Christmas 2023

[James]

Maybe they could design it in such a way that you can have multiple Santas running at once within the Towers. I'd dress it up as the Towers being Santa's workshop and have multiple doors where the elves are working.

 

[rob666]

Multiple Santas???
There is only the one, damn fool.
How very dare you.

 

[James]

Sorry I mean they clone the real Santa, the kids won't realise.

 

[AT86]

Maybe they could design it in such a way that you can have multiple Santas running at once within the Towers. I'd dress it up as the Towers being Santa's workshop and have multiple doors where the elves are working.

Yes they already do this with the hotel guest Santa meets that take place in CBeebies, you can just about see the huts between the trees here.



They have always avoided Santa meets for day guests for whatever reason, perhaps it’s not easy to recruit enough Santas of the right calibre.

 

[AT86]

The opening hours for the park during the Christmas event have been published on the website.

It’s a reduction from the previous 10am-8pm.

Dates before Christmas are 10am-6pm, dates after Christmas and into the New Year are 10am-4pm.

Given there is a no market, Lightopia or entertainment outside of CBeebies this year I suppose that isn’t the biggest surprise.

However sunset is at 4pm at the time of year, so for those visiting between 27th December and 7th Jan there will be little to no opportunity to see the Towers St decorations in the dark.

 

[CoventryBee]

It’s really quite shocking just how quickly the Christmas event deteriorated!

Seems pointless going this year.

 

[Ash]

It’s shocking, look at events by similar parks on the continent. Efteling, Phantasialand and Europa Park and AT is miles and miles away in terms of offering.

Really enjoyed last couple of years but certainly won’t be bothering this year. It’s a time when arguably locals would be more wanted, but they’ve receded into hotels only and even that is whelming at best.

If this is what “365 park” “second to Disney” gets you, they’re deluded.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

It’s shocking, look at events by similar parks on the continent. Efteling, Phantasialand and Europa Park and AT is miles and miles away in terms of offering.

Really enjoyed last couple of years but certainly won’t be bothering this year. It’s a time when arguably locals would be more wanted, but they’ve receded into hotels only and even that is whelming at best.

If this is what “365 park” “second to Disney” gets you, they’re deluded.

It's possible that they're holding back this year and readying all of their plans for next, or the year after. These things can't be fixed in one season. The loss of Lightopia was out of their hands, the Market clearly want financially viable and with Hex presently down, it was probably better to scale back this year and reassess. Recent cap ex investments show that Towers do care, but it's a big vehicle. They're focussing on the events that are working and reconfiguring the ones that don't.

 

[AT86]

It's possible that they're holding back this year and readying all of their plans for next, or the year after. These things can't be fixed in one season. The loss of Lightopia was out of their hands

If Lightopia had gone bust in the last couple of weeks or something I would have more sympathy. As it stands, they have had the best part of a year to work on a replacement, so it’s pretty poor in my view.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

If Lightopia had gone bust in the last couple of weeks or something I would have more sympathy. As it stands, they have had the best part of a year to work on a replacement, so it’s pretty poor in my view.

With everything else combined, it might not have been worth it, or the plans to deliver something as good as, or better, require longer than 11 months or so worth of planning.

Having worked on large scale events, we're planning 24 months ahead. If you're outsourcing a certain element, like Lightopia, and they can't deliver, it would really throw you. Especially if your plans to bring things in house are scuppered a bit by it, or have to be accelerated.

I'm not saying that this is the case, I'm merely trying to offer alternatives to Merlin/Towers are awful and can't ever deliver anything. That rhetoric is getting tiresome and possibly a bit old. Best laid plans of mice and men oft go awry.

 

[GaryH]

Suppose it depends how well attended last years Christmas event was. After all it needs people to turn up and spend money to make it viable. I don’t think last years event was that well attended, and Christmas market traders won’t be wanting to waste their time and money on a stall which won’t get much custom if the place is quiet.

 

[Ash]

It's possible that they're holding back this year and readying all of their plans for next, or the year after. These things can't be fixed in one season. The loss of Lightopia was out of their hands, the Market clearly want financially viable and with Hex presently down, it was probably better to scale back this year and reassess. Recent cap ex investments show that Towers do care, but it's a big vehicle. They're focussing on the events that are working and reconfiguring the ones that don't.

I’m sorry but that’s jibbierish. They’re holding back because it’s rubbish?!

