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Controversial Alton Towers Opinions

Alton Towers still seems to be among the Top 20 best theme parks in the world, despite the age of its attractions, some basic necessities lacking, and fallow 2010s (IMO, vaguely mirroring Walt Disney World).
 
Dark Forest is the worst area in Towers. The "Abandoned" theming just looks like an awful excuse for not doing any maintenance. The ambient music is just dreary & depressing. Rita just doesn't fit into the area. The throughput is just abismyl. The re-theme was such a downgrade from the racetrack VIBES it used to have for me and you couldn't beat TRRR blasting out rock & roll alongside the racetrack ambience on a sunny day. My one exception is that I do like Th13teen. I would rather have Ug Land over Dark Forest.
 
Stuntman707 said:
Dark Forest is the worst area in Towers. The "Abandoned" theming just looks like an awful excuse for not doing any maintenance.
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I think your opinion isn’t controversial at all!

Considering ‘gloomy wood’ , ‘haunted hollow’ and ‘dark forest’ are all basically ‘creepy woods with something paranormal going on’ and dark forest is so lazy in its execution (I’m thinking stuff like the Th13teen scaffolding), I totally agree with you.
 
Stuntman707 said:
Dark Forest is the worst area in Towers. The "Abandoned" theming just looks like an awful excuse for not doing any maintenance. The ambient music is just dreary & depressing. Rita just doesn't fit into the area. The throughput is just abismyl. The re-theme was such a downgrade from the racetrack VIBES it used to have for me and you couldn't beat TRRR blasting out rock & roll alongside the racetrack ambience on a sunny day. My one exception is that I do like Th13teen. I would rather have Ug Land over Dark Forest.
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Not really controversial, everyone says Dark Forest is the worst area of the park by far. There is a whole thread talking about how poor it is on here.
 
Most of the negative TrustPilot reviews on Merlin attractions seem to be posted by deranged "Karens", harmed by their absurdly high expectations and poor planning (add in the the appalling behaviour of a minority of Thorpe and Alton guests I keep hearing about next to Paultons' visitor demographs).

TripAdvisor and Google reviews seem more true to life and balanced, including the negative experiences shared.
 
I'm not sure if this would be deemed controversial. I'm all for permanent lighting, but I hate this recent spate of festoon lighting being placed here, there, and everywhere across the park. I find it lazy and generic. It's okay for the paths between areas, but when you actually enter areas, Alton Towers should aim higher with themed lighting to suit the area (or rides) surrounding it.
 
James said:
I'm not sure if this would be deemed controversial. I'm all for permanent lighting, but I hate this recent spate of festoon lighting being placed here, there, and everywhere across the park. I find it lazy and generic. It's okay for the paths between areas, but when you actually enter areas, Alton Towers should aim higher with themed lighting to suit the area (or rides) surrounding it.
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Completely agree with this, EG there is no need for such lights in forbidden Valley or the gloomy wood, detracts from the atmosphere
 
As a new 6ft fence between the Rita queue and the ride plaza appears (not a ride area)

Alton health and safety advisors need to give their heads a severe wobble.

Whoever they are listening to is literally killing the place

From the stupid monorail loading procedure, stupid fences by RMT, and the bridge by Katanga Canyon. The extra staff member by the rapids. The stupid supermarket flaps inside the nemesis station. Removing the head choppers on RMT.

It’s stupid, unnecessary and an utter waste of money.

I’ve said it before, but I’m calling it now. “New” hex will be like walking through the ruins in the middle of the day if these clowns have anything to do with it.
 
Ash said:
As a new 6ft fence between the Rita queue and the ride plaza appears (not a ride area)

Alton health and safety advisors need to give their heads a severe wobble.
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I suspect that is nothing to do with H&S directly, more to do with stopping queue jumping (and potential injury caused by doing that). So in one sense, guests only have themselves to blame for that one.
 
Steve74 said:
I suspect that is nothing to do with H&S directly, more to do with stopping queue jumping (and potential injury caused by doing that). So in one sense, guests only have themselves to blame for that one.
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Was it that much of an issue?

May need to edit the rather ranty post!
 
Skyscraper said:
Yes, it was. Queue jumping was rife in that area and that is why the fence has been heightened.
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Not just queue jumping, but queue ‘leaving’ as well! Was in the queue for Rita a few weeks ago when it experienced technical difficulties, and the op had to keep announcing not to jump the fence in question, but to use the ride entrance instead to leave the queue!! Some people just have no common sense sometimes …
 
LPW said:
presuming you're talking about the staff member stationed at the waterfalls, I'd argue that given a certain event at another Staffs theme park makes this the complete opposite of stupid and unnecessary?
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Yes. And not really, why not have them around the rest of the ride? Or just remove it entirely and get rid of the risk. The ride functioned for 25? Years without issue. It’s a good bank of evidence that no likely issue existed or exists.
 
