TTSP@15 - Reviews & Feedback

Archive for past events.
User avatar
Rob
Admin
Admin
Posts: 2409
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2005 8:05 pm
Location: Glasgow

Thank you to everyone who attended our TTSP@15 event at Alton Towers Resort!

We'd love to hear your thoughts about the day, whether there are things you particularly enjoyed or any suggestions that we could consider for future events, do let us know.
User avatar
MrsT2015
New Member
New Member
Posts: 14
Joined: Sat Oct 17, 2015 5:05 pm

well what can I say the summer sizzler last year was my first event with you all and I loved that one but this one toped it for me.Well done guys its was a fab day with fab people and of course CAKE LOL. One of the highlights will be all the confused people looking at us at we were going into the smiler queue and then people looking confused that there were people on nemesis
at 5:30 :lol loved the takeovers to and the q&A. All in all a wonderful event loved every moment.
User avatar
The Nemesis Fox
Member
Member
Posts: 79
Joined: Sun Jan 17, 2016 3:15 pm

Loved it, just how can it be topped?
Nice quiet day as well so clocked on quite a few rides.
I was horrified when I saw the massive crane for Nemesis but luckily it opened.
Such a good talk with Mr Wardley as well as a bar, lighting and complementary snacks.
Thanks it was awesome!
User avatar
DeadJack5
Member
Member
Posts: 776
Joined: Sun Mar 25, 2012 8:15 pm
Location: :sus:
Contact:

Since this was my first event I was really nervous about the day ahead but I really enjoyed myself and met so many new people and met some friends for the first time.

The Ride Time on The Smiler was fantastic, really fun activity and was great being able to get off and get back on within a minute. The TTSP talk was great, being able to hear about the team and the history behind the website was good fun (and cake :lol) Taking over rides like Rita, Hex & Oblivion were great also! Seeing peoples faces as all emerge into the queue as a massive group! Luckily Nemesis was opened in the last hour of the day after being down all day and we were able to have the ride time which was fantastic. Nemesis ride time was incredible and seeing everyone running around again to get on the next train made it such a fun experience!

The John Q&A was fascinating and really incredible being able to hear his past and the situations he was faced in his career and so many interesting questions asked. Really genuine guy and major respect for him to come back and answer some of our burning questions.

Thank you again to the TTSP team for making my first event such an enjoyable experience as well as a friendly one. I'm definitely looking forward to next event :)
User avatar
Liam.W
Member
Member
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Rotherham

By far the best event yet! Had an absolutely amazing day (all though I'm aching all over now, probably thanks to Nemesis :lol) with amazing people. Can't fault this event whatsoever, thanks to everyone for making yesterday such a great day!
Ride count since the beginning of 2015: 2632!
Ride count 2021: 416!
Cred count: 167!

Image
User avatar
Frontdoordumbledore
New Member
New Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 3:01 pm

Think you are aching because of The Smiler ^

Was a really good event! My first time at one so was very pleased. Meeting Wardley has been a dream for so long, but my bank balance won't forgive me for buying those photo prints to get signed haha!

As for ideas, would there be the possibility of a Th13teen ERT in the future?
User avatar
Liam.W
Member
Member
Posts: 1080
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2015 5:12 pm
Location: Rotherham

Frontdoordumbledore wrote:Think you are aching because of The Smiler ^
Smiler was as smooth as butter yesterday for ERT :love:
Ride count since the beginning of 2015: 2632!
Ride count 2021: 416!
Cred count: 167!

Image
User avatar
Cobby
Member
Member
Posts: 97
Joined: Sun Feb 02, 2014 8:16 pm
Location: The Twilight Zone

Another great event held by the TT team, the ERT's were great and I loved all the surprises that we had! Oh and cake what more could you want :lol I'd just like to say a big thank you to everyone that organised the event and I'm looking forward to the next one!
Image
User avatar
LuckyLuke
New Member
New Member
Posts: 1
Joined: Sun May 07, 2017 12:13 pm
Location: Manchester UK
Contact:

Fantastic Event from the team you guys knocked it out the park !
Keep them coming as it was an amazing day Thank you guys!!
User avatar
NemesisRider
Member
Member
Posts: 1666
Joined: Sun May 18, 2014 6:48 pm
Location: Praising John Wardley

Another awesome event and the best one yet (I know I say this every time)!

