Alton Towers Resort General Discussion

[Ladyofthelake]

Just to reassure everyone Nemesis was running perfectly fine all day today

[lewis97]

Image from TS' Twitter of a new queuetime board, similar to those at Thorpe Park, situated at the bottom of Towers Street...



Can't help but think the Dark Forest advert is there to try to draw guests away from X-Sector.

[JaykeAT]

It moves from each section,so a few seconds with dark forest,then forbidden valley,then x-sector

[Dan]

September opening times are now up on the AT website.

5pm throughout with a couple of exceptions:

6pm on Sun 1st and Sat 7th.

5:30pm on Mon 2nd and Sun 8th.

Thoughts?

[Danny]

I'm amazed by that, September can be quiet so I actually expected 4PM closings [which we'd have then had a rant about and they'd have made a U-turn decision on]. These closing times are justified. compared to the stupidly early times this summer when people clearly would have stayed on park until at least 8PM.

[Lee]

September opening times are now up on the AT website.

5pm throughout with a couple of exceptions:

6pm on Sun 1st and Sat 7th.

5:30pm on Mon 2nd and Sun 8th.

Thoughts?

They're not terrible. Not too dissimilar to Europa Park, albeit they open at 9am.

[Dan]

For those with ERT it still gives you quite a sizeable day on park. I'll be honest I was expecting a 4pm ride close as well, so I'm happy with what they've gone for.

[tracey.foster.54]

Alton Towers have just tweeted that the rides close at 7.00pm today and the park at 8.00pm.

[sully1311]

Alton Towers have just tweeted that the rides close at 7.00pm today and the park at 8.00pm.

Has been from Friday.

[Dan]

I'm just browsing through some tweets relating to Towers, and I've noticed a couple that say that it's been quite busy today and that they've hardly been on any rides.

However when you look at RideTimes, the vast majority are at 0 mins, with a few being between 45-60 mins.

Are Towers deliberately deflating the queue times so people will see them and think its a good time to visit during this traditionally quiet period?

[RCandrew]

I don't know where to post this but I've just been on a trip to London and almost every time I went on the underground, especially Waterloo, It reminded m of oblivion so much! Even my girlfriend said before I mentioned it! Has anyone else noticed??

[RCandrew]

I only just realised because I've never really thought about it like this before, that in big huge american parks the queues are weirdly not that long when in actual fact it's because there are so many big rides! Alton towers just has the 6 big ones, like thorpe etc, but with a lot more thrill rides it would definitely spread people out and you could get a lot more out of a day

[Doddy]

This season was my first ever visit to Alton towers and my first experience with big roller-coasters. Despite a power cut happening before I had even entered the park and not getting full power until about 11 or 12-ish (Forbidden Valley was the only section of the park with power) . I also had a little trouble getting on the Smiler and Rita as both rides had stopped working just as I was about to get on them but thankfully the park technicians managed to get them up and running quickly. Despite the power cut and ride problems I still enjoyed the it hugely and would recommend it to others.

[Fish777]

I'm just browsing through some tweets relating to Towers, and I've noticed a couple that say that it's been quite busy today and that they've hardly been on any rides.

However when you look at RideTimes, the vast majority are at 0 mins, with a few being between 45-60 mins.

Are Towers deliberately deflating the queue times so people will see them and think its a good time to visit during this traditionally quiet period?

I have noticed that they do this quite often, as a few times when I have gone in a queue, but someone in our group stayed outside, the queuetime is apparently 10 mins, but we queued for nearly an hour. when we came out, the queuetime, board hadn't changed, it still said 10 mins :S. Either there is a fault with the system, or Alton are trying to make us move around the park in the way they want us to.

[Burniel]

I'm just browsing through some tweets relating to Towers, and I've noticed a couple that say that it's been quite busy today and that they've hardly been on any rides.

However when you look at RideTimes, the vast majority are at 0 mins, with a few being between 45-60 mins.

Are Towers deliberately deflating the queue times so people will see them and think its a good time to visit during this traditionally quiet period?

I have noticed that they do this quite often, as a few times when I have gone in a queue, but someone in our group stayed outside, the queuetime is apparently 10 mins, but we queued for nearly an hour. when we came out, the queuetime, board hadn't changed, it still said 10 mins :S. Either there is a fault with the system, or Alton are trying to make us move around the park in the way they want us to.

They quite possibly are, which is very wrong

[Kirsty25]

That was my thought on my last trip. Sonics queue was on the board at 10 mins but on approaching from x sector it was between 45 mins and an hour. It's the only ride I haven't been on in 2 seasons as it's got a huge queue.
I think they attempt to funnel the queues, blivvy was showing at 40-50 mins but was in fact 15...

[Lee]

I'm not sure of the precise time, but the electronic boards are only accurate to 30-60 minutes. I'm led to believe that the ride operators update them via a central database/person over the radio and estimate the queue length by 'markers' within the queue.

This information may be entirely out of date though.

