First visit since 2012

[dumbdumb]

Visited the park in May (first day of Mardi Gras) and forgot to post this. It was my first visit since 2012. I thought that how the park looks through a 'fresh' pair of eyes, after an 11-season gap, may be interesting.

Overall

• A bit crazy there were only four new permanent ride experiences since my last visit (outside CBeebies)
• I couldn’t believe how much the trees have matured - particularly in Forbidden Valley and around Spinball. The park looks great for it.

Pros

• Gloomy Wood was looking amazing and The Curse was good (mirror corridor not working though). One ride went spookily slow and took two minutes to get through the new year party scene. Other ride was fine. Much better than any iteration of Duel and the latter days of the Haunted House, which I rode in opening year
• Gangster Granny was better than expected and still felt fresh
• The complete packages of Wickerman and The Smiler are super impressive and also seemed fresh
• The park looked really clean (helped by the sunshine)
• Felt some of the magic that I hadn't felt since the early 2000s (visited every year from 1987-2012)
• There was lots of added signage and that opened up path under Wickerman is much better
• Hosts and operators were really friendly and working as fast as they could
• Being able to exit to the car park by ‘Air‘

Cons

• The back of the park does not feel up to standard -
  • Dark Forest is a poor area with terrible flow
  • Rita though fun, has never been a full experience
  • Hex and Skyride closed
  • I’d suggest The World of DW becomes a story theme and have the buildings themed to a magical Alton Towers Library and make the rest a land of Myths and Legends - Hex/Thirteen/replaced Dungeon/Horizon etc…
• Katanga Canyon still looks good but the rapids are a sad experience that needs a significant overhaul
• Some signs are cheap looking
• Many buildings (especially the toilets) haven't been updated properly since the 80s and look and feel very tired - far from a premium experience and desperately in need of upgrading
• I didn’t see many closed buildings apart from in The World of DW, which was at its best as Talbot Street (but that may be nostalgia)
• Retrosquad - Twistatron was actually a fun experience, I avoided Spin Jam, and Funk n Fly was closed, but yes, they need four or five permanent, themed flats
• First time on The Smiler was ace at the back of one train, but was a clattering mess at the front of another

Impressed with the hardware, staff and atmosphere, but it needs another 1992-2000 era in terms of re-themes and upgrades.

 

[Jb85]

Nice blog.

I agree a lot of investment was with made short term Mindset and this is starting to show.

I have little doubt thr new management team see this and are making plans to sort it.
DF, Rita, TWODW, even Oblivion and Smiler need serious attention