Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
I mentioned it on 2021 discussion but yeah I think it's a lovely addition when the rides are shut.
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Alsty
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala
On the news tonight they said it was required where those 4,000 people aren't socially distanced, but maybe that's just their interpretation. I guess we'll need to wait for the legislation and guidance to know exactly what, if any, impact it will have on the winter events.
Thameslink Rail
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- The Smiler
Just been looking at the park opening dates, I'm surprised they aren't open on the 3rd January which is a bank holiday.
Would be no point, I doubt anyone would bother going.
So myself and the better half visited this on the opening weekend on the Sunday. Here are my thoughts:
The good:
General - It was an event that from its basic premise, appeared to work. Atmosphere was good in the areas people had access too. The stalls and food carts were great. The bands, shows etc. it was all well put together and something if continuing to get better I’d happily come back to and take friends and family. I think an opportunity is missed to sell resort rooms on property which seems madness to me, maybe this should go into box office?
The seating setup and area in front of the lawns was great, although some consideration for the the “view” of a lit up towers in winter wouldn’t go a miss…
Towers street kitchen was much needed and open which was good, again execution was ok with little signage
Entertainment - We were there on the snowy weekend and god bless the entertainers they worked their socks off. The entertainment and events have come a really really long way in the past few years and should all be commended. Twinkling stars? Was a good start but now needs to be added to. Could this be made permanent?
Gangsta Granny - For what it was, I thought it was a great addition and a fantastic use of space, hopefully this will prove more and more can and should be done in house and using local manufacturers where possible for the best value (garmendale) Maybe looking at a 5D Duel replacement with them is an option?
The bad:
The path to the car parks - long, unlit, uneven, badly spaced for people with pushchairs etc. Just get a land train already. It can be re-used for all sorts. This was a real sour note on a otherwise good day, if I had to trudge back to the hotels I’d be fuming
Tickets - They were confusing, it would be much better to open up more of the park for free. The park is lucky it has distinct areas, I think it would of been better pushing the ride “entrances” back to CBeebies/Mutiny Bay & the Hex walkway.
Hex - We missed this at fireworks and were chuffed to get on it this year, however with awful audio in the vault it fell completely flat. And when was the last time the rain effect worked in the octagon?
Areas for improvement:
Lighting - it seems obvious to me for a reasonable investment there’s no reason a more permanent and professional night time lighting setup couldn’t be installed, it would pay dividends and require far less setup. The park isn’t just open late on 3 Fireworks nights any more. It’s time to invest. Including in permanent lighting of the towers akin to this years fireworks
Signage/parking - Garden walk signage/entrance was needed to make more of a point of it as an attraction. Hopefully this continues to go grow. Car parks were unattended when we arrived and barriers up when we left, it led to chaos and a bad start and end to the day. The on resort roads are still in need of improvement
More indoor attractions/entertainment - It seems obvious but this sort of event just shows the appetite is there if a successful package is on offer. The park is crying out for the ice age theatre to be reopened, dungeons to be re-themed to something people want to go on, sub terra improved and reopened and a new building elsewhere for a theatre/cinema complex (next to sharkbait reef/back of CBeebies land/by extraordinary golf/disabled car park?) Outdoor stages are great but a more permanent indoor solution would be far better. With some extra effort there could be a really solid group of indoor attractions, the park is still missing an indoor coaster but fingers crossed one will come back sooner rather than later
Water screen - having seen this in action and the success it had, if I was the entertainment or retail manager I’d be banging the door done asking for one or two permanent one of these. It is flexible, can be used for all sorts of events for little effort once the projector/screen setup is in and has a real power to keep guests to the end of the day for little cost. Say it quietly but this could even be combined with a permanent fountain/audio show on the lake to help push the park to permanent 6/7pm closures again.
Towers & Gardens - this year it seems the resort has finally realised what an asset it has in the towers and gardens. Hopefully this will be seen more in the future with a permanent restoration of the Swiss Cottage (cafe/restaurant please). The gardens again need some TLC but with the correct investment/lighting/signage/marketing/gardening there’s no reason why this couldn’t be used for visits in January/February time.
The towers themselves have again shown what an asset they can be and it would be great to see part of it turned into a museum (as permanent as planning allows) It would be a cheap attraction to put together that can be used all year round and maybe encourage further investment in the towers.
Sit down food offering - It would be great to see a new restaurant in the Swiss cottage or on the right hand side of towers street as it’s desperately needed.
