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Towers Loving Care
- Thread starter Randomizer462
- Start date
djtruefitt
TS Team
Who ever supplies fences for towers will be making a fortune this season!
PeteB
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
I'd say this park offers nothing. Despite their best attempts at providing a new ride experience this year with Galatica, it seems no one really cares and that's why the place is empty.
Couple of half decent rollercoasters and not much else. Even the aesthetics of the place, especially the gardens, have gone to sh!t. Really, what does Alton Towers actually have to offer?
Really, what does Alton Towers actually have to offer?
Well...... its great for Fence enthusiasts....
owentaylor121
TS Member
Are you actually for real? The park is far from empty, yes it may not be a busy as previous years but that's completely down to the accident. What does the park have to offer? 3 fantastic hotels, a decent water park, a brilliant children's area, fantastic landscaping, historical buildings, world class coasters! The list goes on, it may not be the best park in the world but it definitely has stuff to offer.I'd say this park offers nothing. Despite their best attempts at providing a new ride experience this year with Galatica, it seems no one really cares and that's why the place is empty.
Couple of half decent rollercoasters and not much else. Even the aesthetics of the place, especially the gardens, have gone to sh!t. Really, what does Alton Towers actually have to offer?
Owen - are you sure your on about Alton Towers and not some other park????
Seriously dude, i've been going to Alton every year for over 20 years, I used to have nothing but praise for the place, but recent years, its no where near the park it used to once be.
3 fantastic hotels? Really???? Go stay in a cheap Holiday Inn or Premier Inn down the road - for less - with bigger, more modern rooms, even with aircon!! ATH rooms (except Moon voyager) are old, dated, shabby, broken beds, sinks, windows that dont stay open, Splash landings rooms not much better of late, Enchanted Village lodges are ok, though lack any storage. The "tree houses" are not tree houses, and are cramped together and small for the price. Talking of price, these fantastic hotels charge the earth for a very substandard product compared to other local hotels and B&Bs. Food standards in the hotels have dropped considerably, and the queue for the bar in ATH grown longer and longer by the day. And dont even get me started on the fantabulous entertainment....
Water park - too small, needs expanding given there are now 3 hotels using it, and the public. 2 hours in there is enough thesedays, 45 minutes of which is spent queueing for a ring for the master blaster.
Childrens area - You must be referring to Cred Street ...... which is now closed..... as well as CATCF? Yeah, great. Or are you referring to Alton dropping the age of the free entry for children tickets so younger children now have to pay to get in?
Landscaping - well, they have sacked a few gardeners this year in the recent cuts, so dont expect the gardens to keep looking so good in the future - not to mention the addition of fences everywhere.
Historical buildings - hmmm, yeah the towers are beautiful arent they - open one week a year now I believe, when your lucky. Rest of the year, closed, no entry.... inside, a mess basically.
World class coasters - the ONLY ride I would now class as world class in the park is Nemesis. Thats it. The Smiler I dont class as world class, Oblivion has been done better in other parks, Air has been wrecked by VR, Thirteen is for kids, and ummm, have I missed any other "world class" rides out???
So, to recap, we have extortionately priced hotels with average restaurants and awful entertainment, a waterpark that is too small to cope with the demand, a crazy golf area which has definately seen better days, a theme park where the prices have gone up again to over £50 but with more closed rides than at any other point in the parks history, less offerings for children, gardens going to pot due to lack of staff to maintain them and a beautiful house which is closed off the public nearly all year....
I do like Alton , but this like for Alton has been changing from what it can offer me now, to the memories of what it used to offer me in the past and the happy times I had there..
Seriously dude, i've been going to Alton every year for over 20 years, I used to have nothing but praise for the place, but recent years, its no where near the park it used to once be.
3 fantastic hotels? Really???? Go stay in a cheap Holiday Inn or Premier Inn down the road - for less - with bigger, more modern rooms, even with aircon!! ATH rooms (except Moon voyager) are old, dated, shabby, broken beds, sinks, windows that dont stay open, Splash landings rooms not much better of late, Enchanted Village lodges are ok, though lack any storage. The "tree houses" are not tree houses, and are cramped together and small for the price. Talking of price, these fantastic hotels charge the earth for a very substandard product compared to other local hotels and B&Bs. Food standards in the hotels have dropped considerably, and the queue for the bar in ATH grown longer and longer by the day. And dont even get me started on the fantabulous entertainment....
