Thank you for watching me, a humble American, react to Alton Towers Original video: • Alton Towers Review | ... Thanks for subscribing for more UK reactions!
The park is only open till 4pm during the week, it closed at 6pm on weekend and 7pm during holidays and 9pm during Halloween. Which is good for a park in the UK they don’t stay open that late unlike in America. Also being from Britain, every person who lives in the UK goes to Alton towers so it’s quite funny watching someone find out about it
Brit here and iv taken my children here many times over the years. Iv stayed in both hotels on sight, which are fantastic. If you live in the UK and you've never been its well worth a visit.
I'm British only been once when I was in secondary school. I only got on three ride's because of the huge queues even though was a weekday. I've never taken my own children. They would be entitled to free exit passes because of disabilities. But they would struggle with how huge it is. They like Drayton manor not much of a walk between rides and they love Thomas land there.
I'm glad you said that...just watched this and, granted, it has been a few years since I went to Alton Towers but I'm almost certain I've never done the monorail. Thought I was going mad.
Alton Towers is a great experience. For a brief history the house itself was owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury and was sold in 1924. During the Second World War is was repurposed as a training school for officers before then being sold in the 70s where the first rollercoaster was built in the 80s, although, the grounds were open for people to visit before the coaster was built, which is where the gardens come into it. The blue track you see, is a piece of track from the cork screw which was one of the first roller coasters in the park and was taken out when Rita was built. The reason why the park doesn’t open to late is because the park itself has a noise abatement notice on it. Which means they have to keep the noise down below a particular level and close at a particular time. There are clauses in the notice though. Such as, they can be open later during the summer months and on particular dates at the end of its season. As mentioned the tree line issues has been worked into the planning permission of every ride they have ever built. It’s the councils way of making sure the park doesn’t spoil the look of the area. To get around that, as was mentioned, instead of going up, Alton Towers ride designers go down and dig drops and tunnels into the earth instead of into the sky. The Towers itself isn’t actually a Castle. However, the village of Alton does have a castle, it’s just not in the grounds of Alton Towers. The castle which was part of the Shrewsbury estate was sold separately from the towers in 1924 to the Catholic Church as a convent, then a girls school and is now a retreat for young people. But, it is still owned by the Catholic Church. Many young people (and those who are slightly older) from nearby towns such as Cheadle, Leek and Uttoxeter, see it as a right of passages to work at least one season on park or the hotel. I myself did three years one on park and then worked 2 years in the hotel as a lifeguard in the water park.
My lad was a lifeguard at the waterpark and I went to primary school next to the castle, St John's., in the 1970s. My Grandad was the master potter at the Towers so I well remember the days before it was a theme park. I can remember going every weekend to see the progress of the corkscrew being built.
So many misleading things in this video- 1) you can walk from the carpark to the entrance 2) the park doesn’t close at 4. The standard close time is 6. The park closes at 4 on week days out of main season but these days are so quiet you could ride everything twice. The latest close time during the year is at 9. And it’s pretty standard for all uk theme parks. 3) the tree height was put in place due to restrictions on them being in the countryside, to get around this a lot of coasters are built into the ground, ect: tnt was used to build the pits in nemesis. 4) a lot of theming is built with backstory so you kinda need to know some of the story’s to fully understand it. 5) SPINBALL WIZZER IS THEMED. RITA IS THEMED. 6) if you’re new to the park, please use the app for the map so you don’t get lost. Okay rant over this place is practically my home I had to fix some misconceptions.
Spinball Whizzer is themed, but the current themeing is a downgrade from the old Sonic the Hedgehog themeing. I understand why the had to change it, but I have very fond memories of really wanting to go into a carrige that had Tails on the side.
fun story, when i was younger as a thankyou for my dads 25 years of service with the company he worked for at the time, the company completely reserved the entire park for a single weekend and all those employees with 25 years service chose a day and were given full free access for themselves and their families, and not only did they completely hire out the full theme park (not as big then as it is now but still pretty massive), the company also hired some very well known singers and bands (madness/status quo/diana ross) to perform a concert on the evening in a specially constructed big stage in one of the open fields on the edge of the park, due to it still being during school time my dad chose the saturday as his chosen day to go we had to get up at a ridiculous time to drive down in the car, spent the entire day there and didn't get back home until close to midnight, which meant i could spend sunday recovering before going back to school on the monday, it was one of the best childhood experiences i have and certainly well worth the time if you can afford it today, a very lovely place and even if you don't want to go on the rollercoasters you can still enjoy the scenic park/castle/grounds and whatnot.
Went there before big rides,just the house,lake and gardens with a tiny courtyard of funfair games and kids rides.Inside the house is ornate with fine stone carvings and stained glass windows. On a later visit, my grandmother who was 78 bent to pick a daisy,tripped and rolled down a hillside.We rushed thinking she'd been badly hurt because she lay so still. Then she started laughing and told us she hadn't done that since she was 6 years old .
I was there over bonfire night and they opened till 10pm, I think they do have late openings for special events. It is an amazing park though, I walked 16 miles that day it’s massive 😂
No way? I thought it was shut after summer. I drove down there 3 hours from Teesside in February and couldn’t find the entrance. Found a few maintenance blokes around the back and asked what time it opened and he replied “In 3 weeks” 😂
The blue roller coaster by the entrance is only a small section. It was called the Corkscrew. If was yellow when it was in use. It's length was 750 metres, height 23 metres, speed 40 mph and had a capacity of 1400 people per hour. I have been on it several times. As I live less than a 25 minute drive from Alton Towers Resort. I haven't been there for several years. So it's interesting to see the changes.
My mum was one of the first 100 people to ride the corkscrew when it first opened. She got a certificate at the end for it. i love how they have kept part of it.
The last time I Was in the queue for the corcscrew one of the supports was shaky. Then we realised that the rivets that drilled into the ground had come out and it was held town with loads of concrete slabs. Nope lol.
I grew up near alton towers and must have been 4-5 times a year, the whole park is themed on the story of the traveler and the witch which has a load of evidence of it being a true story based hundreds of years ago, just the story is well worth checking out.
@@Lwright Its the story around Alton towers of the Earl of Shrewsbury who was cursed by an old begger woman hundreds of years ago. The ride Hex is literally based on it and the tree thats to do with the story is still there, you tool.
No, you said the entire park is based on the chained oak legend, you’re wrong. Only one ride (hex) is based around it. That’s why I said you’re talking shit
The whole park isn't basically themed around Hex?? The Alton Towers story is a lot different to that. C'mon man... the chained oak tree is still something I'd like to go visit though!
Absolutely love Alton Towers, even when I was younger and wasn't a fan of coasters (To this day I blame my dad for tricking me onto Space Mountain) there was still plenty to see and do. The video is spot on about how big and beautiful the place is. Fast forward a few years and now having a coaster addiction, it has some superb iconic coasters. The Smiler is hands down one of my all time faves, to anyone going make sure you hit it up first! Hex is great too, I just love all the story / theme in there. Bring on the next Secret Weapon!
