Graeme
TS Member
Full disclosure on this trip. Visited from Friday 13th to Sun 15th October 2023
I used to be a regular visitor to Alton, at least 3-4 times a year and would always stay in their hotels. My last visit prior to this report was 7 years ago. I haven’t visited since as I believed the place had gone to the dogs.
Shared a moon voyager room with 2 other adult friends and paid £60 each per night for 2 nights. Paid £45 for a 2 day ticket and also purchased a 4 maze scare ticket for £28ish with a friend’s pass holder discount.
So we arrived at the hotel around 10.00 on the Friday. The thing that struck me straight away was hunting for a car parking space. I really don’t know how the hotels cope with that many rooms across the sites. Anyway, parked up and went towards the monorail. Fail. Why doesn’t this thing hardly ever work? Oh yeah because it’s so old and poorly maintained.
Anyway, we went through the hotel guest entrance. Found this a nice touch and a change from my previous visit. Was a little chaotic and waited 20 minutes to get in. There was clear signs saying it was only for hotel guests but we saw many having to do “The walk of shame” as they were day guests. If they’re going to keep using this entrance, they need to make a more permanent structure for security. It’s not a very enticing entrance at all.
Anyway, once in, had a look over Nemesis and I really like the black. It’s a much needed refresh and it’s going to add a lot to forbidden valley…..more on Galactica later.
Headed over to X sector to ride Oblivion. The mix of the smiler music, Oblivion Music and Taylor Swift from the temp ride was interesting. Perhaps turn the music down on Smiler and whatever that abomination is at the bottom of X sector. It’s way too confused and mixed up.
I still love Oblivion as a ride. Was great to see all airgates in use and staff really working fast to get shuttles out. Big shoutout to the Oblivion team. The queue line is looking very tired again, but nice to see the TV’s on. They need to turn the audio up on these and the soundtrack to bring back some atmosphere though. Restraints and shuttles could do with a good refurb. Hopefully in 4 years
. What a ridiculous exit to a ride though, past some photo sales and into an arcade. Thought I’d been transported to Blackpool.
Tried out Gangster Granny….turns out this is what you get when you buy a Universal ride from wish.com. You can literally see the thought process of “we like that technology but how can we do it cheap”. Et Voila….you have Gangster Granny! Basically a drive through cinema! I’m sure the young kids would like it though, interesting to see if they keep the I.P and for how long.
The Curse of Alton Manor next. This is a VAST improvement on Duel, it’s a much better ride. That’s been said time and time again on here. The queuline, Easter eggs and roaming actors were all fantastic. I especially liked the fog at night. Indoor queuline/preshow? Was a nice spruce up too and the UV effects were good. The ride experience is a bit hit and miss though in terms of timings on effects. On the Friday the timings were off but more improved on the Saturday. Overall the ride was OK. It’s certainly not OMG that was amazing, like some reviews I’ve seen. There’s still “dead spaces” no pun intended and I find the strobes straight in face wholly offensive. I worry about their over use of screens. Nice little ride and no real complaints on it, especially for what it is which is a retheme. I’m not sure how family friendly it is either. Or even if it’s supposed to be?!?
On to Wickerman. Legitimately, put this in any theme park across Europe and it would fit. It’s a real quality addition. This has really been thought out in terms of the terrain and the off ride views of the ride. The queue line is far from boring and the effects on big bob (albeit no fire) were really good. The ride experience itself was much better than it looks off ride. The first drop and the little pops of airtime was totally unexpected. Also all the pops as you go through Bob, I really enjoyed it. Preshow let it down though on my first ride. I was crammed up to the yellow line on instruction from staff and I couldn’t see the screen. I don’t know why they haven’t installed flame effects behind the wicker basket to make it seem like it’s been set alight. Seems like an easy opportunity. The Ops on this were superb and they were getting through trains fairly quickly. This was the real surprise of the trip, a good coaster.
Thirteen and Rita just need bulldozed. That whole area of the Dark Forest just has nothing about it at all.
Rapids were the Rapids. Didn’t really get wet and the constant “please remain seated” every 20 seconds topped with a soundtrack on a 10 second loop just made the whole experience rubbish.
