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Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 9:32 pm
by Doublethink
Pit is looking fine now, Nemmy was running well when I went on Sunday.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 11:59 am
by Black Hole
I went last Thursday and Friday and the staff member said we would get very wet if they opened it up. Fair enough really - horrendous weather!

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 5:39 pm
by Ismail
Imagine being dipped into water :lol :lol

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 9:38 am
by MakoMania
My 8th visit of the season and it's the 8th time that Wicker Man has failed to open for ERT.

What's the point of having a ride on ERT if you can't get it open?

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 11:54 am
by jeremy.burnell
Had a look on the Alton Towers crowd calender and decided to head up on Friday 5th October as a solo visit. With Scarefest happening on the 6th and 7th and no schools off, I'm hoping it will be really quiet. Any thoughts?

Also wondering what people feeling are about going to the park solo?

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 12:38 pm
by Swarm Chris
MakoMania wrote:My 8th visit of the season and it's the 8th time that Wicker Man has failed to open for ERT.

What's the point of having a ride on ERT if you can't get it open?
This is quite sad. I struggle to believe it's due to it being a new ride anymore, as both its systems and the procedures required for the daily checks should be pretty well sorted and understood by now. Assuming it's not breaking each and every day, my guess would be there's a resources issue on tech services. Either simply not enough of them or they're not able to start early enough to get everything done.

In a separate thought: single rider queues. I really don't buy the Merlin excuse of "guest abuse of the system", when it works at many other parks across the world. But if we take them at their word that too many people were filling the line and they couldn't cope, then they should simply do what Phantasialand does. Watching them operate Taron, they limited the number of people allowed into the single rider queue at any point in time. When the single rider queue got too long, they simply closed it up for a short period until it was cleared.

But of course Phantasialand has a member of staff at the entrance of that ride, whilst Merlin parks now have a QR code to scan for purchasing fast passes in the greeters spot.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 2:06 pm
by MakoMania
On a positive note, the park is being operated fairly well today, only ride not on full capacity is Galactica which has an issue with one of its trains. Hopefully it's back on 3 trains & 2 stations by next weekend!

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Sep 30, 2018 4:51 pm
by ROYJESS
jeremy.burnell wrote:Had a look on the Alton Towers crowd calender and decided to head up on Friday 5th October as a solo visit. With Scarefest happening on the 6th and 7th and no schools off, I'm hoping it will be really quiet. Any thoughts?

Also wondering what people feeling are about going to the park solo?
I've gone to theme parks on my own many times and I often bump into people that go solo.
I can't say whether the Friday will be quiet or not, but should be quieter than the weekend, but you will have less hours than the weekend.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 10, 2018 8:38 pm
by Ladyofthelake
Alton Towers has been announced as a finalist in the 'Best Family Theme Park' category of the Family Traveller Awards!

It is now down to a public vote to decide the winner. If you want to help Alton Towers win, simply go to the Family Traveller Website and cast your vote. Each person who votes will also get the chance to win a holiday to Turkey's Lycian Coast thanks to Family Traveller magazine. Voting closes on 2nd November 2018.

Winners wil be announced at the end of November :)

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:46 pm
by ThemeParkEwan
Just seen that charlie and the chocolate factory has been added back onto ridetimes.... pretty interesting, obviously its not returning though so it seems a little strange.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 4:58 pm
by Liam.W
Make sure you aren't reading it wrong as you might have gotten mistaken with Charlie and Lola. I've just checked ridetimes and CATCF is not there.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sat Oct 13, 2018 5:37 pm
by ThemeParkEwan
Liam.W wrote:Make sure you aren't reading it wrong as you might have gotten mistaken with Charlie and Lola. I've just checked ridetimes and CATCF is not there.
You're right aswell xD my phone only shows it as "Charlie An....." i completely forgot charlie and lola existed to be fair!

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:35 pm
by AltonOperator
I left a very negative review here in May so I thought I'd update it after my trip on the 21st-22nd October
Overall the park was fantastic.