@@paulgallacher5384 No sorry I meant Space Mountain, Probably shoulda made that more clear. I was lucky enough to visit America when I was little, wish I had the nerve to ride more back then! Although I am pretty sure I hated Black Hole too now that you mention it haha.
That earns a follow! Parks in the U.K. tend to be daytime only except for special events. Blackpool Pleasure Beach used to be pay-per-ride and would stay open as long as there were enough people riding. When The Big One opened, we would ride into the early hours. The park would play a special song over the tannoy system to let the ride ops know they could start shutting up shop. When you heard “Every day’s a fun day at the Pleasure Beach” being sung, you knew you had to pick your last ride pronto. Stay in the on-site hotels and you’ll get early admission, and most parks have upcharge queue-skipping schemes. I’m looking forward to delving into your back catalogue - good concept!
I love the old towers other theme parks would have to build something to look old but the towers and the land truly are. The reason why they are not allowed above the tree line is because of the now infamous Alton locals. It's the reason why oblivion goes underground. If you want night rides you need to go for the scare fest the features a maze in the towers themselves or bonfire night for the fireworks. Wicker Man looks so epic for night rides particularly the real fire.
@@libradragon934my last theme park visits were to Parc de Asterix near Paris the queues were just as bad as Alton Towers so are the queues at Euro disney.
When my kids were young and we still lived in the UK We took them to Alton Towers It was luckily within a two hour drive of our home ,because even then it was a HUGE park to get around. Its grown since then of course and looks fantastic i am pleased they have stuck to the rule of nothing higher than the trees Makes it a hidden gem.
Every October me and my family go to Alton Towers. During Scarefest, which happens in October, they leave the park open until 9. It is so atmospheric being in the park with so little people there. The lines are almost non-existent, the park looks so amazing at night when you're at the top of Oblivion. It's just incredible.
The tree line restriction is to keep the local village quiet and quaint. So instead of building taller, they dig deeper. One of my favourite rides there is Oblivion. It pauses over a straight drop and then let's you go. That was the wide coaster you saw
Was a ride host here in 2010! Best job I’ve ever had, so much fun! Nemesis is having a complete re-track with a new paint scheme, Duel is completely changing and going back to its haunted house roots, new rides being built for 2025. Living so close I used to be there all the time as a teenager, walked round the gardens and played hide and seek in the towers when they were open 🤣 Honestly if you visit Alton towers you need to take a walk around the Village of Alton itself which is really nice and they do have an actual castle (Alton Castle) which is amazing to stay in for the weekend but it’s mainly used for religious school retreats. It literally does look like Hogwarts though if you catch it at the right angle when coming through the roads as it’s on a steep hill above a steep drop.
I remember taking my mum and my step brothers step daughter on the haunted house and the bit where your brain tricks you into thinking the track is tipping, my mums screaming and my bro's step daughter was screaming cos my mum was gripping her so tightly, I found it very funny, Good days lol.
We used to smoke weed in the gardens, then do the rides 😂😂😂😂 always nice to recognise people that are localish to Alton Towers!!! My biggest gripe about the place is they got rid of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King to implement their own shit fast food!!!! The bars are an absolute travesty!!!!
The timings vary throughout the year. Spring and autumn weekdays is 10-4. Summertime is 10-6pm. If you go in October for the Halloween scarefest, it is 10-9pm. You can ride the coasters in the dark! And yes the water rides are still open in the cold rainy autumn. Regarding theming, The Spinball Whizzer used to be Sonic Spinball, then the Sonic the hedgehog license expired. The park has always had a strained relationship with the locals. Going for the first time about 35 years ago, there were some rides above the tree line. Then the locals complained of the noise and the tree line rule was brought in.
Even as a Brit living in the UK, I'm not too familiar with theme parks here. But I did work at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA, when I was a student. This looks really good, different from the US, but a really enjoyable video. At Dorney, we had the tallest wooden rollercoaster in the world at the time, and I was able to get onto the rides before the tourists came in! Thanks, Ryan.
I live close to towers and I agree with Taylor (video creator), that it's the joint best theme park in Europe alongside phantasialand and Europa park. I'd say that energylandia portaventura are close behind too, however if u haven't been to towers plan a trip asap you won't regret it!
That’s cool you worked there when Hercules was operating, as it was a dinn corp built wooden coaster it couldn’t operate for long since dinn was known for using cheap materials
@@micoasters hi there, yes it was Hercules, around 1989. I loved working there! I had keys for the park, so could go on the rides before all tourists came in.
Brit here, go there at least twice a year every year and it always gives me a better experience every time. I always go once in the summer for good weather and once in scarefest (Halloween) for extra hours. The queues haven’t been too bad recently and the theming has gotten even better since the open of nemesis reborn. Not overrated at all I’ve grown up there.
Being a theme park fan, I go to Alton towers a lot, what they did not shower you is how good the onsite hotels are, there is a huge hotel called splash landings hotel, it has a big in door water park. All of the rides in the park have a really dark back story, it is a common thing in the UK for this to happen. All the big theme park resorts in the UK are own and run by Merlin Entertainment and all the major rides and park areas were designed by a man called John Wardley. This chap is a living legend, once in a life time kind of person. There is a lot of work going on at Alton towers at the moment, Nemesis is being re tracked, B&Ms best ever coaster, and one of the best coasters in the world, All major coasters are given the code name Secrete Weapon, and SW9 is currently in development, again by John Wardley. Due to open in 2025, the year after the re opening of nemesis, If you are ever in the UK you need to check out Alton Towers. But it is worth doing the research first about the park, it will help you understand why and how it is like it is. The history of Alton towers is huge and very interesting.
Been alton towers a lot in the past though not been in years, always had a great time there. After doing Nemesis back to back 5 times, did feel somewhat naseous so walked the gardens - they are astounding to walk round and you can't really hear the rest of the park, it is so peaceful - they even hire musicians, once saw this young couple in the gardens being played to by a guitarist, they looked so embarrassed when spotted! Most terrifying moment - the log flume (no belts) - 4 large blokes in one boat, the final drop was so fast was like going off a cliff, was going backwards in the boat! Hit the water so hard the boat went under, drenched all of us and left the boat with a foot of water in the bottom - 4 grown men screaming as we went down that drop! Fun times!
I practically grew up at Alton Towers - My mum’s family is from Stoke on Trent. When I went there were a v few rides incl the uk’s first looping coaster called ‘The Corckscrew’ It was mostly parkland. It’s a beautiful setting and the rides are incredible. And if u want a huge drop, they just dig it into the ground… You can stay there, which I have more than once as a grown up, and it’s great fun. The Alton towers Hotel is fantastic fun…
Been here countless times over the years. Went on the Nemesis the first year it opened and it's still my favourite coaster of all time, although Smiler is a close second. One of the funnest days out you can have in the U.K.
towers is overall one of the best theme parks to me as its so cool to ride the coasters they break so many coaster world records and create new coaster types if you wanna go down the rabit hole search about their records
We're passholders and goto towers regularly, you can walk from the monorail carpark to the entrance, it's about 15 mins max. This is my local theme park (unless you count blackpool) I love seeing americans react positively to a UK themepark, often we see all the huge and insane coasters in american which most brits can't dream of visiting, but seeing an american gushing over our little UK rides makes me so happy.