Smiler is always a wonderful ride to have ERT on - and I must admit it was definitely running a fair bit smoother than usual! I got in 4 rides, which was a pretty good amount.

Ride takeovers were just as fun as ever. The Blade is always a highlight (Towers! Times! John! Wardley!) and it was really nice filling up an entire gondola on Hex with TTSP too.

The history and future of the site talk/presentation was very interesting for me - I've been using TT for almost 3 years now but I didn't know that much about the past of the site (especially on the SouthParks side of things).

Honestly - I really thought Nemesis wasn't going to co-operate and we'd be on Galactica ERT. But within the last hour of the day it came back up (must have heard John was on his way?). Whether it was intentional or not I think we got a slightly longer ERT than I expected, so I got in 9 rides on the beast. Shout out to anyone who joined myself in yelling "John!" at the top of their voice whilst on the ride ;)

The Wardley Q&A/meet was phenomal. Wardley has always been an idol of mine, so it was awesome to finally meet him. The Q&A format worked very well (partly because John has a lot of really interesting anecdotes and memories) and I even got a chance to get one of my own questions in. The conference centre was also looking very snazzy - big thank you to the team for sorting that out!

All in all - amazing. Unsure if I'll be able to make Sizzler this year, but if so, I'll see you all then! :D Big thanks to everyone involved!
User avatar
Luce
Member
Member
Posts: 1653
Joined: Fri Feb 04, 2005 10:53 pm
Location: Sussex

I had such an awesome time yesterday and there were many memorable moments - takeover on the Blade was particularly fun and running round to get lots of rides on Nemesis during the ERT was also fab!

The talk/ Q&A by the team was good too and bought back a lot of memories from when I first joined TT and Southparks all those years ago. I love nostalgia and being reminded of what the two sites looked like prior to the merger was fascinating and I look forward to seeing what else is in store with the V3 stuff.

The Q&A with John Wardley was such a great conclusion to the day and I love listening to how he created rides and attractions over the years and all the little stories he had like proposing ride ideas to B&M.

A massive thanks to the team for organising such an amazing event and also some fabulous cake!

Roll on the next event :)
Image
User avatar
Frontdoordumbledore
New Member
New Member
Posts: 16
Joined: Sun Oct 09, 2016 3:01 pm

The Smiler was smooth yesterday for our ERT, I also got 4! Fair play to it, think it was because it was running slow though. Nemesis was phenomenal though. Got the first train front row when it opened to park guests, the hang time on that loop was insane.

Will certainly come to future events! Mr ITTN gives his approval!
User avatar
Michelle
Member
Member
Posts: 1232
Joined: Sat Jan 19, 2013 7:32 pm
Location: North West

Well what can I say other than THANK YOU!

-Thank YOU all for attending, it was an absolute pleasure to see so many of you and get to talk to you all - both our regulars and plenty of new faces!
-Thank you to all my fellow team members (and a few friends Adam,Jake,Lou,Jai) for their awesome work this weekend to make sure everything went off without a hitch
-A huge thank you to Chris Carter for thinking up a brilliant way for us all to have a possibility to be involved in something so important to the resort! (No spoilers :P ) and Justine and all of the resort staff who helped out throughout the day :)
Finally thanks to Mr John Wardley, the most gracious man I think I've ever had the fortune to meet for giving up his evening to come and spend time answering all of our questions, it's always amazing hearing his tales of the industry, I could have easily listened for twice as long!

This was in some ways the most complex event we've ever done, and it was fantastic to see so many people enjoying themselves- we were all rather nervous (none more so than me, public speaking is not my thing as I'm sure you could tell :lol ) but in the end everything turned out quite well I think! Even Nemesis came back to life just in time so a massive thanks to the resort for sorting that out :clap:
The ride takeovers were so much fun as always, being with everyone even makes queuing more bearable :lol but of course the ERT's were better as we didn't have to queue- I don't know how some of you managed nine goes on Nemesis , I did one :lol

As we said yesterday, preparing for this weekend has certainly made the team reflect on just how proud we are to be part of this site , what it came from and what it is today. I genuinely feel the community has gone from strength to strength and these events really highlight that, I love the opportunity to speak to you all face to face -you're a lovely bunch ;)

I really hope you all enjoyed your day with us, please keep leaving any feedback and ideas as we're always looking to improve the events for you all and I look forward to seeing many of you again at the southern event in July <3
User avatar
Jack
Member
Member
Posts: 1206
Joined: Sun Dec 09, 2012 9:16 pm
Location: Solihull

Thank you all so much for an incredible weekend yet again in celebration of 15 amazing years of TowersTimes and SouthParks.

