Alton Towers

Alton Towers

File:AltonTowers.jpg
Location
Opened	Pre 1980
Owner	The Tussauds Group
Operating season	March to October
Area	500 acres
Attractions
Total	33 attractions in
Roller coasters	8
Water rides	2
Website	www.altontowers.com

Alton Towers is one of Britain's most famous theme parks. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire, on the site of an old mansion by the same name.

History of the gardens

Alton Towers in 1880

As an example of the Mixed Style of Humphry Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, ca. 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, of whom J. C. Loudon (who was consulted on design features of which there were many) relates that he consulted every artist, only to avoid 'whatever an artist might recommend'.

Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, said to be based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens (a feature in English gardens since the 1760s), domed glasshouses (originally gilded), even a fairly large Matterhorn as a backing to one of England's earliest Alpine gardens.

Modern theme park

Alton Towers today. The Oblivion roller coaster can be seen on the far right

Alton Towers was opened as a theme park in 1980. It was purchased by The Tussauds Group in 1990. In 2005, Alton Towers was bought by the investment group Dubai International Capital when it purchased Tussauds for £800 million . Today it is notable for its extreme rides, including Nemesis, a roller coaster in which people hang with their legs dangling down (or up as the case may be), and Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop roller coaster. The oldest rollercoaster at the site is Corkscrew built in 1980, a ride with two inversions which many riders find uncomfortable due to its rough track. Another of their coasters, Air, is a flying roller coaster, a coaster in which riders find themselves suspended horizontally facing down, as though flying. It is the first Bolliger & Mabillard coaster of this type. Another breath-taking ride is the Rita - Queen of Speed, which can take riders to 100km/h in approximately 2.5 seconds. It was opened on 1 April 2005, and is located in Ug Land. Inside the towers is the ride Hex, a surreal attraction which is based on a local legend about a chained oak. It is one of Staffordshire’s great legends.

The latest attraction at Alton Towers is Driving School, which is located in Cred Street. This is the second ride built in Cred Street this year, following the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride, which is based on the famous children's book of the same name written by Roald Dahl. Driving School opened on the 17th of July 2006. The ride is for any child under 1.3 m (130 cm) and over 1.0 m (100cm).

Guests can stay at one of two hotels on the site. When Cariba Creek, a water park, was first built, only hotel residents could visit. However, non-residents can now also use the water park with payment of an admission fee .

Rumours are rife that a so-called "Project Dolphin" is being planned for the park, which will represent a massive investment in Alton Towers (where and when this money is being invested is currently unknown, however).

Project Dolphin is Alton Towers' plan to change with the public's needs for extreme entertainment. This could involve moving into completely different realms of entertainment, from adventure golf to ice climbing which are both listed by the Towers as possibilities, along with many more. With DIC rumoured to be investing around £48 million in the towers next year, guests can possibly expect to see some vast improvements.

Due to a recent court battle with 2 local residents, Alton Towers is starting to have problems with its end-of-season fireworks display. However, the towers is still fighting hard to keep them running. The court battle ended in October 2005 leaving Alton Towers with the permission to stage three of the five firework and laser displays. The park now has a noise abatement order in place meaning that it cannot exceed 40 decibels to their nearby neighbour .

Another court battle with local residents resulted in a court injunction which prevents Alton Towers from building any rides above tree height. The local residents argued that the park should not be visible above the surrounding forest as it spoils the landscape. At first it was thought that this would mean Alton Towers would no longer be able to build extreme rollercoasters. This, however has proved not to be the case as the theme park has overcome this problem by building new rides either in man-made ravines in the case of Nemesis or partially underground as in the case of Oblivion.

On July 20, 2006 an accident involving the Runaway Mine Train occurred near the tunnel area of the ride resulting in the closure of Katanga Canyon. It happened when the train split in two with the front section colliding with the back section of the train after the front section had continued forward under its own momentum and subsequently valleyed or "rolled back". Three people were taken to hospital while another 26 were treated for minor injuries. RMT will now be closed until 2007. It was rumoured that Runaway Mine train would receive a retheme for 2007, which may have included a karaoke style theme with speakers and microphones for rides to sing along. In early December the park management announced that this re-theme would not take place.

Future

After years of speculation from enthusiasts and several failed attempts, the park is again attempting to install a wooden coaster. They have released an official statement -

We are pleased to confirm that we are currently working towards a planning application for a medium sized, family orientated, wooden rollercoaster, potentially for the 2008 season.