Regarding the extra-wide coaster trains: The model is a 'Dive Coaster', manufactured by B&M. The one at Alton Towers was the prototype, and it was designed to achieve a (near-)vertical drop that is sustained. Long trains were out, because the rear cars would be whipped over the tight curve into the drop, which would be uncomfortable. That means the trains had to be much wider to accommodate enough guests per hour. The wide trains also mean everyone gets a good view as the train holds riders over the drop before releasing. Since then, many more coasters of this type have been built, and the trains have got even wider.
Ah: I knew one of these “American reacting to the UK” channels would eventually react to Alton towers! as someone who goes to Alton towers religiously and is also a massive roller coaster enthusiast, Alton towers is like nothing else in the world. Amazing rides in a great location. Although you shouldn’t feel bad about the rides in your country. For every American who wants to go to Alton a equal amount of brits want to go to Ohio or Florida for your insane world record rides That reminds me: Alton towers is also the world record park. 12:27 that ride is the Smiler, the coaster with the most loops in the world at 14. That ride is so crazy and is unlike anything else in the world. Since you’ve already reacted to coaster studios, I would also react to his Smiler review since that ride is insane (just search up “coaster studios smiler review”). Alton towers also have the worlds first flying coaster, the worlds first vertical drop roller coaster and the worlds first free fall drop on a roller coaster.
Alton towers is the most interesting theme park and it has the longest history its been open since the mid 1800s before the roller costers and stuff it was also a army training officer camp during ww2 manor is grade two prtected and the gardens is grade one protected which is fascinating
Got a lot of world first rides, the first dive coaster, the first flying coaster, the first free-fall coaster, most inversions and Nemesis which is my no.1 coaster that’s currently being rebuilt with new track & theming. Duel is also being rebuilt. Exciting times!
The difference between British theme parks and the American ones is Class Vs Gordy. We don't ruin our beautiful countryside for the sake of profit, we work with it. Even though the rides are not particularly tall they still produce some awesome G forces and high speeds.
And gardens at Alton Towers are just beautiful…..I only peek at them cos I’m such a roller coaster nut but if went for a longer time on beautiful spring day I’d wanna explore. The way Alton Towers work with their limits really adds something, that drop on oblivion into the hole really adds to the fear factor
the 4pm closings are only during weekdays, during school hours, weekends the park closes around 5 or 6, 6pm mainly during school holidays, and during certain events such as the parks halloween event, scarefest, the park closes at 9pm, which allows u to ride the coasters during the dark. The opening time is the same though, park opens 10 am on the dot everyday of the season, only reason the park would open late was if there was some sort of emergency.
Brit here… since a small girl I have gone once a year, we live 4 hours from Alton. Now having had children my self I have loved taking them on the same experiences I have. I have to add, it does get very very busy. Once every 2 years, we go all out and buy an ultimate fast track pass, this allows access to all rides all day long without queuing, expensive, yes, but very worth it! The track at the front was from a coaster (actually the first I ever went on) called the corkscrew. So iconic, they kept the track and put it as decor! The park does have various opening and closing times, in peak times they are open until at least 6pm.
I spend two days here every single year. I look forward to these two days. Im now 62 and my love for it hasn't waned. My step app tells me i walk 8 miles each day around the park. Im going june 7th and 8th this year. Cant wait.
I think besides the roller coasters, my favourite parts of Alton is definitely the atmosphere. The history and the dark and spooky side of that entire place is so interesting.
also a cool thing is every roller coaster here besides rita and a few of the kiddy coasters hold a world record of some sort. for example smiler- roller coaster with the worlds most inversions (14 LOOPS!) nemesis- Europe's first inverted roller coaster Galactica- World’s first B&M flying coaster Oblivion- Worlds first dive coaster Thirteen- Worlds first coaster with a vertical free fall drop Wickerman- Worlds first coaster to incorporate wood and fire
I havent been to Alton Towers recently. Before ive been going since before there were rides and it was just the Towers and gardens. Ive seen the introduction of the Corkscrew, Black Hole, Nemesis and Oblivion. Ive even found the chained oak which is part of Alton Towers legends (its off the park lands)
I love the way you constantly guess things instead of listening. Pause, pause, pause. Those who listen will learn.....those who talk but don't listen learn nothing.
@@coot1925 true, they do like to do that a lot too in reaction videos, predict what’s going to happen, constantly ask questions to keep the attention of the people watching. I could only manage a few minutes 😂
I remember going for the first time just after Nemesis opened. We had to wait in line for well over an hour for it and my poor dad had drawn the short straw of having to go on with me, so he was panicking the whole time. I've been many times since and although i love all the newer rides too, Nemesis is still my fave and it's SUCH good time value too. While everyone's queueing to give themselves a migraine on Smiler or spend a split second in freefall on Oblivion you can go on Nemesis 3 or 4 times. Love it.
"it was my nemesis Tyler" I thought you two just looked indistinguishable you actually know each other OHH. For like a month I thought you were the same person now I tell you apart by eye color lol
I love your reaction to Alton Towers, amazing to watch you be amazed! Taylor is right though, the opening hours SUCK! The treeline restriction is due to complaints from neighbours and their objections to planning permission applications to build new rides. Alton Towers rides can't be seen from outside the park to appease the neighbours but as Taylor said, it makes for some very inventive and interesting rides.
Alton towers has very tall trees but their treeline limitation has turned into a great strength in terms of their ride design. As for the long walks between areas in the park - the British like to walk so it's not a problem for us. Alton Towers is the most beautiful location for any themepark I've ever been to.
It was built on extensive land that belonged the wealthy family that owned the 'castle like' building - the original Alton Towers. Like alot of large stately homes in the UK, these wealthy families weren't able to maintain their aristocratic lifestyles ater WW1. Some of these other large houses survived under the ownership of super wealthy families after WW1 - but the Second World War finished off many of these elite families. Some of these places were sold to the National Trust or English Heritage, some went into the hands of smaller private organizations, and then one like Alton Towers was sold to a Local Authority.....who later sold it on to an Entertainment organisation, and a Theme Park company. All of Alton Towers theme park is situated in the large grounds that went with the original castle.
Ryan, a little context, Alton Towers Estate (the land) has been a fortification for over 2000 years, the Castle dates back almost 1000. It is remote because the owners (until about 50 years ago) were the Earls of Shrewsbury, the lack of major road and railway access is due to the inherent NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude, ie. I don't want to see or hear it. The height thing is be because they can't disturb the natural beauty of the countryside.
@@karlmaddox1209 In the late 11th century, Alton Castle was built following the Norman Conquest above the Churnet Valley, in the village of Alton, Staffordshire. It is about 1 mi (1.6 km) from the present-day Alton Towers. By the 12th century, the large manorial estate had been given to knight Bertram II de Verdun (died 1129/30), 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 Alerton (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. So although not necessarily part of the Alton Towers Park, it is part of the estate. The section inside the Park is the Neo-Gothic-style country house, and folly. From the early 19th century.
