TT Summer Festival 2018 - Reviews and Feedback

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Michelle
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Thank you to everyone who attended our Summer Festival 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.
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Liam.W
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Wow! This was such an amazing event! Everything about the day was absolutely fantastic. The people, the takeovers, the exclusives, everything!

Thanks so much for organising it all, it has been an amazing day and thank you so much for surprising us with Wicker Man ERT!!!
Ride count since the beginning of 2015: 2632!
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DeadJack5
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This event was pretty special. The whole day just felt like a massive laugh with some pretty special people.

The whole hawaiian shirt theme was amazing. We got so many people involved it was spectacular to see! Nemesis was pretty good with the time we had. The woodland "walk" (trek) was nice to take to see the places you would never normally see behind galatica and into the gardens.

The takeovers were fantastic. Being able to clog up the queue for the likes of Blade, Duel and even Battle Galleons (more on that in a bit). It's such a great time to have and share some rides with some new people throughout the day!

The Wicker Man presentation was an interesting one, talking about the original marketing and final execution was great, some extremely insightful stuff involved and some great questions were asked! (also entrance bubble machine was amazing so thank you <3)

The best takeover had to be Battle Galleons. Hands down the most intense ride experience ever. It was hilarious to see everyone getting soaked and equally dealing damage! I honestly didn't think we would do it but we did! Also the heater challenge was great ;)

Oblivion ERT was pretty good having never done it before. Got a few rides in on it which was awesome! Always wanted to get on it so happy days!

Oh, Wicker Man ERT was a thing... What. A. Surprise. Absolutely fantastic. The fact we had a 30 minute session at its finest at the end of the day was amazing, this was the first ever ERT for Wicker Man is pretty special so thank you for that!

Courtyard social was superb. I've never danced so much in my life (think the alcohol helped ;)) some of those pictures are going to be interesting... Superhero dance, Big fish and many more. Thank you aswell to Paul for the bubble machines! They were so cool just having masses upon masses of bubbles everywhere! The ending was perfect and starting (possibly a towers first) a mosh pit in the courtyard was superb. A truly great way to end the day we had.

I never properly got to say but thank you so much to the team for the whole day. Its been such a great event and I've loved every second of it so thank you so much for the effort and involvement. Thank you equally to everyone who came! The whole vibe from everyone was amazing so thank you. It's been a special event and will always remember that day. I shall see you all at ScareMazing!


BubbleBoi will return in 2019
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ThemeParkEwan
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Huge thanks to the team for organising this, probably the best day in a theme park I've ever had, being my first event I was pretty nervous having known no-one, but everyone there was so friendly and at no point did I feel uncomfortable. ERTs were fantastic, presentation was really interesting and taking over Battle Galleons was probably the highlight, never laughed so hard in my life!

Again, huge thanks to the team for organising this fantastic event. Can't make it to Scaremazing but will try to come back as soon as possible, and I'll definitely get more involved the next time I come to an event!
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Robster
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What a great day as ever and the surprise of ert on wickerman was simply the icing on the cake.

Looking forward to the next meet
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Credit to NemesisRider
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JC13
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I enjoyed this event so much, thanks to the team for organising this great day. With this being my first event, i was nervous that i would not be able to talk to anyone, but soon after arriving i was talking to people and felt comfortable. The Hawaiin shirt idea was great, and definitely made the day even more enjoyable. The erts were all great, and seemed to get better with each one. The Wicker Man ert was such a good suprise, and I don’t think anyone was expecting it! The Wicker Man presentation was really interesting, especially seeing about how the station layout was decided, and how some great views from the queue were unintentional. The takeovers were awesome, and Battle Galleons was my favourite of the day. I don’t think i’ve ever got that wet on a ride before (except Valhalla). The courtyard was such a good ending to the day, and the dancing was great. I wish i had been more involved in the courtyard, but i still really enjoyed it. Thanks to the team for organising and making sure the day ran as smoothly as it did. Bring on Scaremazing!
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AltonOperator
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Will the Wicker Man talks be available on YouTube in the future?
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Thanks Jack
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Ladyofthelake
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AltonOperator wrote:Will the Wicker Man talks be available on YouTube in the future?
I'm afraid they won't be available this time. Due to the nature of some of the things included we were asked not to film the talks on this occasion.
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AltonOperator
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Ladyofthelake wrote:
AltonOperator wrote:Will the Wicker Man talks be available on YouTube in the future?
I'm afraid they won't be available this time. Due to the nature of some of the things included we were asked not to film the talks on this occasion.
No Problem. Hope everyone had a lovely time!
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Thanks Jack
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Robert.W
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Ladyofthelake wrote:
AltonOperator wrote:Will the Wicker Man talks be available on YouTube in the future?
I'm afraid they won't be available this time. Due to the nature of some of the things included we were asked not to film the talks on this occasion.
Is doing some sort of special feature for the TowersTimes website something that you could possibly do, summing up in detail what was said during the presentation? I'd have loved to hear what was said, but sadly wasn't able to attend. 
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Chris
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What an absolute blast! So nice to see some new faces and friendships made.
Robert.W wrote:
Ladyofthelake wrote:
AltonOperator wrote:Will the Wicker Man talks be available on YouTube in the future?
I'm afraid they won't be available this time. Due to the nature of some of the things included we were asked not to film the talks on this occasion.
Is doing some sort of special feature for the TowersTimes website something that you could possibly do, summing up in detail what was said during the presentation? I'd have loved to hear what was said, but sadly wasn't able to attend. 
Unfortunately not - sorry.
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ScottPBE
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Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for Saturday, it was my first time at a TT meet since March 2015 and I was made to feel very welcome, as was my friend Rich! You probably saw me filming a lot during the event, we did film a vlog for our YouTube channel and I would imagine quite a lot of you are in the video when I was filming during the ERTs;

