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Rumblings of changes around the Hotel..

kiphakes

TS Member
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Wicker Man for now ;)
So obviously Margs and Flambos are currently having a bit of a re-fit as is The Spa - I was at the ATH for a few nights and noticed some goings on which might interest you. This is what I learnt from chatting to the staff and my Hotel journalist wife doing some digging..

Apparently Flambos is to get some kind of 'Pizza and Pasta' thing - so not sure if the current 'world' food thing is going for something simpler - or there will be more Pizza and Pasta?

The Spa is having a big refurb, including a new Jacuzzi - the treatment rooms are having a 'freshen up' and are now open, whereas the Aqua Relaxation Rooms are getting more of an overhaul and won't be open until Friday.

At the Hotel - apparently the WHOLE of the 3rd floor will become Moon Voyager Rooms, leading to an eventual retheme / refurb of ALL the rooms. I suppose it's quite likely, the standard rooms are looking a little sad and out of date in places. The main atrium will be refurbished last as it was 'done recently' (?) - not sure what kind of refurbishment that will be? Will the Ship go and make way for something more 'Moon Voyager-y' ? While I was sat by the ship there was a meeting of Hotel Management with some kind of fabric / curtain maker, they were picking colours for some kind of fabric based feature in the 'snug' (where the fire place is). It sounded like they were putting curtains in it, or drapes?!

Also when I was there I noticed that there is something 'amiss' with the tipping bucket in the Water Park - it's filling up really quickly and not actually tipping out all that much water. From what I could see the hydraulic pushing arm wasn't pushing properly and therefore only doing 'half' a tip. Not sure if this is intentional (to save water) or it's broken (either are likely), it produces a bit of a rubbish splash now though :(

I heard two stories about the farm animals being at the back of the hotel, the first is that they are there until they can be re-homed at other zoos / farms and the other that they are there during construction, and will be moved back after?!

That's all I can remember for now!
 
kiphakes said:
Also when I was there I noticed that there is something 'amiss' with the tipping bucket in the Water Park - it's filling up really quickly and not actually tipping out all that much water. From what I could see the hydraulic pushing arm wasn't pushing properly and therefore only doing 'half' a tip. Not sure if this is intentional (to save water) or it's broken (either are likely), it produces a bit of a rubbish splash now though :(
The tipping bucket doesn't use any kind of hydraulic arm to tip it, it literally just tips because of the weight of the water. There are also weights in there to balance the bucket, such that it fills up to a certain point before tipping - chances are those have slipped over time, and just need adjusting.

As for saving water, the whole lot is of course recirculated water from the pool, so using more or less for effects makes no difference to overall incoming water usage :)
 
Margs (the bar) is getting Pizza Pasta, I believe Flambos are having their refit to accomodate this, though could be something more substantial?

The animals are moving back in May according to the animal care team when we spoke to them!
 
Islander said:
The tipping bucket doesn't use any kind of hydraulic arm to tip it, it literally just tips because of the weight of the water. There are also weights in there to balance the bucket, such that it fills up to a certain point before tipping - chances are those have slipped over time, and just need adjusting.

As for saving water, the whole lot is of course recirculated water from the pool, so using more or less for effects makes no difference to overall incoming water usage :)

There is DEFINITELY a hydraulic arm (on the left hand side from behind), you can't really see if from the front - but it's visible from the Master Blaster 'launch'. I spent far too long stood there watching it ;)
 
There's definitely a ram of some kind on that bucket which I've seen extend and move with the bucket each time I've visited. I always thought that was what was causing the bucket to tip... But if it isn't, it could also be there to prevent the bucket from tipping forward too far.

You'll notice that the emptying happens over a prolonged amount of time rather than one big go, so it could be there to make sure it doesn't tip beyond a certain point, and maybe pull it back again once it's empty.

Unfortunately when I visited, the bucket wasn't working at all (the pipe feeding it was switched off) and it was the same story when I called into the hotel last week. The one thing I've noticed that's looking a bit sorry for itself is the outdoor pool area. I'm sure that it's clean and such, but the colour the bottom of the pool has become doesn't do much to make it look inviting.

As for the repaints elsewhere around the hotel, I really don't see what the fuss is all about. It looks just fine as far as I'm concerned. Maybe they could have made the cartoony motif look a little more understated, but it's hardly eyesore-ish.
 
Margs already do some sort of pizza offering, I heard someone asking for one the other day.

It's great to see investment in the hotels - the one area of the park that always feels fresh, and the bits that don't usually have refurbishment plans in place. :)
 
Interesting

The animal situation is interesting, I had heard that the animals we staying at the Hotels to make an extra attraction up there but it wouldn't surprise me if Towers didn't actually know for certain what they where doing with them.

Tipping bucket definitely tips with a ram.

The original plan I think with ATH rooms is a different Algenon story for each floor so I don't think the atrium will go moon themed. Still plans change easily enough.... They need to make the rooms cheaper though.
 
