Calling it a 'mess', a site that a 'thirteen year old would create' and 'dire' is offensive and unnecessary.To be brutally honest. The new site design, particularly the homepage, looks a bit of a mess. While the design is simple (simplicity is the way to go these days) there seems to be far too much text all over the place which makes pages feel far too busy.
For me this new design seems a bit of a step backwards when you compare to older designs. For one of the 'top dogs' of Alton Towers fansites when you compare to the likes of Towers Nerd (the previews of their new site) and TowersStreet this new design looks like something a 13 year old would create when they're attempting to create a fan site.
Don't get me wrong. It's not bad. But it lacks a lot. Perhaps just moving a few things around and making sure there's less text could be a start? The homepage is a bit too much for me. I think with some text adjustments it could work out far better! Maybe some different fonts too. The one on the homepage looks like it's a standard font for a plain template? Maybe go for a simple font that is a little bit more interesting than the current one.
Agree with other posters that the banner on the events page looks dire too. A white box against a purple background looks very unprofessional.
We are very much open to feedback, appreciate you taking the time to give your input, but comments like that are not constructive and motivational to anyone involved.