So we agree. There was no castle on the site of Alton Towers.i know full well where Alton castle is. I walk past the ruins of it on a regular basis. I went to primary school right next to it. I'm guessing you've used Wikipedia for your information because you state that the former castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge in the 17th century and was known as Alverton. Yes the present Alton towers was developed from Alverton lodge but the lodge was not developed from a castle. As we've already established, the castle stood in the village of Alton. Even Wikipedia gets things wrong.
@@karlmaddox1209 there's a difference between rebuilding the ruins and repurposing the building materials... so parts of the Castle could have been taken to be used in the Alverton Lodge.
True. So why not say the castle masonry was repurposed to build Alverton lodge instead of the castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge? Although there is no evidence or record of this happening at least it would be possible. There are, however, records of the lodge existing at the time Alton castle was still in use so the repurposing of masonry from Alton castle to build Alverton lodge is highly unlikely
On the treeline rule: when they built one of the coasters, to get planning permission, the claimed that the tree line is the top of the tallest tree on the tallest hill surrounding the valley.
the location that is concentrated on the kids rides, is I think pretty common for the UK and I think it makes sense, since u don't have to go all over the park with your small kids to get from ride to ride and CBeebies contains basically all a kid (from the UK) wants, since CBeebies is the kids channel there.
Love Alton, but great to see the love for Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the comments. The TRUE best coaster park in the UK, with tons of the most historic wooden *and* steel coasters in the world. The history behind the place is unique. I won't call it a theme park, as it's not... it's more like a huge fairground on steroids. Truly one-of-a-kind.
A lot of European amusement parks have way less advertisements than US parks and way less branding. European parks focus more on theming than extreme rides.
I went there years ago on a cold rainy day and we had the best time because there was no waiting in line for any of the rides so we was able to do everything multiple times 😂
As a brit, I don't want to say anything rude to the guy because I know he doesn't know what its like or anything, but I'll just say to some research, especially on corkscrew, air/galactica, tree high limits, etc.
Me and the lads would go here every year, get there nice and early, get baked in the garden then hit the rides, by the end of the day your jaw would be aching from smiling and laughing so much. the rides really are epic!
Ive only been to altern towers once and it was a weekend, sunny day, amazing weather, and you might think it was crowded with massive lines for the rides but i dint know why but we got incredibly lucky because we managed to do nearly every ride because rhe lines were 15-20 minutes long at most THE SMILER WAS ONLY 5 minutes And thats the most popular
If you go in term time on a week day it's easy to get on all the rides. We usually go on Wicker Man 2-3 times and get on most of the other coasters once as well as some of the family rides with our kids.
There's hotels there, and if you stay in one of them, you get early access to the park. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. As someone who lives near Alton Towers, it's a fun day out but you can't do all the rides in one day. Especially when it comes to the more popular ones like The Smiler and Thirteen.
Alton towers is amazing. Its about a 3 hour drive for me but we go 3-4 times a year. They do need to open up some flat rides because they have closed about 4 in recent years. The gardens and Tower are stunning in good or bad weather
Love Alton Towers. While it might be lacking in the theming and facades American audiences expect (all British parks are to be honest), it has some world class rides and on a day with good weather is a beautiful place to be 😊 The fact it's centrepiece is a real stately home that's been there since I believe the 15th century is so envied by the rest of the theme park industry!
Years ago the theme areas were much better but what happened was they started to focus more on really themeing and hyping the rides and new rides popped up in odd areas so everything is a bit mismatched - we got a drop coaster thing with a creepy them in an area that used to be prehistoric type area but that was the space available at the time 🤷♀️ x used to be futuristic themed but they started changing and renewing rides so again doesn't match any more, it has future, steampunk and creepy but there was a spooky area and a pirate area...now we all just wait for the actual rides 😁
The park is only open till 4pm during the week, it closed at 6pm on weekend and 7pm during holidays and 9pm during Halloween. Which is good for a park in the UK they don’t stay open that late unlike in America. Also being from Britain, every person who lives in the UK goes to Alton towers so it’s quite funny watching someone find out about it
Brit here and never been. In fact I don't know anyone who has, so your claim is a tad overdone.
@@Thurgosh_OG would recommend going...
Brit here and iv taken my children here many times over the years. Iv stayed in both hotels on sight, which are fantastic. If you live in the UK and you've never been its well worth a visit.
I'm British only been once when I was in secondary school. I only got on three ride's because of the huge queues even though was a weekday.
I've never taken my own children. They would be entitled to free exit passes because of disabilities. But they would struggle with how huge it is. They like Drayton manor not much of a walk between rides and they love Thomas land there.
Brit here I know loads of people and millions go there every year so it’s not overdone,ignore.
The smiler is the world record holder!!! Absolute insanity and the theming is out of this world.
Amazing ride
World record holder for what?
@@Thurgosh_OG most amount of times upside down on any roller coaster
@@Thurgosh_OG most loops in the world
@@Thurgosh_OG most inversions on a coaster (despite what the sign says it’s not the most loops as it has no vertical loops).
It’s nice to see someone so far away from your local theme park react and say nice things about it, definitely worth a trip.
Agreeed
You most certainly can skip the monorail and walk it
What monorail?
@@garth6522 did you watch the video?
We normaly walk to the park and take the monorail back at the end of the day
I'm glad you said that...just watched this and, granted, it has been a few years since I went to Alton Towers but I'm almost certain I've never done the monorail. Thought I was going mad.
"It was my nemesis"
*laughs in Towers enthusiast*
Oooh, the pronunciation of CBeebies land was way off. Pronounced See-bee-bees. It’s the pre-school brand owned by the BBC.
I grew up with this tv change and the way they butchered the name stabbed me in the memories…
I just heard that and looked down at the comments and saw this (btw I did already know how it was pronounced) 👍
Alton Towers is a great experience.
For a brief history the house itself was owned by the Earl of Shrewsbury and was sold in 1924. During the Second World War is was repurposed as a training school for officers before then being sold in the 70s where the first rollercoaster was built in the 80s, although, the grounds were open for people to visit before the coaster was built, which is where the gardens come into it. The blue track you see, is a piece of track from the cork screw which was one of the first roller coasters in the park and was taken out when Rita was built.
The reason why the park doesn’t open to late is because the park itself has a noise abatement notice on it. Which means they have to keep the noise down below a particular level and close at a particular time. There are clauses in the notice though. Such as, they can be open later during the summer months and on particular dates at the end of its season. As mentioned the tree line issues has been worked into the planning permission of every ride they have ever built. It’s the councils way of making sure the park doesn’t spoil the look of the area. To get around that, as was mentioned, instead of going up, Alton Towers ride designers go down and dig drops and tunnels into the earth instead of into the sky.
The Towers itself isn’t actually a Castle. However, the village of Alton does have a castle, it’s just not in the grounds of Alton Towers. The castle which was part of the Shrewsbury estate was sold separately from the towers in 1924 to the Catholic Church as a convent, then a girls school and is now a retreat for young people. But, it is still owned by the Catholic Church.
