Closed park

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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fruitbat
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I visited alton towers today admittedly it was bad weather conditions but the wind and snow caused powercuts apparently and we were told to leave, only went on hex and was told to evacuate halfway through charlie lol, no coasters were open. Was given a letter saying to come back, and told to present tickets the tickets were taken off me at the entrance to the park due to the ticket booths being down.... Do you think the letter will be enough, it is signed... I hope so was a long, cold , disapointing day.
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garyh
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We were there today, stayed in the hotel for 2 nights and planned a last blast before heading home - the weather was absolutely awful, the snow was coming down horizontally!!!!  We didnt bother going into the park as it was so bad.

Im sure the letter will be fine - they have handed out letters before to get entry back into the park on another day.
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Queenmaya99
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I was planning to go today, with my uncle, dad and brother, but then we decided tomorrow would be better, before we even heard about the weather, or power cuts.
We are going tomorrow, so I am just wondering if it will be okay then? The weather reports look fine to me.
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DanteNero666
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Wow! It must have been bad! I was reading for half an hour angry/accusing messages on the AT FB page, as if its AT's fault! They can't control the weather, only the Russians and their weather machine can, but that's a story for another time.
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CoventryBee
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I'm trying to fight the urge to comment to some of these Facebook posts, really drives me up the wall sometimes!
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12344321
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Not all coasters were shut, Rita was open the entire time the park was open, I know because I was on it!
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Stelios7
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Queenmaya99 wrote: We are going tomorrow, so I am just wondering if it will be okay then? The weather reports look fine to me.
Alton Towers have stated on their website that the park should be open for tomorrow.
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JaykeAT
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lol what a childish thing to put,they say it as if its altons fault the weather tuck a turn for the worse
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DanteNero666
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Ouch... People just love to complain!
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JaykeAT
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theve deleted the post I think
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DanteNero666
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Not sure if I would like to ride The Big One in high winds, sleet, snow & heavy rain.
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roary01
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i think was the best decision by the park as guest could of been seriously injured as this picture from one my mates shows...
gives a general idea of how bad the weather was and imagine if guests were under this at the time...

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Matthew144

I live 4 miles north of AT and can confirm the weather today was shocking, not a day to visit a theme park! The bigger picture here is was it safe to run the rides, yes possibly but would it be enjoyable for the guests, no.
AT are in a no win situation here if they stay open nobody enjoys it, if they close everybody complains. At least they have offered free entry on another day, ok maybe they could have offered refunds but they are a business after all and have to make a profit or else they end up like American Adventure.
I think what needs to be remembered is theme parks are supposed to be fun, not a contest on who gets hyperthermia first.
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roary01 wrote: i think was the best decision by the park as guest could of been seriously injured as this picture from one my mates shows...
gives a general idea of how bad the weather was and imagine if guests were under this at the time...

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WOW. How does the wind blow a tree down thats that thick but leave bins and roof tiles in place?
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Lady Sol
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My friend had a dated ticket, so after a quick look on the Alton Towers Facebook page to check it was open, we set off. We figured the roller coasters might be closed, but she'd get a free ticket back if that was the case, and we could still explore the rest of the park. We arrived with a friend just after 10am to find horizontal snow blowing across the carpark, but not really settling. The monorail was closed and they were using the shuttle buses, but we looked at the queue and walked. Arrived at the entrance plaza and there was no power, so they tried to scan us in using the hand held scanners. Went to the farm, as we figured we'd go look at the bunnies and guinea pigs, but were sent back. Tried to look round the towers, but the path was closed off by X-sector due to tree repair work. Got round by battle galleons, the trees were losing branches over the path, but we got up to the towers and discovered they'd got Hex working. Went from Hex to Ice Age, past the inflatable ball rolling pit that had suffered badly in the wind. Had a good time in Ice Age, they let us watch the whole thing, before telling us they were evacuating the park. The only path open still was across to the hole in one. At this point the wind was attempting to blow people over, the fence by spinball seemed to have collapsed at one point and there were tree limbs down on or next to a lot of the paths through the park. They got everyone massed there and opened the escape road to the side of Spinball. We all trugged out to the escape road, but the evacuation buses were having difficulties getting to us and turned round safely. So we were walked back into the park past Beastie and led down Towers St. After a wait for the buses we were allowed to walk to the car park, but had to walk across the coach park as the normal path was too near the falling tree branches. We waited in the car until the queue to leave died down and then headed to the Racecourse pub for a lovely lunch.