I can't understand why people would think AT would considerably over estimate or under estimate the queue times. Queue times are so publicly available on ride times, long queues would put people off trip planning. I do believe they'll add 10-15 minutes to a longer queue to make it appear that you've queued less time, but I can't see there being a conspiracy to force you to move around the park

[sully1311]

Went to the park today, quietest I've ever seen it. Here are some times (this was the case from afternoon onwards, and this air and nemesis times are lying, they were walk on too!)

[markclo]

2013 for me has been strange. The delay of the Smiler is obviously the most significant event and in turn responsible for the massive, capacity bursting crowds of the summer. This was due to straight forward building delays, weather, big holes full of water etc, unfortunate but true, so I won't dwell on this in particular, however, in a round about way, the knock on effect was huge.

I believe the massive investment in the Smiler, building, promotion, staff and obviously buying the thing from Gertslauer in the first place has been kind of detrimental to the rest of the park.

I understand that the cycle of investment is a big ride every 3 or 4 years, and then some smaller rides/experiences in the years in between, stuff like ice age etc. Also, the plans for this winter are really welcome. The face lift in Old McDonalds farmyard is much needed as there has been a bit of under-investment in the younger kids stuff over the years. A calculated risk possibly, as under 10's rarely dictate the choice of theme-park for a family visit.

The park in general does need some paint and a bit of TLC. Particularly in Mutiny Bay (Tired Looking), Fountain Square, (The same) but mainly in the entrance area.

Over a few visits also there are some really basic maintenance issues I have noticed which would be easy enough to fix, considering some of the amazing engineering that goes on at AT.

Trommel working intermittently in Duel, (granted a 21 year old attraction)(Could do with a re-theme)
Left hand hypnotiser wheel never working on the Smiler (Brand new)
Fluorescent lights on in tunnel on RMT, (an oversight surely)
Lights on in Crypt on Thirteen (interesting for me but a bit of a magic remover for the general public)
General maintenance on rides in general, (in five visits down time on Thirteen, Sonic, Smiler)

It seems that B & M have the edge for reliability.

I hope the next big investment is the removal of the Flume and an outstanding new water ride built in its place. Perhaps B & M should have a crack at one of them......or a woodie.

It will be interesting to see what springs up at other Merlin parks in a year or two as roller coasters are cheaper when more than one are purchased at the same time and built a year apart (Maurer: Sonic & Dragons Fury, Intamin: Rita & Stealth, BM: Krake in Germany & Swarm, BM Air & Nemesis Inferno etc) Wouldn't be surprised to see another Gertslauer pop up somewhere.....they make a very good looking spinning coaster with inversions.

Despite all the the speculation about the Smiler, it was a predictable choice really. No Gertslauer in the park and already a B&M in X Sector. Couldn't be too high so no Intamin giga-coaster. Needed to be compact, Eurofighter! But you can't have a beyond vertical drop stealeing the thunder of the mighty Oblivion. Infinity coaster then. (Correction courtesy of Danny.g97) Better still, join two together. World first. Sorted.

I hope this closed season, they give it an overhaul. Maybe getting it open was a rushed job. I don't know. But it doesn't seem to be wearing terribly well. Rough on the track and a bit jerky, for one so young. Also the track looks very distressed already. Maybe new wheels? If you're buying wheels....get some for Rita and Nemesis too.....although I kind of like Nemmy's slightly rough ride that's developed with age. Most of all with the Smiler....sort out the maintenance.

I think it would also be a better ride if it had the toboggan style cars like Saw and every other Eurofighter. Less lag on lift hills, quicker into inversions and more gut wrenching over the smiler's second awesome bunny hill. You could still load them in pairs like Saw, just separate them during dispatch. Loading trains in pairs is how Oblivion keeps its queue short and processes nearly 2000 people per hour. No reason why queues should be affected.

I travel from Southampton for AT and even with vouchers etc it is not a cheap day out. I normally eat on park and pay express parking. I do however feel it represents value for money, although less so in peak season, but you make your choice. I do however see though, that Joe public often feels ripped off when things are scruffy, breaking down and poor value. I think Alton Towers could do with appearing a bit less money grabbing and a bit more fun/customer focused. I don't mean drop prices, I mean just be a bit more subtle. Happy people spend money. Also, they need to stop showing prices without VAT, as if they are cheap and it's the government that are mean..........We all have to pay VAT......everywhere. I find it frustrating to read TripAdvisor and see people complaining about the £46.80 entrance fee (£39.00 plus VAT!). Who ever pays full price?? Anyone who does is a fool.

It remains to say that I love the park. It is further from me than Thorpe, Chessington and Drayton Manor, but I am always happy to travel the extra distance. Paultons Park is my closest theme park and whilst for younger kids, the up keep and maintenance is the best I have seen anywhere....better than Disney. Alton Towers, despite all my opinions, is an amazing park, no question. I want its owners to love it as much as me.

Just my opinion. Enough from me.

[Burniel]

Went to the park today, quietest I've ever seen it. Here are some times (this was the case from afternoon onwards, and this air and nemesis times are lying, they were walk on too!)

THE SMILER 0 MINS?!