Water park - too small, needs expanding given there are now 3 hotels using it, and the public. 2 hours in there is enough thesedays, 45 minutes of which is spent queueing for a ring for the master blaster.
Childrens area - You must be referring to Cred Street ...... which is now closed..... as well as CATCF? Yeah, great. Or are you referring to Alton dropping the age of the free entry for children tickets so younger children now have to pay to get in?
Landscaping - well, they have sacked a few gardeners this year in the recent cuts, so dont expect the gardens to keep looking so good in the future - not to mention the addition of fences everywhere.
Historical buildings - hmmm, yeah the towers are beautiful arent they - open one week a year now I believe, when your lucky. Rest of the year, closed, no entry.... inside, a mess basically.
World class coasters - the ONLY ride I would now class as world class in the park is Nemesis. Thats it. The Smiler I dont class as world class, Oblivion has been done better in other parks, Air has been wrecked by VR, Thirteen is for kids, and ummm, have I missed any other "world class" rides out???
So, to recap, we have extortionately priced hotels with average restaurants and awful entertainment, a waterpark that is too small to cope with the demand, a crazy golf area which has definately seen better days, a theme park where the prices have gone up again to over £50 but with more closed rides than at any other point in the parks history, less offerings for children, gardens going to pot due to lack of staff to maintain them and a beautiful house which is closed off the public nearly all year....
I do like Alton , but this like for Alton has been changing from what it can offer me now, to the memories of what it used to offer me in the past and the happy times I had there..
Alright then. Even if you want to look at it so negatively, you can't deny that the park has:
- At least 3 world class coasters
- Some good family coaster (and another being built)
- A decent dark ride (and two arguably world class dark rides currently undergoing improvements hopefully)
- Some good themed areas
- A good hotel
- Areas that even parks like Disney or universal don't have like the towers or the gardens
- Fantastic seasonal events
I don't get the negativity on here sometimes. It's obvious the park was better under tussauds and others, but merlin get a lot of unfair criticism. What's the point of looking back through rose tinted glasses at a time when the parks the best it will ever be. I simply can't see how towers can go back being as good - not without buying more land, closing a few major rides, etc. The park is obviously trying with their limited budgets. tlc is obviously happening around the park, scarefest and fireworks last year were excellent and I intend to visit both this year.
At least 3? Care to elaborate?
Again, care to elaborate? All I can think of at the moment is Thirteen and perhaps Spinball depending how daring the kids are, otherwise is just Octonauts...
Hex is closed right now, which just leaves Duel, which, most of the effects are broken and lighting has spoilt the ride.
Which are? Again, all that springs to my mind is FV, though its not exactly heavily themed....
Which one? Average at best for the price. If the price was A LOT cheaper, then I may say good for the price, but as they stand, over £200 a night to stay in one - I wouldn't say good for what they offer...
Yes the gardens are nice, but Disney and other parks do have green areas with flowers etc.
The only two I can think of is Scarefest which has been cut down this year in terms of its length, and also Fireworks, which again, has been cut down in terms of how many days it runs for. Dreading how packed it will be this year.
Sorry, its not being negative at all - its being realistic. I'm not making all this up, anyone visiting the park can see the state of things right now.
And you hit the nail on the head with your comment about Pleasure Beach being its only competitor right now. No doubt if Merlin had a decent competitor then the park would see a bit more effort going into it, but it doesnt because it rests on its laurels. Pleasure Beach is on the up at the moment.
Why not? Why cant it be as good? Infact, it should be better now with the advances in technology. The ONLY thing that has changed over the years is the focus away from the paying guests experience, to that of the profits of the companies running the place. The negativity is because a lot of us want to see the park thrive and become good again, but the blatant cost savings in the name of profits is what annoys us. Small things around the park broken, not fixed, year upon year, lack of investment, more rides closed yet entry prices going up, its not negativity - its reality, its what is actually happening.
Edit : Thinking about it.... something positive about the place - its staff. One thing that HAS improved over the years has been the staff.