Hospitality Suite - we used this for fireworks and thought it was great, it could and should be used as another attraction, food venue or upsell (VIP, All day Xmas cinema etc)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The good:
General - It was an event that from its basic premise, appeared to work. Atmosphere was good in the areas people had access too. The stalls and food carts were great. The bands, shows etc. it was all well put together and something if continuing to get better I’d happily come back to and take friends and family. I think an opportunity is missed to sell resort rooms on property which seems madness to me, maybe this should go into box office?
The seating setup and area in front of the lawns was great, although some consideration for the the “view” of a lit up towers in winter wouldn’t go a miss…
Towers street kitchen was much needed and open which was good, again execution was ok with little signage
Entertainment - We were there on the snowy weekend and god bless the entertainers they worked their socks off. The entertainment and events have come a really really long way in the past few years and should all be commended. Twinkling stars? Was a good start but now needs to be added to. Could this be made permanent?
Gangsta Granny - For what it was, I thought it was a great addition and a fantastic use of space, hopefully this will prove more and more can and should be done in house and using local manufacturers where possible for the best value (garmendale) Maybe looking at a 5D Duel replacement with them is an option?
The bad:
The path to the car parks - long, unlit, uneven, badly spaced for people with pushchairs etc. Just get a land train already. It can be re-used for all sorts. This was a real sour note on a otherwise good day, if I had to trudge back to the hotels I’d be fuming
Tickets - They were confusing, it would be much better to open up more of the park for free. The park is lucky it has distinct areas, I think it would of been better pushing the ride “entrances” back to CBeebies/Mutiny Bay & the Hex walkway.
Hex - We missed this at fireworks and were chuffed to get on it this year, however with awful audio in the vault it fell completely flat. And when was the last time the rain effect worked in the octagon?
Areas for improvement:
Lighting - it seems obvious to me for a reasonable investment there’s no reason a more permanent and professional night time lighting setup couldn’t be installed, it would pay dividends and require far less setup. The park isn’t just open late on 3 Fireworks nights any more. It’s time to invest. Including in permanent lighting of the towers akin to this years fireworks
Signage/parking - Garden walk signage/entrance was needed to make more of a point of it as an attraction. Hopefully this continues to go grow. Car parks were unattended when we arrived and barriers up when we left, it led to chaos and a bad start and end to the day. The on resort roads are still in need of improvement
More indoor attractions/entertainment - It seems obvious but this sort of event just shows the appetite is there if a successful package is on offer. The park is crying out for the ice age theatre to be reopened, dungeons to be re-themed to something people want to go on, sub terra improved and reopened and a new building elsewhere for a theatre/cinema complex (next to sharkbait reef/back of CBeebies land/by extraordinary golf/disabled car park?) Outdoor stages are great but a more permanent indoor solution would be far better. With some extra effort there could be a really solid group of indoor attractions, the park is still missing an indoor coaster but fingers crossed one will come back sooner rather than later
Water screen - having seen this in action and the success it had, if I was the entertainment or retail manager I’d be banging the door done asking for one or two permanent one of these. It is flexible, can be used for all sorts of events for little effort once the projector/screen setup is in and has a real power to keep guests to the end of the day for little cost. Say it quietly but this could even be combined with a permanent fountain/audio show on the lake to help push the park to permanent 6/7pm closures again.
Towers & Gardens - this year it seems the resort has finally realised what an asset it has in the towers and gardens. Hopefully this will be seen more in the future with a permanent restoration of the Swiss Cottage (cafe/restaurant please). The gardens again need some TLC but with the correct investment/lighting/signage/marketing/gardening there’s no reason why this couldn’t be used for visits in January/February time.
The towers themselves have again shown what an asset they can be and it would be great to see part of it turned into a museum (as permanent as planning allows) It would be a cheap attraction to put together that can be used all year round and maybe encourage further investment in the towers.
Sit down food offering - It would be great to see a new restaurant in the Swiss cottage or on the right hand side of towers street as it’s desperately needed.
Hospitality Suite - we used this for fireworks and thought it was great, it could and should be used as another attraction, food venue or upsell (VIP, All day Xmas cinema etc)
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
jon81uk
TS Member
More sit-down dining capacity is needed, but Towers Street wouldn't be best in the main season. More is needed in X-Sector and especially Forbiddon Valley where there is only the small coffee shop. Opening Tower St restaurant would serve that area fine. Most guests only are in Towers Street at the begining and end of the day.
