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2024: General Discussion

None of the money will be used to restore the ruins, it’s the greatest irony of the planning rules. The council insist on something being restored every time they approve a big planning application, so why would Towers give up one of their primary bargaining chips by restoring stuff outside of those individual planning application agreements.

I imagine they are not opening the roof because of health and safety. I have no issue with this tour of the ruins open for free though I would have run it at the end of the day so people don’t have time taken out of ride operational time.
 
DistortAMG said:
Yeah, the only criticism I have Alton Towers if you are reading tbis, is the fact this is being planned inside park operation hours. The open hours are not great as it is, the state of ride availability this season, eats into ride time even more.

Overall though, great move.
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Tells me it’s aimed at getting people back for a future visit, rather then a time sink for one day visits.

If it’s popular and runs more days and times it gives another reason to stay for two days etc
 
Steve74 said:
This aged well 🤣 🤣 🤣 ;)
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:D:D

They've added logo banners to most of the barriers, the fact they used the mosiac design for the Towers ones still didn't point towards anything happening. Yes a tour is now being offered but I stand by that given the fact they have moved away from pain ped barrier anyway it didn't meant anything in isolation!
 
So how does this tour work then? Is it 1 hour for the ruins and then 1 hour for the gardens? Surely it would take more than an hour to go around the towers if someone is talking throughout the experience
 
Ethan said:
So how does this tour work then? Is it 1 hour for the ruins and then 1 hour for the gardens? Surely it would take more than an hour to go around the towers if someone is talking throughout the experience
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If you're in the wrong part of the gardens, it could take you an hour just to get to the ruins! 🤣
 
Ethan said:
So how does this tour work then? Is it 1 hour for the ruins and then 1 hour for the gardens? Surely it would take more than an hour to go around the towers if someone is talking throughout the experience
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Details on the exact content and schedule of the tour have yet to be released. You'll most likely have to wait until the first tour has taken place for people to report back on how it operated, what was featured, and the time breakdown.
 
Yeah, to be honest, it's going to be a pretty brief walk around in essence. No way they'll be going into much detail on every feature around the gardens and in the house. It would be great if there was access to a couple of things that ordinarily havn't been accessible for many years (Gothic Prospect Tower etc). Bet they'll be making it very brief on the first Saturday (6th July) as the England footy kicks off at 5pm if we get past Slovakia this weekend.
 
Immensely disappointing news. It wouldn't cost a huge amount to install CCTV and staff it, and I'm sure the council would be in favour of any minor adjustments to ensure the building is accessible.

Whilst the tour is cool, I'd only really welcome it if there were still the option for free-roaming, unguided exploration. I've very fond memories of my earlier trips round the building and pondering over what it all was, and taking it in at my own pace.

It's another two steps forward, one step back situation. Why am I surprised?
 
It’s yet more detailed and welcome comms to be appreciated.

Disappointing though, as the Towers nowadays are sadly little more than a nice backdrop, they should be front and centre of the park experience. Fully appreciate the constraints and resource requirements associated with listed buildings though.
 
The listed building excuse is a bit BS I think, they run plenty of cabling and stuff for scarefest mazes. CCTV wouldn't be a major issue.
But if they are concerned about graffiti and antisocial behaviour they could have some CCTV and staffing and open limited hours like 12-3pm with staff present, then have a one way turnstile on the exit to usher people to once they are closed.
 
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Yet another H&S nonsense from
Alton. What was wrong for the other 40 years?

From the stupidly high fences, the monorail operation and now this, I’m fully expecting staff to now be positioned throughout hex, with the lights on pointing out uneven floors.
 
I don't think its H&S per se, unless damage done to the ruins has caused danger to the public. Maybe on closer inspection they have found vandalism and damage that English Heritage (or whoever monitors these things) deem unacceptable?
 
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