With unlimited funds, I would:

X-Sector

Repoen The Smiler opening day 2016.
Repaint Enterprise to have Yellow/Black alternating cars so that it better matches the theme of The Smiler.
Re-do Oblivion's queue to be much shorter, with an extension queue available if needed.
Run Oblivion on fewer trains on quieter days to limit stacking.
Put a Flying Carpet (Quantum) on the old site of Submission.
Expand the area slightly and add a Skyride station - the Skyride would then run from TS to FV to CCL to XS to TS.

Forbidden Valley

Scrap plans to turn Air into Galactica and remove all ideas of VR.
Improve the Air tunnel via the use of lighting.

Dark Forest

Add more theming to the queues of Th13teen and Rita.
Paint Rita a murky green colour to fit in with the Dark Forest Theme.
Make the entrance from the Valley more noticeable.
Add a themed flat (maybe a Top Scan?) behind Th13teen.

The Valley

Add a Cross-Valley wooden coaster with entrance in Forbidden Valley. Great views of the ride from the Valley path and Skyride.

CBeebies Land

Make Sonic Spinball a part of CBeebies Land with an appropriate theme.

Katanga Canyon

Add a family sit-down coaster (60ft tall, 1 inversion) along the path from KC to GW themed like the rest of the area.
Spruce up the KC/GW path with themed game stalls and shops.
Shorten the unnecessarily long queue for Congo River Rapids.

Gloomy Wood

Remove the guns on Duel and add more effects.
Rename Duel as it's not really a Duel any more.
Make Haunted Hollow more immersive (maybe even use a piece of scenery worth more than £2.50!)

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Completely re-do Charlie, making it an exciting and modern dark ride for all the family.
Add water jets to Twirling Toadstool (to be used in summer only!), like those on Monkey Swinger at Chessington.
Upgrade the Ice Age film* and cinema to accomodate moving seats like those found at Thorpe Park.

Mutiny Bay

Theme The Flume to Pirates not Bathtubs!
Improve and publicise the Pirate show in the Courtyard.

Entrance/Towers Street

Make the Monorail trains and stations longer for better capacity.
Add signposts that direct people to the car park/theme park walk to encourage more walking and shorten Monorail queues.
Add a parade starting at Towers Street that loops around the lake.
Have live performances on Towers Street at the start and end of the day.

General

Have Air, Nemesis, The Blade, Duel, RMT and new KC Coaster on ERT (instead of current setup).
Change opening hours: 10-6 weekdays, 10-7 weekends, 10-8 school holidays, 10-10 summer holidays.
Improve the park map.
Increase the number of roaming actors around the park.
Have TV adverts that show off the whole park, not just the latest addition.

---

*I am yet to experience the latest Ice Age show

I am just going to write about some things that I want to happen but also things I also see likely considering Merlin's new approach to running the park. The years following 2016 would all be leading up to an absolute breakthrough in Alton Towers' status in 2020 for their 40th anniversary.

2016: Current updates.
. New music, refurbishment of some attractions and Galactica. Groundwork starts in closed season 2016-2017 on new family water attraction.

.Cloud Cuckoo land is closed during closed season 2016 ready for a new land to appear in 2019.

2017:
This year would focus on the re-invention of Alton Towers in general and the refurbishment of Towers Street to fit in with a new concept.

.Following the new music on Towers Street, Towers Street is given a full refurbishment and renamed "Towers Avenue". The buildings would be painted to match the bright colours seen in recent commercials and the frog fountains would be replaced with a fountain based on the park's new logo design. This would happen to give the park some kind of general feeling of magic again and give the park some direction in regards to marketing.

.Hex also re-opens with a re-imagined storyline linking into the new resort concept of the "magic of the towers".It takes a more rustic "mystic manor" type approach.

.A new marketing campaign is launched following a more Disneyesque approach. A storyline is created revealing that the towers themselves are releasing magic and creating amazing lands, rides and attractions across the Resort. The new Alton Towers logo would be tied into this storyline.

.Groundwork and marketing begins in January 2017 for the brand new family water attraction opening in Summer 2018.

