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Onto the land of the dragon and a look at Oakwood’s website. Despite the park being smaller than Flamingoland, their website is absolutely excellent with information presented clearly and where you’d expect to find it.

All height restrictions are detailed, and Ima Biggun will be pleased to hear that the only ride with a height restriction is Hydro which is clearly marked as such in the ride guide.  

. We looked for the answer to four considerations a family may have when visiting a website and whether their site addressed them:  How to get to the park Cost for disabled visitor Rides suitable for Kids Reference made to size limits  Alton Towers Y Y Y N Chessington Y Y Y Y Drayton Manor Y Y Y N Flamingoland Y Y Y N Legoland Y N Y N Oakwood Y Y Y Y Pleasure Beach Blackpool Y N Y N Thorpe Park Y Y Y Y . . . . .

So while our 21st century family has done their research successfully online, we return to the doormat of the fictional family who have requested leaflets from most of the UK’s major parks.  

. . Alton Towers No option to request leaflet Chessington No option to request leaflet Drayton Manor Leaflet received in 2 working days Flamingoland No leaflet received Legoland No leaflet received Oakwood Leaflet received in 3 working days Pleasure Beach Blackpool No leaflet received Thorpe Park No option to request leaflet

Two days after the calls to the parks were made, our friendly postwoman delivered a colourful envelope from the ‘Best UK Attraction for Children’ – Drayton Manor Theme Park.

Inside, the current park guide, the leaflet for ‘Camping and Caravans’, a colourful flyer with park opening dates and prices as well as another leaflet with specific directions on getting to the park.

If you were in two minds about going to the park, this literature most certainly paints a colourful picture.

In the wake of Drayton Manor, Oakwood is second to finish our leaflet race three days after we called them. Enclosed, a letter thanking me for my enquiry as well as advertising Matt the Magic Man who will be performing at the park most days during the season.

Of course, as requested, we were also sent their current park guide which details most of the useful information you’d need before visiting including current admission prices and how to get to the park.

So the race continues. Presumably our leaflets from Pleasure Beach Blackpool, Legoland and Flamingoland and are now in the capable hands of Royal Mail so Fido, our fictional dog, guards our doormat.

He’s still there. As of 30 March we still hadn’t received leaflets from any of these parks and Easter has long come and gone.

Oakwood's leaflet was the second to arrive, was informative, and the letter was a nice touch.

Of course, Royal Mail’s recent failings in delivery of mail have been well documented lately, so to make our race at least slightly scientific, Miss Holbrook also took the time to call each of the parks.

Both Oakwood and Drayton’s leaflets arrived, yet nothing from Legoland, Pleasure Beach Blackpool or Flamingoland, and of course nothing from any of the Tussauds parks because they didn’t even leave the starting blocks.

Of course, it makes the choice of where to go for our fictional family a lot easier – from a list of eight prospective parks, of their own accord it seems six parks have decided that they either don’t want to send leaflets (i.e., target those people who have actively expressed in interest in visiting – AKA waved money in front of the parks’ noses), or don’t want to give people an option to request leaflets or even speak to a human.  

So, assuming you’ve got your leaflet, and you’ve seen the website, what next? A visit I guess. And this is where customer service is at its most important. It’s all very well coaxing people to your park with flashy websites and glossy material (if applicable), but if people don’t enjoy their day, they’re not going to return. You could bring ten million people into the park a year, but if they’re not returning, there’s a good chance you’ll go out of business within a decade.

One of the four leaflets sent to us by the victorious Drayton Manor.

Our experiences vary greatly, so we’ll open up this debate to you. Is it true that the parks who seem to grasp common courtesies such as sending out leaflets upon our request are more likely to offer a more customer orientated day out? Or is it left in the hands of the front of house staff?

How do your experiences vary? Have you ever complained at a theme park, if so, what about and how did the park react? And what has impressed you on a visit? How has a park gone beyond the call of duty in some way, and has a park offered an apology for bad service or inconvenience before you even complain?

Author: MS Friday, April 01, 2005 | Post a Comment