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SAVI - Stanza V: Team S.E.A. - Alton Towers
- Thread starter NateD1226
- Start date
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
A Handy Dandy Guide to Alton Towers
Alton Towers is a British theme park, run by Merlin Entertainments (who run every other theme park in the country), located in the village Alton, in Staffordshire, England. It is made up of 910 acres, and is situated around Alton Castle, which has stood since the 12th century. The area and castle were owned by the Talbot family until the 1920s, and has been passed on from owner to owner. The estate opened to the public in the 1860s, while the park opened in 1950s.
The park has five hotels of sorts, including the Alton Towers Hotel, which has a S.E.A.-esque theme and run by the fictional Sir Algenon Alton; the Caribbean-themed Splash Landings Hotel; Enchanted Village, which is made up of lodges and treehouses; CBeebies Hotel, a smaller, family friendly hotel based around the various characters from the CBeebies TV channel; and the Stargazing Pods, which have had a troubled history for the planned lack of facilities. The park also comes with a separate water park (opening 2013), a crazy golf course, and a high ropes course.
Towers Street
The opening land of Alton Towers.
--Opened in 1986, the entrance land.
--The resort’s monorail and Sky Ride stations come here.
--Has jumping frog fountains, and great views of the Gardens and lake.
Katanga Canyon
Themed around an African village.
--Runaway Mine Train, your standard mine train coaster, the oldest coaster in the park.
--Congo River Rapids, a river rapids ride that mingles with the Runaway Mine Train.
Gloomy Wood
A spooky wooded area.
--Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back, a sequel attraction to the Haunted House, a laser gun dark ride.
--Haunted Hollow, a haunted interactive footpath trail.
Forbidden Valley
Set in a post-apocalyptic landscape with standing stones and rustic structures.
--Galactica, a Bolliger & Mabillard flying coaster.
--Nemesis, the park’s most famous coaster and Europe’s first inverted coaster.
--The Blade, a swinging ship resembling a piece of shrapnel thrown from Nemesis.
--Also features the unique Rollercoaster Restaurant, where food is delivered via mini looping rails.
Adventure Land
A relatively featureless land based around the sole coaster.
--Spinball Whizzer, a spinning pinball-themed coaster, once was based around Sonic the Hedgehog!
X-Sector
A sci-fi themed area based around a secretive industrial complex, where the guests are human guinea pigs.
--Oblivion, the world’s first dive coaster.
--The Smiler, has fourteen inversions, holding the world record.
--Enterprise, a ferris wheel thrill ride.
Mutiny Bay
Your standard pirate-themed area.
--Wicked Man, a wooden coaster kinda based on the horror film and ancient pagan practices, sadly does not include a crossdressing Christopher Lee, or Nicholas Cage.
--Battle Galleons, a pirate-themed soak ‘em ride.
--Heave Ho, child-sized swinging ship.
--Marauder’s Mayhem, a teacup ride themed around spinning gunpowder barrels.
--Sharkbait Reef, a Sea Life aquarium and 3D cinema.
The World of David Walliams / Cloud Cuckoo Land
Currently undergoing a transformation to be based on the children’s books by comedian David Walliams (or Little Britain fame). A new attraction will be Gangsta Granny: The Ride.
--Cuckoo Cars Driving School, a driving school.
--Frog Hopper, a child-sized drop tower.
--Galloper’s Carousel
Dark Forest
Another spooky wooded area that ties directly into Th13teen’s storyline around a haunted crypt.
--Rita, a launched coaster, based around an abandoned drag racer trying to escape the forest.
--Th13teen, a corkscrew coaster with the world’s first vertical freefall drop.
CBeebies Land
The resident children’s land, based on the various TV shows from CBeebies, aimed at toddlers and preschoolers.
--Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure, a family coaster based on the Octonauts.
--In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride, a gentle Storybook Canal Boats-esque ride around the setting of In the Night Garden.
--Get Set Go Treetop Adventure, a treetop outdoor PeopleMover-ish thing.
--Numtums Number-Go-Around, a carousel-style attraction.
--Charlie & Lola’s Moonsquirters and Greendrops, an indoor ride based on Charlie & Lola.
