Alton Towers Live - Music Concert 19th June 2011

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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DiogoJ42

Yup, it is indeed selfish. I don't think a theme park should be hosting concerts of any kind.
Plus anything that gives them a reason to put more restrictions on the MAP is a very bad move. Slowly, more and more restrictions will be added. How long before scarefest is not included? Or school holidays? Then they will bring out a "super platinum" pass, and the whole cycle will start over again...

:roll:

I'm well aware that I'm the only one who thinks this.
Jordan

[quote=""DiogoJ42""]Is it wrong of me to hope that this is a massive failure, and hardly anyone turns up?[/quote]

Diogo, with respect, I think that's quite a naive view to have.

Alton Towers are trying to do their best to host events which will appeal to the widest possible target market and, like it's been heavily rumoured, there will most likely be several concerts there this year, some of which might appeal to other music tastes. If these events didn't work out as well as they'd planned, it could spell a sorry story for future resort events - after all, if concerts and Scarefest are pulling in many extra people, it could signal the return of more themed weekends (such as Chocolate Towers). :)
DiogoJ42

I would rather the money was spent on other things. They could clone Freddy Mercury and hold the once-in-a-lifetime-Queen-comeback-gig, and I would still disapprove. Theme parks are for rides and themed events, not concerts that could be held anywhere.

I know I'm not going to win this argument. Feel free to spend the next three pages laying in to me :)
Blaze

My reason for having part of me wanting it to fail is simply so next time they book some real performers. :P
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siralgenon
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Just think of the 80's concert last year, that was a great atmosphere and day out! Don't know if id agree with heavy metal but Alton Towers Live is for families and should be as sucessfull as last year :D
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Blaze

It doesn't have to be heavy metal, just not manufactured bubble gum pop.
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Rob L
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[quote=""damos1""]Any passes purchased during these times are none the wiser as to when they can and cannot use the passes to gain entry, after all, all of the other T&Cs of restricted dates are listed on the Annual pass themselves and the passes do not say no entry during special events/concerts although they are in the T&Cs but again these T&Cs do not provide the dates of such concerts/events exclusion dates given the date being in the middle of our Annual pass season is a T&C I would expect to be informed of.

Granted the parks do not know the planning of any future concert dates until arranged however they can certainley pick a day as to when to hold these certainley a year or 2 in advance and then provide these days within the Annual pass exclusions.[/quote]
[quote=""damos1""]Believe me Diogo buddy you are not the only one to be thinking along these lines after all the Premium pass does have at least 1 exclusion on the no exclusion Premium pass.

I certainley feel usual day time entry should be granted during such events/concerts after all they can still say no entry if park reaches capacity which is highly unlikely the park will however the concert will possibly be reaching capacity leaving no reason as to why passholders cannot enter during the day and vacate by ride close after all the towers choose the concert start time.[/quote]
First of all, the Premium Pass is not a no exclusions pass, it does state the following in the Terms and Conditions:

11. An Annual Pass is subject to additional charges for entry into:

11.1 any concerts taking place at the Attractions;

11.2 any themed and/or special events taking place at the Attractions


There are still limitations to the Premium Pass whether you like it or not, but the Premium Pass certainly has very few exclusions so I do not see any reason for people to moan.

Secondly, letting people into the park on a concert day who are not attending the concert causes logistical problems that are not wanted, as found out by last years Pink concert. Towers have learnt from this and are now taking the sensible option of only allowing concert ticket holders into the park. It means there will be less parking issue, no massive overlap of people arriving and leaving the park, and no need for entrances into the concert arena as everyone in the park is entitled to see the concert. The system they are implementing is good.

Thirdly, Towers can not confirm dates where there may be concerts one or two years in advance, this just isn't possible so expecting this from them is so very unrealistic. If you were planning on going to Towers on the day of a concert date, then that is simply bad luck, but it's not going to ruin your life.

I am fed up of some people's attitude to everything that Towers do at the moment. Why don't you go and work there and try and do better? If you don't like the acts performing at the concert then tough luck, there may be another concert that comes around that is for you. There is no reason for you to want the concert to fail or anything like that just because you don't like the acts. A lot of people will like the acts and will have a fantastic day out. Why can't some people here be thankful that Towers are holding more events, this is what we all want isn't it? And the more successful events there are, the more chance there is of having even better events in the future.

