Waterpark: General Discussion 2012

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Magrathea
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To be honest, before I went to Cariba, every single other waterpark/swimming pool I'd ever been to had charged for their lockers, so when my pound came out on my first visit I honestly assumed that it was some kind of mistake.

While obviously extra charges are never ideal, I think this was a better way to go about it than increasing the ticket price, as I'd say you can easily fit at least three people's belongings in one locker (unless you've brought LOADS), and thus it's less of a financial burden than if the entrance price had been increased for everybody :).
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Dormiens-Dave

garyh wrote:
Dormiens-Dave makes a valid point in that a lot of people are fan boys who will not let a bad word be said about Alton.  I apologise if some of my points seem harsh, but I also try and view the experience of the park from the point of view of a non-enthusiast and how they would feel after a visit.
It was more that the whole membership used to be called "fanboys" which i think has changed people are more objective now. On the flip-side these days there are some members who wont let a good word be said about the towers (who i will add are not currently posting on the thread)

But yes lets move back on topic :)
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CoasterCrazyChris
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Blaze wrote: Been on Duel recently, Chris? That ride has had continuous improvements and more work done in the past two seasons than it probably ever had. 2011 is the only season they haven't put a new ride and area in, and the next two seasons have pretty major investments coming.

Sorry Gary, but Alton have their own mind. They started to charge for the lockers, not Merlin. You just sound paranoid of Merlin is you say every little thing that costs money is down to Merlin, making out Alton is some poor little trapped being in the giant, evil hands of Merlin.

That last major ride may have disapointed you, but it still cost more than any other investment they've ever made and had a very expensive and complicated element that had never been attempted before. The ambition was there, even if the ride didn't work as well as it could have, and half of the blame is Intamin's not the park/Merlin.
Blaze, come on, you can't seriously be saying that a few improvements to a dark ride couts as overall effective maintenance?

The park as a whole has never looked worse in its history than it has done this year. No, not even during the late Tussauds years.

Whoever was responsible for the works on Duel this year deserves praise though - the queuline hasn't looked as good in years now most of the effects are working. The actual ride though is still terrible i'm afraid, occssionally it shows glimmers of how good it used to be, but overall it is dated and quite frankly boring. It is wasted space. Just like The Flume, CATCF, Dung Heap, coaster corner and Adventure Land.

I went on Duel in the summer with a person who was a first timer to Alton Towers, and they were not all that impressed at all. The ride takes up too much space in the park to just be a filler, which lets face it, it is now.
Joel

NoseyElephant wrote: Charging for a locker is ridiculous. I cant name another swimming pool or water park that i know of that charges for a locker.
Disney Waterparks and Aquatica charge in the region of $10 for a locker... well, $15-17 actually, but you get $5 or a collectible mug back :|

I can honestly say I'm not surprised they are charging for lockers, I mean, look at the rest of the park and how they've treated the whole locker situation and how much they cost now. Its a simple revenue stream that collects some more income for offering a valuable service.

It does raise the interesting point of liabilities though... because paying for such a service as locker rental would surely then fall under some kind of duty of care/responsibilities laws in terms of if your locker got broken into or malfunctioned and you lost the contents of it. Offering it for free would kinda enabled them to waive those rights as its a free service (kinda related to the same principle of a supermarket charging for air in petrol stations - by charging for the service and creating a contract of sale effectively, they have a responsibility if it goes wrong and blows up a customers tyre, whereas that responsibility was waived offering it as a free service instead) :?

I wouldn't expect anything less of the Waterpark to be putting that cost up more and more soon also.

Its disappointing, yes, but not unexpected I believe.
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Khalichanan
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People are so miserable. It's only a pound and it can be split between at least 3 people.
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garyh
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I can just about fit my stuff in let alone 3 people's taking into account towels, shoes etc and how tiny the lockers are.....
Matthew144

kamfira wrote: People are so miserable. It's only a pound and it can be split between at least 3 people.
Yes it's only a quid but If I go every week that's £52 a year.
AstroDan

Thing is vez, as much as it is 'only' a pound, its yet another example of something at Alton Towers that used to be free, but is now charged.

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Khalichanan
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I suppose I come from a biased standpoint; I go in for free and I rarely go anyway; I haven't been in the past few years.