Many young people (and those who are slightly older) from nearby towns such as Cheadle, Leek and Uttoxeter, see it as a right of passages to work at least one season on park or the hotel. I myself did three years one on park and then worked 2 years in the hotel as a lifeguard in the water park.
My lad was a lifeguard at the waterpark and I went to primary school next to the castle, St John's., in the 1970s. My Grandad was the master potter at the Towers so I well remember the days before it was a theme park. I can remember going every weekend to see the progress of the corkscrew being built.
Corkscrew was taken out when thirteen was built 👍
Corkscrew is at Blackpool pleasure beach now, it's called something else tho and has been sprayed red.
So many misleading things in this video- 1) you can walk from the carpark to the entrance 2) the park doesn’t close at 4. The standard close time is 6. The park closes at 4 on week days out of main season but these days are so quiet you could ride everything twice. The latest close time during the year is at 9. And it’s pretty standard for all uk theme parks. 3) the tree height was put in place due to restrictions on them being in the countryside, to get around this a lot of coasters are built into the ground, ect: tnt was used to build the pits in nemesis. 4) a lot of theming is built with backstory so you kinda need to know some of the story’s to fully understand it. 5) SPINBALL WIZZER IS THEMED. RITA IS THEMED. 6) if you’re new to the park, please use the app for the map so you don’t get lost. Okay rant over this place is practically my home I had to fix some misconceptions.
And the last 2 or 3 seasons, they do not stagger openings of rides unless there are technical issues.
Spinball Whizzer is themed, but the current themeing is a downgrade from the old Sonic the Hedgehog themeing. I understand why the had to change it, but I have very fond memories of really wanting to go into a carrige that had Tails on the side.
fun story, when i was younger as a thankyou for my dads 25 years of service with the company he worked for at the time, the company completely reserved the entire park for a single weekend and all those employees with 25 years service chose a day and were given full free access for themselves and their families, and not only did they completely hire out the full theme park (not as big then as it is now but still pretty massive), the company also hired some very well known singers and bands (madness/status quo/diana ross) to perform a concert on the evening in a specially constructed big stage in one of the open fields on the edge of the park, due to it still being during school time my dad chose the saturday as his chosen day to go we had to get up at a ridiculous time to drive down in the car, spent the entire day there and didn't get back home until close to midnight, which meant i could spend sunday recovering before going back to school on the monday, it was one of the best childhood experiences i have and certainly well worth the time if you can afford it today, a very lovely place and even if you don't want to go on the rollercoasters you can still enjoy the scenic park/castle/grounds and whatnot.
My Dad had the same! All expenses paid with only employees for the day!
Wow
Went there before big rides,just the house,lake and gardens with a tiny courtyard of funfair games and kids rides.Inside the house is ornate with fine stone carvings and stained glass windows.
On a later visit, my grandmother who was 78 bent to pick a daisy,tripped and rolled down a hillside.We rushed thinking she'd been badly hurt because she lay so still. Then she started laughing and told us she hadn't done that since she was 6 years old .
I was there over bonfire night and they opened till 10pm, I think they do have late openings for special events. It is an amazing park though, I walked 16 miles that day it’s massive 😂
It's open later for the scare fest event round Halloween time. I plan on doing it this year because wicker Man looks amazing for night ride
@@liamcollinson5695 Wickerman is awesome at night!
No way? I thought it was shut after summer.
I drove down there 3 hours from Teesside in February and couldn’t find the entrance. Found a few maintenance blokes around the back and asked what time it opened and he replied “In 3 weeks” 😂
The blue roller coaster by the entrance is only a small section. It was called the Corkscrew. If was yellow when it was in use. It's length was 750 metres, height 23 metres, speed 40 mph and had a capacity of 1400 people per hour. I have been on it several times. As I live less than a 25 minute drive from Alton Towers Resort. I haven't been there for several years. So it's interesting to see the changes.
My mum was one of the first 100 people to ride the corkscrew when it first opened. She got a certificate at the end for it. i love how they have kept part of it.
The last time I Was in the queue for the corcscrew one of the supports was shaky. Then we realised that the rivets that drilled into the ground had come out and it was held town with loads of concrete slabs. Nope lol.
Corkscrew was the best
They kept the corkscrew part of the coaster and placed it at the entrance as a homage to the ride when they dismantled it.
Man that was a fun but painfully whippy ride - loved it!
The purple one at the start is an memorial of an old ride called the corkscrew
And is not a ride. Only if he listen and waits from an answer
I grew up near alton towers and must have been 4-5 times a year, the whole park is themed on the story of the traveler and the witch which has a load of evidence of it being a true story based hundreds of years ago, just the story is well worth checking out.
Yeah okay you're just talking nonsense
@@Lwright Its the story around Alton towers of the Earl of Shrewsbury who was cursed by an old begger woman hundreds of years ago. The ride Hex is literally based on it and the tree thats to do with the story is still there, you tool.
@@Lwright mate ya don't know what ya talking about it's literally based on a true story look it up before judging ppl 👍
No, you said the entire park is based on the chained oak legend, you’re wrong. Only one ride (hex) is based around it. That’s why I said you’re talking shit
The whole park isn't basically themed around Hex?? The Alton Towers story is a lot different to that. C'mon man... the chained oak tree is still something I'd like to go visit though!
4:05 uugh it was my "NEMISIS" tyler. Little did he know
Tyler: Reborn
@@hayleyb1981 Tyler: inferno
Absolutely love Alton Towers, even when I was younger and wasn't a fan of coasters (To this day I blame my dad for tricking me onto Space Mountain) there was still plenty to see and do. The video is spot on about how big and beautiful the place is. Fast forward a few years and now having a coaster addiction, it has some superb iconic coasters. The Smiler is hands down one of my all time faves, to anyone going make sure you hit it up first! Hex is great too, I just love all the story / theme in there.
Bring on the next Secret Weapon!
Space mountain is Disney, do you mean the black hole that was the one in the pitch black?
@@paulgallacher5384 No sorry I meant Space Mountain, Probably shoulda made that more clear. I was lucky enough to visit America when I was little, wish I had the nerve to ride more back then!
Although I am pretty sure I hated Black Hole too now that you mention it haha.
That earns a follow! Parks in the U.K. tend to be daytime only except for special events. Blackpool Pleasure Beach used to be pay-per-ride and would stay open as long as there were enough people riding. When The Big One opened, we would ride into the early hours. The park would play a special song over the tannoy system to let the ride ops know they could start shutting up shop. When you heard “Every day’s a fun day at the Pleasure Beach” being sung, you knew you had to pick your last ride pronto.
Stay in the on-site hotels and you’ll get early admission, and most parks have upcharge queue-skipping schemes.
I’m looking forward to delving into your back catalogue - good concept!
I love the old towers other theme parks would have to build something to look old but the towers and the land truly are. The reason why they are not allowed above the tree line is because of the now infamous Alton locals. It's the reason why oblivion goes underground. If you want night rides you need to go for the scare fest the features a maze in the towers themselves or bonfire night for the fireworks. Wicker Man looks so epic for night rides particularly the real fire.
