2014 Lodge Resort Development (SCRAPPED)

Mon Oct 22, 2012 12:46 pm

I think this is a bad idea ATM.... One day it will be epic, but the investment needs to go on the park not on a new mound of accommodation.

Oblivion and its station in general need a good going over, Thirteen is still missing a lot of its ivy that was pulled away and left looking a state. The flume is shocking, Rita's station can't decide if its living in Ug Land or Dark forest, Duel... Speaks for itself, Nemesis is still Awsome but could do with some major TLC and Air needs a good power washing to scrub away some grime....... I think I've named a good amount there to back me up.
A year of pure spruce up investment and then a year for flats would be IMO what's needed first.
I think the idea of setting up a place to entice more people to a park which is falling apart is a ridiculous idea, fix the park then worry about the new lodges.

In all of that I've not even mentioned the waterpark or Current hotels hat could do with a main duster too.

Mon Oct 22, 2012 3:28 pm

This is such good news and as long as it is a real cheaper alternitive to the hotels i can see them being very successfull.

So many people (my self included) dont even bother trying to book the AT/SL hotel because its so expensive.
Ive stayed once but for its price i dont feel like its worth it again, the atmosphere is great and the themeing good but its still to pricey for the general public.

I realy like the sound of themed cottages as well, i was expecting log cabbins but this is would be a great twist good thinking towers

Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:59 pm

I think the lodges are a good idea. At the moment I can't afford to stay there without pre planning. If I wanted to stay at the AT hotel and go to the park, I would need a few months to save first.

If there was a budget option, such as lodges, that could be booked for larger groups, i could quite easily scrape together the money with a few friends to spend a night or two at Alton Towers.

What I'd like to see is a small entertainment park built for the lodges and hotel guests only with a few small childrens rides, a large playground theme'd around the theme park (a slide that looks like oblivion?)

This way, there is an extra incentive for people that are staying at the hotels, they have exclusive access to a whole different themed area for children (it also means there will be more to do during the closed season)

If done correctly it could bring in a lot of people.

Wed Oct 24, 2012 7:21 pm

If the new entrance was next to frobidden valley then that would leave x sector abit, out there and I really like towers street entrance as you get a breathe taking view of the towers when you walk in. In the future as someone has already mentioned I would love to see the space in towers street used as a sort of drop off or possibly even a train station!

Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:22 pm

ben.at08 wrote: If the new entrance was next to frobidden valley then that would leave x sector abit, out there and I really like towers street entrance as you get a breathe taking view of the towers when you walk in. In the future as someone has already mentioned I would love to see the space in towers street used as a sort of drop off or possibly even a train station!

I belive AT can't develop there if your refuring to the green space before the lake overlooking the towers.

Thu Oct 25, 2012 5:00 pm

ImURNemesis wrote:
ben.at08 wrote: If the new entrance was next to frobidden valley then that would leave x sector abit, out there and I really like towers street entrance as you get a breathe taking view of the towers when you walk in. In the future as someone has already mentioned I would love to see the space in towers street used as a sort of drop off or possibly even a train station!
I belive AT can't develop there if your refuring to the green space before the lake overlooking the towers.

no, I mean towers street itself

Tue Nov 06, 2012 8:59 am

For anyone interested the planning docs are now online

Tue Nov 06, 2012 10:32 am

I really really doubt these lodges will be cheaper than the current AT hotels. a)the whole lodge/cabin break is REALLY trendy right now and b) you only have to look at the price of having a lodge for say two nights in the lake district for example - unless you can fill one up to full capacity of people the costs are HUGE. That said I think it will be a welcome addition to the park but as for cheaper???? Nah.....dont think so!

Ive never stayed in the AT hotels before (although we have plans to do so in spring 2013) and having seen deals recently like 2 adults, bed and breakfast AND park tickets included for £99 - well I think that is absolutely amazing value for money. Well worth booking a couple of days off work for in my opinion, which is what were going to do early next year and go midweek for 2 days

Wed Nov 07, 2012 2:19 pm

They had very similar looking pod things at the Caravan and Camping international show at the NEC. When we asked the exhibitor what their market was, they said they were selling to resorts. If we do see such spaces, I'll be very pleased as they as comfortable, dry, and still adventurous and exciting for guests as a step-up from camping. I think this is a great idea.

