Thousands enjoy York Residents Festival (From York Press)

Owt for nowt! Yorks popular price.

Owt for nowt on Resdidents day!! not the case with the York Railway Museum. What are they offering residents over an above the usual extortionate car parking fees, now at £9. The free childrens meal with an adult meal was carefully disguised to one small leaflet hiden amongst the large array of food and drinks. This wasn't even mentioned at the desk or by the catering staff when we initially ordered food for just the kids.
Seems like they really arent getting into the spirit of the supposed 'Residents day'. What about a free parking pass ?? Typical isnt it with Jorvi Centre and the Yorks Wheel with a couple of free hours in the whole weekend. How tight can you get !!

my daughter stood for 2 hours to get a go on the wheel, thought she wouldnt get a go as it was well after the alloted time but they let them on, dont think 3 hours was really long enough for all the residents to take advantage of using the wheel. should have just let them access it all day and let the tourists pay

3 hours on one day obviously, and very predictably, wasn't enough for residents festival. I posted this comment on the wheel's facebook page a few days ago and funnily enough it got removed shortly afterwards, and the ability to post on the wall was also removed....obviously they didn't want any bad publicity. I am also going to write to the owners of the wheel to complain, not because of this but because the cabin I went up in had all it's windows misted up on the outside and it was impossible to see through the main one which would've given the views over the minster/city centre due to condensation (again on the outside)

You should probably fire off a complaint to the met office for those offensive atmospheric conditions. Never seems to be problem in the summer when the tourists are in town, does it?

Thomas Fruit wrote:
York is the only city in Britain where the local mugs who pay to fund the running of the place have a "special weekend" because they are so marginalised in their own home. Every weekend should be "residents' weekend".

And tourists contribute nothing I suppose

ebore wrote:
You should probably fire off a complaint to the met office for those offensive atmospheric conditions. Never seems to be problem in the summer when the tourists are in town, does it?

The thing is that while waiting for the wheel to open they were turning it one capsule at a time so that someone halfway up could inspect the structure. While they were doing this it could've just taken a few moments to have a couple of people at the bottom to check the windows of each capsule and wipe off condensation. The four of us that rode together could've paid over £30 for the experience and if we had then I would've definitely asked for my money back as the view was that limited.

I hear the queue for the wheel was 'wheely' big?

You see what I did there? :D

I have been looking forward to finally getting on the eye for a while now. We planned it as a little family trip. I was however naive enough not to think I needed to be in the queue at 8am. I arrived around 10.30am to be told I wouldn't get on in time! I spoke to several people in the queue who had been told that they had to 'try their luck' and be willing to pay should they not make it to the front by midday. I was disgusted. Three hours for the whole of york to get a go was simply ludicrous, but to then turn it in to a money making scheme is disgraceful. There were loads of families that would have been pressured to pay after their children had stood for 2 hours waiting patiently. Although we didn't join the queue, we now are going back on a quieter day after stupidly telling the children they'd get to see york from the eye. I am thoroughly disappointed. I would also like to point out that when I checked the various attractions for the festival in late november the eye was supposed to be free for a few hours on the saturday too. It appears this was revoked. Too much money to be lost?

Can't believe how ungrateful some of you people are. Did you not think that if you had the idea to go on the wheel lots of others would as well. Why should a commercial enterprise **** off paying customers for you. I do however agree that windscreen wipers on the pods would have been a great addition yesterday.

And in terms of free parking at the NRM - why exactly ? If you're disabled and need a car to get there I'm sure you're looked after, if not then use your feet like everyone else.

Don't you just love the internet, you offer something for free and people still complain! Yes three hours isn't enough for all of York but it was first come first served, usually if something is free or at a low price it is generally for a limited time. If they'd given all of York a weeks free rides you would all still be moaning that it wasn't for two weeks.
As for Berry Lane 'I have been looking forward to finally getting on the eye for a while now. We planned it as a little family trip. I was however naive enough not to think I needed to be in the queue at 8am.' You've been looking forward to it for a nice family trip but you don't want to pay? That says it all!
Typical tight, I want it all and I want it for nothing and on my terms internet keyboard ninjas!

Oh come on people! "Residents Weekend" my backside.

