Matt N
CF Legend
Am I right in assuming that this means they’re getting rid of any “front of house” staff who aren’t absolutely safety critical? So all bayloaders, entrance hosts and such?
That sounds like it could cause problems with operations…
WTF Merlin?
- Thread starter nadroJ
- Start date
That sounds like it could cause problems with operations…
Bobby McBobface
Roller Poster
Similar to this, I've heard that the entertainment and entertainment staffing budget is being dramatically slashed from next season. Not a good sign going forward.
VonRolland
Giga Poster
In essence yes and yes it will
Lukas D
Roller Poster
Will
Strata Poster
If that's true (which to be honest, I don't doubt) it will VERY quickly bite them.
It'll kill throughputs stone dead (I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they suggest this to a couple of the Type 1 ops) and job satisfaction will drop still further, which frankly I didn't believe possible. Very short sighted.
It'll kill throughputs stone dead (I'd love to be a fly on the wall when they suggest this to a couple of the Type 1 ops) and job satisfaction will drop still further, which frankly I didn't believe possible. Very short sighted.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
Ultimately if staff positions are cut, the main concern I have is for the staff. If people end up losing hours of work, that can be a big issue.
Operations are neither here nor there for the conversation for now. However, I think it's interesting that some of the "non-essential" positions like bag rooms are considering being scrapped, again, after they were only recently re-introduced. Hopefully moving forward, major rides are designed to be able to operate on as few members of staff as possible, whilst still maximising throughputs.
Operations are neither here nor there for the conversation for now. However, I think it's interesting that some of the "non-essential" positions like bag rooms are considering being scrapped, again, after they were only recently re-introduced. Hopefully moving forward, major rides are designed to be able to operate on as few members of staff as possible, whilst still maximising throughputs.
VonRolland
Giga Poster
Apparently many staff have already start to leave because of shortage of upcoming hours which aint a great start
Will
Strata Poster
Very, very short sighted of management - they lose enough staff at this time of year as it is.
Even usually optimistic sources have panned ride availability over the last few days.
Looks like the season that came in like a lion will leave with its tail between its legs.
I'm VERY close to shelving my plan to do Thorpe this season.
Even usually optimistic sources have panned ride availability over the last few days.
Looks like the season that came in like a lion will leave with its tail between its legs.
I'm VERY close to shelving my plan to do Thorpe this season.
JoshC.
Strata Poster
Not that I imagine my saying this will really change your mind, but Thorpe is leagues ahead of the other Merlin parks this year in terms of operations, staffing levels and general guest experience. Not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but genuinely a top season for Thorpe.
In an ideal world there should be no need for it, but from a personal interest perspective, I like that they've got an indication of how long a ride has been closed. As I say, they shouldn't have to do it, and I'm not sure the vocabulary of "Down for 45 mins" is most appropriate for a public app, but heyho, I'll stretch out for any positive at the moment with Towers.
Callum
Roller Poster
Correct me if i'm wrong, but I don't think this is from an official Towers app so they don't deserve the credit for this, I believe this screenshot is taken from https://ride-times.co.uk/ which is from the creators of https://queuetimehub.com/
Towers actually actively go out of there way to hide the queue times when you're not on park, probably to try and stop us from seeing poor ride availability such as today...
Matt N
CF Legend
Coincidentally enough, I believe it was actually the publicity that a day of poor ride availability received that saw them remove the queue times from the public domain…
owenstreet7
Mega Poster
I'd completely second that, Thorpe Park has substantially overtaken Alton Towers in terms of guest experience.
It's operations are decent (with it's main flaw being occasional empty seats on rides), ride availability is much better than Towers, food is not as bad, queues are soooo much more manageable and a better variety of rides.
Hyperia's operations are very efficient and it's downtime nowadays is almost comparable to the other rides there.
The main negative is that Rumba Rapids will be closing after Sunday however that is the most unreliable ride at the park this year and definitely needs TLC after this season (it opened late, had a lot of downtime and is very unreliable). This isn't the only water ride at the park though so isn't as big of a blow as CRR at Towers.
I'd say it is one of the better Merlin parks out there at the moment and that is saying something.