There is no castle at Alton Towers it is a stately home. The queues are enormous at Alton Towers for the roller coasters.
Yeah, I went once and only managed 4 rides in a whole day! I mean I know I'm British, but that queueing was insane!
@@libradragon934my last theme park visits were to Parc de Asterix near Paris the queues were just as bad as Alton Towers so are the queues at Euro disney.
When my kids were young and we still lived in the UK We took them to Alton Towers It was luckily within a two hour drive of our home ,because even then it was a HUGE park to get around. Its grown since then of course and looks fantastic i am pleased they have stuck to the rule of nothing higher than the trees Makes it a hidden gem.
Every October me and my family go to Alton Towers.
During Scarefest, which happens in October, they leave the park open until 9. It is so atmospheric being in the park with so little people there. The lines are almost non-existent, the park looks so amazing at night when you're at the top of Oblivion. It's just incredible.
The "coaster" at the entrance is a piece of track placed there as decoration and a tribute to an old, retired coaster at the park.
There’s literally one old guy who prevents towers from going over the trees, the day he passes I imagine Merlin will buy his house hahs
The tree line restriction is to keep the local village quiet and quaint. So instead of building taller, they dig deeper. One of my favourite rides there is Oblivion. It pauses over a straight drop and then let's you go. That was the wide coaster you saw
Was a ride host here in 2010! Best job I’ve ever had, so much fun!
Nemesis is having a complete re-track with a new paint scheme, Duel is completely changing and going back to its haunted house roots, new rides being built for 2025.
Living so close I used to be there all the time as a teenager, walked round the gardens and played hide and seek in the towers when they were open 🤣
Honestly if you visit Alton towers you need to take a walk around the Village of Alton itself which is really nice and they do have an actual castle (Alton Castle) which is amazing to stay in for the weekend but it’s mainly used for religious school retreats.
It literally does look like Hogwarts though if you catch it at the right angle when coming through the roads as it’s on a steep hill above a steep drop.
I remember taking my mum and my step brothers step daughter on the haunted house and the bit where your brain tricks you into thinking the track is tipping, my mums screaming and my bro's step daughter was screaming cos my mum was gripping her so tightly, I found it very funny, Good days lol.
We used to smoke weed in the gardens, then do the rides 😂😂😂😂 always nice to recognise people that are localish to Alton Towers!!! My biggest gripe about the place is they got rid of McDonald’s, Pizza Hut and Burger King to implement their own shit fast food!!!! The bars are an absolute travesty!!!!
The timings vary throughout the year. Spring and autumn weekdays is 10-4. Summertime is 10-6pm. If you go in October for the Halloween scarefest, it is 10-9pm. You can ride the coasters in the dark! And yes the water rides are still open in the cold rainy autumn.
Regarding theming, The Spinball Whizzer used to be Sonic Spinball, then the Sonic the hedgehog license expired.
The park has always had a strained relationship with the locals. Going for the first time about 35 years ago, there were some rides above the tree line. Then the locals complained of the noise and the tree line rule was brought in.
Even as a Brit living in the UK, I'm not too familiar with theme parks here. But I did work at Dorney Park in Allentown, PA, when I was a student. This looks really good, different from the US, but a really enjoyable video. At Dorney, we had the tallest wooden rollercoaster in the world at the time, and I was able to get onto the rides before the tourists came in! Thanks, Ryan.
I live close to towers and I agree with Taylor (video creator), that it's the joint best theme park in Europe alongside phantasialand and Europa park. I'd say that energylandia portaventura are close behind too, however if u haven't been to towers plan a trip asap you won't regret it!
That’s cool you worked there when Hercules was operating, as it was a dinn corp built wooden coaster it couldn’t operate for long since dinn was known for using cheap materials
@@micoasters hi there, yes it was Hercules, around 1989. I loved working there! I had keys for the park, so could go on the rides before all tourists came in.
Brit here, go there at least twice a year every year and it always gives me a better experience every time. I always go once in the summer for good weather and once in scarefest (Halloween) for extra hours. The queues haven’t been too bad recently and the theming has gotten even better since the open of nemesis reborn. Not overrated at all I’ve grown up there.
Thanks for doing my fav theme park in my country
I love this park. I live about 100 miles away but as a theme park enthusiast, I go here every year
Being a theme park fan, I go to Alton towers a lot, what they did not shower you is how good the onsite hotels are, there is a huge hotel called splash landings hotel, it has a big in door water park. All of the rides in the park have a really dark back story, it is a common thing in the UK for this to happen.
All the big theme park resorts in the UK are own and run by Merlin Entertainment and all the major rides and park areas were designed by a man called John Wardley. This chap is a living legend, once in a life time kind of person.
There is a lot of work going on at Alton towers at the moment, Nemesis is being re tracked, B&Ms best ever coaster, and one of the best coasters in the world,
All major coasters are given the code name Secrete Weapon, and SW9 is currently in development, again by John Wardley.
Due to open in 2025, the year after the re opening of nemesis,
If you are ever in the UK you need to check out Alton Towers. But it is worth doing the research first about the park, it will help you understand why and how it is like it is. The history of Alton towers is huge and very interesting.
Been alton towers a lot in the past though not been in years, always had a great time there.
After doing Nemesis back to back 5 times, did feel somewhat naseous so walked the gardens - they are astounding to walk round and you can't really hear the rest of the park, it is so peaceful - they even hire musicians, once saw this young couple in the gardens being played to by a guitarist, they looked so embarrassed when spotted!
Most terrifying moment - the log flume (no belts) - 4 large blokes in one boat, the final drop was so fast was like going off a cliff, was going backwards in the boat! Hit the water so hard the boat went under, drenched all of us and left the boat with a foot of water in the bottom - 4 grown men screaming as we went down that drop! Fun times!
I practically grew up at Alton Towers - My mum’s family is from Stoke on Trent. When I went there were a v few rides incl the uk’s first looping coaster called ‘The Corckscrew’
It was mostly parkland.
It’s a beautiful setting and the rides are incredible. And if u want a huge drop, they just dig it into the ground…
You can stay there, which I have more than once as a grown up, and it’s great fun. The Alton towers Hotel is fantastic fun…
This takes me back - it’s been more than 30 years since I went to Alton Towers as a child back in 1990!
Been here countless times over the years. Went on the Nemesis the first year it opened and it's still my favourite coaster of all time, although Smiler is a close second. One of the funnest days out you can have in the U.K.
towers is overall one of the best theme parks to me as its so cool to ride the coasters
they break so many coaster world records and create new coaster types
if you wanna go down the rabit hole search about their records
We're passholders and goto towers regularly, you can walk from the monorail carpark to the entrance, it's about 15 mins max. This is my local theme park (unless you count blackpool) I love seeing americans react positively to a UK themepark, often we see all the huge and insane coasters in american which most brits can't dream of visiting, but seeing an american gushing over our little UK rides makes me so happy.
