Last weekend saw the start of the main 2025 season at Alton Towers Resort, which also marked the opening of a new thrill ride, Toxicator! With TowersTimes of course in attendance, we round-up all the details.
For a second year running, Forbidden Valley was the place to be Saturday morning, with this being where Toxicator, the first new permanent thrill flat ride to open at Alton Towers in almost 25 years, was located. Although we were fortunate to have the opportunity to preview Toxicator ahead of its official opening, that didn’t stop us returning to Forbidden Valley the following morning in order to see the ride take its first public riders. Guests accessing the theme park from the main entrance, entered into a Towers Street decorated with Toxicator themed bunting, flags and other theming. The frog fountains were once more dressed in their Phalanx uniforms, but now accompanied by additional floating green Toxicator barrels. In addition, a number of the window displays along Towers Street have been updated for the 2025 season.
Meanwhile, guests staying at the on-site accommodation could enter directly into Forbidden Valley via the Galactica Gates. This queue was much better managed by the Resort than on Nemesis Reborn’s opening day, with security’s bag check relocated further along the pathway outside of the theme park boundary and then ticket scanning taking place after this. Guests were then directed into a holding area extending down into Galactica’s plaza, being split into two queues – one for Toxicator and the other for all other rides. At around 9am, guests queuing for Toxicator were walked to another holding point outside of BUNKER 94, whilst all other guests were free to enter the theme park. Those guests waiting for Toxicator were then let into its queue line, which meant that all hotel guests who had arrived by 9am were in the queue ahead of the arrival of those using the main entrance. An extended queue for Toxicator was set up, stretching along the pathway leading up to the area’s food outlets before diverting along the pathway which leads to the Forbidden Valley Skyride station.
To the delight of both queuing guests and those who had gathered to spectate, the Phalanx powered up Toxicator for its first public ride at around 9:45am, ahead of the scheduled park opening time of 10:00am. This generated cheers all round (as well as a demonstration of why loose articles should be safely stored before riding), indicating that Toxicator had achieved its aim of surprising and delighting guests with the return of a Top Spin to Alton Towers. Alongside the ride opening, and as part of their continued collaboration with Alton Towers, a new limited edition Toxicator Lager from the Rural Brewing Co. was on sale in Ground Command Coffee Outpost, with a total of 1000 units available.
Toxicator continued to operate well over the course of Saturday, up until around 4pm when a burst pipe in the vicinity of the ride resulted in brown liquid pouring from a manhole on one side of the tunnel running underneath the ride. This was reported as sewage by guests in the area at the time, although Alton Towers did not identify it as such. Nonetheless, the teams at the Resort worked quickly to resolve the issue, whilst safely managing the crowds gathering in the area in anticipation of the ride reopening. The downtime also provided a look at an alternative animation for the screen-based silos which stand on either side of the ride, where the silhouettes of Phalanx operatives can be seen inside, cleaning and attempting to repair the ride.
Following several test cycles, Toxicator reopened at around 7pm, providing guests with the chance to experience the attraction at night. As with Nemesis Reborn and the rest of Forbidden Valley, arguably after dark is when Toxicator is at its best – the green-lit fountains and general green lighting, gondola lights, and toxic saliva-filled silos all add to the spectacle of the ride itself.
Following the return of the waterfall beneath the entrance to Nemesis Reborn’s stall turn after the zero-g roll last Scarefest, Alton Towers have made further progress over the closed season repairing the waterfalls beneath the first drop and the helix which follows the first corkscrew. This leaves just the waterfall leading under the Fastrack queue line as the only one still not working.
Positive enhancements at other rides include the addition of Single Rider Queues to both Oblivion and Galactica. With Toxicator also opening with a SRQ, these rides join The Smiler, TH13TEEN and Spinball Whizzer as having SRQs, following their return over the last few seasons. Rita has also received new black-coloured restraints, replacing the orange-coloured equivalents.