Lighting
 I haven't been to Scarefest since 2013 so I'm glad to see that the horrible floods have been replaced with the LEDs with coloured gel filters. Lighting is vital for a night time event so its nice to see them putting a bit of effort in. The park was covered in a yellow rope light with white leds every metre or so. They're absolutely everywhere and I personally didn't mind them but it would have been nice of they were a little more ambient.
Wickerman, however, was lit beautifully with the red leds along with the large fire dome things in the centre. Another small detail was some of the large led fixtures were actually flickering between red and orange giving a lovely fire effect.
The station of wickerman had some quite amusing fixtures too. They're using moving heads in the rafters of the stations with gobos but I've never actually seen them move. They're often several hundreds of pounds each and the exact same effect could be achieved with a light a fraction of the price!
Spoiler
Image
Queues
We did very well with the rides. We managed a decent amount of rides without using any kind of passes. On the Monday between 10 and 11am we did Rita x2 and Thirteen x3 all as walk on. it seems that the first hour is perfect for DF and then running round to FV is the next step. Under 20mins for Nemmie and GalacticAir.
I went into detail on how disappointed I was with the ride times system last time and I'm happy to report that they are now being used very effectively. Only once or twice was the queue over the estimate. On CRR the queue said 25mins and we reached the platform in 25:16. Most rides actually overestimated times which was a lovely surprise. Its important to get a nice balance between overestimating to please the guest when they finish and not going too high so people perceive the park to have ridiculous queues. I'm so pleased they've sorted it because I don't mind waiting 80mins as long as I know before hand.
Also we arrived at the entrance at around 9.50 and we managed to pick up tickets and be in the park by 10. Impressive compared to the sham in May.

Rides
  • Nemesis - Nice to see both trains on. It's keeping queues down and I love it. Found it rather smooth and a little forceless this trip though. Maybe I'm getting used to it?
  • GalacticAir - Good as usual. They're batching from the old photo kiosk and sending a large group at a time down to one station or the other. I think it works well. No VR on the second day. I prefer it that way because it keeps queues down and it's rubbish anyway.
  • Duel - Might have been my first ride since the refurb, not sure. It's good as always but is very loud. I obviously wasn't scared by it but I could see why people might be. A lot jumps out at you.
  • RMT - Alright as usual. Did not appreciate the children who had climbed the fence and were playing on the mining theming :(
  • CRR - Got a nasty splash. Noticed inconsistencies with batching. Some couples were left alone in a boat and it annoyed me because it slows things down but we were put with a group of 3 boys. not complaining really they were perfectly well behaved. There were no new boats on - I presume that's coming next year.
  • Th13teen - Got a front and back row ride. Back row over the first drop is underrated. I think its the first time I've ever seen the tesla coil on so that was pretty cool. Also its the first time I figured out why there's a ladder before you walk into the building - its bad luck.
  • Rita - This is the first time I've realised just how rough it is. The launch is still a little thrilling but after that its a bit meh. On the Sunday we did Rita first before Thirteen. We then headed back to Rita to find it had broken down already. At 10.30 in the morning!
  • Oblivion - Fantastic operations. between 0 and 15mins all day as both stations were being used effectively. It was my first time actually queuing for it after using RAP or a breakdown pass in the past - its quite a trek!
  • Hex - My first ride since the refurb. Excellent! I forgot how effective each element of the experience is. The madhouse works so well and all the effects were great. My mum is convinced that the walls in the vault were changed in some way during the refurb but I'm pretty sure they weren't? I haven't done DBGT but I'm proud to say Hex is my favourite dark ride in the country.
  • Wickerman - Wow. Almost everything about it is perfect. I've already talked about it enough so I won't here. They're batching it wrong now. They're stopping the queue at the preshow doors rather than before the baggage hold leading to many hold ups and issues in the station and the automatic door trying to close on a lady in a wheelchair! I got my first back row ride yesterday as well as a backrow night ride later on. I feel a little bad because we were asked to move to the front once we were in the 'pen' and we said we really wanted the back and were told it was fine we could stay but it turns out it was so a disabled guest could have our spot. Whoops. They got on straight after us though so its ok. It was incredible on the back at night with all the effects working and we came off saying how it's definitely not a family ride. Loved it.
Other Things
  • Kellogg's were giving away free Squares samples on the Sunday. I personally approve of this sponsorship because there's no way I'm paying Towers' prices for snacks.
  • We ate at Eastern Express because they offered a vegan meal. My mother enjoyed it and was pleased she didn't have to have jacket potato and beans like usual when eating out. We planned to eat at Explorers' but there was no vegan option as all they do is pizza and pasta and the price had risen drastically since we last checked. I also recommend the cheesy chips from Forest Feast :)
  • Smoking. Its even worse than my last visit. Its actually infuriating. In GalacticAir's queue I saw a lady stood next to a no smoking sign having a fag. It's not just against park rules, its against the law. It was difficult to walk anywhere without having a cloud of whatever the trendiest vape juice is in your face. Its disgusting and needs to stop, The park aren't doing enough to keep it to designated areas. It completely ruins the exciting family atmosphere and makes me want to throw up at times. Anyone caught smoking/vaping outside of a designated area (especially in queues) should be removed from the park. Its just plain horrible without the fact that its bad for the health for everyone around them.
  • Couples - So many couples. They remind me that I'm ugly and will be alone forever! :)
Sorry it was a bit long. I had a brilliant time but it was a shame I couldn't see you all for the event.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:14 am
by Vladimir Bobinski
A quick visit yesterday.

