Why is everyone so negative, it really does not look good at all, this is meant to be a fan site for Towers but the amount of negativity towards the park is just ridiculous. I'm not saying go round a brown nose the park, but jesus, it's actually pathetic some of the things people are complaining about.
Have you guys heard yourselves? Your moaning about a bloody fence!
They put an unnecessary, obstructive fence in one of the most characterful areas of the park ruining what was previously an impressive vista. Yes, they have now cut holes in it so that you can see through but the net result is still much worse than what stood there last season. It's details like this that contribute to a park's atmosphere so it's important that they get them right.
As for the constant negativity, people have been driven to cynicism by the constant falling standards. I think many have reached the end of their tether.
People need to except Towers will never have beautiful theming like PA or Disney, it will never have the feel of Europa, but we are so lucky to have a park like Towers in this country! Yes the opening hours are crap, yes Merlin don't always make the best decisions but Towers has absolutely beautiful grounds, a fantastic coaster line up on paper and a feel that no other park I've ever visited has!
Why should we accept this? In the past I would argue that Alton has been ahead of Europa and PA in the European pecking order. Their investment in world leading ride technology and their (at the time) innovative approach to theming and ride branding set them ahead of the international competition. Alton even demonstrated that they could do world class theming with Splash Landings. But since then, the park has shown little passion for its projects, putting in the absolute minimum amount of effort required to be deemed acceptable by the paying public. It particularly hurts when you look over to the continent and you see parks with nothing like Alton's spending power and without the backing of one of the world's largest entertainment companies outdoing them at every turn.
What's the point in being an enthusiast in any area if it doesn't inspire you in some way? Why can't we wish for something exceptional? If the best we can hope to look forward to is adequacy, what's the point of being a fan? Alton has all the ingredients it needs to be one of the world's greatest parks but we consistently see that potential being squandered.
If there's one thing I don't understand about the UK enthusiast community, it's this willingness among some to accept that this is just the way it is and that to expect anything better is unrealistic. You don't have to look far to realise that this just isn't the case.
In recent years, for me visiting Alton has been about as enjoyable as watching someone take a hammer to my favourite childhood toy, so this year I decided not to visit. So far, I haven't regretted it one bit. It's not an act of protest, my absence will not affect them in any way. It just doesn't make sense to be paying for something I don't enjoy. This idea of "loyalty" to a park is an enthusiast fallacy. At the end of the day, they owe me nothing and I owe them nothing but the onus is on the park to provide an experience that I believe is worth paying the entry fee for. Last year, they fell well short of that and this year looks to be even worse overall.
