Alton Towers

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Alton Towers Resort
Alton Towers

Alton Towers

place Staffordshire , EnglandUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom 
opening 1814
Visitors 1.9 million (2015)
surface 370 hectares
Website www.altontowers.com
Alton Towers Resort (United Kingdom)
Alton Towers Resort
Alton Towers Resort
Location of the park

Coordinates: 52 ° 59 ′ 13 ″  N , 1 ° 52 ′ 57 ″  W.

Alton Towers is probably the most famous theme park in the UK . It is north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire, right next to an old property of the same name.

History of the gardens

The gardens were founded around 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury , and from that time on, Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss cottage, a Stonehenge , a Dutch garden, a pagoda fountain, which on the To Ho Pagoda is said to be based in Canton , Lysicrates Choragic Monument from Athens , vaulted glass houses (originally gilded) and even a rather large Matterhorn as the backdrop for one of the first rock gardens in England .

The modern theme park

Nemesis

Alton Towers was bought by the Tussauds Group in 1990 and is known today for its extraordinary rides , such as the inverted coaster Nemesis , Oblivion , the world's first roller coaster with an almost vertical (87 °) descent, and Air , a roller coaster that is driven while lying down (" Flying Coaster "). The oldest roller coaster was Corkscrew , a roller coaster with two inversions , manufactured by Vekoma , which was one of the oldest of its kind. In early October 2008, the park officially announced that the roller coaster would be shut down and demolished at the end of the 2008 season after 28 years of operation. The railway was passed with a special opening on November 9, 2008. There is also Rita , who accelerates from 0 to 98 km / h in 2.5 seconds, but only has a travel time of 25 seconds.

There is also an attraction with Hex that takes up the myths about the towers and their history.

A gondola with stops at Forbidden Valley, Towers Street and Cloud Cuckoo Land crosses the park.

A water park and two hotels complete the park's offerings.

Chronicle of the attractions
year action attraction
1980 opening Corkscrew, The Blade
1981 opening The Flume
1983 opening Black Hole, Beastie
1984 opening Enterprise
1988 renaming Black Hole → New Black Hole
1989 renaming New Black Hole → Black Hole II
1990 opening Thunderlooper
1990 renaming Black Hole II → Black Hole
1992 opening Runaway Mine Train
1994 opening Nemesis
1995 opening Energizer
1996 closure Thunderlooper
1997 opening Ripsaw
1998 opening Oblivion
2001 renaming Energizer → Bone Shaker
2002 opening Air
2004 opening Spinball Whizzer
2004 closure Bone Shaker
2005 opening Rita - Queen Of Speed
2005 closure Black Hole
2009 closure Corkscrew
2009 remodeling Spinball Whizzer → Sonic Spinball
2010 opening Thirteen
2010 renaming Rita Queen of Speed ​​→ Rita
2010 closure Beastie
2013 opening The Smiler
2013 closure Submission
2015 closure Ripsaw, The Flume
2016 closure Ice Age: The 4D Experience
2018 opening Wicker man
2019 opening Alton Towers Dungeon
2019 opening Peter Rabbit Hippity Hop

roller coaster

Former roller coasters

Visitor numbers

Development of visitor numbers

accident

In June 2015 there was a serious accident at the roller coaster The Smiler , in which 16 passengers were injured because two cars on the roller coaster collided, five of which were seriously injured. Two women had their legs amputated in the hospital. The train has been running again since the start of the 2016 season. Alton Towers was sentenced to a fine of the equivalent of 5.8 million euros.

Web links

Commons : Alton Towers  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Remarks

  1. ↑ In the period from 1995–2015 (sources: Global Attractions Attendance Reports, among others)

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Global Attractions Attendance Report 2015. (PDF) TEA, accessed on December 25, 2016 (English).
  2. ↑ Goodbye to the Corkscrew ( Memento of October 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
  3. ^ Salvador Anton Clavé: The global Theme Park Industry. 2007, p. 65, Global Attractions Attendance Report 2006 ( Memento of April 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) (PDF, English), Global Attractions Attendance Report 2007. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2008. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2009. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2010. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2011. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2012. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2013. (PDF) TEA, accessed on March 10, 2016 (English). , Global Attractions Attendance Report 2014. (PDF) TEA, accessed on January 16, 2016 (English). Global Attractions Attendance Report 2015. (PDF) TEA, accessed on November 23, 2016 (English).
  4. ↑ Alton Towers reopens “The Smiler” in 2016 after a serious accident. In: Parkerlebnis - Freizeitpark-Magazin. Retrieved October 30, 2016 .
  5. ↑ Breakdown in a British amusement park: Roller coaster passengers get stuck for minutes at a height of ten meters . In: Spiegel Online . July 24, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed July 24, 2019]).
  6. ↑ Alton Towers announces "The Smiler" reopening after a serious accident at the start of the 2016 season. In: Parkerlebnis - Freizeitpark-Magazin. Retrieved October 30, 2016 .
  7. ^ Alton Towers - General news topic. In: Parkerlebnis - Freizeitpark-Magazin. Retrieved October 30, 2016 .