. Nemesis Sub-Terra is revealed to be leaving the park and the removal is overshadowed by the opening of the new ride in 2018. Spinball is also removed.

. Towers Loving Care Continues

Removals: Nemesis Sub-Terra, Sonic Spinball, Cloud Cuckoo Land
Additions/ New experiences: "Towers Avenue", Hex re-design.


2018: This year would focus on a mixture of closures and new attractions and a lot of preparation for a 40th celebrations year in 2020.

.The brand new family water attraction opens on the flume site in the summer with a heavily themed interactive area such as that seen adjacent to Chiapas at Phantasialand. (Possibly themed to pirates or golden age harbour?)

. A small Cbeebies extension opens but not on the site of Sonic Spinball.

.Oblivion has it's farewell month and is removed at the end of April 2018 and X-sector is re-themed and refurbished during 2018 closed season.

.Alton Towers' new signature Thrill ride is beginning groundwork and construction.

.Towers Loving Care continues

Removals: Oblivion
Additions/ New experiences: Large family water attraction, Cbeebies ride/extension


2019- A Medium investment year which sees the opening of Cloud Cuckoo Lands replacement.

.Cloud Cuckoo Land's replacement is opened with a steampunk Victorian theme. This is a chance for Alton Towers to prove they can create culturally influenced areas with attention to detail.

. "The new Alton Towers Village" is announced to be opening in winter 2020 after a few months of construction. This would see the addition of a medium sized cinema, a fine dining restaurant, bowling alley and a waterpark extension of splash landings.

. A site is cleared in the Dark Forest

. New lakeside restaurant in the place of Spinball

.Towers loving Care continued

Removals: NONE
Additions/ New experiences: Cloud Cuckoo Lands replacement area, New restaurant



2020: Alton Towers celebrates it's 40th Year anniversary celebration. This sees a huge amount of new rides and additions to the park.

. Alton Towers' brand new Cross Valley thrill rollercoaster opens in Forbidden Valley on the old site of Nemesis Sub-Terra and Ripsaw. (Breaks all in park records and a European record).

.A brand new Worlds First prototype flat ride opens on the old Oblivion site.

. A flat ride opens in the Dark Forest marking its "10th" year anniversary" This sees a number of new theming additions to the Dark Forest including a new soundtrack.

. A new parade is created on the lake and "Towers Avenue" to mark the 40th Anniversary celebrations that would run daily throughout 2020.

. December 2020 sees the opening of the "Alton Towers Village", the new multi-entertainment sector of the Resort that brings in revenue during closed season of that year.

.Katanga Canyon and Gloomy Wood are closed and removed.

Removals: Katanga Canyon and Gloomy Wood
Additons/ New experiences: New roller coaster, Worlds First flat ride, second flat ride, "Alton Towers village" entertainment complex and new parade entertainment.

2021: Alton Towers operates with no additions or removals. A year to build up profits.

2022-2024: A large scale regeneration of Katanga Canyon and Gloomy Wood takes place with Katanga Canyons existing rides all being replaced with newer models with more developed themes and storylines. Katanga canyon also receives a family thrill coaster accompanied by a new dominating structure such as a mountain, to breathe a new lease of life into the area. Katanga Canyon re-opens in Summer 2023

Gloomy Wood is completely destroyed and built from scratch into one big themed indoor area such as Arthur at Europa Park and opens in Summer 2024.

8 year plan conclusion
Additions:
.Hex new generation experience
. Towers Street refurbishment and park wide re-invention.
.New family water attraction
.Cbeebies extension
.Cloud Cuckoo Land replacement, signature family thrill area
.New on-park restaurant
.New signature cross valley thrill rollercoaster
.Worlds first flat ride experience
. X-sector re-invention and refurbishment
. Dark Forest refurbishment and flat ride
.New entertainment parade
."Alton Towers Village" Resort entertainment complex
. New Katanga Canyon roller coaster and major overhaul of existing attractions
. New indoor attraction area on the site of Gloomy Wood

Ok I may as well give this a go -

2017

Towers Loving Care will continue, and feature a fuller paint of towers street. The flume site will be a hub of activity, getting a new wooden coaster constructed ready for the 2018 season. Refresh at Ripsaw would be removed and replaced with a temporary games stall. Hex and Driving school re-open.

Removals: Refresh @ Ripsaw building
Additions: Temporary Games Stall


2018

The new wooden coaster opens, as well as a new plaza featuring anew children's attraction. The Congo River Rapids closes for a major refurbishment including new boats and a tonne of theming elements. Rita is closed early for a refurbishment also. Nemesis: Sub-Terra reopens with new theming and a new exit scene.

Removals: None.
Additions: Wooden coaster, family flat and Nenesis: Sub-Terra V2.


2019

Rita re-opens with pianted 'rusty' track, an enclosed station area and keyhole at the end of the launch. CRR reopens to become a family favourite. It is announced that Duel will be closing for good and that Gloomy Wood will be closed as an area with a new path being installed for 2020.

Removals: Duel
Additions: Refurbished Rita & CRR


2020

A new Zeier Starshape attraction is installed within the Forbidden Valley, as well as the Nemesis Photo Shop being extended into a whole shop for the ride. Gloomy Wood is now completely fenced off, with rumours of a new launch coaster in the area circulating. Anew christmas event is announced where a Christmas market will be added to the front lawns. Hex is announced to be opening with a temporary Christmas makeover.

Additions: Starshape, Nenesis Shop, Chistmas Event.
Removals: None


2021

Spinball Whizzer is removed, ready for a new CBeebies land expansion. Charlie closed for good, the runaway train is announced to be closing in May. A new state of the art dark ride is announced for the Duel site.

Removals: Spinball Whizzer, Charlie.
Additions: None.


2022

The new dark ride, featuring the system used on Spider-Man at Universal Orlando opens. Featuring 3D and practical effects. The attraction follows an IP, Ghostbusters. The theming is heavy however the exterior of the building is not heavily changed, this is so that the story can follow "The ghostbusters are exploring the haunted house", offering a burst of nostalgia for the older audience. Not on,y this but many props from the original Haunted House are remade to be utilised within the attraction. The zombie theming outside is replaced with the Ghostbusters hearse. The Mine Train reopens with new theming and trains.

Additions: Ghostbusters Ride, The Mine Train.
Removals: None


2023

CBeebies expansion opens, featuring various new attractions including a mini spinning coaster named Whizzer. The Smiler receives a full repaint and various new theming elements for its 10th anaversary. Oblivion set to be closed early.

Additions: CBeebies land expansion.
Removals: None

2024

Oblivion is reopened with a new and updated queue, a new soundtrack and updated station. A small splash element is added after the banked turn. Cryptic signs around Nemesis appear.


2025

A new Valhalla style attraction opens in the Charlie building themed to Ice Age. Nemesis is announced to be being closed in September.

Additions: New water ride.
Removals: Nemesis


2026

Most of the Nemesis track is removed, however the supports, station and shop remain intact. It is announced Nemesis will reopen in 2027 with new trains and new track.

2027

Nemesis reopens. Ghostbusters receives a repaint on the exterior.

Dan.B wrote:

unlimited funds

Just buy the entire world's theme park industry and get people at disney to just turn the world into a theme park.

I would do this: (I've worked some of what we already know into the plans)

Rest of 2016:

Nemesis Sub-Terra and Driving School reopen for the busy summer period. Possibly Hex as well, if not it opens Feb/March 2017.

2017:

February Half Term event returns.
Thrill flat ride opens in Dark Forest.
Rita gets the new intamin vest restraints.
Small new attraction opens in CBeebies Land featuring a new IP.
New hotel opens in the summer.
SW8 construction continues throughout 2017 season.

2018:

SW8 opens as a GCI wooden coaster on the Flume site.
The SBNO Charlie ride is rethemed and refurbished and reopens with a new IP and updated theming etc.
Construction begins on Enchanted Village expansion, and opens in phases over the next few years.
Spinball Whizzer and The Blade are closed and removed at the end of the season.
Construction begins on a mini "citywalk" type area to connect the resort accomodation to Forbidden Valley.

