Shrek & General attraction discussion for 2011?

[haydn!]

I'd guess that any major marketing activity for Shrek would have to be signed off by Dreamworks also. They could be purposely getting Alton Towers to hold back until the DVD is released later in the year. It would make sense, as they could combine efforts in the UK to market the DVD and ride at the same time.

[Chris W]

From TT News:

We have learnt here at TowersTimes a few possible new details relating to the Shrek attraction which is rumoured to be added for the 2011 season. An anonymous source has added further weight to the story that TowersTimes broke on the 20th of October 2010.

These latest rumours suggest that the Ice Show Tent in Storybook Land will indeed be the location of the 4D cinema and the tent has already been emptied ready for work to begin once the park closes for winter. It is still not known if the tent will be removed and a more permanent building built in its place.

More interesting news that the source has told TowersTimes is a full re-theme of Old MacDonald's Farmyard and Storybook Land is on the cards. These two areas could be merged into one land called Far Far Away, one of the primary locations used in the Shrek franchise. If this re-theme takes place it is expect that all existing attractions will re-themed.

A re-theme of Storybook Land would also mean the beloved Bookworm who has stood in the same spot since 1996 would be removed and replaced by a character from Shrek, the character it could be replaced with is not yet known.
Our Source also revealed that The Beastie will be removed at the end of the season, and with the possibility of no replacement for the aging Pinfari Super Dragon.

Of course, these are all just rumours and plans could change before the opening of the 2011 season but with Dreamworks staff already being spotted backstage 2011 is shaping up to be bigger than just a 4D Cinema.

[rikkd]

am i reading into this too much... but doesnt
this


look very much like this


Just speculation or Alton Tower getting its inspiration from somewhere else!

xx

[Islander]

Personally I can't see any resemblance, m'self...

[haydn!]

This I like, and dislike. Storybook Land does need sorting, but the Farm is quite possibly one of the best themed areas in the park! That said, I'd welcome any move to improve the Dung Heap!

If they do replace the Bookworm. It just has to be with the 'Welcome to Duloc' animatronic!

[Sam]

Nooooooo... the Old McDonald's Farm is the best themed area on park. Oh what a disaster...

[Jollylee11]

Yes i like it alot Shrek 4D for 2011 I don't think they would touch Old MacDonald's Farmyard because it don't need much of a retheme but Storybook Land sounds like a good place to put far far away land or maybe just something to set up shrek 4D but sounds good to me
Does anyone have any pictures of these Dreamworks staff would love to see what they are planning to do

[Gloomy Dude]

I'm more warm to this now that an area re-theme seems to be on the cards, and a merge of Storybook Land and the Farm is very welcome. If all the existing rides have a re-theme this could be Alton's Thomas Land/Nickelodeon Land/Peppa Pig World (although I think Shrek's Swamp would be a far better idea than Far Far Away).

Squirrel Nutty re-theme though? Ouch What's that going to turn out as?

And Beastie going without replacement? Poor move too. Please god let this mean a new young kids/family coaster next year.

[mattbailey]

[quote=""mattbailey""]Glad to hear it's broken... has been intriguing seeing how long it would take to get out.

From what I understand, it's gonna be going into the Ice Tent..[/quote]

Good news eh?

I'm gonna guess Squirrel Nutty will be themed as wedding carriages?

[onair]

Im still not sure if I am keen on a Shrek attraction at Alton. Although if it means lots of new theming it could be for the better. Tho Old Maccys is fine at it is really and there are a lot of other areas of the park that could do with an update than this.

[CoasterCrazyChris]

What a shame.

Another unimaginative attraction and retheme next year if this is to be true. Personally I think Shrek is a mediocre and inferior franchise (along with its creator Dreamworks) in comparision to say Pixar, and it will be sad to see two of the most unique and magical areas of the park which have been with us for 15 years to disappear to a drawn out film series (particularly Storybook and Squirrel Nutty ).

However there is a shred of hope it could work if they focus on creating an immersive childrens/family area which brings the film locations and characters alive, although I think we all know it is just going to be a branding exercise with SHREK logos plastered over the place lke Sonic.

