Fireworks

[Tim]

It was NOT all Pop Music.

To be honest I'm never sure what type of music is what nowadays. What I should have said is: "It's all that top of the charts stuff which is just the same tune played over and over again with no real meaning or passion behind it.” Or to put it another way the type of music that is very hard to time fireworks to because it all sounds the same.

That was my only disappointment about the event. The fireworks were great and the lasers impressive. If they’d just picked some more compelling music that you can actually time fireworks too I’m sure I would have left the show buzzing. As it was the show was 18 minutes of general fireworks + music then 2 minutes at the end of pure awesome when Hall of the Mounting King started playing.

For a first time viewer I really enjoyed it. But if you saw the 2010 display you’d have probably found this one lacking.

 

[Squiggs]

As it was the show was 18 minutes of general fireworks + music then 2 minutes at the end of pure awesome when Hall of the Mounting King started playing.

I can imagine that In the Hall of The Mounting King would have to be a fairly awesome piece of music to begin with!

 

[DiogoJ42]

Tonight's was better than last night's. The lasers looked much better due to the wind failing to disperse the smoke.
... But it was still dire.

 

[josht]

Tonight has been 100% better than last night, hopefully tomorrow is better. Standards have been going down hill for a long time

 

[TheMan]

Just watched the Video from last night - VERY glad I did not go! I was tempted I admit.

Next door just put a better one on ;D

No but seriously, why would not get in a serious pyro team, market the hell out of it all year, and create not just a 16 minutes show or whatever, but a full on massive event?

I have never been to an AT fireworks event, admittedly because I just have this impression of it being waaaaay too busy, but what I had in my head as to what they would do?

Well

It wasn't that.

 

[Spike]

'Ultimate' Fireworks

I had high hopes this year, mainly because of the sentimental value the fireworks hold to me as of last year. But they were very disappointing this year. The audio was a mess, the fireworks lazy & soundtrack was not as good as other years. It was a real let down to the 3 days.

As a firework enthusiast it was - again - oozing the 'Merlin way' as much effect with minimal cost. The fireworks were repetitive, not timed well, uninspiring & they missed a perfect opportunity to tease about SW7 having plastered the park & the Towers with logos. Thorpe Blast they dragged a fire truck over the lake and made wonders with lights and audio before blowing up said firetrack in homage to what was to come next year. I loved the Th13teen section a few years back and it shows what they really can do when they put their minds to it. The display was off the shelf yawns.

As the countries 'Number 1' Theme park they should be trying to out-do themselves year after year, instead of churning out the same old stuff each year.

 

[Thomas]

I went last night, set off after work and went for my first ever alone trip to Alton Towers. One of the things I first noticed was how good a vibe there was on park, be it the staff in the monorail station singing Katy Perry's firework, or the buzz as the lasers started up.

As far as the view, I stood on Towers Street to watch them, as I literally made it as soon as Peter Dickson started booming about 'ultimate this' and 'best ever that'. So having never seen an Alton Towers firework display I was kinda wondering what it was.

As far as music goes, one thing that stood out to me was the bass, how much and how deep it was. I know we can all sit here and complain that they used pop music, but it seemed to go down very well with people. As far as timings go, it was a bit like watching my Gran have a go on Just Dance!

I don't want to seem too negative though because it was worth seeing, it just felt like fireworks at Alton Towers, rather than Alton Towers fireworks if that makes sense? Whoever didn't project the smiley face or at least mention SW7 needs a kick up the bum!

 

[josht]

Well that's it for another year looking forward to some close season fun

 

[DaveW]

I have to admit that I quite liked the show this year, it was by no means as breath taking as the last two years but it was still a fantastic fireworks display!