Wed Nov 07, 2012 4:11 pm

I've just had a quick look through the planning documents and I'm pleased to say they look great from what I've seen! I was expecting slightly bigger lodges I must admit, these seem more like large individual hotel rooms rather than log cabins but the detail and scale is quite impressive (and ambitious). I agree though I can't see these being much cheaper than the current hotels, still it's great to have abit more choice when staying at the resort

Also looks like these are going on the north-east overflow car parks, on the opposite side of the resort to the current hotels, leaving them plenty of space to build future hotels on the site next to the current ones. I only noticed last Saturday when I was parked back there for fireworks just how much space they actually have to expand the resort!

Wed Nov 07, 2012 6:19 pm

Heres the link to the planning documents if anyone wants them... The tree plan and the detailed site plan are interesting documents and are worth a look.

http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov ... &module=P3

Thu Nov 08, 2012 10:19 am

just looked at some of the plans, including the concept art for the lodges.

i'm not that keen on them. it seems to be really twee/hobbit like. i would have preferred them to be a lot more simpler and contemporary looking. this just looks very overly themed and "expensive"

the only reason i thought they would be a great idea in the first place was because of how affordable they could actually be to people on a very tight budget.

Thu Nov 08, 2012 1:16 pm

cookiee_munster wrote: just looked at some of the plans, including the concept art for the lodges.

i'm not that keen on them. it seems to be really twee/hobbit like. i would have preferred them to be a lot more simpler and contemporary looking. this just looks very overly themed and "expensive"

the only reason i thought they would be a great idea in the first place was because of how affordable they could actually be to people on a very tight budget.

But at the same time...I would much rather stay in a fantasy style lodge than something you could knock up from a few pieces of MDF.

Thu Nov 08, 2012 2:18 pm

To be quite honest I don't think log cabins/lodges were ever going to be particularly cheap. Just look at the cost of staying in non-themed log cabins at places like Flamingo Land or Centre Parcs. If you want affordable camping accomodation i think caravan sites/tents would be better suited, but these are something I don't think suits Alton Towers and would probably cause alot of problems for the camping site just up the road. I think they're next step after this should be to build a more affordable hotel.

One of the things I did notice on the plans which is abit disappointing is the fact none of the lodges (bar the disabled units) have parking, instead you have to park on one of the paved car parks to the south which doesn't sound great considering cars are generally quite useful when camping, could be quite a distance to walk for people at the back of the site. Suppose one upside to it is it will allow them to immerse you in the theme more.

Sat Nov 10, 2012 6:32 pm

I gotta say, i LOVE the design and planning of this. I have noticed that there are 6 Hole huts. I wonder if these will be themed inside like with the themed rooms in ATH? I have also noticed that there several play areas. To me, this would indicate that they are trying to aim for a family who want to self cater.

Sat Nov 10, 2012 7:24 pm

Im just hoping, slowly but surely, Merlin are starting to birng the magic back! Just imagine being a young kid and walking into one of them themed lodges, it would be pretty amazing

Tue Dec 11, 2012 5:58 pm

No one's posted in this topic for ages so I thought I'd get it back on track again. First of here are some planning documents for us all to speculate over and discuss the layout and features of this whole lodge development thing:

Here is the double lodge design:

Here is the hut design:

Here is the hole design:

What type of lodge is your favourite? Personally mine's the hole design simply because it's cool that it's underground - shame there's only gonna be five of them though.

Here's an overall plan of the site showing Phase One on the right and Phase Two on the left:

Originally I thought that the lodges would be built on the land next to hotels in this picture, bottom right by the way:

So this means there is still a massive bit of land next to the hotels for a possible third hotel or some kind of smaller second theme park a bit like Thomas Land however more thrill based as well as the odd family/younger ride.

Anyway here's an overall map of the site:

You can see the roundabout near the hotels showing you the distance between the hotels and the lodges...? So let's get back to discussing all this magic that we've got coming for 2014/2015!

Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:49 pm

Huh? A third hotel? So the Alton towers hotel, splash landings, lodges and a third hotel?

I really don't think they will build a third hotel.

Tue Dec 11, 2012 8:57 pm

Marcus Assab wrote: Huh? A third hotel? So the Alton towers hotel, splash landings, lodges and a third hotel? I really don't think they will build a third hotel.

Actually i think i read somewhere that were was the possibility of a third hotel

it might be good as it may allow more vistors to stay over night and could be bad as there may be a lot of rooms

Tue Dec 11, 2012 9:02 pm

MC4 wrote:
Marcus Assab wrote: Huh? A third hotel? So the Alton towers hotel, splash landings, lodges and a third hotel? I really don't think they will build a third hotel.
Actually i think i read somewhere that were was the possibility of a third hotel it might be good as it may allow more vistors to stay over night and could be bad as there may be a lot of rooms

Towers needs to fix up its park before making a third hotel.