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Christmas Season 2024

AT86

AT86

TS Member
I know, it's only June - don't come for me. However I noticed Alton Towers were advertising auditions for the panto on their jobs Instagram story today so I imagine plans for the season are well advanced.

It is safe to say last years event was sub optimal with the scrapping of the market, Lightopia, garden light walk and all entertainment outside of CBeebies. Given the uptick we have seen in events so far this year I would hope things will improve in 2024.

There isn't much, if any detail on this event yet - the website is just a holding page really. However it does confirm one thing - the event will seemingly finish on 31st December which is a reduction over the past few years - they usually run the event for the first week in Jan too but this seems to have been cut back.

www.altontowers.com

Christmas at Alton Towers Resort

Get ready to enjoy a magical festive day out at Alton Towers Resort, with specially selected rides ideal for families
www.altontowers.com www.altontowers.com

Beyond that, the only other bit of info I have seen is that the permission for the stage on the lawns has been extended, and this includes the ability for them to relocate it to Fountain Square during the winter.

I feel it would be a good development should they move the stage - as making Fountain Square the 'hub' of this event could work well compared to the bottom of Towers St/the lawns. It is a more sheltered location for a start, better for the weather at that time of year. It is close to indoor seated food locations (Woodcutters and Burger Kitchen) which were also lacking last year and could also give space for some outdoor stalls/firepits/decorations to go alongside the entertainment in more intimate area that might not make it as obvious that the scale is not as big as when the market was first introduced.

What would the Towers St folks like to see for the event this year?
 
I would assume the market won't return, my guess is that stallholders probably didn't make that many sales and they struggled to fill the market. Realistically I think the event will expand slightly again (maybe add garden lights back), but the focus will continue to be on Santa's Sleepovers still as that's where the money is.
 
It really shouldn’t be difficult to do this.

It needs:
1) Xmas market stalls
2) Interesting Food and drink offering
3) Indoor space to sit and drink/eat (Towers St Family Restaurant/Conference Suite/Welcom-Inn/The Towers Suite/Crux?)
4) Walking light show and/or night time fireworks/laser/water show
5) Indoor rides be available: Hex, SBR, GG, 4D cinema (holding out hope), TCAAM Christmas overlay?
6) Santa Meet n Greet
7) Monorail open/land train available/lit path/closer car parks used
8) Ice rink on the lawns
9) Towers lit up/projection mapped

What’s missing:
Large Indoor show space (Efteling theatre)
More indoor attractions
Indoor sit down, decent, dining on the RHS of the park
Reusable nighttime show setup

Charge one price for entry (£10-20) with all things included (other than ice skating)

Being outdoors, stood still, for prolonged periods in the UK, in November and December, is a stupid idea. Especially people with kids.

Make the most of all the indoor space, which Alton seems to refuse to want to do. It’s just nuts
 
AT86 said:
I know, it's only June - don't come for me. However I noticed Alton Towers were advertising auditions for the panto on their jobs Instagram story today so I imagine plans for the season are well advanced.

It is safe to say last years event was sub optimal with the scrapping of the market, Lightopia, garden light walk and all entertainment outside of CBeebies. Given the uptick we have seen in events so far this year I would hope things will improve in 2024.

There isn't much, if any detail on this event yet - the website is just a holding page really. However it does confirm one thing - the event will seemingly finish on 31st December which is a reduction over the past few years - they usually run the event for the first week in Jan too but this seems to have been cut back.

www.altontowers.com

Christmas at Alton Towers Resort

Get ready to enjoy a magical festive day out at Alton Towers Resort, with specially selected rides ideal for families
www.altontowers.com www.altontowers.com

Beyond that, the only other bit of info I have seen is that the permission for the stage on the lawns has been extended, and this includes the ability for them to relocate it to Fountain Square during the winter.

I feel it would be a good development should they move the stage - as making Fountain Square the 'hub' of this event could work well compared to the bottom of Towers St/the lawns. It is a more sheltered location for a start, better for the weather at that time of year. It is close to indoor seated food locations (Woodcutters and Burger Kitchen) which were also lacking last year and could also give space for some outdoor stalls/firepits/decorations to go alongside the entertainment in more intimate area that might not make it as obvious that the scale is not as big as when the market was first introduced.

What would the Towers St folks like to see for the event this year?
Click to expand...
Covid year the stage was moved to fountain square and was good. Unfortunately the event didn’t really happen as planned. But ever since then the event has been a bit dead past Towers Street.

Personally I would move the stage and put the pano on there and make it open to all rather then just hotel guests. I visited the panto last year and there was only about 20 people watching it in the massive conference centre.

I would then leave the stage on fountain square for the start of the season as well and have some ents on there until it’s moved to the grass in the summer.
 
I've just had a slightly out-of-body experience attempting to work out if I'm now just seeing cuts everywhere I look - like I close my eyes and see cuts.

However... I don't think I'm wrong in saying that the dates for the Christmas event have been cut. At the start of the season, Christmas was being advertised as selected dates from the 22nd November, but at some point it has switched and is now selected dates from the 29th November. In the great scheme of things it is much of a muchness, as who actually wants to see Santa in mid November, but still. What a year!
 
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Our local Saturday meet up pub had all the bar staff in Christmas pyjama onesies to promote their festive meals...
In September.
The staff did not appear happy, as one pointed out, "The bosses won't clucking wear them."
 
Squiggs said:
I've just had a slightly out-of-body experience attempting to work out if I'm now just seeing cuts everywhere I look - like I close my eyes and see cuts.