:)
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Moley

Unfortunately Rob I could only like your post once.
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James
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Amen to that Rob. :clap:

Why when Alton do something good people just moan moan moan. They could build a massive woodie, host the biggest Halloween event ever and some will still moan, or compare to the 90s magic. Yes the magic was great, the best years Alton ever had blah blah blah. But we're in the 10s now, Alton are moving into the right direction; lets enjoy the modern Alton Towers for what it is and stop living in the dark. :)
DiogoJ42

I'm fed up of the "Merlin / Towers are perfect, and everything they touch turns to gold" attitude, quite frankly.
Blaze

The reaction to the free day on Friday sums it up. You'd think the praise would be deafening, but no. Evil Merlin are obsessed with taking all our money and never giving back apparently, apart from when they do give back, but when they do give back, then it's still a bad thing. Hopefully everyone will cheer up once the season starts.
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Rob L
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[quote=""DiogoJ42""]I'm fed up of the "Merlin / Towers are perfect, and everything they touch turns to gold" attitude, quite frankly.[/quote]
That's not what is being said though, they are not perfect, but they are doing a lot better than some people are making out. It just seems that a lot of people are still holding the whole MAP fiasco against Merlin and even Towers to some extent, people should just get over this now, it has happened.

:)
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.Will

Thanks Rob, I am glad somebody decided to say that. Far too much abuse is given out, it is a real shame that people can't just be happy.

:roll:
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Rob L
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[quote=""damos1""][quote=""Blaze""]The reaction to the free day on Friday sums it up. You'd think the praise would be deafening, but no. Evil Merlin are obsessed with taking all our money and never giving back apparently, apart from when they do give back, but when they do give back, then it's still a bad thing. Hopefully everyone will cheer up once the season starts.[/quote]

Is this free day a true free day?

Thousands will still be made in food/drink/photos etc.

Also it is the first of its kind for the U.K. the facebook offer, now has facebook paid Alton to host such a FREE day?[/quote]
So are you telling me that Alton Towers should give out free food, merchandise and anything else while they are at it on Friday? You must be joking, how can you take away from the fact that it is a free day at Alton Towers. This is what I mean about people who will not give Towers a break, how can you say that about what is a free day at the theme park?

And does it matter if Facebook have paid Towers or anything like that? No of course it doesn't. It seems to me that you are desperate to criticise Towers at every available opportunity even when they are doing good and positive things. Do you also think that Alton Towers should offer everyone who goes on Friday a free hotel stay with a free evening meal, and a free clone of Nemesis to take home with them?

Sorry, I know this is off topic, but I'm in a bad mood and stuff like this isn't helping.

:)
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.Will

Just going back on what people were saying about the acts, what were people expecting? I mean really? They are going to try and get acts that are going to have the largest fan base are they not, why? To try and make the most money. Though people on here don't like JLS or whoever the else is performing there are millions who do. Alton Towers will want a sellout, to make the most money.

You can't have a go at somebody for the music they listen to or the clothes they wear or anything. It is their personal preference. I love the concerts, I went to the 80s concert and thought it was amazing the atmosphere was fantastic; I don't think they are something to be stopped. Ok, yes they are there to generate revenue but Merlin are a business, they are only going to do certain things to make money. It is better than the dark ages, where there were hardly any concerts at AT and no Fireworks etc.

I think the pricing is really reasonable, for what you are getting it is good value for money.

:)
Blaze

So far this year there has been an offer for a huge hotel discount, the Carribean weekends cost less than £30 each, half price APs and now a free day, yet they still get criticised for penny pinching. They arn't perfect but they arn't as bad as it keeps getting made out to be.
AstroDan

As I have already said, i think this event will be great. Not my thing, but doesn't stop it being great for Alton Towers.

I am the first to moan about things I dislike at AT but I find it hard uz criticize here. We get £19 off, you'd easily pay £30-40 for all these acts at an arena!

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Moley

[quote=""DiogoJ42""]I'm fed up of the "Merlin / Towers are perfect, and everything they touch turns to gold" attitude, quite frankly.[/quote]
I'm interested where you've seen this on TTF.

In the last year I can remember an almost universal rubbishing of:
TH13TEEN
The re-theme to Dark Forest
The marketing team
The idea of a Shrek attraction
Them not then creating the attraction (for whatever reason)
The park then not creating a half-arsed attraction just to say they had a new one
The advertising of a small addition to Sharkbait Reef
The Facebook related free day
The choice of acts playing at this concert
Not being able to get into the concerts for free despite the T&C clearly stating this wouldn't be the case.

And theres probably more, I'm not exactly a frequent poster on the Alton sections of this forum.
Blaze

Wouldn't say "almost universal", but it's true, no one has said they're perfect, it's constant abuse with the occasional well done, the closest I've seen to stating they're perfect is "they've made huge improvements since they took over". Never have I see nsomeone say anything close to "Merlin are pefect."

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I mean look at this example, and sorry to pick on you Ritadz, but the topic this is from has nowt to do with Merlin, prices or anything like that, but you still find a way to drag Merlin into it and give them a kicking.

[quote=""Ritadz""]If i owned Merlin i wouldn't moan about VAT to try and make my stupidly high compared to any other major park in the world prices look cheaper.[/quote]

How is that needed? There's criticism, then there's just bashing.
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captain
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To me this is like the Ultimate fans and non-Ultimate fans war of the coaster poll. There are people who like Merlin and people that don't. However, like when confronted with Ultimate votes, it seems there is a lack of acceptance when it comes to people not liking Merlin, and a backlash then follows. If anybody criticises Merlin, and there are a fair few that do, myself included, there are just as many who instantly laud them with praise almost in retaliation. Sometimes this is valid, sometimes just bizarre.

