Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England, UK. In 2011, it attracted 2.7 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom and 9th most visited theme park in Europe. It employs in excess of 2,000 staff members during the summer months, over 1,000 of which are full-time. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent, and not to be confused with the town of Alton in Hampshire), in the grounds of Alton Towers, a semi-ruined gothic revival country house. The estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury.
The resort includes the theme park as well as the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Waterpark, Spa, Extraordinary Golf and Conference Centre. It is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments in the United Kingdom. Major attractions at Alton Towers include Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and Th13teen.
The park's maximum daily capacity is set at 28,000 guests. Its promotional music has been Edvard Grieg's classical composition In the Hall of the Mountain King for the past two decades.
Read more about Alton Towers: Music, List of Past Attractions, Attendance, Alton Towers Resort DVD, Controversy, Restrictions, Court Cases
Famous quotes containing the word towers:
“Lay a beam between these two towers of such width as we need to walk on: there is no philosophical wisdom of such great firmness that it can give us courage to walk on it as we should if it were on the ground.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)