2019:

Oblivion opens at the start of the season with new floorless trains, new theming, a new soundtrack and tunnel effects. It is advertised by the park as a new experience for 2019.
Construction begins on a CBeebies Land expansion onto the Spinball Whizzer site.
Minor ground clearance in Forbidden Valley around the area where The Blade and Ripsaw used to be.
Construction begins on a Waterpark expansion, including a new outdoor area and also a drop capsule slide.

2020:

Season long celebration event for Alton Towers' 40th birthday.
CBeebies Land expansion opens at the start of the season featuring a couple of family flats, a new childrens' rollercoaster and a live entertainment venue.
"Citywalk" area opens providing a new entrance to the theme park by Galactica that can only be used by hotel guests and annual pass holders. Woodland walk is no longer used.
Waterpark expansion opens in the summer.
Construction begins on a large new dark ride in Forbidden Valley where Blade and Ripsaw were, it will open in 2021.

MakoMania wrote:

Oblivion opens at the start of the season with new floorless trains, new theming, a new soundtrack and tunnel effects. It is advertised by the park as a new experience for 2019.

New soundtrack!? How dare you!?!?

MakoMania wrote:

It is advertised by the park as a new experience for 2019.

If you're applying for a management position for merlin, make sure you put that in your application

Whilst doing my college assignment today on Alton Towers where I am assessing their transport (Monorail, Skyride), I have come to the conclusion that the Monorail is not all that necessary. It only links the hotels with the entrance and the hotels already have a small entrance making the Monorail no longer needed. The park has the Skyride which can transport people closer to the smaller entrance.

Because of this I would remove the monorail and develop the hotel entrance into a better entrance, a smaller version of the main entrance which is staffed and able to sort out tickets and fast tracks etc. Inside the park, the path would be a smaller version of Towers Street with toilets, food and drink and a merch shop.

Then I would replace the monorail shed area with some new flats and incorporate it into Gloomy Wood to create a bigger area which is a true family area suitable for all ages like Katanga Canyon

Above anything else, I would create a new authentic themed flagship area to the park. This post is gong to be quite long and detailed to try and support my point with reasoning. So if you want to hear the basis of the idea and not the reasoning behind the proposition, skip the first paragraph.

As much as I love the areas of Alton Towers, I personally feel that many of the classic areas have become outdated over time, or confused by new attractions that have not been integrated appropriately into the original area theme. For example, Forbidden Valley was at one time my favourite area of the park as it had some consistency of storyline after the instillation of Nemesis Sub-terra. Now Ripsaw and Sub-terra have been closed and Galactica has taken the spotlight, the area has lost its consistency and atmosphere mainly due to the idea of Galactica being a "spaceport in Forbidden Valley" not being pushed enough in the ride experience. This has left Galactica and Nemesis as brilliant ride experiences as individual attractions but Forbidden Valley as a confused area. The same affect can be seen in X-sector. I love Oblivion as a ride experience but its has undoubtedly become outdated and The Smiler offers a modern and enjoyable experience but has been so loosely linked to Oblivion and X-sector that it just further alienates Oblivion. This has left X-sector as "The area with the Smiler in it". You cant blame the general public for having little idea about the backstory of the area, the Smiler's storyline or how Oblivion is even relevant to the modern day area, because none of it is explained or shown apart from by tiny sign at the entrance to the area. The final problem is that areas with greater potential are not expanded quick enough to expand on the storyline or atmosphere. For example, The Dark Forest hadthe potential to be a flagship area, with Thirteen being an amazing themed experience, but for 6 years the area has just been left to loose atmosphere and become what is considered one of the weakest areas of the park because the theme was not continued and the area was not expanded. This again shows the affect of attractions becoming stand-alone experiences rather than immersive areas. Thirteen is a brilliant experience and could have been nicely linked to other attractions, but instead it was left to stand alone. I appreciate TLC has been trying to fix these areas, but no amount of re-paints and suggestive posters are going to make these areas flagship immersive experiences.