They is a new version of nemesis at Alton towers now if you want to check it out
Regarding the extra-wide coaster trains:
The model is a 'Dive Coaster', manufactured by B&M. The one at Alton Towers was the prototype, and it was designed to achieve a (near-)vertical drop that is sustained. Long trains were out, because the rear cars would be whipped over the tight curve into the drop, which would be uncomfortable. That means the trains had to be much wider to accommodate enough guests per hour. The wide trains also mean everyone gets a good view as the train holds riders over the drop before releasing.
Since then, many more coasters of this type have been built, and the trains have got even wider.
'Air' is my favourite ride there. Where you are suspended and see everything, scenery. It is as close to flying as you can get.
it's not been called air since early 2016😂
That's a peice of a roller coaster called corkscrew which was the best rollercoaster ever !
At school we had field trips to Alton Towers I loved it ❤
Ah: I knew one of these “American reacting to the UK” channels would eventually react to Alton towers! as someone who goes to Alton towers religiously and is also a massive roller coaster enthusiast, Alton towers is like nothing else in the world. Amazing rides in a great location. Although you shouldn’t feel bad about the rides in your country. For every American who wants to go to Alton a equal amount of brits want to go to Ohio or Florida for your insane world record rides
That reminds me: Alton towers is also the world record park. 12:27 that ride is the Smiler, the coaster with the most loops in the world at 14. That ride is so crazy and is unlike anything else in the world. Since you’ve already reacted to coaster studios, I would also react to his Smiler review since that ride is insane (just search up “coaster studios smiler review”). Alton towers also have the worlds first flying coaster, the worlds first vertical drop roller coaster and the worlds first free fall drop on a roller coaster.
Alton towers is the most interesting theme park and it has the longest history its been open since the mid 1800s before the roller costers and stuff it was also a army training officer camp during ww2 manor is grade two prtected and the gardens is grade one protected which is fascinating
I love Alton Towers, and yes it’s Massive, I would agree it takes two days peak season to visit it all
the coaster at the front is just a bit of track they kept from their most iconic coaster the corkscrew which is no longer at the park
Got a lot of world first rides, the first dive coaster, the first flying coaster, the first free-fall coaster, most inversions and Nemesis which is my no.1 coaster that’s currently being rebuilt with new track & theming. Duel is also being rebuilt. Exciting times!
They have always had fantastic coasters ! I went on the corkscrew
The difference between British theme parks and the American ones is Class Vs Gordy. We don't ruin our beautiful countryside for the sake of profit, we work with it. Even though the rides are not particularly tall they still produce some awesome G forces and high speeds.
gordy lmao, gaudy*
@@gybod9166 that's a 1970s secondary comprehensive education for ya. 😂👍
The G’s are incredible
And gardens at Alton Towers are just beautiful…..I only peek at them cos I’m such a roller coaster nut but if went for a longer time on beautiful spring day I’d wanna explore. The way Alton Towers work with their limits really adds something, that drop on oblivion into the hole really adds to the fear factor
the 4pm closings are only during weekdays, during school hours, weekends the park closes around 5 or 6, 6pm mainly during school holidays, and during certain events such as the parks halloween event, scarefest, the park closes at 9pm, which allows u to ride the coasters during the dark. The opening time is the same though, park opens 10 am on the dot everyday of the season, only reason the park would open late was if there was some sort of emergency.
Brit here… since a small girl I have gone once a year, we live 4 hours from Alton. Now having had children my self I have loved taking them on the same experiences I have. I have to add, it does get very very busy. Once every 2 years, we go all out and buy an ultimate fast track pass, this allows access to all rides all day long without queuing, expensive, yes, but very worth it! The track at the front was from a coaster (actually the first I ever went on) called the corkscrew. So iconic, they kept the track and put it as decor! The park does have various opening and closing times, in peak times they are open until at least 6pm.
Funny he mentioned "Nemesis" as that is one of the best rides there!
you must realise that space in England is limited and in some areas people have the right not to see the park from there houses,
I spend two days here every single year. I look forward to these two days. Im now 62 and my love for it hasn't waned. My step app tells me i walk 8 miles each day around the park. Im going june 7th and 8th this year. Cant wait.
Alton towers fans who were pained in this vid
👇
My home park. World class!
I think besides the roller coasters, my favourite parts of Alton is definitely the atmosphere. The history and the dark and spooky side of that entire place is so interesting.
that rollercoaster track at the start is part of the old rollercoaster that used to be in the park
also a cool thing is every roller coaster here besides rita and a few of the kiddy coasters hold a world record of some sort. for example
smiler- roller coaster with the worlds most inversions (14 LOOPS!)
nemesis- Europe's first inverted roller coaster
Galactica- World’s first B&M flying coaster
Oblivion- Worlds first dive coaster
Thirteen- Worlds first coaster with a vertical free fall drop
Wickerman- Worlds first coaster to incorporate wood and fire
Wow! I didn’t know some of these, I know a lot of trivia but now I’ve learnt something new
And they codename them Secret Weapon. So when the next one comes along (SW9), you know it's going to have something unique.
@@chriscattell6550 oh wow I didn’t even notice the correlation
You should see their adverts! They scared me as a kid...and a teen
Opening times depend on the time of year. Offpeak 4-5pm, sometimes 7pm.
You can walk from the hotels to the entrance, it just takes ages
I havent been to Alton Towers recently. Before ive been going since before there were rides and it was just the Towers and gardens. Ive seen the introduction of the Corkscrew, Black Hole, Nemesis and Oblivion. Ive even found the chained oak which is part of Alton Towers legends (its off the park lands)
I love the way you constantly guess things instead of listening. Pause, pause, pause. Those who listen will learn.....those who talk but don't listen learn nothing.
Exactly what I thought 😂
I'm sorry, but Americans don't have the best manner with listening to something.
Americans on reaction videos are always like this.
An American reacting to a video of another American talking about an English theme park 🤷🏾♂️
@@TayWoode I always thought that a reaction had to be after the occurrence of something.
What this guy does is preemptive.
@@coot1925 true, they do like to do that a lot too in reaction videos, predict what’s going to happen, constantly ask questions to keep the attention of the people watching.
I could only manage a few minutes 😂
I remember going for the first time just after Nemesis opened. We had to wait in line for well over an hour for it and my poor dad had drawn the short straw of having to go on with me, so he was panicking the whole time. I've been many times since and although i love all the newer rides too, Nemesis is still my fave and it's SUCH good time value too. While everyone's queueing to give themselves a migraine on Smiler or spend a split second in freefall on Oblivion you can go on Nemesis 3 or 4 times. Love it.
Love Alton Towers Been on all the top rides
"it was my nemesis Tyler" I thought you two just looked indistinguishable you actually know each other OHH. For like a month I thought you were the same person now I tell you apart by eye color lol
lol I though they were the same person too but turns out they are twins 😃
Hahaha samee
I love your reaction to Alton Towers, amazing to watch you be amazed! Taylor is right though, the opening hours SUCK! The treeline restriction is due to complaints from neighbours and their objections to planning permission applications to build new rides. Alton Towers rides can't be seen from outside the park to appease the neighbours but as Taylor said, it makes for some very inventive and interesting rides.