Galactica just needs a complete retheme. They should’ve changed it back to air when the VR was removed. Nothing space themed about it. One measly portal doesn’t make it themed. This should be rethemed to some sort of Phalanx fighting aircraft for Nemesis next year. I still enjoy the ride experience, the woman on the screens makes no sense and that tunnel on the airline is HORRIFIC.
Scaremazes.
The Invitation - Having never done it before, I didn’t know what to expect. They’ve gone for a psychological type approach, I get that. Sat in the dark for 10 minutes and squirted with water is not a scare experience. This was utter crap. They could at least have false walls behind people or even leg ticklers or something. Just anything.
Mine Tours - Quite amusing with some bits of nice theming. Appeared that there should’ve been a lot more actors on our run through. Was average.
The Attic - Played to their strengths like they used to with TOTT. Really felt like you were going up to the attic and the actors were fairly good. Didn’t find it “scary” and even the 7 year old lad in our group was back chatting the actors. Really liked this for the theming but was underwhelming.
Darkest Depths - This was the strongest maze in terms of theming, smell pods and overall experience. Was very well done….until the man in the Kracken mask at the end. Rubbish finale.
Park presentation for Scarefest was really atmospheric in places. I love the fact they have lots of fog tubes everywhere. Lighting needs to be improved on The Smiler as it was non existent. Wickerman looked great as it was at night, ride great at night too. The fog in The curse queue was phenomenal, as was the lighting. Some of the pathways, especially at the side of the Towers were too dark.
So moving back to the Hotel. The self check in desks are more faff then they’re worth. My friend who booked didn’t have the QR code sent to him. We were then sent to wait in a queue by one man “go and see my colleague”. Then another party walked in with the same issue. The staff member that asked us to wait for his colleague then proceeded to check them in. Brilliant customer service!
The hotels haven’t changed since I last visited. One thing I did notice was the state of the carpets in the hallways. The one in the lift had a huge stain on it. The carpet outside the “Arctic explorer” rooms appeared to have sand, although it was meant to be snow. Shows how dirty they are. Room was ok, fairly clean except for the top of the bunkbeds that were really dusty. I think it’s time to remove the bathtubs in the rooms and have a walk in shower.
Breakfast was well below average. I’ve had better breakfasts at a premier inn. Sausages were half cooked, hash browns over cooked and pastries were soggy and chewy. Putting ice in “fresh” apple juice and orange juice is just criminal.
The bar in the hotel doesn’t handle queues that well. Often it was a 15 minute wait to get a drink. Some of the time I didn’t even bother. Didn’t eat in the Hotels as I had read reviews and the menu seemed very expensive.
Food options across the resort is very limited in terms of variety. Tried to get in to woodcutters and it was a 20 minute wait then another 45 mins for food, stuff that. I like what they’ve done with food trucks on the lawns. More variety is needed in these and maybe some kind of tent with seating in it as well as the outdoor benches. I love that they’ve done this and I would imagine it makes a very good place to sit in the sun.
Anyway, has the resort improved since my last visit? In terms of rides, Yes. Wickerman is a great addition and The Curse is a much needed retheme. In terms of experience and value for money, No. It lacks any kind of character and magic. The hotels have stood still in time and food and beverage options are rubbish. The hotel is showing its age around the edges, it’s time to modernise it.
The monorail is an utter abomination too. As a first impression of a park, it’s terrible. Leaking skylights and scratched up Vinyls over the windows blocking views out. This needs a massive investment.
Having read this post back, it all seems very negative. For the price I paid, I found it fairly ok. I did have an enjoyable 2 days at the park but I think that was more about catching up with old mates and having a laugh and a giggle. I left as a satisfied customer, not an excited customer ready to plan their next visit.
Staff were very hit and miss, some were great and engaging, some who appeared to be managers walked past me in a corridor and didn’t even say Hello.
Certainly not a bad trip. The mazes were a good laugh and it was nice to get on the rides again. I won’t be bothering with the 4 and a half hour car journey again anytime soon.
I worry for their new addition, from the recent trend, I’d be willing to bet it will incorporate poorly executed screen effects.
