Alton Towers Discussion Thread

[neovortex2k]

Can't wait to see this ride open!

I love all the hype and the marketing. I know the "restrictions" will change.

 

Does anyone not think this is just a hyped and supped up ghost train??!!

[Steelinwood]

Whats cool about this, their constant use of scenery and man made valleys will definitely help complement the dark and scary theme. It truly is a win-win situation. I was not aware however that there are noise restrictions. Is it because of the local hotels and stuff?

[stuartnz]

^Thank you! If they made man-made valleys, this could work to their advantage and make bigger rides in huge holes!

 

(Oblivion doesn't count)

You mean... kind of like Nemesis?

[B&Mmmmm]

^^ I'm not totally sure, but I think theres probably multiple factors in Alton Towers noise restrictions. I know that one of the main reasons the Thunderlooper needed to be removed was because the noise it was producing was disturbing nearby cattle!

 

But Alton's residents have earned a notorious reputation for complaining often About traffic and noise most often. Their complaints about noise are very frequent, recently moaning about Nemesis B & M roar (Although I think that's a lovely sound ). The nearby residents complaints (While somewhat valid, I wouldn't want to have to put up with hearing people screaming 10 hours a day...) have caused whole plans to be rejected, sound effects removed from Oblivion and have sued Alton Towers countless times. So there's multiple reasons for sound restrictions at Alton Towers, but the biggest cause is the local residents

 

 

 

^ Nemesis is an even better example than Oblivion for Alton Towers holes I think. The valley you see with Nemesis in now used to just be another hill, but Alton dug out the entire hillside to fit in that wonderful coaster And let's not forget that Air also had a suprisingly large amount of digging work done to it too: http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/articles/sw5/march2001.htm

[StealthFan]

Well the noise complaints were more then justified due to a wheel change that made the ride almost twice as loud as it normally is.

 

The thing that needs to be remembered is the deeper you dig a hole the more you have to reinforce the sides to prevent a cave in, there for costing alot of money.

 

At the end of the day Alton have done very well with the restrictions imposed on them and you can fault them for it. I mean this ride has a tyre lift on it which will reduce sound dramtically.

 

-Craig

[Dobba]

recently moaning about Nemesis B & M roar (Although I think that's a lovely sound ).

 

As lovely a sound that is to us themepark goers it was ridiculously loud at the beginning of the season, you could hear it from the Duel queue when we went

[B&Mmmmm]

^ Absolutely. When I went much earlier this year it was like a jet fighter plane or something! I remember me and my family standing in the gardens, hearing Nemesis and arguing about what that insane noise was!

As a park visitor it added to Nemesis' atmopsphere and scariness, but if I was a local resident and had to put up with it for 12 hours a day every day for 3 months it's probably gone beyond an annoyance and worthy of a complaint :l

 

Thankfully Alton have took sound into large consideration for this ride. The tyre driven hill, the tests they ran at Thorpe Park for sound levels and (correct me if I'm wrong) saying they would use trees as a "natural sound barrier" on the ride? Although I dare to say we may be drifting a bit far off topic now lol =/

[Dobba]

Slightly outdated picture now but gives you an idea of how the station will look:

 

[CorkscrewFoley]

Wasn't the noise restriction part of the reason too they weren't able to build the valley woodie?

[SharkTums]

Does anyone have a good 'overview' shot of the area and ride completed so far?

[Dobba]

Does anyone have a good 'overview' shot of the area and ride completed so far?

We're reliant on the park to upload photos I'm afraid. They did post a set of photos from a crane just after the track was completed though.

 

[SharkTums]

^Thanks! Is the park open to guests at all before the opening of the new ride? Or is the next time the park is open in March with 13?

[Dobba]

^Thanks! Is the park open to guests at all before the opening of the new ride? Or is the next time the park is open in March with 13?

Park opens in Feb for the school half term week though the area in question will be shut off. If the Towers complex itself is open for visitors though, photos will be available by the truck load.

 

There is also the Thirteen event weekend though I doubt we'll see any photos from that online until after the ride opens.

[B&Mmmmm]

I don't know if this counts as what you mean by an overview, but it gives a good impression of the rides setting I suppose

 

 

And @ Corkscrewfoley: Yeah, the cross valley wooden coaster was rejected because of issues with the rides height, concerns about noise and (I think, but am not certain) because of how many trees needed to be removed to make way for the ride.

(Not my picture) It's a combination of an overhead image and the planned layout.

[Steelinwood]

^ That definitely gave me a better idea of the layout. Thanks!

[StealthFan]

Okay on a side note here. Can anyone who is planning to, or who is going to the TH13TEEN preview weekend please PM me.

 

Thanks,

 

-Craig

[themeparkologist]

That arial was definetly needed for me because I could not comprehend the scale of the plan to real life. Thank you!

[Trevor]

Does this image reveals it all?

