D4n
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Zadra
I think the reality is that a lot of us are members of an Alton Towers based discussion forum because it's the best park we have here in the UK (and even that has become debatable in recent years, I feel, with the resurgence of Blackpool Pleasure Beach). Others are members here more because it's a well established and friendly community, rather than out of any real allegiance to the park.
Alton Towers isn't a terrible theme park nowadays, but you'd struggle to argue that it's a well-run one. What winds up a lot of the long term members is almost certainly the lost potential of the place, which had a real buzz about it throughout the 1990s and was a leading attraction in Europe (any younger members who haven't already familiarised yourselves with Themes, Dreams & Scream Machines or The Magic Factory, I would strongly recommend them to give you a feel for the place in its heyday). Nowadays there seems to be an attitude of doing 'just enough' with the place to continue to attract customers, with an intensive profit maximisation strategy once they arrive on-site. This is frustrating. That isn't how it was once done and isn't how it's done at Europe's leading attractions; Europa Park, Phantasialand, Liseberg etc.
That being said, I actually found Nemesis: Sub Terra to be, in concept at least, a return towards the style of ride that was favourable in that era, and which should be encouraged. An experience of the same vein as the Haunted House and, more notably, of Hex. The execution, unfortunately, wasn't as good... the aesthetic of the attraction, combined with the bizarre incorporation of live actors, and technical glitches meant that Sub Terra has become something of a confused mess. It doesn't know its target audience, the story isn't entirely coherent, and the marketing was wide of the mark. But the concept was good and for that reason I retain a soft spot for it; experiences is what Alton Towers should be all about, not generic steel structures like Rita and Spinball. Hopefully it will re-open next season with alterations which make it more reliable, coherent and family-orientated.
Alton Towers isn't a terrible theme park nowadays, but you'd struggle to argue that it's a well-run one. What winds up a lot of the long term members is almost certainly the lost potential of the place, which had a real buzz about it throughout the 1990s and was a leading attraction in Europe (any younger members who haven't already familiarised yourselves with Themes, Dreams & Scream Machines or The Magic Factory, I would strongly recommend them to give you a feel for the place in its heyday). Nowadays there seems to be an attitude of doing 'just enough' with the place to continue to attract customers, with an intensive profit maximisation strategy once they arrive on-site. This is frustrating. That isn't how it was once done and isn't how it's done at Europe's leading attractions; Europa Park, Phantasialand, Liseberg etc.
That being said, I actually found Nemesis: Sub Terra to be, in concept at least, a return towards the style of ride that was favourable in that era, and which should be encouraged. An experience of the same vein as the Haunted House and, more notably, of Hex. The execution, unfortunately, wasn't as good... the aesthetic of the attraction, combined with the bizarre incorporation of live actors, and technical glitches meant that Sub Terra has become something of a confused mess. It doesn't know its target audience, the story isn't entirely coherent, and the marketing was wide of the mark. But the concept was good and for that reason I retain a soft spot for it; experiences is what Alton Towers should be all about, not generic steel structures like Rita and Spinball. Hopefully it will re-open next season with alterations which make it more reliable, coherent and family-orientated.