Didn’t Hate the place. Didn’t love it.
I used to be a regular visitor to Alton, at least 3-4 times a year and would always stay in their hotels. My last visit prior to this report was 7 years ago. I haven’t visited since as I believed the place had gone to the dogs.
Shared a moon voyager room with 2 other adult friends and paid £60 each per night for 2 nights. Paid £45 for a 2 day ticket and also purchased a 4 maze scare ticket for £28ish with a friend’s pass holder discount.
So we arrived at the hotel around 10.00 on the Friday. The thing that struck me straight away was hunting for a car parking space. I really don’t know how the hotels cope with that many rooms across the sites. Anyway, parked up and went towards the monorail. Fail. Why doesn’t this thing hardly ever work? Oh yeah because it’s so old and poorly maintained.
Anyway, we went through the hotel guest entrance. Found this a nice touch and a change from my previous visit. Was a little chaotic and waited 20 minutes to get in. There was clear signs saying it was only for hotel guests but we saw many having to do “The walk of shame” as they were day guests. If they’re going to keep using this entrance, they need to make a more permanent structure for security. It’s not a very enticing entrance at all.
Anyway, once in, had a look over Nemesis and I really like the black. It’s a much needed refresh and it’s going to add a lot to forbidden valley…..more on Galactica later.
Headed over to X sector to ride Oblivion. The mix of the smiler music, Oblivion Music and Taylor Swift from the temp ride was interesting. Perhaps turn the music down on Smiler and whatever that abomination is at the bottom of X sector. It’s way too confused and mixed up.
I still love Oblivion as a ride. Was great to see all airgates in use and staff really working fast to get shuttles out. Big shoutout to the Oblivion team. The queue line is looking very tired again, but nice to see the TV’s on. They need to turn the audio up on these and the soundtrack to bring back some atmosphere though. Restraints and shuttles could do with a good refurb. Hopefully in 4 years
. What a ridiculous exit to a ride though, past some photo sales and into an arcade. Thought I’d been transported to Blackpool.Tried out Gangster Granny….turns out this is what you get when you buy a Universal ride from wish.com. You can literally see the thought process of “we like that technology but how can we do it cheap”. Et Voila….you have Gangster Granny! Basically a drive through cinema! I’m sure the young kids would like it though, interesting to see if they keep the I.P and for how long.
The Curse of Alton Manor next. This is a VAST improvement on Duel, it’s a much better ride. That’s been said time and time again on here. The queuline, Easter eggs and roaming actors were all fantastic. I especially liked the fog at night. Indoor queuline/preshow? Was a nice spruce up too and the UV effects were good. The ride experience is a bit hit and miss though in terms of timings on effects. On the Friday the timings were off but more improved on the Saturday. Overall the ride was OK. It’s certainly not OMG that was amazing, like some reviews I’ve seen. There’s still “dead spaces” no pun intended and I find the strobes straight in face wholly offensive. I worry about their over use of screens. Nice little ride and no real complaints on it, especially for what it is which is a retheme. I’m not sure how family friendly it is either. Or even if it’s supposed to be?!?
On to Wickerman. Legitimately, put this in any theme park across Europe and it would fit. It’s a real quality addition. This has really been thought out in terms of the terrain and the off ride views of the ride. The queue line is far from boring and the effects on big bob (albeit no fire) were really good. The ride experience itself was much better than it looks off ride. The first drop and the little pops of airtime was totally unexpected. Also all the pops as you go through Bob, I really enjoyed it. Preshow let it down though on my first ride. I was crammed up to the yellow line on instruction from staff and I couldn’t see the screen. I don’t know why they haven’t installed flame effects behind the wicker basket to make it seem like it’s been set alight. Seems like an easy opportunity. The Ops on this were superb and they were getting through trains fairly quickly. This was the real surprise of the trip, a good coaster.
Thirteen and Rita just need bulldozed. That whole area of the Dark Forest just has nothing about it at all.
Rapids were the Rapids. Didn’t really get wet and the constant “please remain seated” every 20 seconds topped with a soundtrack on a 10 second loop just made the whole experience rubbish.
