The 2016 theme park season ended with a bang, as Alton Towers Resort held its fantastical firework event, which was reduced to two days from the three seen in previous years. Guests could enjoy rides in the dark, before being enchanted by a space themed spectacular.

Key Information

Dates: 5th & 6th November 2016
Opening Times: 10am to 9pm
Preshow Time: 6:45pm
Display Time:
 7pm, lasting for around 25 minutes

The space themed spectacular celebrated the launch of Galactica, the world’s first rollercoaster fully dedicated to virtual reality, transporting people to another dimension.

The show took guests on an intergalactic adventure on the world’s first space ship designed for thousands of people. Guests got to explore new worlds on the maiden voyage of the ship with an interstellar display that featured an astonishing amount of fireworks, striking special effects and incredible lasers that lit up the universe’s sky.

With the famous Towers as the backdrop, the show used a combination of fireworks and video projected onto a specially constructed portal to create an impressive display set to a space-themed soundtrack, including a grand finale set to an 8-bit version of In the Hall of the Mountain King.

Rides Closing Early

For safety reasons, the following attractions closed approximately at dusk at 3.30pm:

  • Skyride
  • Get Set Go Tree Top Adventure
  • Tree Fu Tom Training Camp
  • Battle Galleons
  • Congo River Rapids
  • The Gardens

The following attractions closed at 6pm:

  • Ice Age: The 4D Experience (Last show at 5pm)
  • Mr Bloom’s Allotment
  • Big Fun Show Time

Rides closing before and during the fireworks show

Some areas of the park were within the fireworks firing zone, and so had to be clear of guests by 6pm, meaning that queue lines closed at 5pm (or even earlier if the rides were very busy). The rides reopened from around 8pm until park close. These areas and rides are as follows:

  • Dark Forest – Rita, TH13TEEN
  • X Sector – The Smiler, Oblivion, Enterprise
  • Cloud Cuckoo Land – Frog Hopper, Twirling Toadstool, Gallopers Carousel
  • The Towers Complex
  • Adventure Land – Spinball Whizzer
  • CBeebies Land – Something Special: Sensory Garden, Postman Pat Parcel Post, Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure