2012 Season - Your Verdict

[Thom]

The 2012 Theme Park season at Alton Towers saw the arrival of 2 new attractions, the introduction and subsequent removal of several major operational cutbacks, the introduction of a new 'All Day Dining' plan, a brand new Scarefest maze and the repeat of the popular Fireworks event.

However, perhaps the biggest event of 2012 was the commencement of construction on SW7, now confirmed to be the most expensive roller coaster to ever be constructed at the park. The removal of the Black Hole tent, the ground excavation, the arrival of concrete and track and the appearance of an instantly iconic 'Get Corrected' smiling face visual have provoked plenty of discussion from the TowersTimes community, with speculation only to intense further as we head into the closed season.

Based on everything listed above, and of course your own experiences at the resort this year, what is your verdict of the 2012 season?

Whilst we'll be welcoming your views on both the Theme Park and TowersTimes itself via a comprehensive survey in the coming weeks, why not take the opportunity here to post your views on how the past season at theme park has turned out.

Do you feel the increase in ticket prices means the Theme Park doesn't offer good value for money? Have Sub-Terra's mid-season improvements now made it a worthwhile addition to the ride offering? Have Merlin been making the right decisions during a season of poor weather and low attendance? Did Sacrefest and the Fireworks live up to expectations?

Give us your verdict below...

[redpiggy]

Prior to 2012, I had only ever been to Alton Towers twice. Once in 2006 (school trip) and once in 2011 (spur of the moment visit after Sonisphere).
This year, I visited 3 times!
Having realised I got a really great corporate discount, I was determined to make the most of it.. If I lived closer/had more money I would have got an annual pass and been there almost every weekend I reckon.

I didn't experience sub-terra earlier in the season, so I can't comment on it from the beginning, but I did read up on it before I came in July and was really impressed when I "rode" it. Scared silly, but impressed. I haven't been back on it since, but if I had had time I would have.

I also took time out of my day to see the Ice Age thing... I call it a thing, because it's too short to be a film.. And I'm having a total mind blank on what else to call it!
I thought it was great fun, and the 4d effects were really engaging.

Having not been properly since 2006, Thirteen was new to me too, and I'd still never been on Oblivion or Sonic Spinball!

I barely repeated anything I did over three visits, and there was always something different to do.

The tank in the sharkbait reef changed between two of my visits, at scarefest I got to see and do stuff in the dark, I "discovered" the Haunted Hollow on my second visit, I ate from different outlets, I sunbathed, I rode the kiddie rides, I watched the pirate show and I did my first ever two scaremazes!

Obivously someone who has been more and much more recently than myself may have a completely different view on the season, but for me, it's been awesome.

[DrReeve]

I personally think it was a great season
Nemesis Sub Terra I found was exciting and awesome I was totally unprepared.
Air and nemesis were as good as usual.
Submission seemed to be dying when i went with 2 rows  not in action
Enterprise's new paint made it look nice and new again.
Oblivion looked in need of a repaint. and their half re coloured restraints.
Other than a few small things it was a good season

[anorman]

For me the 2012 season has been the best I have ever had at Alton towers for the following reasons:-

1. Proud of Alton for realising that Sub Terra needed to change and then making it a nice addition to the park.

2. My 30th Birthday was at Alton this year and I think just about every member of staff said happy birthday to me, plus I got a free priority pass for every ride except sonic for 7 of us which was fantastic customer service again.

3. 3 overnight stays at the hotel (one for free) and experiencing the water park for the first time - awesome.

4. Scarefest - AMAZING, loved the Sanctuary this was a real step in the right direction for Alton.  The Alton Ville Motel Scare Room experience was out of this world and the personal highlight of my year without a doubt.

5. Fireworks, loved every minute and what can be better than following them with a night time front seat ride on Nemesis and then Oblivion.

6. This website, total thanks to Towers Times for breaking the latest news and being the number one place to chat with like minded fans - well done!

7. For me the customer service in particular in the hotels is outstanding and I believe the staff should be very proud of themselves.  I will be returning next year to do it all again and I can't wait to see what is going to unfold.

[altontowerskid]

Visited once early in the season, once in the height of our British summer and lastly for Scarefest. Stayed in Splash for 2 nights each time.

