Alton Towers 19th October 2013

[Pierre]

Brief report, I'm kind of using it for notes to reference to as well for when I write to them.

We got into the theme park car park at 10.00am but didn't get into the actual park until 11.00am due to queues for both monorail and actual tickets.

We headed straight to the smiler at 11.15am which had a 90 minute queue. During the queue there were four breakdowns - each one announced with a message that ended with the phrase "thank you for enjoying this message" - The first time we heard this we thought the guy panicked and said a ridiculous version of "thanks for your understanding/patience" but no - it must be in the script as it was on every message.

So 2.00pm came (a whole 165mins later, almost double the estimation on entry!) and we finally got on it. We lucked out and got front row when they were allocating seats which softened the blow a little. The ride itself is fantastic, I have posted my opinion in the Smiler thoughts topic.

I bought the photo and was still a little irate which the girl behind the photo desk got - she was trying to sell me the £20 for 4 photos deal, I explained I was only buying this photo because I waited 2hr 45mins for the ride and don't intend on waiting so long for an others in the park. She then asked if I was enjoying my day so far while the photo was printing and I explained that was the only bloody thing I'd been on.

We moved onto Oblivion which had a 40 minute queue. We needed a sugar boost so I got some smarties out of the vending machine - they got stuck... I shook the machine until they fell and got a round of applause from some stranger. Oblivion was good, it always is.

We were hungry at this point so went to Woodcutters on the way to Dark Forest - there was a power cut, the advice was it could be 5 minutes or 1 hour until it returns? We said we'd go to the Burger Kitchen instead who were also suffering from the same power cut (turns out it affected a LOT of the park) - we thought we may as well head back to our first choice and wait it out. The power was back on in Woodcutters and we got allocated a table pretty quickly however it took us 40 minutes to get served. This is because the power went again when we were in the queue, the tills are all electronic and went off. The supervisor was advising people in the queue it takes 15 minutes for the system to reboot... if this is the case why do they not have a backup generator or backup method of taking orders/payments in such event? The staff could have acted pro-actively and took peoples orders ready to key in once the systems were up and running but they didnt. The food only took ten minutes to come which was great but also a worry as we'd ordered four different types of burger. The burger was dry, it had been cooked and left under a heat panel for a while (and probably cooled down and reheated during the power cuts).

We queued for Rita which was an estimated 40 minute queue - the only estimation of the day to be correct. It rained - it always rains when I ride Rita, it is literally mother natures way of slapping me in the face.

Th13teen was closed when we joined the Rita queue but had re-opened by the time we got off so we joined this one (another 40 minute queue). Half way through the queue the announcement comes across that the regular queue is 90 minutes and the fast track queue is 35 minutes. 90 minutes had passed and we hadn't even hit the building - we jumped the fences and left to head home feeling nothing but disappointment.

The Zombie Scare zone was open and didn't have any queue so we walked through this - this was quite good actually, would have been great if it was a bit longer but it was still decent.

We played 9 holes of Extraordinary Golf on the way out, a first for me! We did holes 10-18 - its actually quite neat but could do with a little care and attention!

I've been to Alton twice this year and have been disappointed on both occasions - the Smiler was closed on opening day and we got tickets revalidated (with the exception of special events). My friend went with his tickets last week as they were advised they had up until the 19th October to use them - however Alton Towers were tweeting people yesterday stating Scarefest is NOT a special event (despite it being listed under events on their website). The park was ran like a shambles yesterday which is unacceptable for the price of entry they advertise.

 

[Serena]

Sounds like a really bad day at Alton, but what's worse is that this doesn't even surprise me anymore. The Smiler breaks down more often than childhood movie stars.

They had a power cut when I was there a few months ago, and I've heard that there have been more during the season.
The worst thing is the way they handle it, with a complete lack of useful information

the advice was it could be 5 minutes or 1 hour until it returns? We said we'd go to the Burger Kitchen instead who were also suffering from the same power cut (turns out it affected a LOT of the park)

They basically leave it up to guests to ask why everything's not working and to figure out for themselves whether it's worth waiting however long for attractions start working again.

Never queue for the monorail though! You can walk from the car park in 10 mins, and if you peak through the fences on your way you can see dilapidated River Rapids boats!

 

[Smithy]

The worst thing is the way they handle it, with a complete lack of useful information

the advice was it could be 5 minutes or 1 hour until it returns? We said we'd go to the Burger Kitchen instead who were also suffering from the same power cut (turns out it affected a LOT of the park)

They basically leave it up to guests to ask why everything's not working and to figure out for themselves whether it's worth waiting however long for attractions start working again.

To be fair though a lot of them probably know as much as the guests do.

Sounds like a pretty awful day tbh, wonder if their low-investment year involves any maintenance and efforts to reduce the prolem of powercuts.

 

[furie]

What a shambles. The Smiler is just like Air though, first three or so seasons, that was awful, with three hour queues the norm due to constant breakdowns.

Here's a suggestion Alton, buy rides which have a proven track record, rather than constantly trying to push boundaries...

No idea if the power cuts are the fault of the park, or the energy provider. The problem with backups (we have the same discussion here about backup "whatever") is you need to justify the cost. If you get one powercut (usually) once every three years, how do you justify a £10,000 generator which will sit idle except for 1 day every three years? Plus, you'd need a generator per restaurant. It would never pay back.

Obviously, if they have power issues and it's regular due to major rewiring needed, then they need to make the business decision if they rewire or buy generators.

It's one of those odd ones. We had it in Frome where it flooded regularly (couple of times a year) in the power cupboard and tripped. We looked at £70 UPS devices for each desktop, but worked out it would take like four years to pay back the outlay and the problem needed solving anyway. Best to tackle the problem.

Of course, if it's the energy provider causing the blackouts (that's what it has been at Thorpe in the past), then no doubt they'll compensate Alton (which they should then invest in generators ).

I've not done the golf since the year it opened. It was really great back then, all shiny and new. Was it the Nemesis side you did?

 

[nealbie]

It wasn't the energy provider at fault with Thorpe, furie. One my co-Scout leaders works for EDF and Thorpe just refused to pay the extra for the power supply and equipment required to run the whole park properly and without hitch. :lol:

I wonder if this is the same thing or similar (although it does happen a lot less frequently at Alton).

 

[Pierre]

This is the Smiler ORP from the day!