Alton Towers Almanac

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Event, ride and date changes

Here's a round-up of the latest information about the season ahead and beyond.

First up, the last day of the 2006 season has been provisionally extended to Saturday, 4th November. Previously the date published by the park had been Sunday 29th October, which would've meant no actual Halloween day during open season.

Speaking of Halloween, plans are moving along with regard to the event returning. Currently the idea is to have 3 weeks of Halloween celebrations in October.

The biggest surprise is the rumour that the park are planning to hold just one fireworks night in 2006. This comes after a long legal battle with Mr and Mrs Roper, which amongst other things ended up with the park winning the right to hold three nights of fireworks each year. However if the idea goes ahead, we're told that the budget for the one show would be larger than the budget for all three 2005 shows put together.

As rumoured, it seems like the Ice Show is definitely not going to reopen in 2006. It is thought that cost had something to do with the decision, though that won't be the whole story.

The Tweenies may have departed Cred Street but plans are in place to bring in their replacement - Bob The Builder. It is thought the deal has not yet been done but the park are keen to get it finalised. If the deal goes through, it is unclear at the moment whether it will involve a show (as with the Tweenies/Barney), or whether it'd be more of a meet n' greet setup with characters around the park, like the Scooby Doo event last year.

Some good news is that the park are planning to close the 'Big Six' (Nemesis, Rita - Queen of Speed, Oblivion, Air, Spinball Whizzer, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) at 7pm during peak season. This is undoubtedly a great idea, with ride close normally varying between 5pm and 6pm.

Ride staff and some Entertainment staff will be getting a new uniform this year, with the rest of the park making do with the previous outfit. The new uniform is said to be a black and red combo.

Last but not least is the news that the 2007 season opening date has already been drafted - wait for it - for Saturday, 10th February 2007. Even in years when a new roller coaster has been opened, the earliest we've seen the park opening is around mid-March. Apparently it's so that the park can be open during February half-term. We think that although the 'Big Six' are planned to be open from the outset, several smaller rides will not be because they need time to get their winter checks completed. Despite it being half-term, it will probably be a good time to go to get plenty of rides in - estimated attendance figures for the first few weeks after half-term are around 1,000 per day. To put that in perspective, a very quiet day is one where only 5,000 people attend.