The 2006/2007 Closed Season was a very active one at the
Towers. Two new restaurants were built, one in Fountain Square and
one in Forbidden Valley. It also saw the Dung Heap and Haunted
Hollow arrive at the park, and the Extraordinary Golf built at the
hotels.
Not only that but both Charlie and The Chocolate Factory and the
Riverbank Eye-Spy received revamps, as did many of the game units
when HB Leisure arrived at the park.
This was also the year the park adopted the new YourDay souvenir
option, where guests could buy a DVD of their day.
After all the
excitement of our pinball update, today we'll be taking a more
conventional tour of the park, and the overall theme of the update
will be departures...
But first lets start at the hotel,
where there are actually some new arrivals, in the form of a VIP
Car Valet service.
Just next door we find the infamous
Carpark K. The hot money is on this being the location of the
Haunted Cornfield this halloween
But
enough of ATH, the real excitement is over at Splash Landings, where
the entrance building for the Extraordinary Golf is coming on at a
pace...
...and
the holes are starting to take shape too. Else where on the site
work was also taking place pouring the foundation for another hole
too.
There
is also some work being carried out between the monorail and the
golf course, possible providing access from the main car park to the
new attraction.
And so
lets head over to the park... on the way we can see The Towers
silhouetted alongside Nemesis. We'll be over there in a while, but
first...
let's
take a quick peek into Forbidden Valley...
where
in the middle of Nemesis you can just see the blue umbrellas outside
the new restaurant building.
And so
we come to our first departure... Ribena look to be leaving the farm
this season, and the
giant berry which has sat in the area for many years can now be
seen sitting in the ride graveyard.
Elsewhere the ride graveyard is looking somewhat emptier then it did
a couple of weeks ago, due to the departure of...
The Flume Boats, which have begun to
be returned to their home in Merrie England....
Except for the one that got away, sitting in car park. We would like to wish Tub 18 all the
best in it's break for freedom
And so at last we come to the park
itself, and yet another departure. The eagle eyed among you may
notice that...
Everyone's favourite wonky entrance
sign has gone AWOL. Viva la revolution!!
In
Towers Street we already know the Mad Hatter has left, but now the
shop is filled with scaffolding to start its conversion.
In
Merrie England some of the old games have also gone to be replaced
by new HB Leisure units...
Such as the Witches Cauldron [sic],
which has replaced Ye Olde Churns.
And Rasputin's Ricochet, which has
replaced Ye Old Goblets (which have themselves replaced Ye Old Tin
Cans)
At the far end of Merrie England, the
queue board is still advertising the last Adrenalin Week, despite
the next one being only weeks away!
And a quick look over the Flume's lake
shows that the rapids boats are still on dry land for the closed
season.
And so to Haunted Hollow, where a
little progress has been made, in that the old lighting along the
train route is being removed.
The lights you see on the palette here
were about half way along the route, at the far end of the Flume
site.
A flying visit to the gardens reveal
that Jacob's Ladder, one of the garden features, is still closed
to the public; it's now been "temporarily closed" since 2005
now.
Here we see one of the major issues in
the gardens at the moment, the drainage is such that water
cascades down the valley at will whenever it rains. Carving
channels through the Earl's beautifully landscaped gardens.
Near the Towers it looks like new
signage will be appearing for the new season.
Looking down to Fountains Square we
can have an updated on the new restaurant...
Where it looks like walls are finally
appearing. Let's hope work has been completed in three weeks time.
Over at Cred Street, lets look across
the of the roofs behind the area. In the distance you can see the
Cred Street Theatre.
Even further back, nestled amongst the
trees you can just about see the Nemesis Utility Vehicle, which
was removed for construction of the new restaurant.
Down
below let's have a look in the service area of the Towers. There has
been some discussion in the forums lately of utilidors...
The
Towers actually has utilidors of it's very own, one of which is the
tunnel leading from the X Sector to the Towers.
The other, many
people pass on every trip to the Towers, but never see. It runs
alongside the Conservatories. (the individual slabs show the route
of it)
Here is the entrance to the tunnel by
the exit of Hex. In fact the exit of Hex is part of the utilidor
system to bring coal into the heart of the Towers.
In fact lets use the
utilidor and enter the X Sector, where the kiosk in the Blackhole
queue-line still has flags outside as reminders of past times.
From here we can see that the path is
now re-laid outside the Re-Hydrator and beyond you can also see...
...that the
scaffolding is starting to disappear from around Submission.
A closer view. Another reminder
that the new season is just around the corner.
Next door the
Enterprise is all ready for opening... but is that an open gate?
It is!! That's odd, the gate is open
to the Blackhole Yard area. Maybe it's because...
The Blackhole has
gone!! Only a few ride supports now remain in the yard.
Almost two years after the ride
closed, the Blackhole has finally completed its time at Alton
Towers. A standing ovation please!
It seems we may have
been a little premature in reporting Forbidden Tattoos departure
last time, as it was back today for Towers, Treat and Trails.
And finally to finish off today, down
on the farm the solitary Squirrel Nutty car has departed from
behind the Bish Bash.