In general, it is fair to say the theme park is looking fresh for the new season. It is evident that jet washing of the floors has taken place throughout, and wooden fencing has been replaced in many areas. Additionally, new signage has been installed, including at the entrance to X-Sector and to reflect the rebranding of the Hospitality Suite (i.e. the marquee next to Spinball Whizzer) as the Lakeside Suite.
Nonetheless, this season has sadly seen the retirement and removal of The Blade, following its 44 years of operation. Therefore, whilst Forbidden Valley has a new thrill flat ride in the form of Toxicator, the area now lacks an attraction that’s accessible to younger family members. Taller fencing has been installed to block off the queue line entrance and around the perimeter of the pit where the Huss Pirate Ship formerly stood. While the pit itself has been covered over with wood chippings, remnants of its queue line remain in place along with the anchors for its four supports – it’s unclear if the latter is indicative of intentions to install a new model of the same attraction in the future, or if it simply reflects that it would be more costly to remove until such a time that a future use for the site is determined.
It was also announced over the closed season that Flavio’s Fabulous Fandango and The Alton Towers Dungeon would not return for 2025. The former was an attraction introduced in 2021 when The World of David Walliams opened, taking on an area appropriate theme whilst the other temporary pop-up attractions introduced for the same season formed part of The Retro Squad. Having first been introduced in 2019, the fact that The Alton Towers Dungeon was subject to an additional upcharge is understood to have contributed to declining attendance. The walkthrough portion of the attraction was utilised during Scarefest 2024 for a new family attraction, Amigos in the Afterlife. Although The Alton Towers Dungeon closed during Summer 2024 to enable preparations for Scarefest to begin, it remained ambiguous as to whether it would subsequently return. Nonetheless, with markings appearing on the floor in the area, hopefully it won’t be too long until this corner of the park receives a new lease of life with Project Horizon. With Merlin Entertainments also announcing that Gardaland’s new for 2025 attraction, Animal Treasure Island, will be the start of the roll-out of this internally developed IP to its Resort Theme Parks, it has also been speculated that the boat ride featured in The Alton Towers Dungeon could be reimagined accordingly.
In advance of opening weekend, it was also confirmed that Skyride, Congo River Rapids and Hex – The Legend of the Towers will not reopen until April. Skyride has of course been shut for the last few seasons as part of its multi-year investment project, which is now said to be in its final stages. An update was released by the Resort during the closed season showing the attraction testing, and it was also seen testing on the Sunday of opening weekend. Following the makeover of the stations that was completed ahead of the 2024 season, the attraction has also been further refreshed this closed season with new signage and painted supports outside all three stations, and new wooden fencing for the queue lines at the Forbidden Valley station.
Although it is unclear what has delayed Congo River Rapids opening for the 2025 season, especially given its early closure in 2024, it is evident that some of the evacuation walkways and wooden boards around the route have been newly replaced. Similarly, the reasons for Hex’s delayed opening has not been disclosed, with this coming despite the attraction reopening in October 2024 following its own investment project.
During the course of the closed season, it emerged that Merlin were undertaking a group wide restructuring, with one of the most notable implications being the loss of a significant portion of the roles within the in-house entertainments teams at its attractions. The effect of this at Alton Towers could be seen over opening weekend, with the loss of the roaming entertainments introduced to Gloomy Wood and Forbidden Valley in 2023 and 2024 respectively. This is undoubtedly a backwards step for the Resort and the atmospheres within these two areas of the theme park.
As part of the same exercise, the Resort have also removed Oktoberfest from their 2025 seasonal events line-up. It seems that this may mean that the temporary stage found on the Front Lawns during the last few seasons is no longer required, with this no longer in-situ and the fencing around its backstage area removed. Nonetheless, the stage only had planning permission to remain until February 2026, hence it seemed set to be removed after the end of the 2025 season at the latest.
