PeteB
TS Member
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Always plenty of money available for retail developments.
Anyway, I think there's better places on the park that this could be built. Current plans are a gigantic mess waiting to happen.
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Rollercoaster Restaurant: General Discussion
Always plenty of money available for retail developments.
Anyway, I think there's better places on the park that this could be built. Current plans are a gigantic mess waiting to happen.
Dave
TS Founding Member
Planning applications for new buildings are tricky, not insurmountable but using an existing building makes it easier and Merlin don't do tricky unless they have to.
Btw I think paprika might make the map collection more palatable
CoasterCrazyChris
TS Member
Ah right so they are converting the existing shop into a restaurant....
Merlin cannot be trusted to do a proper job of this.
They will almost certainly make a pig's ear of the Air building as the sweeping front design of the shop will be spoiled by something stuck on the front. They probably wont even use the same type materials for the extension.
Could it be worth it for something like foodloop? Maybe, but probably not.
RIP one of the best views in the park
Merlin cannot be trusted to do a proper job of this.
They will almost certainly make a pig's ear of the Air building as the sweeping front design of the shop will be spoiled by something stuck on the front. They probably wont even use the same type materials for the extension.
Could it be worth it for something like foodloop? Maybe, but probably not.
RIP one of the best views in the park
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jon81uk
TS Member
My guess would be Refresh@Ripsaw or the Burger Kitchen windows going if there is construction on that side of FV for the next SW. But if nothing goes all four restaurants will be different, Refresh is mainly cold food and coffees, Fish and Chips is standard food with limited seating, Burger Kitchen has no seating and FoodLoop will be seated only.
Dave
TS Founding Member
not sure I would class the Air shop as one of the best views on park. It is probably one of the better shops they built but I can also see the logic in turning this into a restaurant.
The plans show the front of the current building will be preserved so really it depends how well they build the two extensions. To be fair when they extended what is now Pizza Pasta it wasn't a bad job. Plus the new corner coffee was very well done so clearly F&B have some budget for decoration.
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, though Im not holding my breath.
Yeah but you can't get the negative juices flowing or Diogo liking your post unless you portray the destruction of something beautiful.
Poetic licence I suppose
The plans show the front of the current building will be preserved so really it depends how well they build the two extensions. To be fair when they extended what is now Pizza Pasta it wasn't a bad job. Plus the new corner coffee was very well done so clearly F&B have some budget for decoration.
Will be interesting to see how it turns out, though Im not holding my breath.
Yeah but you can't get the negative juices flowing or Diogo liking your post unless you portray the destruction of something beautiful.
Poetic licence I suppose
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James
TS Founding Member
It's not the best area in the park. Although the design of the Air shop is pretty nice and elegant. I think it would be a shame to see that ruined in any way when extensions are plonked next to it. I just pray Merlin keep the same kind of style and elegance to the extension(s) so it compliments the area and doesn't turn it into a generic mess.
It's a pretty open and dead area so something that will bring life to it is all good in my eyes.
My only worry is the execution of it, which seems to be a common thing with Merlin, nice ideas, bad execution. Hope they prove us wrong this time around.
It's a pretty open and dead area so something that will bring life to it is all good in my eyes.
My only worry is the execution of it, which seems to be a common thing with Merlin, nice ideas, bad execution. Hope they prove us wrong this time around.
Rob
TS Team
In that case you will be pleased to know that they are using the same materials for the extension:Ah right so they are converting the existing shop into a restaurant....
Merlin cannot be trusted to do a proper job of this.
They will almost certainly make a pig's ear of the Air building as the sweeping front design of the shop will be spoiled by something stuck on the front. They probably wont even use the same type materials for the extension.
Could it be worth it for something like foodloop? Maybe, but probably not.
RIP one of the best views in the park
"Appearance
2.6 The building extension will be designed to match the appearance and theming
of the existing building. Accordingly, the extension will consist of the following
materials:
Retail Area:
Of course we won't know how it is all going to look until it's built. The Air shop most certainly is one of the most aesthetically pleasing buildings on the park and this does risk losing some of that. However the extension does appear to be complemantary.
