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Alton Towers: 10 year plan

Bicko said:
So in 15 years, two thrill rides at PBB. Then golf, fountains and a rebrand of a kids area next year - yet you say Alton aren't doing enough for the Thrill seeker?
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Which park has got more coasters? Pleasure Beach.
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How many were installed in the last 25 years? Three? Alton have added over a dozen (okay, some have then been removed).

Sorry Bicko, but you did come in drawing direct comparisons with Blackpool, putting down this plan for Alton saying peple would say it would be derided at Blackpool. I still say if it had been a plan for Blackpool, it would have been very well received because Blackpool have done less for their guests in the last 15 years than Alton have.

Yes, they have limited room and limited cash, but Alton also have tight restrictions on every single thing they do. If Amanda had the desire, she could reach into the coffers today and pull out £10,000,000 for a new massive thrill coaster for next year. She could have done this at any time and could have got it to fit into the park.

Every point raised about Blackpool is equal to that raised against Alton. They are both exceptionally similar businesses, operating in near identical markets.

The difference is in the dynamic of the management (and this goes back to when GT ran Blackpool to). Alton was very poor in the early part of this decade and getting worse year on year. Yes, air was installed, Spinball and Rita - but the park as a whole was suffering from neglect and poor management. Since then, like Amanda, the AT management have been dealing with putting right everything that went wrong. It's taken them about the same amount of time to be honest. However, Alton still have those three coasters - I'd take two of them over Infusion any day.

Yes, Alton need new rides, they need to focus back on the thrill seeker now - this plan shows they are doing. Blackpool needs to be doing exactly the same thing, they need to be giving me reason to come back to them. Their current invisible seven year plan may do that, but a retheme of creaky beaver and taking away Space Invader hasn't got me excited.

Thing is, I like Blackpool, I do really. I've just been on everything there time and time and time and time and time again. I have at Alton, but at Alton I can just mope around and relax. Blackpool is too harsh and in your face for it, plus, it's just not a relaxing park to be in. That makes it a good park atmosphere wise, but not for chilling. Take out the rides, and Blackpool is not a place you want to find yourself for very long.

So without anything to bring me to Blackpool, I'm not going. With the next five years at Alton, I will actually go and actually ride the rides each time - rather than spending my time sitting down eating ice-cream :lol:

So to answer the point raised - if you had presented this as a plan for Blackpool, I would have wept with joy, because it would show that Blackpool were still in the game and I would have reason to return year after year after year as I used to.
 
Thing is, I like Blackpool, I do really. I've just been on everything there time and time and time and time and time again. I have at Alton, but at Alton I can just mope around and relax. Blackpool is too harsh and in your face for it, plus, it's just not a relaxing park to be in. That makes it a good park atmosphere wise, but not for chilling. Take out the rides, and Blackpool is not a place you want to find yourself for very long.
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Thats the point I was making earlier though by saying Pleasure Beach is a different park to what it was five years ago for example.

Five years ago, you would not expect to see a water fountain with 20 minute shows, with a huge seating area to sit down and relax.

You can do that now and it keeps you clear of some of the riff raff, but since the entrance fee was introduced, the guests who are perhaps there for trouble and nothing more, have been kept to a minimum.
 
Anybody park can offer that, however it's not in a theme park's nature to want to offer such a low budget attraction (if you can call it that).

As for Alton, I think that you can't go wrong if your offering a family day out on the whole. Yes, thrill seekers do need a little reassurance now and then, but won't they be getting their feed of that next season?

When it comes to 10 year plans you can't go out and think of just 1 segment of the market (thrill seekers) you kind of need to salvage a little something for everybody.
 
I know you're a Blackpool man, Bicko. But not every subject needs to be twisted to fit the Pleasure Beach in. This has nothing to do with PBB, i feel they're are incomparable parks.

I believe these Alton plans are reasonable. Yes, us thrill seakers would like to see rides rides rides but that's infeasible really. Alton's plans do very little to surprise me, it's just quite nice for them to open them up for people to see what they are thinking.

