Originally a private estate of the Earls of Shrewsbury, Alton Towers' grounds were opened to the public in 1860 to raise funds.
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14 Facts About Alton Towers
2.
Alton Towers first opened to the public on a regular basis following the opening of Alton Towers railway station.
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3.
On 17 July 2007, Alton Towers was sold to private investor Nick Leslau's investment firm Prestbury under a sale and leaseback agreement.
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4.
Alton Towers rented four temporary flat rides for the 2021 season to help with capacity.
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5.
The SkyRide cable car system travels between Alton Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and the Alton Towers and takes in views of the gardens.
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6.
The Alton Towers are now in a state of disrepair following decades of neglect.
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7.
Key areas of The Alton Towers include the banqueting hall, the chapel, conservatories, and Her Ladyship's Gardens.
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8.
Alton Towers Hotel opened on 10 April 1996 and is themed to the eccentric fictional character Sir Algenon Alton and his travels.
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9.
Alton Towers is located in a Conservation Area, which puts restrictions on its permissible development, notably that no structures in the park should be built above tree line and if so should be disguised from external views of the park; this can be seen on the ride Rita, where the highest sections of track are camouflaged green.
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10.
In September 2022, Alton Towers held a public consultation to propose plans for a large indoor attraction on the former site of the Alton Mouse codenamed "Project Horizon".
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11.
Alton Towers has a tradition of codenaming its new roller coaster developments as "Secret Weapon", or "SW", followed by a number.
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12.
Since 2015 Alton Towers have opened the park for a Services Day; a day where a limited quantity of discounted tickets are sold to those who work in public services such as the Police, NHS, Fire brigade, Prison service, Army, RAF, Royal Navy and other similar services.
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13.
Alton Towers was fined £5 million, with the court citing a "catalogue of errors" with Merlin's operating procedure and training.
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14.
The couple have been in legal battles with the park since 2004, and previously secured a noise abatement order on the theme park which led to the "Don't look down" audio from the top of the Oblivion drop being removed, and Alton Towers having to limit the amount of annual fireworks displays to only three a year.
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