Ash said:
Yes. And not really, why not have them around the rest of the ride? Or just remove it entirely and get rid of the risk. The ride functioned for 25? Years without issue. It’s a good bank of evidence that no likely issue existed or exists.
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rapids rides are probably the most dangerous rides at a theme park (doesn't mean they are unsafe, this is in comparison to rollercoasters) so I fully understand why they did this, one person gets into the water and those rapids can be hard to swim against, and it normally takes up to 3-4 mins (depending on length and size of the rapids) for all the current to leave once the ride is e-stopped, and stuff can go wrong quick, if one bladder gets punctured it could lead to the boat getting stuck, which can lead to guests trying to get off or if another boat crashes into it it could eventually cause the boat to flip.
 
This will be controversial, and I didn't want to come to that conclusion until I'd visited again today. But, in my opinion, 2024 has been the worst season for Alton Towers since I started visiting in 1988.

In the past, it probably would have been a toss-up between 2016 and 2017, with 2019 and 2023 not far behind. It was probably still 2017 at the beginning of this year. During that period, we saw massive lineup cuts, food closures, no events at all outside of Scarefest and fireworks, some of the shortest opening hours ever, and the park was absolutely hanging through years of underinvestment. This year by comparison, we have Alton Manor, Sub Terror back, Gangster Granny, an extra event, and street entertainment.

However, some things have not improved at all. Some did but have now been completely reversed. At least then you could buy an edible and affordable burger. There were staggered openings, but how is that different to the poor availability first thing in the morning now? Hex returned in 2017. Enterprise still existed. When it was open, you could walk around the Towers for free. The hotels were better. The Spa was still open. The Skyride was still open. The monorail was functional. Ride availability was better, and if something broke down whilst you queued you got a complimentary fast track. There was a better ERT offering. Cloud Cuckoo land was bereft of attractions, but visually looked far better than Walliams World. And because the park was so dead, at least you could walk on virtually anything on a quiet day.

Although many of the parks current problems are routed in this era, I accept, for the guest on the ground, I can't think of a season when you've paid so much to do so little? I've personally never had such a miserable experience at Towers as I have my visits this season.
 
Ash said:
Yes. And not really, why not have them around the rest of the ride? Or just remove it entirely and get rid of the risk. The ride functioned for 25? Years without issue. It’s a good bank of evidence that no likely issue existed or exists.
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The bank of evidence is there, as are professional assessors of risks to health and safety...but some thoosies know better!
Rapids are dangerous and a kid died within thirty miles of the Towers, quite recently.
Recent fatal incident in Australia... kids ear ripped off at Thorpe early on.
Lots of other examples of issues over the years.
The waterfalls are an issue because people stand to avoid getting splashed, not an issue in other areas, so staff aren't needed elsewhere.
 
Matt.GC said:
This will be controversial, and I didn't want to come to that conclusion until I'd visited again today. But, in my opinion, 2024 has been the worst season for Alton Towers since I started visiting in 1988.

In the past, it probably would have been a toss-up between 2016 and 2017, with 2019 and 2023 not far behind. It was probably still 2017 at the beginning of this year. During that period, we saw massive lineup cuts, food closures, no events at all outside of Scarefest and fireworks, some of the shortest opening hours ever, and the park was absolutely hanging through years of underinvestment. This year by comparison, we have Alton Manor, Sub Terror back, Gangster Granny, an extra event, and street entertainment.

However, some things have not improved at all. Some did but have now been completely reversed. At least then you could buy an edible and affordable burger. There were staggered openings, but how is that different to the poor availability first thing in the morning now? Hex returned in 2017. Enterprise still existed. When it was open, you could walk around the Towers for free. The hotels were better. The Spa was still open. The Skyride was still open. The monorail was functional. Ride availability was better, and if something broke down whilst you queued you got a complimentary fast track. There was a better ERT offering. Cloud Cuckoo land was bereft of attractions, but visually looked far better than Walliams World. And because the park was so dead, at least you could walk on virtually anything on a quiet day.

Although many of the parks current problems are routed in this era, I accept, for the guest on the ground, I can't think of a season when you've paid so much to do so little? I've personally never had such a miserable experience at Towers as I have my visits this season.
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I agree.
On my only visit this year, the ride I went for was "unavailable", the first ride I tried to go on didn't open, and because of access issues due to the extremely objectionable lengthy closure of the skyride, I was left with little option but leaving at 2pm.
Distinctly average.
£21 total cost, very average value for money for what I got.
No season pass purchased following my visit.
 
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