[Danny]

R.I.P Squirel Nutty if you really are getting rethemed All those times we had together. Me and my friends would shout and scream on you to make you look intense, and you would slowly hum along your track in happiness. You will be missed when you are rethemed

[CoasterCrazyChris]

I would imagine they will replace the Bookworm with something like this..

http://www.fantasymagazine.it/notizie/1 ... -a-teatro/

[[Archive]]

Please don't go this far, Towers! :tears:

[.Will]

This upsets me deeply! I have a very strong and deep connection to Owd Mac's, since I was a small boy I have enjoyed the Tractors and Riverbank, going back into the early 90s and the turn of the century, I thought Alton Towers just consisted of Storybook Land, Old MacDonald's Farmyard and Merrie England. The areas of Storybook Land and Old MacDonald's Farmyard are still very important to the park and are still extremely popular, every time I am on park, which is two to three times a month, I pop over and check on things, I see children enjoying and having the same fun that I did many years back, This has been said before but the theming and general atmosphere of both areas exceeds the rest (well most of) the park, there is great detail and love set into these areas, which like other areas in the park seems to becoming more commercialized and very predictable, for example Mutiny Bay, who ever saw a pirate themed area at a theme park before?

Someone has already beaten me to it, but the Shreak franchise, isn't really a franchise as such because all they have really is the films, nothing more than that say compared to Wallace and Gromit, again the Shreak move is predictable, go into a franchise which is in the spot light at the moment, when in five to ten years time no one will be able to remember the films, because the children who did enjoy and love it will have grown up. This differs from not going down the franchise route of Old MacDonald's Farmyard, which being a farm many children will be able to relate to not just now, but the next generation in five to ten years time, they will still know what a farm is.

Have the lessons of Charlie not been learned? That a film franchise ride will lose popularity? This will be the same for SAW The Ride and the horror mazes, as soon as they stop churning out [s:3vst4zgo]rubbish[/s:3vst4zgo] SAW films, and games, the franchise will be forgotten, I mean who will remember seven or eight not-so-good slasher films in ten years?

Destroying these two beloved areas will ruin the little magic pockets left in the park, and destroy that personal connection that AT has with children, I am sorry but this is a mistake, from 1989 over 21 years the area Old MacDonald's Farmyard has survived the parks transitions and has been relatively untouched and still remained successful and popular, and the fact that there are areas on park that desperately need attention X-Sector and to some extent FV, that AT will go and destroy the one area that has got through everything that the world can throw at it and come out without any cuts or bruises is beyond me, quite frankly it is idiotic.

God, please only let it be a show for the tent!

:hraaagh:

[Rollercoaster5000]

Ok ONE Shrek attraction would be ok, but an entire retheme of the area is a very bad move. An original park like Alton should really be looking into developing their own ideas instead of using someone elses. Really hope this rumour is false.

Please don't go down this route Alton [-o< .

[JoshM]

Heeeeeeelll NO! [-X

Alton, this is going too far. If this is true, I shall be handcuffing myself too Doodle Doo.

[buffaloBen]

Im not making a conclusion on this until we know the exact line up for attractions on re-theme but it sounds good.

A lot of people on here are jumping to the fact that Alton are going away from there own ideas but its a huge crowd bringer especially in the young family area.

Look how popular it is at Universal studios and compare how much more people it will bring compared to Cloud cuckoo land has done. When people see Cloud cuckoo land on an advert they are not familiar with it but when people see Shrek they will be attracted more to it. (especially younger children)

If they do re-theme storybook land and mcd farm i would like to see a brilliant overall re-theme not just a coat of paint and a model of shrek.

Cloud cuckoo land was a cheap re-theme and could be done in a couple of weeks with just paint and a few flowers and signs and nothing much more. However if they spend a bit of money i would like to see it look like some of the picture below:

Shops and buildings could be like this.


Signs could be like this.


Meet and greets with characters.


Theming like this.

[Bubbaride]

whats going to happent o berry bish bash? i love that attraction, so intense :L

[SEALIFE]

Hang on a sec though.. Is any of the attractions in the farm open for half term (Febuary) if they are how is it possible to re-theme the whole area?