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My highlight was the Wicker Man presentation, it was very well presented by two fantastic Alton Towers ambassadors! Of course, I really enjoyed the ERTs, only grumble would be the Nemesis ERT seemed to finish quicker than the 30 minutes but it didn't ruin our day given we still got three rides on it. 

Thank you everyone :)
Swarm Chris

Thank you so much to everyone involved in organising this event. It was fantastic! Huge amount of fun and so many great memories.

The Nemesis ERT was hilarious. First sat in the front singing All Star, then finishing sat in the back pretending to run around the entire circuit. Never had an experience like those on there! And probably won't repeat the running one again, out of breath! :lol

The reactions we got from staff were all priceless when they heard the group size. I would have loved to have seen the operators reaction when we all walked into Hex, announced it was Story Time and sat crossed legged at the front of the first show, with other guests following our lead! The staff member on Gallopers Carousel was brilliant and I suspect was expecting us, making it the most magical ride takeover of the day. :love

Battle Galleons. Despite being a lead proponent for #TeamDry, I suspect I may have ended up one of the wettest whilst we were practicing on the pier cannons, waiting for our Hawaiian shirted targets to arrive. My hat was still damp when we went to the courtyard at the end of the day :lol. I salute one of the orchestrators, Captain BubbleBoi, for leading his crew into battle and standing to take the full brunt of the pier cannons. Captain Pumpkin on the other hand, should probably be made to walk the plank! :lol

Wicker Man surprise ERT was truly amazing. All praise the Wicker Man, and whatever may have happened behind the scenes to get that fantastic ending to the day's rides! The rate that thing threw us around, I now have my first set of Wicker Man bruises on my legs!

The courtyard social was a superb end to the day. Burger Kitchen bingo, whilst waiting for the food orders to arrive :lol. I have no idea how some of you still had energy to dance for so long! And bubbles! The BubbleBoi really did ensure bubbles for all, aided by the industrial grade bubble generators! :)

These events have been brilliant both from the activities side and also the social and community side. I'd had a tough year or so before joining the TTSP forums back in April, and the community you have all created here has been invaluable to me. Really looking forward to the next event, wish I could be at scare mazing, but it's looking very unlikely, with a work trip probably happening at the same time.

If you're someone reading these comments in the future trying to figure out whether you should go to your first TTSP event, all I can say is that they are great fun and assemble a great group of friendly people of all age ranges and backgrounds. You'll enjoy yourself :).
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streetmagix
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I'm still feeling 'delicate' from the weekend (I went back to Towers on the Sunday and I'm so regretting it right now) but it was such an amazing event! Thank you to everyone involved. The ERTs were amazing, especially the unexpected Wicker Man one. The talk was very open and frank. The ride takeovers were great and the party I'll remember for a long time. I'm sure the videos will come out soon from the party. Walking through the park when it was pitch black was something special too.

I did feel that Alton let us down a bit though. The bag check was so painful slow which cut into the Nemesis ERT, considering that was a big factor in me coming I'm not overly happy. Also I don't know what happened with Oblivion but they didn't seem ready for us. When we finally got on the operations seemed pretty slow too. I was cooking on the brake run. Nothing to do with TTSP (and it didn't tarnish my opinion on the event as a whole) but I think it needs to be fed back to Alton Towers if they have any sort of debrief. 