What about Drayton?

They’ve managed down at Warwick.

They could do better stalls, shows, open up the 4D cinema, projection mapping on the towers, skating rink, Christmas circus. Maybe a Christmas overlay of their brand new dark ride?! Or turn dungeons into a grotto ride (could be reasonably easily accomplished) using the lift space as Santa meet.

If they’ve got nothing to open it’s bad medium and long term planning, you can’t plan for a 365 opening and have no attractions that can do it.
Where’s the 4D cinemas? Flying theatres? Indoor stages? Indoor areas?

Events on the whole have stepped up, if this is all they want then fine. But don’t expect people to come back, pay top dollar, offering rubbish

 

[BarryZola]

One could also say that it's getting a bit tiresome that a fair few people are saying that although things are a bit rubbish with regards to some attractions and some events this year, that everything will be much better from next year because there is a new management team in place. Nobody knows this. Of course the noises they make will be positive, but we don't know if that will actually come to fruition yet. I don't think you can constantly make excuses for this year based on what supposedly might happen in the future.

 

[Ethan]

I'm not saying that this is the case, I'm merely trying to offer alternatives to Merlin/Towers are awful and can't ever deliver anything. That rhetoric is getting tiresome and possibly a bit old

You're not wrong there. Think enthusiasts aren't happy with whatever they do these days. It's merlin as a business that is "second to Disney" not towers individually. Towers is just one of many parks that Merlin own, the park alone doesn't determine how good Merlin is. Think its fair to say that Towers haven't had the best year, but that doesn't mean that the other Merlin parks haven't had a good season

 

[jon81uk]

I’m sorry but that’s jibbierish. They’re holding back because it’s rubbish?!

What about Drayton?

They’ve managed down at Warwick.

They could do better stalls, shows, open up the 4D cinema, projection mapping on the towers, skating rink, Christmas circus. Maybe a Christmas overlay of their brand new dark ride?! Or turn dungeons into a grotto ride (could be reasonably easily accomplished) using the lift space as Santa meet.

If they’ve got nothing to open it’s bad medium and long term planning, you can’t plan for a 365 opening and have no attractions that can do it.
Where’s the 4D cinemas? Flying theatres? Indoor stages? Indoor areas?

Events on the whole have stepped up, if this is all they want then fine. But don’t expect people to come back, pay top dollar, offering rubbish

Warwick Castle is a 364 day attraction and have been doing seasonal events for a very long time. 15 years ago I went there and they had an ice rink and other similar winter things. People expect them to have something happening. Whereas Alton Towers have succesfully been offering Santa Sleepovers and winter weekend openings for hotel guests only for almost twenty years. Therefore switching it so they offer something for day guests, when its not the whole park is hard, for a winter lights thing people may not wish to travel that far. I can see why AT have gone back to hotel guests only.

A lot of places have stopped doing temporary ice rinks now due to the increased power costs.
Running a market needs traders that are interested to sell and visitors that are interested in buying, I don't think AT is the right location for this, its great they tried it for a couple of years but I can see why it didn't work. Yes they could offer more, but if it doesn't make them money, but hotel stays do, then concentrating on hotel stays makes sense.


I was curious as to what AT used to offer in the past for winter.. From the wayback machine, I found the winter breaks for 2005. In November 2005, only Nemesis & Air was open 10.30-2.30 for hotel guests, plus the waterpark. Then in January & February 2006 it was Rita - Queen of Speed, Corkscrew, UG Swinger, Hex, Frog Hoppers, Vintage Cars, Bouncing Bugs & 2 Carousels, Winter Spectacular Ice show (Jan & Feb).
Thats a tiny amount of the park really!
Festive breaks (including Santa's Sleepover) in December 2005 had the winter ice show and "a selection of childrens rides" plus the waterpark and Santa's grotto, plus entertainment in the hotel.

Alton Towers Hotels - Festive Breaks

Alton Towers Hotels - short breaks. Stay at either of the hotels and take advantage of exclusive offers for guests.

web.archive.org

Alton Towers Hotels - Winter Breaks

Alton Towers Hotels - short breaks. Stay at either of the hotels and take advantage of exclusive offers for guests.

web.archive.org

So what they have been doing for the last eighteen years seems to work for them, so makes sense to continue.

 

[James]

Lightopia was a huge selling point and part of upscaling the event, when Lightopia fell into administration that no doubt threw a spanner into the works, and with a change in management there was really no hope for this years Christmas event becoming any bigger.

