Towers Times Forum member, LiamSAFC, recently asked the question - what do you think was Alton Towers’ biggest mistake?
What immediately springs to mind for many park enthusiasts is the removal of Black Hole, the addition of Spinball Whizzer or the re-theme of Haunted House to Duel. I thought quite differently.
I honestly think the lure of the corporate and resort aspect of the theme park industry lead to the loss of the old Alton Towers magic and thus became Alton’s biggest mistake in another sense of the word.
Before things such as conferences, spas and what not, Alton’s sole priority was the theme park. They took every opportunity to theme rides in each and every corner and left no stone unturned in their quest to create one of the world’s best theme parks. It was their only child and they made sure it was spoilt rotten!
For the past few years, particularly during the Tussaud’s era, this looks to have been lost and Alton Towers have pushed and pushed the resort side of the business and kind of left the theme park to run itself - that once spoilt rotten child is now grown up and can live on its own. The days of parenting are over. From around 2003 onwards they have kind of taken their foot of gas by believing that side of the business is done and dusted and just needs “something new” to keep it ticking over. The public will visit Alton Towers regardless of what Merlin do or don’t do. Alton Towers is Alton Towers - the public’s number 1 theme park. Sure we’ve seen good attractions added to the park such as Mutiny Bay and Rita: Queen of Speed, yet neither of which hold the same x-factor that the likes of Nemesis and Oblivion do. That’s what made the park special, their knack of going one step further than you thought possible. That very same step is no longer taken today.
Now it is time nurse their new child and its friends - people with money in abundance who are willing to pay the going rate of a magical overnight stay at the resort or looking to make use of the conference centre, spa or any other luxury of life available at Alton Towers Resort. The day visitors to the theme park have their treat, it’s now time to pamper the upper class.
I can hardly blame Alton Towers though. I’m sure all these corporate events and the like are highly lucrative. I know Drayton Manor’s corporate events equivalates to 30% of their annual turnover!
It’s just a shame that the magic which made Alton Towers what it is is no longer produced in the same fashion due to a change in priorities. Would we still love and admire Alton Towers in the same way we do today if all the attractions built in the 90’s were stripped of their theming and magic? You’d have to think about it!
What do you think Alton Tower’s biggest mistake was? Please leave your comments.
Continuing with the re-theme of all the monorail trains at Alton Towers Resort, the latest addition to the fleet has been given the green light and is now operating. What is the theme I hear you ask? Well the park have persisted with their rather random themes and have unveiled The Strawberry Train.
Visually I think it is very impressive and looks good enough to eat, even though I’m not particularly fond of strawberries, and literally looks quite juicy. The audio is reasonably good although a few people have said it sounds quite annoying which I would agree with to some extent but I’m sure the kids will love it!
Credit must be given to Merlin though as they have identified simple things need improving and the re-theme of the monorail trains is as good as any new addition to the park. My only concern is the mixed set of ideas. I’d rather have seen a full fleet of trains that were Alton Towers related throughout, or on the other hand, nature related throughout. Having a mixture of the two just doesn’t quite work in my opinion. People have said that quirky is fun but there comes a point when too much quirk becomes tacky and with rumours circulating that the next train is to be themed as a banana, well I guess my concerns do hold some ground.
What do you think of The Strawberry Train? Please leave your comments below.
Brother and sister duo Same Difference made it all the way to the final of X Factor 2007, winning over legions of fans with their energetic and thrilling live performances - and now the pair are appearing at Alton Towers today and tomorrow with a live performance in Mutiny Bay!
In early 2008 Sean and Sarah toured the country as part of the massive X Factor Live tour. The tour visited packed arenas all over the UK, with the duo recreating their best loved performances from the show, receiving enthusiastic reviews from fans and critics alike.
The pair have recently begun recording their debut album working with the cream of pop production including the legendary Pete Waterman.
If you happen to be at Alton Towers today or tomorrow make sure you see the show and leave your pictures, videos and comments below.
If you have visited Alton Towers Resort from July 1st onwards then one of your on-ride photos may have been used to create one of six images depicting a person by the art of mosaque.
The rides used were:
Air
Runaway Mine Train
Nemesis
Duel
Congo River Rapids
Corkskrew
Spinball Whizzer
Why not have a look and see for yourself? Perhaps you’re featured in one of them? Simply click your mouse over the image and all the individual on-ride photos will become visible for closer inspection. If you happen to find yourself then please leave us a comment!
For those of you who don’t know, the Pirates of Mutiny Bay show has recently been unavailable at Alton Towers Resort for reasons unknown.
However, information is reaching Alton Towers Blog that states the reason behind the show’s disappearance is due to the actors going on strike over poor behind-the-scene conditions and a poor rate of pay.
Please note that this isn’t confirmed by the park but there doesn’t seem to be any other explanation for the absence of the show. It will come as a big blow to Alton Towers considering that August is the park’s busiest period and being one show down isn’t convienent and nor will guests be best pleased - especially when Pirates of Mutiny Bay is a new for 2008 attraction and has received positive reviews.
The first look at the new Oblivion on-ride videos is now available following a video submission on the popular video sharing website, YouTube! The system, which launched on Monday, shows a lot of off-ride footage with some good shots of the ride with a good choice of background music to help build up the suspense given off by video produced by Picsolve.
