Canobie Coaster Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 Glad to see this park get another dark ride. Also Sandy's Blasting Bronco may have been topped for the best ride name of 2020. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dar Posted January 10, 2020 Share Posted January 10, 2020 A member called TYX on TowersStreet has taken a screenshot from a promo video that showed the layout for a second, and labelled the different sections. It's not great, it's going in the old Wobble World building so they're limited in space and Merlin are not focusing on the theme parks at all right now, so the budget is basically zero too! As with everything these days I'm pessimistic but open to pleasant surprises Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
super7 Posted January 12, 2020 Share Posted January 12, 2020 Ugh. More cheap video based attractions. One can stay home a watch videos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rachelmadcow Posted January 15, 2020 Share Posted January 15, 2020 AT is so odd. They should keep the tv film based attractions at Thorpe. Blurring lines when the parks are so close. AT wants to be a flagship so they need a ground up ride like Efteling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbill Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) Does anyone have any experience with the availability of Uber to and from the park from Stoke-on-Trent? We're planning a trip and were initially planning to stay at the park but they close at 4:00 on Saturdays in late May for some reason so we'll probably just go back to London that same night. God those hours are brutal... Edited January 31, 2020 by coasterbill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 (edited) I was able to find an Uber from the Stoke-on-Trent train station to Alton Towers. There weren't many Ubers available, but there were plenty of taxis. To get back to Stoke-on-Trent, I recommend reserving a taxi in advance. There may not be any by Alton Towers. I stayed onsite at Alton Towers and the hotel booked a taxi for me that was waiting for me a half hour after park closing. Edited January 31, 2020 by Canobie Coaster Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southpuddle Posted January 31, 2020 Share Posted January 31, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JG-77 Posted March 1, 2020 Share Posted March 1, 2020 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 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted May 28, 2020 Share Posted May 28, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 ^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! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted June 23, 2020 Share Posted June 23, 2020 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snoflake15 Posted June 27, 2020 Share Posted June 27, 2020 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..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baffles Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 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! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted April 7 Share Posted April 7 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SharkTums Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 ^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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canobie Coaster Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 Honestly I'd love to see more parks do this if showmen don't have fairs to go to. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WolfBobs Posted April 8 Share Posted April 8 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picto81 Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Hopefully it proves the need for support rides and Alton will actually replace some of the spin rides they've removed over the years. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picto81 Posted July 8 Share Posted July 8 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garet Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarlaKoaster Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 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. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KBrylczyk Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 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. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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