They would have had the choice of throwing something haphazardly together or keep in simple and run an event similar to previous years which has worked just fine.

I hope they explore upscaling the event again and explore a light show/lanterns trail again, even if more of this is done in-house. Like I’ve said before they should look at Longleat’s Festival of Lights event for inspiration, they manage to create a new theme every year with completely new lanterns and the scale of some of the lanterns is mind blowing.

 

[Ash]

The point I’m getting at is they aren’t building themselves the infrastructure to do it cheaper.

Indoor attractions (Cinema/4D cinema/dark ride/flying theatre)
Indoor shows/theatre
Better quality “stalls” that can be repurposed all year (see Efteling)
Permanent lighting
Permanent audio equipment
Lake fountain show
3D projected towers
Water screen
Land train for when the monorail isn’t running
Xmas overlay of Hex/Alton Manor?
More indoor sit down table service food establishments

Granted due to the weather and impacts on maintenance Alton will never be a true 365 park, but in their words, that’s what they want to be. To do that they need options Nov-Dec and Jan-March. To me that’s mostly indoor attractions, and get their maintenance done Jan-March where you use the other attractions/shows where possible.

Although considering the place struggles to keep the rooms tidy or serve a decent breakfast maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree.

There are things that can be done on a 1/3/5/10 year planning schedule to get to 365. An excellent winter event late Nov- mid Dec has to be part of that. At the moment I just don’t see it.

 

[Plastic Person]

Towers is expensive to operate, but the park is a trusted brand with thousands of beds, and festive events are generally a license to print money and begin a tradition with. To echo some of the posts above, it's bizarre that parks like Efteling, EP, Phantasialand and even Chessington, not to mention completely independent chains like Gullivers and animal parks like Chester Zoo and Longleat, have all been able to work this out. Meanwhile, Towers efforts have generally fluctuated and often completely downsized over the years.

 

[jon81uk]

The point I’m getting at is they aren’t building themselves the infrastructure to do it cheaper.

Indoor attractions (Cinema/4D cinema/dark ride/flying theatre)
Indoor shows/theatre
Better quality “stalls” that can be repurposed all year (see Efteling)
Permanent lighting
Permanent audio equipment
Lake fountain show
3D projected towers
Water screen
Land train for when the monorail isn’t running
Xmas overlay of Hex/Alton Manor?
More indoor sit down table service food establishments

Granted due to the weather and impacts on maintenance Alton will never be a true 365 park, but in their words, that’s what they want to be. To do that they need options Nov-Dec and Jan-March. To me that’s mostly indoor attractions, and get their maintenance done Jan-March where you use the other attractions/shows where possible.

Although considering the place struggles to keep the rooms tidy or serve a decent breakfast maybe we’re barking up the wrong tree.

There are things that can be done on a 1/3/5/10 year planning schedule to get to 365. An excellent winter event late Nov- mid Dec has to be part of that. At the moment I just don’t see it.

I think you are overestimating the public demand for winter events. I think most people still associate going to Alton Towers with rollercoasters. Although the park is doing something at the moment to add other types of rides I think a lot of people don't want to travel a long distance to a remote location when all the "big rides" are closed.

If people want outdoor light displays then there are many other companies already offering them such as https://luminate.live/ who have one at Shugborough in Staffordshire, which is easier to get to than AT. But others like Lightopia have gone bust and Wallsall stopped their Illuminations (which ran for over 60 years) 15 years ago as it wasn't making money anymore.
For markets I think there has been a shift recently away from buying "tat" as gifts, the more popular parts of the Birmingham Frankfurt market is the beer and mulled wine and the sausages. Same with Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, its about drinking and doing things not just buying and the gift stall areas have got smaller. With the cost of living stuff, practical stuff and memorable experiance is more important than another candle holder.

AT does need to re-open the 4D cinema and look at how it can better offer indoor experiences anyway. But I don't think there is actually a big demand for the park to be open to day guests in winter.
In terms of lighting I think most of the core area of the park that opens at Christmas (Towers St, CBeebies, Muntiny Bay) has permanent lighting now.

 

[GaryH]

I also think some forget that these other parks are much easier to get to. Towers is in the middle of the countryside and more affected by adverse weather than other parks. I’m not sure the demand is there for opening the park up in such a way during the winter months.