Attraction Source and TowersTimes have been a leading source for news and updates within the attractions industry for over 20 years. With the ever changing landscape of content creation here is our policy and promise to you on what you can expect with our ongoing coverage.
Overview
We take our role as a major provider of attraction news seriously and want to appeal to the widest audience possible. We appreciate there is a growing desire to remain “spoiler free” but this must be balanced with the realities of reporting on live construction projects and future additions to theme parks and attractions.
Generally we will report on anything that is viewable from the ground and would otherwise be reasonably seen by a regular guest visiting the attraction. From time to time we are invited into areas not normally accessible and any photography from these visits is usually signed off by an attractions PR or Marketing team prior to release.
Below we have a few sections on the types of coverage you may expect from us and an overview of our content policy surrounding these.
Official Attraction Releases
We will always publish official releases across our platforms if we deem it of interest to our viewers. We enjoy a great working relationship with many attractions and will always assist in the ongoing promotion of new developments within the industry. These may sometimes contain “spoiler” elements but as an official release these are usually balanced so as not to ruin the first time experiencing an attraction.
Construction Coverage
There are many occasions where we would document construction of upcoming projects that are of significant interest to our readers. In those instances we try to take a balanced approach to what we show and will try to give spoiler warnings where we deem it appropriate. Generally we would approach an attraction and seek to work alongside them during the construction and marketing phase if appropriate.
Attraction Source and TowersTimes will never breach a park regulation or access restricted areas. All photography is conducted from publicly accessible areas unless otherwise stated.
Aerial Photography & Video
Attraction Source and TowersTimes have previous experience with construction coverage from private planes, most notably during the construction of The Smiler. During this period we adhered to all aviation regulations and worked alongside the Alton Towers Resort PR department to obscure images in such a way that wouldn’t directly reveal the inversion record before it was officially announced.
At this time we don’t plan to restart any aerial coverage of this kind.
Drones
Drones are a controversial content gathering method and many attractions have objected to their use in the strongest terms. At this time Attraction Source does not use drones in any coverage. If this were to change we would seek to work with an attraction in the first instance and if this isn’t possible then we would carefully consider the type of content we would produce and if any sensitive parts of a development could be avoided in our coverage.
Planning Documents & Trademarks
One of the earliest indicators of an upcoming project are planning applications or consultations. As these are publicly viewable and accessible to all we will generally report on these at the earliest opportunity.
Trademarks are often filed concerning names and logos of upcoming attractions – similar to planning applications these are publicly viewable and often widely reported upon. If particularly sensitive we may utilise spoiler tags where appropriate.