This delightful tree lined boulevard is
your gateway to the wonderful world of Alton Towers. At the centre of
the street are the park's iconic Leap Frog Fountains, surrounded by
grass islands - perfect for relaxing at the end of a busy day in the
park. Surrounding these the street is lined by traditional styled
shops and eateries, opening out at the bottom to beautiful vistas
across the lawns with the ruins of the Towers rising in the distance.
Whilst Towers Street has no rides to call
its own, it is the transportation hub of the park, with the Monorail
station at the top of the street and the Skyride departing from the
bottom. The area is also the place to come if shopping is what you're
after as it is home the the park's very own megastore, Towers Trading,
where they
sell everything to do with Alton Towers, from clothes to cuddly bears.
Towers Trading is also the collection point for any ride photos you
chosen to pick up later and the purchase point for walkabout photos is
located in the tower outside.
As you might expect
being the entrance to the park, Towers Street is home to many of the
park's workings, with the Annual Pass Office being located here as
well as Guest Services, where you can hire children's buggies as well
as get any information you might need about the park. When you enter
the park you may also stop of at the Coca Cola Pagoda at the top of
the street to pick up a refill cup that will last you throughout your
visit to the park.
Area History
Towers Street was built for the 1986 season, around the Grand
Entrance to the park which had opened the previous season. The
Street was designed to utilise the spectacular views of the
Towers themselves and was something of a homage to the typical
entrances of the Disney theme parks, a major influence on the
park at that time.
The street
was originally designed primarily as a shopping precinct at
the entrance of the the park, with a series of shops running
the length of it selling everything from Toys and Games,
through to Fashion or even Furniture. The centre of the street
was formally laid out with brick flower beds, with Victorian
style benches and lampposts running down to the centre piece
of the Leap Frog Fountains, which in those days were set into
small brick ponds which allowed guests to actually walk under
the jets and really interact with them.
It was not
until 1987, the following season, that the Monorail and
Skyride joined the line up, though both fitted in seamlessly,
as they had been allowed for in the street's original design.
With these two features in place the street was complete and
so remained more or less unchanged for several years, becoming
not only the entrance to the park, but also central to the
park's winter opening line up.
When
Tussauds took over the park in the early 90s the role of
Towers Street within the park changed dramatically as they had
vastly different ideas to the previous management. Their
vision for the park did not include shopping being an
important feature and so in 1992 all the shops down one side
of the street closed, becoming office space for the park
management instead. This was followed a few years later by all
the shops on the other side of the street being combined into
Towers Trading as it exists today.
The other
major change which occurred during the early 90s is the centre
of the street being entirely remodelled, with the brick beds
being knocked out to be replaced by the much more naturalistic
grass islands we see today. As part of these works the Leap
Frog Fountains were all merged into the larger pond and the
iconic frogs and lily pads were added.
Since these
alterations Towers Street has remained much the same, simply
acting as the entrance to the park and so mostly lacking the
vibrant atmosphere it had during its earlier days. The only
major change to have occurred in recent years was the
short-lived addition of the ill-fated YourDay venture, which
involved one of the old shop units being redeveloped for the
2007 season. However this unit is now empty once again after
Yourday went into administration early in the 2009 season.