VonRolland
Giga Poster
I've had more detailed clarification regarding the decimation of "unnecessary" staff.
Positions that are being dropped are only happening during days that have around 12k attendance or less however days that are over will probably operate without due to staff shortages anyhow.
Entrance hosts are now a thing of the past such an Nemy, CBeebies, WM Etc
Galactica now only operates one station primarily and when the second station is in use its only open 1200-1600 and then closes again
Blade has dropped its exit host too.
Quite frankly I can't see how this is gonna continue especially with the severe amount of downtime atm
Positions that are being dropped are only happening during days that have around 12k attendance or less however days that are over will probably operate without due to staff shortages anyhow.
Entrance hosts are now a thing of the past such an Nemy, CBeebies, WM Etc
Galactica now only operates one station primarily and when the second station is in use its only open 1200-1600 and then closes again
Blade has dropped its exit host too.
Quite frankly I can't see how this is gonna continue especially with the severe amount of downtime atm
Matt N
CF Legend
That's not quite as drastic as I’d feared, to tell you the truth. Not having entrance hosts could make things difficult for people like families with young kids who need to be measured, but other than Galactica defaulting to one station (which could be mildly concerning for throughputs on there), none of that sounds overly drastic.
I’m somewhat encouraged by the fact that they appear to have kept baggage holds, as well as the sudden resurgence of single rider queues around the park…
During my recent visit to Towers on a 5pm summer close, I got talking with a staff member who mentioned the park's struggles with staffing costs. It was the first time I’d really heard about it.
After that, I couldn't help but walk around the park thinking about which roles I'd consider cutting. Honestly, the first ones that came to mind were the entrance hosts. I feel like I’ve been to plenty of large parks that don’t have hosts at ride entrances, so I doubt it would make a significant impact if they were removed.
Another role was the roaming actors. They’re good at what they do, but I’m not convinced the current characters have enough impact on the guest experience to justify keeping them.
After that, I couldn't help but walk around the park thinking about which roles I'd consider cutting. Honestly, the first ones that came to mind were the entrance hosts. I feel like I’ve been to plenty of large parks that don’t have hosts at ride entrances, so I doubt it would make a significant impact if they were removed.
Another role was the roaming actors. They’re good at what they do, but I’m not convinced the current characters have enough impact on the guest experience to justify keeping them.
VonRolland
Giga Poster
You see the thing is that bay loaders & entrance hosts you can run without, its not ideal and lowers throughputs and puts additional work load on the remaining staff but you can.
My concern is that when there are absentees for which there are many, the staff were pulled off bays or entrance to cover the gaps and carry on running. Cutting the additional staff is surely only going to create rides that can't open or only open for 8 hours a day due to under 18 staff working, this situation will only get worse come scarefest and fireworks when motivation is at an all time low and staff call in more frequently
Will
Strata Poster
Pretty much just echoing the other disillusioned former staff member here, as he's hit the nail on the head.
Entrance hosts in CBeebies and other 'minor' attractions are generally among the first to be dropped anyway - and the shortage is common at this time of year as the Summer staff return to education and the more burned out staff make their exit before Scarefest.
It doesn't surprise me in the least to see Spinball and Octonauts among the casualties.
Management were short sighted to this inevitability in 2022 and I doubt things have changed much. You can tell how well staffed that area is by checking if there's a batcher on ITNG or an entrance host on Justin's House. Giving the CBeebies entrance position to the entertainments team would also be more than logical.
Baggage would be the sensible one to drop - merge hosts are still going to be needed for most larger attractions due to the faff created by Fasttrack and RAP - and as I'm sure most of you know, Smiler cannot operate without an entrance host for H&S reasons.
I'm baffled by where this cash black hole has come from, particularly with the budget for Hyperia being so obviously compromised. On the positive side though - park looks dead this week and it's far too long since I had an afternoon Nemesis session.
Entrance hosts in CBeebies and other 'minor' attractions are generally among the first to be dropped anyway - and the shortage is common at this time of year as the Summer staff return to education and the more burned out staff make their exit before Scarefest.
It doesn't surprise me in the least to see Spinball and Octonauts among the casualties.
