded up

 

[furie]

So it seems like it could be a very depressing year to visit Alton. As the weeks go by, it seems more and more likely that these ride removals rumours are indeed true. And add that to what appears to be a massive reduction in food and beverage options. Nothing is actually confirmed, but Towers Street is reporting that there are quite a few outlets that may not be reopening this year. Including the Courtyard Tavern and Mexican Cantina (Courtyard Tavern has already been boarded up, apparently).

I just don't get it.

See, I really need to return to Alton, I've not been back since the entire Smiler opening debacle.

I'm just being put off more and more though. I don't think Galactica or the Food Loop will be open in March when people are looking at going after the Blackpool live. So I was going to wait until the season got under way a bit. It doesn't appeal though with some of the rides I love being shut and two of the places I always eat. I'll probably just leave it until next year unless I can get a really good deal on the entrance.

I know it was a bad year last year for the park, but this year they need to entice people back - that just isn't going to happen by shutting stuff down. It's a very sad time for the park

 

[JoshC.]

I'm just being put off more and more though. I don't think Galactica or the Food Loop will be open in March when people are looking at going after the Blackpool live. So I was going to wait until the season got under way a bit.

It's been confirmed that the Roller Coaster Restaurant won't be opening until May 13th. I also believe it was said somewhere (though I can't find where now) that Galactica isn't scheduled to open until April.

If true, they're surely going to be losing out on some big business during the Easter weekend?!

 

[Robbie]

I know it was a bad year last year for the park, but this year they need to entice people back - that just isn't going to happen by shutting stuff down. It's a very sad time for the park

We know how this goes: attendance will be down this year because of the Smiler incident, but those people who do go (which will still be a large number) find a timid park with a lot less to do than in previous years. So they think that was OK, but decide they won't go back for a few years until there's loads of genuinely new stuff - it's just not worth the money anymore. So attendance drops even further, the park closes for more days and within a few years there's an empty park and Merlin management are saying "but we added a photo op to Nemesis, what more do they want?"

 

[GuyWithAStick]

I think it's safe to blame the UK Media for making such a big fuss over this. Especially that atrocious Sky News interview. When the NTG accident happened, it was a pretty big deal for maybe 2 weeks. After that, it died down a bit, and it was open 2 months later. Nothing happened to the park since.

I hate the media so much. Especially when they misinterpret things.

 

[PeteA]

However, did Six Flags Over Texas close for 5 days (or however many it was) like Alton did or did the Six Flags chain close coasters across the country.

From a media and public perspective, the above closures could indicate to someone that there was a problem, hence why they latched onto it and prolonging it.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but would Alton Towers and Merlin have been in the media spotlight for so long if they hadn't closed Alton or other coasters for such a long period? Of course its hard to say...

Back to the here and now, gate prices are currently showing as £50.40 for Alton and if the ride line up is drastically cut, I would hope that the gate price is reduced.

 

[furie]

The problem is that it's a typical piss-poor attitude to this kind of thing.

Is Alton Towers the premier UK theme park, or is it somewhere like Southport Pleasureland?

If you are in the position of being the quintessential theme park of the country, then you keep that up, even through the rough years. As soon as you let standards slip then you no longer hold that position and you're on a slippery slope. I agree with a degree of cost cutting as they're a business and need to survive. The problem is if you cut too deep (and I would say Alton are cutting too deep) then you will slowly bleed out. A VR headset on Air and a new restaurant doesn't counter three or four permanent ride closures and the loss of other eateries.

I imagine that profit margins are deemed higher at the new restaurant, so it looks great. Force people to only be allowed to eat are places that give the highest profits is great to the bottom line. However, every time that a customer feels ripped off (parking, high entry price, rides unavailable, limit and expensive food choices) they refuse to return and they make sure that others no.

Then you're in a downward spiral. In a service industry, the guest is king and while I feel sorry for Alton and its financial woes, they mustn't lose sight of the fact that they are there to entertain guests. As soon as guests feel as though they're there to make Alton money, they don't feel like guests and don't return.

Hopefully it's just this year that they're cutting back to get back on an even keel, then if they can pull off a new investment next year to get guests back in, they can look to doing things properly again.

However, I still don't believe an attraction like Alton should ever compromise it's position of "premium quality" - they have standards guests expect and if they don't meet them, the backlash will be much more costly than running things at a loss.

And the next time one of the businesses in your group buys an attraction that is a nightmare, don't go back to that same manufacturer again. Learn from mistakes, don't repeat them. Let's face it, The Smiler has been a fiasco from even before day 1.

 

[Howie]

You know what?
I'm just not gonna bother going this year. I have officially given up on the place. I usually go 2 or 3 times in a season, but not this time. Can't be arsed.
That'll learn 'em.

 

[EnigmaHyena]

http://riderater.co.uk/5679/alton-tower ... ater-ride/

Alton Towers has retired its Flume water ride after 35 years of operation, the park has confirmed.

Opening in 1981 as the Log Flume, the Mack-manufactured ride had in recent years been subject to considerable speculation regarding its future.

The TowersStreet website reported last year that the Flume would not operate in 2016, pending removal from the park.

The news follows the removal of the Ripsaw flat ride, and comes as Alton Towers is preparing to release details of its full ride lineup for the 2016 season.

It has also been reported that the Hex, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Driving School and Nemesis Sub-Terra attractions will not operate this season.

There we have it, it seems what most of us probably knew was in the pipeline has been confirmed by the park according to Ride Rater and TT. Will anyone miss the Flume? I'm indifferent about it but with all the ride closures this year they better make up for it all with worthwhile replacements.

 

[furie]

I liked the flume. Would probably ride it every few visits. If it makes way for a new coaster though, that's not a bad thing.

Sent from my D6603 using Tapatalk

 

[Martyn B]

I think this is more to do with future development, rather than any of these cut backs.

This plus Ripsaw all fits in with that RMC rumour.