Menu
What's new
By:
Filters

Alton Towers Opening Times

Mark

Mark

Strata Poster
Erm not sure if anyone else has notice but have Alton Towers reduced their opening hours??

It seems that Mon-Thur in Off-Peak times the park will only be open 10-4
Fri - Sat in quiter periods (non school holidays) will only be open 10-5.30

During school holidays during the week it will be 5.30 during the week and 6pm at weekends. (Except in the summer holidays where it seems to be 6pm all week.

I am a little narked at the quieter times 10-4 times because thats only 6 hours on park. It takes us that long for the drive there and back and its the mostly likely visit time for us so we can avoid the children etc. I seem to remember the park used to open at 9.30 and didn't close til at least 5. 90 minutes might not seem a lot but that is a fair chunk of ride time...

I note that with the reduction in hours there is no reduction in Ticket Price though...
 
4 hours drive to the park during off peak no longer seems worth it as your in the car longer than the park.

No reduction in ticket costs either. In fact ticket costs have increased.

This is either due to then not being busy or due to noise complaints I would imagine.

People will say stop moaning over an hour or so, but that hour on a quiet day means a lot of re rides missed or the choice of not getting there when it opens.
 
^ There's still ERT...for the time being. But yes, these opening hours aren't any good for those travelling some distance.
 
Mark said:
Hmm, the ERT is only for Annual Pass holders isn't it?
Click to expand...

It's also available to hotel guests and those who book tickets online. I'm surprised more people don't book tickets online, considering how much cheaper it is.
 
Let's not forget the random Sundays that are also 4pm close...

It's just so random and inconsistent, closing times vary all over the place ever more so than usual, and it's just detrimental to the average park guest...

I mean come on, Chessie are open longer and they'll have about 100 people in the park on a typical off-peak day...

Also, week before half term Scarefest dates are 4pm close as well... Timed not having to live up in Stoke well... Would be better off removing ERT during these offpeak than cutting off the end of the day... Imagine all the people who turn up or 11 or 12? They're buggered and won't bother going, meaning lost revenue and such like...
 
They've also cut down on the duration of Scarefest and such too. It's not open as much as previous years.
 
I don't understand.

In the US, parks are open until 10 and DEAD for the last 5 or so hours. Parks in the UK are heaving, and close at 5-6? What? Why?

John said to me once that Brits "like to get home early" - but I've seen no evidence, ever, of this.

Opening hours of everything, from shops to theme parks, winds me up in the UK. There's no time to do anything. There are too many people to have such limited opening hours. Those Thursday night late openings shopping areas do are always busy, always. There's no legitimate reason why it couldn't happen every day. Keep places open longer, make more money, create more jobs. You'd think it was common sense?

I'd LOVE to see the data for these changes. There must be reasons I can't see. Anyone got any theory?

EDIT: The other big wtf is this... The longer you keep people in as a captive audience, the more they spend. They get thirsty, hungry, tired and need to relieve this. It's just common sense that if you've got them until 4-5-or-6 you should hang on to them for a few extra hours. Kick guests out at 5, and they are going to eat on the road... If you keep them till 8, they will pretty much be forced to eat on park. And at the least, have a coffee.

The whole POINT of pay-once attractions is that you need to make money in other ways, and that's half the point of theming - to squeeze money out of people by making buying fun and making them want to spend longer in the space. The longer you spend there, the more money you spend. Same **** applied to coffee shops - why are they all pretty and cozy?

Ughgejtghjtdghtejt don't understand.
 
^ I'm with you on that. It's stupid in the UK. Allou! in Athens is open until like 1am most weekends. Then during the week it's open until 10pm, when you compare this to the UK, it makes you laugh really.
 
PAM opens at noon and closes at 3am on some selected days in summer. Tibidabo also used to open at like 4pm and close at 2am all summer long...

It comes down to every country; in the UK, in general terms, everything closes much earlier than in other countries. But I have to agree with Joey, the more they keep people inside the park, the more they will spend! And having a park for a mere 4 or 5 hours is ridicolous :S
 
This is odd for Alton. Normally very consistant there, used to be something like 6pm closing everyday.

I know we dont really know what is going on with the finances, but c'mon, its **** Alton Towers, there are never any 'quiet' days as such and even when there are, there's still thousands of people in the park.
 
It's definitely a move in the wrong direction, I was starting to think that UK open hours, particularly at Merlin parks, were just going to keep getting better, but apparently not.
 
Thorpe Park has shortened their hours. On Fright Nights, they used to be 10 til 10, but now it's 10 to 9!
 
Joey said:
EDIT: The other big wtf is this... The longer you keep people in as a captive audience, the more they spend. They get thirsty, hungry, tired and need to relieve this. It's just common sense that if you've got them until 4-5-or-6 you should hang on to them for a few extra hours. Kick guests out at 5, and they are going to eat on the road... If you keep them till 8, they will pretty much be forced to eat on park. And at the least, have a coffee.

The whole POINT of pay-once attractions is that you need to make money in other ways, and that's half the point of theming - to squeeze money out of people by making buying fun and making them want to spend longer in the space. The longer you spend there, the more money you spend. Same **** applied to coffee shops - why are they all pretty and cozy?

Ughgejtghjtdghtejt don't understand.
Click to expand...
Yes, this is the daftest part: I'll get a sandwich from one of the many supermarkets I go past on the way there, then go for a decent meal on the way home after leaving at 4pm (I'll be home be 6pm at the latest). So the time in the park will be spent riding for six solid hours. As a Tesco-bought AP holder the only money Alton will be getting off me that day is going to be for parking.

I can only assume the money made from people eating and shopping doesn't equal staff costs... or they want people to come back a second day for stuff they missed.
 
Robbie said:
or they want people to come back a second day for stuff they missed.
Click to expand...

That is a very good point. We all know Alton is focused on the whole resort thing and by shortening the opening hours of the park it ensures that people won't get everything done in one day and (if they're bothered by that) will be forced to return to the park for a second day.

But then, for a park that has just introduced a dine all day incentive, shortening the park's opening hours is just shooting yourself in the foot where that is concerned, surely?
 
They will just push their hotel even more than they do now.

But who wants to go and sit in the hotel from 16:30?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top