It’s been I believe 3 years since we saw the introduction of these temporary funfair flat rides introduced into Alton Towers. Of course, there have been changes in the types of rides across those 3 years as well. It’s something which we all knew would never be a permanent addition to the park but the time has finally arrived to say farewell. So, let’s have a chat about how I imagine the future MAY look in the near future and my thoughts on these rides.
The Retro Squad:
I know a lot of fellow enthusiasts were never fans of this addition. However, I actually saw the logic as to why that decision was made in the first place, especially given how busy they used to get. Admittedly, I rode them in their first season but never bothered afterwards purely as they weren’t for me and that’s okay? I never really yearned to see the back of them, of course, it’s evident they were never incorporated into the park but your average guests seemed to really enjoy them. I think it was a sharp idea to test the waters with how flat rides going forward would be perceived by guests and whether they would help govern queues elsewhere. But also at their time of arrival, we were still very much in the pandemic and it did really help to scatter guests within those areas. On busier days when we visited we saw their full ambition of why they were there if I’m honest. Hopefully, the reaction to the flats across those seasons matched those few days we saw them thriving and leading to better things going forward.
The Future:
As I referred to above I do feel this was a taster test to see whether flat rides really do have a calling and benefit the park. Of course, we don’t know the stats nor do we know if the results from this assumed test were optimistic but on those few busier days we saw it looked like a triumph from an inexpert point of view. I do feel the loss of these rides across the parks could well lead to some real positives in the near future. Perhaps not all in one season will 3 flat rides magically appear. But I do think beginning with Forbidden Valley we’ll see a brand new addition to support the year ahead with Nemesis reopening. Of course, I could well be off & wrong I’m not an expert I don’t know how the insights appear at Towers but I’d like to believe this will be the case for sure.
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What do you reckon will happen next? Your last chance to ride The Retro Squad will be on the final operational day of the 2023 season!
Thank you for reading and I’ll love to hear your theories and thoughts!
