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Christmas 2022

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We parked in express parking last year right by the entrance as the weather was god awful. No one was checking and really all parking should be in the express parking area. Who would want to visit a Christmas market where you have to walk half hour to even get to it!
 
I really think the state of Christmas at Alton Towers this year is being massively overexagerated on here.

I went on the 10th December with my folks and sister to give my neice a day out in Cbeebies land, and despite a couple of temperamental rides due to the cold weather, we all had a really good day.

We did Lightopia last thing, and whilst I agree that it was evident that a number of the lanterns hadn't been stored very well over the year (aka dirty and some parts of lanterns not lit/lighting well), the trail as a whole was really good. I don't even get the comments about it being shorter, yes the trail went as far as Forbidden Valley last year, but this years trail included more of the gardens and ended near X Sector!

As for the stalls/Christmas Market - yes it's a shame there wasn't as much there as last year, but on the same token - I actually think this year was a better layout! With it all being concentrated in one area, it certainly looked a lot busier.

Parking wise, not sure if this was a one off, or if they had taken feedback on board due to the Monorail maintenance, but we ended up parking in Express Parking, with temporary "Event Parking" signage directing cars there.
 
I'm kinda surprised they re-use the lanterns for Lightopia.

Longleat's create brand new lanterns each year for their Festival of Light event, and on a far grander scale than Lightopia at Alton Towers.
 
To be honest they'd be better off scrapping the models completely and just doing an ordinary light trail. I went to Christmas at Blenheim Palace last week and their trail was beautiful. Lots of Christmas lights in various formations, including some on the castle itself. Lots of projections on the castle, too.
 
We visited Saturday and cars were being directed to Express, albeit then directed to the staff parking spaces behind the coach drivers cafe. All a little bizarre, even the staff were giving us some funny looks.

We didn’t visit last year but thought that pets of Lightopia was rather good. The trail is of a decent length, but I do think the price is quite steep for what you get. It also feels like you’re being funnelled through with masses of people which detracts from the feel a little.

Outside of that, the markets seemed a missed opportunity. The food is ridiculously priced - £6.50 for cheesy chips. The small bandstand had a terrible two-piece band in it when we were there. Plenty of people wandering around with drinks though so there’s clearly an appetite to linger and enjoy something, it’s just a shame there was nothing really to linger for.

If they were to create a slightly more intimate environment with the sheds and seats, a few fires and some decent entertainment going on, it could have been a lovely atmosphere. As it was, it felt a bit of a mess. There’s clearly potential there, it just needs bringing together a little better and the entertainment would add so much to creating an atmosphere people want to stay for.
 
The event is quite plainly downgraded from 2021. It remains "OK" - but I do think they need to step it up. The following would help

  • Sack off this "tiered admission" thing. Just charge £25 for everyone, everyone gets Lightopia and can select a 1 hour window entry slot when they book. Entry slots for Lightopia remain essential. If it really is needed, charge non-Platinum passholders £10 to get in, and Platinum it could be one of the perks of the top pass tier.
  • Lightopia should begin by Katanga Canyon, go all the way up to Forbidden Valley, and down Haunted Hollow like last year - ending back at Mutiny Bay. This way they could avoid the awkward paths/closed paths thing of this year. They could keep the dragon on the lawn and a water screen, as it wouldn't matter that it was not on the main trail as everyone had paid anyway. They could even integrate Duel into Lightopia next year and have a mulled wine/hot chocolate stand in Gloomy Wood.
  • Spread the Christmas Market about better
  • Increase the entertainment - this has been hugely cut this year, and Fountain Square is a sorry state. It is more like a funeral up there.
  • Open Wicker Man. GCI Wooden coasters can operate in winter as we see at Efteling, Toverland and Europa-Park. With a tweak to their maintenance schedule, they could easily have 2 trains available for the event and it would significantly boost the event's appeal, whilst maintaining family height restrictions and adding capacity.
  • Make sure Lightopia pull their finger out and make sure the lanters are in a good state.
 
AstroDan said:
The event is quite plainly downgraded from 2021. It remains "OK" - but I do think they need to step it up. The following would help

  • Sack off this "tiered admission" thing. Just charge £25 for everyone, everyone gets Lightopia and can select a 1 hour window entry slot when they book. Entry slots for Lightopia remain essential. If it really is needed, charge non-Platinum passholders £10 to get in, and Platinum it could be one of the perks of the top pass tier.
  • Lightopia should begin by Katanga Canyon, go all the way up to Forbidden Valley, and down Haunted Hollow like last year - ending back at Mutiny Bay. This way they could avoid the awkward paths/closed paths thing of this year. They could keep the dragon on the lawn and a water screen, as it wouldn't matter that it was not on the main trail as everyone had paid anyway. They could even integrate Duel into Lightopia next year and have a mulled wine/hot chocolate stand in Gloomy Wood.
  • Spread the Christmas Market about better
  • Increase the entertainment - this has been hugely cut this year, and Fountain Square is a sorry state. It is more like a funeral up there.
  • Open Wicker Man. GCI Wooden coasters can operate in winter as we see at Efteling, Toverland and Europa-Park. With a tweak to their maintenance schedule, they could easily have 2 trains available for the event and it would significantly boost the event's appeal, whilst maintaining family height restrictions and adding capacity.
  • Make sure Lightopia pull their finger out and make sure the lanters are in a good state.
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I would have thought the only reason for changing the Lightopia route this year is to avoid FV with all the work going on? Doesn't seem to be any other advantage behind the new route.

