| Alton Towers Resort | |
|---|---|
| Alton Towers resort and Theme Park logo | |
| Location | Alton, Staffordshire, England |
| Website | www.altontowers.com |
| Owner | Nick Leslau/Prestbury Holdings, leased to Merlin Entertainments |
| General Manager | Ian Crabbe |
| Opened | 1860 (4 April 1980 as Theme Park) |
| Operating season | March - November |
| Area | 800 acres (3.2 km2) |
| Rides | 33 total
|
| Slogan | "Where The Magic Never Ends!" "Escape to Alton Towers Resort" "No Where Else Like it on Earth" |
Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe.[1] It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent), in the grounds of Alton Towers, a semi-ruined gothic revival country house. The estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury.
The current Resort includes the Theme Park, Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Waterpark, Spa, Extraordinary Golf and Conference Centre, it is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments in the United Kingdom. Major attractions at Alton Towers include, Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita, and Th13teen. The park's promotional music is In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.
An iron age fort was built on Bunbury Hill (c.1st-century BC) which is now occupied by the Alton Towers estate. In about 700 AD, the Saxon king Ceolred of Mercia built a fortress on the hill. But King Ine of Wessex besieged the site in 716 AD. The ensuing battle, which ended in stalemate, caused such a loss of life the place was called Slain Hollow (which later became the estate's oriental water garden).[2]
In the 11th century, the site was refortified when a castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest. By the 12th century, the estate had been given to knight Bertram de Verdun, as a reward for his work in the Crusades. In 1318, the estate passed by marriage to Thomas de Furnival when he married Joan de Verdun. Furnival later died crusading in the Holy Land in 1348. In 1406 Sir John Talbot acquired the estate when he married Maud, the eldest daughter of Thomas de Furnivall, 3rd Baron Furnivall. Talbot became the second created Earl of Shrewsbury in 1442 after the title was forfeited by the third earl of the first creation in 1102. The Norman castle was destroyed during the English Civil War.
In the 17th century the former castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge known as Alveton Lodge (or Alverton), which is the ancient name for Alton. The three-storey structure reused one of the castle's former towers which remains part of the present-day building. The lodge was split into two properties, one of which was rented by a tenant. The other half was used by the Talbots as a summer residence, their main residence being at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire.
In 1811, Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, began redeveloping the hunting lodge into a Gothic-style stately home. Over the next ten years, architects such as Thomas Allason, William Hollins and Thomas Hopper oversaw renovating the building. Work included the addition of a drawing room, dining room, chapel, library, long gallery, banqueting hall, conservatory and entrance hall. As a result the building was doubled in size. It also included the laying of the foundations for the Flag Tower. The house was renamed Alton Abbey, despite having no particular religious connection.
In 1814 Charles and his wife moved to Alton permanently. Work then began turning the farmland around house into one of the largest formal gardens in Britain. Several gardens were planted, including a Dutch garden and a rock garden. More than 13,000 trees were also planted in the landscaped parkland. The gardens in the valley leading down to the River Churnet hosted a variety of features. These included a Pagoda fountain which was fed by water from a spring at Ramshorn that passed through various lakes and pools, cast iron Garden Conservatories designed by Robert Abrahams, a "Swiss Cottage" that hosted a Welsh harpist and a copy of Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens.
After the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury died in 1827, he was succeeded by his nephew John Talbot who completed the gardens and house started by his uncle. In 1831, the Talbot's principal residence in Heythrop burned down. The 16th earl then came to live at Alton permanently bringing everything that could be saved from Heythrop. Noted architect Augustus Pugin designed a new entrance hall, banqueting hall and various other rooms, extending the house further. The property was renamed Alton Towers. From 1839, the grounds were opened to the public at various times of the year.
In 1852, following the death of the 16th Earl, Alton Towers was briefly inherited by his cousin, Bertram. But when he died four years later at the young age of 24, all work on the house ceased (no further alterations would again be made to the property). As there was no direct heir to the estate, Bertram left the earldom and Alton Towers to a younger son of the Duke of Norfolk. But this was contested by Henry Chetwynd-Talbot from Ingestre Hall, a distant cousin of the late earl, who filed a legal writ to determine lawful ownership of Alton Towers. As the contents of the house were not contested, everything within the house was auctioned off in a 29-day sale of 4000 lots.[3]
In 1858, Henry Chetwynd-Talbot became the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, two years later he acquired the Alton Towers estate. In celebration, the earl held a procession through Staffordshire on 13 April 1860. Beginning in Uttoxeter, it stretched over a mile with up to 40,000 people in the grounds of Alton Towers at the end. The 18th Earl continued to open the grounds to the public at certain times of the year to help raise money to refurbish parts of the house.
