Bianca Sammut, Divisional Director at Alton Towers Resort, has today communicated via email an update on operations at the Resort. This includes confirmation that Hex and Skyride will remain closed for the rest of the 2023 season, in order to ensure the long-term delivery of these attractions.
The full update is published below:
As someone we know has a strong interest in the Resort and has signed up to receive news updates via our press office, as Divisional Director, I wanted to reach out to you with some updates relating to the Resort. If well received, it is something we would look to make a regular feature in our communications to those who share our passion for Alton Towers Resort!
If you are set to visit over the coming weeks, you will notice that we have incorporated new and high-energy entertainment and additional theming to help celebrate the summer! Whilst the overlay is not one of our listed events, I feel it is important in helping signal the change in the Resort experience, particularly for returning guests. From the festival inspired flags across the lawns and DJ set with Alton Bear on the main stage, to the new live entertainment in the Crooked Spoon and Pirate Disco for overnight guests to enjoy, I hope you will agree that it all helps towards bring that summer vibe to the Resort – no matter what the weather!
Summer also sees the introduction of new late-night openings in the Waterpark (10pm) and Extraordinary Golf to help guests make the most out of their escape to the Resort. The teams and I are delighted to be able to extend these experiences to guests visiting us over the holidays. We will continue to closely listen to feedback to help us understand where we can further enhance the Resort experience and what we can look to develop in the future.
I am delighted to share with you that we are also continuing to update our Alton Towers Resort App and website to include even more about the status of our rides and attractions, availability of our experiences, share top tips and accessibility details to help guests make the most out of their visit. We understand that the digital journey when visiting the Resort is as important as the immersive, physical one for many guests. Recent updates on the App mean you can now also see waiting times and information about our Monorail, Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE and our Gardens. And, whilst we don’t ever expect there to be a queue to enjoy our amazing Listed Gardens, the new feature will allow us to easily notify guests when they are open and closed during our events or in the event of adverse weather. Some of our latest Theme Park features to support guests have also been added to the App’s map, including the location of our brand new Guest Service Hubs and our additional water refill stations now installed across the park.
You will see that the website will also soon include a dedicated page about any continuing closures of ride and attractions at the Resort. As you will be aware, Skyride and Hex – The Legend of the Towers have not been open to guests as we would like. Whilst our teams continue to carry out work on these attractions, we have now made the difficult decision to keep Skyride and Hex – The Legend of the Towers closed for the remainder of the 2023 season. This will soon be live on our website. We know this will be a disappointment to many, however we want to assure you that this step is essential for the long-term delivery of these attractions. This will allow us to carry out extended maintenance on Skyride, which is required to help us preserve the experience for the future. We continue to invest in Hex – The Legend of the Towers, as we know this is a much-loved attraction. The extended closure will help support our teams carry out maintenance work and training on the ride. I want to assure you that our teams are working hard to bring this back as soon as we are able.
Finally, as fans of the Resort, I am delighted to share with you that TripAdvisor recently announced Alton Towers Resort as being rated by visitors in the top 1% of ‘things to do” worldwide! It has earned the Resort a 2023 Travellers’ Choice ‘Best of the Best’ Award. Furthermore, our Stargazing Pods accommodation and CBeebies Land Hotel also received outstanding accolades following top reviews from guests! I am incredibly proud of these accolades and the recognition they give to our colleagues across the Resort who work so hard to provide memorable experiences. I hope you will join us in celebrating this fantastic milestone.
In addition, I am proud that the Resort has also been nominated for 15 awards at this year’s Theme Parks UK Awards! I would love for you to share your passion for the Resort by taking a few moments to vote for us. You can find out more here.
Thank you for continuing to share a profound interest in the Resort and all that we do to deliver memorable experiences for our guests and fans. I look forward to welcoming you back in the near future.
Even though it brings a mixed bag of updates, this type of communication from the Resort is welcome. The addition of the new ‘ride availability’ page to the Resort’s website is also a positive step forward in terms of transparency, specifically when it comes to advising guests of attractions that will be closed for extended periods. Similar pages had already been introduced and maintained by Merlin’s other UK Resort Theme Parks for some time, so it is good to see the Resort finally follow this example of greater clarity regarding temporary attraction closures.
Nonetheless, both Hex and Skyride are much missed this season. Hex ordinarily provides an additional (and high capacity) dark ride experience for guests, functioning as an alternative to the Resort’s rollercoasters – something which there is an ever-growing need for following the removal without replacement of the majority of the theme park’s permanent thrill flat rides over the last 10 years. Whilst this has been addressed in the short-term by the introduction of travelling flat rides in the form of The Retro Squad, this is evidently not a long-term solution. Hex also invites guests into the Towers themselves, so its closure when combined with usually accessible areas of the Towers also remaining closed has meant that guests have been unable to appreciate the Resort’s centrepiece heritage asset. Meanwhile, Skyride is an integral means of transportation around the expansive theme park, which also allows guests to enjoy views of the Alton Towers Gardens from above.
With the promise that the extended period of closure will enable work and investment to be undertaken to ensure these attractions have a long-term future at the Resort, hopefully this is indicative of a shift to greater focus on incremental preventative maintenance for the theme park’s attractions and infrastructure, to avoid such closures in the future. The positive operational changes, such as the late Waterpark and Extraordinary Golf openings, together with the addition of summer entertainment, do give reason to be optimistic.
We hope to have the opportunity to bring you more such updates in the future!