A shame that I won't be able to make the Scarefest this year, I just don't have the holiday hours spare. I'll see everyone next year at the events :)
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Rob
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streetmagix wrote:I'm still feeling 'delicate' from the weekend (I went back to Towers on the Sunday and I'm so regretting it right now) but it was such an amazing event! Thank you to everyone involved. The ERTs were amazing, especially the unexpected Wicker Man one. The talk was very open and frank. The ride takeovers were great and the party I'll remember for a long time. I'm sure the videos will come out soon from the party. Walking through the park when it was pitch black was something special too.

I did feel that Alton let us down a bit though. The bag check was so painful slow which cut into the Nemesis ERT, considering that was a big factor in me coming I'm not overly happy. Also I don't know what happened with Oblivion but they didn't seem ready for us. When we finally got on the operations seemed pretty slow too. I was cooking on the brake run. Nothing to do with TTSP (and it didn't tarnish my opinion on the event as a whole) but I think it needs to be fed back to Alton Towers if they have any sort of debrief. 

A shame that I won't be able to make the Scarefest this year, I just don't have the holiday hours spare. I'll see everyone next year at the events :)
Hi Streetmagix,

Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. We appreciate all feedback received, positive or negative and do take all comments on board. The issues you have raised have already been raised with the resort and this is something that we will look to resolve for future events. I'm glad that overall you enjoyed the event and look forward to seeing you on an event in the future.
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streetmagix
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Rob wrote:
streetmagix wrote:I'm still feeling 'delicate' from the weekend (I went back to Towers on the Sunday and I'm so regretting it right now) but it was such an amazing event! Thank you to everyone involved. The ERTs were amazing, especially the unexpected Wicker Man one. The talk was very open and frank. The ride takeovers were great and the party I'll remember for a long time. I'm sure the videos will come out soon from the party. Walking through the park when it was pitch black was something special too.

I did feel that Alton let us down a bit though. The bag check was so painful slow which cut into the Nemesis ERT, considering that was a big factor in me coming I'm not overly happy. Also I don't know what happened with Oblivion but they didn't seem ready for us. When we finally got on the operations seemed pretty slow too. I was cooking on the brake run. Nothing to do with TTSP (and it didn't tarnish my opinion on the event as a whole) but I think it needs to be fed back to Alton Towers if they have any sort of debrief. 

A shame that I won't be able to make the Scarefest this year, I just don't have the holiday hours spare. I'll see everyone next year at the events :)
Hi Streetmagix,

Thank you for taking the time to leave feedback. We appreciate all feedback received, positive or negative and do take all comments on board. The issues you have raised have already been raised with the resort and this is something that we will look to resolve for future events. I'm glad that overall you enjoyed the event and look forward to seeing you on an event in the future.
Thanks Rob, I didn't want it to come across as whiny or whatever. Will we hear a response from the resort or will that be kept between TTSP and the resort?

Overall the event was of the best (if not the best) I've ever attended and I can't wait until the next one. It was only a few small issues in the grand scheme of things. I got my front row ride on Nemesis the next day :)
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Zach
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Very fun and busy day, from what I understand, fun was had by all! Highlight has to be the Courtyard party...where these videos hiding at y’all? 

Thank you all for a great day, a TT event never fails to impress!
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XtremeCoasters Rick
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This was our 3rd event and by far my favourite, (seem to say this after every event but they keep getting better and better).

All the ERT's and ride take overs were great, with the suprise Wicker Man ERT at the end of the day being a perfect finish to the event. The Courtyard party was the most fun I've had in a long time, there were a lot of laugh's for sure.

Great to see so many faces we had met at the previous events and to meet so many new people. Now looking forward to the next one.

I was also doing a bit of filming throughout the day and have thrown together a music video. Hope you enjoy it, I had a lot of fun making it  :D
Gentlemen, start your engines !!
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Chris
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Love it! :)
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lewis97
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Hard to believe this was now a week ago! I think I was on such a high from the weekend that there weren't any post-meet blues in sight this time around :P

Was a really enjoyable day, from the ERTs (some more expected than others) to the afternoon talk, as well as the Battle Galleons takeover and the hilariousness of the courtyard social - same time next year?

From a team perspective, it's also been really pleasing to see the positive comments and reviews about an event that a lot of effort across the board went into delivering :D See you all in a couple of months!
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