The Gardens?

[Air Guy 138]

Hello all,
I haven't posted in a while, so... Anyway, I was thinking, and I think the Gardens could do with something more. Not a ride or attraction, definitely not, but at least some toilets, or a cafe maybe...? Your thoughts?

[oldgitBEN]

i would love to see the conservatories or swiss house restored and made into a cafe or something similar.

But as with everything at alton towers there are 2 key issues:

1 - the planning constraints - the gardens themselves are listed so its still not easy to build away there
2 - money - sadly alton only care if it brings them money, and a nice cafe in a restored building probably wouldnt bring much.

[Eagie]

I think it is a shame people do not have the option to come to Alton without riding the rides. All it would involve is issuing those who have paid more to ride with wristbands (paper type so they cannot be removed without destroying them to prevent people sharing them).

It would encourage more people to visit just to enjoy the gardens and would increase the chance of new cafes and outlets being profitable. You could have a nature / floral centre to provide an educational element too.

Also how many grandparents etc would love to come with their families to enjoy the day out but are put off with the price as they will not be going on the rides? Surely this would a great way of getting extra revenue very easily.

[thefatone]

And it'd be a logistical nightmare. Why would they issue up to 30 thousand wristbands to show you can go on the rides, to have a potential 200 or so people come just for the gardens? Let alone the ride staff checking every single wristband every single ride.

I think what they should, and could do much easier, is open up the gardens and the towers when the park is properly closed. Now that'd be an interesting revenue stream, however I don't think gardens and ruins are too popular in winters..

[Eagie]

[quote=""thefatone""]And it'd be a logistical nightmare. Why would they issue up to 30 thousand wristbands to show you can go on the rides, to have a potential 200 or so people come just for the gardens? Let alone the ride staff checking every single wristband every single ride..[/quote]

I very much doubt the balance would be 30,000 ride-goers vs 200 others. Issuing a wristband is hardly a logistical nightmare and showing your band when you are being counted on to a ride wouldn't take up any time.

The bands themselves would likely be less than a penny each to produce when buying in bulk so there is little cost implication and would be more than covered by the additional visitors.

Alton Towers is supposedly a family day out but at the moment the entry price is prohibitively high for those family members who don't want to or can't go on the rides. If this idea is not workable then there surely has to be another option.

[thefatone]

It's not about the cost implication, but its the logistics. How do you ensure every single entitled person has the wristbands and put on properly etc? They have enough problems as it is with the fastrack wristbands, let alone EVERYONE wearing one.

At the end of the day, alton towers is a family day out to a theme park. Not a national trust property. They cannot have situations perfect for everyone, and this happens in every walk of life.

Being a theme park, they do stuff which benefits the vast majority of their visitors. They would not want to change this, purely because they don't need to.

[Eagie]

No it is not a national trust property, however Merlin spend a lot of money on maintaining the grounds and surely any way to make more revenue out of that is worth looking at. It is a theme park but a theme park set in very special surroundings which can be used in a variety of ways that deviate from its principal purpose.

I assume you do not want Merlin to spend any money on the actual towers itself as they do not benefit the majority of theme park goers? Surely that would be a job for the national trust?

I go to Alton regularly and on occasion don't actually go on that many rides - I enjoy being in the great surroundings and having a wander around. Why should that not be available to as many people as possible?

A theme park's main job is to make money and I believe that they are missing out on additional revenue streams.

My parents would not really be interested in going to Alton Towers for the rides etc and would no doubt not join us due to the entry cost. If they could come cheaper and not ride the rides I am sure they would then do so. Whilst in the park they would no doubt have some sort of meal, buy drinks and also buy merchandise for my daughter. An amount of revenue Merlin would not have had before.

I am sure my parents are not the only ones to fit this profile.

I can't see the problems you are suggesting logistically though having been to numerous large scale events where wearing wristbands is essential.

[cookiee_munster]

hmm, maybe they could scatter events around in the year where they have a "quiet day" close most of the parks rides, and basically feature more on the grounds. ie gardens and towers. have a big picnic on the lawn etc. half the price for entry?

just an idea...

[Blaze]

Well Blackpool manage just fine with wristbands. Just put them on each guest when they buy collect their ticket or enter the park. If they only want to see the gardens and ruins, don't give them a wristband. At the entrance to every ride have a scanner or have the op check when letting you into the airgate. It's really simple. They'd cost a penny each and if they got a ride op to check, would cost nothing at all extra to check people arn't cheating the system.

I'd love to spend a day walkinq round the gardens, just exploring and relaxing, but at £40 quid a pop, that just won't be reasonbale without an MAP. Paying something like £10 to just have access to the ruins ad gardens would be a brilliant gesture and a massive revenue stream. Even if they invested all the money from those tickets back into the gardens and ruins, as long as the main ticket is still there, they wouldn't lose any income, and shops, services and merch would still bring in extra cash because the gardens and ruins only visitors will still buy things too.

[thefatone]

I still don't see how wristbands would work, seeing as enough people try and cheat the system where they do need to wear wristbands anyway.

Of course I want the gardens and ruins maintained, I'd love them to be restored. Tbh, our ticket prices reflect the surroundings you go to anyway. What i'm saying is its just not practical.

