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Mardi Gras 2023

Interesting execution.

I could see the lawns, ruins and gardens being used as the ever changing event space similar to what happens at Epcot.

A stage on the lawns, in fountain square and more use of the gardens/ruins, possibly crux?

I thought the idea of new streetlights installed with speakers pre attached was a great idea though and much needed, the cabling everywhere still looks awful, it needs fixing once and for all.
 
The only criticism I can see is the stage on the lawns not being utilised again, which is a shame. I think Fountain Square could so with being used more for events too.

I know there's been talk of bloggers slating the event. It's their opinion. If you feel they slate things for the sake of it, ignore them and stop watching their videos.
 
I think the lawn with the main stage takes a bit of a hammering from the summer, through to Oktoberfest, Scarefest, Fireworks and Christmas - so they seem to try and avoid using it during the first part of the season - hence Mardi Gras being focused on the other side of the lake.

I think come the summer holidays they will be back to using the stage and the lawns at the bottom of Towers St.
 
AT86 said:
I think the lawn with the main stage takes a bit of a hammering from the summer, through to Oktoberfest, Scarefest, Fireworks and Christmas - so they seem to try and avoid using it during the first part of the season - hence Mardi Gras being focused on the other side of the lake.

I think come the summer holidays they will be back to using the stage and the lawns at the bottom of Towers St.
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It's what they've done for the last 2 years, and makes sense - gives the lawn chance to recover (and any new turf to bed in I guess)
 
AT86 said:
Ride close is at 6pm, sunset around 9.30pm so that’s not misleading or anything.

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Is it me, or might this be a potential entry for the Merlin Typos thread?

This sentence doesn’t sound like it entirely makes sense to me:
This half term enjoy this carnival-inspired takeover will dazzle you with an explosion of colours, sensational flavours and so much more!
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It feels to me like it should say either
This half term, enjoy a carnival-inspired takeover.
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or
This carnival-inspired takeover will dazzle you with an explosion of colours, sensational flavours and so much more!
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The current form of the sentence feels like it’s trying to mash the two things together, and it doesn’t quite seem to make grammatical sense to me.
 
Brilliant to see that they have Freedom on tap for this event! I like to hope that they'll be looking for a Resort wide deal with Freedom in the coming years, it seems mad not to have a local brew available at all outlets.
 
From watching TPWW video I think it looks very good. Was great to see the parade again, reminded me of the days of the Henry Hound parade along the same route. Was also great to see all the public engaging. I think it looks great personally.

My only concern is what will happen when the British weather strikes!
 
GaryH said:
From watching TPWW video I think it looks very good. Was great to see the parade again, reminded me of the days of the Henry Hound parade along the same route. Was also great to see all the public engaging. I think it looks great personally.

My only concern is what will happen when the British weather strikes!
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Weather looks nice for the foreseeable, so hopefully that can continue whilst the event is on (and beyond)
 
GaryH said:
From watching TPWW video I think it looks very good. Was great to see the parade again, reminded me of the days of the Henry Hound parade along the same route. Was also great to see all the public engaging. I think it looks great personally.

My only concern is what will happen when the British weather strikes!
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Yeah, having the parade does give the place more life and given how well received it seems to be, perhaps a permanent parade might happen for certain parts of season, could see maybe a parade for the 40th anniversary in 2030 but who knows.

And yes, Henry Hound come home!
 
Danscott22 said:
Is it not the 50th anniversary in 2030?
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Oh yeah, my bad, I stand corrected! 😬 Then again given how the 40th was all but forgotten about due to a certain pandemic, it might as well be. Still, I could see the park doing something special for the 50th in 2030 but that's another topic.
 
QTXAdsy said:
Oh yeah, my bad, I stand corrected! 😬 Then again given how the 40th was all but forgotten about due to a certain pandemic, it might as well be. Still, I could see the park doing something special for the 50th in 2030 but that's another topic.
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50th Mardi gras krew?
 
Got to say, Mardi Gras was brilliant on Saturday! Helped by the glorious weather of course, but plenty of entertainment throughout the day, lots of vibrant looking park decorations and good food and drink for the event.

Most of the food on Food Street was very reasonably priced. I paid £10 for a platter (i.e. 3 smaller pots) of jambalaya, gumbo and mac n'cheese; no complaints there whatsoever. £6 for a pint of beer as well, which is cheaper than the park outlets (plus it is better beer). I suspect that they have been asked to reduce the prices somewhat to entice those that get MAP discount elsewhere to give it a go. Seemed to be working, there were lots of people eating and drinking with queues for some of the stands.

The parade at the end of the day is just great! It was just a pity that the park closed at 6pm, there were so many guests left in the park.

Events where the main focus is all in the same area of the park really do work best. There is a real atmosphere when you are sat in the event area and your day at Alton Towers is elevated to another level.
 
Mardi Gras has definitely improved year on year, it does make more sense to have it all in one location, making it feel a bit more complete and also you don’t end up with these stages sat randomly in areas with no one watching, like the one in the valley. Now it’s all mixed with the food it’s much better.

Personally I would use fountain square as the second stage area and also put some food and drink in there, as the bit near spinball is a bit random, although it does have a bar which is good.

The end of day parade really is good, and there was so many people watching it on Saturday.
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I actually quite like it in front of the Towers in its current guise. With Oktoberfest being on the lawns, there should be a replacement for Festival of Thrills next year that utilises Fountain Square so these three spaces are covered across the year.
 
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