Alton Towers Resort General Discussion

[GregH94]

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Towers have seemingly confirmed this morning that staggered openings are no more. Not sure if this also means Skyride though 

[Tom]

Just something to note if travelling to/from Alton Towers from the South this weekend.

The M6 between j13 and j14 will be closed from 8pm on Saturday 23rd until some point on Sunday 24th in order to demolish a footbridge as part of the SM-ALR works. There's likely to be significant delays from around 5pm on Saturday as they will be restricting and closing lanes in preparation.

Of course the knock on effect is that the alternative A449/A34 routes will be heavily congested. Depending on where you are travelling from the logical alternative would be to travel up the M1 j23a/j24 and then travel westbound along the A50, thereby avoiding the M6 entirely, I would imagine that route would also be busier than usual though.

[Dan]

As reported on TowersTimes social media; With Alton Towers re-opening on Saturday, the Resort have been busy giving the bottom half of Towers Trading Company an extensive refurbishment.

With a brand new colour scheme, new lighting, and a slightly altered layout, the bottom half of the shop has had a complete revamp and is looking ready to welcome guests into the 2019 season.









I really like it! Although I can imagine the brightness and quirkiness might not be to everyone’s taste, this is one project that Towers have undertaken that I have no issue with

[AltonOperator]

It’s really nice - well done with no corners cut. It'd have been nice to see something more Towers themed but it’s lovely to see them really put some effort in regardless.

[DerpyQuark]

I’m impressed, it looks really colourful and unique! Well done Merlin, if only all your investments were as well themed as this!

[MakoMania]

Could someone take note of what time the front gates open for ERT tomorrow? Just want to know what sort of time to get there on Sunday. Thanks

[DeadJack5]

Could someone take note of what time the front gates open for ERT tomorrow? Just want to know what sort of time to get there on Sunday. Thanks

In the past when I've visited, the gates have opened around 9:15/20 via one section of the gates. That section is reserved for those who qualify for ERT whilst the other half the gates is for those who don't.

Hope this helps!

[AltonOperator]

The full map has now been revealed. As I predicted it's very different from the original 'promotional' map we have seen before. The big ride logos have gone (praise the lord) and we now have labels for shops, toilets, food, etc.
Label colour now matches category (food, laughs & frights, Thrills, etc.) instead of park area.
Source: TowersStreet Twitter

[MakoMania]

Seems like Marauder's Mayhem has replaced Enterprise on ERT today.

[MakoMania]

Today was actually a great opening day, far better than any day I had at the park in 2018. There were more positives than negatives, but I'll summarise:

POSITIVES:
-The single rider queue on The Smiler is absolutely fantastic, it just needs to be signed properly. A complete walk on when the main queue was 90 minutes.
-Ride reliability was generally good, leaps and bounds better than the start of last season.
-Most coasters were running a decent number of trains/stations.
-Little refurb projects around the park like Donut Factory and the Towers Trading refurb are welcome.
-The Dungeon and new entrance to Cloud Cuckoo Land looks better in person than on images.
-All staff I talked to today were very polite.

NEGATIVES:
-Early Ride Time really needs to go back to 9am instead of 9:30am. By 9am the queue at the entrance was huge.
-Rapids supposedly not opening until April. What have they been doing over the 130+ day closed season?
-The Towers are still closed, not acceptable.
-Duel still needs a lot of work.
-Spinball single rider queue farce.
-Oblivion on half capacity with a 50 minute wait is not ideal.

[GregH94]

Today was actually a great opening day, far better than any day I had at the park in 2018. There were more positives than negatives, but I'll summarise:

POSITIVES:
-The single rider queue on The Smiler is absolutely fantastic, it just needs to be signed properly. A complete walk on when the main queue was 90 minutes.
-Ride reliability was generally good, leaps and bounds better than the start of last season.
-Most coasters were running a decent number of trains/stations.
-Little refurb projects around the park like Donut Factory and the Towers Trading refurb are welcome.
-The Dungeon and new entrance to Cloud Cuckoo Land looks better in person than on images.
-All staff I talked to today were very polite.

NEGATIVES:
-Early Ride Time really needs to go back to 9am instead of 9:30am. By 9am the queue at the entrance was huge.
-Rapids supposedly not opening until April. What have they been doing over the 130+ day closed season?
-The Towers are still closed, not acceptable.
-Duel still needs a lot of work.
-Spinball single rider queue farce.
-Oblivion on half capacity with a 50 minute wait is not ideal.

With Spinball, have you tried going up the “pass holders” entrance and telling a host you’re a single rider? Maybe when they said selected days they meant it 

[DerpyQuark]

If you look closely on the map, the monorail station is in it's original colours, and not the green colouring.

[Justin]

The Towers were open today, but it is even more restricted than before as we were unable to get right to the top. Still, it was very nice to get back in them!

[ROYJESS]

Arrived on park yesterday.

Nice to see the bricks with our names on have weathered nicely   




Spotted a new (leek?) sign with regards to treating staff and other guest with respect



They were testing the rapids yesterday, but still not open due to the ride still being in the hands of the tech staff. They are hoping for the ride to be up and running next month and also I've heard from two different sources (but don't hold me to that) that they are planning to turn back on the waterfalls this season too 

Overall, I feel that the ride operations were a lot better this year and what a different having no staggered opening times make to our day. Also great to make use of the single rider queue line on the Smiler and nice to see it manage at the entrance to prevent it being abused.

[Swarm Chris]

Is that dirt, or did they manage to pressure wash the writing off?

[Dan]

Is that dirt, or did they manage to pressure wash the writing off?

Justin & I were talking to a member of staff the day before opening, and when we mentioned how faded the original bricks were looking, she did say that the plaza had been jet-washed over winter....

[DerpyQuark]

They were testing the rapids yesterday, but still not open due to the ride still being in the hands of the tech staff. They are hoping for the ride to be up and running next month and also I've heard from two different sources (but don't hold me to that) that they are planning to turn back on the waterfalls this season too.

I do hope that they run the waterfalls this season. That would be great, because the Rapids would actually get people wet!

[abigsmurf]

It's a pretty pathetic ride without the waterfalls. Usually you come off that ride laughing and pointing at the person who got the wettest. When I last went, the waterfalls weren't on and there was just an awkward silence between us after the ride.

[ROYJESS]

Is that dirt, or did they manage to pressure wash the writing off?

Justin & I were talking to a member of staff the day before opening, and when we mentioned how faded the original bricks were looking, she did say that the plaza had been jet-washed over winter....

That is terrible, I have brought it to their attention that I'm not happy.
Despite the fact that the brick remains the property of Alton Towers and they have mentioned in the T&C's that they are not liable for any wear and tear (which pressure washing isn't and the only UK company that I can find that do these types of bricks, they do not recommend that you pressure wash them), but surely Alton have a duty of care to ensure that these bricks are kept in reasonable condition and to follow the guide lines of the brick suppliers for after care.

[Rita88]

Went today and what’s happened to Enterprise?? Are they ripping it out cos looked like half of it was gone??!