Alton Towers Resort Future Discussion
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MakoMania
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Yeah, I'd miss Spinball. The space that it occupies will in my view become a CBeebies expansion within the next 10 years. I'd rather see Spinball relocated rather than removed but I can't see that happening unfortunately.
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jmed
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As we are not far now from the end of the 2016 season, a 2015-2019 topic is a bit dated, however here's a few things I think should happen over the next 4 or 5 seasons, up to 2021 maybe. Some of these are what I'd like to see however unlikely and some are things I think AT are aiming for in the long term.
---- Expansion of dark forest to include area up the towers and Cloud Cuckoo Land, Charlie and the chocolate factory either converted into or replaced by dark ride. Convert CCL area into spooky area possible as an abandoned town with the back story of the local townspeople abandoning it after the witch's curse of the chained oak spread to the local area. Add one or two flat rides behind rita and thirteen. Replace cinema theme into mini horror cinema, almost a scarefest taster. Fill former CCL area with spooky, yet still junior themed rides. Longer term plans could include expansion into the old coaster corner area, predominantly consisting of indoor rides to minimise noise.
---- closure and demolition of dual once a suitable replacement in place as part of dark forest expansion. Clearing of gloomy wood for eventual relocation of park entrance.
---- New entrance plaza built behind nemesis, entering in the rough area of dual and the monorail maintenance area (monorail maintenance area moved to towers Street end of track or monorail removed altogether). Entrance plaza to keep similar style to towers Street with shops, restaurants and classic scenery. Designed to allow some aspects such as restaurants and shops to be inside the park during the day but can be separated from the park at night to become part of the evening entertainment area. (see below). Entrance to lead into open area on current gloomy wood site, still offering routes to katanga Canyon and forbidden Valley, with the haunted hollow walk-through opened up into a more main route towards the towers and the Lake. Towers Street could remain as an entrance in the short term, although a smaller set up than its current form, mainly suiting people arriving on public transport, however eventually it would be closed as an entrance and maybe just left as a secondary exit. The towers Street layout would initially be kept, maybe serving as a small food court or something however it could eventually be cleared with some of the staff parking behind it to create more Park space. The key however is that the approach view of the towers would be a shame to lose so this should be a feature of any future use.
--- Evening entertainment area developed on air car park site. To include indoor/outdoor entertainment stage area for evening shows. New indoor entertainment such as a new mini golf course and rock-climbing centre.Restaurants, shops and maybe other attractions such as cinema or bowling. Taking some inspiration from holiday venues such as butlins with enough to do to fill a long weekend or midweek breaks initially with week long breaks the long term aim.
---- I won't be too specific on rides as predicting their life span is near impossible but what's needed is:-
----- Water ride to replace the logflume, possibly something major like vahalla, or a fairly simple water coaster.
----- Spread cbeebies land to include all of adventureland and move any decent rides from CCL to here.
---- Add a few flats to the Park, specifically one in forbidden Valley, one in x sector and one in dark forest.
---- Unlikely to be any major coaster investment but just some good tlc on the existing ones.
---- Major improvement on themeing. The expansion of dark forest and cbeebies would effectively get rid of 2 themed areas, CCL and AL, and with the eventual removal of gloomy wood we'd be left with less, but bigger and better themed areas. One clearly defined spooky area, one clearly defined kids area, and the current areas of x sector, forbidden Valley with gradual merging of mutiny bay and katanga Canyon into one area following the opening of sw8.
Lots going on, many ideas would be more long term than 2017-2021 but the foundations could begin to be laid. The ultimate aim being to extend the stay time of guests, and spread the park towards its available land around the car parks and meadow fields. (on that note too, parking would be expanded to the meadow fields to free up space in the air car park and divert traffic away from the traffic light junction to create space for the eventual entrance repositioning).
Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?
Are fewer but larger and better themed areas the way to go? Would you like to see a larger spooky area taking over CCL?
