• ℹ️ Heads up...

    This is a popular topic that is fast moving Guest - before posting, please ensure that you check out the first post in the topic for a quick reminder of guidelines, and importantly a summary of the known facts and information so far. Thanks.

Controversial Alton Towers Opinions

AstroDan said:
I disagree with much of what you have said.

  • Gangsta Granny is indeed a fun little dark ride - the first couple of times you ride. However, due to the nature of the attraction, it's not rerideable in the slightest as unlike many dark rides - you are forced to focus on specific things - the cumbersome ride vehicles blocking any other view. Therefore, every ride is the same - you won't notice extra little details every time like you would have done with dark rides such as Haunted House, Toyland Tours, Hex etc.
  • The area suffers the same low-budget issues as was seen in the Ug Land/Dark Forest "retheme" when Th13teen opened. In other words, the capex goes on the new ride and the park are left to pick coins from behind the sofa for the area. The World of David Walliams is, quite honestly, shambolic. Not only is the car ride not even part of the area (!), the theatre is mothballed, there's a hired in funfair ride that the park don't even own and the rides that do remain are cheap and barely themed. The paintwork around the rea is dreadful - and is peeling in many areas. The 'major' dark ride in the area should have been what is now the Dungeons. Crazy.
  • The area has no food and beverage unit of note. Back during Cred Street/early Cloud Cuckoo Land days, there was the café serving hot and cold drinks, cakes, sandwiches and ice creams. This has gone,
The area is typical of the cheapness of many of Alton Towers/Merlin's recent developments in its resorts.

It's crap.
Click to expand...
This. This perfectly breaks down why the area is bad. The only positive thing I can think of is the paintwork done around Rajs Gift Shop which is actually pretty decent. But apart from that, we need a new area completely. Definitely agree with the lack of cafes and food stalls.

I think TWODW is the type of Area where you enter once and think 'oh, it's a bit tacky, but okay.' Then you never bother to visit it again.
 
Last edited:
Willemgorman1 said:
One of my opinions which i wouldn’t say is controversial i just don’t think many people would feel the same is that oblivions first drop isn’t actually that intense at all
Click to expand...

Oblivion’s drop is great, it does one thing (dropping you vertically face down very fast in to a big black hole) and does it very well. It’s not my favourite dive machine as an overall ride but it absolutely nails the drop.
 
Last edited:
Rick said:
I mean, he does only associate himself high quality projects like Come Fly With Me.
Click to expand...

Unlike that show, in particular, I don't believe his "themed" area was meant to be a spoof in any sense.
 
AstroDan said:
The area has no food and beverage unit of note. Back during Cred Street/early Cloud Cuckoo Land days, there was the café serving hot and cold drinks, cakes, sandwiches and ice creams. This has gone
Click to expand...
This is the only point I don’t agree with, I’m not sure a general food place is needed with burger kitchen so close, when there was an indoor play area it made more sense as it was somewhere for parents to get something while kids were playing.
What’s needed is more variety such as an special ice cream outlet or something more interesting. Effectively the cafe that was in Cloud Cuckoo land is now Little Explorers lunch box in CBeebies.
 
jon81uk said:
This is the only point I don’t agree with, I’m not sure a general food place is needed with burger kitchen so close, when there was an indoor play area it made more sense as it was somewhere for parents to get something while kids were playing.
What’s needed is more variety such as an special ice cream outlet or something more interesting. Effectively the cafe that was in Cloud Cuckoo land is now Little Explorers lunch box in CBeebies.
Click to expand...
There is no coffee shop anywhere near there, though.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
 
Also Burger Kitchen is inedible. So much empty real estate in Walliams World that could be used for such a purpose.
 
AstroDan said:
There is no coffee shop anywhere near there, though.

Sent from my SM-G991B using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
But there are plenty of places you can get a coffee. I don’t think another coffee shop is what the park is missing when plenty of kiosks and restaurants serve it. But there are food options missing such as fish and chips (was replaced with a coffee shop) and ice cream (Ben & Jerry and Nitrogenie removed). But Forbidden Valley, Mutiny Bay and Towers St have coffee shops and there are kiosks in multiple places.
Something like a fancy ice cream parlour would fit Walliams world better and offer a new option.
 
I feel Thirteen would have been better off in GW when first built and that GW needs a coaster to breath new life into it (not including the Duel overhaul).

Another controversial one that I might get pelters for is that of X-Sector gets a refresh, I'd like to see the supports for Oblivion and Smiler painted in orange and yellow respectively to give a bit more life. Might work fine with Smiler but the former will trigger PTSD for some over fantagate though honestly it might work...only saying this as I'm sick of all black/grey Merlin coasters and would like a little colour. Need to try a photoshop of Blivy with orange supports...
 
