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Monorail Refurbishment

pluk said:
One thing is for sure, if they ploughed the incredible and practically overhead free income from parking directly back into the car parks and monorail they'd certainly be able to maintain and refurbish both properly.
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Yeah..... they were supposed to plough all tha hard cash in to the "Alton Village Bypass".

Still waiting for that one.


Dave said:
I think you also have to remember that a drop off a railway platform is about 4 foot onto relatively flat ground. The drop off the monorail platform is at least 7 foot and you have a massive beam in the middle to hit against as you fall, as well as live electrical contacts. Plus for some reason people don’t treat theme park rides as seriously as they do things like train lines, people switch their brains off in theme parks.

It’s not quite like for like.
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So... Monorails are even more Darwin-friendly, right?
 
They would benefit from a system like they use at Gatwick to shuttle people between the two terminals. Completely automatic, no drivers, no staff required... just wait at the platform, a train arrives, the doors on the station and train open and you get on, then the doors close and off you go.
 
Alsty said:
They would benefit from a system like they use at Gatwick to shuttle people between the two terminals. Completely automatic, no drivers, no staff required... just wait at the platform, a train arrives, the doors on the station and train open and you get on, then the doors close and off you go.
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An Automated People Mover (APM) like that used in airports - or even the Docklands Light Railway - would be the answer. The latter does not have platform edge doors though, but they could be added.

As always with Merlin, cost will be the deciding factor. The cost of a driverless APM system would have Mr Varney & the Merlin bean-counters choking on their cornflakes at breakfast... lunch and dinner would probably not be over palatable either. I would suggest that the only reason Merlin are keeping the Monorail & Skyride running is because they inherited both systems.

We should just accept that the only parks that will make major investment in transport infrastructure are ones that are open year-round, e.g. Disney with Skyliner in Florida.
 
As much as a like the monorail and want the entrance to stay where this, logically moving the entrance would make more sense. Why spend a fortune with a new transport system or a refurb when the issue is moving people half a mile down the road.

I think the way the park has developed a proper review is needed for the infrastructure in place.
 
Jb85 said:
As much as a like the monorail and want the entrance to stay where this, logically moving the entrance would make more sense. Why spend a fortune with a new transport system or a refurb when the issue is moving people half a mile down the road.

I think the way the park has developed a proper review is needed for the infrastructure in place.
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But that is the same sort of mentality that would have kept the human race in caves. Why venture out of our cave and explore and develop ourselves and the world. When we can just sit here in our cave.
 
Solution to the current capacity issue: upcharge attraction

The same treatment to be given to the Skyride as well
 
Jb85 said:
As much as a like the monorail and want the entrance to stay where this, logically moving the entrance would make more sense. Why spend a fortune with a new transport system or a refurb when the issue is moving people half a mile down the road.

I think the way the park has developed a proper review is needed for the infrastructure in place.
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There are issues with moving the park entrance to where the monorail depot is.

1) AT isn’t a circular park, it’s U shaped and currently you enter at the bottom of the U so guests filter in two different directions. If you move the entrance you end up with a lot of guest filling into a bit of a dead end with only one way to go.

2) The paths round that area are quite narrow for a theme park with nowhere to widen due to the topography.

3) Towers street is very close to the village, they won’t get much approved to be built in the area so it will be a lot of space with little practical use.
 
Dave said:
There are issues with moving the park entrance to where the monorail depot is.

1) AT isn’t a circular park, it’s U shaped and currently you enter at the bottom of the U so guests filter in two different directions. If you move the entrance you end up with a lot of guest filling into a bit of a dead end with only one way to go.

2) The paths round that area are quite narrow for a theme park with nowhere to widen due to the topography.

3) Towers street is very close to the village, they won’t get much approved to be built in the area so it will be a lot of space with little practical use.
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Imagine walking in to the park, and all you can see is one cramped area, the whole point of Towers Street is that stunning view!


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Dave said:
There are issues with moving the park entrance to where the monorail depot is.

1) AT isn’t a circular park, it’s U shaped and currently you enter at the bottom of the U so guests filter in two different directions. If you move the entrance you end up with a lot of guest filling into a bit of a dead end with only one way to go.
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Its more of a backwards G, with that location bringing people in at the spur of the G. A new gate would be much nearer to the hotel area in this scenario, with more resort activities, better retail etc. by the hotels; and room for a couple more attractions around and/or replacing Galactica.... pulling people into that area. Some people would opt for straight on, using the Skyride into two other areas of the park. Those turning right, would head to Duel etc... ideally with a new attraction there too...
Potentially, crowds would distribute just as well from that location as the Tower Street entrance, but it needs investment to encourage people to specific areas.

Dave said:
2) The paths round that area are quite narrow for a theme park with nowhere to widen due to the topography.
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I often think AT could smooth out some of their paths in key places. Many of the slopes are more aggressive than they need to be, just because AT did not make cuttings or averge out slopes to reduce gradients.
The Skyride station could have its basement level buried and be made the new ground level to greatly improve access, and the toilet and staff facilities be relocated. There are unused buildings making the paths around FV narrower then they could be. The hills are tricky, but lots of other parks have them.

Dave said:
3) Towers street is very close to the village, they won’t get much approved to be built in the area so it will be a lot of space with little practical use.
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Many large theme parks have more than 1 entrance. The existing one could be retained, but would cover Taxis, Coaches and nostalgic people. AT land area is bigger than Disneys Animal Kingdom park IIRC, which is often claimed to be the Worlds largest Theme Park after all!
 
TheBolt said:
Potentially, crowds would distribute just as well from that location as the Tower Street entrance, but it needs investment to encourage people to specific areas.
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personally I happen to agree with you here, hence why in my post I said it would need some well thought out investment.

I do envisage a day where there are two entrances, one of coach trips etc, and the rest for those who travel by car / stay at the hotel. It does make sense.
It would however be a shame to see Towers Street become deserted, which I feel would be inevitable if you didn’t have to enter / leave the park that way
 
TheBolt said:
Many large theme parks have more than 1 entrance. The existing one could be retained, but would cover Taxis, Coaches and nostalgic people. AT land area is bigger than Disneys Animal Kingdom park IIRC, which is often claimed to be the Worlds largest Theme Park after all!
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Drayton has 3, and it's a lot smaller. :p
 
I honestly think moving the entrance would be an insane thing to do, and kill the grand reveal that grabs people the very first time they visit.

IMO there’s nothing more wonderful for a new comer to get on the monorail over and around Nemesis and Air, through Katanga Canyon and out of the station, under the almighty corky and into the reveal that is Towers Street.

I think that if they moved the entrance Towers Street would become another area much like CCL that just gets forgotten about unless people have a reason to go there, and with the amount of investment needed to make a FV entrance work well I can’t see them also fitting an attraction in Towers Street.

It’s fundamental to the park to me, and yes the loss of the on platform waiting for the mono has reduced throughout as well as it’s age, but does it really need that much love? Absolute worst would I imagine would be new engines/carriages. Best case a damn good service/rebuild and a retheme without the dotted window covers that obscure everything.

Is the investment in refurbing the monorail really going to be more expensive then up hauling the grand entrance that is towers street?


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Weirdly ended up on google reviews for Alton Towers, one of the most mentioned things is the monorail.

Seemed to be a mix between people claiming it was down when they visited and people saying how much the kids loved the monorail into the park.
 
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