Spring Event

[AT86]

With the great news that more events are coming in 2021 and the only ‘gap’ in the calendar being Spring/Easter it got me thinking about what they could look to add in future years at this time period.

They have dabbled with ideas in the past such as Chocolate Towers, but one idea I had is to make use of biggest underused asset in the park..the gardens.

‘Alton Flowers’ could be an event expanding on the recent focus of the gardens and could extend to other areas of the park such as new flower beds in the entrance plaza, hanging baskets down Towers St and so on.

Running from season opening to May, they could have gardens tours, food stalls selling ‘Spring foods’ like hot cross buns, chocolate, lamb dishes etc.

Entertainment in the form of the bandstand in the gardens being used for live bands and maybe even the CBeebies characters such as Mr Bloom and Peter Rabbit could have a show to teach the kids about Spring.

I think Epcot run a popular ‘Flower and Garden’ festival each year, and with Alton Towers actually having the gardens sat there, it could be a relatively easy event to set up.

Any thoughts? Or ideas for an event that could run at this time of year?

 

[Thameslink Rail]

The problem with that this year is the Easter holidays will either have ended or have one week left by 12th April depending on your local authority and then we have six weeks of relativity low demand before May Half Term and Mardi Gras. I guess they could do something aimed at preschoolers and do a Cadbury Egg hunt round the gardens.

 

[AT86]

The problem with that this year is the Easter holidays will either have ended or have one week left by 12th April depending on your local authority and then we have six weeks of relativity low demand before May Half Term and Mardi Gras. I guess they could do something aimed at preschoolers and do a Cadbury Egg hunt round the gardens.

Well this year is no good and far too late to plan anything now I would imagine.

It’s a good point about it being a quieter time of year outside the school holidays. Since the gardens could attract a different market to the school holiday crowd it could be a good way to encourage more people into the park at quieter times.

 

[Thameslink Rail]

Well this year is no good and far too late to plan anything now I would imagine.

It’s a good point about it being a quieter time of year outside the school holidays. Since the gardens could attract a different market to the school holiday crowd it could be a good way to encourage more people into the park at quieter times.

I think it would be an ideal time to have a discounted towers and gardens entry and do guided tours of both.
They would probably have to close Hex for a few minutes to allow those tours to happen but given how quiet the park is on those days I don't think that would be too much of a problem.

 

[pluk]

Us having had the second hottest ever March day on record last week and snow forecast next week is a great indicator of why this time of year is likely to remain unused by the park for anything more than minimal opening. The weather from winter to spring is the most volatile and unpredictable on the calendar which puts at risk any investment into an event more than any other time of year.

It's a great idea, but even those modest plans would be quite an outlay to risk.

 

[Matt N]

Us having had the second hottest ever March day on record last week and snow forecast next week is a great indicator of why this time of year is likely to remain unused by the park for anything more than minimal opening. The weather from winter to spring is the most volatile and unpredictable on the calendar which puts at risk any investment into an event more than any other time of year.

It's a great idea, but even those modest plans would be quite an outlay to risk.

The park usually opens in mid to late March anyway; prior to lockdown 3, the intended 2021 park opening date was 20th March, and some years, it’s been even earlier (for example, I think 2013 was 16th March, and 2018 was 17th March; I know the thrill rides opened later, but they would have opened on the 17th had it not been for the snow).

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think @AT86 is referring to the sort of Easter period that used to be occupied by Chocolate Towers; the park is usually open anyway at this time of year, so it wouldn’t alter the operating calendar at all.

Personally, I’d love to see the return of an Easter event, not too dissimilar to what Chocolate Towers used to be. Maybe they could even do a tie-in with Cadbury’s or something and do a proper, fun Easter event for all the family, with things like Easter egg hunts and Easter-themed entertainment, as well as copious amounts of chocolate?

 

[Themeparksandy1981]

A Easter event would work brilliantly on towers street and CBeebies land. They could have Easter egg hunts at different times of the day. With maybe some shows on the stage that’s currently on the front lawn.

 

[pluk]

The park usually opens in mid to late March anyway; prior to lockdown 3, the intended 2021 park opening date was 20th March, and some years, it’s been even earlier (for example, I think 2013 was 16th March, and 2018 was 17th March; I know the thrill rides opened later, but they would have opened on the 17th had it not been for the snow).

Eggsactly! Minimal opening, minimal outlay for potential returm on investment if people come and rain/wind/snow does not stop play. As soon as you add events, especially those which feature perishable products and staffing for shows as suggested here, your outlay increases hugely and you risk losing that on the unpredictable weather.

I'd love to see events used to increase the season length and entertainment offering, but they have to make sense from a business perspective.

 

[Steve74]

Whatever they do, they can't use chocolate or any mention of the word in this day and age. Imagine the complaints to the Daily Mail. You can just see it's headline.

"Alton Towers made my kids fat by encouraging them to look for and eat chocolate Easter eggs in the area where the 2015 horrific crash occurred on the Smiler where people were seriously injured."