With the introduction of the Season Pass, it seems Towers may no longer be offering Bounceback or Return Any Day tickets, going by this FAQ response:

CAN I BUY A RETURN TICKET TO COME BACK THE FOLLOWING DAY/ANOTHER DAY?
Whilst we do not offer a return ticket, we strongly recommend guests to purchase a new Season Pass which allows you to pay for 1 day entry and return for free all season!

'Return for free all season'

I thought the season passes excluded the Halloween events + Weekends during the summer? Or have I missed something?

This is the way forward I guess, very few parks outside of the UK offer bounce back tickets and most offer a 2 day pass with a small discount instead. Also many museums and art galleries allow unlimited entry for a year when you buy a ticket.

With all these new ticket machines being installed I hope AT decides to make a large step forward in its pricing of tickets.

I think that it may be worth finally reducing the ticket price to around £30 and severely limiting the number of 2-4-1’s that it puts out into the GPs hands.

Does anyone think this will ever actually happen though?

I don't see the reason why AT would charge £55 for a Season Pass.. when then the ticket price stays at the £50 mark for 1 day.. it doesn't make sense.. either way I will be purchasing a season pass!

I agree a figure of around £30 for 1 adult is a fair price with the current situation of rides and attractions.. however I don't think the pricing will move anywhere..

The 2-4-1 deals should be limited in other ways, such as who is advertising the 2-4-1 deals. I understand some people have money issues so the 2-4-1 is a great way for them to visit the Towers.

I don’t know of anyone who goes to AT who doesn’t have 2-4-1s or a season pass as there’s so many available.

So although £30 looks like a severe price decrease (and is really appealing to the GP) it’s more than the cost of a 2-4-1 discounted ticket.

Also if this drive visitor numbers then they’re going to make a huge profit from F&B/Merch outlets.

Currently, season passes and one-day admission tickets are priced at £55 each, therefore it is instantly appealing to those booking advanced tickets online (£33) to consider paying an extra £22 if they were looking to return for a second day or more that year.

I'm not sure how many people pay full price for admission though, although 2-4-1 vouchers provide an instant draw to customers, families in particular, while giving that product a promotion and Merlin exposure to their parks and mid-way attractions. These vouchers have become the norm, therefore, I doubt anyone would be willing to pay full price and will go out of their way to look for a deal/voucher. The Season Pass offers more of a competitive edge to draw in more guests but it would be interesting to see how many of those purchasing the pass actually take full advantage of repeat visits. 

It such a shame that 2 of my best friends are total yellow bellies when it comes to rollercoasters I'm hoping to go sometime in late March. Hopefully the Wicker Man will be open by then

I'm sure, at this rate, you won't be disappointed with Wicker Man being open.
Fingers crossed nothing happens from now to the season opening!

JenRawrRizzle wrote:

It such a shame that 2 of my best friends are total yellow bellies when it comes to rollercoasters I'm hoping to go sometime in late March. Hopefully the Wicker Man will be open by then

Well if you wanted to experience the park with some like minded coaster nuts than may i suggest looking at a TTSP event/meet up. More details can be found in this section here!

Less than 3 weeks to go until the start of the season, cannot wait! It's within touching distance now

However, we still have no park opening times, no ride opening times and no opening date for the park's signature attraction. Happy trip planning folks

The other Merlin parks have had their opening times up since before the new year, why is Towers always so last minute!?

MakoMania wrote:

However, we still have no park opening times, no ride opening times and no opening date for the park's signature attraction. Happy trip planning folks

The ride opening times were announced a few weeks ago, do you not remember the amount of backlash Towers got before amending them a few days later?

I’d imagine that, with today being the last day of the Pirates & Princesses event, we will hear more news around both the ride close times and the opening of Wicker Man in the next week or so.

Dan wrote:

MakoMania wrote:

However, we still have no park opening times, no ride opening times and no opening date for the park's signature attraction. Happy trip planning folks

The ride opening times were announced a few weeks ago, do you not remember the amount of backlash Towers got before amending them a few days later?

I’d imagine that, with today being the last day of the Pirates & Princesses event, we will hear more news around both the ride close times and the opening of Wicker Man in the next week or so.

The ride opening times were announced and then removed, now we have nothing

To be honest though, ride opening times is probably the least important one for people to know in advance.

MakoMania wrote:

The ride opening times were announced and then removed, now we have nothing

To be honest though, ride opening times is probably the least important one for people to know in advance.

I agree, however Towers have said that all rides and attractions will be open by 11am, so this at least gives guests a bit of information with which to plan their day.

Either way, it’s better than turning up on opening day and finding a barrier across the archway leading up to Fountain Square and finding out it doesn’t open until 11 o’clock .It’s sad that it’s come to this, but at least they are getting into the habit of telling people when various areas will open.

The ride opening times have been announced. They can be found on the TowersTimes website, although we are still awaiting an announcement about closing.

I think what MakoMania is saying is that the specific ride opening times aren’t detailed on the Alton Towers website anymore.

The ride opening schedule that we reported was at the bottom of the Opening Times page on the website, whereas now it says this:

We look forward to welcoming you to Alton Towers Theme Park. We offer early access to the theme park for Merlin Annual Pass holders and Resort Hotel guests with a selection of rides & attractions available for your enjoyment including our brand new ride for 2018 Wicker Man.
Theme Park opens to all other guests from 10am. Park open & close hours will always be flexible to ensure we can give our guests great experiences – if the park is busy we’ll always do our best to stay open!

Yeah, that's what I mean. I hope they can avoid a situation when people are walking to rides at 10am only to find that they don't open until 11am.

After the backlash received, I don't think they will change it, although never say never!

Work has been continuing on the remodelling of the Entrance Plaza at Alton Towers.

The concrete bases are all that remains of the area where the kiosks once stood, whilst scaffolding still surrounds the turnstile building. New ticket collection windows have been installed in the building on the left hand side of the Plaza with posts and ground markings visible for what will be a new queue line. The ticket collection buildings have also received a fresh coat of paint.

New bollards have been installed at the entrance points to the Plaza, whilst the pedestrian gateway from the coach park now looks to be in the process of being permanently blocked.











To view the photo update in full, head over to the TowersTimes Facebook page.

The new colour scheme makes the entrance look very smart, I really like the look of it!

The entrance will flow a lot differently this season, Instead of having 10 or so lines of guests queueing to get into the park, It'll be to the left hand side which'll give the entrance that even more of a 'wow' factor for first time guests (which there will be quite a few this year).