However, we are still in the early stages of this process with much work to do to ensure that the plan is appropriate to the site and deliverable to our guests. The scale of the planned ride is much smaller than that debated in 2002/2003, and it will sit on the area formerly occupied by The Beast and The Mouse. If it goes ahead, it will provide a valuable additional experience that will further enhance Alton Towers’ reputation as the home of original and unique attractions.

Alton Towers' January 2007 staff newsletter announced plans for the 2007 season, including a new outdoor play area named 'The Dung Heap'(as it will be located in the 'Old MacDonalds Farmyard' area of the park); two new eating outlets, one located in Forbidden Valley and one near UG Land on the site of the 'Hogs Head Bar' which will be removed; and a new walk through attraction that shall be named 'Haunted Hollow'.

Park guide

The park is split into several themed areas. In order clockwise they are:

Towers Street

Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter, themed as a town street, which leads to views of the gardens and the towers. The street contains several shops, including the Towers Trading Co., which sells official park merchandise. Also in the area is the first Skyride station. The Skyride is a cable car system which visitors can use to reach Forbidden Valley, and Ug Land.

Merrie England

An area themed around medieval England. Rides include spinning tea cups and The Flume, a log flume themed around bathtime, with riders sitting in bath tubs. The Flume is sponsored by Cussons Imperial Leather. Also in the area are several gaming sideshows, such as hoop-tossing and basketball hoops, in which prizes can be won. Several food outlets provide food, with the Courtyard Tavern also serving alcohol, as the park's only pub. Also not in use at the moment, but still there, is a 3D cinema.

Katanga Canyon

Rides include the Runaway Mine Train (a powered roller coaster) and the Congo River Rapids. Both are classic well-established rides in the park and meet in a tunnel where the screams of the Runaway Mine Train meet the cheers of the River Rapids. The area hosts Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut stalls with a shared indoor seating area. There is a shop located at the exits of the two rides called Katanga Cargo, hosting 'ancient' tribal themed merchandise as well as the photo stalls for the rides.

Gloomy Wood

The Gloomy Wood is a small, ghosts-and-monsters themed area home to Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!. The ride used to be a normal haunted house ride, but in 2003 it was modified; given laser guns and a scoring system to make it more eye-catching and exciting.

Forbidden Valley

Themed around a post-apocalyptic landscape, with huge rocks and rusty chunks of metal scattering the area. One of the major rides is Nemesis, an inverted roller coaster based around a monster. At the far end of the valley is an "oasis", with calmer colours and plants, where the ride Air, a Bolliger & Mabillard flying coaster, is located. There is also Ripsaw, a top spin ride, and The Blade, a swinging-ship style ride, as well as a Skyride station. This part of the park is not viewable from most of the theme park areas. There are better views available from the monorail and the carpark.

Ug Land

Ug Land is the prehistoric land home to two of Alton's major roller coasters. These are Rita - Queen of Speed, Alton Towers' newest roller coaster, constructed for the 2005 season , and Corkscrew, which was shipped to alton in the very late 1970s making it their oldest coaster . It also features Ug Swinger, a traditional waveswinger ride. There is also the usual range of food outlets and shops.

Cred Street

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Cred Street is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers. There is a wide selection of bouncy castles and ball pits in the Cred Street playground, as well as a cafe and sweet shops. There are four rides in Cred Street; Frog Hopper, Bouncing Bugs, Cred Street Carousel and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride. Another new attraction for 2006; The Peugeot Driving School, for under 10's, opened to guests on Monday 17 July 2006 . The final Skyride station is located at the area's edge.

Toyland Tours used to be located next to Cred Street. It was recently transformed into Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride. The new ride utilises most of Toyland Tours' boat system, which has been altered to allow guests to disembark and continue the ride on foot. The extensive theming is based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and there are several shows during the ride. The ride cost around 4.5 Million pounds (with another 3.5million pounds spent on the licence for the book's storyline). The climax of the ride gives guests the chance to experience the great glass elevator which is used by Willy Wonka and Charlie Bucket.

The Towers

The Towers are what give the park its name, and feature a spooky maze during the Halloween period. Added for the 2000 season was Hex - the Legend of the Towers, an indoor swing ride which made use of the history of the towers, in particularly the legend of a curse which stated that whenever a branch from a specific tree fell, a member of the Earl's family would die.

There is currently a 1.1 million pound project in place to restore the oldest parts of the castle. What will happen to the space when restored is currently unknown, however new rides or tours of the castle are both possibilities.