---- Expansion of dark forest to include area up the towers and Cloud Cuckoo Land, Charlie and the chocolate factory either converted into or replaced by dark ride. Convert CCL area into spooky area possible as an abandoned town with the back story of the local townspeople abandoning it after the witch's curse of the chained oak spread to the local area. Add one or two flat rides behind rita and thirteen. Replace cinema theme into mini horror cinema, almost a scarefest taster. Fill former CCL area with spooky, yet still junior themed rides. Longer term plans could include expansion into the old coaster corner area, predominantly consisting of indoor rides to minimise noise.
---- closure and demolition of dual once a suitable replacement in place as part of dark forest expansion. Clearing of gloomy wood for eventual relocation of park entrance.
---- New entrance plaza built behind nemesis, entering in the rough area of dual and the monorail maintenance area (monorail maintenance area moved to towers Street end of track or monorail removed altogether). Entrance plaza to keep similar style to towers Street with shops, restaurants and classic scenery. Designed to allow some aspects such as restaurants and shops to be inside the park during the day but can be separated from the park at night to become part of the evening entertainment area. (see below). Entrance to lead into open area on current gloomy wood site, still offering routes to katanga Canyon and forbidden Valley, with the haunted hollow walk-through opened up into a more main route towards the towers and the Lake. Towers Street could remain as an entrance in the short term, although a smaller set up than its current form, mainly suiting people arriving on public transport, however eventually it would be closed as an entrance and maybe just left as a secondary exit. The towers Street layout would initially be kept, maybe serving as a small food court or something however it could eventually be cleared with some of the staff parking behind it to create more Park space. The key however is that the approach view of the towers would be a shame to lose so this should be a feature of any future use.
--- Evening entertainment area developed on air car park site. To include indoor/outdoor entertainment stage area for evening shows. New indoor entertainment such as a new mini golf course and rock-climbing centre.Restaurants, shops and maybe other attractions such as cinema or bowling. Taking some inspiration from holiday venues such as butlins with enough to do to fill a long weekend or midweek breaks initially with week long breaks the long term aim.
---- I won't be too specific on rides as predicting their life span is near impossible but what's needed is:-
----- Water ride to replace the logflume, possibly something major like vahalla, or a fairly simple water coaster.
----- Spread cbeebies land to include all of adventureland and move any decent rides from CCL to here.
---- Add a few flats to the Park, specifically one in forbidden Valley, one in x sector and one in dark forest.
---- Unlikely to be any major coaster investment but just some good tlc on the existing ones.
---- Major improvement on themeing. The expansion of dark forest and cbeebies would effectively get rid of 2 themed areas, CCL and AL, and with the eventual removal of gloomy wood we'd be left with less, but bigger and better themed areas. One clearly defined spooky area, one clearly defined kids area, and the current areas of x sector, forbidden Valley with gradual merging of mutiny bay and katanga Canyon into one area following the opening of sw8.
Lots going on, many ideas would be more long term than 2017-2021 but the foundations could begin to be laid. The ultimate aim being to extend the stay time of guests, and spread the park towards its available land around the car parks and meadow fields. (on that note too, parking would be expanded to the meadow fields to free up space in the air car park and divert traffic away from the traffic light junction to create space for the eventual entrance repositioning).
Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?
Are fewer but larger and better themed areas the way to go? Would you like to see a larger spooky area taking over CCL?
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RyanJames
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That does sound pretty cool!
Although I'm still unsure they will actually add another entrance to the park, another exit (aside from the new FV one) sure, but adding another entrance? Wouldn't that be like entering Disneyland without walking down main street? Maybe a full TS revamp (I.e. All existing building finally have their TLC completed and new theming etc) but I just can't see another entrance.
Unless it was for hotel guests maybe? With the introduction of the Cbeebies Hotel that's certainly a possibility, but we already have woodland walk, so I'm still unsure.
But the idea of a Valhalla style dark right would be epic on far too many proportions!
Although I'm still unsure they will actually add another entrance to the park, another exit (aside from the new FV one) sure, but adding another entrance? Wouldn't that be like entering Disneyland without walking down main street? Maybe a full TS revamp (I.e. All existing building finally have their TLC completed and new theming etc) but I just can't see another entrance.