This brings me on to my idea for a brand new area that incorporates one big attraction and lots of smaller themed experiences to create a new AREA, not just a new independent attraction to drive up gate figures. If you look at any successful themed area, or take into account the Disney formula; they all build ONE large themed centrepiece attraction and then support it with smaller attractions and themed dining experiences.This is what Alton Towers need to do to finally have a flagship area again. I feel like Merlin also struggle to theme roller coasters into an area, so I would suggest that an indoor coaster or dark ride attraction would be appropriate for the main attraction of this new area, due to the possibilities for theming of the exterior façade and interior of the attraction.

In regards to theme of this area, I feel like areas based on a historical time period or place are more immersive than areas that are drawn up from scratch, so id love to see Alton's new flagship area to incorporate historical undertones and a specific period style in its buildings and attractions and continue this theme through the dining experience, attractions and entertainment in the area. I realise that space is limited at the resort too, but there are still plenty of opportunities for a completely new area at the park. They could build a new area on a flat plot of land e.g the car park or could completely demolish an older area such as Cloud Cuckoo Land, start from scratch and expand into space behind for expansion and future development of the area.

Whether you agree or not for my idea for the theme or type of attractions for a new area, I am pretty sure that we can all agree that Alton Towers lacks an area that offers full immersion and I am sure, like myself, nothing would be better to see than the construction fences coming down on a fully themed new authentic experience along with a new attraction rather than the underwhelming opening of a stand alone/ loosely themed attraction we are all used too now.

DISLCAIMER:( I love Alton Towers and I am fully aware that Merlin can create themed attractions like DBGT, but I also care about Alton Tower's future and a new immersive area is what Alton needs to progress and survive)

Personally, I would like a Harry Potter style area but obviously not linked to the IP. I would also make changes to Forbidden Valley and theme it on space now Galactica is in. Nemesis could quite easily fit in with that!

Hi all i visited Alton Towers again today for the 2nd time this year so far, as it is the best theme park in my view and i only live 1 hr and so away, but it may just be me but i feel like Alton towers is missing something.
I mean each themed area of the park has like one or two rides and thats it the rest is winning teddy stalls etc and food places that charge over the odds.
Also apart from the skyline to reach each area their is a lot of walking involved so you get to see many more areas and i saw today that their is lots of wasted land around the park that could be used for rides, im not talking just roller coasters but other rides.

Also does anybody know what is happening to that structure in the water in the gardens has its got all scaffolding around it?

whats everybodys thoughts on what kind of rides should be at alton towers?

I would make a main focus on bringing back the magic of Alton.

Firstly, I'd make uniforms fitting for the areas of each part of the park so people are really immersed into the experience. I'd also rip out all the tacky game stalls and put new ones in with themed games and prizes.
To make a true immersive feel, I'd add more theming features to all the areas and make music to match (ImaScore only) along with more roaming actors fitting for each land.

The towers are a key part of the resort so I'd make it into a tourist attraction once again by adding atmospheric music (ImaScore of course) and even tour guides which comes at extra cost.

Shows are a really important part of a good theme park so Alton could really do with a few. Even small shows can further immerse people into the experience. What would be incredible is a nightime/evening fountain show on the lake. This would be good as opening times would need to be extended and thats another issue with the current state of the park. I would even have an exclusive viewing for hotel guests after park close.

In terms of future investment, the park is crying out for a decent dark ride and there's plenty of room on the Katanga coach park for this. I'd expand CBeebies even further on to the Spinball site as CBeebies is a huge success currently. I wouldn't add any flats as I'm a beleiver that flats belong in fairgrounds and amusement parks and thats were they should stay unless it's as well themed as Talocan.

This is all I would do to the resort to make it even better than it allready is!

Give towers street a massive overhaul. It looks TERRIBLE.

Actually, I'd probably start a makeover on every area and think about a proper layout and structure rather than the slapbang attitude they have going on

Sent from my Nexus 6P using Tapatalk

This is a good one as I'm sure there's so much that everyone would like to see!

For me I would like to see in the future if I had an unlimited budget/ anything goes.

1. Add a couple of decent restaurants to the main entrance and increase opening hours to later in the evening. Maybe add a fireworks from the towers nights at weekends with projections.

2. Removal of Spinball to another location in the park (maybe re-themed into the dark forest somehow inside the woodlands) to extend ceebeebies land into a larger area for families/kids.

