You can’t have missed the recent headlines of snow affecting the nation, but for some theme parks it’s brought much more disruption to guests at the start of a busy Easter holiday period.
As we announced on Friday, the snow storms hit the Staffordshire Moorlands hard overnight, preventing staff and guests from safely accessing the Resort. The difficult decision was made by the park to close on Friday, with the aim to re-open on Saturday for guests.
However, those hopeful plans were quickly derailed when further heavy snowfall hit the area hard on Friday night, bringing snow drifts of several feet to surrounding roads and areas on park.
The Resort made the challenging decision to completely close the park on Saturday and Sunday to guests, with Hotels remaining open but mostly inaccessible due to the poor road conditions around the area.
The Park finally managed to re-open it’s gates for guests today (Monday 25th March 2013) with limited rides available due to the heavy snowfall staying put and continued cold temperatures, which unfortunately has an adverse effect on the park’s rollercoasters.
Our team who were on-site today reported that Rita & Air opened for a short time but were plagued with issues throughout the day due to the cold weather. Nemesis, Oblivion, Th13teen, Sonic Spinball, Runaway Mine Train, The Flume and Congo River Rapids remained closed for the whole day.
It remains to be seen if the bad weather will further impact the construction and opening of the Resort’s latest rollercoaster attraction – The Smiler – past its expected opening of May. Our team posted photo updates of the construction progress on our Facebook page earlier today.
The Resort has yet to comment if further rides are expected to open over the coming days as we head into the traditionally first busier period of the opening year – the Easter holiday break – but the weather forecast also does not look promising with the cold weather continuing and even potentially more snow due over the coming few days.
The social media team for Alton Towers has had a busy time dealing with guest feedback about the closures, with the majority of guests in support of the decision. The main criticism was aimed at the announcement of the initial closure being so close to park opening for guests who had to travel further to the Resort.
The Resort has promised to guests with tickets dated for the closed period will be valid on any other day (excluding event days) for entry to the park .
Alton Towers was not the only park affected during the snowfall. Nearby Drayton Manor also had to close its doors for 2 days due to the adverse weather conditions, and is expecting to re-open with a limited ride offering due to the cold temperatures.
We’ll bring you more updates on how the weather is affecting the Resort as it happens over the coming days. Don’t forget to follow us on Facebook or Twitter for the latest news as it happens.