The best area for indoor eating is Fountain Square with both Woodcutters and the large Burger Kitchen.
I went to Alton towers last weekend for lightopia and the Christmas market, which apart from the god awful weather I thought was really good.
However, I went to Blenheim palace the weekend after for their offering. They had a story led walk through of the palace which was incredible, with sets and Christmas lights and I thought I wonder of Alton could do this through the covered sections of the towers.
In the courtyard was some fair ground rides set around Christmas trees and food stalls.
The Christmas market was similar to Alton’s offering. Their light trail however was incredible , I thought lightopia was good but Blenheim just surpassed it.
Took nearly 2 hours to complete, had food and drink and covered seating with toilets half way around. Some great scenes with some set over water. Best of all was the lighting, projection mapping and lasers on the side of Blenheim palace to music.
Again, it did make me wonder if Alton could do a similar thing. This isn’t my video but if you skip to 4:30 you’ll see what I mean:
The whole event made me think of things Alton could maybe consider - don’t get me wrong, their offering was good, I was just thinking of enhancements for future years….
However, I went to Blenheim palace the weekend after for their offering. They had a story led walk through of the palace which was incredible, with sets and Christmas lights and I thought I wonder of Alton could do this through the covered sections of the towers.
In the courtyard was some fair ground rides set around Christmas trees and food stalls.
The Christmas market was similar to Alton’s offering. Their light trail however was incredible , I thought lightopia was good but Blenheim just surpassed it.
Took nearly 2 hours to complete, had food and drink and covered seating with toilets half way around. Some great scenes with some set over water. Best of all was the lighting, projection mapping and lasers on the side of Blenheim palace to music.
Again, it did make me wonder if Alton could do a similar thing. This isn’t my video but if you skip to 4:30 you’ll see what I mean:
The whole event made me think of things Alton could maybe consider - don’t get me wrong, their offering was good, I was just thinking of enhancements for future years….
Steve74
TS Member
I've been saying for years that the Towers are crying out for projection mapping being done on them and always said it would look good at the fireworks. But I think it would work far, far better at Christmas because you'd potentially be able to see it closer, wouldn't be as busy and wouldn't have fireworks going off as distractions!
BarryZola
TS Member
Too many trees in the way of the towers I would suspect for people to be able to view it properly or for it to be projected onto properly. At Blenheim you've got a massive flat grass field on one side of the house with little or no trees covering the house (there are trees but they're way back). The other side has a flat courtyard. Nice place by the way, but I prefer Castle Howard myself. Blenheim feels like a monument rather than something to be lived in comfortably. Castle Howard is also massive but feels more homely. I prefer the garden features there too!
onair
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
It great to finally see a decent Christmas event at The Towers. Hopefully they will improve on it next year if it returns.
I felt the route for the lanterns was a bit strange and most lanterns were quite small. Also some were just plonked anywhere. Having been to Longleat's festival of light now that is something else. The lower path in front of The Towers has large space each side, can imagine seeing some larger lantern structures there. The pricing structure needs to be addressed too.
I felt the route for the lanterns was a bit strange and most lanterns were quite small. Also some were just plonked anywhere. Having been to Longleat's festival of light now that is something else. The lower path in front of The Towers has large space each side, can imagine seeing some larger lantern structures there. The pricing structure needs to be addressed too.
tayspru
TS Member
I attended the Christmas offering on Saturday and my entire party were very pleased with the set up. Its a shame that the rides aren't included for Passholders, or even a discount offered, but primarily we were there for the Christmas atmosphere and of course Lightopia. We had a great time, and noted the lake show finale as something where Towers are truly missing a trick - we all compared it to Efteling's Aquanura, and it got me thinking if something like that could ever be accomplished at Towers.
With some new pathwork, retractable light towers, and a rejig of the existing stage area to accomodate it, I'm pretty confident this is something the park could really effectively pursue - especially as the opening hours continue to creep into the evening. I'm aware the Towers view is one that is protected in planning, but a sympathetic paving choice (ie not concrete), well landscaped features, and retractable equipment, this could provide a great finale to any day at Towers.
The only question mark I have would be whether they would be allowed to infill a small corner of the lake (you can see where I have done this above), as its been shown that it is possible to install water features with Lightopia and previous fireworks events. This proposal would incidentally also somewhat alleviate the muddy mess that is fireworks viewing.