It was, as always, great to catch up with you all and brilliant to see new faces around for the event. The people do make these events special above anything else in my opinion and the fact you're all some of my best friends because of TTSP is a fantastic reflection on why this site is so special to me.

Yet again the exclusives were brilliant fun, the Smiler ERT was a laugh as always and Nemesis ERT somehow cured my day long headache :lol The talk and quiz about TTSP site, history, and future was great, and it was nice having a shoutout from Dom ( :P ), not to mention those fantastic cupcakes and the surprise from the Alton Towers Resort was a brilliant idea that I wish now I'd taken part in! (And of course: Bubbles.)

Then of course, the Q&A with John Wardley was the icing on the already spectacular cake. I loved how honest he was about everything he's been involved in and it is always great to listen to him speak as I find him to be one of the most interesting people to listen to. (He could be banging on about how Bananas are a superior fruit to Apples for all I care :lol) And advice for everybody out there, don't drink the water on a table that's been blowing more bubbles than a bubble machine could manage, it doesn't end well... :sus:

All in all, it may have been the best event yet, and what better occasion to have the best event than the 15th birthday of TTSP, here's to years more of this amazing website and forum! :D
Image
User avatar
Tom
Member
Member
Posts: 881
Joined: Wed Jan 25, 2006 3:19 pm
Location: Stoke-on-Trent
Contact:

First thing to say is a massive thank you to all of you lovely people for attending the event, without you guys none of this would be possible. It's always great to see the returnees who've been coming consistently for the past few years, the new faces who are attending their first TTSP event and the people we haven't seen for a while (Rob!!!). I really enjoy catching up with so many of you and rambling on about everyone's latest theme park adventures.

As has been mentioned several times, this event in particular was one of the most complicated things we've ever done, especially given the logistics of running it out of two venues rather than just staying in one place for the day. Seeing all of you having a great time really does make it worth while, and some of the on the day feedback we got was really heart-warming.

The ERT's went as well as ever and it's always fun to watch people sprinting around from the Nemesis exit to the Fastrack entrance to try and get in as many rides as possible. We seemed to manage to maintain a really big group when doing the other ride takeovers, including more or less completely having Hex to ourselves which I think was an event first. We were all really nervous about the TT@15 talk, firstly for trying to make it interesting to you and secondly because we are all massive wusses when it comes to public speaking, but it seemed to go down well and everyone looked to enjoy the cake and bubbles particularly. The Q&A in the evening from John was of course incredible, you guys asked some brilliant questions and of course he came back with equally brilliant answers, my favourite was the one regarding SW8 but the whole Q&A was really interesting.

Feedback (positive or negative) from all of you is really important to us, and we always welcome ideas for what you would like to see in the future! We always strive to make each event better than the one that came before it, and I really look forward to seeing you at Thorpe Park in July, it can't come soon enough.
User avatar
JaiB!
New Member
New Member
Posts: 10
Joined: Mon Sep 17, 2007 9:13 pm
Location: Liverpool
Contact:

First of all... What an awesome day! Knowing only a tiny, tiny proportion of what had been going on behind the scenes in the run up to Saturday, I think it's fair to say the team deserve a huge pat on the back for all the hours and hard work put into making the day the success that it was.

Massive thank you for allowing me to be apart of your Birthday celebrations, it was amazing to be sat in the State Room and to look around at the enthusiasm and passion still being created by not only the resort but by this very site still after all these years!

Here's wishing the team all the very best for the future and to Chris for all his future endeavours!

Hopefully see you all again soon!