Nemesis not available until the afternoon, half the rides were not even open on time at 10.  Galactica VR not working at all.

The batching really confuses me in Wickerman and I don't see how the guy right at the back is supposed to see everything going on with such a narrow walkway, I was in a group of 3 yesterday, was told to go to rows 1 and 2 (first time!),  then realised the number of people in front of us meant we were not on the same train, no one able to just quickly re-jig the order for us before or after because of their groups.  Decided screw it, I'm waiting for the front row then if I've been screwed over.

They really need to send less people into the pre-show and move that fence back a bit with just one queue leading into the opening doors, no one has any clue who is with who and will end up separating groups!   Not that being first out the pen means you are going to be sent to row 1/2 at all.

RE: The moving heads, I suspect it's purely for the Gobo (pattern) effect that they use, that's common to those.

Smoking was happening in queues quite blatantly, I also had individuals push through queue to catch up, even on Duel!

I really do like the atmospheric, string LED lights they are using through the Kanyon, I just wish they would get rid of temporary generator flood lights entirely!

I find myself frustrated at the lack food options, I miss the breakfast they used to do, even the grill doesn't offer steak anymore!  The Cafe on towers street, if you are going to serve "Costa" coffee out of automated machines at £3+ for a latte, you might as well reduce the price and make it self service!  I've had decent service station Costa coffee, this was awful, not idea what Milk they are using.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 9:51 am
by Sozzy40
Yeah. I was there yesterday as well and there was a crane by Nemesis around 11:45. Galactica definitely had no VR, meaning that it was running really efficiently and at one point a train slowed on the lift because of block brakes. Also, our group was split up on Wicker Man. We left the station and I looked forward and I didn’t see the rest of my group.

As for Scarefest- Roaming actors were great. The Towers projections were great, they projected a skeleton rock band onto one of the windows. Looked great. Freak Show wanderers were fantastic and the Ghost Pirates were there, they just look very, very similar to the Alton Ancestors. Galactica Airways- well, there were a few in Mutiny Bay, probably because the area around Galactica was dead.

As for night rides- we only did one, due to a jam- packed show schedule. That one was the Runaway Ghost Train. Great ride, we got 9 laps and we’re in the back, so I got some good forces.