Nemesis, oblivion, the smiler
Thirteen, RMT, spinball (and sw8 being built)
Duel is decent, if broken. The GP seem to enjoy it. Hex and sub terra are excellent rides, and I hope for them to open next year.
The Alton towers hotel. I'm booked in for £60 for fireworks. I think that's good value.
I can only speak for what I've done, but it's not like the busy days of scarefest have been cut. The event itself was amazing. They deserved the awards they won for it.
By as good, I mean developments. Will we see a ten year period in which we get investments equal to nemesis, oblivion, toyland tours, etc? I doubt it to be completely honest. Even if they were willing to invest in this, could they? Without the removal of major rides or listening on planning restrictions, I'm not sure they can.
Will agree that the staff being one of the best things about the park. The staff at Drayton weren't all that helpful (poor communication with guests), and didn't help ride operations. Some of the entertainment staff are excellent at towers.
CoasterCrazyChris
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis
Crazily overpriced tiny rooms, poorly refurbished public areas, rubbish entertainment, rip off restaurants and a lifeless cluster of (also overpriced) lodges.
Once maybe - but now it's overcrowded, ridiculously expensive and seen no real investment in 13 years. As a hotel facility it is fantastic, as a standalone water park it is not.
CBeebies? Popular it may be, but anything with a large IP like this will draw in the crowds. To my eyes it is the old farm with bright paint and cheap 2D signage added and not a great deal else. Little style, taste or aesthetic quality here.
Don't make me laugh. The park areas have been neglected for well over a decade resulting in a scruffy mess of overgrown trees and foliage. The gardens and grounds get the bear minimum treatment.
These are historic listed buildings that have existed for well over a century, so Merlin can't ruin them with their commercialisation even if they wanted to. Not enough to stop them closing them for most of the year or failing to provide proper information on their history.
We can agree. Well on three at least. Shame they have been largely neglected.
Of course, but compared to its European and American counterparts Alton Towers are way, way below standard quality wise in just about every area apart from innovation in coaster hardware (where, to be fair I would say they are outperforming most large parks).
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That is the problem, the quiet days have been cut which is not good for all of us who would like to experience the Scarefest and Fireworks, but with out having to queue for hours on end for the rides.
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In regards to the general condition of the park. Yes they have made an attempt to spruce up the park for this season, but it is no where as to the standard as it could be.
Take a look at Efterlin in Holland, they only added some decent rides in recent years, but they have a lot of old rides which are at a guess around 20 to 30 year old, yet they still manage to keep the park looking immaculate all year round.
There is no excuse for Merlin supposedly 2nd to Disney.
Actually, I went on the first Sunday last year and everything was walk on. I don't want queue, but for me visiting weekdays isn't an option.
Thats amazing value...... but I assume that is £60 split between a few of you - the room is costing more than that!
Just to compare however, I can stay in the Holiday Inn down the road and have a room to myself, with Air Con, more modern, and breakfast for under £55 .
No, just £60 total. Really good value, especially for the night of an event (we used the sun code)
jmc
TS Member
Alton Towers is not good value. I am going to Germany this weekend, visiting 2 parks, staying in a hotel for 3 nights, including flights it is cheaper than staying at Alton Towers for the same amount of time. I've given up on going now, hence why I'm making an effort to travel about and go to other parks in Europe.
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Now the ONLY decent thing about Dark Forest (Th13teen station) is barely visible. Well done Towers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Now the ONLY decent thing about Dark Forest (Th13teen station) is barely visible. Well done Towers.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
That was last year and the park was exceptionally quiet due to the Smiler crash. This year, the queue times appeared to be up slightly, I don't know if this is down to the fact that the guess numbers are up slightly or has more to do with the fact that we are down by 6 attractions.
I once did the Scarefest during the Halloween half term week when the kids were off school and I said never again. Since then I stuck with visiting Scarefest during the first week when the kids where all at school.
AliceHL91
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Nemesis, Oblivion
That's the problem. A lot of people (myself included) will usually visit on a weekday which reduces how busy the weekends are, but since the days are limited this year I can see it being mental
In that case, wow, I have never seen a hotel room that cheap for a fireworks event ever! Must have been a fault with their booking system and you got it at the right time as I didnt think the Sun codes were even valid over the fireworks event dates! But well done!