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2025: General Discussion



Part 2 of the interview with Francis Jackson is out! Some really interesting talking points again (particularly around operations and staffing) that I think everyone here would also enjoy. Here’s some other points too:
  • He is not the voice of the safety announcements on Congo River Rapids
  • Describes the announcement of Universal for Merlin as ‘tough news’ and welcomes the competition for the customer, as well as predicting spillover effects for UK parks.
  • If he could only save one ride in the world, it would be The Smiler.
 
Alton Towers at the Staffordshire History Museum

The Staffordshire History Centre in Stafford has a fair bit of Alton Towers history that pre-dates the theme park, Including Charles Talbot’s carriage! Also didn’t realise that 2025 marks 100 years of Alton Towers as a visitor attraction, you’d have thought they would be making a bigger deal out of their centenary celebrations!!!
 
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Bert2theSpark said:
Alton Towers at the Staffordshire History Museum

The Staffordshire History Centre in Stafford has a fair bit of Alton Towers history that pre-dates the theme park, Including Charles Talbot’s carriage! Also didn’t realise that 2025 marks 100 years of Alton Towers as a visitor attraction, you’d have thought they would be making a bigger deal out of their centenary celebrations!!!
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Thing is though, while we would understand that, many would assume the theme park as we know it is 100 years old then would get confused (bless them) when they see that they only celebrated 40 years a few years back...
 
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Both seasonal job adverts mention “during the Halloween and holiday seasons”, indicating they cover event-only entertainment. I'm not expecting anything beyond events at the moment.

Hid said:
It will be intresting to see what the changes in result could be good could be bad we don't know yet being left in the unknown is the worst
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I think at worst we’ll see the same stuff from last year. Beyond that you're likely to see improvements. Scare mazes used to be outsourced in the early days of Scarefest and they were very good then. I see no reason how any changes will be bad.
 
A small observation, but Driving School is operating with half of the track closed off.

I’m going to assume this allows them to operate with one or two less marshals, but it also means that the bridge (and the access issues it causes) is completely redundant.

IMG_2382.jpeg

In other news, just spotted Shawn from TPW heading into Hex with his mic attached, so expect a Disco Hex update very soon..!
 
Ash said:
There’s a few teams looking so sub contract work for Alton towers.

Magna projects have taken on a few former Alton staff in Stoke on trent and set up their own new scenic company. They did the theming for the monster van I believe.
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First I’ve heard about this, are these Scenic Staff from MMM North, Construction Staff from AT Ents or a mix of both?

tech said:
A small observation, but Driving School is operating with half of the track closed off.

I’m going to assume this allows them to operate with one or two less marshals, but it also means that the bridge (and the access issues it causes) is completely redundant.

IMG_2382.jpeg

In other news, just spotted Shawn from TPW heading into Hex with his mic attached, so expect a Disco Hex update very soon..!
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Considering how much of a bottleneck Cuckoo Cars has become, and a heavier need for accessibility since it was built. It would be easier to just get rid of the attraction and open up the area. Better access for both Hex and Gangsta Granny, and means people won’t have to walk around the dead zone next to The Dungeons just to get into Walliams.

CBeebies has been the obvious relocation site for a while, maybe the coaster won’t be the only addition there next year.
 
AT86 said:
I don’t believe this is a permanent change. Just a plan B for certain days or even just during specific times of the day when they aren’t able to run a full on a full set of staff.
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Like bank holiday weekends I guess..
 
That part of the driving school has been blocked off for our last 3 visits, including one midweek at Easter. I had assumed there was a risk with the covered area but if it hasn't been fixed it must be the attendant thing
 
Bert2theSpark said:
First I’ve heard about this, are these Scenic Staff from MMM North, Construction Staff from AT Ents or a mix of both?


Considering how much of a bottleneck Cuckoo Cars has become, and a heavier need for accessibility since it was built. It would be easier to just get rid of the attraction and open up the area. Better access for both Hex and Gangsta Granny, and means people won’t have to walk around the dead zone next to The Dungeons just to get into Walliams.

CBeebies has been the obvious relocation site for a while, maybe the coaster won’t be the only addition there next year.
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I never understood this theory that Driving School should go into CBeebies Land. The CBeebies channel is targeted at children 6 years and under.

The height requirement for Cuckcoo Cars is min 1 metre, max 1.4m. The average age of a UK child to reach 1 metre is 6 years old 1.4m is around 10 years old.

Moving driving school into CBeebies will quite likely mean its core audience would actually consider it "too baby-ish" and reduce the line up for kids that age - just at the time the park needs to expand attractions for that age/size demographic.

rob666 said:
And as on a number of bank holidays, the park is looking rather quiet overall.
(Not that I ever do ridetimes...)
A long way away from a peak day.
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Merlin and Towers annual pass block out day today (except Platinum level) - lower numbers in the park but if they have all paid entry wouldn't be surprised if it is as profitable as a busier weekend.
 
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