It does appear that there has been an effort to reduce staffing across other aspects of the Resort. For example, many midway games previously manned by staff members have been replaced by arcade style machines. Additionally, self-service kiosks have been installed in more of the theme park’s food & beverage outlets, including Ground Command Coffee Outpost, Generator Refuelling Company, and Corner Coffee. This has the unfortunate effect of making the Resort feel increasingly operated by machines, and also feels like a cynical attempt at discouraging the claiming of Annual Pass discount, since this can only be obtained by using the staff-manned kiosk. Furthermore, where these outlets previously had fridges to store drinks and food-to-go, these have also been removed, resulting in a more limited choice of food options.
Nonetheless, some outlets have received some enhancements and new food options. For example, the kiosk on Towers Street has been rebranded ‘Tasty Treats of Towers Street’, and now serves some topped fries and topped donuts. Additionally, the three windows on the exterior of the Mutiny Bay Courtyard, opposite Wicker Man, have received a fresh look and new offerings in the form of bubble waffles and bubble tea. Finally, the outside bar within the courtyard itself has been rebranded as Capt. Black’s Courtyard Tap House with a selection of Funkin Cocktails cans on sale, alongside a small range of beers, cider, and spirits.
One of the most notable F&B changes is the rebranding of Woodcutter’s Bar & Grill as The Oak In Chains Bar & Grill. The sit-down restaurant has benefited from some nice cosmetic updates, with a new colour scheme and the addition of framed Hex concept art and designs to the internal walls. However, a tablet has replaced the ability to order online from your own mobile phones, with a slow annual pass discount procedure which requires guests to go up to the bar ahead of paying in order for a staff member to apply the discount – while this would not be as much of an issue for a group who is paying altogether, it is a much more tedious process where members of a group are paying individually. We understand that the same system has also been implemented at Rollercoaster Restaurant and Little Explorers Lunch Box.
To coincide with the restaurant’s rebrand, the menu has also been entirely overhauled. Gone are the more traditional dishes, to be replaced by Donut Burgers, Hanging Skewers and Tear & Share breads. Whilst we appreciate the idea of being creative with food, the weird mix of savoury and sweet items, limited menu categories and increased cost isn’t our preference. As a result, we don’t anticipate returning to the restaurant whilst the current menu remains in place.
As always, the start of a new season brings an array of new merchandise. For 2025, this includes many new products featuring the Resort’s latest colourful branding, including clothing, backpacks and mugs. Other clothing items include the more understated (but nonetheless high quality) jackets and Alton Bear branded children’s T-shirts. For pin collectors, as well as a significant number of new pin badges, there are also new pin pouches, pendants and lanyards on which to display your collection of pins. One other notable Alton Towers Resort branded product is an exclusive Chilly’s bottle featuring the Resort’s logo, which is available in three colours. There is also new ride-specific merchandise, including new plush teddies, clothing and key rings. It seems furry friends will now also have the chance to represent their favourite rides, with a collection of The Smiler branded dog harnesses, leads and collars available in Buy The Smiler.
Ride availability and capacity over opening weekend was mixed, with Saturday being especially challenging in this respect – there were periods when several of the Resort’s major rollercoasters displayed as simultaneously closed, with it possible to overhear guests’ frustrations when moving around the theme park. Sunday did show signs of improvement, eventually seeing all rides operational at the same time. However, rides such as Galactica, Wicker Man and Rita all operated on reduced number of trains throughout the weekend, suggesting that the Resort were unable to fully complete the annual winter maintenance during the closed season. Hopefully, the fact that the theme park is closed on off-peak weekdays throughout March will provide the Resort with the opportunity to rectify this in the next few weeks.
On most dates that the theme park is open in March, including opening weekend, it is remaining open until 8pm as part of Alton After Dark. It is pleasing to see this initiative return across more dates following a successful debut last year, providing an opportunity for early season rides in the dark. The event also sees the Resort’s rides enhanced with additional lighting, along with The Towers themselves also being illuminated.
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