3. Addition of a new water ride into mutiny bay and move the blade into this area somehow.

4. Change of Duel to a "haunted mansion" style ride like Disney with a constant capacity - so nice short ques! And addition of something else into gloomy wood - ghost themed.

5. In the area where the blade is removed addition of a maelstrom style ride with a huge cog on the end.

6. Galactic back to air with waterfalls and full theme given - like it should have been.

7. Dark forest never realised its full potential for me so removal/change of Rita to the broomstick ride- with a theme of witches of the forest/ wraiths from thirteen, or Escape from the woods-mans lodge where the carriage could be a huge fallen tree trunk which has a back story (could be linked to hex) and lots of near misses to huge axes as you ride the tree trunk through the woods!

8. Enterprise given a facelift and brought into the style of the smiler to fit in with the area - maybe a huge spinning spiral on the main central part would look good when it's spinning around.

9. Regeneration of the towers with a dungeon ride - entering the lost dungeons of the towers (maybe a scare maze idea?) or even an exclusive small amount of rooms which could be a hotel for the night?

10. Main lake addition of a bar/ restaurant with a fountain show in the centre of the lake (maybe even something like fantasmic at Disney) with projections for evening entertainment I think more things at night would make the hotels even more popular.

Obviously these are all imagining an unlimited budget but I would love to see something along these lines at Alton Towers. I'm sure whatever they have in the pipeline for the future is going to be great!

2016

Time to say goodbye to Charlie, Wobble World & Duel. Construction starts on a new family water ride, similiar to Chiapas/Valhalla by the end of the year. Nemesis Sub-Terra re-opens, and Hex also re-opens with new theming.

2017

Construction finishes on the new family water ride. Mutiny Bay & Kantanga Canyon are joined together to create a new bigger area themed around pirates. Cloud Cuckoo Land also says goodbye, to be remarketed for young teens. With the removal of Duel, Gloomy Wood also gets a retheme with Duel becoming a 3D ride with an IP. Construction starts on the 3D Ride and the new wooden rollercoaster built by GCI located in the new pirate themed section of the park.

2018

Construction on the GCI woodie finishes and is opened to the public, however the 3D ride is still under construction. Spinball Whizzer says goodbye to the park, and Adventure Land is demolished to become a new Cbeebies Land expansion. Frog Hopper & Twirling Toadstool are then relocated to the new Cbeebies Land, meanwhile the Driving School and Gallopers Carousel are taken out of the park. The length of the Ice Age IP runs out, and work can begin on a total retheme of Cloud Cuckoo Land.

2019

The new 3D ride in a newly renovated Gloomy Wood is completed and is opened to the public. An area is cleared out of Dark Forest for a new Mondial Top Scan to be placed. The Blade is removed from the park. The brand new Cloud Cuckoo Land retheme opens to the public with a new county fair theme with brand new Mondial/Huss rides. Brand new kids rides are also added to Cbeebies Land.

2020

Enterprise is also removed from the park, but is swiftly replaced by a second generation enterprise in the exact same spot, and a HUSS Airboat is installed in the place of Submission. X-Sector is also given a retheme. By this time, it's Alton's 40th anniversary, so they want to do something special to memorise the occasion. They release the plans for the brand new Mack launched Mega coaster coming to the park, located in the old Gloomy Wood section of the park. Finally, Alton Towers find a new interactive show to put in the Ice Age theatre, Trolls!

2021

Construction on the brand new coaster begins. The Runaway Mine Train is removed, and a new HUSS Booster is added where the Mine Train was. Heave Ho is also removed from the park.

2022

A few new kids flat rides are put in the pirate section of the park. The Mack launched Mega coaster is near in completion, and the Congo River Rapids has more theming added onto it.

2023

The Mack coaster is finished at the start of the year, and this year is dedicated to reviving profits at the park. This is also when the next family hotel is in planning stages at the park.

2024

The big 30 for Nemesis. To celebrate this, Alton Towers reveal that Nemesis will be shut down for a few months, it will get new track pieces, a new story and some new cool effects. The hotel has now been announced to the public, and building will begin at the end of the year.

