2012 operational cuts

Jordan · Tue May 22, 2012 11:16 pm

Thing is, I've never seen them advertise that price as £21. If people think a theme park day out is inherently expensive, and given they only roughly know the gate price as somewhere around/above the £40 mark, then unless they see some direct figures to challenge that, I can't see how the words "buy one get one free" can really jump out at them.

AstroDan · Tue May 22, 2012 11:19 pm

Oh I agree with that, but given that the vast majority of guests pay around the half price mark, that simply cannot compete with holidays abroad or Disneyland Paris and the like. It's still cheaper to do Alton.

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Wed May 23, 2012 10:07 am

Tom G wrote: I've received an e-mail from Merlin Entertainments.

Dear Mr Green,

Thank you for your e-mail and your comments regarding Skyride at the Alton Towers Resort.

You can rest assured that your comments have been passed onto the relevant staff members and will be taken on board when conducting reviews of our attractions, which we do on a regular basis.

The delivery of memorable experiences to our millions of visitors underpinned by constantly monitored visitor satisfaction, world class people development strategies, and the very highest customer service and Health & Safety standards.

Skyride is the ultimate theme park thrill ride - every ride you've ever dreamed of in one. Never has so much theme park technology been combined in one fantastically thrilling ride.

Skyride is located in an area of unexplored vegetation known as the Gardens, and is guaranteed to exploit your vulnerabilities and play with your mind.

Merlin Entertainments Group is now the clear market leader in the UK and Europe and second only to Disney worldwide.

Kind regards,

Synthia Ettick
PR Representative

Sounds like merlin really value peoples opinions... and to show it, it looks like they copy and paste the same letter to everyone who breathes a bad word about their operations!

Skyride is the ultimate theme park thrill ride - every ride you've ever dreamed of in one. Never has so much theme park technology been combined in one fantastically thrilling ride.

Completely agree merlin... the Skyride is so thrilling...

Skyride is located in an area of unexplored vegetation known as the Gardens, and is guaranteed to exploit your vulnerabilities and play with your mind.

Plays with your mind? The most thrilling part is when it stops and you are suspended over the gardens hoping that they replaced the old cable with a decent quality one! :P

Wed May 23, 2012 11:53 am

I'd personally rather have a closed Skyride than a closed Theme Park.

Times are tough, and they're only gonna get tougher for places like Alton as we get closer to the Olympics. It has screwed over small and big businesses alike by soaking up any tourism and confining it all to one single month to one single area.

I wish people would quit with it. They're obviously not raking in profits. Theme parks are very expensive to run. Merlin don't grow money trees, and have to make cuts or go out of business. They try alternatives to cutting e.g up selling, which EVERY hospitality business does now, to get a higher average spend from its customers, but it doesn't always work in the long run. There's NOTHING Merlin or Alton could have done this year to infuse the park with millions of guests. You can argue Sub-Terra didn't help, but just look at THE SWARM, it didn't put a foot wrong but still hasn't attracted half as much attention as Merlin would've hoped.

I don't blame them for making these cuts at all. I just hope its because of the Olympics, and next year sees the country as a whole see more tourism.

AstroDan · Wed May 23, 2012 12:50 pm

The Skyride is open today.

Looks like the policy has been scrapped. Great news for guests.

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Wed May 23, 2012 12:58 pm

From what I understand Towers never wanted to go ahead with it in the first place. They were kinda forced from above to make the decision. Which ultimately now, due to the negative feedback from guests, made the decision to reverse the idea fairly easy to make.

I guess it was a case of "we told you so" from Towers to Merlin.

AstroDan · Wed May 23, 2012 1:00 pm

It was always going to cause complaint. Hopefully that'll be the last we see of the park closing rides and attractions.

Glad they've opened it again. I hope the weather really boosts guest figures!

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Wed May 23, 2012 1:07 pm

U-turn number 671. OK, now we wait for ride rotation and staggered openings

Satch · Wed May 23, 2012 1:14 pm

I've lost count of who is making more u turns. Towers or the Tories

AstroDan · Wed May 23, 2012 1:19 pm

It's almost as if Alton are proving to the powers that be that they simply cannot get away with closing things down. Presumably guest complaints have been quite high.

It's great news. I don't think we will see any more rides being earmarked for closure.

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Wed May 23, 2012 1:21 pm

It does seem like Towers just keep making these cuts knowing they'll get a ton of complaints, to prove to Merlin that operational cuts aren't viable. At the end of the day, this just damages Alton's reputation and guest feedback for absolutely no financial gain, but I don't think we can blame Towers management if Merlin are forcing through these cuts which just don't make financial sense.

If they really want to cut something... what exactly is the point of all the members of staff standing around at major ride entrances? Yes, I can see in an ideal world where the money is flowing, they're good to welcome guests to an attraction and advise on height restrictions. Not that I advocate job cuts, but that seems like an obvious and less painful operational cut to make.

Wed May 23, 2012 1:36 pm

Why can't the use 1 station on Air on off peak days

DiogoJ42 · Wed May 23, 2012 1:40 pm

Good point Sam. While it is never good to lay people off, the one thing EVERYONE would be happy with its getting rid of the market barkers on Towers Street.

Wed May 23, 2012 1:42 pm

alex tyler wrote: Why can't the use 1 station on Air on off peak days

They do... or did used to.

Last time I went on a quiet day was a few years ago but I remember all the rides operated at reduced capacity, and it makes sense really. Didn't affect my out at all as there wasn't enough people on park to cause long queues.

Wed May 23, 2012 1:43 pm

In reference to air, they sometimes do. Same with oblivion. That was the case when I visited early on in the season and it didn't impact on my day at all (apart from when air went back to the wrong station on the first ride of the day and we were stuck waiting until they cleared the station)

This is fantastic news though! I hope that this will finally be the last attempted cut.

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Jordan · Wed May 23, 2012 2:06 pm

Hah. Which will be cut and subsequently-U-turned next? :P

Crofty · Wed May 23, 2012 3:56 pm

Has this policy been scrapped altogether? I suspect that they they are only using discretion to open it on a busier than anticipated day?
If that is the case then it will be even more confusing for guests who are planning a trip.

Wed May 23, 2012 4:16 pm

I suspect this is why Towers have made no set dates as to when the ride is closed. If they just say "may be closed on certain days" they can open and close it at will without technically misleading people.

If they have actually scrapped the plan I wouldn't be surprised if they don't officially say it's off for the remaineder of the season, then see the messages on the website just conveniently vanish over the closed season.

It'd save them the hassle and embarrassment of having to go back on their word, while not strictly speaking publishing false information.

I do agree though that it makes it even more confusing to guests trying to plan their trips to the park.

AstroDan · Wed May 23, 2012 8:45 pm

The ride is now open daily.

To me, forget any talk of embarrassment, just a bit of praise and positivia that once again they've listened and proven to themselves and Merlin how important a full compliment is.

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Thu May 24, 2012 12:30 am

I do wonder if the below posted on two major UK Disable childrens days out advice forums had anything to do with this ?

Alton Towers is closing the skyride transport system on off peak days. Alton Towers does not publish these off peak days. so If you need it to get around the park it may be an idea to check first.
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