Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[sibbi89I Guess Donkeys Are Okay]

Thanks for the help

[robinschroderWhen I grow up, I want to breed donkeys!]

The park is really in the middle of nowhere - it's far easier to get to Alton Towers if you're driving, but it's really not impossible to get there via public transport.

Take a look at Alton Towers' How To Find Us page. You can get buses to the park from surrounding towns / cities Stoke on Trent, Uttoexter, Derby and Nottingham. Out of these, I'd suggest that Stoke is the easiest option in terms of travelling up from London by train.

You may find www.thetrainline.com useful for checking train prices - should be pretty easy to see where the cheaper but non-flexible (and reserved seat) tickets are still available. Buy sooner rather than later as there's only a small quota of the cheap tickets before they make you buy a more expensive ticket. As long as you get an early train up in the morning from London, you'll definitely be able to get to the park and get back in the same day - it'll just be a long day with an early start. But it's well worth spending a couple of days there if you have the time - make sure you check out the water park! I recently did the journey from Euston - Stoke and it's only just over an hour and a half. The staff bus from Stoke only takes 45 mins (Bus 15, although there is a bus 14 that takes longer as it stops off at local villages). Check www.traveline.info for bus times - they're not so frequent and you'll need to make sure your train gets you up in time to catch one. When it says 'Alton Towers Farley Gates' as the bus stop on that website, ignore that - the bus goes right to the front of the park.

Have fun!

[KoolkidHave I mentioned how awesome donkeys are?]

If it's your first time and you really want to experience Alton Towers, I'd definitely say you need 2 days, if not more.

Also, if you don't want to get the fastrack's (which personally I don't think you need and are really very expensive, but my opinion) there are certainly ways to do the rides to ensure lowest queue times possible and so you get on everything, even at the busiest of times.

Have a great trip

[EdTHE BOY]

During the summer months i'd give yourself two days at the park if you don't plan to go back any time soon. It can get very busy and the park itself is quite large so it takes a while to get from one area to another! I'd also recommend staying at the Alton Towers Hotel/Water Park. You can get some good all inclusive deals for the park, hotel and waterpark.

[DobbaI think Intamin should make a donkey!]

The event that was planned to happen before the ride opened took place last night. As well as revealing some big and exciting AT news (2011 being another family based year though no details announced, initial SW7, which is definitely not a woodie, planning beginning in 3 weeks with aims of a 2014 opening and a possible Black Hole replacement coming in 2012) the park revealed a little about the creation, planning and problems TH13TEEN has been having:

The planning of Th13teen was extremely complex as the ride and it's foundations needed to carefully negotiate trees and their roots around the ride's footprint.

The ride's drop was fully built and tested under complete secrecy in Budapest. A video was also shown showing senior team members from Alton Towers testing the drop before it was dismantled and shipped to the UK.

The ride was always intended to be a family ride, with no aim to create a ride solely for the thrill market.

The ride's recent issues with lifthill stoppages was confirmed to be due to the varying weights of the trains, resulting in the trim brakes being installed.

Th13teen's current capacity is hitting 1440 people per hour.

And finally, putting to bed recent rumours since the ride opened, the park has confirmed that no further effects are to be added to the vault

(Thanks to TowersTimes for the list)

[tiger01Jar-Jar Binks smells like Donkey]

How big is the Valley??? I saw a print of what looked like a valley on TTs Home Page Map.
I Can't Wait for the new Secret Weapon. They say about scrapping a wooden coaster plan but I think a GCI Would do nicely with big twist and turns. I don't see what they could replace the Black Hole area with. Maybe a Eurofighter but theres lots of them in the UK Now. It would be cool if they created something new like when they did Th13rteen.

[KoolkidHave I mentioned how awesome donkeys are?]

I was there that night and it was also announced that SW7 so the 2014 coaster will be a solely Thrill coaster.

It was a phenomenal evening

^ And the valley has 200ft+ height difference

Here is a TR with a lot of Photo's from the event
Ride Guide

Apologies if linking to another site is not allowed, if so remove immediately, just thought that there are a lot of pictures on that link.

[themeparkman25I get wet for Manta!]

Just out of curiosity, but is there any coasters or rides currently down or expected to be down on any given day?

[InukazaWhat would donkeys be like on the moon?]

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/weird-world/2010/05/14/alton-towers-hands-out-protective-pants-for-th13teen-thrillseekers-to-prevent-accidents-115875-22258143/

Staff will be handing out the free pants to visitors before they board the ride.

Thrillseekers on Alton Towers' new Th13teen rollercoaster are being given protective pants to stop embarrassing’ accidents on the ride.

Theme parks bosses have taken the measure after ride hosts reported several ‘embarrassing’ incidents involving riders on the coaster, which boasts the world’s first free-fall drop.

A spokesman for Alton Towers said: “We have had reports of several unfortunate incidents on TH13TEEN involving riders who were not prepared for the most shocking part of the ride.

"It contains many surprising elements as it takes riders on an exhilarating journey, so, in response, we have decided to make protective underwear freely available in the hope it will make both riders and our staff feel more secure.”

Now this is just ridicules, TPR crew, when you went to alton towers today/yesterday did you see this going on?

[larrygatorObsessive Overlord of the TPR Park Index]

^I merged your "news" with our existing Th13teen discussion thread.