 

[Dobba]

TTF Member Wes put together this image and details using the concepts released way back when this ride was just a rumour and the plans we've seen since:

 

 

Thought I'd put something together to give us all an idea as to what the theming of this ride would look like. So basically, I just brought together the plans, for the layout and themeing (entrance/station) along with the concepts. Each letter of the image corresponds to the whereabouts on the layout of the plans.

 

A - The station. More than likely changed from what we've seen. Big tree becoming the main part of the station? Could more be changing?

 

B - The entrance gates - once again, from what we've seen, could they not be as gothic and ruined as shown? Its clear they have changed, but how much more will they change?

 

C - This was a concept image released last year. The image clearly shows an indoor tilting section. Its also shows the track coming from the forest, a hole in the celing, falling into fire, vines on the walls. Could this be close to what we're going to be seeing next year?

 

D - Had a bit of a revelation with image D the other day. It shows some over banked turns coming through the woods, why looked not too dis-similar to this image

 

Could we be seeing vines, scafolding and pillars in the wooded section? Afterall, the area in the woods seems sparce.

 

E - This appears to show track appearing from the roots of a free from underground - Could this be something to do with the burried helix behind the station? Will it be under cover and feel as if you are appears from a tree?

 

And finally ...

 

F - Could this be the section as you exit the station initially? This seems to have a sharp bend, not too dis-similar from when you exit the track.

[Rollercoaster5000]

Those were only concept artwork. The plans may have changed.

[Steelinwood]

They must be expecting alot of lines for this ride. Look at the distance from the station to the entrance. Also as some of you have said, I wouldn't put to much stock into the other images. Overall, even more great pics!

[cmpunk771]

From alton towers i can confirm that SpinbalL Wizzer is now, SONIC SPINBALL!

At the end of last season news came out from the European Coaster Club that Spinball Whizzer would have its name changed for the 2010 season. It was also noticed that Spinball Whizzer medals, available from Towers Trading, were slashed to just 50p. This sparked much speculation surrounding the future of Spinball Whizzer and the possibility of a Sonic the Hedgehog re-theme for the ride.

 

With news getting out that the track had started to undergo a re-paint it seemed to the liken the possibility even further and today it has been confirmed. Towers Times spotted the re-themed cars, featuring Sonic's head, on promotional material found inside the Alton Towers hotel. We can also confirm that signage for the ride is ready to go up, which would make sense as the ride is due to be open during the park's February half term event.

 

The character has previously been featured at Alton Towers in the Toyland Tours attraction, and a new Sonic game is due out this year.

 

From TowersNerd.com

 

What do you guys think, Fail or Good move?

[piers]

At the end of last season news came out from the European Coaster Club that Spinball Whizzer would have its name changed for the 2010 season. It was also noticed that Spinball Whizzer medals, available from Towers Trading, were slashed to just 50p. This sparked much speculation surrounding the future of Spinball Whizzer and the possibility of a Sonic the Hedgehog re-theme for the ride.

 

With news getting out that the track had started to undergo a re-paint it seemed to the liken the possibility even further and today it has been confirmed. Towers Times spotted the re-themed cars, featuring Sonic's head, on promotional material found inside the Alton Towers hotel. We can also confirm that signage for the ride is ready to go up, which would make sense as the ride is due to be open during the park's February half term event.

 

The character has previously been featured at Alton Towers in the Toyland Tours attraction, and a new Sonic game is due out this year.

 

I would have loved this when Sonic was a decent character. It should look really cool though, saying that, I kind of liked it how it was.

The park map should look very different this year though!

[Manny In England]

Worst idea, characters are nice at Disney parks, but I never liked Beano being at Chessington, Woody the Woodpecker being at Port Aventura (If I remember correctly) and I don't like this. Even a bad original theme is better because Alton's always been doing its own thing (predominantly) and its always worked out great.

 

It's not even like this is an expiring contract like licensing Imperial Leather on the log flume, they see this as an improvement, was there any need to change things? Maybe if it was a more mature theme they were implementing, I'd be more okay with it.

 

Oh well, it's not that bad, it's not like they're spoiling Nemesis or anything.

[Dobba]

The park map should look very different this year though!

 

Definitely with the Spinball retheme now confirmed on top of the expected Rita/Ug Land retheme and of course the addition of Thirteen there will be alot of "New" badges on the 2010 park map.

 

2 other bits of news Alton Towers wise.

 

First the logo on the official website has changed to a 30 year anniversary one. Even though the site has been used as an attraction since the 1800's it is considered by the majority that the park got it's "themepark" status with the opening of Corkscrew in 1980.

 

Secondly (again from the official site) Extraordinary Golf, the parks miniature golf course, is to be closed between Monday 11th and Friday 15th of January "for essential works to make the experience even more extraordinary". Whether this means just routine maintenance or the retheming of the few now outdated holes I guess we'll have to see.