--Justin's House: Pie-O-Matic Factory, an indoor play area based on Justin Fletcher’s character Mr. Tumble.
--Mr. Bloom’s Allotment, an indoor show and attraction based on Mr. Bloom’s Nursery.
--Something Special Sensory Garden, an outdoor sensory garden and play area.
--Postman Pat Parcel Pat, outdoor dark ride based on the UK's favourite postman.
--Tree Fu Tom Training Camp, another outdoor play area based on Tree Fu Tom.
--Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride, an aerial roundabout.
--Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop, two mini drop towers based around Peter Rabbit – the actual Peter Rabbit, not that Sony abomination.
--Two separate shows based on the Teletubbies, and The Furchester Hotel.
The Towers and the Gardens
--Alton Towers Dungeon, a walkthrough with a boat segment, inspired by the London Dungeon and other such attractions.
--Hex: The Legend of the Towers, a walkthrough/dark ride/Vekoma Madhouse located within the castle grounds, but is in a separate building. Themed to a secret vault, based around the legend of the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, cursed by a beggar woman to die every time a branch falls from an oak tree.
Time to give this park some tender loving care and money. One mistake I made in the handy dandy guide, was that Alton Castle is not the central building, but is located OUTSIDE the park. The Towers are an old estate manorhouse, rather than a castle. My bad!
Here is an Open Street Map view of the whole resort. The entrance is in the top left-hand corner, while the hotels are in the bottom right-hand area. The railroad line is the park's monorail, and the weird ... line is the resort's Skylift-esque transport, which kinda doubles as an attraction.
Clockwise list of lands: Towers Street, Mutiny Bay, Katanga Bay, Gloomy Wood, Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest, Cloud Cuckoo Land (where "Fountain Square" is listed), The Towers, X-Sector, Adventure Land, CBeebies Land, and the Gardens in the centre.
As you can see, there is a lot of room, with plenty of room for potential expansions and new land. However, there are a few conditions that are detrimental to Alton Towers. The Towers themselves and the central Gardens are untouchable by law, since I believe they are registered landmarks. This isn't your standard American park. The scenery and greenery take priority above all else, and theming isn't really all encompassing and transitions from land to another. People come to have picnics here or just sit in deckchairs all day and admire the scenery.
A home truth of sorts, but the British theme park industry is kinda bland. It really isn't a big deal like it is in America with Disney and Universal. Merlin Entertainments own all of the big parks and attractions in the UK - Legoland, Thorpe Park, Alton Towers, Chessington, and even Madame Tussauds, but they aren't really into big scale theming and such. Our parks and attractions are more downscale and often just glorified amusement rides. It must be a British thing, something of which I don't really agree with. The London Resort may change all this if it ever gets off the blumin' ground.
Another thing to note is that there is a peculiar rule where nothing can be built above the park's tree line. I don't know why this exists, but maybe it is one way to hide attractions, or to not scare bird, or because of low flying airplanes? However, I do quite like this nifty little rule.
Now, in regards to @mickeyfan5534's comments, in hindsight I agree. CBeebies Land is cute, but exclusively serves kiddiewinkies and their parents. Cloud Cuckoo Land may double as another children's zone, and is getting its new identity as the World of David Walliams, who has written books I've never read. So, again there is a limitation to its appeal. All the other lands are based on vague concepts -- pirate bay, African village, TWO spooky woods, a sci-fi lab area similar to Stranger Things, a post-apocalpytic location, and your generic Main Street. We need some larger, more impressive lands here, and I have a few ideas -- one of which replaces CBeebies and the pointless Adventure Land, another to replace Gloomy Wood, and perhaps a third new land in the lower part of the park to create a looping circuit for the whole place!
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
Here is an Open Street Map of the lands.
My suggestion is to merge Adventure Land and CBeebies Land into one -- ironically, they once used to be a land before being split. Throw out the CBeebies stuff and have a new IP there, as well as change Gloomy Wood into a new themed land, and build a new one in the big space between Dark Forest and Forbidden Valley.
