Should Alton Towers stay open until 9pm during the Summer?

[Cookie Monster]

Superwill mentioned this on the strange opening/closing times thread, so I created this poll on his behalf.

Team edit: SPG and Poll clean up. ~Lee

[C0RR3CTED1]

Most definitely! I don't see why they shouldn't. On busy days in summer you run around like mad things trying to get on as many things as possible which is always difficult and the day ends up being not worth the extortionate ticket price. With more time available in the park you could have a much more relaxed day and i'm sure it would persuade more people to go if they thought it would be more worth their time.

[ollboll9]

Same as above, but TBH with a 3 hour drive for me it wouldn't make much difference, maybe an hour extra. But now that I think about it they'll be no queues for the monorail at six and no queues to leave the car park so we'd save an hour there too. There's a problem with it though, try to guess what it is :P **COUGH 'Ropers' COUGH**

[tallicay2k]

Ropers would love you for bringing up the topic for discussion 

[Lee]

There isn't a need for it. The park doesn't get busy enough to warrant such opening times for such an extended period. Then there's the logistics of transport, added staffing cost, operating costs, disruption to the local area.

[Cookie Monster]

if we get enough positive results i will sent AT the screenshot

[SuperWill]

Thanks for posting this topic and poll on my behalf! Anyway if anyone is against the early closing times during Summer then you should click this link and like their Facebook page which is against the early closing times during Summer! Here is the link :

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Petition- ... ts&fref=ts

[Jack]

in a word...YES

[Kraken]

I used to work at Towers back in the days when they had the Summer Spectacular show on the lake  by the main lawn.  Think the show was 6:30pm with a 7pm ride close for all of August,  (This was in 1998 / 1999 / 2000 if my memory is right). 

All I can say is that as afternoon turned into evening, even on busy good weather days, the park got notably quieter.  For the last hour or so, it was not uncommon for Nemesis to be near walk-on, with just the same people clocking up lots of rides. 

I know folks on here are theme park / Towers fans, but look at the business side of it.  It costs a LOT to keep the park open longer.  Most of the seasonal staff are hourly paid, but to keep rides open longer, you also have to pay the retail staff, cleaning staff & catering staff for the extra hours too.  Sure, the park will make a bit of money out of the retail & catering outlets being open longer, but you need enough guests staying on park right until the end of the day to really make it pay.  A lot of people travel a long way to visit Alton Towers and if they have had a decent ride-fill by 5pm / 6pm, they are thinking of heading home anyway. 

To put it into context, back in 2001 on either the second to last or last day of season [fireworks night too] it rained hard, all day.  The park got very busy as you would expect on a fireworks day, but the weather alone drove over 10k people out of the turnstiles heading home before the fireworks even started. 

Back when I worked there they could extend the park operating hours on the day by an hour if the gate figures were notably  higher than expected, or if there had been a significant number of ride breakdowns.  I think the decision had to be made by about 1pm so as to give the then staff transport providers [third party companies] the required notice.  I believe that Alton Towers now operate a fair bit of staff transport themselves, so in theory they have a bit more flexibility here nowadays.

[Kirsty25]

I would say no to every day. But I do think they should do as Thorpe Park have done and have odd weekends where you can ride certain rides "late night" 7pm-10pm I think it is.

[TheOutpatient]

It absolutely should

[Michelle]

On the odd day possibly, but as a general rule there is no way it would make good business sense!
I personally don't think I'd bother staying later, certainly not on a regular basis, I'd rather be having a drink in the hotels by 7.
From a public transport POV it wouldn't be feasible, how would people get home?
I think extending the opening would just mean some people would get on park later, it would add flexibility to your day certainly but I sincerely doubt many people would do park opening-park closing.

[Lee]

if we get enough positive results i will sent AT the screenshot

I wouldn't expect them to listen, and rightly so. Of course on a fan site, the majority of people will want the park to stay open longer, but in Merlin's eyes (and mine too) that isn't a true representation of public opinion.

[djedwardsmith]

For me. Yes. For enthusiasts. Yes. For general public. Doesn't really matter. For Alton. No.

Alton are a business (as Lee above has nailed) and if it's not financially worth them staying open later, then they won't.

[JD1991]

No. From a business sense it makes as much sense as building a ride that doesn't work...oh wait.

But seriously, no. There's no need for it, it's adding costs where they could spent on other things such as maybe removing the ridiculous 7pm closetime for scarefest at the moment.

Making days longer puts more wear and tear on the park as a whole, which is best avoided where possible. Plus it doesn't get dark till 8-9pm anyway for most of the summer, so there's not even the "dark" effect.

[jackgcse]

I would suggest a promotional method like Thorpe Park kind of do, where certain nights of the week Alton have the special event of staying open late, possibly the quiet day of the week during August stays open until 9PM with discounted tickets for a later entry, or something like that.

But I have to agree it would not be Business Minded to open until 9PM, unlike Spanish or American theme parks, our weather isn't great and most do not want to be cold at 9PM, or at least not when they are in Shorts and a Top when there is no more sun!

However I do feel they should offer something occasionally!

[Themeparksandy1981]

I think 6pm queue line close is more than enough. Like I'm not to sure what the queue times for the Smiler been after 5pm but say it's 2 hours when they block the queue off it be past 9pm the staff get to go home.

[redpiggy]

I know I'm just one person.. But opening longer in the summer would make me more likely to visit.
I had a longish drive, and to be honest, when it's a busy, the hours I get in the park aren't worth the money for me (super skint student).

[Themeparksandy1981]

Maybe they could do a Disney and have extra hours for Annual pass members and Hotel guests only. The queues still closes normal time but you have to show your pass or room key at the ride entrance at selected rides. They could keep Mutiny Bay,Adventure land and old mcdonalds farm and attractions open for a extra hour. It also draws all guests nearer to the front of the park.

[bensaund]

When I go to the Towers, it is a 4:30 am wake up, 3.5 hour drive to get into the park for ERT. So for me come 4PM I'm ready to leave the park. I always do a two day trip and by mid afternoon on day two I have had enough, so if the park closes at 6 or 9 it will make no difference to me.