In all honesty though, I do feel like there's a sort of 'rent-a-rant' thing going on here; people want to complain about Towers, and this is a reason to do so.

Anyway, I'm in a strainge mood tonight so my remarks are a bit short. I hope I didn't annoy anyone!!
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Khalichanan
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Oh and Astro, you know who I am :O yayayayayayayayayyaya :D
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mrbrightside
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The Master Blaster queue doesn't work full stop - regardless of whether you're able-bodied or disabled. There's too few rings and as there is no other "big" ride - the queue is stupid long for most of the day anyway!
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Dormiens-Dave

How is access to the slide achieved for disabled guests? i cant recall any easy access (such as a lift). The logic is probably that if you can climb 3 flights of stairs to get to the ride you can stand and wait for a ring. However that does ponder the question why disabled access wasn't included in the first-place (the only thing i can think is that disabled access rules are maybe limited in waterparks due to the nature of waterslides but it would be nice for them to provide maximum access)
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Johno
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The assumption I presume is that for safety reasons a guest must be able bodied to ride the master blaster, therefore able to climb the steps.
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Nightfall
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I know someone else who's in a similar situation. They are able bodied but need a crutch over long distances and have trouble standing for long periods. However in water they are fine. When we visited this year they suggested having more seating option for disabled guests which seems to me a great solution.

Having to force the guest to use steps to reach the ride seems fair enough. After all you have to be able to walk 50 meters unaided to be classed as able bodied for these sorts of situations (correct me if that values wrong). I think it's safe to assume anyone who can ride the flume can also climb the steps; otherwise you'd be screwed in the event of an evacuation. What they need is more seating during those times that you have to wait. I'm sure even able bodied guests could do with somewhere to sit given how long the queue can be.
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Nightfall
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damos1 wrote:Also if I am in a pool I either need to be in a pool or not long outside of a pool (around 30 mins otherwise I feel foul) Strange I know but unfortunately true.
Your certainly not alone with that, I think just about everyone has this problem. It's caused because you’re drying but in the pool environment the air is very moist making the water that's left feels very sticky. There's a really simple solution; build showers or at least a hosepipe near the waiting area so you can run some water back over yourself. Alas very few places do that either.
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AstroDan

Unsure on how long this has been in place, but the Water Park ticket price is now £16.50 for a 1/2 day session, and you save 10% online. The "on the gate" price has gone up 10% so the "saving" online actually just means you'll pay what it was before.

Merlin Annual Pass holders pay £13.20.

It's a real ripoff when you consider there's been absolutely nothing added for 10 seasons...

:(
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siralgenon
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AstwoDan wrote: Unsure on how long this has been in place, but the Water Park ticket price is now £16.50 for a 1/2 day session, and you save 10% online. The "on the gate" price has gone up 10% so the "saving" online actually just means you'll pay what it was before.

Merlin Annual Pass holders pay £13.20.

It's a real ripoff when you consider there's been absolutely nothing added for 10 seasons...

:(
It was the normal £15 when I went mon / tues and it's been like that for ages. If the price has gone up as well as them now charging £2 for lockers, im speaking to someone!
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PeteB
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I can't believe the water park is nearly 10 years old... Splash Landings too for that matter.  Where is the proposed 3rd hotel??

ATH open 1996, Splash 2003, so thats 7 years between. You can tell the themepark and whole resort haven't developed much in the last 10 years or else they would have had more accomodation by now.

As for the water park it really needs a huge expansion to warrant the current prices. Won't happen though.
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CoasterCrazyChris
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They havn't expanded the resort in years and yet they market it now more than they ever did when it was first built.

I would like them to build a proper swimming pool for use of all hotel guests for free. How on earth they can justify the prices for rooms when facilities included in that price are almost non-existant.

Also a large children's play area is needed in at least one of the hotels.

:)
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spark
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The lockers are actually quite easy to understand with the £2 charge, if anyone doesnt know there are 2 holes which you put a pound in each. Then once locked you can return to your locker as many times as you want throughout your visit. When you leave you press a button and it throws out one of your £1s.

If you have a bit of time go along the lockers and press the button, i found 2 that had not been collected and therefore AT paid me to use there lockers  :lol:
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