Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[southpuddle]

I didn’t have any luck with Ubers in the area when I went last year - I ended up calling for a taxi to pick me up at the train station in Uttoxeter. There were also several taxis just waiting at the entrance when the park closed at 4:00.

[JG-77]

There's also a bus that connects AT with some nearby train stations. Might be worth looking into to get to the park, but it's not timed super well for leaving the park after 4.

https://www.dgbus.co.uk/assets/x41_2019-10-05.pdf

[KarlaKoaster]

Alton Towers have announced the new measures they're putting in place in order to reopen the park. All pretty predictable stuff apart from the fact masks are encouraged (not required), staff checking restraints will be in full PPE, and that riders will be grouped by household.

 

The absolute earliest they will be able to open is 4th July which is when the government here have said the hospitality industry might be able to reopen dependent on the infection rate, number of new cases, hospital admissions etc.

 

- Advanced booking is required for all guests, capacity will be reduced

- Temperature checks will be taken at the entrance and for staff

- Masks will be encouraged but are not required

- Markings in queues, toilets and communal areas to encourage social distancing

- Extra hand sanitisers around the resort, particularly around ride entrances/exits

- Frequent cleaning of high-contact areas

- Employees will wear full PPE (presumably face shields etc) to check restraints

- Riders will be batched as household groups with gaps in between each row

 

On the last point, in the UK, only people in the same household can be within 2m of each other. This means if a group of friends visit together, you will have to remain 2m apart from each other, and also not be able to ride together. This hasn't really occurred to me until now. I've not actually seen my friends for 3 months now so I hadn't even considered this.

[KarlaKoaster]

The government in the UK have announced today that theme parks will be able to open from 4th of July, so Alton Towers (along with all Merlin parks, Blackpool and Paultons etc) will be reopening.

 

In addition to my previous post masks will be required on most major rides/coasters within the park.

 

I'm not in a rush to visit but probably will at some point as I have a season pass.

[SharkTums]

^I'm really happy for you guys! At one point England was looking as bad as us, but you guys pulled it together and are doing much better now!

[KarlaKoaster]

Thank you. Yeah, I think there's light at the end of the tunnel but I'm not 100% sure yet if it's daylight or a train coming the other way. I think we were too slow to lockdown and too slow to take testing seriously, but our health service wasn't overwhelmed and the government here has an extremely generous furlough scheme which has meant staff are paid 80% of their salary by the state. This has undoubtedly saved companies and saved jobs.

[snoflake15]

Have booked up from 6th-8th July at AT Hotel and two day park entry. Bit nervous that it all be a bit shambolic early on particularly as we’re taking our 5yo who has Aspergers.

 

Has anyone heard if the CBeebies show and characters will be on? My boy loves Duggee and would be good if it was on although I suspect it won’t be to begin with.....

[Baffles]

So what do we make of this? As well as the postponed 'World of David Walliams' featuring 'Gangsta Granny: The Ride' opening this season, Alton Towers have rented three classic fairground rides they are calling 'pop up attractions' from UK showmen. They have been branded 'The Retro Squad' which accompanies some unique marketing...

 

 

Roller Disco (Waltzers located in Dark Forest) – get ready to slide and swirl round and round, faster and faster in a head-spinning, totally rad experience

Mixtape (Smashing Jump located in X-Sector) – you’ll be in for some major retrotastic laughs as you bounce up and down, then down and up

Funk’n’Fly (Super Trooper in Forbidden Valley) – reach new retrotastic heights and enjoy a thrillingly funktastic flight

 

With COVID restrictions preventing traveling fairs from taking place for the foreseeable future, I can see this will be beneficial for the showmen. The rides are filling spots where retired flat rides were located, and will hopefully reduce the queue times of the major rides which were long last year.

I feel indifferent about it. Bizarre that any park would rent flat rides from the traveling fair circuit, but feel the capacity benefits and how they are being marketed will be advantageous.

[SharkTums]

I mean, at least Merlin is finally using their bizarre ass marketing for something that kind of works?!!? I get that it's a bunch of temporary carnival rides but at this point I'll take it!

[KarlaKoaster]

I think they're trying to make the best out of a bad situation - partly of their own doing as they seem to have got rid of all their support rides. The choice of rides seems pretty crappy so well done to the marketing department for making something out of nothing.

Hopefully the park in the meantime can do a bit of soul searching and perhaps consider investing in support rides. It's pretty bad they even need to do this.