My friend can come back free on a day of her choice before 31st July. I think I get fast tracks when I come back with my MAP. She was happy with that. They opened as much as they could. Kept us safe when the paths had to be closed and did their best to get us out of there and safely back at the car as quick as they could. Although for future reference you can't fit all the guests in the park into the hole in one building.
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Jamie Peters
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The coach company I normally use to visit the park had their first visit of the year today, I would have normally gone but I couldn't afford it, after the weather and the park shutting I'm glad I couldn't!
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AfroDan
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I was at the park today, and I think they made the right decision to close.

We arrived around 10am after being stuck in traffic on a very much snowed-in A52.  Arrived to find that the Monorail wasn't operating - no idea why at this stage.  Arrived at the entrance, where there was no power so we were given "Emergency Tickets" to get in the park - these had the old Tussaud's logo on them; clearly not been used for a while!  We were told that all rides should be open.

First stop, as usual, was Sonic Spinball - closed due to the weather.  I appreciate why, as weather does affect this ride greatly! We decided that we would do a lap of the park, riding whatever was open!  The pathway from the side of the Hospitality Suite up towards the toilets by X Sector was closed, as a tree/branches had fallen down and blocked the path.  So we were diverted round past Battle Galleons and up that side of the lake towards the towers - here we were met by staff informing us that Oblivion was closed, however all indoor rides were open at present.

We decided to go and give Ice Age a try - very impressive!  Following a quick ride on Charlie we saw that Rita was operating so joined the (non-existent) queue.  Decided to queue front row....when we were at the front we were told that the park was no longer safe and that we would have to evacuate.  Another tree had fallen down on the main path between Mutiny Bay and the Towers, so this end of the park was, in terms of guests' footpaths, completely isolated.  We were gathered by/inside the GoalScorer attraction to wait for buses - fair play to management within 10 minutes there were 4 buses waiting, and many security staff, ensuring the safety of guests.  I did feel sorry for one employee from the games stand who was being mouthed off at by a guest for not knowing exactly what was going on; some people... :evil:  I do think that it needs to be noted however, that no matter how quiet the day was, not everyone can fit inside the football attraction!!

From here we were whisked back to the carpark, and then down to the main entrance to collect our letters to return another day.

I think its easy for people to sit at home (or in Blackpool) and criticise management for closing today, but anyone who was there would realise how extreme the weather actually was.  The picture on the last page shows the severity.  Thinking of how much money would have been lost today, the park would not take the decision to close 'willy nilly'.  Considering it's the first time the park has ever been shut during the day, I thought that the whole situation was handled extremely well, testiment to the staff.

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Themeparksandy1981
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Does anyone on here remember when they last closed the park in Oct 03? It was the first time in Alton Towers history that they had to close the park. Like they can handle snow&ice as they opened on the first day of Feb half term but strong winds with rain can could a lot of damage and guests&staff getting hurt. They can put info on websites and social sites but most guests don't check this. The only other thing they could have done was tell west midland radio stations that the park was closed during the travel&weather section.
Georgiaa

Suppose I should post about my 15 minute experience.

Arrived at the Plaza at roughly 11:10 this morning to find people sheltered behind the Monorail station and all the ticket booths were closed. Looking up you could see snow hammering it down in all directions. We walked up to the closed gates with the turnstiles to find out if the park had opened or not. After loitering for a good 5 minutes or so, we decided to ask a staff member. Most of which were receiving abuse from guests. Various staff were trying to reassure younger guests and this was great to see.
Many people were leaving the Plaza and walking back to the car park as the Monorail was shut. After accepting the park wouldn't open and couldn't stand the cold any longer, we walked back to the car too.

I too have been posting on Alton Towers' Facebook page as people seem to now think that Alton are immortal to accidents regarding the weather and power failures. The best they can do is offer a refund or open-dated tickets. This just prove how there is no pleasing some people.
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^The snow was much heavier than that.
oldgitBEN

It cant have been an easy decision to close the park but with guest safety being an issue I fully respect Altons reasoning - while the guests may be dissapointed I bet merlins pockets are even more dissapointed!

Im impressed with the idea to get guests under a shelter and busses onto the park to help out, certainly an admirable and responsible move by the park, that really they didnt need to do. Most places would just kick you out the gates and leave you, but to have busses in the park is a great move.

No-one wins in this situation, but sadly the weather isnt something anyone can control.
Last edited by oldgitBEN on Wed Apr 04, 2012 11:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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