Attraction Source Forum

I think the gardens is a wonderful part of alton towers, but its never busy & people always get lost there. So a good idea may be to have a seperate map for the gardens showing all the different things to see & all the paths marked clerly on it. Also telling some history of the gardens.
Id love to hear some views on this idea :mrgreen:

that would be great i've always wanted to go round the gardens but i always decide to go for the coasters instead. Maybe if i knew where i was going i would look about...

Yer and on the back there could be a map of The Towers. 2 in 1
Iv'e never personaly been in other than Hex, it could show you a mapped out route or something.

An attraction NEEDS to be made of the gardens, not just a map.

Surely the Eden project has proved that flowers/plants can be interesting? IMO, The Resort needs to restore the features that currently exist and add modern twist. Features have been added for centuries, why stop now? The place is slowly rotting away. Certainly not the grand attraction they once used to be.

There is the argument that there isn't the market - However, I have met a number of people who have visited the resort purely for the gardens and towers - be it an older generation. However, the market IS there and with the Peak District on the door step, people who visit the area not for AT, may be inclined to visit the resort if money is invested in the House and Gardens in a National Trust/Eden project style.

Problem with adding a modern twist on the gardens it that they are grade 1 listed, so that they have to keep the gardens as they are. This does notmean that they should not maintain some of the features a wee bit better. Some of the paths could do with being looked at as last year some of them where in a fairly bad way.

I always go to the gardens when Im at Alton as they are stunning and is a good place to chill between rides. They are unique and need to made more prominant for park quests to explore.

A map would be class as well as info signs around the gardens that relate to the map. You could easily spend an hour or two there.

I think they can probably add things to them, as long as they are in keeping and mearly add to the natural beauty of the gardens.

I heared some time ago that there is a public walkway where you can, legally, enter the park via the back of the valley/gardens. Maybe thats why they keep the area obscure! (I know, probably not)

I would investigate for myself, but after the 2 hour drive I get too exitied and just pay

I think it's a good idea, i would have thought that a lot of people choose not to walk around the gardens for fear of getting lost and wasting valuable ride time, especially if they've payed full price to get into the park.

That's exactly what happened on my first trip to Alton. Took us almost an hour to cross the valley. Never again! That is why we have the Sky Ride.

[quote=""DiogoJ42""]That is why we have the Sky Ride.[/quote] When it's not on fire.

I also got lost on my first trip and more recently had to help a couple of lads who got so lost they’d resorted to climbing up a muddy bank. They weren’t doing very well.

What a good idea! That had honestly never crossed my mind. I only ever use the gardens as a shortcut from Rita to Nemesis, due to a bad experience the first time I visited the park-a very large detour and wandering the gardens for what seemed to take an eternity! That would encourage people to explore the park a bit more. I would love to spend an afternoon in the gardens, but would never do it without a map.

Hey!

I agree to the recent poster that Alton Tower should provide a map that may help the visitors to navigate themselves and enjoy the visit without being lost in the area, since that Alton tower is very huge.

We certainly hope that they would consider our concerns.

More power to Alton Tower!


hundred island

In 2007 i actually produced a comprehensive map of the gardens. I'm still trying to find the time to finish a hand held guide including pics/descriptions of each folly listed, which will be relevant to the map. I might share it with you soon and will definitely do so at some point. i was ideally waiting to finish the comprehensive guide first though. Everything's ready, just gotta put it together.

If you were to use my guide it'd take you at least a whole day to visit everything i reckon.

They are fine as they are, but they could use a map.

My grandma used to take me many times as a child and the gardens and the towers were all she was interested in - well apart from maybe the Skyride and Around the World in 80 Days.

As soon as Nemesis and what have you started appearing, she kind of lost interest as I'm sure many other people of that generation did.

I'd love to see the gardens turned into a proper attraction with its own mini map. They need to resurface all of the paths first, add some lighting, and the odd kiosk here and there that sells drinks or information. Turn the conservatories into a cafe/book shop, the swiss cottage into a "Towers History Museum".

I'd just love to see them make use of these things, and I keep thinking about Alnwick Gardens (do a google images search if you don't know what that is). Alnwick attracts tons of people (mainly families) it's a lovely place in the summer, and theres really not much to do there except look at the gardens lol!

If Alnwick can, Alton can! DO IT!

-- Further to the above --

Can you imagine Alnwicks style tree house at Alton? Imagine this on the back of Dark Forest, leading down into the gardens:




It could be the cross-valley woodie... village!