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Alton Towers Dark Themes, time for a change?

Trooper Looper

Trooper Looper

TS Member
Hey everyone. I thought this would be an interesting discussion to talk about since a lot of people on Alton Manors thread do genuinely agree that a new light themed area is needed for the park. What do you guys think? Do you think a lighter theme compared to the mostly dark themes in the park is long overdue, or should the park continue with more dark themes?
 
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I would love to see a whimsical theme, something that was immersive, fun, really about positive sensory experiences - rather than targeting fear, feeling of being on edge etc.

I'm allll about the theme element of the parks and whilst I do enjoy some of the darker takes, I've found the UK parks have left me feeling a little... empty? Alton Towers is crammed with post-apocalyptic or 'cult/curse' themes... and with all that's been going on in the real world over the last few years, the darkness is feeling not all too far from reality in ways, which depresses me 😂 I want an escape from reality, to suspend my disbelief! My least favourite area is X-Sector... it gives me an uncomfortable feeling 🤣

The Paultons thoosie in me strikes again but, Tornado Springs, whilst below my desired thrill level, it's such a fun theme I find I can really sink in and enjoy my time there. As juvenile as it is, I feel like something along the lines of magic/enchantment would compliment the rest of the park. My target would be Dark Forest tbh as it's a fairly contained space. What are your personal thoughts @Trooper Looper ?
 
There are too many dark themes at Alton Towers, and it never used to be the case. I'd say the following are all examples of areas or rides becoming darker than they were previously, all to varying degrees:
  • Ug Land becoming Dark Forest
  • Merrie England becoming Mutiny Bay
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory becoming The Dungeons
  • The Flume replaced by Wicker Man
Additions such as The Smiler and Nemesis: Sub-Terra also have dark themes.

I think there are two key reasons as to why Alton Towers/Merlin have gone for these themes over the years:
  1. Dark themes are easy for thrill rides and add to the overall fear factor. They see it as easier to market a big rollercoaster with a dark theme and mysterious undertone than it is with something lighter and more jovial (I do not necessarily agree with this mind)
  2. Alton Towers is in an environment where structures and theming get worn and dirty very easily, what with the atmospheric conditions and the sheer amount of trees. A dark and dilapidated theme lends itself to natural aging and wear, therefore less cleaning and maintenance is required. Unfortunately when you look at The Smiler and Thirteen, this has come back to bite them, as both are in a real state
I would love for Project Horizon to have a theme that is not dark. Something different, something unique, would be great and much needed for the park!
 
BooMT said:
I would love to see a whimsical theme, something that was immersive, fun, really about positive sensory experiences - rather than targeting fear, feeling of being on edge etc.

I'm allll about the theme element of the parks and whilst I do enjoy some of the darker takes, I've found the UK parks have left me feeling a little... empty? Alton Towers is crammed with post-apocalyptic or 'cult/curse' themes... and with all that's been going on in the real world over the last few years, the darkness is feeling not all too far from reality in ways, which depresses me 😂 I want an escape from reality, to suspend my disbelief! My least favourite area is X-Sector... it gives me an uncomfortable feeling 🤣

The Paultons thoosie in me strikes again but, Tornado Springs, whilst below my desired thrill level, it's such a fun theme I find I can really sink in and enjoy my time there. As juvenile as it is, I feel like something along the lines of magic/enchantment would compliment the rest of the park. My target would be Dark Forest tbh as it's a fairly contained space. What are your personal thoughts @Trooper Looper ?
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I definitely agree with you on all that. You all probably know my thoughts on Alton Manor, but most of their recent headline attractions are all dark themed. The park kinda feels soulless without those types of areas, such as Cloud Cuckoo Land, Ug Land, The Flumes surrounding area, and many more. As of lately, I've pretty much stopped caring about the parks future with how it's shaping up to be. My attention now is on smaller Parks like Paultons and Drayton Manor, which seem to be doing a great balance at the moment with areas like Tornado Springs, and Adventure cove. I actually rate those 2 areas higher than most of alton Towrrs areas aside from a few like Mutiny Bay.

If you look at Alton Towers in the 90s, they had numerous light areas, such as the Land of Make Believe, Storybook Land, Adventure Land, etc. They also had a good balance of darker areas like, Gloomy Woods, and Forbidden Valley.