My biggest concern is space. The Air shop will look bigger once the tills and Picsolve stuff etc has been ripped out but I still don't think it is the largest space for what is likely to be a popular restaurant.
How I jugde this though will ultimately come down to the food on offer. We know that the Rollercoaster Restaurant system will be good and work well. Chances are the design of the restaurant will be good as it will be configured along with Rollercoaster Restaurant. I just hope it is a nice varied menu and something a little different to anything else currently on park.
One thing is certain, this has to be seen in a postive light!
Slugjc
TS Member
I think this is positive. It has to be, at least they are using buildings already there rather then building a new one. It does appear that we are being shown early signs, of a new SW coming to the area. (becomes unpopular by saying hope its not cross valley)
I like what they are doing too, I don't usually eat at Alton due to lack of finance. But it looks good enough to at least have a look at leaving air itself. All in all, about time some goodish news appeared.
I like what they are doing too, I don't usually eat at Alton due to lack of finance. But it looks good enough to at least have a look at leaving air itself. All in all, about time some goodish news appeared.
CGM
TS Member
I personally have never understood the huge issue with Air's area of the park. I think that when you look at Air's brand image, it's supposed to look clean, contemporary and uncluttered. Decking the area out in tons of lavishly detailed theming wouldn't really make much sense from this perspective.
It's certainly not as if Air has just been plonked on a bit of unused land. It's clear that a lot of effort and money went into it. The area is heavily landscaped and planted with the elegant aqua track twisting its way through tunnels and over walkways. The unique station represents a major piece of civil engineering with the shop building topping it off as a neat and striking piece of architecture.
What I think often goes overlooked is how well the design of the area showcases the ride. The turn over the plaza going into the inline twist is a brilliant moment of interaction between the riders and spectators. The fly-to-lie soaring overhead also never fails to impress. Whilst this might seem like blasphemy to many, in this aspect, I think Air works a lot better than Nemesis. It's true that Nemesis has walkways and stairs under a large portion of the layout, but let's face it, hardly anyone actually goes down there. Air on the other hand draws guests in with its overhead acrobatics.
There are definitely ways the area could be improved. The queue line is terrible, awkwardly working its way up and down the hill in a narrow corridor. Also, not sure if it's ever been mentioned, but the tunnel between the station and the lift hill could do with sprucing up a bit.
Overall though, I do think that Air has been unfairly maligned by enthusiasts. I half wonder if it's due to its construction coinciding with the widespread use of the internet and the birth of the online enthusiast community. At the time, everyone was expecting the next Nemesis and unfortunately, Air didn't quite deliver.
In any case, this development makes me nervous because I do like the Air shop in its current state. Sitting outside it on the terrace and watching Air is one of my favourite relaxation spots in the park.
IanB
TS Member
As cool and exciting as this should be, I just cant seem to get excited for it.
Just look a the current food outlets and the less then ideal state they are in.
Pizza and Pasta has just one toilet, which is not the most discrete, and can not be nice for people sitting near there.
Woodcutters does not have any toilets, not ideal for families with young children.
Burger Kitchen food is nothing special
The Chicken Place does not do a vegetarian option
And TowersStreet, to say it was refurbished last year, the seating area and toilets were not even touched, and the toilets could do with replacing as soon as possible..
As nice as it is to get another place to have a sit down meal on park, it would be lovely if the issues with the current food outlets got resolved as well.
You have to assume that the new restaurant will have toilets as part of the plan, the next nearest toilets are going to be a bit of a trek otherwise, so some of the space you free up from removing the shop will not all be seating area, as it will be used for the kitchen and toilets, being realistic, I expect a smaller version of Food Loop at Europa Park. This already gets a long queue, so I expect this to be even longer at a Towers version, so I can see it been a frustrating experience for people who want to eat there.