X-Sector

Oblivion in X-Sector

A futuristically-themed area, X-Sector contains the park's innovative Oblivion ride, a roller coaster in which riders are said to experience a 90 degree drop (although the steepest angle the ride reaches is 87 degrees). The extra-wide roller coaster cars are held hanging over the edge for a few seconds before plunging downwards into a big hole amid mist, and then re-emerging into a heavily banked turn leading back into the station. It was the first vertical drop coaster in the world and was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Its official name is a diving machine.

Also in the area are the Enterprise and Submission thrill rides, and the Black Hole rollercoaster, which features a spiral lift and is entirely indoors, in the dark. This ride has been closed since the 2005 season This has now been sold to a theme park in Brazil and is currently being deconstructed.

Adventure Land

Adventure Land is aimed at visitors between five and ten, and is mainly made up of climbing frames, slides, swings and similar equipment. There are two rides: Beastie, a small, child-friendly roller coaster, and Spinball Whizzer, a Maurer Söhne pinball-themed spinning roller coaster, which is counted as one of the 'bigger' rides.

Storybook Land

Storybook Land is aimed at the youngest visitors, and is themed around fairy tales and other children's stories. It boasts Squirrel Nutty's Ride, a track-based ride which includes story-telling elements, and an ice show that changes every few years.

Old MacDonald's Farmyard

Themed around a traditional farm, this area contains a small petting zoo as well as a few rides for younger visitors, which include Doodle Doo Derby, a farm-themed carousel, and Riverbank Eye Spy, a recently rethemed boat ride. In 2003, the old barn that used to hold the farm animals before the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2000, was converted to a play barn, that houses thousands of small foam balls that are propelled, raised, thrown, dropped and shot.

Facts and figures

• The monorail is from Expo 86 which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia.
• The theme park is home to the world's first vertical drop roller coaster, Oblivion, as well as Nemesis, Europe's first inverted rollercoaster, and Air, the world's first B&M flying rollercoaster.
• The park was featured as an add-on park to Chris Sawyer's RollerCoaster Tycoon.
• The piece of music In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg has become widely associated with the park thanks to its use in Alton Towers marketing campaigns. It is often also heard playing on loudspeakers as one enters the park.

Strange Goings-On

Alton Towers is renowned for its history and the local area has its fair share of ghost stories and legends. The legend of Hex is largely based on a true story and the chained oak tree is still visible today. There have been numerous sightings of orbs and reports of cold spots in several of the park's queues and within the Towers themselves. Alton Towers is regarded by many ghost-hunters as being one of the most haunted locations in Britain and companies such as Fright Nights run ghost tours and overnight ghost hunts of the Towers themselves.

Controversy

Recently, Alton Towers announced a special "Islam( GUPTAS) Day", in which a group of Muslims had reportedly booked the complex for an entire day in which they would perform prayers and other Muslim related activities. This was attacked by critics as an example of political correctness. The same day was booked for holding a wedding celebration prior to the "Islam Day" for a non-Muslim couple, along with their 60 invited guests. The couple learned nine weeks before the day that an "Islam Day" was taking place at the same time. The couple and their guests were allowed to attend the same day, provided they respected the Muslim rules: alcohol, smoking and music were banned and only halal food was served. The day, however, was subsequently cancelled due to a lack of interest.

Alton Towers was the first UK theme park to stage annual "Gay-Days". Once a year the park invites gay and lesbian couples to attend a special over 18s day at the park, where alcohol is provided. This event has been so successful that Thorpe Park, another Tussauds owned park, is hosting its own similar event this year.

They have also successfully held nudist days and hold a world record for the most naked people (32) on a roller coaster.

In October 2006 shortly before the close of that season, 15 out of 19 fast food outlets, and an independently run Kentucky Fried Chicken failed local council health inspections.

See also

• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom

[1]Stephen & Suzanne Roper sue Alton Towers over noise levels
[2]Ropers sucessfully sue over Theme Park noise levels but may have scored an own goal as the ruling also affects the Churchill China factory in Tunstall High Street, of which Mr Roper is chairman.

External links

Official Websites

• Official Alton Towers Website.
• Closely Affliated Site with Up-to-Date News.

• Towers TV - a unique website aiming to bring you a range of dedicated programmes about the UK's most popular theme park, Alton Towers.

Fan Sites

• Towers Nerd - a friendly community with a lot of interesting facts about Alton Towers

Miscellaneous links

• Alton Towers add on for Rollercoaster Tycoon

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