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2023: General Discussion

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Bit late to say my thoughts on the 2023 season but here we go.

With no Nemesis and Hex still being down, no point for me to go down this year and given all the issues with downtime and all sorts of shenanigans, I might have dodged a bullet.

I'll be down next year for sure to get on Nemesis again though I'm worried about the same issues still affecting the park yet again. While it's good the current management know the issues that need to be sorted, it will take at least 3 year at best to get the park into a fit state though I do lay the blame on the previous management for getting the park into this state though I'd argue this goes far as back as the final Tussauds days is when it all started.

It's honestly hard to know how worse they can make the place next year but them again with Merlin, anything is possible.
 
AT86 said:
Included in a review posted to Google today on the Christmas event is this photo showing scaffolding going up on the Choragic Monument. It hasn’t been looking it’s best lately so some restoration work starting is good to see 👌

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Long overdue, it’s had signs around it for about 4 years saying it was undergoing refurbishment.
 
AT86 said:
Included in a review posted to Google today on the Christmas event is this photo showing scaffolding going up on the Choragic Monument. It hasn’t been looking it’s best lately so some restoration work starting is good to see 👌

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Surprised they were able to find any scaffolding in Staffordshire!
 
EarthlyKnight27 said:
I'm just wondering why both Hex and Skyride were SBNO for this season, as a person with weak hamstrings... Walking up the yellow path to FV was... FUN
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We don't know for sure, other than Hex was having difficulties in the first week or 2 of this season and then shut. I've heard rumours from it's having its control system replaced right up to the Madhouse v2 is being installed.

Skyride didn't open at all. When I visited in September there were white NDT test marks all over the welds of supports in the Dark Forest station; whether those and other tests had to be done and that's why they closed it or its closed for other reasons and they're doing these tests and other maintenance on it at the same time (2 birds, 1 stone scenario), I don't know.
 
Steve74 said:
We don't know for sure, other than Hex was having difficulties in the first week or 2 of this season and then shut. I've heard rumours from it's having its control system replaced right up to the Madhouse v2 is being installed.

Skyride didn't open at all. When I visited in September there were white NDT test marks all over the welds of supports in the Dark Forest station; whether those and other tests had to be done and that's why they closed it or its closed for other reasons and they're doing these tests and other maintenance on it at the same time (2 birds, 1 stone scenario), I don't know.
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Let's hope they do open Skyride next season if it's operable. As not for me being lazy, but for less abled/disable guests who may visit the park.
Especially for people heading to FV via Skyride, cause the scenery you see whilst on the ride are beautiful. Of course, the bonus for going via the yellow path was walking through the gardens, which were... Brilliant, to say the least.
 
EarthlyKnight27 said:
Let's hope they do open Skyride next season if it's operable. As not for me being lazy, but for less abled/disable guests who may visit the park.
Especially for people heading to FV via Skyride, cause the scenery you see whilst on the ride are beautiful. Of course, the bonus for going via the yellow path was walking through the gardens, which were... Brilliant, to say the least.
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Alton Towers management released a note in July 2023 around the situation with Hex and Skyride which stated the below. They are both expected to back in 2024.

As you will be aware, Skyride and Hex – The Legend of the Towers have not been open to guests as we would like. Whilst our teams continue to carry out work on these attractions, we have now made the difficult decision to keep Skyride and Hex – The Legend of the Towers closed for the remainder of the 2023 season. This will soon be live on our website. We know this will be a disappointment to many, however we want to assure you that this step is essential for the long-term delivery of these attractions. This will allow us to carry out extended maintenance on Skyride, which is required to help us preserve the experience for the future. We continue to invest in Hex – The Legend of the Towers, as we know this is a much-loved attraction. The extended closure will help support our teams carry out maintenance work and training on the ride. I want to assure you that our teams are working hard to bring this back as soon as we are able.
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Whilst we're in a pedantic moment, it should be mentioned that Peter Hollins was the sculptor of the bust which was placed inside the monument. It's unlikely that he actually designed the monument as a whole. As mentioned in the signage, the structure is largely a copy of a monument from ancient Greece. This monument has been copied many times for follies and garden buildings on country estates etc, but they usually have subtle differences depending on the tastes of the owners and materials used and such-like. So, they would still need to be designed by someone, but the sculptor of the bust within is not the first person I would look to.
 
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At least, AT are looking after the parts of the park they are obligated to look after. I kinda wish they'd try and see if they could renovate or try to maybe fix up the towers themselves. However, I doubt they'd do it... Or they simply can't.

I mean, if they did theoretically renovate/rebuild the Towers themselves, I wonder what AT could do with them...
 
The only interest Merlin have in the Towers is for storage and to house Scarefest mazes. Otherwise they're a burden to them (apart from the occasional bit of work as a bargaining chip in planning applications). They have no intention of spending much money on them. It would be too expensive anyway. In my personal opinion the best thing they could do in the foreseeable future is to make safe as many parts of the house as possible and allow people to go and explore, with information boards placed throughout. They can't even be bothered to engage with that idea anymore though. They won't even open them at all. That's how disinterested they are.
 
BarryZola said:
The only interest Merlin have in the Towers is for storage and to house Scarefest mazes. Otherwise they're a burden to them (apart from the occasional bit of work as a bargaining chip in planning applications). They have no intention of spending much money on them. It would be too expensive anyway. In my personal opinion the best thing they could do in the foreseeable future is to make safe as many parts of the house as possible and allow people to go and explore, with information boards placed throughout. They can't even be bothered to engage with that idea anymore though. They won't even open them at all. That's how disinterested they are.
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There were plans a few years ago to introduce heritage tours of the Towers following the pandemic, after introducing the garden days. There were also ideas to convert the Swiss Cottage into a café once more. We saw the park embrace their heritage more coming out of the pandemic with Garden Lights at Scarefest/Christmas. But it seems when some issue that is heritage-related comes up, the issue seems to get dropped and management turn to more pressing issues within the theme park.

Furthermore the Towers and Gardens complex themselves aren't owned by Merlin themselves but instead owned by English Heritage, who themselves are very streched resource-wise. But unless something really pressing emerges they won't commit resources when they can plough money into the sites that are actually operated by themselves.

There's definitely scope for heritage within the park to become a stand-out element of the park once more. However this largely won't be a lucrative enough proposition for the management at Merlin to spend time on when there's so many other ideas that can make much more return. If the park had kept up the heritage side of the park, I could see that Merlin would have maintained it throughout the years and would have made minor alterations, but they wouldn't start-up such a thing in today's climate.
 
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