As for the Air Shop building being ruined, if you look at the path approaching Air, you can see what is AIR written in a different colour bricks on the floor, and that was ruined when they extended the seating area for the Ripsaw Refresh outdoor area.
Hopefully, unlike the lodges, because my expectations are so low with anything Towers tries to do now, I will be in for a surprise when it opens next year, who knows, they might even theme each table to a different coaster at Alton Towers.
Ian
Just look a the current food outlets and the less then ideal state they are in.
Pizza and Pasta has just one toilet, which is not the most discrete, and can not be nice for people sitting near there.
Woodcutters does not have any toilets, not ideal for families with young children.
Burger Kitchen food is nothing special
The Chicken Place does not do a vegetarian option
And TowersStreet, to say it was refurbished last year, the seating area and toilets were not even touched, and the toilets could do with replacing as soon as possible..
As nice as it is to get another place to have a sit down meal on park, it would be lovely if the issues with the current food outlets got resolved as well.
You have to assume that the new restaurant will have toilets as part of the plan, the next nearest toilets are going to be a bit of a trek otherwise, so some of the space you free up from removing the shop will not all be seating area, as it will be used for the kitchen and toilets, being realistic, I expect a smaller version of Food Loop at Europa Park. This already gets a long queue, so I expect this to be even longer at a Towers version, so I can see it been a frustrating experience for people who want to eat there.
As for the Air Shop building being ruined, if you look at the path approaching Air, you can see what is AIR written in a different colour bricks on the floor, and that was ruined when they extended the seating area for the Ripsaw Refresh outdoor area.
Hopefully, unlike the lodges, because my expectations are so low with anything Towers tries to do now, I will be in for a surprise when it opens next year, who knows, they might even theme each table to a different coaster at Alton Towers.
Ian
Dave
TS Founding Member
Pizza Pasta toilet situation is ridiculous, wood cutters isn't that much of a problem as its built next to the fountain square toilet block.
The plan puts the toilets and kitchen in the extension (toilets downstairs, kitchen upstairs) so most of the existing shop (including the backstage part) seems to be seating.
It's not going to be huge but not as small as you suggest. They certainly do need to work on Towers family restaurant though as it is a bit grim in there.
I have no expectation though, this year Octonauts exceeded my expectation as did Corner Coffee. Enchanted Village was worse than expected, though not the disaster some suggest it is. My big issue currently is opening hours and high costs but I can't see that changing.
Towers just bobs along at the moment, it neither impresses me nor do I think it's a pit. It's nowhere near achieving its potential though.
I'm quite looking forward to this. The Air shop and area, as rightly said by others, is an area of the park often overlooked. Personally, I love the glow of the blue "Air" logo in the evenings, and the design of the shop, so provided they dont wreck it, bringing more people into this area and this new restaurant, given there isnt much in FV anyway, in particular toilets at that end of the park, are welcome in my opinion.
Scott
Former TS Team Member
Doubt that would be ideal for FoodLoop though? Equally our weather isn't ideal for that. Then there would be the issue of where PicSolve and Air's shop would go?
PeteB
TS Member
Shipping container plonked outside the restaurant?
jon81uk
TS Member
It's shown on the plans, an extension will be built where the current terrace is. So you will get to top of Air exit stairs and turn right instead of left.
Scott
Former TS Team Member
I know, I was replying to PeteB suggesting they shouldn't build the extension...
CGM
TS Member
The weather here isn't that bad. In the summer months, we can get very good weather and on those days, more often than not, everyone wants to eat outside.
As for where else they could put the new shop, they're extending the building backwards so they could conceivably have a shop at the back of the building which emerges either where the wheelchair entrance is now or at a stretch, onto the terrace. To be honest, I would much rather they just put Food Loop in a new building.
I'm obviously very disappointed that the terrace will be disappearing. Hopefully they will have floor to ceiling wrap-around windows in the new shop to preserve the view. It would go a long way towards continuing the aesthetic of the existing building as well. Just having a wall would look awful.
*Checks the plans*
Sigh....
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