2025

Sadly, Rita is removed from the park. The revamp of Nemesis is completed, and re-opened to the public. The construction of the new hotel is now well under way, and is expected to be finished by next year.

2026

The hotel is now open to the public. Another year for profits to build up again.

2027

Next big rollercoaster is in planning stages, an amazing new 4D ride similiar to X2 that keeps you low to the ground. This will be located in the rethemed Cloud Cuckoo Land. Nemesis Sub-Terra is removed.

2028

This is Oblivion's last year at the park after 30 years of service. The new 4D rollercoaster has now begun construction. New luxury lodges are also being planned off of the Enchanted Village.

2029

The new rollercoaster has now opened to the public, and is receiving positive feedback. The removal of Oblivion has now begun, and the lodges have started construction.

2030

Alton's 50th anniversary, wow! What a journey it has been. To commemorate this, the park announces TWO new rollercoasters that will start construction that next year. One: a new dark indoor spinning attraction located on the site of Oblivion. Two: A first of its kind, new zacspin coaster with a different layout to the traditional zacspins located in Forbidden Valley!

I'll sum up my views here.

1. Remove all IPs. There's nothing I hate more than IPs. CCL was once a fairly well themed area then for no reason at all, Ice Age plops into the middle of it, wiping out theming and making a miss matched mess.
2. Get a more general and we'll established theme together for the park. This means carrying on the work they've already started on Towers Street and a new logo design.
3. Burn all HP Leisure games in a fiery pit and stick some good flats in.
4. Try to reduce the number of areas and make each one better, maybe CBeebies and Adventure Land merged, Gloomy Wood and Forbidden Valley merged and so on.
5. Improve on everything they have already by adding IMAScore music, roaming actors and shows, and extra theming.
6. Continue adding new developments as they're doing already to keep the park moving forwards.

This is what I'd do to ATR...

2017

Open Cbeebies Land Hotel and flat ride.
New thrill flat in the empty area in Dark Forest
Continue TLC Project
Rebrand the fireworks, and make Christmas bigger
Advertise heavily for SW8
A new family show

2018

Open SW8
ALL areas have IMAscore music
New Flat in FV
TLC is in it's last phase (for the moment)
Make Scarefest a much larger event, and bring in more general halloween theming to the park
Close CCL at the end of the season

2019

Bring back ATL (but with better organisation, and its a pre-book only event)
Open new lodges in the enchanted village
(If possible) add a slide to alton towers waterpark
A new flat in x-sector
A new ride in Cbeebies land (main draw)
Close Rita at the end of the season
Advertise for a new CCL (possibly Lego, Minecraft or something along those lines)

2020

Open the new CCL, with new flats, a kiddie coaster and an e-ticket dark ride
Begin construction on new resort accommodation
Open a new in park Restaurant
Close Duel at the end of the season
Construction on SW9 continues throughout the season on ex-rita site

2021

A completely new entrance for the park, complete with updated monorail
New resort accommodation opens
SW9 opens (a multi launch, inverting, mack-mega coaster,with lots of theming)
A new Duel opens (Duel, without lasers and updated with new theming and possibly storyline)
Open 2 new concrete car parks (not sure where)
Close Spinball Whizzer at the end of the season for Cbeebies land expansion
A total rebrand of the park
Make opening times later in the summer, scarefest and fireworks
On off-peak days hold mini events, to draw in more people
Add a night time spectacular on the lake

I highly doubt any (or much) of this plan will ever happen, and sorry if I've missed anything out!

I would change many things within the resort to enhance it to a world class experience. To do this the park needs to enhance opening hours, guest satisfaction and value for money. This means enhancing the experience so it is worthy of a long holiday especially around events and seasons.

