2022: General Discussion

[Alastair]

Going forwards could we please keep observations regarding whether rides are closed or not (that are solely based on looking at the app, and not from - say - being at the park itself) - to the General Queue Times Discussion thread? Whether or not the app shows if a ride is closed today, open tomorrow, has a 20 minute queue or a 1 hour queue is redundant as without context, the information is largely meaningless. Thanks!

 

[Steve74]

I suspect that they have made a conscious decision to give the front lawns as long as possible before they start using them again, given the state they were in at the end of last year and the fact they were still recovering at the start of this season. Come the summer I am sure the stage will be in use again with the seating etc.

They have turfed all the areas that suffered badly last season so they've got a bit of a head start for it's recovery!

 

[pluk]

I think a major problem with this event is the fact that they made an 'event' out of it. If they would have just added the stages with a bit of music people may have thought it was a nice little bonus addition to their day. But Towers being Towers, they had to market it and try to make a big deal of it. On the other hand, I enjoyed the events on the lawn last year with loads of seating etc, those were actually really good.

My feelings precisely.

If you are wandering through a themepark and you stumble upon a little bit of good quality live music to distract you for a while, maybe alongside a bar, eatery, or queue line, it feels like a great little bonus and would be appreciated.

If you advertise a 'festival of something' and the reality is disjointed acts crowbarred into various corners of the park it sits somewhere between disappointing and embarrassing.

But of course, there is a budget for marketing, there isn't one for actual entertainment. So we get maximum marketing for minimum effort/spend and somehow they've turned something that could be a great possitive into an overall negative.

 

[WickerwomanH]

I haven't attended the festival of thrills so I can't give a full opinion, but my interpretation of it as an event is that it was meant to be similar to a music festival and therefore a lack of seating really isn't unusual. I would say in a theme park people most likely won't want to stand around a stage for a long period of time when there are other things to do, especially if the acts aren't famous acts as they would typically be at a music festival, so yes, it might be an unusual idea for an event, but I think it's good that they are experimenting more in the recent years with the kind of event people will enjoy and I do hope to get chance to visit whilst the festival of thrills is on

 

[VerticalLoop123]

Got to agree was not much a fan of 2015 Fireworks music and another track (not quite sure what it was!) playing all around Towers Street and Towers area. They'd even changed areas around the Towers that have the heritage soundtrack to it. The Fireworks soundtrack is a masterpiece but don't think works too well for such a large area!

The acts were good we spotted on Friday. Guitarist and singer on the Galactica stage was very talented, playing a bit of Foo Fighters which is always welcome! Felt quite sorry though for some of the acts- especially the one in X sector which is a bit out of the way- who had no audience at all at some points in the day. Just felt as though the event as a whole could do with a bit of adjusting- maybe some better marketing for it- until about a week ago I didn't realise it was an actual music festival style thing and thought it was another sort of big 6 challenge thing. Adding seating and stalls around staging would be great to make it a little less awkward when you want to sit and watch the acts. I think using the stage on the lawns- even if it was more of a family themed show like they have at Oktoberfest and Mardi Gras- I don't know Darwin and Eric's jukebox adventure or something suitably cheesy and camp?

It's great though to see that they're attuned more to having more events throughout the calendar. Hopefully if it does return there will be an improvements made next year!

In other news was disappointed to find the Towers was closed off! Anyone know if they'll open before they shut for Scarefest?

 

[GaryH]

We had a a new wooden fence put up in the garden yesterday. Smells exactly like being in the Wickerman queue with all the wood around you! Funny how we associate certain smells with Alton towers. Fried chicken is another when it was where pizza pasta now is by RMT

 

[s_g_k]

We had a a new wooden fence put up in the garden yesterday. Smells exactly like being in the Wickerman queue with all the wood around you! Funny how we associate certain smells with Alton towers. Fried chicken is another when it was where pizza pasta now is by RMT

For me it’s the smell of Donuts and the smell pods in Hex!

 

[Ethan]

Travellers day today?

 

[Rick]

Travellers day today?

You'd have to visit the park to find out. It doesn't appear on the app, hence the lack of discussion.

 

[s_g_k]

Looks like it was taking into account some of the comments on Twitter.

 

[Willemgorman1]

Does anyone know what is actually happening with enterprise, in my opinion i’m honestly don’t think it will return and that’s the end for it. Then next year we will see a permanent flat in x-sector and forbidden valley. With sub-terra hopefully returning in 2024 with the new nemesis retrack

 

[Danny]

Overrunning maintenance due to resources being allocated elsewhere over the winter.

 

[IDB]

Overrunning maintenance due to resources being allocated elsewhere over the winter.

Surely it could be shipped off to an external subcontractor offsite? In terms of flat rides there’s not a lot too it technically.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Surely it could be shipped off to an external subcontractor offsite? In terms of flat rides there’s not a lot too it technically.

That's if the thing doesn't break even more on the way to Garmendale. Jokes aside, that would be a good idea, not sure the budget would stretch to it though.

 

[Danscott22]

Does anyone know what is actually happening with enterprise, in my opinion i’m honestly don’t think it will return and that’s the end for it. Then next year we will see a permanent flat in x-sector and forbidden valley. With sub-terra hopefully returning in 2024 with the new nemesis retrack

It’ll be back - it has more lives than a cat it has extended downtime/maintenance every year

 

[George W]

I know it's not a great subject but me and my friends are planning a scarefest visit hopefully on one of the lesser busy days, I'm aware there's a traveler day around that time, anybody sure when? So I know when to avoid.

Also what dates to people recommend for a slightly less busy scarefest day, I know every scarefest day will involve queueing.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I know it's not a great subject but me and my friends are planning a scarefest visit hopefully on one of the lesser busy days, I'm aware there's a traveler day around that time, anybody sure when? So I know when to avoid.

Also what dates to people recommend for a slightly less busy scarefest day, I know every scarefest day will involve queueing.

Looking at the racing calendar, Travellers Day is likely to be 2nd October which is not Scarefest. As for quieter days, I would say 7th, 14th, 17th-21st as those are generally school days.

 

[John_P]

Always (pre-covid) found the first Sunday of Scarefest to be pretty quiet. Also to avoid queues, provided all the mazes are indoors book them for as soon as they open. Thus more time for night rides, when large numbers of guests are queueing for mazes.

 

[rob666]

Surely it could be shipped off to an external subcontractor offsite? In terms of flat rides there’s not a lot too it technically.

Why would you spend money on deconstruction, repairs and re-erection, together with the ever increasing cost of HGV transportation, twice, when you can just send in the bloke with the parts and spanners and do the job on site, at about a tenth of the cost?

 

[Mattie boy]

I know it's not a great subject but me and my friends are planning a scarefest visit hopefully on one of the lesser busy days, I'm aware there's a traveler day around that time, anybody sure when? So I know when to avoid.

Also what dates to people recommend for a slightly less busy scarefest day, I know every scarefest day will involve queueing.

We have for the last couple of years gone the first Friday and Saturday of SF. The Friday isn't too bad usually, the sat is yet we get ultimate FT for that day due to how far away we live.

However both evenings of the first two days if not most days you can get walk on rides, especially in forbidden valley. We did nemmy loads back to back from 8pm , limited if any other punters!