It makes me wonder, is the MMM of today even creatively capable of creating a light themed area like we've had in the previous decades from the ground up without sticking an IP to them?

I just want Alton to have that whimsical and magical feel it had when I first visited, it's seem to have faded within the last few years...

I believe Dark Forest is the perfect place to start, there or The World of David Walliams. Refurb it and the Dungeons into a family themed area without and IP. Look at Talbot Street and Cloud Cuckoo Land for example.

For now, at Least we still have Spinball Whizzer/Adventure Land. I love the theming of that ride. Its very British and whimsical to me. All it needs is a good repaint and a 3D Logo again.
 
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That is the first time that I have ever seen Spinball Whizzer described as whimsical! Don't get me wrong, I like the theme, but not sure it's whimsical.
 
Rob said:
That is the first time that I have ever seen Spinball Whizzer described as whimsical! Don't get me wrong, I like the theme, but not sure it's whimsical.
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Pretty controversial, I know. But I find the ides of you being a pinball and being launched around a very unique and creative theme. I think the music helps it as well, especially the new one redone by IMAScore. It just feels magical to me, don't know how to explain it any better sorry.
 
Trooper Looper said:
If you look at Alton Towers in the 90s, they had numerous light areas, such as the Land of Make Believe, Storybook Land, Adventure Land, etc. They also had a good balance of darker areas like, Gloomy Woods, and Forbidden Valley.
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Those areas are still there and are still light themes. Land of Make Believe is Walliams World and rememants of Cuckoo land, both are bright light areas. Storybook land is CBeebies which is brighter than the old Storybook area and Adventureland is Spinball Whizzer, also a bright coaster.

Fantasy World changed to X Sector way back in 1999. Festival Park went to Ug Land back then too and that has been downgraded to the darker dark forest theme in 2010.

Gloomy Wood hasn't really changed since 1992, although Alton Manor is darker than the old Haunted House, I would say exterior wise Duel was lighter but overall little change. Forbidden Valley is from 1994.

So other than Ugland and the specfics of Wickerman and The Dungeons I don't think the areas you name have got darker. But yes overall for coaster themes the Merlin parks do keep going for dark/sinister (or drag racing themes).
 
Rob said:
There are too many dark themes at Alton Towers, and it never used to be the case. I'd say the following are all examples of areas or rides becoming darker than they were previously, all to varying degrees:
  • Ug Land becoming Dark Forest
  • Merrie England becoming Mutiny Bay
  • Charlie and the Chocolate Factory becoming The Dungeons
  • The Flume replaced by Wicker Man
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To some degree, I'd add Walliams World onto that list, the current theme certainly feels a lot more cynical than Cloud Cuckoo Land. Despite all the issues with CCL, it certainly had a more whimsical vibe than anything going on in the area today.

The World of David Walliams is by no mean a 'dark' theme, but it is certainly darker than what was there before.
 
Towers does need a whimsical new area. Dark themes aren't bad, in fact, I really like them in moderation. However, the current amount of dark themes in the park is too much.
 
@Trooper Looper - absolutely! The Towers of past had much more whimsy and intrigue. Cloud Cuckoo Land was a favourite of mine with Charlie too, purely for the silliness and fun of it all!

Theme wise, Alton should really be leading the way; we know MMM can do it well - Chessy is still reasonably heavy on the diversity and immersion of themeing (I know it's a different market). I agree with @Rob regarding the potential reasoning for Merlins blanket emo-theming across it's thrill parks, I'm sure there are ways to work around it however!

My thoughts on changes I'd make:

Curse at Alton Manor/Gloomy Wood is great in my opinion, very atmospheric and suits the landscape it resides in but I'd probably step it up a notch through the wood.

Forbidden Valley - needs to be complimentary of Nemmy throughout. This is a world-class coaster (in my humble opinion) and with her refurb & the updates to NST, Galactica & Blade etc need to feel relevant to the story to make the whole area something to behold. Even the Rollercoaster Restaurant could lean into the Sci-Fi/Military Ops theme.