Lets be honest, at the start of the season, many of us were not happy with the park. I remember a vast majority of the discussions being pretty negative - BUT I really do think they've pulled something out the bag and made it a much better season than it could have been

Highs
> Fantastic changes made to Sub-Terra in response to disappointment.
> Generally good customer service.
> Reliability has been on par (Maintenance have been quick to respond).
> Build-up and advertisement for SW7 has been good.

Lows
> Still not enough investment where it needs to be!
  - Special events with high attendance need HIGH investment!
> Park up-keep needs more attention.

And to support that first low point - Merlin need to understand, to rival and company like Disney, you need to be prepared to invest. In our enthusiast group, as we have been discussing, it doesn't take much to make a BIG difference. Lighting, smoke, effects, entertainment make an atmosphere - that's exactly what the park needs! Alton Towers is a fantastic stage for ANY sort of special event, dress that stage accordingly and the season they do is guaranteed to be their best ever!  

[Marcus]

For me the 2012 season has been the best I have ever had at Alton towers for the following reasons:-

1. Proud of Alton for realising that Sub Terra needed to change and then making it a nice addition to the park.

2. My 30th Birthday was at Alton this year and I think just about every member of staff said happy birthday to me, plus I got a free priority pass for every ride except sonic for 7 of us which was fantastic customer service again.

3. 3 overnight stays at the hotel (one for free) and experiencing the water park for the first time - awesome.

4. Scarefest - AMAZING, loved the Sanctuary this was a real step in the right direction for Alton.  The Alton Ville Motel Scare Room experience was out of this world and the personal highlight of my year without a doubt.

5. Fireworks, loved every minute and what can be better than following them with a night time front seat ride on Nemesis and then Oblivion.

6. This website, total thanks to Towers Times for breaking the latest news and being the number one place to chat with like minded fans - well done!

7. For me the customer service in particular in the hotels is outstanding and I believe the staff should be very proud of themselves.  I will be returning next year to do it all again and I can't wait to see what is going to unfold.

Nearly brought a tear to my eye xD Not sure why

[Jammydodger]

It was nice having a more quiet summer this year due to the olympics, Made a total of 5 visits this year, and only found myself queuing longer than 10 minutes during one visit in September.

It was always exciting seeing the construction site for SW7 progress, as one of the few coasters in a while that had a virtually unrestricted view. But I still feel like they missed a trick here. Until Scarefest kicked in, the marketing was really lackluster. They should have had actors like those seen outside the Sanctuary wondering around the area in my opinion, and the smiley graffiti could've been seen by a whole lot more people if they had done it sooner.

It felt like this year they really bumped up their budgets for entertainments, with roaming actors constantly about, even during the most off peak of times. It will be interesting to see if they continue to invest with the ice age characters since it wont be one of the years flagship attractions.

Sub-Terra has become a strong attraction, and the more the initial hatred towards the basic concept dies away, the more I start to appreciate its intricacies, and attention to detail. Its now just up to the towers to maintain the effects and acting, otherwise the ride will really suffer.

Ice Age was a pleasant surprise, although really only a one-time thing. Which makes me kind of think it probably wont be long until they either update the movie to the newest one coming out, or move it to some generic movie. The theming was a lot more extensive than you'd come to expect from what I initially thought was a second rate attraction, but I really think they showed what you can do with such a small budget here.

As for things going on over the closed season, I'm curious as to what will happen to the dark forest and Rita. Not even Merlin are cheap enough to leave the launch strip that state, with the temporary fencing but what could possibly be so big and take so long to construct that they couldn't have done it over night? And then there's the X-sector, Oblivion wont be available during Half Term, so presumably the whole area will be hidden away, but I do hope we get to see if they're retheming or at least sprucing up. I don't REALLY expect anything else from them, even though the usual ride paints and theming fixes are always a hot request.

[myrtle]

We have 3 children aged from 8 - 12 so between us we have experienced the whole park this year. It was a big decision whether to renew our MAP's but so glad we did!  This is in my opinion the best theme park in the UK for families. The staff are great ! I'm sure we could find something to moan about if we tried - locker prices maybe which compared to Warwick castle (only £1 !) are a little pricey and maybe Merlin should review this? Nemesis and Oblivion still deliver that thrill and now my daughter is old enough she will happily go on all of the rides! Parent queue share and great family rides such as Thirteen and the Mine train make this a great day out for us. The gardens and towers add so much to AT and we are so lucky to have such a great place on our doorstep. Ice Age was great on the wet days and Sub Terra was a nice surprise although we have not been on it since it has been improved. Have to say we did not notice new paint to Enterprise which has always looked tired and rusty, that end of X sector needs some TLC though and have not seen both sides of Submission running this year? Longest queues for us have been Sonic spinball at 90 mins !!! A great season and can't wait for next year and the unveiling of SW7 .  Will just add that we were all dressed up for Scarefest, came on Monday 29th and only a couple of other guests were in costume which surprised us. Zombie zone was great, sadly could not do horror mazes but the effort put in by AT was great! Missed the guy who rides round on the piano this year - like uncle fester? was he there?  A few more actors would not go amiss as would the return of the wraiths to 13 and maybe other park areas..

[Themeparksandy1981]

I don't know if it's age or down to going to the towers since 1993 but this year I only been once and that was in May before they did Sub terra up but I feel all Merlin care about is ££££ now a days. Like I had the option of going to Alton Towers yesterday but as there was 3 of all even with a 2 for 1 would have cost us £30 each with £2 each for parking and £20 to £25 petrol. Now a got a house&a 4 month old I can't afford to spend £60 on a day out.
So really as I was use to going at least every 8 weeks in the past I haven't really feel like I missed the towers only going once this year. I even given Thorpe Park a miss and I been there every year since 2001.

[bensaund]

£60 for a day out is cheap, try doing a day out in London, even a trip to the beach can easily cost £100 if you do some amusements, lunch, petrol and parking.

The problem is the 2 for 1's only work if you have an even number of guests, as soon as you have a group of 3,5 etc then the cost goes up a lot.

[anorman]

I don't know if it's age or down to going to the towers since 1993 but this year I only been once and that was in May before they did Sub terra up but I feel all Merlin care about is ££££ now a days. Like I had the option of going to Alton Towers yesterday but as there was 3 of all even with a 2 for 1 would have cost us £30 each with £2 each for parking and £20 to £25 petrol. Now a got a house&a 4 month old I can't afford to spend £60 on a day out.
So really as I was use to going at least every 8 weeks in the past I haven't really feel like I missed the towers only going once this year. I even given Thorpe Park a miss and I been there every year since 2001.

I understand it must be difficult especially with a 4 month old, all I can say is plan plan and plan.

When we did Scarefest this year we had been planning since June to make sure it all went amazing.

[paul_thropp]

Only managed to get to AT once this year, as is the usual really. It is an expensive day out but I've always felt it's been worth it. I went in August and to be honest it was one of the best days I've ever had at AT and the quietest which I was shocked to find in August, I thought it would be packed!

To make it all the better, I actually went with my work on corporate team building day which was my suggestion for what we should do for our team building and won the vote, to my excitement! The day started crappy as our car got lost because sat-nav took us to god knows way, thankfully a good old fashioned map got us there, an hour late! Never mind, we took up seats in the Towers Suite which quite frankly totally sucks inside. It's really bland and needs jazzing up! I thought it was going to at least have blue walls or something, that would change it tenfold. It's a really bog standard white room with zero decor other than some pretty naff prints of a couple of the rides. That aside, the coffee was really good which was pretty much on tap for us in there all day. This pleased me! The staff looking after us in the Suite were these two young'ish guys who were honestly the strangest people I've ever met. They seemed to have been born without the ability to communicate because they didn't speak to us once, they just kind of hovered around watching us and putting things out when it was needed they were very awkward and not at all what I expected. So they really need to work on that I guess.

The team building part of the day I wasn't looking forward to cuz' I just wanted to get into the park however, it was a quiz which asked questions that required us to go around the entire park (in 2 hours! because we were late) it was a really well thought out quiz but I must say for everyone else who won't know much about the park and its details I doubt even the full 3 hours would get to through it all. Our team won the challenge because myself and my colleague are obsessed with AT and have been since we were little kids. Following TT and ATA and generally researching we knew the majority of the questions that most people would have to trek across the park for, we also know our way round so well we worked out the best route to take to work through the questions in an order that made the most sense. Anyway, while answering the questions, we were all given fast passes and photo passes and we had to get one person to ride certain rides and get a photo on it as proof for lots of bonus points. We barely needed the fast passes because the queues were so small.

After the challenge was done, we returned to the suite and got lunch which was cool, the food wasn't great but it was adequate. Being veggie all I got was pasta and salad which would of been okay but the pasta sauce tasted like red water. Yum. The desserts were ace though!