During the 1890s, the 20th earl, Charles Talbot started the tradition of summer fetes at Alton. As well as the Gardens, people were attracted with fireworks displays, balloon festivals, clowns, and exhibitions of instruments of torture. In 1896, the earl and countess separated. The earl went to live at Ingestre, where he founded the Talbot Car Company in the 20th century, and the countess stayed at Alton. However due to the marital situation, the house began to decay and the grounds became neglected because the earl did not pay much for their up keep. In November 1918, the Earl decided due his absence to sell off the majority of the estate by auction. The countess continued to live on the estate for another two years after the earl died in 1921.
In 1924 the remaining part of the estate and house was sold to a group of local businessmen, who formed Alton Towers Limited. Although the contents of the house were sold off, the grounds were restored and remained open to the public. Parts of the house were converted into cafés and toilets for public use.
During World War II Alton Towers was requisitioned by the War Office as an officer training unit. The gardens remained closed to the public until 1951. It is a common misconception that military occupation of the towers caused a lot of damage to the building. However this is not case as much of the building was already boarded up and unused. It is now commonly understood that the decay was caused in the inter-war period by the Bagshaw family - the majority shareholders - who sold the wood and plaster fixtures from the house's interiors as well as the lead roofing allowing water to rot the remaining fixtures.
During the 1960s and 1970s the grounds were reopened as a visitor attraction. There was a boating lake, chairlift and a small fair behind the ruins of the main house. Concrete floors were installed in Alton Towers house so that it could be opened to the public. The building was listed as Grade II.
After millionaire-property developer John Broome married the daughter of majority shareholder Denis Bagshaw in 1973, he bought out the controlling stake in Alton Towers. Over the next few years he laid the foundation for the modern theme park by installing various permanent rides and developing areas of the grounds in progressive stages.
Alton Towers began its evolution into a major theme park in 1980 with the installation of The Corkscrew rollercoaster, Pirate Ship and the Alpine Bob sled ride. A year later the Log Flume opened and in 1984 the park's second roller-coaster, The Black Hole, arrived. Throughout the next decade, more attractions, areas and rides were added to Alton Towers. Some of the work was undertaken by award-winning British ride designer, John Wardley.
In 1990, the park was purchased by The Tussauds Group from John Broome. Fifteen years later Alton Towers was acquired by the investment group Dubai International Capital (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800million in 2005.[4] The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control.[5] In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a 35-year lease.[6]
The park's maximum daily capacity is set at 28,000 guests.[7][8][9] In 2010, the park attracted 2.7 million visitors over the season.
The Von Roll monorail transports visitors from the further away car parks to the main entrance and ticket booths. The monorail system was acquired from Expo 86 which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was installed in 1987, a year after Towers Street, and was opened by Star Trek actor William Shatner.
In 2008, Sarner, a UK based theme park design company, was commissioned to revamp the nine monorail trains. This included exterior decoration and new bench seating. Each train has a personalised soundtrack to fit with its own theme, such as 'pirates'.[10]
The monorail moves visitors from the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Cariba Creek Waterpark and Extraordinary Golf to the Alton Towers Theme Park .
The Skyride is a cable car system which visitors can use to travel between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and Cloud Cuckoo Land.
The Skyride has operated since 1987 and replaced an earlier chairlift, which had opened in 1963. At the end of 2008 season the original Skyride gondolas were replaced with smaller and more colourful gondolas.
The Skyride attraction has suffered from two accidental fires in recent years. The central station in Forbidden Valley was burned on the evening of 28 October 2007, due to a faulty halogen lamp. The incident caused a power cut, which led to some guests being stranded on the park's monorail. Luckily, this incident was reported quickly by a Towers employee as to not cause as much massive damage, and the park says that the damage caused to the station was mainly cosmetic. The Skyride re-opened on 19 April 2008 after major work had been carried out on the station's roof. At approximately 22:30 on 21 July 2009, another fire broke out in the Cloud Cuckoo Land station causing extensive damage. It remained closed for the rest of the 2009 season and a new replacement station building opened in 2010.
