Alton Towers?... Meh!

I think some of The Smiler marketing was some of the best they have done, but I agree the park just feels expensive and of poor quality. Some stuff has improved, but not enough for me to think wow.

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BigDave said:

I think some of The Smiler marketing was some of the best they have done, but I agree the park just feels expensive and of poor quality. Some stuff has improved, but not enough for me to think wow.

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I'm not referring to The Smiler marketing, just to general PR currently just screams of "we don't really care about our guests satisfaction just give us your money and you may get to go on some rides"

I think apathy is generally the result of huge hype for a new ride and then the general disappointment of how the park have delivered it.

It is not just the Smiler that has put a downer on things - this forum can be cynical and often I have commented that can be over pessimistic. But I do think that the park is feeling a stale and a tad static this season. I agree with the comments about value for money and also events.

I don't get the impression that things are buzzing at the park. Firefighting, money saving and quick bucks comes to mind which is plain to see if you spend enough time at the park.

I still love AT but I think we might have lost a bit of confidence in the place this year.

About feeling Meh I have just read that there is no Santa Greeting in the Farm this Christmas and they say it may because it will be for the Family development next year.
I just hope they don't spoil an area that has lasted so long and was made to last not like all the last few years where all the new themes look awful within the season. The Farm from my view was made from proper materials real wood etc not fake everything and its a worry to think they may ruin a well made part of the park.
That would make me feel Meh

Sometimes when I'm at Alton Towers I get this surreal feeling that I'm not there at all. There is so much marketing material around the park that it becomes an unavoidable part of the day's experience. The park feels like a showcase for something else you aren't quite experiencing.

The amount of posters, the TV queuelines, the announcements on the monorail and Skyride, the relentless photo-taking...it's all too much information. I highly doubt whether this is even effective at it's job. Allow the park to advertise itself by drawing attention to the here and now. The experience that is being had IS the product.

I'm undecided these days. The park is wonderful and I love The Smiler/X Sector this year, but there just isn't that thrill in the air any more. This is my own fault for visiting too frequently; There is too much of a good thing.

I've only visited Alton Towers twice in the past 5 years. My visit was back in 2008, but since it was my first time visiting, it was all new to me to discover and explore. I have to admit the moment I stepped into the lobby at Splash Landings made me feel like that I wasn't at a theme park in the middle of Staffordshire, but in a magical place...This was just when Merlin took over, I heard the old music playing on Towers Street and got a rush of tingling running through my spine, it was amazing. I explored the park, Experienced Nemesis and Oblivion for the first time and thought both were amazing, everywhere I went in the park It felt magical even though it was a visit under the Merlin owned Towers in 2008. It was a rainy day, I rode the Flume as my last ride, was wet and cold, but it felt so cozy when I got into my room in Splash Landings, and oddly enough headed to Cariba Creek xD The next day I remember going through early ride time riding RMT and Duel and it felt peaceful as it was more under control. Munity Bay was new that year, but it didn't felt rushed, it felt completed and right. I left the park and felt extremerly gutted as I was leaving one of the most magical places I'd ever been to at the time.

Now compare this to my visit earlier this year in 2013, I was feeling gutted that I wouldn't get to ride The Smiler (this was 23rd May BTW), but at least I was going to ride my old favourites of Nemesis, Air, and Oblivion and experience TH13TEEN for the first time.

Unfortunately this didn't feel like the same place I had visited in 2008, there was a huge amount of upselling going on in Towers Street, plastered by the hideous overused Mother Hen font which looked extremely out of place on a awfully designed map for navigation. I headed down to X Sector with a couple of other TSTers hopefully to ride Oblivion, only to my shock and horror that it was down and I never got the chance to ride it that day. I did get to experience TH13TEEN that day, but the Dark Forest looks like a complete mess in it's "Themeing" such as the shocking scaffolding tunnel under Rita, I couldn't believe all the laziness that had been put in of this "Upkeeping". It didn't help as much as I headed over to Forbidden Valley and saw the Nemesis Monster falling apart and seeing its legs missing, it felt fake to me and didn't have the same feeling I had felt in 2008. Not to mention the horrendous Burger Kitchen as well...

