Alton Towers have today revealed they plan to construct ‘themed lodges’ as part of a major expansion of the resort hotels, for the 2014 season – with a planning application coming soon.
With the news coming as a surprise to many, they will be built on the meadow adjacent to the Alton Towers Hotel, on land which has been previously used for scare mazes and overflow car parking.
The news, which broke from the staff newsletter ‘The Pulse’, has come at a time when interest in theme park developments is already sky high, with Scarefest underway, Fireworks coming soon and the £18million investment in 2013 rollercoaster, Secret Weapon Seven.
Mark Kerrigan, Operations and Development Director at Alton Towers Resort, has told the Pulse that “around 30% of our guests currently stay overnight, whether with us or in the local area and we’re expecting that figure to grow even more when SW7 opens”.
The planning process is expected to take up to 3 months, with a decision likely sometime early in 2013.
Further information from the Alton Towers Heritage website indicates that the new development will be phased with around 85 lodges planned to be opening in 2014, with the remainder to follow in a second phase of the plan. The further information also confirms the plans to theme the log cabins with Mr Kerrigan stating “They will be individually themed and will reflect the style that people expect from Alton Towers Resort.”
Whilst the exact location of the new accommodation has yet to be exactly confirmed with the plans submitted, we mocked up roughly the area we believe could house the new site, although there are clues that the site could be further north on car parks J&K or even in land further up from that.
With this combined investment, it would seem that Alton Towers’ position as the UK’s most popular theme park resort is assured for years to come, and we look forward to bringing you more news on this exciting development very soon!
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