Dark Forest - would really suit something like the Enchanted Forest; Something along the lines of Pandora in terms of look and feel (but obviously a wayyy smaller budget and original concept not IP). I think both Thirteen and Rita could be reworked to suit lighter themes.

Mutiny Bay - Fine as is in terms of concept, just needs to go harder!

X-Sector - 2 iconic rides, one terrible theme (sorry but it may as well be Metal Fence Outlet World!) I wonder whether this area could perhaps go for something more like steam punk? It's not exactly lighter but with all the twisted metal and lots of already industrial looking elements, possibly a way to refresh and renew the area?

World of David Walliams - Hate the IP but it's done reasonably well. Would love to see it themed to a really over-the-top, whimsical Countries of the World style concept.

Katanga Canyon/Rapids/RMT - Jungle/Aztec/Lost Island theme throughout would do me fine!

I don't ask for much 😂
 
I know the grounds themselves lend themselves well to spooky and gothic themes. But it can easily lend itself to something whimsical. As much as the Enchanted Village was a missed opportunity, that kind of theme could easily be transferred to the park. Imagine a retheme of Dark Forest to a mystical and mystical forest, ala Arthur in Europa Park, instead of the dirty and dilapidated excuse of an area we have now.
 
Baron 1898 is themed around female ghosts murdering people who enter a mine. It would probably be considered a "dark" theme if it were at Towers. I don't think AT's own dive coaster has any darker a theme. Pirates were murdering, raping slave traders, yet Pirates of the Caribbean is all good and Batavia is ok, but Mutiny Bay is "dark"?

I think it has more to with the themes at Towers being samey, easy to market and cheap. There are reasons why many attractions at the park are themed to haunted trees and mythical organised groups of bad guys. The trees are already there and require no extra theming, creepy and sinister stuff is easy to market and passing off concrete as theming is cheap.

Don't we live in a dimly lit, tree lined country, where much of our architecture is grey and colourless anyway? Something quite depressingly British about our theme parks.
 
Burner said:
I know the grounds themselves lend themselves well to spooky and gothic themes. But it can easily lend itself to something whimsical. As much as the Enchanted Village was a missed opportunity, that kind of theme could easily be transferred to the park. Imagine a retheme of Dark Forest to a mystical and mystical forest, ala Arthur in Europa Park, instead of the dirty and dilapidated excuse of an area we have now.
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I could see Dark Forest getting a soft retheme when Rita ends up getting removed. With the vines and Thirteen staying mostly as is, mostly as is.

But instead of it being more horror oriented, have it themed to a forest behind the Towers, with part of the area with new attractions on Rita's spot themed around a magical forest, similar in concept to Twirling Toadstool, and 13 being the banished region of the forest.

If Skyride/Dungeons building don't get incorporated into Walliams or whatever area Project Horizon ends up in. Then they could also incorporate those attractions and expand the area possibly as far as Fountain Square and Hex, as that currently has a very similar theme to Dark Forest currently.

Also if the park ever want theme the next big coaster to a concept that can be seen as thrilling itself, something like a festival-style theme would lend itself brilliantly to a coaster. There's already attractions that lean into that concept such as Ride to Happiness and Lost Gravity. It's something that Alton Towers could develop and could be very creative with.
 
I think the idea of a steam punk or fantasy themed area in the park would be a perfect addition, heck, why not combine the 2 themes into something special and unique! As of right now, I actually don't feel like visiting the park until they get start investing more lighter themes, which could be for a long time, I kinda feel a bit depressed when walking around when most of the themes revolve around "you're gonna get experimented/killed by this evil character whilst riding this ride". At least I've got my home park, Drayton Manor to fill that gap, which seems to do a great job at variety in themed areas.
 
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This might be a controversial view, but I don’t actually have an issue with Alton Towers typically doing darker themes, personally. As long as the theme is done well, which in fairness it mostly is at Alton Towers, I don’t have a problem with the park doing darker themes.

They mainly tend to keep it to the thrill rides or rides aimed more towards adults, aside from one or two exceptions, and I actually think that many of Towers’ dark themes are not that upfront in their horror. Also, I’d argue that Alton Towers’ wonderfully gothic setting kind of lends itself to darker themes!

I’d certainly take a well executed dark theme over a much looser theme like Spinball Whizzer, anyway.
 
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