2011: Discussion

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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Bote
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The last time I went to Splash they'd essentially cleared out the entire skylight sort of bit above the entrance, and it look like they've put these in their place.

I can't say I'm very happy about it either to be honest. If they had just added the 'christmas' lights then maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Sure they're pretty cheap, and don't fit in, but at least what is in existance would be left intact.

But no, instead they decide to rip out perfectly good themeing (Something Splash prides itself on) and yet again proved that they aren't willing to put the effort in when it comes to replacements.

I guess all we can hope is that these are a temporary measure until something better is put in place in due course :|

I still don't see what the issue was with the umbrellas though. Even if for example as lighting they were no longer useful (i.e. broken, or unable to obtain spare parts) they were still a brilliant piece of themeing, and could easily have stayed in place while other lighting was installed. For example, a set of the coloured party lights like in Marg's drapped around the wall inside the skylight.

The doorbell on ATH is certainly a nice touch though. It does make you wonder what is going on when they can make such a small, but still big addition and improvment to one area, while at the same time beginning to ruin another :|

Just please say that there is going to be something better put in to compensate. The hotels both have storng, well established themes. They do not need diminishing to be replaced with genericness. They need stable additions which reinforce the current theme and fit in.

Anyway, that's my hotel rant over. Next please :P
Last edited by Bote on Sat Jul 23, 2011 10:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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MinteButtons

I was visiting today and popped in to Towers Trading and noticed they had "voting tubes" similar to in the hotels.

So here's a heads up on how they're doing:
1) Nemesis
2) Air (Though the difference between the two is only about 10 balls)
3) Oblivion
4) Th13teen
5) Rita

:)
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Magrathea
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So, this'll be a news article a bit later on, but a quick Picsolve update for everyone:
On ride photos are now priced at £10 each, with £12 for two. The same applies to keyrings and whatever else is usually on the same price band.

:)
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Rocket
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How is the photo pass affected?
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Magrathea
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Photo pass pricing remains the same at £20 for 5 (?) :).
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Benzin
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[quote=""Magrathea""]So, this'll be a news article a bit later on, but a quick Picsolve update for everyone:
On ride photos are now priced at £10 each, with £12 for two. The same applies to keyrings and whatever else is usually on the same price band.

:)[/quote]

Sorry what?

Oi vey #-o

As long as I can still get discount on the photo-pass for my trip next month... Otherwise there will be issues...
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AstroDan

The single photo price is a joke, and I doubt it will remain at that price for long.

It has risen 25% from £8 to £10.

:P
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CoasterCrazyChris
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[quote=""AstroDan""]The single photo price is a joke, and I doubt it will remain at that price for long.

It has risen 25% from £8 to £10.

:P[/quote]

Clearly each photo costs them next to nothing to produce, they just want people to think they are getting good value for money when they buy 5, when actually they are not at all, its still £4 each.

I only paid £8 for mine two weeks ago.

:|
djtruefitt

I thought £8 was a rip off, but £10 for one photo is a complete rip off!

But if people are willing to pay £10 for a photo then I think I might buy some shares in Picsolve.
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siralgenon
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I thought Single Photo's were only £7 lol, knowone will pay £1o for a photo! and for drawing people in to by two photo's they are still only gaining £2 extra :?

As for the umbrella's and lights - who ever is making these decisions should be sacked! #-o
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James
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Who in their right minds is going to pay £10 for a photo? :lol:

You may as well just have someone in your group take a photo of you on the ride.
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Dia
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£10 for a ride photo?! Wow I remember back in like 2006 when my brother went they were £5!
For the technically minded it is a multi-inversion suspended rollercoaster, but for the rest of you it's just designed to scare you sh*tless :P

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Sam
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[quote=""James""]Who in their right minds is going to pay £10 for a photo? :lol:

You may as well just have someone in your group take a photo of you on the ride.[/quote]
I feel this way about every ride photo, which is why I've never bought one. Almost every ride I can think of you can get much better photos from a HDR-equipped TTFer standing nearby.

The only ride where I would be tempted to buy one would be the Intamin third-gen drop towers like Apocalypse, because they're really different and the angle of the camera equals a breathtaking photo!

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Thorpefandan
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So wait, the Annual Passes being given the discounts was just to lull us into a false sense of security. :evil:
It\'s Big Bob, it\'s Big Bob, it\'s Big Bobs radio show.

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Magrathea
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The interesting thing to see will be how long the price stays this high for (or, indeed, if it stays there permanently). It'll depend on how many people are willing to fork out, ultimately, and whether a drop in sales occurs (which it hopefully will) :).
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It's rediculous the price they are selling for now. It seems that Merlin and Towers are determined to see how far they can push prices on items (And tickets for that matter!) before people refuse to buy them and they begin to loose money (At which point I dare say prices will come crashing down)

I was at Drayton about too weeks ago, and if memory serves me correctly an unframed photo in a card sleeve was £6, I think. Towers are really pushing their look here.

I think most TTFers with SLRs have proved that even better results can be taken by simply standing by a fence on the ride boundary. It would certianly be interesting to hear Towers try and justify this one. Personally, I don't believe they could.

Just think for a moment how much a sheet of photo paper, a card sleeve, and the ammount of ink used on a single image would cost. Now consider how much it would be when buying in lots of this stuff (As Towers no doubt do) Even when you add staffing and operating costs on that the profit margin is enormous when you're charging £10 a print. It's the companies greed clearly shining through once again :|
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Dormiens-Dave

The only thing i will say is it isn't actually Alton/ Merlin who have pushed the prices up... its Picsolve. I have no idea how much control Alton Towers have over the pricing structure Picsolve use but i imagine its not a whole lot.

I imagine they are doing this to push people towards the Photopasses, i think it will back fire though
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Thing is, I imagine there's some degree of flexibility, when you look at parks Picsolve deal with and the price difference between them. I'd imagine Picsolve lay out a base price, and the park charge what they want on top of that. Their site only really says that they can offer advice on maximizing profits.

Is there any news if any other Merlin attractions have had the same rise?
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Alton Towers can't behind saying "prices are set by concessions" - they award these exclusive concessions!

It's a disgrace how much BK and Picsolve are charging, to name just two.
Dormiens-Dave

Hopefully Towers wont like the new pricing and persuade Picsolve to lower the price. I suppose the proof of the pudding is in the eating.
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