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Flat Rides: What would you like to see come to the park?

I think it has been said before that a newer model of the Top Spin would do the job just fine.

Give it theming and effects like Talocan and you can really sell it. Social media word of mouth is probably better for that than any coaster.

It has also been a few years now since Ripsaw closed so will genuinely feel to the public like a brand new ride rather than a refurb.
 
Honestly they could really have done with adding a few flats as part of the 40th anniversary, maybe even with theming , homages to previous flats ...

“Ripsaw’s Revenge” seems like a very Merlin way to add a new top spin. You could definitely have a new flat in X Sector and call it Energizer again , and there’s the space in Dark Forest as well near Rita’s turns . It could have been very successful and really boost park capacity .

There’s also prime space for a family flat in KC if some things were reworked with the overly long rapids queue and the games stalls
 
Dodgems, a nice set of Lusse ones, with a long bench seat for a queueline, all the way round the outside, facing in, for my old mans knees.
Perfect dry flat for a rainy day.
Covered viewing gallery on the outside for the waiting parents etc.
Banging seventies disco and a bar.
Thank you.
 
Easily could get 7 new flats into Towers the situation is so dire. 2 in X Sector, Enterprise and Submission sites, 1 in Dark Forest near Rita's turn around, 3 in Forbidden Valley on the Blade, Ripsaw and Shed Terror sites and 1 by Spinball. Obviously scope for more with either the coach park or south park or whatever they're doing with everything from CCL Skyride station to behind the Towers
 
AstroDan said:
It's a pity all of this.

Before The Smiler forced a downturn, Alton Towers were looking into some flat rides for the park.

Now there is very little money.
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i heard that somewhere as well. The Smiler happened abs the operational budget was cut so bad that they literally have no spare funds. :-(
 
Poisson said:
Easily could get 7 new flats into Towers the situation is so dire. 2 in X Sector, Enterprise and Submission sites, 1 in Dark Forest near Rita's turn around, 3 in Forbidden Valley on the Blade, Ripsaw and Shed Terror sites and 1 by Spinball. Obviously scope for more with either the coach park or south park or whatever they're doing with everything from CCL Skyride station to behind the Towers
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Dark Forest could take more than one.
Blade is fairly newly refurbished though so no need to replace yet.
Twirling Toadstool needs replacing too.
 
Blade 2 weeks ago looks in a bad shape. If Chessington can get a new boat I can’t understand why Alton can’t as well and really give it a blade look.
Twirling Toadstools is now the royal carousel in David Walliams area.

X sector really does need a 1.2m tall flat ride to get families into the area.
Sub Terra really needs to be sorted out as it looks so out of place now
 
There was total intention for a replacement for Twirling Toadstool. I am sure the park want it in that Walliams area. Sadly, Covid will cut the capex for all Merlin RTPs to the bone (even more than it already was cut post-2015!).

I will be highly surprised if, beyond the rides at Chessington and Legoland in 2021(which were already signed for before Covid) , we see anything at the parks for 2022 and 2023. Of course, never say never. Flat rides are cheap.

The parks need a decent 2021 season because right now, we're entering a period where Alton Towers is likely to get the least capex in new attractions in its history. We used to joke about how Chessington got barely anything, and then it was Thorpe too. Alton is pretty much in that pile aswell, now.

Even before Covid, nobody new where the next coaster at any of the Merlin RTPs was coming from. Which is staggering given Merlin operate 5 major theme parks within that division.
 
AstroDan said:
There was total intention for a replacement for Twirling Toadstool. I am sure the park want it in that Walliams area. Sadly, Covid will cut the capex for all Merlin RTPs to the bone (even more than it already was cut post-2015!).

I will be highly surprised if, beyond the rides at Chessington and Legoland in 2021(which were already signed for before Covid) , we see anything at the parks for 2022 and 2023. Of course, never say never. Flat rides are cheap.

The parks need a decent 2021 season because right now, we're entering a period where Alton Towers is likely to get the least capex in new attractions in its history. We used to joke about how Chessington got barely anything, and then it was Thorpe too. Alton is pretty much in that pile aswell, now.

Even before Covid, nobody new where the next coaster at any of the Merlin RTPs was coming from. Which is staggering given Merlin operate 5 major theme parks within that division.
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With regards to the bolded, I’d be intrigued to know; do you think Alton was headed this way pre-COVID, or do you think that COVID caused this?

In terms of whether or not things come, I’d guess that investment into the parks won’t stop entirely even if it slows for a year or two. Personally, I’d guess that the parks will be able to let in regular crowd levels once again come 2022 or so, so giving them a year or two to rebuild their cash reserves, I’d say something major could come by around 2024/2025, maybe 2023 at a push? I know that parks can’t currently increase their attendance in the short to medium term due to restrictions, but I’d personally argue that investment is important for maintaining the guest figures you have as much as anything else; major new things keep current guests coming back as much as they attract new guests in.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a given that parks will slash investment, however; I know that SeaWorld, for example, have said that while 2021 will be a quiet year, they intend to return to business as usual from 2022 onwards. Europa Park is still planning to build quite a few major new rides and areas within the next 5 years or so, which they could quite easily have cancelled had they wanted to. Futuroscope announced a huge, expensive master plan for the next 5-10 years well after COVID was a thing, and I know that another park did, as well. Investments are not necessarily grounded completely due to COVID; some parks are still firing on all cylinders.

