2023: General Discussion

[James]

In terms of Towers Street, reopen the restaurant. I'm surprised they've never added an arcade or indoor softplay on Towers Street. I've always liked the idea of an 'Alton Towers Museum' on Towers Street (or anywhere in the park), showcasing the history of Alton Towers and displaying props/old bits of theming. Towers Street should be more of an area you want to stay in at the end of the day.

 

[GaryH]

An arcade would be a great idea. Would get people to use up any spare change before heading home.

 

[Shaggy_Dog_]

An arcade would be a great idea. Would get people to use up any spare change before heading home.

Do people have much spare change on them these days? I wouldn’t be surprised if it isn’t more about contactless payments when it comes to those kind of arcades or buying packs of tokens rather than using change.

 

[rob666]

I have change, masses of it all stacked up on the fireplace...
Almost forgotten what it is for.

 

[Craig]

I've moved a number of posts about potential monorail changes to the dedicated topic.

Just a reminder that this topic is for discussion about what's going on this season. We have a shed load of topics that are more suitable for speculation about potential future improvements and changes

Edit: Also seeing as though there's a lot of interest in EV charging, this has been moved to a dedicated topic in Future Discussion

 

[Skyscraper]

Very long overdue, but it's great to finally see permanent lighting starting to appear!


From: https://twitter.com/TowersStreet/status/1706264620212580616?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

 

[Steve74]

Very long overdue, but it's great to finally see permanent lighting starting to appear!


From: https://twitter.com/TowersStreet/status/1706264620212580616?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

That reminds me, there is now festoon lighting up between all the wooden posts they put up on the "back way" into Dark Forest - the path from the Towers to where Roller Disco was.

 

[siralgenon]

What part of that is permanent? They've put those up for Scarefest over the last few years. Ever since the Freakshow Scare Zone

 

[Skyscraper]

What part of that is permanent? They've put those up for Scarefest over the last few years. Ever since the Freakshow Scare Zone

The fact it's been painted purple to match the fence?

 

[rob666]

Wooden posts are never, ever permanent.
Replace every ten years or so, even if tannalised.

 

[Rob]

Those posts have been there all season, with the expectation that they would apply lighting come Scarefest and Fireworks. Certainly better and more atmospheric than the generators!

 

[Burner]

Certainly better and more atmospheric than the generators!

What do you mean? Those generators are what give Scarefest it's unique 'building site at night time' vibe.

 

[djtruefitt]

What part of that is permanent? They've put those up for Scarefest over the last few years. Ever since the Freakshow Scare Zone

The posts were added last season, but they just added the temp lights powered by a generator last year. Now they’re added proper perm festoon lights in, which I guess are powered up somewhere to the mains.

They also have posts up near the back of dark forest, the path near the towers near x sector and in forbidden valley which I guess they’ll be doing the same too.

 

[John]

Anything that means fewer white floodlights is a good move IMO. Dark Forest remains a weak link though

 

[Ash]

Anything that means fewer white floodlights is a good move IMO. Dark Forest remains a weak link though

For a British theme park to not have themed lampposts (preferably with ability for coloured lights, speakers, Wi-Fi hotspot built in) feels a missed opportunity

365 park needs 365 lighting

 

[ScottishChris]

I find the portable generators to be absolute madness. They ruin the atmosphere, are quite literally bad for the environment and must cost a small fortune You would imaging the cost of hiring thos portable generators over the years is massivly more than installing basic, permenant lighting.

 

[Poisson]

Strings of lighting being installed today from the bottom end of DF to the cabin near where Darkest Depths was

 

[Katy]

I find the portable generators to be absolute madness. They ruin the atmosphere, are quite literally bad for the environment and must cost a small fortune You would imaging the cost of hiring thos portable generators over the years is massivly more than installing basic, permenant lighting.

That's just typical (nonsensical) finance rules though - installing permanent lighting will be a different budget to operating costs for an event, and they don't care that 2 years worth of lighting hire costs the same as installing permanent (or at least something that will be good for 10 years) lighting. Hopefully this is part of "new Merlin" (and at Towers the new leadership) to actually spend more now to do it properly, versus spending a lot more spread out over multiple years to make a mess of it.

 

[jon81uk]

I find the portable generators to be absolute madness. They ruin the atmosphere, are quite literally bad for the environment and must cost a small fortune You would imaging the cost of hiring thos portable generators over the years is massivly more than installing basic, permenant lighting.

That's just typical (nonsensical) finance rules though - installing permanent lighting will be a different budget to operating costs for an event, and they don't care that 2 years worth of lighting hire costs the same as installing permanent (or at least something that will be good for 10 years) lighting. Hopefully this is part of "new Merlin" (and at Towers the new leadership) to actually spend more now to do it properly, versus spending a lot more spread out over multiple years to make a mess of it.

It’s been mentioned before that the main reason for using generators was that they didn’t have the right power infrastructure in the right places. Low energy LED bulbs helps now as don’t need as high power but still there will be some spaces where it’s easier to use a generator than get the cabling of the right amperage out to that location.

 

[popey85]

Hi guys my daughter found a video on YouTube with this on does anyone know is it returning this year please