After this, we got the rest of the day free in the park not to mention, most of our full work group were older and didn't bother with the rides. We had way more photo and fast passes than we needed as it which come with the package so basically me and my direct work friends (3 of us) got all of the passes able to hop, skip onto all the best rides and get photos too at no cost to us! Amazing! I never buy ride photos cuz' they're a bit pricey and I'm always a bit stingy so this was a good addition to my day. The only thing we queued for was Sub-Terra which wasn't too long, about 40mins. On the subject of Sub-Terra, it's got a pretty good build up I'd say, even if the CG in the video at the beginning is really quite poor and the alien does look like a very demented crab. More crab like than I ever remember it being supposed to look but hey. The concept is there! I love how all the staff treat you like crap, its a good attention to detail that they keep that up.

The ride section is great... while your on it, but once the whole experience was over we did laugh about how pants it probably is. But at the time, in the moment, you're caught up and its all really exciting!! When they're yelling at you to get out, I nearly walked into a little boy and screamed because I thought he was a dwarf that was going to attack me... as part of the ride. Why there would be a dwarf I have no idea, but in any case I probably helped traumatize a child who'd lost his dad in the smoke and flashing lights. Once on the other side my worst nightmare began. Because it more or less becomes a short scare maze, I was in a panic! Rides I can deal with, human beings scare the crap out of me. This guy falls into the lift as the doors open and very nearly bashes me in the face with a torch so I'm screaming and pushing my female friends ahead of me (big brave man) and once inside the 'maze' it wasn't as bad as my mind was expecting. It's all tame really but is a good ending to the ride I can imagine just wandering out of the lift into the quiet would be a bit... "oh, is it over, right then ice blast anyone?"

This post is becoming much longer than I imagined. On the hole I think AT is really on the up. It has a period that I'm sure you all remember when it was going down hill. About 8 or 9 years ago maybe, I was about 15 and went with my brothers and the whole place was just falling to pieces. The rides were a mess, the park was a mess, the staff were horrible and we had a terrible day. Me being me, I wrote this massive 2 page letter to AT and after weeks, got a phone-call from them saying my letter had been discussed in a big meeting of some description and this woman on the phone was seriously shocked to find I was a 14/15 year old kid. I got 2 free tickets (which we never used and sold because my parents wouldn't take me... harsh) and from then on, everything just got better. I've been happily thinking for all these years that I helped to put a kick up their arse from my letter. That's my belief and I'm sticking to it!! :P

I have never gotten to go to a Scarefest or the fireworks but I will one day, maybe next year. I have always followed Alton Towers in detail and have an obsession with ride themes and music etc. Can't wait for SW7 it will hopefully be awesome! If it can compare to the Saw ride at TP then I'll be happy. Love that ride!!

My visit this year would of gotten 10/10 if it wasn't for the fact that, similar to my visit that year I wrote the letter, I went on Hex to discover the ride section has one to pot yet again. Lights not working, themeing above the sliding doors has fallen off to reveal the workings beneath and the music system in the ride is buggered yet again giving tinny quiet music playback; and to make it worse, the whole dam swing has developed a major squeal while its turning around. Maybe the music would have disguised it a bit, if it didn't sound like it was playing out of iPhone speaker!! I hate when Hex is messed up, as its my favorite overall attraction the park has ever had! It needs some serious redevelopments I feel it could be brought up to date and give the theme a refresh or a new element hmmm...

Repaint the corporate suites on Towers Street AT and make your staff a big more engaging! The lady who spoke to us at the end of the day was lovely I think she was a manager though.

I want to get more active on this forum I used to be years ago but I stopped and forgot my log in, hence this new one first post weeyy!

[oliviamae]

Visited about 8 times this year I think. It has been one of my favourite seasons in a while - I don't know if this is because I've been with different people who hadn't been before, the weather, how quiet is has been at times, etc. It's my 2nd year of living in Manchester, so now I'm more settled and closer to the park, it has been much easier for me to enjoy it, compared to when I was living in Devon and visiting around 3 times a year maximum.

I liked Sub-Terra originally, but I love it now. If it wasn't quite so scary, I think it'd be my favourite attraction. It definitely got my adrenaline pumping, and amazingly helped me conquer Oblivion without the usual fear! I also really liked Ice Age 4D and it's even better when you experience it with young children. I think it really does add to CCL. I've also loved the SW7 build up.