My suggestion is to merge Adventure Land and CBeebies Land into one -- ironically, they once used to be a land before being split. Throw out the CBeebies stuff and have a new IP there, as well as change Gloomy Wood into a new themed land, and build a new one in the big space between Dark Forest and Forbidden Valley.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
I feel like there's something we could do with Cbeebies Land... we don't have to replace it, but it could benefit from a freshing-up.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
CBeebies Land is relatively new to the park, only debuting about six years ago, and is aimed exclusively at a preschooler crowd and their parents. All of the rides are based on IP that have been on the channel like Postman Pat, Into the Night Garden, and Teletubbies. They are small and simple, probably as much as say one of those coin-powered vehicles you find in supermarkets.
This land is the park's major family land, alongside Cloud Cuckoo Land, which doesn't have much of an identity either.
I feel we should remove it entirely, and come up with something new. I have two ideas:
One is to transform it to focus exclusively on one familiar British franchise -- PETER RABBIT. Beatrix Potter's books are hugely popular and beloved in the UK, passed down from generation to generation. And I am talking about the books and British made products. Not that disgusting, vile, abominable POS created by Sony that throws away everything that made the books and characters so charming, transforming into lowbrow, gut wrenching vomit-inducing garbage!
The characters of Peter Rabbit are very much grounded in nature and would fit into Alton Towers' wooded environment very well. There is already a Peter Rabbit mini drop tower at the park, but there could be so much more to it. The characters are charming, their stories are simple but fun, a peaceful forested environment would be a nice differentiation from the other themed lands, and the attractions could be quite sweet, gentle, but attract people of all ages.
The second idea would combine CBeebies Land and Adventure Land into one sole land, based around a character who once had a presence in the park, and just made a lot of money at the box office!
Sonic the Hedgehog used to occupy the Spinball Whizzer coaster for about six years before the park and Sega ended their deal. The rollercoaster is your standard mouse coaster, but has a nice colour scheme, and embodied Sonic rather wel, referencing his Sonic Spinball game. Considering that Universal is opening Nintendo lands in their resorts, imagine the shock if Merlin Entertainments announced they had got the rights to Sega's video game catalogue and put them in theme parks. If we were to give Sonic a land of his own (which I want to do!), it would takeover Adventure Land and CBeebies land, serving as both as an attractive land for kids, and feature some exciting, fast-paced attractions as well, based within the Green Hill Zone.
Or we could incorporate both Peter Rabbit and Sonic into the park as separate lands?
Suchomimus
Well-Known Member
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
I like both ideas a lot. I vote for "do both as separate lands".One is to transform it to focus exclusively on one familiar British franchise -- PETER RABBIT. Beatrix Potter's books are hugely popular and beloved in the UK, passed down from generation to generation. And I am talking about the books and British made products. Not that disgusting, vile, abominable POS created by Sony that throws away everything that made the books and characters so charming, transforming into lowbrow, gut wrenching vomit-inducing garbage!
The characters of Peter Rabbit are very much grounded in nature and would fit into Alton Towers' wooded environment very well. There is already a Peter Rabbit mini drop tower at the park, but there could be so much more to it. The characters are charming, their stories are simple but fun, a peaceful forested environment would be a nice differentiation from the other themed lands, and the attractions could be quite sweet, gentle, but attract people of all ages.
The second idea would combine CBeebies Land and Adventure Land into one sole land, based around a character who once had a presence in the park, and just made a lot of money at the box office!
Sonic the Hedgehog used to occupy the Spinball Whizzer coaster for about six years before the park and Sega ended their deal. The rollercoaster is your standard mouse coaster, but has a nice colour scheme, and embodied Sonic rather wel, referencing his Sonic Spinball game. Considering that Universal is opening Nintendo lands in their resorts, imagine the shock if Merlin Entertainments announced they had got the rights to Sega's video game catalogue and put them in theme parks. If we were to give Sonic a land of his own (which I want to do!), it would takeover Adventure Land and CBeebies land, serving as both as an attractive land for kids, and feature some exciting, fast-paced attractions as well, based within the Green Hill Zone.
Or we could incorporate both Peter Rabbit and Sonic into the park as separate lands?
