Fireworks 2014

[BigDave]

I think they story isnt bad, but agree, it did start to get dull after a while. It just seemed to linger on a bit. The water projection I think was being massively effected by the smog being produced by the fireworks. At the start the image appeared crisp and clear, but after several hundred fireworks had created a cloud of smog, you couldn't see it. Audio seemed ok today, cannot talk for yesterday. It could have been a touch louder towards the back during the pre-show part.

The show overall was good, but not great like last year.

 

[smudge]

Wasn't quite as good as 2013, but still an amazing show.

I liked the 'dream' face on the water projection, but I couldn't even see anything apart from a blurred colour for the 'nightmare'.

ITHOTMK always brings a tear to my eye (I know ;'( ) but it didn't seem as effective this year. Although, one of their best shows for sure. Happy chappy.

 

[Dave]

I have to disagree about the audio quality on Friday - I was stood at the bottom of Towers Street and at several points, including the first half of the ITHOTMK finale, the audio was awful. It all sounded distorted and you could only hear parts of the bass sound. Also from this area you could only see the top half of the water screen.

Other than this however, I thought the show was excellent. There was less cringe and pop music than last year, and the overall display seemed a lot more cohesive and tasteful.

That's not the speaker system, that's because they are using a poor quality version of ITHOTMK. A good speaker system will make crap source audio sound worse than normal.

 

[James]

Fireworks Survey: http://survey.altontowers.com/s/Fireworks-2014

 

[Rob]

As always, the fireworks were top notch. It is important to say this first as Towers do always put on a brilliant display and they are arguably the market leaders in the whole of the theme park industry when it comes to a fireworks display.

I think I did enjoy the 2013 fireworks more though. The storyline based fireworks are much better than the mash-ups of music, yet you could tell that marketing had influenced it somewhat. There was no need to mention the word "resort" so much!

The fire was a great addition, although it was overused somewhat meaning that it lost its novelty.

I think the general consensus was that the first half of the show got a little boring (with some strange music choices that didn't really fit) but the second half was brilliant. There was some really nice fireworks timed with music towards the end. And of course you cannot beat an ITHOTMK finale.

Final point, I have no idea why they decided to use a peice of music so heavily associated with Disney. Felt very unoriginal and lacked creativity. Don't try and be something you are not, just stick at what you're good at!

 

[BigDave]

Yup total agree. First half kinda lacked any real purpose other than to market the park, but the second half was much better. The best bit was when the fireworks synced perfectly with the audio and I mean perfect, during the last nightmare bit . Every day it was the same too! Absolutely loved that bit.

 

[AtmosFear]

Does anyone have the current tracklist from this years event?

 

[TheMan]

Really disappointed to hear this pretty much contiguous reference to the first half sounding like an advert!

 

[Scott]

Really disappointed to hear this pretty much contiguous reference to the first half sounding like an advert!

Wouldn't really say the first half was particularly advert-y. If we go by that logic then the whole of 2013 was one giant advert as it was all about the coasters

 

[Rollercoasters4Life]

Must agree with what has been said about the Fireworks already above, I went on the Saturday night with the missus and have been going every year for the past 4 years - this years just weren't as good as other years. For one the story seemed a little lacklustre and in some spots just seemed as if it was there to fill in time. The fire effects, while good, were a little overused and the music used in some places just didn't gel well. Felt that there was some places where the flow just fell off completely and most people were just waiting for something to happen.

I loved last years 'Memories' fireworks and previous years but felt this years were a little bit of a let down. I have to say well done on them for adding new effects to the show this year though in the form of the water screen/projections and the fire machines though.

Hopefully next years can be improved on and still use said effect above. Also the Towers lit up at night! <3

 

[Rob]

No it wasn't an advert as such. You could just see and hear the influence that marketing had on it. You could argue that they tried to do what EP have done in some of their videos in the past (e.g. For Very Simple Reasons) yet they do not actually have the product to really back this style up.

 

[Scott]

Oh yeah I agree Rob, the word resort was chucked around quite a lot after all!

It's the trouble with any story-led show though. It's likely to revolve around dreams, wishes, rides, fantasies and so on as it's the easiest thing to go with in a theme park.

