So, it just popped up in the Smiler topic that Alton close at 6.00pm during all of Summer which surprised me and a few others so just wanted to get a quick comparison of a few parks up first...
CLOSING TIMES DURING AUGUST
UK
Alton Towers - 6.00pm
Thorpe Park - 7.00pm
CWOA - 6.00pm
Flamingo Land - 4.00/5.00/6.00pm dependent on seasonal conditions (wtf!)
Lightwater Valley - Between 4.30pm-6.00pm dependent on visitor numbers
Blackpool Pleasure Beach - 8.00pm
Drayton Manor - No earlier than 5.00pm
SPAIN
Port Aventura - Midnight
Parque Warner - Midnight except Saturdays which is 1.00am
Parque de Attraciones - Midnight
FRANCE
Parc Asterix - 6.00pm
Bagatelle - 5.30pm - 7.30pm dependent on something, can't translate ha
GERMANY
Heide Park - 6.00pm
Hansa Park - 6.00pm
HOLLAND
Walibi Holland - First Half - 8.00pm with the exception of three days at 11.00pm - second half, 6.00pm
Toverland - 8.00pm first half of August, 6.00pm second half
OK thats enough for now because I've already disproved what I thought haha. So as you can see it's only really Spain that take advantage of the summer hours with midnight/1.00am closing times with the rest of Europe varying between 6-8pm.
Why do you think UK + other parks are reluctant to go beyond the 'traditional' hours? Is it due to restrictions on employment law (working hours/days meaning restricted staffing?) or do we just not trust the typical British weather?
I can see why Spain do it, it's a touristy country, but wouldn't Alton Towers consider themselves enough of a tourist attraction in the UK to also benefit?
Obviously these parks will have logical reasons why they don't offer extended opening hours in the Summer, I want to know them.
I left Disneyland Paris out of the above list for obvious reasons.
Actually we'll include it - they close at 11.00pm - this is quite an anomaly though...
CLOSING TIMES DURING AUGUST
UK
Alton Towers - 6.00pm
Thorpe Park - 7.00pm
CWOA - 6.00pm
Flamingo Land - 4.00/5.00/6.00pm dependent on seasonal conditions (wtf!)
Lightwater Valley - Between 4.30pm-6.00pm dependent on visitor numbers
Blackpool Pleasure Beach - 8.00pm
Drayton Manor - No earlier than 5.00pm
SPAIN
Port Aventura - Midnight
Parque Warner - Midnight except Saturdays which is 1.00am
Parque de Attraciones - Midnight
FRANCE
Parc Asterix - 6.00pm
Bagatelle - 5.30pm - 7.30pm dependent on something, can't translate ha
GERMANY
Heide Park - 6.00pm
Hansa Park - 6.00pm
HOLLAND
Walibi Holland - First Half - 8.00pm with the exception of three days at 11.00pm - second half, 6.00pm
Toverland - 8.00pm first half of August, 6.00pm second half
OK thats enough for now because I've already disproved what I thought haha. So as you can see it's only really Spain that take advantage of the summer hours with midnight/1.00am closing times with the rest of Europe varying between 6-8pm.
Why do you think UK + other parks are reluctant to go beyond the 'traditional' hours? Is it due to restrictions on employment law (working hours/days meaning restricted staffing?) or do we just not trust the typical British weather?
I can see why Spain do it, it's a touristy country, but wouldn't Alton Towers consider themselves enough of a tourist attraction in the UK to also benefit?
Obviously these parks will have logical reasons why they don't offer extended opening hours in the Summer, I want to know them.
I left Disneyland Paris out of the above list for obvious reasons.
Actually we'll include it - they close at 11.00pm - this is quite an anomaly though...