If they must keep the admission levels (not sure how lightopia works, do Towers pay them to be there or do they take a portion of earnings?) It would make alot more sense to remove the barriers between market and ride areas with instead checking wristbands on rides. This would allow market only guests to use Woodcutters etc as well as encourage families to visit with more generations, bring granny who wont ride anything but wants to see the grandkids at Christmas.

100% agree on the state of Lightopia and Entertainment, huge reduction from last year.

A big annoyance of mine has always been the santa experiences on park being for hotel guests only. With the setup they have they should be able to get loads of guests though and surely they are losing out on easy money by not offering a santa visit to day guests??
 
evilcod said:
A big annoyance of mine has always been the santa experiences on park being for hotel guests only. With the setup they have they should be able to get loads of guests though and surely they are losing out on easy money by not offering a santa visit to day guests??
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2020 the Santa visit was open to all.

We had a very disappointed toddler today as there’s a huge sign on the side of the bar with directions to everything, and it clearly says that Mutiny Bay grotto is open to day ticket holders, and Cbeebies grotto is only open to hotel guests.

We raced to Mutiny Bay, just to be told “oh. that sign must be wrong”

No queue, but clearly Santa would rather sit idle than cheer up a disappointed kid.

“That’s So Merlin!(tm)”
 
Having missed out on visiting last year, I had a brief wander round last week on the way back from a weekend away. Walking down from the main car park and seeing the remnants of the Lightopia stuff they haven't used this year is careless to say the least. I know there's work going on over closed season and seeing construction stuff laid around is fair enough. But to see lighting installations that are supposed to form part of the actual event you're visiting just strewn about like that seemed pretty unprofessional. I don't know how they're storing the things between seasons, but the lack of effort to clean displays up before showing them for only the second time is really unacceptable.

The market area was nice enough I guess, but aside from a band playing for a short time when we arrived, there wasn't a whole lot else going on after that. The little seating pods were nice, but some of the prices were insane. £13 for a Yorkshire pud wrap?!

I have to echo other people's comments about the routes to get around the place. I understand construction is taking place in the old routes, but it's convoluted to say the least to try and get from A to B. Woodcutters should really be available to all, and utilising Fountain Square is a real missed opportunity considering the seating and (unlit) fire pit weren't being put to use whatsoever. The area is more sheltered than the lawns, no need for temporary paving - it'd have been ideal as a secondary area for people to socialise.

If the resort really want to go all out for Winter, then it needs to feel more attractive to all guests. As @evilcod says, grandparents don't necessarily want to go on rides, so what's the point in excluding them from huge areas of the park? It only puts people off who are actually pretty likely to buy the extra stuff like coffees and food while hanging about watching the kids having fun. If they really have to go for charging extra for rides, just go for checking at the ride entrance rather than excluding massive areas.

If you take out those wristbanded areas, the actual public area at the event for those without a band is incredibly small. Where's the encouragement for people to hang around for the day when there's very little area to have a wander and explore? The whole thing needs to just flow a lot more, as it stands for guests without a wristband it just feels like you're a bit of an inconvenience to the park rather than it being remotely welcoming.
 
Matt.GC said:
But how can Father Christmas be in 2 places at the same time?
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Given that he presumably has some form of magic powers to get around the entire world in one night and telepathically know everyone’s address and what presents they want, I don’t think it would be too much of a reach to suggest that he might have the ability to be in two places at once…

This reminds me of conversations my older sister and I had as kids when we were taken to many different “Santa’s Grotto” type attractions. We would debate for ages about which Santa was real and which ones were fakes. We ultimately concluded that the one at Warwick Castle was “definitely real” because he did magic, but even back then, we both knew that the Santa who visited our primary school’s Christmas Bazaar every year was just the lollipop man in a Santa suit wearing a white beard…
 
Just echoing what Craig said above above the area by woodcutters being ideal for some entertainment due to it being more sheltered, we also have the covered and very sheltered area in the courtyard which I think has heaters. You could open the bar to serve mulled wine and have some Christmas entertainment in a very sheltered area , complete with toilets.

Although not as big as the area by woodcutters I think it would be big enough for the volumes wanting to sit and watch a show.
 
Yup the courtyard was another area that'd be ideal if they moved one of the grottos. It does need some work as that tent in the middle is completely ruined to the extent where I wouldn't be surprised if a couple of heavy rain/snow falls over Winter will probably see the whole thing come down. Even away from Winter, it's an area that's really heavily used by guests when the weather is poor, especially at Fireworks this year with the heavy rain. If they spent some money on it to actually provide some decent warmth and shelter (including opening the Tavern itself too) it'd go a long way to improving guest experience.
 
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