This is the time of year when York's tourist attractions revenue normally plummets. Not on "Residents Weekend" though, as your all spending in their gift shops and paying reduced admission prices. I'm not saying that it's a bad thing, but stand back and see it for what it really is.

We weren't even stupid enough to attempt the wheel or the jorvik center...so we visited eden camp, absolutely brilliant, the staff were helpful, the cafe was nice and fairly priced a great day...we then tried our luck and drove onto scarborough for the sea-life center but missed the last admissions by 20 minutes, not a problem just enjoyed fish and chips and an ice-cream. On sunday we visited the Yorkshire Air Museum and again a brilliant day out.....not my cup of tea but it was a free day out with the kids and they enjoyed it and thats all that matters. I feel for those who didnt manage to get on the wheel I would of loved to but as my husband pointed out we will be better off paying for it in the summer when visibility is "almost" guaranteed to be great....lovely weekend had by us x

ReginaldBiscuit wrote:
I hear the queue for the wheel was 'wheely' big? You see what I did there? :D

Well, if you were tyred of the queue you should have spoke out against it!

The weekend gave residents a great opportunity to see some of York's gems... but some attractions aren't worthy of the name. Extremely disappointing was the Army Museum in Tower Street, a tired throwback to museum displays of the 70s, with a horde of badly presented ephemera exhibited in an unsightly, messy pile. It's a dump. Our armed forces deserve better - and so do paying tourists.

Brabus wrote:
Can't believe how ungrateful some of you people are. Did you not think that if you had the idea to go on the wheel lots of others would as well. Why should a commercial enterprise **** off paying customers for you. I do however agree that windscreen wipers on the pods would have been a great addition yesterday.

And in terms of free parking at the NRM - why exactly ? If you're disabled and need a car to get there I'm sure you're looked after, if not then use your feet like everyone else.

Maybe the wheel could've handled things differently, still given away free tickets AND made some money.....for example, how about saying they'd give away 100 free tickets for every hour, collectable in advance (about 2000+ tickets) and any resident wanting to go in a hour period when all the free tickets had already been given away could buy a cheap ticket (£2?). This would've spread the number of residents over the 2 days instead of cramming them into 3 hours; gained revenue during a quiet tourist period; and still allowed plenty of space for any full price tourists.

BigJon wrote:

Brabus wrote:
Can't believe how ungrateful some of you people are. Did you not think that if you had the idea to go on the wheel lots of others would as well. Why should a commercial enterprise **** off paying customers for you. I do however agree that windscreen wipers on the pods would have been a great addition yesterday.

And in terms of free parking at the NRM - why exactly ? If you're disabled and need a car to get there I'm sure you're looked after, if not then use your feet like everyone else.

Maybe the wheel could've handled things differently, still given away free tickets AND made some money.....for example, how about saying they'd give away 100 free tickets for every hour, collectable in advance (about 2000+ tickets) and any resident wanting to go in a hour period when all the free tickets had already been given away could buy a cheap ticket (£2?). This would've spread the number of residents over the 2 days instead of cramming them into 3 hours; gained revenue during a quiet tourist period; and still allowed plenty of space for any full price tourists.

How about you stop weeping into your keyboard that you didn't get anything for free? Why would they complicate the process further meaning that their time and staff are wasted giving tickets to those York residents that want a freebie and those who were probably the ones that shouted the loudest that the wheel would ruin the skyline and shouldn't be in York.
The method they used was you can go on for free within three hours, if you come before or after tough. Not difficult to understand is it?

How d'ya like them apples!

I had a wonderful Sunday, went on a walking tour of York from Bedern Hall taking in all of the city's guilds. Lasted 1.5hr with a guide from the Cornwainers Guild. Barley Hall was open and had a good exhibition of costumes from period films. Visited the Central Methodist Church where there were organists playing all afternoon. Finished off with a Folk Festival at the Black Swan - All free, bit of queuing at the Black Swan but other than that no problems.
Pity the Wheel couldn't do what the Dungeons are doing and allowing residents in all week.

Wheel is overrated and overpriced. £27 for a family of four, and the guy running it is ignorant and rude. Got a better view from Clifford's Tower and that was free all weekend.

i can t believe some of the positive reports on here.this must be the most patronising event ever organised by any council anywhere.supposedly to say thank you to us residents when you lot in power don t actually give a toss.you don t ask for our opinions and if you ever do then you ignore us and you waste our money time after time.go on keep telling us how great the weekend was when in fact it wasn t.