Unless it was for hotel guests maybe? With the introduction of the Cbeebies Hotel that's certainly a possibility, but we already have woodland walk, so I'm still unsure.
But the idea of a Valhalla style dark right would be epic on far too many proportions!
@therealrnixon
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S.J_O'Grady
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I'm not keen on the idea of adding in anything else with a "dark" theme. I think they have enough of them already, if not too many. I'm a strong believer that a thrill ride does not need to be themed around apocalypses and demons to have an impact.
I'd love something like Valhalla! And I think we all know there is a slight flat ride shortage going on. It would be really nice to see a thrill line up that consists of more than just coasters.
I'd love something like Valhalla! And I think we all know there is a slight flat ride shortage going on. It would be really nice to see a thrill line up that consists of more than just coasters.
Life is a roller coaster. You can either scream every time you hit a bump or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it.
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Theo
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Love your plan. Bet that took a lot of hard work haha. Like the idea of merging dark forest and cloud cuckoo land together, as there seems to be little need for two seperate areas of the park being directly advertised towards children. Also like the idea of cbeebies land expansion into adventure land, as there doesn't seem to be much point for it now anyway since there's one ride left there and there's been a few indications that Spinball could be removed in the very near future.jmed wrote:As we are not far now from the end of the 2016 season, a 2015-2019 topic is a bit dated, however here's a few things I think should happen over the next 4 or 5 seasons, up to 2021 maybe. Some of these are what I'd like to see however unlikely and some are things I think AT are aiming for in the long term.
---- Expansion of dark forest to include area up the towers and Cloud Cuckoo Land, Charlie and the chocolate factory either converted into or replaced by dark ride. Convert CCL area into spooky area possible as an abandoned town with the back story of the local townspeople abandoning it after the witch's curse of the chained oak spread to the local area. Add one or two flat rides behind rita and thirteen. Replace cinema theme into mini horror cinema, almost a scarefest taster. Fill former CCL area with spooky, yet still junior themed rides. Longer term plans could include expansion into the old coaster corner area, predominantly consisting of indoor rides to minimise noise.
---- closure and demolition of dual once a suitable replacement in place as part of dark forest expansion. Clearing of gloomy wood for eventual relocation of park entrance.
---- New entrance plaza built behind nemesis, entering in the rough area of dual and the monorail maintenance area (monorail maintenance area moved to towers Street end of track or monorail removed altogether). Entrance plaza to keep similar style to towers Street with shops, restaurants and classic scenery. Designed to allow some aspects such as restaurants and shops to be inside the park during the day but can be separated from the park at night to become part of the evening entertainment area. (see below). Entrance to lead into open area on current gloomy wood site, still offering routes to katanga Canyon and forbidden Valley, with the haunted hollow walk-through opened up into a more main route towards the towers and the Lake. Towers Street could remain as an entrance in the short term, although a smaller set up than its current form, mainly suiting people arriving on public transport, however eventually it would be closed as an entrance and maybe just left as a secondary exit. The towers Street layout would initially be kept, maybe serving as a small food court or something however it could eventually be cleared with some of the staff parking behind it to create more Park space. The key however is that the approach view of the towers would be a shame to lose so this should be a feature of any future use.
--- Evening entertainment area developed on air car park site. To include indoor/outdoor entertainment stage area for evening shows. New indoor entertainment such as a new mini golf course and rock-climbing centre.Restaurants, shops and maybe other attractions such as cinema or bowling. Taking some inspiration from holiday venues such as butlins with enough to do to fill a long weekend or midweek breaks initially with week long breaks the long term aim.
---- I won't be too specific on rides as predicting their life span is near impossible but what's needed is:-
----- Water ride to replace the logflume, possibly something major like vahalla, or a fairly simple water coaster.
----- Spread cbeebies land to include all of adventureland and move any decent rides from CCL to here.
---- Add a few flats to the Park, specifically one in forbidden Valley, one in x sector and one in dark forest.