The shows- saw nearly all of them. Patch’s Halloween Party saw an introduction to Gretel and was aimed at young kids, as well as the Freaky Five Showtime- which is a combination of three shows back to back: Gretyl’s Spell School, Phil and Franklin’s Ghoulish Games, and Skelvin's Spooky Story Time. Freaky Funk Squad, however was my favourite show.

The most terrifying part of the day was the Sky Ride, and I don’t have a fear of heights!

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sat Nov 03, 2018 11:53 pm
by nicky.borrill
AltonOperator wrote:I left a very negative review here in May so I thought I'd update it after my trip on the 21st-22nd October
Overall the park was fantastic.

Lighting
 I haven't been to Scarefest since 2013 so I'm glad to see that the horrible floods have been replaced with the LEDs with coloured gel filters. Lighting is vital for a night time event so its nice to see them putting a bit of effort in. The park was covered in a yellow rope light with white leds every metre or so. They're absolutely everywhere and I personally didn't mind them but it would have been nice of they were a little more ambient.
Wickerman, however, was lit beautifully with the red leds along with the large fire dome things in the centre. Another small detail was some of the large led fixtures were actually flickering between red and orange giving a lovely fire effect.
The station of wickerman had some quite amusing fixtures too. They're using moving heads in the rafters of the stations with gobos but I've never actually seen them move. They're often several hundreds of pounds each and the exact same effect could be achieved with a light a fraction of the price!
Spoiler
Image
Queues
We did very well with the rides. We managed a decent amount of rides without using any kind of passes. On the Monday between 10 and 11am we did Rita x2 and Thirteen x3 all as walk on. it seems that the first hour is perfect for DF and then running round to FV is the next step. Under 20mins for Nemmie and GalacticAir.
I went into detail on how disappointed I was with the ride times system last time and I'm happy to report that they are now being used very effectively. Only once or twice was the queue over the estimate. On CRR the queue said 25mins and we reached the platform in 25:16. Most rides actually overestimated times which was a lovely surprise. Its important to get a nice balance between overestimating to please the guest when they finish and not going too high so people perceive the park to have ridiculous queues. I'm so pleased they've sorted it because I don't mind waiting 80mins as long as I know before hand.
Also we arrived at the entrance at around 9.50 and we managed to pick up tickets and be in the park by 10. Impressive compared to the sham in May.