What do you think? This is something I don't think warranted a new thread, but you know how I love to visualise my ideas for Towers and this (at least to me) is something that would be very achievable by Merlin and add real value to the park in the long term.
With some new pathwork, retractable light towers, and a rejig of the existing stage area to accomodate it, I'm pretty confident this is something the park could really effectively pursue - especially as the opening hours continue to creep into the evening. I'm aware the Towers view is one that is protected in planning, but a sympathetic paving choice (ie not concrete), well landscaped features, and retractable equipment, this could provide a great finale to any day at Towers.
The only question mark I have would be whether they would be allowed to infill a small corner of the lake (you can see where I have done this above), as its been shown that it is possible to install water features with Lightopia and previous fireworks events. This proposal would incidentally also somewhat alleviate the muddy mess that is fireworks viewing.
What do you think? This is something I don't think warranted a new thread, but you know how I love to visualise my ideas for Towers and this (at least to me) is something that would be very achievable by Merlin and add real value to the park in the long term.
pluk
TS Member
I attended the Christmas offering on Saturday and my entire party were very pleased with the set up. Its a shame that the rides aren't included for Passholders, or even a discount offered, but primarily we were there for the Christmas atmosphere and of course Lightopia. We had a great time, and noted the lake show finale as something where Towers are truly missing a trick - we all compared it to Efteling's Aquanura, and it got me thinking if something like that could ever be accomplished at Towers.
With some new pathwork, retractable light towers, and a rejig of the existing stage area to accomodate it, I'm pretty confident this is something the park could really effectively pursue - especially as the opening hours continue to creep into the evening. I'm aware the Towers view is one that is protected in planning, but a sympathetic paving choice (ie not concrete), well landscaped features, and retractable equipment, this could provide a great finale to any day at Towers.
The only question mark I have would be whether they would be allowed to infill a small corner of the lake (you can see where I have done this above), as its been shown that it is possible to install water features with Lightopia and previous fireworks events. This proposal would incidentally also somewhat alleviate the muddy mess that is fireworks viewing.
What do you think? This is something I don't think warranted a new thread, but you know how I love to visualise my ideas for Towers and this (at least to me) is something that would be very achievable by Merlin and add real value to the park in the long term.
I love the idea, I think the noise pollution from any regular outdoor show will forever be the sticking point for any regular outdoor show though. Without a bit of volume and base any show would lack impact, but with those things the locals wouldn't stand for it I think.
tayspru
TS Member
Efteling (not to harp back) have similarly demanding neighbours and their show is pretty considerate. It’s largely a fountain show and doesn’t feature pyro, similar could work for Towers I’ve no doubt, as long as noise levels were considered. I don’t see it being any louder than Spinball operating day in day out, and it wouldn’t need fireworks to be successful. It wouldn’t need to be any louder than the stage shows that were happening this season
Bert2theSpark
TS Member
As far as I'm aware, any changes made to the front lawns would require planning permission as it's a sensitive site heritage wise, and that noise would be a considerable issue for locals as at Fireworks they're so loud that it's not uncommon for resident's possessions to shake.
Having a show with the noise travelling up Towers Street could potentially mean the sound travels down to the local villages, the stage setup that was present for most of the season was deliberately positioned to face away from the locals, similarly in Big Fun Showtime, the stage faces away from the local villages and is surrounded by soundproof walls/tunnel in the direction of the villages.
Not saying a permanent water show would be impossible but there would be a lot of variables to consider and whether the majority of guests would be willing to gather on the front lawns at the end of the day outside of holidays and events would be another factor to consider, especially if it won't lead to guests spending more on Food and Beveridge.
Having a show with the noise travelling up Towers Street could potentially mean the sound travels down to the local villages, the stage setup that was present for most of the season was deliberately positioned to face away from the locals, similarly in Big Fun Showtime, the stage faces away from the local villages and is surrounded by soundproof walls/tunnel in the direction of the villages.
Not saying a permanent water show would be impossible but there would be a lot of variables to consider and whether the majority of guests would be willing to gather on the front lawns at the end of the day outside of holidays and events would be another factor to consider, especially if it won't lead to guests spending more on Food and Beveridge.
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tayspru
TS Member
The noise didn’t travel down from the markets and Christmas water show, I’m not sure why it would for a different water show?
Dave
TS Founding Member
They could install the water show no problem, I very much doubt they could do much with paving the lawns.