Visuals and aesthetics
.Add a higher level of detail to theming in each area. To do this I would add thatched roofs onto the buildings in Katanga Canyon, theme minor things such as fences, bins and lamp posts to each area and add higher detail to existing buildings across the park.
.Re-Paint the monorail as it is looking very old.
.Re-Paint the Smiler back to its original jet black.
.Re-Paint Air/Galactica to fit with Galactica theme.
.Remove all ugly HB leisure game stalls.
.Have interactive features installed across the park.
.Improve lighting and effects across the park.
Enhancements
.Paint Rita and enhance the theme by adding branches, Headchoppers,a better themed station and add the newer intamin trains with lap bars.
.Enhance Duel to Have reactive animatronics when they are hit.
Tickets,Pricing and Opening times.
.Decrease ticket prices very slightly.
.Create a separate ticket option for Cbeebies land by creating a second gate. This would give families who do not wish to enter the rest of the theme park a cheaper option. Guests can still enter Cbeebies land from within the park after buying a full park ticket.
.Change Fastrack to a system similar to the Magic Band at the Disney parks.
.Increase opening times dramatically(ERT is allways an hour before park open)
-Summer Season(middle of May to end of August): 9:00 am-8:00pm. After this, create a seperate ticketed option for after hours event (8:00pm - 1:00am).
-Spring Season(Middle of March to middle of May): 9:30 am-6:00pm.
-February Half term: 10:00am-5:00pm. (larger ride offerings than old event)
-Autumn season(Early September to early October): 10:00am-6:00pm
-Christmas season(Closed November to start of December):11:00am to 8:00pm(larger ride line up than previous years and not exclusive to hotel guests)
-Halloween/Scarefest:(October to November) 9:30am-10:00pm then seperate after hours halloween extreme ticketed event (10:30pm-2:00am).
-Closed season (November to December then Christmas event then January to February Half term then Mid February to mid March.)
New additions and replacements
.Replace Spinball Whizzer with an indoor Lego centre with interactive experiences, shows and small rides.
.Add incredible new Dark ride.
.Re-Theme Cloud cuckoo land and CATCF to a medieval village theme. (Perhaps CATCF could be themed to Merlin the tv show?)
.Build RMC coaster in Forbidden Valley.
Accomodation and resort
.Large new hotel themed to myths and legends.
.Expand Enchanted Village.
.Build large golf course and scrap extraordinary golf on the lawns opposite the hotels.
.Improve spa.
.Large entertainment village.
Catering
.Improve food options and build more luxury and midway priced restaraunts across the park and resort.
.Add many trendy bars, in the resort area especially.
Staff
.Make all staff wear uniform fitting to their area or ride.
.Improve staff and guest interactions.
Entertainment
.Have roaming actors across each land.
.5 large to medium new stage performances such as a stuntshow and musical. in newly built outdoor and indoor theatres.
.Large lake show every evening during peak season.

These are the things I would do to improve Alton Towers. Completely unrealistic while in Merlins hands but the park does have potential to do so in the long term.

2017
Order a Mack PowerSplash to replace The Flume, place in new area known as 'The Oasis'
Clean up a spilt coffee cup in the Nemesis Queue, call it a 'Brand New Experience'
Replace Oblivion soundtrack

2018
Remove VR from Galactica, remove station extension and relocate Roller Coaster Restaurant, as well as remove Galactica theming and replace with Air's old theming, call it a 'Brand New Experience'
Replace Nemesis soundtrack
Have IMAScore rewrite Nemesis and Air soundtracks, taking inspiration from each

2019
HUSS TopSpin to replace Ripsaw
Extend Oasis theme to replace Dark Forest
Extend opening hours until 7:30PM
Flying Carpet to go into X-Sector

2020
Retheme X-Sector to what Dark Forest's theme was
Introduce 'Winter Wonderland' to park - Jan 15th through to Feb 23rd - park open 12 'til 4, Air, Nemesis, Spinball and RMT to be included, with all flats operating

2021
Reopen Nemesis: Sub-Terra after INTENSE refurbishment
Close Toadstall, replace with Gerstlauer SkyFly
Install Gerstlauer Eurofighter Coaster
Install Gerstlauer Bobsled Coaster
Install Gerstlauer Kiddie Coaster

2022
Introduce light show during off-peak season, to keep revenue high throughout the year
Extend park morning hours to 8:30AM

2023
Install B&M Wing Coaster
Announce closure of Nemesis and Spinball

2024
Close Nemesis, Spinball

Close Nemesis?

Secondly, why would IMAscore re-write Air's Soundtrack? As the Galactica soundtrack is the best soundtrack on park imo.