Possible New Park Entrance?

[jon81uk]

I would expect a secondary entrance for hotel guests would be able to be used by everyone to exit. It is nice at fireworks to get a last ride on nemesis and Air then exit out by Air.
But for arriving the view down TowersStreet is great (this is why I think PicSolve only employ idiots who take photos of guests with the entrance in the background, the towers in the background would be a much better view!).
They could of course just run a simple land train/tram from the car park to the main entrance if the monorail is no longer viable, same as Disney and Six Flags use in their car parks.

 

[Matt.GC]

I hope the monorail never goes!

 

[PeteA]

From a business point of view, having a second exit for everyone at Alton Towers is not a very good idea. At the end of the day, you want to direct all your customers past shops, food outlets and balloon sellers one last time to extract that final bit of money out of them for the drive home. Unless they add this to the second exit they will lose money.

 

[GaryH]

The monorail will be going shortly I think given the state of it. As for what will replace it, i'm not sure, but they cant not have anything particularly for those with pram's, wheelchairs etc. Some form of transport will be needed. Maybe they could get new/second hand trains which will fit the track, who knows.

As for the new entrance.... the only way a new entrance would work in FV is if they took up most of the car park in that area and turned it into a proper entrance plaza. Shops, restaurants, gifts etc and the space for ticket booths and entrance gates. That would work, and would give nearly direct access for hotel guests to the park entrance. Would also give people parking in the main car park direct access to the park entrance.

This would mean a considerable reduction in car parking spaces though. There is a very large car park which i had not seen before until I did treetop quest which is just by the entrance to this attraction, and its where they direct people to park for the EV (which is quite some walk to the car!). They would maybe also have to tarmac the grass area just behind EV (where cars park now) to create more spaces, who knows.

As for the old entrance...... think it would remain, as its useful for people who are dropping off/picking up, for coach parties, and I suppose could be used a disabled entrance as people can park right next to the entrance plaza. Oh, and as a VIP entrance for those with money burning a hole in their pockets who want to use "express parking".

Maybe this new restaurant, and the fact its open until 10pm for hotel guests is the start of the transformation of the area into a new entrance in the future......

 

[jon81uk]

As for the new entrance.... the only way a new entrance would work in FV is if they took up most of the car park in that area and turned it into a proper entrance plaza

Even if they did add the facilities on the car park, Forbiddon Valley won't be able to cope with the number of guests, they would have to add more paths.
Currently on arriving at Towers St you can;
Go to CBeebiesland
Walk to X Sector
Walk to Dark Forest
Walk to Gloomy Wood via Katanga Canyon ( and onwards to F Valley)
Walk to Gloomy Wood via Haunted Hollow
Goto Pirateland
Take the Skyride

If you enter straight in to Forbiddon Valley you can;
stay in FV
walk to Gloomy wood and on to katanga
walk to gloomy wood and on to haunted hollow
walk through the gardens to dark forest
take the skyride

and of course the paths around the lake are wider so they can take more people.

 

[GaryH]

True, unless they linked up with the path running behind Air from the hotel, widened it, so it takes people straight to the Skyride to access other areas of the park.

But yes, I totally agree with your point.

 

[Stuntman707]

Express parking wouldn't really be needed if a second entrance is closer to the rollercoasters. They should just charge everyone (excluding hotels) for parking. Oh wait, they already do! Maybe charge the front row £20 for the convenience of not having to walk 100 yards further and throw in an electric scooter to shift their lazy asses around the park.

 

[Matt.GC]

I dont think a replacement entrance is ever going to happen. The remodelling of FV to accommodate this would cost more than replacement of the monorail surely? Also, in these tough times, I can't imagine them loosing that aforementioned iconic view when looking down Towers Street. That view of the towers is even represented in the park logo and is plastered all over its marketing material as it's what differentiates it from other parks.

Aside from the monorail maintenance/replacement costs, that amazing entrance view is also free. Towers Street also has the infrastructure in place and can be converted into various forms for a pittance. It has also done the job of welcoming and then distributing Park guests impeccably well for 3 decades, far better than the entrances to Lego, Chessington and Thorpe do.

I could imagine a hotels and RC restaurant only entrance formally being built to semi retire the monorail so it's only used at peak times perhaps?

 

[Alpha Ash]

I first walked down Tower Street when I was 11 feeling the excited about the day a head. 20 years later I still have that feeling when walking on to TS, however somewhat slightly diluted now as I have kids of my own.
What a feeling it was running down TS looking at the vast grounds in front and trying to decide should we turn left for FV or straight on to the Black Hole. So to remove TS would be an insult to Alton Towers Heritage and would rob the younger visitors of this experience.

Despite my bias option, improvements around this area need to be done, lets face it the frog fountain has seen better days. In regards to the monorail, they look ridiculous. Lets remove the sticker messing from the windows and let visitors excitement build up.

 

[Tim]

As I've said before moving the park entrance will completely alter the flow of guests around the park. The current layout works. The headline attractions are at the 3 corners of the park drawing people towards them. High capacity filler rides such as the rapids, Hex and Duel divert the main paths to lure people away. Then you have shops and smaller rides lining these paths as further distractions.
The only mistake in the formula is Sonic; a low capacity crowd pleaser right by the entrance. hence it always has dire queues.

Moving the entrance to Forbidden Valley would have the following affect inside the park:
+ Sonic gets quieter
~ Duel gets busier
- Nemesis and Air... Sorry Galactica, will have massive queues, especially if this VR experiment cripples the capacity.
- The Smiler and Oblivion are now completely out of the way, given Oblivions high capacity it wastes one of the queue absorbing headline rides and The Smiler... is probably not going to be very popular anyway.
- Ceebebbies Land and CCL now take up two corners of the park, meaning the family's with young kids have the furthest to walk.
- An entirely new "Main Street" style entrance would need to be built, probably where the Monorail Depo currently is. Towers Street becomes dead space (and we'd need a new name ).
- The paths around Forbidden Valley can't handle such big crowds. FV is already isolated from the rest of the park. Gloomy Wood would become a massive bottleneck as it is the only way to the rest of the park without diverting people into the gardens.

The Solution is simple.
= Keep the current set up. The monorail is probably only knackered because it hasn't been looked after properly. Disney built their first one in the 60's and it is still goes strong. Updating the infrastructure is probably a lot cheaper then starting from scratch.
= Use the new restaurant as an excuse to build a second entrance/exit through Air's gate. Initially use it for hotel and restaurant customers only.
= Over the next 5 years start developing an entertainment complex on that car park. Start with evening activities such as a bowling alley and a small cinema primarily aimed at hotel guests (they could even do a Europa and make the cinema the biggest in the county or even an IMax to encourage people in from the surrounding areas). Move on to a few restaurants and shops, linking one directly to the second entrance. Maybe add a fast food outlet to encourage day guests to eat before they drive home. If Merlin want to be really ambitious they could even move Sea Life here or add a Dungeons/Lego Discovery Centre forming the Alton "Cluster".
= Once the above is in place allow everyone to exit (but not enter) through this gate. This will alter the flow of the park but in a positive way. People now enter at one side, progressing around the park ready to leave at the other. Rides that are busy in the morning get quieter towards the end of the day and the entertainment complex can soak up the crowds along with a lot more of their money.

 

[delta79]

Monorail difference.

Disney - train taken out of use, refurbished and placed back into service

Alton - train taken out of use , strip for spares and left in a corner.

Remind me again why Disneys 60's monorail is working great and altons 80's one is on it last legs!