Thomas Fruit wrote:

Omega Point wrote:

Thomas Fruit wrote: York is the only city in Britain where the local mugs who pay to fund the running of the place have a "special weekend" because they are so marginalised in their own home. Every weekend should be "residents' weekend".

And tourists contribute nothing I suppose

Tourists fill the pockets of hotel chains and parasitic city centre "traders". They do nothing for the people of York, unless they've suddenly starting paying council tax?

Tourists do nothing for the people of York you say???? Are you a complete and utter ignorant moron? Tourists have kept me in employment for over 25 years, and many hundreds more York residents I dare say. Get your facts straight!

bensnow wrote:
I had a wonderful Sunday, went on a walking tour of York from Bedern Hall taking in all of the city's guilds. Lasted 1.5hr with a guide from the Cornwainers Guild. Barley Hall was open and had a good exhibition of costumes from period films. Visited the Central Methodist Church where there were organists playing all afternoon. Finished off with a Folk Festival at the Black Swan - All free, bit of queuing at the Black Swan but other than that no problems.
Pity the Wheel couldn't do what the Dungeons are doing and allowing residents in all week.

oswaldcobblepot> If you read the start of my post you'll see that my suggestion was only an idea quickly thought up....and I did ride on the wheel, as well as several other things over the weekend (like Bensnow I also enjoyed the Bedern Hall walk)

It was a good weekend for residents and clever marketing for the various attractions - We went up Postern Tower and Cliffords Tower on a beautiful clear Sat morning, tour of Cedar Court hotel with a hord of other residents and joined the walking tour from Bedern Hall to learn about the Guilds. Thankfully gave the wheel and Jorvik a miss and plan to get the online booking discount to try it another day. I say clever marketing because we all know friends and relatives who might visit York and and we are the best sales reps going if we have been there ourselves. The last weekend in January is pretty dead with people spent up after Christmas so the event must certainly have helped to fill the cafes and restaurants in York and boost flagging takings at the end of the month.

Thomas Fruit wrote:

Omega Point wrote:

Thomas Fruit wrote: York is the only city in Britain where the local mugs who pay to fund the running of the place have a "special weekend" because they are so marginalised in their own home. Every weekend should be "residents' weekend".

And tourists contribute nothing I suppose

Tourists fill the pockets of hotel chains and parasitic city centre "traders". They do nothing for the people of York, unless they've suddenly starting paying council tax?

"Do nothing" - it is only Monday but I bet this is not beaten for stupid comment of the week

I was looking forward to reading this thread before the weekend for the pure predictable entertainment.

The chaos at the "free" wheel was something I kept my family from. Having been on the one in London, Manchester and indeed the previous York one at the NRM, I didn't think a taller view of the Minster (again) was worth the wait.

We pay to go to the Viking Centre once a year and with the ticket can get free entry for the whole year after gift aiding it.

The NRM is free to everyone anyway.

And a £2 York Card gets you entry to the Yorkshire Museum and the Castle Museum all year too, so this residents weekend is largely just a marketing and money-making exercise for the less well-known or less exciting "attractions"

Charging residents with a York Card £1 to enter Cliffords Tower says it all.

PG Haxby wrote:
Wheel is overrated and overpriced. £27 for a family of four, and the guy running it is ignorant and rude. Got a better view from Clifford's Tower and that was free all weekend.

"The guy running it" is not ignorant and rude, if he came across that way to you then that's probably because you didn't have the time or patience to hear him out.
Every member of staff worked their backside's off yesterday trying to keep people happy but it seems some people cannot be pleased, even when they're being handed a freebie.
As for the condensed windows... The air con/heating was turned on in every capsule first thing in the morning, if members of the public decided they didn't want the air con on then it was up to them to turn it off, resulting in steamed up windows. If people wanted a clear view they simply had to turn it back on.