The park is split into many themed areas, which are located in a horseshoe shape around The Towers ruins and 19th century gardens. Guests have the option of using the Skyride to navigate around the park; there are stations in proximity to Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest and Cloud Cuckoo Land.
Opened in 1986, Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed loosely as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers across the lake in the distance. Along the pathway are the park's famous jumping frog fountains and a lawn where seasonal events usually take place. The street contains several shops, including the Towers Trading Co., which sells official park merchandise. The first Skyride station is located nearby. A ticket shop called Resort Box Office is based in a building at the end of Towers Street and sells products such as Fastrack, Annual Passes and Hotel Breaks. Also located in Towers Street is Corner Coffee, Towers Family Restaurant and Guest Services.
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Mutiny Bay is a pirate-themed land, which re-themed Merrie England in 2008, is aimed primarily at families. Attractions in Mutiny Bay include: Battle Galleons, a large interactive "Splash Battle" water ride where guests sit in pirate boats that travel through a water channel, while soaking other riders with water cannons; and a rocking boat ride, Heave Ho. The teacups ride was re-themed to become Marauders Mayhem, where rotating gunbarrels replaced the tea cups. The area also has a Burger King take-away and live entertainment. Since the opening of the area, many live actors roam around the area dressed as pirates.
In 2009, a new Sea Life Centre, Sharkbait Reef, opened in the location previously home to the 3-D Cinema. This includes designated "touch pools" where guests can interact with various underwater species and a 10-metre ocean tunnel. The attraction is one of the most heavily themed Sea Life centres to open worldwide. In April 2010, a live webcam was installed to allow internet users to watch one of the tanks, which can be accessed via the official website.
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Themed as an African village; created in 1992 and incorporated existing rapids ride. Rides include the Runaway Mine Train a wild speeding mine train rollercoaster and the Congo River Rapids. Both are well-established rides in the park whose ride tracks share a tunnel. The area has a new 'Explorer's' restaurant for 2009, with a shared indoor seating area (£8.25 per head for all you can eat buffet). There is a shop located at the exits of the two rides called Katanga Cargo, hosting "ancient" tribal themed merchandise. Slightly outside the area (but still part of Katanga Canyon) is the popular 'Flume' ride, a log flume with boats themed as bath tubs and many ducks quacking around the station area. The Flume opened in 2004 after being re-themed from a traditional log flume ride. The ride was sponsored by imperial toiletries until 2011. The ride has two other attractions at the park based on it, the Master Blaster water slide and the Imperial Room at the hotel. Attractions:
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The Gloomy Wood is a small, haunted house themed area containing the ride Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!. The ride was originally a spooky non-interactive ride named The Haunted House, but was upgraded in 2003 with laser-based plastic guns to shoot LED lights scattered around the rooms and monsters to deactivate some scares, with each player's score displayed on a digital display in the ride car to encourage competitive play. In 2007, an outdoor walk-through was added, named "Haunted Hollow". The pathway follows part of the route formerly used by the old scenic railway, linking from Mutiny Bay to Gloomy Wood. Haunted Hollow includes various tombstones, statues and other features, some of which interact with guests using sound effects.[11]
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Themed around a frightening post-apocalyptic landscape, with large rocks and rusty pieces of metal and machinery scattering the area and also waterfalls coloured red to look like blood. One of the major rides is Nemesis, an inverted roller coaster, based around the fictional tale of a giant ancient malevolent alien creature. Nemesis is consistently regarded as one of the greatest designed rollercoasters in the world in major, global rollercoaster polls. Also in the area, and continuing the apocalytic theme, are the Ripsaw and The Blade thrill rides. Ripsaw is a Huss Top Spin ride which opened in 1997 themed around a piece of shrapnel thrown from the alien creature's pit, while The Blade is an older Huss Pirate Boat themed around a pendulum blade. At the end of the valley is an "oasis", with calmer colours and plants, where the spectacular ride Air, the world's first B&M flying coaster, can be found. A Skyride station also services this area of the park.
