JoshuaA Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 Btw cheers to Alton Towers for professionally shutting down the ridiculous Daily Mail article that pretty much blew a tiny situation into something news-worthy.. Just wow, I didn't know they would scoop that low.. CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coaster Posted June 12, 2017 Report Share Posted June 12, 2017 I like the stance Alton are taking with this, hopefully it'll get the media off their case when people realise ride stoppages aren't news-worthy. JoshuaA, yeah and Cian 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted June 16, 2017 Report Share Posted June 16, 2017 If they can educate the public that ride stoppages are part of normal operation, this should hopefully deal with the media. It's great to have some reference materials from Alton Towers themeselves to reference to as well when people write ignorant comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashleyrose-66 Posted September 4, 2017 Report Share Posted September 4, 2017 Went to Alton Towers at the weekend. I'm sad to say that I feel it's lost so much spark these days. Yes, we can all see "SW8" is coming along nicely, and I do feel it will be very impressive. But we wandered over to "Cloud Cuckoo Land" and there is virtually nothing left over there! Charlie and the Chocolate Factory went a couple of years ago, and this year, Ice Age 4D and the Twirling Toadstool have also gone. The loss of Charlie & the Chocolate Factory and Ice Age are obvioulsy down to IP deals now expring. But surely there has to be a plan by Merlin for when things like this happen? What will happen when the Gruffalo IP expires at Chessington for example? We are left with a carousel, the driving school and the frog hoppers (which have been moved and sit right outside where the Ice Age attraction used to be - which incidently has been painted in horrific bright colours) and the whole area just feels empty now. The Runaway Mine Train was also closed all day Saturday, which didn't help matters. They have a couple of new attractions in Cbeebies land which seemed very popular as wait times were 60 minutes. I went on Galatica. The VR set I was using was very blurry. I tried tightening and twisting the focus wheel but it didn't imrove matters. I realised that the viewfinders were wiped between rides with what looks like a damp cloth. This leaves the VR blurry and spoiled the experience for me. All-in-all, I felt really disappointed on Saturday. It is a 3 hour drive for me to get to Alton Towers. I used to think it was worth it, but I left feeling really disappointed on Saturday and sadly won't be rushing to get there again this year! Coaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flipper Posted September 5, 2017 Report Share Posted September 5, 2017 16 hours ago, ashleyrose-66 said: All-in-all, I felt really disappointed on Saturday. It is a 3 hour drive for me to get to Alton Towers. I used to think it was worth it, but I left feeling really disappointed on Saturday and sadly won't be rushing to get there again this year! "Hi Ashleyrose-66, Thank you for taking the time to contact the Alton Towers Resort...." Wait no, I don't do that crap anymore. It really sucks that you felt the magic had gone! For me I think they've done alright all things considered; but I do agree the sudden loss of the IPs with Charlie and Ice Age have left Cloud Cuckoo Land in an abysmal state - but I do expect they have a plan for it; considering Driving School experienced a full refurbishment. It will probably come about for 2019/2020 IMO. But yes, family drive has turned to Cbeebies now and fair play really, it's seemingly doing them wonders. Runaway Mine Train in the rumour mill is waiting on a part to be shipped hence its closure, but agreed it couldn't have come at a worse time. I think if they could have kept Charlie, they would have; but with the ride so heavily intertwined with the IP its difficult to 'do a Bubbleworks' so to speak and rip the IP out and keep a base theme thats the same. I do completely agree with Galactica. I haven't experienced it with the new headsets yet this year; however last year they weren't great. I like to think in my head they do perform better than Derren Brown's considering they're on a roller coaster - but 'its good enough' isn't really, good enough. Its one of those technologies that just isn't ready IMO. It's the same with rides like Rock'n'Rollercoaster at Disney and Rip Ride RockIT at Universal; where the audio often crackles and falls from sync - it doesn't work properly yet. Equally I've never understood the blurriness on Galactica's VR; as you don't get this so much on DBGT - yet both get cleaned? I haven't visited Towers since March/April this year; and whilst I'll be back for Scarefest and Fireworks; I don't feel the need to rush back either. I'm now in Southampton so I know the pain of going up. But I'd definitely not let one bad visit knock you back; and I'd definitely recommend trying some special events such as Fireworks and consider maybe trying again next year when hopefully more rides will be available and/or refurbished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark9 Posted May 26, 2018 Report Share Posted May 26, 2018 It's almost like they're a normal theme park again! JoelAllen 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted May 26, 2018 Report Share Posted May 26, 2018 Odd choice to remove Spinball from ERT, but otherwise all good news. One can only hope that this works out for them and they can bring this sort of operating schedule back for the rest of the year. Or at the very least the summer... JoelAllen and Robert.W 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuntman707 Posted May 26, 2018 Report Share Posted May 26, 2018 Honestly that should be the regular timetable. No one goes on the rapids first thing and Duel almost never has a queue so they can open later. There’s clearly demand for the CBBies attractions. Shame we can’t see the big six on ert. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yeah Posted May 29, 2018 Report Share Posted May 29, 2018 That's much better. Now it needs to stay this way. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robert.W Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Staggered opening times are back. ? They have also changed the ERT lineup, which replaces Spinball Whizzer with Oblivion and Enterprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Benin Posted June 6, 2018 Report Share Posted June 6, 2018 Robert.W and Kerfuffle 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 Towers are introducing some form of Oktoberfest event in the last weekends of September and first weekend of October. I don't quite know what they'll do for it, but I'm very much down for this sort of thing.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshuaA Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 I think this will be a good way for Alton to hopefully boost their attendance during September. This could be a neat little event. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 Oktoberfest means good beer. If they have good beer then excellent, but they won't, will they? RobF and MattyMoo 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 @MattyMoo will have a lot to say about this. MattyMoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 If they get any proper Oktoberfest beers in at all (even the mainstream ones), they'll be better than their normal offerings - so I'm down! I'm all for this, and would even be tempted to visit for a second time in a year to attend... but I'm not down with the Fosters glass as circled by @Glitch above 😛 If only they'd have this event at Thorpe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pluk Posted February 18, 2020 Report Share Posted February 18, 2020 1 hour ago, MattyMoo said: If they get any proper Oktoberfest beers in at all (even the mainstream ones), they'll be better than their normal offerings - so I'm down! I'm all for this, and would even be tempted to visit for a second time in a year to attend... but I'm not down with the Fosters glass as circled by @Glitch above 😛 I'm hearing Omnipollo soft serves in steins. MattyMoo 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 9 hours ago, pluk said: I'm hearing Omnipollo soft serves in steins. I think that reference would be wasted on the Velvet Coaster loving community 😁 That's a great video shared above - but where's Nemesis Sub Terra? Also, I hope Towers get a little flowerbed in the shape of 40, otherwise Thorpe will have one over them there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Love the 40th anniversary video. Very fun and a nice shade of different. (Shame they added 1 to the opening years of Mutiny Bay, Cloud Cuckoo Land and Dark Forest though) Also, am very sad they didn't mention Nemesis Sub Terra. Gone but not forgotten 💔 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattgwise Posted February 19, 2020 Report Share Posted February 19, 2020 Nice little video to kickstart the celebrations, looking forward to some of the things planned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Excellent to see that Towers have leaked the next 3 Secret weapons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoshC. Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 This comes from a fun feature Towers have on their website: https://www.altontowers.com/40-years/model-my-map/ It's clearly a bit of silly fun, but I wouldn't be surprised if some of the questions have been designed to get some insight into what people want (especially the non-ride stuff). I'm a big fan of everything Towers are doing right now for their 40th. A solid plan has been laid out, and I really hope they follow through with it. And, forgive me for making the obvious comparison, this is how you do it Thorpe. On top of a proper new addition, proper events all throughout the year, which are all varied and have a clear identity, whilst linking it back to the overarching theme of being the 40th anniversary. Martin Doyle, JoshuaA, CharlieN and 3 others 6 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattyMoo Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Indeedy. I'm guessing though that Thorpe weren't given the budget to do anything? (ever) Towers 40th needs a bouncy castle NOW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glitch Posted February 20, 2020 Report Share Posted February 20, 2020 Alton Towers finally starting to stand up to the resort status. I also love how people will say OctoberFest will fail, as people need to drive to AT. With over 500, ballpark figure don't quote me, rooms people who stay over may want something to do in the evenings. With late night riding this is an excellent way to extend the attendance in the generally quiet month of September. In my opinion a cheaper to run scare fest, whilst extending the popularity of the Halloween event period, just with the offering of beer and lederhosen rather than scares. This is a clear moneymaker, so go to AT and have a few bevvy's this September. CharlieN 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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