Alton Towers 2012 in Review

[Squiggles]

+ Duel
I've also noticed original sound effects from the Haunted House have been added to Duel now, such as the 'are you scared of spiders' audio, which brings a nice new sound to the ride while also giving us enthusiasts some good old nostalgia.

I'm pretty sure that isn't new this season, I've heard that clip in that section of Duel for a while, although it might have been the case that it wasn't working for the last season or two and they've got it back running again, it's definitely been in Duel previously though.

Ah yes, it may have been in there for a while. It's the first time I've noticed it on Duel. I can't recall hearing the clip before although it may just be a case of me not noticing such things last season.

I believe it first made its reappearance for Duel: Live! in 2008, but it does seem to have been one of thse on and off thing since.

[Ryan.]

I agree that the music around the park seems a bit hit and miss this year. Nemesis and Katanya canyon seems really loud, yet Towers Street is really quite. You used to be able to hear it across the park, now you can hardly hear it even on Towers Street!

I'd imagine that's probably due to Tower Street's proximity to Farley

[James6]

And by far the best addition of 2012 is...



(Also on Duel, it looked to me like the Pillar Demon won't be returning as there is a new "door" bit of theming with spiders on it)

[Benzin]

There's pop music? :S

Also, Thirteen Girl has only ever been for Scarefest, never had a model for her in the queue...

[James]

There's pop music? :S

Also, Thirteen Girl has only ever been for Scarefest, never had a model for her in the queue...

There's pop music in Towers Trading, playing all mainstream songs. Like Beyonce, Lady GaGa, Rihanna and so on...

Slight mistake on my part, it's not a model of Th13teen girl, these are the ones I'm on about:


I thought I was going mad and made them up but no, there's a picture, as I said in my post though my brother and I believe we saw them blown away in the trees/shrubs behind where they are meant to be. However all we saw was two shadowy figures so it might have been something else. Either way it would be nice to see them return.

[thefatone]

(Also on Duel, it looked to me like the Pillar Demon won't be returning as there is a new "door" bit of theming with spiders on it)

Apparently it should be appearing soon..

[Benzin]

They are still there just very hidden. There is one before the van, one next to the van and another near the batch point.

[JoshC]

(Also on Duel, it looked to me like the Pillar Demon won't be returning as there is a new "door" bit of theming with spiders on it)

Apparently it should be appearing soon..

I am happy to say that the pillar demon has returned! it's not working yet but hopefully it will be soon, but to be honest just having the demon back is better then just seeing a stump on the ground! :P

[djtruefitt]

A few minor changes that I spotted yesterday.

- In the monorail car park station there is now a big park map on the wall (near the car park ticket machines) with a list of all the food outlets on park.

- The video on Hex is better than a few weeks ago as its now the proper colour however its full of lines going down the screen for the whole video. And of course the main ride still cant park in time.

- There is now a gate at the enterance of Sub-Terra, as well as a gate for the single rider, fast track and main queue near the batching area. There is also a new metal fence added on top of the existing fence next to the main queue and fast track queue. Not quite sure why, I can only think its to stop people climbing over the fence.

-  Most of the black hole tent has now gone, with just the framework left. The SW7 banners now also go all the way around the site.

- And finally there is a wheel cover missing from Nemesis (back right), lets hope it doesnt end up looking like Nemesis Inferno!

Also I dont know if its new but I have never noticed it before, on the basketball games they now have signs telling you that the hoop isnt a standard size hoop and it has a picture of the shape. Im guessing this must be new regulations or something for games.

[starscream85]

The boat that goes up and down towers is the best entertainment that alton towers have ever had and the granny on the shopping trolley

[siralgenon]

A few minor changes that I spotted yesterday.

- In the monorail car park station there is now a big park map on the wall (near the car park ticket machines) with a list of all the food outlets on park.

- The video on Hex is better than a few weeks ago as its now the proper colour however its full of lines going down the screen for the whole video. And of course the main ride still cant park in time.