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The Dark Forest opened in March 2010; replacing Ug Land which opened in 1999. Dark Forest is themed as a supernatural area of woodland that has been disturbed by recent excavation of an ancient burial ground. The new ride for 2010 was unveiled as 'Thirteen', themed as a haunted crypt and features the world's first freefall drop on a rollercoaster. The ride replaced the Corkscrew; the park's original rollercoaster. Along with Thirteen's opening, the surrounding land was rethemed into the Dark Forest with refurbished outlets and game stalls to fit the theme. Rita, an existing rollercoaster, was also altered, with new station and train designs to look 'engulfed' by the supernatural forest.[12]
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Cloud Cuckoo Land is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers, and is themed with bright colours incorporating oversized flowers and toadstools, as if in a fantasy garden. Among the attractions are a bouncy castle play area called Wobble World, regular shows in the Theatre, and a Wave Swinger ride called the Twirling Toadstools. There are several other rides in the area especially suitable for younger children: Frog Hopper, Galloper's Carousel and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory : The Ride, based on the Roald Dahl novel. The Peugeot Driving School gives children the opportunity to ride their own miniature car around a British style road network.[13]
After a fire which destroyed the previous Skyride station in this area took place last year, the Skyride was made nonoperational for the rest of 2009. A new building was built with a brighter appearance. The ride reopened at the start of 2010.
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X-Sector is themed as if it were a sinister futuristic government facility. The area contains the innovative Oblivion ride, the world's first roller coaster with a vertical (88.8°) drop. The extra-wide roller coaster cars are held suspended over the edge for a maximum of three seconds before dropping downwards into a large hole amid mist and sirens through a pitch-black tunnel, and then re-emerging into a heavily banked turn leading back into the station. From the start of the 2011 season, it is sponsored by Fanta
Two thrill rides are located in the X Sector: Submission, which opened in 2001 and is a double swing inverter; Enterprise which has been at the park since 1984, originally located where the Dark Forest is today, and is a HUSS enterprise. A giant blue building, which once held the Black Hole roller coaster, lies disused to one side of the area. A game arcade next to Oblivion's gift shop and the 'Meltdown' restaurant, selling KFC fast food, can also be found here.
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Adventure Land is aimed at visitors between the ages of 5 and 11, and consists mainly of climbing frames, slides, swings and similar equipment. The main ride is the Sonic Spinball, based on the hit SEGA video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog. It's a Maure Sohne spinning roller coaster, in which riders sit in seats that can spin on its base whilst travelling fast around the twisted track. There is one other attraction, 'Space Adventures' playground. The area also contains a food outlet. Beastie, a small kiddie roller coaster is standing but not operating (SBNO) in the area.
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Storybook Land is the park's smallest area and only contains one attraction: the 'Squirrel Nutty Ride' where riders travel around the area in acorn-shaped, powered cars that go around most of the way around the area. Storybook Land was created in 1996 when Kiddies Kingdom was split into this area and Adventure Land. The area contains no food outlets.
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Themed around a traditional farm, this area contains a small petting zoo as well as a few rides for younger visitors, which include Doodle Doo Derby, a farm-themed carousel, and Riverbank Eye Spy, a recently re-themed boat ride. In 2003, the old barn that used to hold the farm animals before the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001, was converted to a play barn called Ribena Berry Bish Bash, that contains thousands of small foam balls that are propelled, raised, thrown, dropped and shot from air cannons, now called Berry Bish Bash. In 2007, a new themed playarea opened called There's Something in the Dungheap, especially for youngsters, with a maze, a playground and a picnic area. The main feature is a large pile of dung in which visitors can enter to find interactive insects crawling the floor, made possible by a projector and sensor.
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As an example of the mixed style of Humphry Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, circa 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, of whom J. C. Loudon (who was consulted on design features of which there were many) relates that he consulted every artist, only to avoid 'whatever an artist might recommend'.
Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, said to be based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens (a feature in English gardens since the 1760s), domed glasshouses (originally gilded), even a fairly large Matterhorn as a backing to one of England's earliest Alpine gardens. Near the garden entrance is a cenotaph of the 15th earl, a marble bust with an inscription reading "He made the desert smile".
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The gardens are currently ran down and left to fall back into history. Little work has been done to the gardens as most is focussed on the rides and, of course, higher profit margins by the owner of the theme park- the Merlin company. One of the landmarks (shown above) is in a deteriorating state currently- the Chinese Pagoda Fountain. The vivid green and red paint is unfortunately vanishing and the ponds around it are extremely poor. More towards the top end of the gardens, towards the Towers themselves, the Conservatories are also, unfortunately, in a poor state- completely empty, fountains turned off with many broken glass panels. People can only hope profits are turned more towards the reconstruction of the gardens as well as more of an influence on the deteriorating towers in the future. From images back in the 1980s, with the angle more towards the roller coasters than the gardens, there is a definite decline in funding for these over 150 years old gardens.