[altonmaniac1]

a great season apart from sub terra not being fully finished because i didnt get to go on the updated version but there is allways next season but i will have my attention on SW7 wwwwwwwwwwwwooooooooowwwwww!!

[Jevaaaans]

2012 - The Year I Met Alton Towers

Even if December 21st is the end of the world I will be satisfied because I experienced Alton Towers for the first time this year. At one of my school assemblies in April, my Year Head casually added into her usual monologue:

Year Head: "And we have a special treat for you Third Year"
Me: "It's going to be something like a trip to the science centre or something equally as anti-climatic"
Year Head: "We're organising a trip for you to Alton Towers"

No more was said at that assembly due to us all being too excited.

Naturally, being the geek I am, as soon as I got home I started Google-ing Alton Towers. The first thing that caught  my eye while I was flicking through the ride pages on AT's website was Enterprise, the one ride I am terrified of ironically. Then I found Oblivion and I fell in love with it. Soon I quickly learned that Air was the same kind of coaster as my all-time favourite at the time, Manta at SeaWorld Orlando, and I could not wait to go.

So May 31st 2012 came round at I found myself at school at 1AM. After the Business Education and Computing teachers who manned our bus stopped shouting at us and went to sleep, we had to endure the 4 hour (which became 6 hours after we added 2 stops and having to wait for an ambulance because one of my friends had 3 seizures in a row) before I saw the sign. "Welcome to Alton Towers Resort". And OMG, it was beautiful.

Corkscrew in it's place of worship, Towers Street and skipping down it with the Hall of the Mountain King playing then getting lost in The Gardens on our way to Nemesis. By the end of the day, I had been on Nemesis, Air 2x, Rita 2x, TH13TEEN 4x, Oblivion 2x and Nemesis: Sub-Terra.

I went home and sung praises to my parents who decided to book an overnight stay during the summer holidays.

On 16th July 2012, it was mobbed. Got stuck in a 3 hour queue for Air and my parents went ape at some Liverpudlian schoolgirls who chain smoked for about 2 hours, then tried to let their friends just going the queue. They got chucked out because we complained and AT gave us Priority Passes for the next day due to our stay at the hotel being disrupted by 100 11-year-olds who were staying on our floor as a school trip. Ended up with Air 1x, Rita 1x, Oblivion 1x and TH13TEEN 3x in a row

17th July 2012: Rode on Nemesis 3x, Air 1x, Rita 2x, TH13TEEN 4x, Oblivion 3x, Hex 1x, RMT 2x
We left at around 4:30pm as we were going to Majorca the day afterwards but all-in-all it was great.

This was my first experience of Alton Towers and next year I want to focus on getting in some rides I missed. I want to get on Ripsaw before the LTDP takes it away from us. I'm going to face my fears and tackle Enterprise and Submission. Also, getting back on Nemmy, Air and Blivvy will be awesome. I can't wait to feel the rush of Rita again. Dropping down on TH13TEEN in the front row. And the sexy-beast that is SW7 will be waiting for me....

Bring on Summer 2013, I'll be waiting for you Alton

[Vanessa Feltz]

This season had its ups and downs, but I perfectly believe that's its been one of the best seasons yet, we've had two very stable attractions added, both of which had issues at the beginning but have now earned their place in the resort, this year was my year of resort stays.

I've truly fallen in love with the hotels and believe them to be the strongest asset of the resort.

[DavidRock]

For me this year has been good, got on park quite a lot and ridden many rides. shame its close season.

For me personally i just want to thank all of the staff (some ive talked too and others i haven't) as without them it wouldn't be what it is today.

so Thank you everyone from the office staff who we don't see and all the ride crews, hotel staff and cleaners and gardeners inbetween 

Oh yeah and a big thanks to a Staff member who was working as the First Aider in the water park on sunday 4th November (went down master Blaster and turned backwards and smacked my head off the tunnel dip section). Im not sure if i can mention staff names on the fotum but we did have a great chat about bowling and the park in general..... he also mentioned Towerstimes ..... you know who you are so Thanks.

Roll on 2013 

[adrenilinejunkie]

Is there any ride/attraction planned for 2014?
If they are they better get a move on!!!! 

[SpecyBeast]

This season was brilliant for me because i was budget cutting every way posssible (Just like Merlin) and still managing to have twice the amount of time at the park than i normally would have 

[Boz]

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