Management were short sighted to this inevitability in 2022 and I doubt things have changed much. You can tell how well staffed that area is by checking if there's a batcher on ITNG or an entrance host on Justin's House. Giving the CBeebies entrance position to the entertainments team would also be more than logical.
Baggage would be the sensible one to drop - merge hosts are still going to be needed for most larger attractions due to the faff created by Fasttrack and RAP - and as I'm sure most of you know, Smiler cannot operate without an entrance host for H&S reasons.
I'm baffled by where this cash black hole has come from, particularly with the budget for Hyperia being so obviously compromised. On the positive side though - park looks dead this week and it's far too long since I had an afternoon Nemesis session.
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Niles
Giga Poster
So...Alton towers
My first time i think since 2019ish, got a Merlin Discovery pass due to Hyperia earlier this year and this was the final UK park i had to redo (so far ive had a great time)
Went with family and friends and for two in the group it was thier first time so it was nice to see it through their eyes.
Queue wise it was great, 20mins was the max and we got on all the major coasters multiple times to be fair. But, no Skyride, Hex, Curse at Alton (closed all day), Towers (pay to view) and Charlies/Dungeon doing nothing, it felt like a bit of its heart is missing.
Food was also pretty bad, not much for a high cost, used to really like the curries at Eastern Express in Mutiny Bay but they seem to just do wraps now (thankfully we did bring some food in case).
Missing Curse was a pain as that was one of two reasons i wanted to go and number two was Nemesis and.......well, im not sure if its my favourite in the park anymore, it felt slower and the train does vibrate, the theming is good but the coaster itself felt off. I need to try it again because it took me aback how much it does not wow me like it used to before the refurb, it may have fallen off my top 20
While the two newbies in our group liked the coasters and flats the rest off us felt a bit sad that everything non coaster that makes Alton special was not available. Not a bad day but bittersweet, so wtf Merlin sort it out.
Some good things to say quick though, Rita??? My first time in ront row (somehow), rapid, forceful, airtime, smooth and its fantastic, its my number three in the park and im so so confused. We did a challenge keep your arms up as long as possible on 13 after the drop, me and my sister's bf did it to the station, we had to wait on the switch track for a while and got laughed at but it was hilarious
and finally we saw the chained oak, i say worth the little walk.
Edit: Also opening time 10-5 sucks, we found it fine as we had low queues and a few closed rides, but if those rides were open and you had more normal queue times the opening times are just to short. When a round trip for me is around a 7hr drive and the park is open the same time its not great.
My first time i think since 2019ish, got a Merlin Discovery pass due to Hyperia earlier this year and this was the final UK park i had to redo (so far ive had a great time)
Went with family and friends and for two in the group it was thier first time so it was nice to see it through their eyes.
Queue wise it was great, 20mins was the max and we got on all the major coasters multiple times to be fair. But, no Skyride, Hex, Curse at Alton (closed all day), Towers (pay to view) and Charlies/Dungeon doing nothing, it felt like a bit of its heart is missing.
Food was also pretty bad, not much for a high cost, used to really like the curries at Eastern Express in Mutiny Bay but they seem to just do wraps now (thankfully we did bring some food in case).
Missing Curse was a pain as that was one of two reasons i wanted to go and number two was Nemesis and.......well, im not sure if its my favourite in the park anymore, it felt slower and the train does vibrate, the theming is good but the coaster itself felt off. I need to try it again because it took me aback how much it does not wow me like it used to before the refurb, it may have fallen off my top 20
While the two newbies in our group liked the coasters and flats the rest off us felt a bit sad that everything non coaster that makes Alton special was not available. Not a bad day but bittersweet, so wtf Merlin sort it out.
Some good things to say quick though, Rita??? My first time in ront row (somehow), rapid, forceful, airtime, smooth and its fantastic, its my number three in the park and im so so confused. We did a challenge keep your arms up as long as possible on 13 after the drop, me and my sister's bf did it to the station, we had to wait on the switch track for a while and got laughed at but it was hilarious
and finally we saw the chained oak, i say worth the little walk.Edit: Also opening time 10-5 sucks, we found it fine as we had low queues and a few closed rides, but if those rides were open and you had more normal queue times the opening times are just to short. When a round trip for me is around a 7hr drive and the park is open the same time its not great.
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