In short, Alton does feel "Meh" at the moment but it shouldn't be. If The park themselves and Merlin change it's appearance, kept up to date in its maintenance, dropped all the upselling and Fasttrack and not. The place would be absolutely fantastic place and probably one of the best looking theme parks in Europe if not the world. But whether that might happen or not it's just a lucky game of "wait and see" and hopefully The park/Merlin will soon realise what is wrong with the park and resolve the issues.

Thorpe Park and Chessington also have similar problems for me, but that's another story...

Alton Towers is still a fantastic park, but it isn't showing that it is.

Meh. To me it just lacks atmosphere and soul.

Jared said:

Meh. To me it just lacks atmosphere and soul.

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See soul is one thing it never seems to loose for me no matter how tatty the place gets, same with Chessington.

My views on Phantasia which has FAR better theming and presentation are well known and that never has any real soul for me (feels flat).

I know it's different strokes for different folks though so i guess soul is something you can't pin down. The place still has soul, it's also better presented in certain areas this season than before and has a great new ride.

I think i just don't like the "Merlin Way" or stripping at any magic in place of a good POS advertisement.

Always magic for me everytime I visit, mainly due to past memories, I just wish they would stop the blatant in your face money grabbing that's all.

BigDave said:

Anyone else feeling a bit meh when it comes to the park? I mean don't get me wrong its still a great place. I just seem to have seriously lost interest in it. It started last year and I seriously concidered not get an MAP for this year, but The Smiler was enough to make me reconsider.

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Completely agree with you. I can't get excited about visiting the park this season at all now despite cutting back on the number of trips made compared with previous years. The Smiler is an outstanding rollercoaster but it's the only thing enticing me back. For me I thought it might be down to having finally experienced the vastly superior Europa Park for the first time this year, and 'looking down' upon Towers in comparison, but it would appear others feel the same way so I can't quite put my finger on it.

I won't be renewing my MAP for the 2014 season. The magic is gone for me.

They could do with making more use of the history of the place that's sitting right under their noses. OK, they integrated the gallery range into Hex, but the story is complete rubbish and has no historical accuracy. Then they've gone on to open 'The Sanctuary' which is again just a play thing and has effectively closed off a wing of the house of historical importance for the foreseeable future, and given the size of the place there's already so much which is off limits due to dereliction that it is slightly annoying when they decide to close off another section voluntarily. I'm in a minority though and the history thing will not make them much money but that's the compromise isn't it. I wonder what permanent damage will be left to the original building when people get bored of 'The Sanctuary' and that temporary theming and stuff gets ripped out?

Just think of what they could do with the towers. do a couple of rooms up and they could have a lovely historic area for weddings.

I can see the marketing now.
"settle you pre wedding nerves with a ride on Nemesis"
"dive into oblivion with your new wife"
"Loopy for your soon to wife, why not express it with a ride on the smiler"

BarryZola said:

I wonder what permanent damage will be left to the original building when people get bored of 'The Sanctuary' and that temporary theming and stuff gets ripped out?

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Wouldn't that be minimal due to what English Heritage say?

Anyway this is O/T, feel free to PM to chat about it

I dont know what it is, I cannot put my finger on it, but there is something seriously lacking from the park and its seriously effecting how much I like the place. I think its a combination of things, but its clear that the park just hasnt got the magic something about it like it use to have.

BarryZola said:

They could do with making more use of the history of the place that's sitting right under their noses. OK, they integrated the gallery range into Hex, but the story is complete rubbish and has no historical accuracy. Then they've gone on to open 'The Sanctuary' which is again just a play thing and has effectively closed off a wing of the house of historical importance for the foreseeable future, and given the size of the place there's already so much which is off limits due to dereliction that it is slightly annoying when they decide to close off another section voluntarily. I'm in a minority though and the history thing will not make them much money but that's the compromise isn't it. I wonder what permanent damage will be left to the original building when people get bored of 'The Sanctuary' and that temporary theming and stuff gets ripped out?

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I agree, they have the lovely house and gardens, but most people know nothing about them! It wouldn't cost much to put some signs in each room explaining what it was, old photos, etc. You could even produce a little route around the towers, maybe a map near the entrance telling you about the place. Just something to get people to have a look around them.

There used to be signs in the rooms - when did they vanish? Trouble is, unfortunately there are a lot of people who visit Alton hell bent on causing damage and vandalising things.

I remember seeing a photo of the fence (where you entered TOTT last season) and it had a big sign for the towers and information boards, no idea what happened to them!

It says a lot when one of the signs in the towers direct you to Ug Land!