The Towers ruins are the source of the park's name. They belonged to the Talbot family as a stately home. The ruins are open to the public during most of the open season. However, some areas are closed off as part of a £1.1 million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the Towers.
Hex - the Legend of the Towers, a walk-through dark ride based within the ruins themselves, opened in 2000. The finale to the ride is a Vekoma Madhouse located away from the real Towers but themed as a secret vault. The storyline is based on Staffordshire's true legend about the chained oak tree, located in a nearby forest, and makes use of the history of the Towers.
In addition, a temporary scare maze, Terror of the Towers, operates during the park's Halloween 'Scarefest' event and has done yearly since 2002. It takes guests through a tour of the ruins and uses live actors, lighting, mist and sound effects to add atmosphere. The attraction won the 2009 London Screamie Awards for 'Best Seasonal Attraction/Maze'.[14]
Key areas:
| Areas in 1980 | Areas in 1984 | Areas in 1986 | Areas in 1992 | Areas in 1994 | Areas in 1995 | Areas in 1997 | Areas in 1998 | Areas in 1999 | Areas in 2008 | Areas in 2009 | Current Areas | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kiddies Kingdom | Adventure Land | |||||||||||
| Talbot Street | Land of Make Believe | Cred Street | Cloud Cuckoo Land | |||||||||
| Talbot Centre | Festival Park | UG Land | Dark Forest | |||||||||
| Ingestre Centre | Aqualand | Katanga Canyon | ||||||||||
| Merrie England | Mutiny Bay | |||||||||||
| Thunder Valley | Forbidden Valley | |||||||||||
| Gloomy Wood | ||||||||||||
| The Gardens | ||||||||||||
| Britannia Farm | Safeway Farm | Old MacDonalds Farmyard | ||||||||||
| Storybook Land | ||||||||||||
| Towers Complex | ||||||||||||
| Towers Street | ||||||||||||
| Springfield Centre | Fantasy World | X Sector | ||||||||||
The resort features two hotels, The Splash Landings Hotel and The Alton Towers Hotel. The Splash Landings Hotel is a combination hotel and waterpark.
The Alton Towers Hotel opened in 1996 and is themed to the eccentric fictional character Sir Algernon Alton. The rooms are decorated in a classically English style with pictures of Sir Algernon's inventions including the coasting roller adorning the walls.
The hotel features the Secret Garden restaurant serving a buffet breakfast and à la carte dinner, there is also the Captain and Dragon bars, the latter having a Chinese theme along with the small event/conference rooms in the hotel. The bars and restaurant surround the "ship" centrepiece of the hotel featuring a hot air balloon shape and rotating propellers.
The ship is also used as a stage for the evening entertainment including:
The Splash Landings Hotel is the newer of the two hotels, opening in 2003, it has a colourful exotic Caribbean theme and the main feature is the Cariba Creek Waterpark. The hotel features Flambo's Exotic Feast, a buffet restaurant with a wide selection of food including roast dinner and a chocolate fountain, also serving a buffet breakfast. Above Flambo's Feast is the Ma Garrita's Bar. Both the bar and restaurant have windows looking out over the indoor waterpark. The hotel rooms are in a wing to the side of the hotel and some rooms have views over the outdoor sections of the waterpark. The hotel also contains two shops, one selling general snacks, sweets and souvenirs and the other offering swimming costumes and other waterpark related sundries. There is also an arcade near Flambo's restaurant. In all the public elevators in the hotel, when they are in motion, the theme tune to Captain Pugwash is played, and stops as soon as the doors start opening. Splash Landings also plays host to "Ringo's Kids Club," new for 2011. Activities include:
Between the hotels sits the Alton Towers Conference Centre, Winner of meeting & Incentive Travel Magazine's Best UK Unusual Venue Award 2007.[15] The Conference Centre opened shortly after the Splash Landings Hotel and is linked to both hotels via a walkway running from the side of the Alton Towers Hotel to the Conference Centre and through the Cariba Creek waterpark to the Splash Landings Hotel.