P.S: It's £20 for a family of four.

oswaldcobblepot wrote:

BigJon wrote:

Brabus wrote:
Can't believe how ungrateful some of you people are. Did you not think that if you had the idea to go on the wheel lots of others would as well. Why should a commercial enterprise **** off paying customers for you. I do however agree that windscreen wipers on the pods would have been a great addition yesterday.

And in terms of free parking at the NRM - why exactly ? If you're disabled and need a car to get there I'm sure you're looked after, if not then use your feet like everyone else.

Maybe the wheel could've handled things differently, still given away free tickets AND made some money.....for example, how about saying they'd give away 100 free tickets for every hour, collectable in advance (about 2000+ tickets) and any resident wanting to go in a hour period when all the free tickets had already been given away could buy a cheap ticket (£2?). This would've spread the number of residents over the 2 days instead of cramming them into 3 hours; gained revenue during a quiet tourist period; and still allowed plenty of space for any full price tourists.

How about you stop weeping into your keyboard that you didn't get anything for free? Why would they complicate the process further meaning that their time and staff are wasted giving tickets to those York residents that want a freebie and those who were probably the ones that shouted the loudest that the wheel would ruin the skyline and shouldn't be in York.
The method they used was you can go on for free within three hours, if you come before or after tough. Not difficult to understand is it?

How d'ya like them apples!

I like them apples a lot!

ToniMyers93 wrote:

PG Haxby wrote:
Wheel is overrated and overpriced. £27 for a family of four, and the guy running it is ignorant and rude. Got a better view from Clifford's Tower and that was free all weekend.

"The guy running it" is not ignorant and rude, if he came across that way to you then that's probably because you didn't have the time or patience to hear him out.
Every member of staff worked their backside's off yesterday trying to keep people happy but it seems some people cannot be pleased, even when they're being handed a freebie.
As for the condensed windows... The air con/heating was turned on in every capsule first thing in the morning, if members of the public decided they didn't want the air con on then it was up to them to turn it off, resulting in steamed up windows. If people wanted a clear view they simply had to turn it back on.

P.S: It's £20 for a family of four.

re my 'complaints' and your answer....
1) We were the first people in our capsule and the air conditioning was NOT turned on at that time....I did consider turning it on but as the button is only marked with a 'snowflake' it implies that it only blows cold air, and it was cold enough on Sunday already.
2)the condensation on the main window was on the outside so turning on the air conditioning wouldn't have had any effect anyway. 3) a family ticket may be £20 but who said that the 4 people in our capsule were in one group? (it was actually a family of 3 and a single person so total cost would've been about £30)
PS I personally did not find any of the staff ignorant or rude, but I imagine they became more stressed as the morning went on and the customers that had been queueing for so long got more fed up

Time : Saturday 28th Jan 11:00 a.m.
Place : Fishergate Postern

1st voice “Is anyone coming down?”
2nd voice “Yes we are”
Pause
1st voice “Where are you?”
2nd voice “We’ve just left the 2nd”
1st voice ”Oh, we’re on the Ground - we’ll pass you on 1st”
3rd voice “We’ve just left the 1st”
2nd voice “Going which way?”
3rd voice “Down”
1st voice “Oh Ok we’ll wait ‘til you get here”
4th voice “We’re at the top can we come down?”
2nd voice “You should be OK”
5th voice loudly “We’re coming up!”
2nd and 4th voices (alarmed) “From where?”
5th voice “The 2nd”
4th voice “‘Oh – that’s alright”
Pause
2nd voice “I think I’m stuck”
1st voice “Do you need help?”
2nd voice “Do you have a torch? I can’t see”
3rd voice “I’ve a torch – shall I come up?”
1st voice “I thought you we’re coming down”
4th voice “It’s easier if you go down backwards”
2nd voice “Do you think I should go back up?”
3rd voice “Can you turn round?”
2nd voice “I don’t think so”
Silence
4th voice “We’re at the top can we come down?”

At this point I beat a hasty retreat.

People need to start appreciating the fact that we live in a beautiful city that offers us, as residents, a weekend where we are able to enjoy its attractions at discounted prices, or free. People are too quick to complain at everything. At the end of the day the York wheel is not a permanent fixture for the city, and one that people keep complaining about yet it still offered 3 hours where residents could enjoy its views for FREE. Surely thats fair?
If you have time to complain then you need to find a hobby, as you have too much time on your hands.