P.S. Didn't know about that thin tail of land sticking out to the south east of the park. Would be funny to see an out-and-back coaster in that.
 
Inverse said:
P.S. Didn't know about that thin tail of land sticking out to the south east of the park. Would be funny to see an out-and-back coaster in that.
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I thought that when I first saw it. Alas, height restrictions, blah, blah, blah.
 
Got to be honest, I’m disappointed with this plan, although I can see why they chose it. It’s just a shame that Thorpe Park is now the only UK Park who plans to cater for thrill seekers. And frankly judging by the substandard Saw – The Ride, it’s not to the standard we’d all like.

So in future it looks like I’ll need a well paid job and a passport to get my fix of thrill rides. Whatever happened to the motto of “bringing the standard of US theme park attractions to the UK”?
 
I think the NIMBYers put paid to that ideal neo!

Look at the trouble Alton had building on a site which already had a coaster on it. Saw was under the microscope too from locals.

Sadly, I think it's a difficult thing for the parks in this country to make headway on. They have to fight tooth and nail, or spend a fortune trying to come up with ideas.

Then Merlin have expertise in the "family" area anyway - I suspect they don't quite know how to handle large scale attractions...
 
Is it working though? I thought they had to put a project on hold due to numbers? Where as Alton, Thorpe and Chessington are getting record numbers.
 
paint and rides

I heard that they are going to paint rita a new colour for 2010, possibly green and that they are trying to get new rides to fit into the black hole. It said all of this on screamscape.
 
Screamscape is a rumour mill. They post any and every rumour there is.

I could send them an email now saying I spotted brown coaster track in coaster corner over the weekend and they would announce it.

You have to pick and choose carefully which rumours you believe on there.

(I did think I saw coaster track, or supports at least, but it was very difficult to tell).

I think a Rita/Ugland retheme will come with the new ride either next year or 2011. The Blackhole tent is a mess and I still stand by what I said years ago - the tent will come down when they're ready to bring it down and that area will become something simple.
 
sctream scape

I heard from somewhere about a robotic arm coaster comeing to alton in 2010 so tried to do a bit of research and that was the best thing i found.(I am talking about scream scape).
 
I've only been to the UK twice, and visited Alton both times, (Thorpe and BPPB were both visited twice, too) and I've always been amazed at what Alton has accomplished with the restrictions that they have placed upon them. (The Ropers, the height issues, the noise issues, etc.)

At the same time, anything that they can pull off is welcome in my book. Thrill ride, family attraction, whatever.

The only way they will ever get around those restrictions is to become such an invaluable part of the local economy that the local governance simply can not tell them "No." to the projects that they propose.

So until that day comes, Citywalk/Downtown Disney, hotel expansions and family friendly attractions will continue to arrive.

And then the good stuff will be all that more welcome to us enthusiasts.

I still say that they need to ring the park with transplanted giant sequoias.
 
Personaly I think there could be four new coasters...

The Area near Corkscrew/"SW6" (not the one where the cork was)-Intamin mega light.
Black Hole tent-Something like the mummy/everest (they need something in the dark IMO)
Next to AIR- Plant monstrously tall trees all around there, and put a something (was thinking something like that mahuer sann (sp) at drayton)
Then obviously SW6.

Also I would like to guess (and hope) that not all the part where there's no rides is unbuild-upon-able but they would be able to ring around the valley, (useing that peninsula of land they own for a GCI :)) But they don't want to because they think they'd rather have the rest of the part to a high standard, and there's still a little bit of space near other rides.

-CA
 
Black Hole tent? Goner I think!

Ian Crabbe said:
"When we come to build on the site of the former Black Hole in two years' time, it may be the case we look to create something undercover, such as a 4D cinema."
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From here:
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.uk/ne ... ticle.html

4D cinema would be a shame, but understandable - that area of the park is the most noise sensitive. If you're building though, make a Spiderman/Curse of Darkastle ride :)
 
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