However... I don't think I'm wrong in saying that the dates for the Christmas event have been cut. At the start of the season, Christmas was being advertised as selected dates from the 22nd November, but at some point it has switched and is now selected dates from the 29th November. In the great scheme of things it is much of a muchness, as who actually wants to see Santa in mid November, but still. What a year!
Click to expand...
Do you think this pushback is related to the private bookout by RunThrough, on the weekend of the 16th and 17th November, leaving little downtime to turnaround from one event to another?
 
I think everything is just pushed back a week, Fireworks is 8-10 November which is a week later than last year, hence the running weekend is later. They probably just need more time to reset the park.
 
Christmas info for day visitors has gone up on the website.

Ride wise it’s CBeebies Land, Mutiny Bay and Sealife. No Walliams World this year.

Edit: actually the website seems to contradict itself and one section states Walliams World is open, but further down it’s not included in the list of open rides, so who knows? 🤷‍♂️

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However there is new entertainment which is a step up from 2023.

Hours wise it’s 10-4pm except Saturday’s and Christmas week when it’s 10-5pm, which is a small improvement on last year.

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www.altontowers.com

Christmas at Alton Towers Resort

Get ready to enjoy a magical festive day out at Alton Towers Resort, with specially selected rides ideal for families
www.altontowers.com www.altontowers.com
 
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Ethan said:
The worst Christmas event towers have done
Click to expand...
They never used to allow day guests at all. The current event is pretty similar to the Santa's Sleepover event thats been running for 10-15 years, just they have added a show on the stage in the courtyard and are allowing day guests. Can't see why this would be the worst ever done when its pretty similar to many many other Santa Sleepover events they did.

Yes during the pandemic times and just after they tried something new but it just didn't attract enough day guests to be viable. Market traders won't come if people aren't there to buy the stuff. Lightopia went bust and those sort of events are not happening as often as they used to at many places.
If AT tried a bigger event but found they were not getting enough day guests (note not annual passholders) to make it viable, it makes sense to stick with the tried and tested event they have done for a long time focusing on the Santa's Sleepover hotel stays.
 
It seems to me it’s definitely going back steps as the years go on, a few years back we had Hex. Duel, Walliams and spinball which have now all gone. As well as entertainment, Lightopia and the Christmas markets.

This new event just seems like the feb half term pirate event rethemed to Christmas.
 
One can only hope that the exclusion of The Wonderful World of David Walliams is because the area is being targeted for redevelopment over the closed season, or is necessary to assist with Horizon construction.

Wishful thinking, I know, but miracles can happen at Christmas.
 
It felt like they were hitting the mark in terms of the events and content in the last few years. Christmas 2021/2022 and Mardi Gras into 2023 were great; same for Oktoberfest last year. Horrendously scaled back or butchered altogether. A crying shame really.
 
djtruefitt said:
It seems to me it’s definitely going back steps as the years go on, a few years back we had Hex. Duel, Walliams and spinball which have now all gone. As well as entertainment, Lightopia and the Christmas markets.

This new event just seems like the feb half term pirate event rethemed to Christmas.
Click to expand...
Back in 2017 the website only mentions CBeebies and select attractions for Christmas https://web.archive.org/web/20171207031728/https://www.altontowers.com/christmas
I think that yes Hex was often available, but I don't think the selection of rides for Santa's Sleepover was ever much bigger than CBeebies and Mutiny Bay?

Danny said:
It felt like they were hitting the mark in terms of the events and content in the last few years. Christmas 2021/2022
Click to expand...

With Lightopia going bust I just don't think AT see themselves having enough paying (ie not passholders) guests interested in a day out in the Winter. I doubt the market stallholders made a lot of money. It was worth them testing the larger event in 2021/22 when they had to offer more outdoor things due to the pandemic, but longer term the money is in the hotel stays, which have been the main part of their winter/Christmas offering for the last 20 years.
 
I feel there's potential in an expanded winter event for day guests, but given the issues during the main season, it’s best they concentrate on that before exploring new endeavours.

It feels like they want to keep playing it safe. An expanded event comes with costs and risks that current management simply won’t (and cannot) take/afford.
 
Not sure if there’s anything that would draw you to this event which meant you had to travel a while to get there.

What has towers got to offer more than your local shopping centre has?

These days they normally have fair ground rides and a grotto.
 
Christmas overlay of Hex seems a missed opportunity…

As others have said Xmas 2021 felt a real high bar. Granted I caught in the weekend with the snow and it was idillic.

The markets, spinball, shows, themed food and Bev with places to sit, the band, the gardens covered in snow, lightopia, indoor rides, garden walk, the park actually allowed to be open in the snow, decorations and a water screen on the lake.

Problem was, nobody knew about it, the marketing team did an awful job but it was a good event.

The following year was a total damp squib and lo and behold we didn’t go. There’s plenty of appetite out there for Xmas events for all ages.

The Trafford centre, Trentham Gardens, Churnet Valley Railway Polar Express, Lichfield cathedral, national memorial arboretum, Drayton manor, all on the doorstep for people around Alton. It’s cold, wet, dark and you want people of all ages young to old travel 30 mins minimum to get to your event. Why should they? You need a decent offering! Indoor F&B, good attractions, spaces to get warm, things for all ages, things you can’t do other times of year. They can deliver all these things, but it needs a 5 year plan and investment.

Alton have a literal space designed for events, that should be built on year on year. They did it with fireworks, they did it with scarefest, there’s no reason they can’t do it with Xmas.

But they have to be consistent. If you change it up dramatically year on year you lose trust with the public. A bit like £50 annual passes.

As I’ve said, im quick to jump on Alton when it’s bad, but they got this spot on. The events team have stepped up their game post covid. However clearly in recent years it’s gone backwards. For me, I’d scrap Oktoberfest and move Festival of Thrills to summer.

I do think this time of year though the stage moved to the towers may be better. (A permanent indoor space would still be best)

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