- There is now a gate at the enterance of Sub-Terra, as well as a gate for the single rider, fast track and main queue near the batching area. There is also a new metal fence added on top of the existing fence next to the main queue and fast track queue. Not quite sure why, I can only think its to stop people climbing over the fence.

-  Most of the black hole tent has now gone, with just the framework left. The SW7 banners now also go all the way around the site.

- And finally there is a wheel cover missing from Nemesis (back right), lets hope it doesnt end up looking like Nemesis Inferno!

Also I dont know if its new but I have never noticed it before, on the basketball games they now have signs telling you that the hoop isnt a standard size hoop and it has a picture of the shape. Im guessing this must be new regulations or something for games.

It's great to see they've done something to the hideous wall in the Monorail station! A park map is even better however im sure it will be plastered with advertising in the next few hours  :P

However the gates for Sub-Terra have been there from the start I think? Definitely been there a few weeks 

[djtruefitt]

The gates wernt there for opening. During the past couple of weeks the gates were added to the fast track and single rider queue, but the main queue didnt have one. Its certainly been added since I last rode it last week.

[starbugger1303]

From Alton Towers' Facebook Page:

We'd love it if you can take a minute out of your day to answer a few questions! The Alton Towers Resort Facebook Survey - http://www.altontowers.com/Surveys/Spri ... spx?ref=FB
- Help us make Alton Towers even more exciting! Just 6 questions long...

I found the questions a bit vague to be honest...

[onair]

Did the survey and thought that too. Can't really be giving them that much information tho 

[Jammydodger]

Had a pretty good visit yesterday, a couple of stand out things;
Despite being dead, there were lots of actors roaming the park, the pirates, ice age characters and sonic, despite it being a really off peak time. Was really nice to see.

The whole parks music system was reaaally quiet. Even in Forbidden Valley you couldn't hear anything unless you were in the queue. The monorail and skyride were also inaudible with small chatter between us.

The park was completely dead by 4pm, which is worryingly ironic considering their original plans to close then. We saw Air go round with 2 people on it at about 4.20pm...

Hex was down for most of the day, but when we finally went on it, it was nice and loud. But as others have mentioned the preshow video looked like a pirate copy or something.

TH13TEEN is maturing nicely. The foliage is growing back very fast. The ride is definitely going to be something special when the trees have grown out a bit more.


The X-Sector looks pretty dire at the moment, both with it being run down and construction going on right now. I'm not complaining because obviously its a good thing. But they desperately need to give the place a spruce up along with SW7.
The flume is also looking a bit worse for wear. The boats dragged along the bottom for the first part, And the whole thing looks really grotty, as though its about to fall apart at any minute.

Despite those two things, the park as a whole seemed really clean. Forbidden Valley was practically immaculate, bar Air (and that tunnel...). Definitely must have had some real TLC during sub terra's construction. 

Ice Age was really a stand out attraction. Quite incredible actually. I had very low expectations and really wasn't expecting something of that quality. To those who think "meh" or would usually never consider bothering with an attraction like that, I urge you to try it.

And of course finally I'm not going to repeat what everyone else has said about Sub-Terra. But seriously....what were they thinking....?

[thefatone]

Think the reason it was completely dead by 4pm was due to the god awful weather rather than much else..

Not too sure about park music, nemesis is as loud as it's been all year and the only other mentions of it on here is its far louder than it used to be!

[djtruefitt]

Nemesis has seemed alot louder to me this year, but some areas such as the monorail stations and towers street are almost silent.

[SEALIFE]

I agree its great to see so much entertainment on off peak days! Especially the costume characters! Really brightened up my day to say the least!

And I also agree about audio noticeably on Sonic, Katanga Canyon and Towers Street. I feel there isnt enough ''Bass'' on towers street as usual, Katanga Canyon has had its music turned right down so it seems with a new BOSE Speaker on the top of the Pizza & Pasta Entrance (maby in time they will cover it up) and Sonic Im not sure weather it was turned off or extemely quite but I couldnt make anything out.

[Poison Tom 96]

Nemesis is louder due to the fact they have the Q entrance Speakers working again

[AstroDan]

Sonic audio can never be heard due to the almighty din created by the ride itself!

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