Ride Closures/Removals in 2016

Got an idea of how the Alton Towers Resort may develop over the coming seasons? Discuss it here.
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Adam.W
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Just a screenshot of what an earlier poster put somewhere, but several rides are missing from this list including:-

Sonic Spinball
Charlie and the chocolate factory
Hex
The Flume
The Blade
Ripsaw
Air
Subterra
Duel
Enterprise
Which is fairly worrying, but I'm still taking it with a pinch of salt as undoubtedly some will still be open.
Also, all of these rides are still on the rides page.
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jayson2125
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What I dont get is:

If CATCF licence has run out was this something that nobody spotted.? my tax disc on my car runs out every year and when it does I renew it...I dont not drive it because I wasnt aware the disc had run out.
Could they not have re-themed over the now 5 months of closed season and opend as a new worlds first ride....(insert worlds first element here)

Hex...NO NO NO...One of the best themed rides that has been neglected and now will be closed...(if true)..I agree it needed more externally to entice people in but the only thing that needed doing was the soundsystem inside the room fixing and bringing back to its former glory.

Flume: Meh... we have all been on it and its very old..No complaint from me as long as it is replaced with something new

Sub Terra: Yawn....good first time ride then pretty much a re ride if with somone who has not been on before.

Ripsaw: Such a shame...spectacular ride to watch and great fun to ride...again I would have no complaints if replaced.

Driving school: Sefish but my kids are to big now to go on so no real loss for me or my family.

After the shocking year Alton has had with the accident now would be a great time to come back stronger and invest.

We have had half a year of Alton being very quiet in the media to keep a low profile and the media milking the accident for all its worth..Im surprised that the conflict in Syria hasnt been linked to the smiler accident by the Mirror.

Anyway back on point...now should be when Alton comes out saying bigger, Better, more fun more glitz more magic....Instead sack over 100 staff, close rides , Increase prices (not yet but it will be coming) and we should all flock there in larger numbers than last year???

What will actually happen is the media will take the ride closures as a way of saying Alton is failing due to poor safety records, staff now on the breadline due to losing jobs, Unhappy customers due to park cut backs..etc etc etc..

Im no CEO of a world leading theme park company but I do have common sense..doing less than nothing is like giving poetic licence to the press....

Making a loss this year due to a horrible accident will not re-coup those losses this next year by cutting back on staff, rides and making the resort less appealing..

Im clinging on to hope that this will all come good but just a small sign of a turn around would be nice..

I have read the blog and I feel sorry for the person who had to put glitter on the poo....if its bad say nothing ...dont try and make out its great that we are getting a newly re branded ride with a modest change and a new resteraunt..this is not going to bring in droves of people...

Such a real shame that Alton towers was getting better and better each year and now after a horrible accident it looks like 1 season of decisions could actually make Merlin/General public put the future on hold..
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Dan
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Adam.W wrote:Image
Just a screenshot of what an earlier poster put somewhere, but several rides are missing from this list including:-

Sonic Spinball
Charlie and the chocolate factory
Hex
The Flume
The Blade
Ripsaw
Air
Subterra
Duel
Enterprise
Which is fairly worrying, but I'm still taking it with a pinch of salt as undoubtedly some will still be open.
Also, all of these rides are still on the rides page.
The rides listed in that screenshot are just random rides that Towers have chosen to put under the "Rides" heading on the home page, it doesn't mean that they will be the only operational rides in 2016.

Like you've said yourself, if you click onto the actual rides page then you see every single attraction still listed.

I think someone has just seen that selection of rides under the heading, put 2+2 together and come out with 756...
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118hazaman
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jayson2125 wrote:What I dont get is...
You've got to remember that your interests do not match up with the interests of the park, or bosses at Merlin/Alton Towers. They aren't just closing rides, or changing things, because they find it funny; they are doing it for a legitimate reason. It seems like the people on this forum forget that everything done by the park is done so for a reason. There is a team of people, who know what they are doing, behind every single decision.

Before we start crying about how terrible the management is; let's be thankful that we aren't the ones running the show, but professionals.
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Speedy_no1
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Dan.N wrote:
Adam.W wrote:Image
Just a screenshot of what an earlier poster put somewhere, but several rides are missing from this list including:-

Sonic Spinball
Charlie and the chocolate factory
Hex
The Flume
The Blade
Ripsaw
Air
Subterra
Duel
Enterprise
Which is fairly worrying, but I'm still taking it with a pinch of salt as undoubtedly some will still be open.
Also, all of these rides are still on the rides page.
The rides listed in that screenshot are just random rides that Towers have chosen to put under the "Rides" heading on the home page, it doesn't mean that they will be the only operational rides in 2016.

Like you've said yourself, if you click onto the actual rides page then you see every single attraction still listed.

I think someone has just seen that selection of rides under the heading, put 2+2 together and come out with 756...

Last season though every single ride was listed under that section at the bottom.
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Dan
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Speedy_no1 wrote:Last season though every single ride was listed under that section at the bottom.
Maybe so but Alton aren't going to launch the 2016 season with 13 attractions are they?

Mountain out of a molehill comes to mind.
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Themeparksandy1981
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For Merlin to shut all them rides wouldn't be a big lose to them as only Sub Terra was added after Merlin took over. The rest were added by former owners. I'm surprised Duel not on that list as well.
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jayson2125
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118hazaman wrote:
jayson2125 wrote:What I dont get is...
You've got to remember that your interests do not match up with the interests of the park, or bosses at Merlin/Alton Towers. They aren't just closing rides, or changing things, because they find it funny; they are doing it for a legitimate reason. It seems like the people on this forum forget that everything done by the park is done so for a reason. There is a team of people, who know what they are doing, behind every single decision.