The atrium will not be moon themed. When the next revamp comes it will only go the same way it has over the past 17 years; repaints, new carpets, new curtains, new seating and tables... nothing too drastic, the theme will always stay the same, the area of the hotel will just have some modernisation and improvements.

I can't remember the year the last refurb happened (I think it was 2011 although it may have been last year) and that just included some new upholstery, the big chair area themed a little more, new curtains and the ship given a full repaint.

The only area which has had the most drastic change in the Alton Towers Hotel is The Dragon Bar, which has probably modernised far more than any other part of the hotel since it opened.

I really hope the new rooms get done soon. I stayed in an Explorer room in October and the bathroom was a mess, tiles cracked, stickers peeling off the wall, the light cover looking like it's ready to fall apart... and the room itself with the ceiling peeling apart, wallpaper on the walls peeling and holes in the carpet... not what you expect after paying a few £100s to stay in the room. I was close to writing a complaint about the state of the room. All the Explorer rooms are in dire need of being gutted out and redone to a standard of the new Moon Voyager rooms.
 
Interesting...... the hotel definitely needs a refurb. As for the Dragon Bar, its nice but there is a distinct lack of seats in there lately. I hope with the new moon voyager rooms that the price of staying over will dramatically increase (as with the current rooms). If anything alton need to get more people staying there so more is spend on food and drink whilst in the hotel.

Glad the spa is having a make over too, its needed.

And just to echo what has been said, the tipping bucket does use an arm to push it over and its not the weight of the water. However, I also noticed last time I was up for Scarefest it is now only filling half full and not really flooding the area like it used to. I just wish they would put more thrilling slides somewhere in the waterpark, 2 hours in there and im done.
 
The arm must have broken fairly recently as I was there two months ago and it was tipping properly - hopefully it'll get fixed in the January shut down!
 
They need to expand the cramped changing rooms in the Spa - definitely not a relaxing start/end to the experience!
 
kiphakes said:
The arm must have broken fairly recently as I was there two months ago and it was tipping properly - hopefully it'll get fixed in the January shut down!

It was tipping on Monday
 
It wouldn't surprise me if it was H&S that stopped the bucket from spilling its entire load :eek:

I've seen small children get knocked over by it before, much to my amusement, although not necessarily to the child's or its parents.
 
I've seen a bikini ripped off a girl by that bucket in the past... Hastey retreat from the area was made...

Though that was kind of fixed, as the following season, the roof the water runs down was covered in new ridges to slow down the torrent.
 
I remember when it first opened, and they had to change the fill on the bucket as it was too powerful during its first week or so of operation. I believe at max fill it can hold nearly a tonne of water.
 
That would make sense, a ton of water is one cubic meter in volume, and the bucket is about that size.
 
About the tipping bucket... surely the "ram" is just to dampen the speed at which the bucket tips forwards and back? What causes the bucket to tip is simply the weight of the water offsetting the additional weights in the bucket, so that when it reaches a certain level the whole thing falls over.

If the ram wasn't there to slow the bucket's speed, then it would flip back upright as quickly as it tipped over, so it wouldn't have time to empty. Perhaps the bucket is moving too quickly now - that would explain why less water is being released.

I doubt the ram itself is powered because that much water holds more than enough force to cause the bucket to tip on its own. But I could be wrong. :twirly:
 
electricBlll said:
About the tipping bucket... surely the "ram" is just to dampen the speed at which the bucket tips forwards and back? What causes the bucket to tip is simply the weight of the water offsetting the additional weights in the bucket, so that when it reaches a certain level the whole thing falls over.

If the ram wasn't there to slow the bucket's speed, then it would flip back upright as quickly as it tipped over, so it wouldn't have time to empty. Perhaps the bucket is moving too quickly now - that would explain why less water is being released.

I doubt the ram itself is powered because that much water holds more than enough force to cause the bucket to tip on its own. But I could be wrong. :twirly:
I'm pretty sure this is correct - having seen a tipping bucket being installed and calibrated, I'm certain that it is all to do with weight and balance - a pneumatic ram (much like those you'd find on a car boot) would just be used to dampen the tipping.

Of course Towers' bucket could be a different design, but I wouldn't have thought that likely. I'll certainly be scrutinising it next time I'm there though :p
 
Yeah I would say that's right too!

If it didn't have the ram then it would sway back and fourth quite violently after the water is emptied out of the bucket. Probably the easiest example of that is when you use the small buckets scattered around the waterpark, after you have thrown the water on guests beneath you if you let go of the bucket it will sway back and fourth until it eventually comes to a stop.

A cheaper way I've seen it done in other waterparks is that instead of a ram they install a big bar behind the bucket so when it has tipped instead was swaying it falls back, hits the bar and comes to a stop. I'd assume the ram gives a bucket of Alton Towers' size more control though - I've only ever seen the bar behind the bucket trick used on smaller versions.
 
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