Rides
  • Nemesis - Nice to see both trains on. It's keeping queues down and I love it. Found it rather smooth and a little forceless this trip though. Maybe I'm getting used to it?
  • GalacticAir - Good as usual. They're batching from the old photo kiosk and sending a large group at a time down to one station or the other. I think it works well. No VR on the second day. I prefer it that way because it keeps queues down and it's rubbish anyway.
  • Duel - Might have been my first ride since the refurb, not sure. It's good as always but is very loud. I obviously wasn't scared by it but I could see why people might be. A lot jumps out at you.
  • RMT - Alright as usual. Did not appreciate the children who had climbed the fence and were playing on the mining theming :(
  • CRR - Got a nasty splash. Noticed inconsistencies with batching. Some couples were left alone in a boat and it annoyed me because it slows things down but we were put with a group of 3 boys. not complaining really they were perfectly well behaved. There were no new boats on - I presume that's coming next year.
  • Th13teen - Got a front and back row ride. Back row over the first drop is underrated. I think its the first time I've ever seen the tesla coil on so that was pretty cool. Also its the first time I figured out why there's a ladder before you walk into the building - its bad luck.
  • Rita - This is the first time I've realised just how rough it is. The launch is still a little thrilling but after that its a bit meh. On the Sunday we did Rita first before Thirteen. We then headed back to Rita to find it had broken down already. At 10.30 in the morning!
  • Oblivion - Fantastic operations. between 0 and 15mins all day as both stations were being used effectively. It was my first time actually queuing for it after using RAP or a breakdown pass in the past - its quite a trek!
  • Hex - My first ride since the refurb. Excellent! I forgot how effective each element of the experience is. The madhouse works so well and all the effects were great. My mum is convinced that the walls in the vault were changed in some way during the refurb but I'm pretty sure they weren't? I haven't done DBGT but I'm proud to say Hex is my favourite dark ride in the country.
  • Wickerman - Wow. Almost everything about it is perfect. I've already talked about it enough so I won't here. They're batching it wrong now. They're stopping the queue at the preshow doors rather than before the baggage hold leading to many hold ups and issues in the station and the automatic door trying to close on a lady in a wheelchair! I got my first back row ride yesterday as well as a backrow night ride later on. I feel a little bad because we were asked to move to the front once we were in the 'pen' and we said we really wanted the back and were told it was fine we could stay but it turns out it was so a disabled guest could have our spot. Whoops. They got on straight after us though so its ok. It was incredible on the back at night with all the effects working and we came off saying how it's definitely not a family ride. Loved it.
Other Things
  • Kellogg's were giving away free Squares samples on the Sunday. I personally approve of this sponsorship because there's no way I'm paying Towers' prices for snacks.
  • We ate at Eastern Express because they offered a vegan meal. My mother enjoyed it and was pleased she didn't have to have jacket potato and beans like usual when eating out. We planned to eat at Explorers' but there was no vegan option as all they do is pizza and pasta and the price had risen drastically since we last checked. I also recommend the cheesy chips from Forest Feast :)
  • Smoking. Its even worse than my last visit. Its actually infuriating. In GalacticAir's queue I saw a lady stood next to a no smoking sign having a fag. It's not just against park rules, its against the law. It was difficult to walk anywhere without having a cloud of whatever the trendiest vape juice is in your face. Its disgusting and needs to stop, The park aren't doing enough to keep it to designated areas. It completely ruins the exciting family atmosphere and makes me want to throw up at times. Anyone caught smoking/vaping outside of a designated area (especially in queues) should be removed from the park. Its just plain horrible without the fact that its bad for the health for everyone around them.
  • Couples - So many couples. They remind me that I'm ugly and will be alone forever! :)
Sorry it was a bit long. I had a brilliant time but it was a shame I couldn't see you all for the event.
Those festoon led lights don’t look great in the day do they? But they do look georgeous at night IMO 
I’m a vaper, I don’t do it in queue lines, I sometimes have a quick suck, not enough to blow anything out, but that’s it... However, I do not use the designated smoking areas either. I use e cigarettes as a form of harm reduction, and have been doing for many years. I.e I do not want to breath in the umpteen carcinogens in smoke either, so I’m not going to go into a smoking area to do something that I can legally, and safely, do indoors at pubs, restaurants and shopping centres :-k 
As for actually smoking outside the designated areas, it happens a lot, and I don’t think it will ever stop. What exactly makes you think it is illegal though? Unless you’re talking about indoors. 