Its also to preserve the view of the countryside
“You have to talk the monorail to get to the entrance” me with accessibility parking RIGHT NEXT TO THE ENTRANCE
Alton towers has very tall trees but their treeline limitation has turned into a great strength in terms of their ride design. As for the long walks between areas in the park - the British like to walk so it's not a problem for us.
Alton Towers is the most beautiful location for any themepark I've ever been to.
The way he pronounced CBeebies land💀💀💀
I’m England I’m not flexing to the Americans 🇺🇸 but it’s so good
It was built on extensive land that belonged the wealthy family that owned the 'castle like' building - the original Alton Towers.
Like alot of large stately homes in the UK, these wealthy families weren't able to maintain their aristocratic lifestyles ater WW1. Some of these other large houses survived under the ownership of super wealthy families after WW1 - but the Second World War finished off many of these elite families.
Some of these places were sold to the National Trust or English Heritage, some went into the hands of smaller private organizations, and then one like Alton Towers was sold to a Local Authority.....who later sold it on to an Entertainment organisation, and a Theme Park company.
All of Alton Towers theme park is situated in the large grounds that went with the original castle.
Ryan, a little context, Alton Towers Estate (the land) has been a fortification for over 2000 years, the Castle dates back almost 1000. It is remote because the owners (until about 50 years ago) were the Earls of Shrewsbury, the lack of major road and railway access is due to the inherent NIMBY (not in my back yard) attitude, ie. I don't want to see or hear it. The height thing is be because they can't disturb the natural beauty of the countryside.
What castle dates back almost a 1000 years? There's never been a castle on the site of Alton towers.
@@karlmaddox1209 In the late 11th century, Alton Castle was built following the Norman Conquest above the Churnet Valley, in the village of Alton, Staffordshire. It is about 1 mi (1.6 km) from the present-day Alton Towers. By the 12th century, the large manorial estate had been given to knight Bertram II de Verdun (died 1129/30), 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 Alerton (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.
So although not necessarily part of the Alton Towers Park, it is part of the estate. The section inside the Park is the Neo-Gothic-style country house, and folly. From the early 19th century.
So we agree. There was no castle on the site of Alton Towers.i know full well where Alton castle is. I walk past the ruins of it on a regular basis. I went to primary school right next to it. I'm guessing you've used Wikipedia for your information because you state that the former castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge in the 17th century and was known as Alverton. Yes the present Alton towers was developed from Alverton lodge but the lodge was not developed from a castle. As we've already established, the castle stood in the village of Alton. Even Wikipedia gets things wrong.
@@karlmaddox1209 there's a difference between rebuilding the ruins and repurposing the building materials... so parts of the Castle could have been taken to be used in the Alverton Lodge.
True. So why not say the castle masonry was repurposed to build Alverton lodge instead of the castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge? Although there is no evidence or record of this happening at least it would be possible. There are, however, records of the lodge existing at the time Alton castle was still in use so the repurposing of masonry from Alton castle to build Alverton lodge is highly unlikely
Yes the UK is very different to the USA when it comes to theme parks!
On the treeline rule: when they built one of the coasters, to get planning permission, the claimed that the tree line is the top of the tallest tree on the tallest hill surrounding the valley.
Being massive roller coaster enthuiast and Loving Alton towers,this made me smile,
the location that is concentrated on the kids rides, is I think pretty common for the UK and I think it makes sense, since u don't have to go all over the park with your small kids to get from ride to ride and CBeebies contains basically all a kid (from the UK) wants, since CBeebies is the kids channel there.
Love Alton, but great to see the love for Blackpool Pleasure Beach in the comments. The TRUE best coaster park in the UK, with tons of the most historic wooden *and* steel coasters in the world. The history behind the place is unique. I won't call it a theme park, as it's not... it's more like a huge fairground on steroids. Truly one-of-a-kind.
I'm 37 and Alton Towers still makes me feel like a kid. It's an amazing place and Nemesis is incredible.
A lot of European amusement parks have way less advertisements than US parks and way less branding.
European parks focus more on theming than extreme rides.
1:30 corkscrew is not anything anymore bro it’s a part of the track bc it’s the OG ride, it’s a gate basically😭
I went there years ago on a cold rainy day and we had the best time because there was no waiting in line for any of the rides so we was able to do everything multiple times 😂
Best to go mid September on a Monday or Tuesday, check opening times, there is little to no wait on most of the rides so 2 days would be plenty
As a brit, I don't want to say anything rude to the guy because I know he doesn't know what its like or anything, but I'll just say to some research, especially on corkscrew, air/galactica, tree high limits, etc.
Love Alton towers can’t wait to go again
Me and the lads would go here every year, get there nice and early, get baked in the garden then hit the rides, by the end of the day your jaw would be aching from smiling and laughing so much. the rides really are epic!
Ive only been to altern towers once and it was a weekend, sunny day, amazing weather, and you might think it was crowded with massive lines for the rides but i dint know why but we got incredibly lucky because we managed to do nearly every ride because rhe lines were 15-20 minutes long at most
THE SMILER WAS ONLY 5 minutes
And thats the most popular
If you go in term time on a week day it's easy to get on all the rides. We usually go on Wicker Man 2-3 times and get on most of the other coasters once as well as some of the family rides with our kids.
There's hotels there, and if you stay in one of them, you get early access to the park. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me. As someone who lives near Alton Towers, it's a fun day out but you can't do all the rides in one day. Especially when it comes to the more popular ones like The Smiler and Thirteen.
Alton towers is amazing. Its about a 3 hour drive for me but we go 3-4 times a year. They do need to open up some flat rides because they have closed about 4 in recent years. The gardens and Tower are stunning in good or bad weather
We are surprising our kids with a trip to Alton Towers in October. My husband hates rollercoasters, so I’m not sure what he’s going to do all day… 😂
uk is seasonal. its open later in season, its open till 4 out of season
Iv always walked from the car park into the park tbf, the waiting time for the monorail is insane.
Despite being next to the park gates, the walk to the park is legitimately 10+ mins. Up to 20 if you have kids.
Express parking is a must.
I’ve been to Alton towers without staying over, you need at least 2 days to get to enjoy it all especially since the sky ride is down as well.
Rita is themed it’s themed as your last chance to escape the dark forest
Definitely worthwhile staying at the Alton Tower hotel and spreading the park over a couple of days.
Love Alton Towers. While it might be lacking in the theming and facades American audiences expect (all British parks are to be honest), it has some world class rides and on a day with good weather is a beautiful place to be 😊 The fact it's centrepiece is a real stately home that's been there since I believe the 15th century is so envied by the rest of the theme park industry!
If you have been to American parks. You will be crazily disappointed with UK parks
Years ago the theme areas were much better but what happened was they started to focus more on really themeing and hyping the rides and new rides popped up in odd areas so everything is a bit mismatched - we got a drop coaster thing with a creepy them in an area that used to be prehistoric type area but that was the space available at the time 🤷♀️ x used to be futuristic themed but they started changing and renewing rides so again doesn't match any more, it has future, steampunk and creepy but there was a spooky area and a pirate area...now we all just wait for the actual rides 😁