It’s also worth noting that Merlin is now a private company; private ownership usually tends to mean that things are built with a longer term aim in mind as opposed to merely a short term return, so they may well take a different attitude to investment to what they did when they were public. They are also shielded to a degree from things like stock market crashes for this same reason.

I’m not necessarily doubting you, as you seem to have insider knowledge, but I just think that it’s a little too hasty to declare investment into Towers done for, personally.
 
It's not even inside information, you just have to observe the park's and Merlin's behaviour over the past few years. Yes it's now in private hands but the main people from before are still in their positions. I can't see that it will change, especially with such a convenient excuse (Covid). Who know, maybe it'll be a bizarre twist we get David Walliams 2021 and some flat rides 2022 as one is already paid for and the others are cheaper than coasters to buy and to install. Very wishful thinking I know.
 
AstroDan said:
The parks need a decent 2021 season because right now, we're entering a period where Alton Towers is likely to get the least capex in new attractions in its history. We used to joke about how Chessington got barely anything, and then it was Thorpe too. Alton is pretty much in that pile aswell, now.
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The only exception could be CBeebies, there may be something in the agreement so they have to keep making updates, so they may at least keep repainting and re-doing attractions there even if very little new hardware comes in.
 
Really? Last time I ventured into that area it was a scruffy mess. Not quite sure the lash up with the BBC but I'm not sure it's demanding.
 
Poisson said:
Really? Last time I ventured into that area it was a scruffy mess. Not quite sure the lash up with the BBC but I'm not sure it's demanding.
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But its the only area of the park to receive some kind of regular new addition.
Octonauts, Go Jetters, Furchester Hotel, Peter Rabbit Hoppers have all been added. The num-tums got changed to Bugbees. The characters appearing in the show arena have changed a lot too I think.
 
It just helps amplify the mystery of why Towers won't get at least one new flat for the rest of the park. X-Sector is in dire need thanks to the appalling throughputs of Smiler and Oblivion, one down to poor design, one down to poor policies.
 
Matt N said:
With regards to the bolded, I’d be intrigued to know; do you think Alton was headed this way pre-COVID, or do you think that COVID caused this?

In terms of whether or not things come, I’d guess that investment into the parks won’t stop entirely even if it slows for a year or two. Personally, I’d guess that the parks will be able to let in regular crowd levels once again come 2022 or so, so giving them a year or two to rebuild their cash reserves, I’d say something major could come by around 2024/2025, maybe 2023 at a push? I know that parks can’t currently increase their attendance in the short to medium term due to restrictions, but I’d personally argue that investment is important for maintaining the guest figures you have as much as anything else; major new things keep current guests coming back as much as they attract new guests in.

I don’t think it’s necessarily a given that parks will slash investment, however; I know that SeaWorld, for example, have said that while 2021 will be a quiet year, they intend to return to business as usual from 2022 onwards. Europa Park is still planning to build quite a few major new rides and areas within the next 5 years or so, which they could quite easily have cancelled had they wanted to. Futuroscope announced a huge, expensive master plan for the next 5-10 years well after COVID was a thing, and I know that another park did, as well. Investments are not necessarily grounded completely due to COVID; some parks are still firing on all cylinders.

It’s also worth noting that Merlin is now a private company; private ownership usually tends to mean that things are built with a longer term aim in mind as opposed to merely a short term return, so they may well take a different attitude to investment to what they did when they were public. They are also shielded to a degree from things like stock market crashes for this same reason.

I’m not necessarily doubting you, as you seem to have insider knowledge, but I just think that it’s a little too hasty to declare investment into Towers done for, personally.
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Merlin have already begun to slash investment. Nick Varney made it clear they were reducing Capex spending at one of his trading updates. I don't think Alton Towers investment is "done for" - but the days of a large new ride every 3 years are, categorically, over for the time being. We now have a park that has so little cash to play with. Even before the Covid pandemic, the park quite literally couldn't afford to get effects fixed on rides like Duel. Think about that for a minute!

The financial despair at ATR and the other Merlin RTPs has done nothing but grow and grow over the last decade, to the point now after Smiler and Covid, that there really is nothing left in the pot.

I also have decreasing faith that the Lego group will do anything positive for Alton Towers. What do they care about? Legoland parks and, frankly, with investments at Windsor over the past few years (and into 2021) - it's not hard to see which park seems to be getting the most ride investment these days even if half of Alton and Chessington are clapped out 80s relics.

All this said however, events would be a nice thing to see at the park and 2020 has been positive with this. But Alton desperately needs to flesh out its stellar coaster line up with some supporting rides. It's one of the world's weakest major parks in this regard.
 
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