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Alton Towers News


Dan9

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  • 2 months later...

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!

 

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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.

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  • 8 months later...
  • 1 year later...

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! :D

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 ;)

 

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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! :D

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.

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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.

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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.

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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. 

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