[SharkTums]

^I also wonder if they realize they're going to be SLAMMED this summer when people are allowed to travel but for most it will be another domestic only summer. 

[Canobie Coaster]

Honestly I'd love to see more parks do this if showmen don't have fairs to go to.

[WolfBobs]

Definitely a cool and umm.. unique way to market these carnival rides at a park.  I do look at it as thinking outside the box.  CF made a pretty big deal about going out and getting retro rides and returning them to the parks.  But not much came of it after that first year.  I wouldn't mind seeing this happen at some American parks.  Especially if it helps keep some of the traveling fairs in business while things slowly normalize throughout the next year or two.  

[Picto81]

I've just got back from Alton Towers and to be fair the Retro Rides worked very well to spread the crowds about, and keep the queue lines in the main attractions lower than they would normally be.

[KarlaKoaster]

Hopefully it proves the need for support rides and Alton will actually replace some of the spin rides they've removed over the years. 

[Picto81]

Oh definitely Karla, there were queues of over 30 mins for each of the retro rides so must be taking good footfall away from the likes of Nemesis, Wickerman, and Smiler queues which is a good thing.

It would be good if they kept them or replaced them with permanent themed flat rides.

[Garet]

As much as it's easy to make fun of the marketing and stunts usually pulled by this marketing team, I think this one was a great idea. The park really is lacking for flats and the travelling fairs really need somewhere to call home during the pandemic so a win-win and the retro adverts of transforming robots/aliens in the park to cover up that they aren't too natural a fit was a nice little touch.

[KarlaKoaster]

I agree as a temporary measure it's a great idea. Hopefully it won't be a race to the bottom once Merlin realise they can get away with sticking in any old crap though.

[KBrylczyk]

14 hours ago, KarlaKoaster said:

I agree as a temporary measure it's a great idea. Hopefully it won't be a race to the bottom once Merlin realise they can get away with sticking in any old crap though.

You're right, but you're also exceedingly optimistic.

[KarlaKoaster]

From Towers Times, Alton Towers have put an application for major work on Nemesis. This is likely to be the long rumoured retracking.

[southpuddle]

I’ve heard this rumor recently as well… I wonder if we’d be looking at an Incredible Hulk complete and total tear down and rebuild? 

[thrillseeker4552]

I am very interested in seeing the lifespan of these older B&Ms that are pushing 30. Hulk was only 16 when it needed replacement, but of course it was cycled more than any other B&M ever. Given that Nemesis is the same age as Raptor, Batman at SFMM, and a few others, I am very curious if this will be a trend in the next 10-20 years.

[boldikus]

1 hour ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

Hulk was only 16 when it needed replacement, but of course it was cycled more than any other B&M ever.

Kumba says hi.

[KarlaKoaster]

2 hours ago, thrillseeker4552 said:

I am very interested in seeing the lifespan of these older B&Ms that are pushing 30. Hulk was only 16 when it needed replacement, but of course it was cycled more than any other B&M ever. Given that Nemesis is the same age as Raptor, Batman at SFMM, and a few others, I am very curious if this will be a trend in the next 10-20 years.

Yes, I'm pretty sure I remember that the given lifespan of a B&M is 20 years (and the train 15), but obviously there are a lot of variables such as how much they cycle, how intense they are, whether they're at a seasonal park etc.

I suppose also it depends on how much maintenance parks do in the off-season... maybe a lot of coasters have been almost retracked by stealth as higher-stress pieces get replaced bit-by-bit during the off season whereas others kick that can down the street until they need to make a decision. I guess there are some commercial reasons too; Merlin (like Universal) are big customers for B&M so keeping them happy helps (Merlin have bought a lot of B&Ms lately apparently with a few going to Legolands in China along with Chessington)

I think you can also see how the newer B&Ms are engineered differently now to extend their lifespan. I think if you compare Hulk 1.0 to 2.0 you can see a lot of differences (different support types, thicker spines in high stress areas etc) and when you compare even Hulk 2.0 to Decepticoaster you see even more differences with how the layout has been smoothed out.

But anyway I'm going on a bit now. I think you're right we'll see a few more examples of this, maybe some of the less popular B&Ms get removed and maybe some have had more track replaced already than we realise.

[AmyUD06]

1 hour ago, boldikus said:

Kumba says hi.

Not to mention any of the original Batmans.