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Alton Towers General Discussion


themeparkmad

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Visited towers today although was just a kids visit , the park was deserted I cant even say it was this quiet post smiler and 10-6 opening is a surprise. 
 

As we went for my kids no coasters for me today 😞.

 

have to say though the offering for younger kids seems to be declining at towers with the loss of attractions for the likes of dungeons and rides that have been sbno.  Enterprise has some pretty semi perm/long term looking signage about its future.

 

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...
  • 3 months later...

So funfair rides have gone in.

I like the idea, each extra ride will help increase their capacity limitations and perhaps therefore allow more Map holders in.

logistically though I can see this being nightmare. For example will we see a RAP queue? 
the only way I see it working is with an up charge but apparently Towers have hired them out. 
Merlin have done this before, Heide park for instance had the WW haunted mansion for a 4 euro up charge.

 

Also will the showmen have to go through the training requirements of a usual staff member, will be interesting to see how this app works out and who knows if it does work, I think it will be a good idea.

 

I guess this also confirms the new world won’t be opening anytime soon. The park maps may be rare though so if anyone gets one with the funfair rides, grab me one too. 😜

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What it does show up is that the Towers line up is sorely lacking in support attractions, so hopefully these will be deemed a success by the higher ups and might see some permanent ones put in the future.

 

Especially when you consider the amount of rides that the park has closed without direct replacement in the past few years. 

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My first thought is that it's quite embarrassing that the UK's "number one theme park" has to hire in a load of fairground rides to keep themselves going.

I really hope this screams to Merlin how bad things have got over the past few years.

 

Saying that though, this is better than nothing isn't it, and I can understand they will want to sell as many tickets as possible this year to get the most from the season after last year.

 

Also weren't Detonator and Zodiac temporary fairground rides that stuck around? 🤔

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4 minutes ago, Benin said:

Zodiac was definitely, but it at least got a lick of paint and themeing before it died and got replaced by Drayton's one.

 

Can't remember with Det. Probably was given the location on WWH.

Detonator was I think granted temporary planning permission, but was later resubmitted to keep it permanently 

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14 minutes ago, Inferno said:

Also weren't Detonator and Zodiac temporary fairground rides that stuck around? 🤔

 

An Enterprise was bought in in 2000 shortly after the fire to compensate for the rides which were closed. Not sure if it was the same one which was then used for Zodiac from 2001 until it was replaced in 2006.

 

Detonator is a funny story. The short version: It was bought by the park and installed in the 2001 season too, but the park only applied for temporary planning permission (1 year). It ended up being really popular though, and the park decided to keep it and got permanent permission

 

 

The long version, for those interested: After the fire in 2000, Thorpe wanted to use the space affected to get a coaster to open in 2001. Their choices were either a Vekoma SLC, or a Rock n Roller Coaster clone, both of which could have been ready by summer 2001. Plans were actually submitted and approved (I can't remember for which one though), but the park then encountered some issues and ultimately had to shelf the project.

 

The project was shelved around October 2000, but the park still wanted something in that location (and by that point, plans for Vortex and Zodiac were well under way). A drop tower had been discussed in the past (for the Lost City area), so that's what they went for. Quick and easy to buy and build, easy to get approval, but always intended to be a quick fix until the park put a coaster on that site. That's why they applied for it to only be there a year.

 

2001 came and it ended up being one of the most popular rides on park. It was unexpectedly popular, and the park felt that had to keep it. They applied for permission again, but only for another temporary term, this time 5 years. The logic there was that because it is effectively a fairground ride that they rushed in, they weren't sure how popular it would be long term, or how it would fair from a maintenance perspective. 5 years passed and they realised it was fine on all fronts, so they sought, and got, permanent permission.

 

(Let's just take a second to pause here, and be very very grateful for the fact we have Nemesis Inferno over a Vekoma SLC)

 

Fair to say that it is, seemingly, a different story to Towers' situation.

 

 

----

 

 

As for Towers getting fairground rides temporarily... Yeah, they need flat rides, and that's been a glaring problem for years now. If they only way they can get them is to bring in temporary additions to show there's demand for them, it speaks volumes about the situation the park, and Merlin, are in high up...

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13 hours ago, JoshC. said:

As for Towers getting fairground rides temporarily... Yeah, they need flat rides, and that's been a glaring problem for years now. If they only way they can get them is to bring in temporary additions to show there's demand for them, it speaks volumes about the situation the park, and Merlin, are in high up...

 

What flat rides should they be getting as permanent additions?

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1 hour ago, Mark9 said:

 

What flat rides should they be getting as permanent additions?

Gimme  a  B

Gimme an R

Gimme an E

Gimme an A

Gimme  a  K

Gimme  a  D

Gimme  a  A

Gimme an N

Gimme  a  C

Gimme an E

 

 

...and a polyp.

 

... and a tagada

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6 hours ago, Mark9 said:

 

What flat rides should they be getting as permanent additions?

 

A selection of rides I think would add to the line up in form of permanent additions...

 

-Dodgems (would be great in Walliams World)

-Zamperla Air Race

-Zamperla Nebulaz (ride experience might be average, but it would make for a wonderful spectator ride at the very least)

-Wave Swinger

-Zierer Family Drop Towers (like Tikal at Phantasialand..though with both Legoland and Paultons getting a pair this year, this might not be the greatest choice)

-Technical Park Aerobat (they're a cross between an Enterprise and a Gerst free spin, so it's admittedly more an idea for a replacement for Enterprise...)

-Breakdance

-Magic carpet

 

I'm not saying they should get all of them, far from it. But if they got any of those rides, I'd be happy. That's not a complete list either, there's no doubt plenty of other options (they could open the Zamperla catalogue to any page, and get whatever they see first, for example)

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+1 for Breakdance and/or Poylp.

 

Bring back Sub Terra too whilst at it.

 

Daft thing is that there's already 3 empty patches of ground (not sure if they've used the old Toadstool area in DW's Land of Stereotypes) available that they could've filled with anything for years and either use upcharge stuff (Ripsaw) or a memorial lawn (Submission).

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Well I guess we asked for flat rides, and we got flat rides (albeit, for a year). I find it surpising that Merlin are happy to invest in basically anything at Alton besides flat rides. Heck they gave them a GCI, a dark ride, but they won't give them a single flat which are pretty inexpensive for the most part. I hope this year proves a point, and that giga breakdance-topspin hybrid will be built.

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