Maybe have evening tours around them in the summer - after ride close - could be a sensible option. But once again, enthusiasts way over-estimate how many visitors they'd get from doing this thing, and therefore think it's a no brainer. At the end of the day, if it would work and work wonders, they'd be doing it.

Trying the one size fits all category is just plain silly - its like trying to get every person having an iPad but adapting the pricing depending on what they want from it because they like the shape, but they don't like how it functions. It's like going to the dungeons, but having a kiddy friendly route instead so their precious ones don't get scared. It's like trying to get nightclubbers to a gentlemens club because they like the drinks they sell.

End of examples - there's plain reasons why they don't do it. Practicality, logistics, profit ratios are instant barriers.

[AltonOllie]

Never mind, point made.

[Blaze]

It works for Blackpool, it will work at Alton. They don't need to advertise it the way they advertise the normal tickets, because it isn't a normal ticket. They aren't going to go to the trouble of visiting to the park just to vandalise it. If the normal ride ticket was very cheap, then maybe, but I went on the free day and there was no trouble then, so I can't see it being a problem.

I know several people who would aren't able to go on the rides/don't want to go on them, who would buy a ticket that lets them in without riding the rides.

[Eagie]

[quote=""AltonOllie""]Not wanting to disagree with you all but correct me if I'm wrong when I say that surely if access to the park was so cheap, there would be many many people there that intend to just make mischief around the park in general, and such? For example, if people can get into the park so cheaply, I would have thought the level of vandalism over the park would go up. People would just think "Oh I can go to Alton Towers for £10 (or however much) but I can't go on any of the rides so I'll just spend the day breaking as many things as possible."

I can't really think how to explain what I mean properly. [/quote]

You really think that people will spend time travelling in to the Staffordshire Moorlands, pay for fuel etc, pay an entrance fee and car park charge to do what they can do in their local park for free?

In that case, lets raise the general admission price even more so we can make sure we only get the better classes at our theme park

[Themeparksandy1981]

They could have something opened up in there during the closed season. For guests to have a walk round the ruins and the gardens. It wouldn't work during the season as someone said they wouldn't go all that way just to go round the gardens. In the 18 years I been going the park I only been round them once.

[Blaze]

We probably wouldn't, but many people would. People who like gardens. People who like historic buildings. People who want to go to a really nice spot to relax/think/be inspired (I once saw apost on here by a writer or artist (can't remember who or what it was they do) who said they go to the gardens to get inspired. People who simply aren't able to ride the rides or don't want to ride them, but still want to visit to be with friends/family.

I wouldn't pay and go all the way to just do that, but with an AP and if I lived a bit closer, I can see myself going just to walk around the gardens and ruins. It would be interesting and fun.

[Mathmosman]

A couple of comments...

Back in the 80s when we visited Alton Towers, we would generally ride the rides and visit the attractions, then, at ride close, we would wander the estate, stroll around the gardens, upto Ingestre Courtyard (pre Towers Street, where the main shops were) and then slowly walk to the car... I think times have changed, and people now dont, on the whole, see Alton Towers as that. I kind of feel it's arrive, in, ride, leave. The general public as a whole fail to recognise the gardens and ruins for attractions in their own right, and perhaps the Towers also don't promote them as much as they once did.

Also, on the Customer Council in 2007, one of the members strongly suggested creating a tea room in the Conservatories and the idea was not thought well of. I recall discussing this later with Towers management and one of the problems was identified as basic facilities such as getting a decent water supply to the building.

Thus, we discussed the Swiss Cottage - we said, serve items in proper crockery, serve on plates, and provide a really high standard or product. I know that this idea was well received. There has to be a strong business case behind suggestions, but I guess this just fell by the way-side.

[djtruefitt]

I think it would be nice to advertise the gardens and towers a bit more, but I think the main problem is 99% of the people who go to Alton, go there for the rides and not to walk around the towers or the gardens. I know that has never been at the top of my list of things to do when I visit (however now I have an annual pass I may explore them a bit more).

Most people wouldnt pay the £40 just to walk around the gardens or the towers, however Alton could promote them a bit more.

[Blaze]

It pains me the way most people recieve the gardens. Seems many would rather them removed and replaced with rides. The thought of even taking the short path from FV to infront of the towers horrfies them. #-o

[CoasterCrazyChris]

[quote=""Blaze""]It pains me the way most people recieve the gardens. Seems many would rather them removed and replaced with rides. The thought of even taking the short path from FV to infront of the towers horrfies them. #-o[/quote]

At least someone didn't tell you that it would be a good idea to build a huge rollercoaster on the lawns in front of the Towers...

[Mathmosman]

Yeah, I was completely and utterly against any idea of the cross valley woodie, even if it didnt technically go within the gardens.

Also, perhaps people don't go to the Towers for the gardens/ruins anymore, and that was my point. Consumers have changed now, and perhaps because of how much it costs to get in. For some reason, back in the times when it cost something like £8.00 to get in, there were more rides and attractions there. Queues weren't like they are now, so perhaps visiting was much more relaxed. Now, it almost verges on frantic perhaps?