The Alton Towers Waterpark, previously known as Cariba Creek, opened in 2003. It is a large, part indoor and part outdoor waterpark themed as a tropical lagoon. It is located within The Splash Landings Hotel and is available for both guests at the hotel and members of the public. The park features several fast slides, a lazy river, a giant tipping bucket and many other water features. Also located here is Quencher's bar, which was previously themed as a shipwreck until 2007 when it was extended.[16]
In 2007, Alton Towers opened Extraordinary Golf, 2 nine hole themed crazy golf courses, located near The Splash Landings Hotel. Each of the holes have themes based on attractions within the themepark e.g. Nemesis. As with Cariba Creek, this facility is aimed at the general public as well as park and hotel guests. The standard price is £5 to play one 9 hole course or £6 to play all 18 holes.
The music played at Alton Towers is a combination of commercial tracks, library music and commissioned music. The following composers have had their music played at the park:
In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg is the theme park's theme tune used in adverts, and played throughout the park.
The main new installation for the 2011 season will be the Go!Go!Go! Show; a pop musical show aimed at children. The show will perform regularly throughout the season in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of the park.[18]
Originally, it was rumoured, there were plans for a Shrek 4D attraction in the disused ice tent based in Storybook Land; along with a retheme of Storybook Land/Old MacDonalds Farmyard to Far Far Away from the films.[19] However, these plans were scrapped by DreamWorks.[20]
Planning permission has been granted for an indoor ride in Forbidden Valley on the site used for the climbing wall "Lava Lump"; adjacent to Nemesis.[21] People believe that the ride element could be an indoor drop tower, due to there being a 6m area underground. On October 5 Alton Towers released their Scarefest map which included the words "Nemesis - What Lies Beneath Unleashed 2012"; whether this is the official ride name or just a promotional tag line is not yet known. Groundwork construction for the new attraction began in September 2011 and the new attraction is set to open in March 2012. During the Scarefest 2011 event, actors in Bio Hazard outfits were seen outside the area of the ride, moving people away from a science vehicle which has yellow tape around the area and on the vehicle itself. In October planning permission for the new ride was granted by Staffordshire Moorlands Council; giving the go ahead for construction to begin over the closed season. Alton Towers also released a website dedicated to the ride where visitors to the site can access up-to-date information about the ride's development.
In December 2011, Alon Towers posted on the mini-website '18 Years Later... 18:18 31.12.11. On 31st December, Alton towers posted a video on the offical site showing the Nemesis comic strip and revealed that the ride would actually be called Nemesis Sub-Terra.
In late 2011, it was announced that a Ice Age 4D attraction would be coming to the park in 2012. The show is to be based around the third Ice Age film, Dawn of the Dinosaurs and will be a unique 4D experience located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre.
On December 31st, it was annouced at 18:18 (referencing the age of Nemesis) that the 2012 attraction on the Lava Lump site was to be named; "Nemesis: Sub-Terra", and intended to open along with the rest of the park on the 24th of March 2012.
Plans for the next major rollercoaster at the park were announced at the 'TH13TEEN Event' on 19 June 2010 held in the Alton Towers Conference Centre. It was described by Mowenna Angove, Head of marketing at the time, as the next "white-knuckle thrill ride". John Wardley, Ride Consultant for Merlin Entertainments, stated that the ride will also include a world's first feature. It will be codenamed "Secret Weapon 7" or "SW7" for short, being the next attraction in the 'Secret Weapon' line-up. The ride has been announced for a 2013 opening.
In July 2009, the park outlined a 10-year development plan for the park (2010–19), the aim being to increase visitor numbers, in particular multi-day guests. The plan showed an option for a third hotel or new accommodation of some sort over the coming years. The plan also highlighted areas for development, as well as suggesting the possibility of a new park entrance nearer to the hotels, which could act as a second entrance or replacement to the existing one in Towers Street.
The theme park and backlot car park areas host occasional concerts during the year, these have included Tina Turner, James & Chris de Burgh, among others. Alton Towers celebrated their 30th birthday with an 1980s concert held on 23 May 2010. On 27 June 2010, the park played host to its first full live date within the theme park itself, when P!nk performed during her Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour.
Alton Towers Live was a past event, which was hosted on 19 June 2011 and saw pop artists such as ; JLS, McFly, The Saturdays and Eliza Doolittle perform at the theme park.