The video has received a critical reception from park enthusiasts for reasons that I agree with. The actual quality of the on-ride recording is quite poor with the camera shaking quite a lot and thus resulting in loss of quality in the picture itself.
This has in turn raised questions over the £10 price tag, or £15 for 2, for a DVD that lasts less than 2 minutes and isn’t exactly recorded at a high standard.
Finally the quality of the production has obviously drawn comparisons with the other video alternative at the park, YourDay! A lot of people are in agreement that YourDay offer much better quality video footage and a better product overall. However I do think it is slightly unfair when you consider YourDay have mounted cameras on the ride’s structure whereas Picsolve have their cameras attached the trains and therefore camera shake was expected to be honest. They just need to work on erasing the problem of the video distorting because of this. Ideally of course we’d have a system capable of both on and off-ride footage. Having two rival systems each offering only one of the two seems rather silly.
Anyway, why not have a look for yourself and leave your comments?
August 20, 2008 at 6:48 pm · Filed under Related News
BBC News has updated its website with the latest news regarding the coach crash near Alton Towers that killed 1 man and injured over 70 more on Monday evening following a day trip to the theme park.
A coach which careered down an embankment killing a 26-year-old Polish man and injuring 71 people has now been removed from the crash site.
The vehicle involved in the crash was owned by Decker Bus, based in Whittlesey, near Peterborough.
The coach collided with two cars, crashed through a wall and ended up in a garden near the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire on Monday.
The bus, from a firm in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, had been carrying farm migrant workers on a day trip.
The road reopened at 0630 BST. Three people are in a critical condition.
Investigators used specialist cranes to remove the shell of the coach from the scene in Station Road, Alton, on Tuesday.
Tests are being carried out on it at a police garage to try to find out how the crash happened.
Police have now travelled to Northamptonshire to interview the passengers, who were fruit pickers who were based at Lutton Farm in Oundle.
Staffordshire Police said they expected the interview process to take “several weeks”.
A total of seven people are still in hospital.
Police said on Wednesday the condition of a 21-year-old woman being treated at Birmingham’s Selly Oak Hospital had worsened.
She is now said to be in a critical condition.
Police said the 63-year-old driver, from the Peterborough area, is in a critical but not life-threatening condition in intensive care at the University Hospital of North Staffordshire after suffering “serious leg injuries”.
Officers said he provided a negative breath test.
A 21-year-old woman from Poland was also in a critical life-threatening condition at the same hospital.
Four others remain in stable conditions and are being treated at various hospitals across the West Midlands.
There were passengers from Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania and a man from South Africa on the coach.
Local residents in Alton started laying flowers at the scene of the crash on Wednesday morning.
Ch Insp John Maddox of Staffordshire Police said letters were being delivered to villagers thanking them for their co-operation following the crash.
He said: “A specialist police team is carrying out searches at the scene today to recover any further evidence and items of personal property, which will be returned to passengers from the coach.
“A detailed police investigation is now underway and it is vital that any witnesses who have not yet come forward contact us as soon as possible.”
No-one was inside either of the stationary cars which the bus hit.
A statement released by the Long family, who own the farm where the workers had been based, paid tribute to the man who died.
It said: “The Long family knows many of those injured personally, and the young man who was sadly killed had worked on our farm for the last three summers.
“Our thoughts are with his family and loved ones, and also with those others who have been seriously injured.”
The crash has caused villagers to repeat calls for a bypass to take away theme park traffic away from Alton.
A public meeting had been scheduled between residents and the park for next year, but campaigners have been calling for it to be brought forward.
Speaking on Tuesday, Russell Barnes, the park’s regional director, said he was “disappointed” the issue had been raised.
The main Alton Towers entrance sign, which can be seen as you drive into the resort, has been standing there for many years now. This year it was changed to incorporate the new logo but it seems that this was only planned as a temporary measure.
A few months later a planning application was submitted for a new set of signage which would revamp the image of the resort. There were two signs that were shown in the application, one for the main visitor entrance and the other for the trade entrance. It appeared to continue with the golden pipe theme which has been incorporated into much of this year’s advertising already, including the official website.
Well that brand new entrance sign to Alton Towers Resort has been put into place and the LED information boards are now operating. Each individual sector of the resort is displayed alongside its current status to the public, with the theme park and water park both displaying the times that they are open.
However, the sign has had mixed reactions from park fans with many claiming that it fails to overwhelm them with excitement. I agree with them to an extent that perhaps a little more imagination could have been put into the sign to make it more dramatic and give a little more shape to it. At the moment it looks a little “flat” and that a strong gust of wind could blow it over any second. It would have been nice to see it literally bursting with magic by having something like stars coming off the sign but perhaps I’m just nit-picking, it’s only an entrance sign afterall.
Hey, welcome to Alton Towers Blog. Today is pre-launch day for the new Theme Park Life Network and Alton Towers is one of the first parks to get itself a dedicated blog, along with Thorpe Park and Flamingo Land.
Over the next few days, the three blogs will be open to the public so we can get your input and ideas whilst we test things and make sure everything is working how it should be before we officially launch.
If you do have any feedback or come across any errors, please use the comment feature below to let me know so that I can get any problems fixed as quickly as possible.
For Alton Towers enthusiasts, I hope to see you all become regular readers and contributers over the coming weeks and months as we bring you the latest park news and rumours, with a few ideas and personal opinions along the way.