 

[Alastair]

I'm going to have to disagree with the majority on here. The display was, in my opinion, significantly better than last season's. The water projection screen was used excellently and created a focal point, adding much more to the storytelling. The choreography of the overall effects (fireworks, lights, lasers, flames) in a number of the sections was stunning, particularly in the trailer music section that used the Pfeifer Broz track. While the firework content this year was perhaps slightly less in comparison with last, the draw of the screen and other added effects more than made up for it. There seemed to be a little more creativity with the pyro also, with the fan angle of both the shells and single shots being extreme, and there was the use of some interesting and unique shells - the highlight being a big double burst bee effect shell (very exotic!).

The orchestral section was fantastic, and really evoked that sense of magic that you're supposed to feel in a theme park. I can't honestly believe people are complaining about it being similar to Disney - Disney is the ideal of the perfect theme park - how can you go wrong copying them? Would people really prefer a 20 minute themeless show set to pop music, as it used to be?

I have to applaud Towers for this year. The show as a whole was world class, uncomparable with any other theme park firework show I know about - and far better than Disney's shows (although granted they are every night).

 

[Rose Of Dawn]

"There is no place for you IN THIS RESORT!"

That is single handedly the most terrible, the most bizzare and the most unintentionally hilarious line I've ever heard in any professional production.

I enjoyed the fireworks, but I felt there was something missing. For a start, there weren't many loud bangs. It may sound daft, but the noise from fireworks do help it feel more grand. As pretty as they were, the lack of sound kinda killed the atmosphere a little. They also used the flame effects far too much - and too often the flames were by themselves. They looked great with the fireworks in the background, but we came to see a fireworks show - not a fire show!

The story was daft, and the overemphasise on stating Alton Towers is a 'resort' was clearly the choice of marketing and it felt weird. They should have left the whole 'dreams' thing vague, with only one or two references to the park/resort itself. Having a plot point that the Nightmare pumpkin lady thing came from people scared of the roller coasters felt forced. And I only need point to the rediculous quote at the top to see how weird this got.

But the fireworks themselves looked fantastic. The lights were great, and I was seriously impressed by the projection work. Watching it from Dean's Rock with everyone was definitely a great way to see the season out.

Well, that and riding Nemesis front row in the dark. That was truly awesome.

 

[TheMan]

I wish they'd do some late night openings during the season, maybe a Friday or something "After Work, After Dark". Couple that with some good hotel offers, get people in over a weekend.

That way more Nemesis, front row, dark lol

 

[Rob]

I can't honestly believe people are complaining about it being similar to Disney - Disney is the ideal of the perfect theme park - how can you go wrong copying them? Would people really prefer a 20 minute themeless show set to pop music, as it used to be?

You shouldn't just copy though. Take inspiration yes but don't just copy, it shows a lack of creativity and originality. Whenever I hear that piece of music it makes me think of Disney, apparently they use it in their shows and I believe they used it in TV ads for quite a while. No one said they want a "20 minute themeless show set to pop music". I just did not like that they used what I would call iconic Disney music.

 

[James]

Yeah, using iconic Disney music was a bit silly. Using music that sounds like that and is in that kind of style is fine enough (they've done it before). Although using a Disney piece that many people will have probably heard doesn't quite sit right in another theme park.

 

[BigDave]

This is just a fraction of the tunes used. Feel free to add some if you know them: Alton Towers' 2014 Ultimate firework spectactuar

Also my favorite bit in the entire show was the firework sync at about 19mins into this video:
This video doesn't really do the show justiice, as it looked much better further back.

 

[Imagination]

Well, I'm rather gutted Edward Scissor Hands didn't make an appearance.

 

[JAMMYD778]

Jubilee are well renowned for their pyromusical choreography so it does not surprise me that they have pulled off another amazing show! They always represent the UK at the International Phillipine Firework Championships!

As a first time attendee to the display this year, I was blown away. Yes it appears the firework quantity was less, and the use of fire and low level fireworks was a bit too much this year, it was still quite moving and the story did fill me with a sense of magic.