JaiB! x
User avatar
wirechick
New Member
New Member
Posts: 3
Joined: Mon May 08, 2017 2:43 pm

As someone who is new to TTSP and Saturday was my first event I have got to say it was a brilliant day. My highlights were Smiler and Nemmi ERTs, Ride takeover on Hex was amazing, getting the 3rd lap on RMT, Blade and of course the Q&A with John Wardley. You lot couldn't have done anything to make it better as it was perfect the way it was. Thank you so much
User avatar
coasterchemist
New Member
New Member
Posts: 26
Joined: Sat May 31, 2014 12:36 pm
Location: West Yorkshire

TTSP events are usually amazing, but this one somehow managed to top them all! Both ERT sessions were amazing – Nemesis was running better than ever and the time was all the sweeter after the downtime it had had during the day. The usual takeovers were great – the larger group size meant that we were able to fill up everything, even the 74 seat Hex! The TTSP talk was really good and gave a good insight into the site. It was good to look back and discover just how far the site and group has progressed in 15 years. Ending the day with the John Wardley Q&A is what made this event particularly special for me though. It seemed to be the icing on the cake for everyone there and the anticipation for it could be felt for most of the day and it really didn’t disappoint. The team really pulled out all the stops for this – the room was decorated, there were snacks on the table and a private bar and then for the main event, we had around 90 minutes of as many questions as possible. The honesty and humility with which he answered everything, making sure as many people as possible got to ask questions will stay with me for a long time. It’s incredible to think that someone so influential in the theme park world even agree to do this, especially being retired from the industry, and then stayed to sign his book and a few other things (including Luke’s Vampire wheel which I’m now even more jealous of!!). The only thing missing from the event was the usual takeover of Ma Garritas and the Superhero dance that goes with it but that can’t be helped due to the burst pipes last year.
Overall though it was easily the best meet yet – everything seemed to run really smoothly and I know the three of us had an amazing day.

One question though – how can you top this for Sizzler??
User avatar
Dan
Member
Member
Posts: 2339
Joined: Tue Jun 23, 2009 9:08 pm

Well there's not much to say that hasn't already been said.

It was a fantastic day! From the ERT's on the resorts two strongest coasters to the TTSP presentation and being topped off with the Wardley Q&A, the whole day ran tremendously smoothly so I would like to say thank you to all of the team for putting an event of this magnitude together. When I walked into the State Room I was blown away with how impressive it looked so you all deserve a massive pat on the back :clap:

As always it was great to see old and new faces alike. These events are less about the actual coasters for me and more about the social side of things which is testament to the community we have on TTSP. Long may it continue.

For those of you going to Sizzler, I'll see you there!
Image
User avatar
Justin
Member
Member
Posts: 2703
Joined: Thu Apr 17, 2014 2:51 pm

I'm not going to post a review of the event this time!
Yes, that is right! Instead, I am going to talk about the team which brought us the event!

While we all go off to enjoy the ERT on rides, it is sometimes good to take a step back and look at who is making this all possible. I know every one of you contributed, and a lot more which goes on behind the scenes, but here are just a few things which stood out!

Team Meeting - Friday Night, Upper Floors, Alton Hotel
While many of us were enjoying a social on Friday night, the team quietly slipped away to meet about the day ahead! Some even missed last orders at the bar, so didn't even get a drink after! Commitment!

Morning Registration - Event Day!
Lakey seeing us through the gate, husty capturing memories by snapping away, Michelle and Adz checking us in!

Welcome
Baffles and Rob preparing. Tom recording, Dom mingling! A room, fully prepared and decorated, ready for our arrival! Friendly faces!

The Smiler ERT
Rob communicating with other team members ensuring everyone is together. husty taking more photos!

Ride Takeovers
Slick organisation. More communication via walkie talkies. No one got left behind or escaped! :lol
More photos!

Lunch
The team dispersing early, while others eat and have fun, to ensure the room was ready again for the afternoon's talk!

TTSP@15 Talk
The team working together. Dom running around the room ensuring sugar levels were maintained!
The cake... well-done guys! Good choice!

Ride Takeovers
More walkie talkies! Nemesis down, communications with the park to ensure an alternative ride was ready, should it not be available!

Nemesis ERT
The team taking a step back to ensure everyone can participate. More socialising with members!

John Wardly Q&A
The State Rooms, decorated to a high standard. DJs playing, John greeted by the team and all working to ensure all went to plan. Think of all the planning involved!

I'm sure this was only the tip of the iceberg but thank you, thank you one and all!
Locked