I decided to keep an open mind about the show until I saw it as there was a lot of negativity about after the Friday show. And while I admit it lacked something I still enjoyed it. So firstly;

Music: The choice this year to go with generic pop music seemed to of polarised the enthusiast community. While it was by no means horrific it lacked the emotional effect of previously years. There was no part of it that made me feel anything. In the past songs like "greatest day" by Take That left people literally in tears while this year I don't think anyone was really moved by the show?

Pace: To me this year the show seemed like simple 'lets fire as many fireworks as we can as quickly as we can' the previous years with the show having 3 distinct parts seemed to give the whole show a feeling that you got more. This years seemed to just go really quickly. Even though it wasn't much different in length. The show also lacked the timing, last year fireworks went off notice to the music. While this time it seemed much more like a free for all.

Finale: I can't really fault this part of the show. As always the use of mountain king was fantastic. And was nice to see them go back to the full song as opposed to the hugely truncated version last year. The colours were good and the lasers were used well. My only real moan is ended. The music stopped and the fireworks kept going which seemed to defeat the point of the finale slightly?

Overall it was a great display. Far superior to anything you would see at a local firework display, but for me it wasn't an Alton towers fireworks display. It was missing something that made special.

 

[djtruefitt]

As a firework show it was very good, but didnt seem as good or as long as last years show. But overall it was pretty rubbish.

In the fireworks leaflet it says the preshow is 6.45-7.00pm, and last year there was a decent preshow with the people with the fire and the lasers. However this year we had one songs worth of lasers and then the show started (once again with the badly edited peter dickson voiceover from last year). Then once the show started it was just 15 minutes of constant pop music, its as if they had just bought the latest clubland CD and pressed play, there was way too many songs, you just couldnt keep up, there certainly wasnt any variety either, and most of the songs were pretty old as well, very little new music. Its like Alton have just gone to a fireworks company and said here is £xxxx give us a 15 minute show, thanks.

The lighting wasnt as good either, there was pretty much the same amount of lights around but they just didnt seemed to be used as much, and once the show ended they were just all left as purple, last year they had a variety of colours and moved around a bit.

Im fairly certainly there were alot less fireworks used this year and the show seemed shorter this year, all costcuttings I imagine.

And the bit I really cant belive is that there was no mention of SW7, not even a cheesy advert at the end or any thing what so ever, it just seemed a massive missed oppurtunity for Alton Towers.

 

[Rob]

Yes it was a bit of a let down, but just to point out as its really annoying me in people's reviews and thoughts....


It was NOT all Pop Music.

For the sake of argument and compared to 2011 and 2010, it basically was all pop. There was no variety in the music whatsoever until the end with ITHOTMK. Thankfully the fireworks did get better each night, but not enough to make them good.

I have just watched the 2011 fireworks again on YouTube and that really puts this year's into perspective. I got goose bumps watching 2011s just now on a laptop screen whereas I didn't really get any watching this year's fireworks live. The whole show worked so much better last year; there was a great variety of music, a better build up of fireworks and it was all timed so much better. However I would argue that the 2012 ending was better than the 2011 ending. There were also 4 extra lasers this year which was good.

I really do hope that the fireworks do return next year but I do fear about that after seeing how quiet the park was over the 3 days, you would have expected it to have been a lot busier than it was.

 

[AstroDan]

As a fireworks show, it was pretty good. But for Alton Towers? Nah.

Where's the special Alton Towers-ness? That show, aside from the (good) ending, could have been at Thorpe Park - or anywhere.

Whilst Electric Towers in 2006 didn't get the best reviews of any AT show ever, watching it puts into context what AT should be aiming for with their displays. Something truly special.

Whilst 2010 and 2011 were fairly "standard" - there was at least more elements of choreography and, with 2010 especially, 1/3 of the show was devoted to Th13teen - instantly adding more AT-ness to the proceedings.

The 2012 show was just poor remixed stuff for 18 minutes, with ITHOTMK bolted on to the end.

It just wasn't special and, after the weekend didn't seem so busy, I fear they'll scrap it entirely rather than trying to address the reasons why it was quiet.