Rides and Attractions wise -
My major aim here is to add large amount of dark rides and entertainment to create a truly overall experience, just like how world-class parks should be.
2023 - (Low - Mid CAPEX)
Towers Street Improvements:
1. A museum about the history of Alton Towers, located in the former office buildings between Guests Services & Box Office.
2. A restaurant to be added in one of the buildings next to Towers Trading.
The World of David Walliams - Utilising the 4D Cinema for one of David Walliam's books.
Forbidden Valley - A permanent thrilling flat to replace Funk'N'Fly to make up for lost capacity from Nemesis retrack.
More new CBeebies Land attractions.
Entertainment: The stunt show during the late 1900s to return during peak dates. More roaming actors in general around the park.
2024 - (Mid CAPEX)
Gloomy Wood - The closed Duel will be transformed into a trackless dark ride after being closed in 2023. The ride still has the similar Haunted House-esque theme, but having a complete makeover and trackless system would certainly integrate the ride.
Mutiny Bay - A new water coaster replacing the Courtyard and Battle Galleons (lake utilised for splashdown). Satisfies the demand of a high-throughput and more exhilirating water ride than CRR since the removal of the Flume.
Entertainment - A seasonal nighttime spectacular (Summer hols - November, earlier dusk time) with the addition of fountains and effects from the stunt show. If the money is there, would utilise drone technology similar to those seen in Disney D-light to make up for the fireworks prohibition. The Towers would also be utilised for Projection Mapping.
2025 - (High CAPEX)
Coaster Corner - A traditional SW (maybe a Mack Triple Launched Spinner, Intamin Blitz, etc.) Draws the crowds in to increase exposure of other new attractions in park.
The Towers - Dungeons replaced by a dark boat ride: "Medival Madhatters". Fits the theme of The Towers and provides a family-family dark ride.
Mutiny Bay - Extending the SEA LIFE building and replacing the aquarium with a dark ride with more innovative technology, like a Mack Submarine or Flying Theatre. Aquarium could be relocated to the resort area as it would be mentioned below.
2026 - (Mid CAPEX)
X-Sector revamp:
1. Spinjam and Enterprise getting replaced by an indoor roller coaster similar to the Black Hole or X. Could even be themed into trying to get back to the real world after falling into the Oblivion.
2. A flat ride replacing the arcade next to Golf Challenge.
More new CBeebies Land attractions.
2027 - (Mid CAPEX)
Gloomy Wood - A Mack Rides Inverted Powered Coaster in the former planned Wooden Coaster. Broadens appeal to families even more. The ride could be themed to wandering around the woods to reduce deforestation needed.
Entertainment - A show venue in Forbidden Valley. Could also be used in the evenings after park close for shows for hotel guests which could further integrate Forbidden Valley into an Entertainment District along with Rollercoaster Restuarant.
Long Term:
- Cross-Valley Coaster to be built with a B&M Hyper model to reduce noice pollution.
- Possibly dividing CBeebies into a second gate after utilising the Spinball Whizzer and Express parking area (if possible). Provides more gate income and encourages more short break stays.
- Replacing Rita with another SW.
- Complely redoing Katanga Canyon - removing CRR and relocating RMT into elsewhere in the park. The area would be transformed into a different theme.
- If previous investments were successful: expand the park into the Galactica car park.
Food & Beverage wise -
Reverse contract with Aramark. Widely increase food options by opening more food stalls around the park. Provide more dining options with the guests' budget. Introduction of more glamorous restaurants maybe around the Towers for guests that are more willing to spend more money. Ideally reopen the Swiss Cottage. Redesign the Rollercoaster Restaurant. Maybe a food court as well in a busier area of the park. However, prices needs to be decreased not only to increase guest satisfaction, but also to appeal to those that bought pack lunch - they might want to buy some snacks or a sandwich if they found out that pack lunch is not enough. They would resist buying more food previously due to high prices but with a lower price, they might as well buy some.
Opening Times wise -
4pm closes would be no more. Weekdays now close at 5pm at the earliest and Weekends at 6pm at the earliest. Could do some Wedneday closures outside of peak summer months (i.e. June - August) and some minor cheeky little staggered openings in Dark Forest and TWODW in weekdays. Having low queue times during the first hour of the day, opening these areas one hour late would save operating costs meanwhile having minimal impact on guest experience. Opening times during school trip season should also be vastly increased due to the high crowd levels, which leads to guest dissatisfaction. Hence, 7pm closes could be seen on busier dates like Mondays/Fridays. I'll also try to open in weekends (or Saturdays at least) during winter months, this will become more feasible as more dark rides and entertainment are added.
Transportation and accessiblity wise -
The only method right now to access Alton Towers is by car or public buses that runs in an extremely inadequate frequency. To become a world-class theme park, worldwide tourists need to be able to access Alton Towers. Hence shuttle bus services would be added from major train stations like Derby. Ideally running in a fixed schedule like every 15 - 20 minutes. Those shuttles could also stop in front of park entrance for day guests to access the car parl and hotels if the monorail has a long queue. Minor improvements would happen on the Monorail as well, like removing the vinyls.
Resort Area wise -
Whilst building an RDE area like CityWalk would be too much money, I will try to build some 'midway attractions' somewhere close to the hotels (maybe in Splash Landings Hotel). As to what can be built there, it could be an aquarium, reopening the ropes course, an evening circus, utilising Merlin's current brands they own, like Legoland Discovery Centres (could even theme it to CBeebies to attract CBeebies fans to visit that attraction alongside the theme park). What's good about these midways are they cost less to build, and to operate in longer hours than a theme park, meanwhile providing hotel guests something to do after park close, and from that further increase their spending during their stay. This and the future Forbidden Valley enriches entertainment and attraction offering for hotel guests.
After years of transformation I would expect the resort to reach annual attendance around of 3.5 million. This could be the alternative to the London Resort if that doesn't get built.
