Alton Towers Souvenir Guide 1987

[Rick]

Couldn't see this one online anywhere (although it is quite similar to 86 and 88), so I scanned it in. Happy weekend, more stuff here.

 

[AT86]

Henry Hounds fun club! Forgotten all about that.

Thanks for sharing.

 

[AliceHL91]

Henry hound's rap is still 100% better than the mumble rap we have these days

 

[Thameslink Rail]

I wish entry was £7.99 nowadays! The Bank of England claims that is £22.08 in 2018 adjusted for inflation which is still significantly cheaper than entry now. Also I wish the opening hours were that sensible now.

 

[jon81uk]

I wish entry was £7.99 nowadays! The Bank of England claims that is £22.08 in 2018 adjusted for inflation which is still significantly cheaper than entry now. Also I wish the opening hours were that sensible now.

It’s only slightly cheaper than the price most people actually pay nowadays of £28 with a 2for1 or £33 booked online. Pricing isn’t as bad as people make out, just the gate price is inflated to make 2for1s or early booking the better deal. At least now if you do pay full gate price you get to come back most of the rest of the season.

Some things seem better back then but it was definitely a leisure park and not a theme park. The theming didn’t really start until Tussauds took over and added the runaway mine train. So I would also say that today’s park is a very different offering to back then. The ride selection at West Midlands Safari park is almost comparable to 1987 Alton Towers in the style of the park I think.

 

[monkeyboy]

How clean and nice does talbot street look! As it was ,meant to be taking you into an area. Here’s hoping for next year’s changes.

The rapids photo caught my eye. The common theme in each boat??


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[TheBolt]

The 1980s park always look so jolly.
A confident park, that wanted to give you a good, well rounded, day out.

The "theme" part of theme park was so much stronger back then.
I hope they start to rediscover that sense of place and wonder again,
when they thought they could be the UKs local Disneyland.

 

[Jb85]

How clean and nice does talbot street look! As it was ,meant to be taking you into an area. Here’s hoping for next year’s changes.

The rapids photo caught my eye. The common theme in each boat??


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People standing up? This was the 80’s healths and safety didn’t exist then

 

[zerogravity]

Thanks for sharing @Rick. A good reminder of the amount of entertainers roaming around and the street parades they had back then

 

[Rick]

The "theme" part of theme park was so much stronger back then.

Stronger? Part of the charm was the fast and loose approach to theming with themed rides in non-distinct non-themed areas.

 

[ChristmasPud]

There’s a lot of skewed things said when it comes to the Broome era Towers. It certainly looked cleaner, smarter, was a simpler and more charming appeal, which the current park has a lot to learn from maybe.

But much was pretty lazily or unimaginatively developed too. Talbot Street was the only original themed area, the rest was mostly bolted down travelling rides in a generic setting. More of an amusement park with gardens and the whole side of the park from Katanga to Air wasnt opened yet.

I hear from many who knew it then, enthusiasts and just friends/family, so I totally get the appeal and it was great for its time.

But Ive also heard/read people making out it was a utopia that died afterwards, completely ignoring the big step up in ride offering, fun themes and colour that Tussauds brought not long after. This just seems like selective memory. In 30 years time people will probably look back at press photos of the park today and say the same thing.

I feel like Alton Towers is losing the simple appeal and some areas today are dire, but it’s far from dead. It just needs to move on from the coasters and gimmicks, focus on solid appeal and take a fresh look at guest experience overall

 

[Jb85]

There’s a lot of skewed things said when it comes to the Broome era Towers. It certainly looked cleaner, smarter, was a simpler and more charming appeal, which the current park has a lot to learn from maybe.

But much was pretty lazily or unimaginatively developed too. Talbot Street was the only original themed area, the rest was mostly bolted down travelling rides in a generic setting. More of an amusement park with gardens and the whole side of the park from Katanga to Air wasnt opened yet.

I hear from many who knew it then, enthusiasts and just friends/family, so I totally get the appeal and it was great for its time.

But Ive also heard/read people making out it was a utopia that died afterwards, completely ignoring the big step up in ride offering, fun themes and colour that Tussauds brought not long after. This just seems like selective memory. In 30 years time people will probably look back at press photos of the park today and say the same thing.

I feel like Alton Towers is losing the simple appeal and some areas today are dire, but it’s far from dead. It just needs to move on from the coasters and gimmicks, focus on solid appeal and take a fresh look at guest experience overall

So it needs a happy medium of what was then and is today?

 

[jon81uk]

The "theme" part of theme park was so much stronger back then.

The theming didn't really start until Tussauds bought the park in the early 90s and then added the Mine train and changed the rapids to match. Before then the rapids were just a concrete trough in a field, at least when the mine train was added some themed elements were added too. Then of course Nemesis came along and later Oblivion.

 

[ChristmasPud]

So it needs a happy medium of what was then and is today?

I think so yeah, and I dont think it's a coincidence that the best parks in the world tend to be like that too!