Let's look at the list Moley posted.

[quote=""Moley""]In the last year I can remember an almost universal rubbishing of:
TH13TEEN
The re-theme to Dark Forest
The marketing team
The idea of a Shrek attraction
Them not then creating the attraction (for whatever reason)
The park then not creating a half-arsed attraction just to say they had a new one
The advertising of a small addition to Sharkbait Reef
The Facebook related free day
The choice of acts playing at this concert
Not being able to get into the concerts for free despite the T&C clearly stating this wouldn't be the case.[/quote]

Thirteen will always come under fire - people were expecting a Secret Weapon in the vein of Nemesis, Air and Oblivion and many will think it simply didn't live up to expectation. It was installed under Merlin and AT and also didn't come with the comprehensive retheme many of us wanted.

Part of the problem was a result of the marketing team, marketing it as something it wasn't. This publicity stunts involving d-list celebrities, bans of speedos, made-up crab facts and many others that a lot of us thought were scraping the barrel of lame advertising. Sure it did the job of gaining the park publicity but we don't have to like the method of how it was done. Other Merlin parks do exactly the same and we don't have to like it either.

Same with Shrek, people don't have to like it. Especially when an attraction that should be world-class is going in an old tent, seems to be rushed and ill-thought out and in the end is cancelled allegedly because the quality from AT wasn't good enough for Dreamworks. How would that not garner criticism from the enthusiast community? That was the main reason people complained when the attraction was not created, as, as far as we know, it showed poor business/quality from the park or their Merlin backers. Plus it meant it was the first year in the park's history without a new attraction, which many were upset by. Should they not complain, and just accept that things are worse? Even though it could be for the best that no attraction comes because it might be rushed, should people not be frustrated because there is nothing new at all, especially when they are already disappointed about last year's addition?

I was a vocal critic of the advertising of the Sharkbait Reef addition, because frankly it was lazy and of a very low standard. The information came straight from Wikipedia, and was then misinterpreted to give the impression that crabs with 8m legs had moved into the aquarium. Not only made-up, but also advertising something that doesn't exist and again isn't is good as is made out to be. I think Japanese Spider Crabs are great and it's amazing the park have got 9, but the reporting was terrible.

I didn't see any Merlin/AT related criticism of the Facebook free day, only criticism of the people who couldn't understand how to get in. It seemed that AT did a pretty good job trying to explain how it would work and setting up a Wifi spot to help people.

Are people not allowed to say when they don't like the acts at this concert? And when they buy an Annual Pass they expect year-long entry to the park. The standard pass has most benefits reduced/taken away so people buy the Premium, and still find out they can't get in. It may be in the smallprint, but who reads it? 1 in a 1000. So they don't have to pay the full price of the ticket, but doesn't it make sense that if the £55 includes park entry that the AP has already paid for, then the AP holders should just pay the difference? I know £15 for those acts is almost ludicrously cheap, but the argument behind it is fair enough. I also know that AT won't be taking the bulk of the money, but this is an AT forum and people are going to complain. We can't accept every disappointing decision every time, this would be such a boring place.

It seems that when there is dissappointment expressed with AT and Merlin, there is even more criticism of those disappointed than directed at AT/Merlin. A defend-Merlin trait is present in some members which just seems bizarre. Especially a company with such a ridiculous business policy that neglects small investments because they won't make enough money to satisfy their obscene debt, and a company that keeps buying up parks in order to try increase worldwide gate figures that will pay off their debt, but as they do this they take on more debt. We will get some brilliant big attractions - [s:k7nq7pxa]Thirteen[/s:k7nq7pxa], X-Raptor, Krake, LC12, a new Legoland, but we won't see sufficient investment in the smaller attractions and parkwide maintenance that makes a park better than the sum of its big rides. I know they're mentioned a lot on this forum but Europa and Efteling don't have to contend with colossal debt and so can focus on investment that will increase the overall quality of the park, rather than big attractions to fill parks to capacity.

[quote=""Rob""]It just seems that a lot of people are still holding the whole MAP fiasco against Merlin and even Towers to some extent, people should just get over this now, it has happened. [/quote]So has Colossus, and people still complain about that. So has Duel. So has the Bubbleworks disaster. So has the lack of a kiddie coaster in the park. Once something has happened, should we just give up and shut up, even if we don't like it? Should we just accept that things will be sub-par but as it's the company that runs the park we love it's ok? That's a crazy argument. People are still bitter about the MAP parking charges. Why should they shut up because you're sick of hearing it?

Merlin and AT do some good things. They also do bad things. If people criticise them, that should be fine. By all means disagree, but don't rip them to shreds and say they should shut up and deal with it.
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