I remember going in 87, it was my first visit and there seemed to be so much more going on than there is now. At that time I wasn't really into the coasters, I went with my local youth club because I'd always been interested in American theme parks and wanted to check out our own.
My memories - crapping myself on the Corkscrew, almost vomiting after the Enterprise (friend sat in front and blocked my view), refusing to get on 1001 Knights, loving 4 Man Bob and The Flume and wishing I was a bit braver and had got on The Black Hole. But the most memorable things are the quirky Doom & Sons, the Mississippi Show Boat and the masses of shops selling everything and anything. I also remember sea lions at the end of Towers Street, have I got that right? Hmm....not sure now...
I went back a couple of years later and loved The Rapids and The Mouse, Coaster corner had just opened up, I really loved how they managed to get so many coasters into such a small space.
So to sum up I'd like to see Alton Towers offer more quirkiness, bring back the show boat with its jazz band, add a new walk through like Doom & Sons and maybe add a few unique attractions similar to the old motor museum, doll museum and even the railway exhibition, anyone else remember that?
The Towers still have so much potential, I've always thought they could do so much more though, just the usual costs prohibit further renovation I guess. On a plus side they have added the Sea Life Center which is a nice walk through addition and I love how they've expanded on family attractions like Cbeebies.
I last visited in 2014 with my two boys aged 4 and 6, what did they enjoy the most? Wobble World by the Driving School, all the way from Norfolk and we spent half the day indoors on inflatables!.....hmm, just like their Dad, go for the underdog