Before we start crying about how terrible the management is; let's be thankful that we aren't the ones running the show, but professionals.
What you seem to be missing here is that us non professionals are the ones paying for entry and keeping the professionals in a job.
My interests are those of a member of the public that without the business would not exist..

Surely the park is run in the interests of both not one side, its a balance of profit / customer happiness. If there is an inbalance then it breaks.

Blackberry and Nokia chose not to launch a smartphone for legitimate reasons when competitors were but it did not bode well for them moving forward, They ignored public demand...simple
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Guitar
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Has it even been confirmed yet that they are closing 6 rides next year?

Also, it's too early for them to announce new attractions, so if they are closing 6 rides next year, they could be being replaced by 8 new attractions, which would make the situation much better.
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Themeparksandy1981
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Guitar wrote:Has it even been confirmed yet that they are closing 6 rides next year?

Also, it's too early for them to announce new attractions, so if they are closing 6 rides next year, they could be being replaced by 8 new attractions, which would make the situation much better.
Well if the Blade and Ripsaw going for the SW8 coaster that's replacing 1 ride for 2.
CATCF they could have no budget to build another IP.
Hex could be Down to cost of running it and amount of staff.
Driving School end of the contract so can't use the cars I guess.
The Flume it could have needed more work picked up by HSE which the management feels is pointless to add to a 36 year old ride.
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jayson2125
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Guitar wrote:Has it even been confirmed yet that they are closing 6 rides next year?

Also, it's too early for them to announce new attractions, so if they are closing 6 rides next year, they could be being replaced by 8 new attractions, which would make the situation much better.

I totally agree with you that if 6 were closed and 8 new rides were put in place this would be fantastic.

But past history shows this simply does not happen.

more likely is 6 will close and we will get....

New for 2016 Air with a gimmick that will be boring after one ride
New resteraunt (was it needed)
New for 2016 the smiler re-opening
New for 2016 reneovated towers (single window replaced at rear of building)
New for 2016 worlds first burger bar with theme park themed ketchup
New for 2016 Twizzling toadstools (see what I did there)
New for 2016 Ice age 4d new movie
New for 2016 Thirteen with the lights on

I know i am being sarcastic but this is starting to look a lot like when Alton towers was really going downhill before Merlin took over..

Maybe the comment before is correct and Merlin have now go to a size where the customer does not matter anymore.

Legoland windsor is an example of this where HS rules spoil the day and even Merlin discount is not honoured to the full value as it is in other attractions, They dont care about this as footfall means if you dont return its no loss..

With Alton it seems the footfall has lowered and rather than fix this it is being ignored..

I really hope this isnt the case and they pull something out of the bag..
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I think we just need to calm down for a minute and assess the situation. Likelihood is after a quieter 2016 we'll get some more investments. I refuse to believe that this year will cripple Alton Towers. Merlin is a very large business, the second largest theme park and attraction business worldwide, and after one bad year they won't say "Well this park that has run successfully for 35 years is doomed. I mean we had one bad year."

Also, we'll still have the rides we know and love. We don't even know if this susposedly closed rides will be open. I personally think we should wait for details then use our own judgement.
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Ryan.B
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Image So, I saw this in a Facebook video, even more likely that it's going to be going :(
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Twinklepark
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Pretty conclusive then. I am I the only one who actually liked that ride? Or is it just nostalgia of it all being part of the early days of FV and Nemesis

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Aidan Lowe
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Alton Towers Twitter have responded to the query of why parts of Ripsaw were in the car park:
All rides undergo their scheduled winter maintenance and large spaces such as car parks act as great storage.
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118hazaman
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jayson2125 wrote: What you seem to be missing here is that us non professionals are the ones paying for entry and keeping the professionals in a job.
My interests are those of a member of the public that without the business would not exist..

Surely the park is run in the interests of both not one side, its a balance of profit / customer happiness. If there is an inbalance then it breaks.

Blackberry and Nokia chose not to launch a smartphone for legitimate reasons when competitors were but it did not bode well for them moving forward, They ignored public demand...simple
Of course, but what people forget is that your view does not directly reflect the view of the entire general public. We are enthusiasts, not the general public. We care more about Alton than the average person would. I just think we should be more trusting in the decisions the park is making, rather than jumping to conclusions.

As for Blackberry and Nokia; both of these statements are untrue. Firstly, Blackberry continued to release phones for the past years, but on a dying OS. This led to a decreasing amount of sales, and the company ultimately failing. However, recently they came out with an Android Phone, named Priv. Secondly, Nokia could not make a smartphone because they sold their phone division to Microsoft. They gave Microsoft all of their rights as a phone manufacturer, and were not allowed to produce phones for themselves. Nokia is set to release a new phone new year, when the contract runs out.
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OMG!!!! ALTON TOWERS ARE TURNING US AGAINST EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!! CALM DOWN EVERYONE!!!!

please
SeaWorld has rescued over 35,000 animals in need![/i]
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Speedy_no1
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Themepark247360 wrote:OMG!!!! ALTON TOWERS ARE TURNING US AGAINST EACH OTHER!!!!!!!!!!!! CALM DOWN EVERYONE!!!!

please

Lol love it
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Aidan Lowe
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Here is said Facebook video. Airgates have posted an article aptly titled 'Ripsaw fails to make the cut' but its still speculative at the moment.
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MakoMania
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Why has it been so carefully placed on wooden panels if it is to be scrapped?
SeaWorld has rescued over 35,000 animals in need![/i]
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