Another concert was held at Alton Towers on 6 July 2011 which featured The Black Eyed Peas as the main act and had supported acts such as LMFAO, Labrinth and Parade. The Black Eyed Peas announced that this would be their last U.K performance as they would be taking an indefinite break.[23]
The theme park traditionally opens selected attractions during February half-term in the closed season, prior to the main opening in March. The 2011 ran from 19–27 February 2011 and included a selection of thrill and family rides, it is currently expected to return in 2012.
The park's major annual event is 'Scarefest' which celebrates Halloween with a number of temporary scare maze attractions, costumed characters and extended opening hours to 9:00PM. Many rides and areas are lit with coloured lighting at night, with rides operating in the darkness after dusk. The Scarefest event has been running since 2007, although the park started celebrating Halloween with decoration several years before. This year's Scarefest will run from 15–31 October 2011 and feature a new Zombie themed Scare Zone and the move of Carnival of Screams and The Boiler House to the main theme park.
Adrenalin Week has run since the 2005 season, but had a break in 2008 after low attendance during the 2007 event. From 2–7 November 2009, the park's ten biggest thrill rides (including Air, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita-Queen Of Speed and Enterprise) were in operation for the last time in 2009, with admission to the park costing just £10 in advance or £15 on the day. The event did not run in 2010. However in 2011 an similar event did run it was not called the "Adrenalin Week" however low price entry was granted with similar rides open to previous years also.
The Splash Landings and Alton Towers hotels are open throughout Winter. Visitors can still enjoy Cariba Creek water park, Extraordinary Golf and Spa while most of the theme park is closed. Selected areas are open in Winter for the Christmas event, in which the Old McDonald's Farmyard area of the park is decorated for the special occasion and home to real reindeer.
From the 1990s, Alton Towers hosted an annual fireworks event on the Great Lawns, which often attracted tens of thousands of visitors. The displays, although stunning, were considered disruptive by some, which led to complaints from local residents. Two local residents, Suzanne and Stephen Roper, decided to take the theme park to court regarding this issue. The court issued Alton Towers with a noise abatement order in October 2005, this restricted the theme park to three shows a year, previously five, with noise readings not exceeding 40 decibels outside the park.[28] This led to the park temporarily abandoning the fireworks event. However, the 2010 season finished with an impressive fireworks and laser show, which ran from 5–7 November, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the theme park. The park hosted the event again in 2011 and was open until 9pm; with most major rides open.
It is also of note that the Earl of Shrewsbury made use of fireworks as part of the Grand Fetes held at Alton Towers in the 1890s,[29] when Alton Towers was still a stately home.
Every year, usually in May, Alton Towers plays host to The Ultimate Event. It consists of "a day of fun and live pop music." People can spend the day in the park before going to a concert at the end.
On 23 May 2010 Alton Towers Resort had an 80s Disco to celebrate thirty years of the park. Featuring a concert with 1980s pop stars including 'Kim Wilde', 'Midge Ure', 'Bananarama' and 'Rick Astley'.
The Alton Towers Resort DVD system enables visitors to have footage captured of them as they visit eight of the main rides and other various locations around the park, by wearing optional RFID wristbands during their stay. The wristbands can later be returned to the shop (located on Towers Street); where the personalized footage is collected and compiled alongside stock footage of the rides, to produce a DVD souvenir of the visitor's day.
The system features personalised footage on Nemesis, Rita, Sonic Spinball, Oblivion, Air, The Flume and Congo River Rapids. Customers can preview their footage before they buy the DVD.
The system was originally known as "YourDay" and was run by a separate business to Alton Towers. It was first installed in the 2007 season. YourDay officially went into administration on 31 March 2009, and failed to open at the start of the 2009 season.[30] However, the shop reopened for business in October 2009 for the final weeks of the season after Alton Towers decided to take over the concept and run the system themselves. YourDay remained closed again throughout the first few months of the 2010 season, before being rebranded as the "Alton Towers Resort DVD" and reopened again. The shop, system and footage used remains much the same.This has since been closed down for the 2011 season.[31]
Alton Towers is set in a dedicated Conservation Area, which puts a restriction on the height of any ride or building development in the park. It has been agreed with the local council that no buildings should be built above the tree line and if so should be disguised to fit the landscape; this can be seen on the ride Rita, where part of the track is painted dark green to fit in with the trees.
Noise pollution is also a problem for the park due to the close proximity to the villages of Alton and Farley. There have been several cases where Alton Towers have been taken to court over the noise levels emitted from the park and have been served noise abatement orders in 2004 and 2005.
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