ABOUT

When you step into the Rollercoaster restaurant at Alton Towers you are immediately taken by it’s theatre. A fantasy playground of silver pipework and gleaming surfaces.

The first of it’s kind in the UK, this unique concept blurs the lines between the roller coaster and dining room experience. It feels miles away from the lonely fast food joints that clutter the traditional theme park experience.

The concept of the Rollercoaster Restaurant centres around the speed of the rides, with the food arriving on tracks that snake around the restaurant. It was imperative that the ordering process reflected this whilst also giving the customer the full range options and choices you would expect of a traditional waiter-led service. The success of the interface negates the need to ask for help or explanation on how to select various options. This creates a much more personal experience for the customer by giving a feel of control over their visit.



Challenge

The biggest challenge was to ensure we kept everything clear and simple, with the user's journey always being as few clicks as possible from selecting your seat number to ordering your meal; whilst also keeping the design close to the brand assets. To help us achieve this, we created interactive mock-ups of the interface at the earliest stage to test on. This help us refine the process and remove any unnecessary steps. Bad service in a restaurant can ruin the experience, we wanted our interface to be akin to a great service that would bring customers back time after time and as a result of this, spread the positive experience by word of mouth increasing demand for bookings at the restaurant.

Attention was paid in particular to the size and colour choices for any buttons on the interface, with actions that moved you forwards in the process (choosing a menu, selecting an item) given the same colour on all to ensure a visual consistency that would help the user become familiar with the interface much faster.



Results:

The new ordering system has generated an exciting buzz around the Rollercoaster Restaurant. With the system only launching this month, the group are continuing to see the benefits.

National and local press including The Telegraph and Daily Mirror have all contributed to the hype around this cool new venture. Social media has also been a flutter with videos and images of the innovative technology with ITV news posting a video from food serving view. As the intrigue and mystery around the restaurant continues to grow, driving footfall into the theme park as much as the restaurant. The experience has become a destination in itself especially for families looking for a day out with a difference.

The unique interactive ordering process streamlines the customer experience and brings the restaurant into the digital world. For customers who aren’t as confident with the ordering system or are looking for a little human interaction, the friendly staff are always ready to help.

With the majority of customers taking the technology in their stride, there isn’t the same need for a large team of staff and this investment made in technology means that the cost of staff wages and training is reduced.