---- Unlikely to be any major coaster investment but just some good tlc on the existing ones.
---- Major improvement on themeing. The expansion of dark forest and cbeebies would effectively get rid of 2 themed areas, CCL and AL, and with the eventual removal of gloomy wood we'd be left with less, but bigger and better themed areas. One clearly defined spooky area, one clearly defined kids area, and the current areas of x sector, forbidden Valley with gradual merging of mutiny bay and katanga Canyon into one area following the opening of sw8.
Lots going on, many ideas would be more long term than 2017-2021 but the foundations could begin to be laid. The ultimate aim being to extend the stay time of guests, and spread the park towards its available land around the car parks and meadow fields. (on that note too, parking would be expanded to the meadow fields to free up space in the air car park and divert traffic away from the traffic light junction to create space for the eventual entrance repositioning).
Any thoughts, suggestions or ideas?
Are fewer but larger and better themed areas the way to go? Would you like to see a larger spooky area taking over CCL?
Also, merging Kantanga Canyon and Mutiny Bay is a great idea, but in my opinion it would need a completely new name and theme. With SW8 coming along in Mutiny Bay, it needs a total retheme. The rapids are thirty years old this year, and the mine train not far off it. Both rides will be on their last legs pretty quickly. If the retheme did come, you'd need a few flats, maybe a dark ride (similiar to duel maybe, I really like them 3D shooters like the Toy Story one in Hollywood Studios, but don't think Merlin would have the budget for something like that, although it would be cool.) and with the existing kids rides in mutiny bay, you have a fully themed new area (with essential landscaping of course!)
Also agree that new flats are needed asap, should be at the top of Merlin's list of priorities. Enterprise & The Blade pretty much guaranteed to be gone in the next few seasons, alton will be left with no flats. If Merlin wanted to invest in flats properly, they'd need: two in the new mutiny bay/kantanya canyon, two new flats in X-Sector following the removal of Enterprise, a new flat in Forbidden Valley to replace The Blade, and a new flat in the new expanded Dark Forest that it's needed for many years.
Oh, and to finish off. A slightly altered version of Valhalla would be a great fit at Alton! Would love to see one.
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jmed
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I agree. Although aging the minetrain and rapids still have plenty to offer. The minetrain is tame enough to appeal to a wide range of guests and has the throughput to keep up with demand. The rapids must have been a fairly costly addition and as such it would be crazy to consider removing them. The infrastructure of the rapids is simple, the channel and the pumps. What could easily be improved and added to is the themeing and interactive features. Maybe adding tunnels and scenery as well as features to allow boats to interact with the public and other boats. Water sprayers etc.
Basically I believe alton towers is not in a position, financial wise or publicity wise, to be removing rides. Steady new additions are needed but why remove existing favourites that surely don't require massive amounts of maintenance and running costs.
I would be happy to see a flats programme where 2 new flats are added ever year for the next 3 years. Relatively cheap additions but still plenty of publicity to draw new crowds. It's worth remembering that most of the public aren't coaster nuts, who analyse and discuss ever new ride in such detail that they pretty much know the entire ride before its even been ridden, which let's be honest we do. What most of the public do is see an advert for a new ride, go 'ooh, there's a new ride at alton towers, maybe we'll go there this weekend'. For example cbeebies the land didn't cost much, the license with the the BBC was probably the biggest expense, yet it has probably bought in as much if not more revenue than one of the medium investment coasters.
Basically I believe alton towers is not in a position, financial wise or publicity wise, to be removing rides. Steady new additions are needed but why remove existing favourites that surely don't require massive amounts of maintenance and running costs.
I would be happy to see a flats programme where 2 new flats are added ever year for the next 3 years. Relatively cheap additions but still plenty of publicity to draw new crowds. It's worth remembering that most of the public aren't coaster nuts, who analyse and discuss ever new ride in such detail that they pretty much know the entire ride before its even been ridden, which let's be honest we do. What most of the public do is see an advert for a new ride, go 'ooh, there's a new ride at alton towers, maybe we'll go there this weekend'. For example cbeebies the land didn't cost much, the license with the the BBC was probably the biggest expense, yet it has probably bought in as much if not more revenue than one of the medium investment coasters.
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lewis97
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Bradley Wynne, Creative Lead for Alton Towers Resort (and Heide Park Resort), has updated his LinkedIn profile to add a 2019 attraction for Alton Towers, with development starting on it in October last year.
Now it's not really clear what the nature of the investment will be, although given that it will open in the year after SW8 it wouldn't be surprising if it was family-orientated, and it should be noted that this year's additions to CBeebies Land followed a similar timeframe so it could just be further expansion there.
Now it's not really clear what the nature of the investment will be, although given that it will open in the year after SW8 it wouldn't be surprising if it was family-orientated, and it should be noted that this year's additions to CBeebies Land followed a similar timeframe so it could just be further expansion there.
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S.J_O'Grady
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Could be a replacement for part of Cloud Cuckoo Land's fast disappearing line up?
Life is a roller coaster. You can either scream every time you hit a bump or you can throw your hands up in the air and enjoy it.
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OhShambhala
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I do hope it is nothing to do with Cbeebies land. That area of the park is being constantly expanded on whilst other areas are neglected. I think it will be a CCF or a complete Cloud Cuckoo Land replacement.
Airtime Machine, Shambhala!
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NemesisRider
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I do feel like Cloud Cuckoo should be the next area for development after SW8: at the moment there's almost no reasons to head up there (other than TT:the ride). I think a new dark ride or a majorly revamped Charlie could be a good addition, and perfect for the family market. If Gruffalo proves a success, I think this could be pretty likely!
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Tom
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CCL is absolutely the next area that requires attention. A significant chunk of it's attractions will be closed again this season and like NemesisRider says, there's almost no reason to bother walking up there.
A new dark ride attraction is required to replace Charlie, ideally it would reuse the simulators but not sure how feasible that would be. Lego theme please.
A new dark ride attraction is required to replace Charlie, ideally it would reuse the simulators but not sure how feasible that would be. Lego theme please.
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The Nemesis Fox
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I'm thinking that an Arthur style coaster would be great with some plantation around the back with an outdoor section.
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Dom
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I think this would be an amazing addition to the park, especially if it went in CCL. Could go in Coaster Corner. CCL is desperate for an update and 2019 would be the perfect time to do it. I think an IP would be good, and if you look at Merlin's oversea's adventures, than it would seem like Dreamworks could potentially be one that they would likely go for given the success of Dragons and Kung Fu Panda.The Nemesis Fox wrote:I'm thinking that an Arthur style coaster would be great with some plantation around the back with an outdoor section.
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Liam.W
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If something like Arthur was to be built then I'd like to see it placed half in the Charlie building and half out side. Because then it would be half dark ride and half coaster, which is something I'd love to see!
Ride count since the beginning of 2015: 2632!
Ride count 2021: 416!
Cred count: 167!
Ride count 2021: 416!
Cred count: 167!
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Stan.H
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On paper that sounds great, but in practicality, if it is done correctly, Merlin will have to keep on top of the maintenance of the effects - or otherwise it'll be like a CATCFv2.0 (if you get what I mean, it had potential, just never was amazing, I don't know how to put it!!) :lolLiam.W wrote:If something like Arthur was to be built then I'd like to see it placed half in the Charlie building and half out side. Because then it would be half dark ride and half coaster, which is something I'd love to see!
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Count-Vonduel
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Do you think realistically it will get back to 2008-2014 standards in 2018 because I genuinely can't tell at this point!
As far as I'm concerned, if it doesn't get back to that standard by 2018 then (in my opinion) thinking it will improve is stupid but since I am very much disenfranchised on this issue, what is your genuine opinion on this?
I would have made a new topic but I doubt it needs one.
As far as I'm concerned, if it doesn't get back to that standard by 2018 then (in my opinion) thinking it will improve is stupid but since I am very much disenfranchised on this issue, what is your genuine opinion on this?
I would have made a new topic but I doubt it needs one.