QTXAdsy said:
I feel Thirteen would have been better off in GW when first built
Click to expand...

That’s not a controversial opinion at all, I’d say that the vast majority of us probably share that view. It seems obvious from a thematic point of view that Thirteen would have fitted in so well alongside Duel /HH in Gloomy Woods. Indeed the whole idea of Thirteen’s theming seems to be that it’s a ride through a gloomy wood and in to a haunted crypt.
 
Shaggy_Dog_ said:
That’s not a controversial opinion at all, I’d say that the vast majority of us probably share that view. It seems obvious from a thematic point of view that Thirteen would have fitted in so well alongside Duel /HH in Gloomy Woods. Indeed the whole idea of Thirteen’s theming seems to be that it’s a ride through a gloomy wood and in to a haunted crypt.
Click to expand...
True, I mean that some enthusiasts like the way GW is right now being quite hidden and undisturbed and having a coaster there might ruin the area for some even if it meant an earlier overhaul of Duel/HH in exchange.

Now regarding Blivy with orange painted supports...that might be a little much for some.
 
Based on the rage on here about the recent demise of Enterprise, I’ve got a potentially very blasphemous Alton Towers opinion… while I don’t deny that the park could probably do with a new flat ride or two at this point, as well as a new dark ride in the form of the Dungeons boat ride reopening, I feel that the reduction of the non-coaster lineup at Alton Towers was overall a worthy price to pay for the strengthening of the coaster lineup.
 
Matt N said:
Based on the rage on here about the recent demise of Enterprise, I’ve got a potentially very blasphemous Alton Towers opinion… while I don’t deny that the park could probably do with a new flat ride or two at this point, as well as a new dark ride in the form of the Dungeons boat ride reopening, I feel that the reduction of the non-coaster lineup at Alton Towers was overall a worthy price to pay for the strengthening of the coaster lineup.
Click to expand...
There should be no correlation between Towers' non coaster lineup and its coaster lineup. I would take a strengthening of the coaster lineup over the strengthening of the non-coaster lineup, but there is no reason for Towers visitors to 'pay the price' for Towers improving their coaster lineup.
 
zeock said:
There should be no correlation between Towers' non coaster lineup and its coaster lineup. I would take a strengthening of the coaster lineup over the strengthening of the non-coaster lineup, but there is no reason for Towers visitors to 'pay the price' for Towers improving their coaster lineup.
Click to expand...
I’m not saying that there necessarily should be, but rightly or wrongly, there does seem to have been a negative correlation between the size of the coaster lineup and the size of the non-coaster lineup at Alton Towers for a number of years, possibly even a number of decades, now.

My point is that I feel that some non-coasters having been lost in favour of more coasters was a worthy sacrifice overall to gain a stronger coaster selection. For instance, I know that many say that removing The Flume in favour of Wicker Man was a regrettable action, but I absolutely think that losing that ride was a price worth paying to get Wicker Man.

I’ve also heard it said that some of the lost flat rides may have been indirectly “replaced” by coasters (in terms of things like maintenance bills and staffing). I also feel that that was, in many cases, a worthy sacrifice for us to be able to have a strong coaster selection.
 
Matt N said:
I’m not saying that there necessarily should be, but rightly or wrongly, there does seem to have been a negative correlation between the size of the coaster lineup and the size of the non-coaster lineup at Alton Towers for a number of years, possibly even a number of decades, now.

My point is that I feel that some non-coasters having been lost in favour of more coasters was a worthy sacrifice overall to gain a stronger coaster selection. For instance, I know that many say that removing The Flume in favour of Wicker Man was a regrettable action, but I absolutely think that losing that ride was a price worth paying to get Wicker Man.

I’ve also heard it said that some of the lost flat rides may have been indirectly “replaced” by coasters (in terms of things like maintenance bills and staffing). I also feel that that was, in many cases, a worthy sacrifice for us to be able to have a strong coaster selection.
Click to expand...
I agree with that. Whenever a flat ride has been lost to make way for a new coaster, the price has been worth paying.
 
Matt N said:
Based on the rage on here about the recent demise of Enterprise, I’ve got a potentially very blasphemous Alton Towers opinion… while I don’t deny that the park could probably do with a new flat ride or two at this point, as well as a new dark ride in the form of the Dungeons boat ride reopening, I feel that the reduction of the non-coaster lineup at Alton Towers was overall a worthy price to pay for the strengthening of the coaster lineup.
Click to expand...
What flat rides were removed or in any way contributed to the park getting more coasters?
Flume was replaced with Wickerman, Black Hole with Smiler, Corkscrew with Thirteen. Meanwhile Ripsaw, Boneshaker, Submission, Twirling Toadstool all replaced with nothing.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top