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Towers Loving Care

DiogoJ42 said:
Oh, no doubt. After all, we're talking about a company that has had the Hex video projected in the wrong aspect ratio since the ride opened. I highly doubt they would know what an iris is if they got their fingers chopped off by one.
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Iris, its a flower , yeah ? very difficult to chop fingers off with a flower o_O
 
As a gardener, who rarely wears gloves, I have never had my fingers nibbled by an Iris, bearded, bulbous or otherwise.

EDIT...sorry, missed the last couple of posts. Late to the party again.
Useless Iris fact, comes from the Greek for rainbow, so they make a very good gift to a gay mate, if you have offended them (again)!
 
DiogoJ42 said:
had the Hex video projected in the wrong aspect ratio since the ride opened.
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I saw this and just realised what the problem was, the video was actually shot in widescreen (hooray) but has always been played without the correct anamorphic settings on to a 4:3 screen (I think - it looked like it was squashed from memory but it's been 2 years since I saw it and I tend to not focus on the technical things when Im enjoying a ride :p ).

I've corrected it below - on the left is how the video appears in the ride without the correct settings (it would be easier today because most video files are rendered in widescreen aspect anyway without anamorphic bla-bla).

Will Alton Towers finally realise and correct this? The video looks dated without it, when it's surprisingly more cinematic in widescreen. Also they could do with a much larger screen these days.

Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.33.59_zpsfurdhmyh.png

Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.31.47_zpshtkqwjxp.png
Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.30.09_zpsdz9dip3n.png
 
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matthewgcole said:
How much admin space you need in the Internet age?
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Got to go up there a few times in 2011 and there isn't that much space really. Above corner coffee was marketing, then there was the main management offices and a meeting room. Downstairs was mostly guest services offices and a few other bits.

Towers doesn't have a whole lot of back office space, magic HQ is mostly staff based admin. would be nice if they could build up some space and get the bottom shops open but I think the main reason for not bothering is Towers Street is a bit distant from the rest of the major park areas and unlike Disney where to cross the park you always traverse past main street, to do the same at towers you can bypass at white bridge so the shops on towers street are only getting major footfall for the first and last hour of the day.

Just a guess though.
 
British Dark Rides said:
I saw this and just realised what the problem was, the video was actually shot in widescreen (hooray) but has always been played without the correct anamorphic settings on to a 4:3 screen (I think - it looked like it was squashed from memory but it's been 2 years since I saw it and I tend to not focus on the technical things when Im enjoying a ride :p ).

I've corrected it below - on the left is how the video appears in the ride without the correct settings (it would be easier today because most video files are rendered in widescreen aspect anyway without anamorphic bla-bla).

Will Alton Towers finally realise and correct this? The video looks dated without it, when it's surprisingly more cinematic in widescreen. Also they could do with a much larger screen these days.

Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.33.59_zpsfurdhmyh.png

Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.31.47_zpshtkqwjxp.png
Screen%20Shot%202017-01-30%20at%2008.30.09_zpsdz9dip3n.png
Click to expand...
I just always thought all the actors were anorexic
o_O
 
Dave said:
Got to go up there a few times in 2011 and there isn't that much space really. Above corner coffee was marketing, then there was the main management offices and a meeting room. Downstairs was mostly guest services offices and a few other bits.

Towers doesn't have a whole lot of back office space, magic HQ is mostly staff based admin. would be nice if they could build up some space and get the bottom shops open but I think the main reason for not bothering is Towers Street is a bit distant from the rest of the major park areas and unlike Disney where to cross the park you always traverse past main street, to do the same at towers you can bypass at white bridge so the shops on towers street are only getting major footfall for the first and last hour of the day.

Just a guess though.
Click to expand...

If there was actually more to do in and around Towers Street perhaps more people would hang out there. As it stands now the only reaon for being there is either to buy Fastrack or make a complaint.

Having said that, the restaurant and coffee shop have always done reasonably well have they not?

It's the same with CCL, look back years ago and it used to be quite a busy area. Now there's really nothing to do around there.
 
PeteB said:
If there was actually more to do in and around Towers Street perhaps more people would hang out there. As it stands now the only reaon for being there is either to buy Fastrack or make a complaint.

Having said that, the restaurant and coffee shop have always done reasonably well have they not?

It's the same with CCL, look back years ago and it used to be quite a busy area. Now there's really nothing to do around there.
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The state of Towers Street and the entrance area in general is frankly an appalling embarrassment - we have all been saying this for years but they never do much about it.

A repaint and jet wash of the buildings is a start but is nowhere near enough to get it back up to scratch. The street itself is overgrown, tired and plastered in Merlin adverts and needs a total overhaul.

The coffee shop is OK but the restaurant is beyond dreary and barely improved by the recent refurbishment - it's not even close to the quality expected for a major park.

The retail offering is even worse.....my local Poundland has more character and interesting items for sale than that god awful Towers Trading shop, which is about as sterile inside as a hospital ward.

I find it hard to believe that they can't relocate the offices along the street somewhere else, open them up again and have one as a sweet shop, one for toys and another for clothing and perhaps expand guest services because the current one is tiny and not fit for purpose. When anything goes wrong (which lets face it basically every other day of the season under Merlin) there's a mile queue out the door. The whole set-up is amateur as well and makes the park look like the regional standard it practically has become.
 
I personally love Corner Coffee, and I think that was done to pretty high standard, but I do feel there could be more done with Towersstreet. Still, painting these buildings is a good thing in terms of first impressions people have when entering the park. Subtle and only a first step, but good nonetheless.
 
Corner coffee has always been disgustingly dirty and very untidy when I've been in with over priced and poorly made coffee. But then it was still slightly better than the Nescrap served on the rest of the park.
 
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