Galactica just needs a complete retheme. They should’ve changed it back to air when the VR was removed. Nothing space themed about it. One measly portal doesn’t make it themed. This should be rethemed to some sort of Phalanx fighting aircraft for Nemesis next year. I still enjoy the ride experience, the woman on the screens makes no sense and that tunnel on the airline is HORRIFIC.
Scaremazes.
The Invitation - Having never done it before, I didn’t know what to expect. They’ve gone for a psychological type approach, I get that. Sat in the dark for 10 minutes and squirted with water is not a scare experience. This was utter crap. They could at least have false walls behind people or even leg ticklers or something. Just anything.
Mine Tours - Quite amusing with some bits of nice theming. Appeared that there should’ve been a lot more actors on our run through. Was average.
The Attic - Played to their strengths like they used to with TOTT. Really felt like you were going up to the attic and the actors were fairly good. Didn’t find it “scary” and even the 7 year old lad in our group was back chatting the actors. Really liked this for the theming but was underwhelming.
Darkest Depths - This was the strongest maze in terms of theming, smell pods and overall experience. Was very well done….until the man in the Kracken mask at the end. Rubbish finale.
Park presentation for Scarefest was really atmospheric in places. I love the fact they have lots of fog tubes everywhere. Lighting needs to be improved on The Smiler as it was non existent. Wickerman looked great as it was at night, ride great at night too. The fog in The curse queue was phenomenal, as was the lighting. Some of the pathways, especially at the side of the Towers were too dark.
So moving back to the Hotel. The self check in desks are more faff then they’re worth. My friend who booked didn’t have the QR code sent to him. We were then sent to wait in a queue by one man “go and see my colleague”. Then another party walked in with the same issue. The staff member that asked us to wait for his colleague then proceeded to check them in. Brilliant customer service!
The hotels haven’t changed since I last visited. One thing I did notice was the state of the carpets in the hallways. The one in the lift had a huge stain on it. The carpet outside the “Arctic explorer” rooms appeared to have sand, although it was meant to be snow. Shows how dirty they are. Room was ok, fairly clean except for the top of the bunkbeds that were really dusty. I think it’s time to remove the bathtubs in the rooms and have a walk in shower.
Breakfast was well below average. I’ve had better breakfasts at a premier inn. Sausages were half cooked, hash browns over cooked and pastries were soggy and chewy. Putting ice in “fresh” apple juice and orange juice is just criminal.
The bar in the hotel doesn’t handle queues that well. Often it was a 15 minute wait to get a drink. Some of the time I didn’t even bother. Didn’t eat in the Hotels as I had read reviews and the menu seemed very expensive.
Food options across the resort is very limited in terms of variety. Tried to get in to woodcutters and it was a 20 minute wait then another 45 mins for food, stuff that. I like what they’ve done with food trucks on the lawns. More variety is needed in these and maybe some kind of tent with seating in it as well as the outdoor benches. I love that they’ve done this and I would imagine it makes a very good place to sit in the sun.
Anyway, has the resort improved since my last visit? In terms of rides, Yes. Wickerman is a great addition and The Curse is a much needed retheme. In terms of experience and value for money, No. It lacks any kind of character and magic. The hotels have stood still in time and food and beverage options are rubbish. The hotel is showing its age around the edges, it’s time to modernise it.
The monorail is an utter abomination too. As a first impression of a park, it’s terrible. Leaking skylights and scratched up Vinyls over the windows blocking views out. This needs a massive investment.
Having read this post back, it all seems very negative. For the price I paid, I found it fairly ok. I did have an enjoyable 2 days at the park but I think that was more about catching up with old mates and having a laugh and a giggle. I left as a satisfied customer, not an excited customer ready to plan their next visit.
Staff were very hit and miss, some were great and engaging, some who appeared to be managers walked past me in a corridor and didn’t even say Hello.
Certainly not a bad trip. The mazes were a good laugh and it was nice to get on the rides again. I won’t be bothering with the 4 and a half hour car journey again anytime soon.
I worry for their new addition, from the recent trend, I’d be willing to bet it will incorporate poorly executed screen effects.
Didn’t Hate the place. Didn’t love it.