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 7:54 pm
by AltonOperator
nicky.borrill wrote:Those festoon led lights don’t look great in the day do they? But they do look georgeous at night IMO 
I’m a vaper, I don’t do it in queue lines, I sometimes have a quick suck, not enough to blow anything out, but that’s it... However, I do not use the designated smoking areas either. I use e cigarettes as a form of harm reduction, and have been doing for many years. I.e I do not want to breath in the umpteen carcinogens in smoke either, so I’m not going to go into a smoking area to do something that I can legally, and safely, do indoors at pubs, restaurants and shopping centres :-k 
As for actually smoking outside the designated areas, it happens a lot, and I don’t think it will ever stop. What exactly makes you think it is illegal though? Unless you’re talking about indoors. 
The terms and conditions of the park state: "Smoking (including of e-cigarettes) is strictly prohibited other than in the designated smoking areas identified on the park map".
Smoking an e-cigarette outside of the smoking area breaches the terms and conditions one agrees to when entering the park. While on their land, breaking their rules is classed as trespassing so is illegal.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Sun Nov 04, 2018 11:10 pm
by nicky.borrill
AltonOperator wrote:
nicky.borrill wrote:Those festoon led lights don’t look great in the day do they? But they do look georgeous at night IMO 
I’m a vaper, I don’t do it in queue lines, I sometimes have a quick suck, not enough to blow anything out, but that’s it... However, I do not use the designated smoking areas either. I use e cigarettes as a form of harm reduction, and have been doing for many years. I.e I do not want to breath in the umpteen carcinogens in smoke either, so I’m not going to go into a smoking area to do something that I can legally, and safely, do indoors at pubs, restaurants and shopping centres :-k 
As for actually smoking outside the designated areas, it happens a lot, and I don’t think it will ever stop. What exactly makes you think it is illegal though? Unless you’re talking about indoors. 
The terms and conditions of the park state: "Smoking (including of e-cigarettes) is strictly prohibited other than in the designated smoking areas identified on the park map".
Smoking an e-cigarette outside of the smoking area breaches the terms and conditions one agrees to when entering the park. While on their land, breaking their rules is classed as trespassing so is illegal.
I know that it breaches the t&cs, but when they don’t even enforce it for harmful tobacco smoke, I’m not damaging my health by joining the smokers and inhaling their smoke. I’m considerate, do not do it in queues, do not blow out huge plumes, do not use sweet or offensive flavours (menthol only) my ecig wouldn’t be visible to children... In fact most people wouldn’t even know I was vaping, I call it stealth vaping. :) 

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 3:48 pm
by PhNx Survivor
nicky.borrill wrote:
AltonOperator wrote:
nicky.borrill wrote:Those festoon led lights don’t look great in the day do they? But they do look georgeous at night IMO 
I’m a vaper, I don’t do it in queue lines, I sometimes have a quick suck, not enough to blow anything out, but that’s it... However, I do not use the designated smoking areas either. I use e cigarettes as a form of harm reduction, and have been doing for many years. I.e I do not want to breath in the umpteen carcinogens in smoke either, so I’m not going to go into a smoking area to do something that I can legally, and safely, do indoors at pubs, restaurants and shopping centres :-k 
As for actually smoking outside the designated areas, it happens a lot, and I don’t think it will ever stop. What exactly makes you think it is illegal though? Unless you’re talking about indoors. 
The terms and conditions of the park state: "Smoking (including of e-cigarettes) is strictly prohibited other than in the designated smoking areas identified on the park map".
Smoking an e-cigarette outside of the smoking area breaches the terms and conditions one agrees to when entering the park. While on their land, breaking their rules is classed as trespassing so is illegal.
I know that it breaches the t&cs, but when they don’t even enforce it for harmful tobacco smoke, I’m not damaging my health by joining the smokers and inhaling their smoke. I’m considerate, do not do it in queues, do not blow out huge plumes, do not use sweet or offensive flavours (menthol only) my ecig wouldn’t be visible to children... In fact most people wouldn’t even know I was vaping, I call it stealth vaping. :) 
I am also a vaper, but I am not as discrete as you aha.. The way I see it, if staff do not enforce this “law” then I don’t see a reason why I should use the designated areas, as I do not want to inhale the smoke from cigarettes. And like yourself I only vape outside of queues, whilst walking around, occasionally I will have a few puffs in a long waiting queue but this is a very rare situation for me.

I believe I am considerate, and doing the right thing, even if I’m breaking the T&C’s, at least I’m not doing what some of people do in queues, just not respectful and inconsiderate.

Re: Alton Towers Resort - General Discussion

Posted: Thu Nov 08, 2018 4:32 pm
by Dan
A gentle reminder that, although it hasn’t been active in a few years, we do have a topic dedicated to People Smoking Outside Of Designated Areas, so can all discussion on this subject be continued in the correct place please?

Thanks :)