Today, I got another idea: what if we made the Peter Rabbit land a land based on British children's literature as a whole? As in, the stuff that hasn't already been done by theme parks (so no Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Harry Potter, etc.). We could have Beatrix Potter's stuff, Roland Dahl's stuff, Kipper, the Narnia books (I know Disney's Hollywood Studios had a Narnia attraction for a while, but it's closed now, so...), Maisy, Where's Wally?, stuff like that. Maybe it's a dumb idea...
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
@Brer Panther you beautiful genius you! Definitely agree of Roahl Dahl, though the park used to have a Willy Wonka boat ride a few years back. We could reintroduce it in a new form! Narnia is another tempting idea, though not sure how to pull that off. A dark ride? Kipper, perhaps. Not sure how Where's Wally (or Waldo to you yanks) would work. Perhaps other children's books? Percy the Park Keeper?
This also brings up the question on what to do with the World of David Walliams, which will be another land based on the comedian's children's books. Scrap the whole land and build something new, or let it come into existence?
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Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
For Where's Wally, I'm picturing a Peter Pan's Flight-esque ride over different locations, and you have to try and spot Wally hiding in each one. Or is that a dumb idea?
As for the World of David Walliams, I don't know.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
Well, we're not particularly getting very far with this project. I'm not particularly sure why there is a lack of motivation or interest in this park, but I suspect this won't be done in time for the deadline.
To be honest, I don't enjoy these multi-park rounds, where everyone just splits off and does their own thing. I find it flawed and struggle with it, as I did last year, and a lack of teamwork is absent as it was in the last season. There has been little to no communications between the participants dumped into this project. Perhaps it is due to timezones or real life commitments, which are both an issue for me ATM. I work a full-time job, so don't have proper time to dedicate myself to figure out a whole park like this with a budget.
To be honest, I don't enjoy these multi-park rounds, where everyone just splits off and does their own thing. I find it flawed and struggle with it, as I did last year, and a lack of teamwork is absent as it was in the last season. There has been little to no communications between the participants dumped into this project. Perhaps it is due to timezones or real life commitments, which are both an issue for me ATM. I work a full-time job, so don't have proper time to dedicate myself to figure out a whole park like this with a budget.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
In the meantime, here is where I'd place the theoretical Sonic (blue) and Peter Rabbit/children's literature (yellow) lands.
I can totally help out with anything you need! I love the literature land idea and totally can work on that with you. Just tell me what you need and I can help
That’s look great! What is the literature land had a Matilda coaster or simulator
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
Yeah, I'm not really fond of this sort of round either. Sorry I haven't been much help yet. In the meantime, here are some ideas for the children's section I have (in addition to the aforementioned Where's Wally ride)...
- A dark ride through Beatrix Potter's works
- A giant peach walk-through
- A Narnia dark ride
That's pretty much it.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
You have been a lot of help, @Brer Panther! And, thanks for offering your assistance @NateD1226. I think for this kid's literature land (need a name!), it should open with the Beatrix Potter section, with a dark ride telling the combined stories of Peter Rabbit and his cousin Benjamin Bunny, as it is a two-part tale dealing with Mr. Macgregor's vegetable patch. A gentle, charming yet fun attraction similar to the Gruffalo ride at Chessington. There could also be an Aquatopia-type ride with the frog Jeremy Fisher involving lilypads, a store themed to the Tailor of Gloucester, and a restaurant based around Mrs. Tiggywinkle within her underhill home. I feel there should be a replica of Beatrix Potter's Cumbrian cottage, serving as a museum to her legacy in literature, art, and conservation.
From there, we go to the Roald Dahl section, with the Giant Peach walkthrough mentioned by Panther, a drop tower themed to The Giraffe, the Pelly, and Me, and attractions based on Matilda and/or The BFG (a suspended dark ride?).
At the back of the land is our Narnia section, small in size, but has a large ride based on The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, compete with the iconic street lamp, the snow, and Mr. Tumnus' house, with either the White Witch's snow palace or some ancient ruins to disguise the show building.
Brer Panther
Well-Known Member
Are we adding anything to the park besides the Sonic and literature lands?
I think considering we only have limited amount of money, that should be it.
Evilgidgit
Well-Known Member
If we have leftover cash, it would be dedicated to improving existing attractions and theming.
Awesome. Do you have a budget draft my any chance or want to make one?