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'Alton Towers' is one of the United Kingdom's most famous theme parks. It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire, on the site of a semi-ruined gothic country house of the same name. The park attracted 2.5 million visitors in 2005.[1] Also on site are two hotels, which are the Alton Towers hotel, and the Splash Landings hotel in which the Cariba Creek indoor/outdoor waterpark is located.
Modern theme park
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 (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800million.[2] The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control.[3]
In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a renewable 35-year lease.
Some of the major rides at Alton Towers include:
★ ''Nemesis, '' the first inverted roller coaster in Europe, built in 1994. The ride was advertised as the "world's most intense roller coaster" upon opening, with a maximum G-force of 4G.
★ ''Oblivion,'' the world's first vertical drop roller coaster, with G-forces of 4.5G.
★ ''Corkscrew'', the oldest roller coaster at Alton Towers, having opened in 1980. The ride includes two inversions.
★ ''Air'', the first B&M flying roller coaster, in which riders are suspended horizontally facing down, as though flying.
★ ''Rita - Queen of Speed'', a launched roller coaster which accelerates to 100 km/h in approximately 2.5 seconds, with G-forces of 4.7G. It was opened on 1 April 2005.
The park is split into many themed areas. The ''Skyride'' is a cable car system which visitors can use to travel between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and Ug Land. The areas in clockwise order:
Towers Street
Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers ruins. The street contains several shops, including the Towers Trading Co., which sells official park merchandise. The first ''Skyride'' station is located nearby.
Merrie England
An area themed around medieval England. Rides include a traditional spinning Tea Cup ride and ''The Flume'', a log flume themed around bathtime, with riders sitting in bath tubs. ''The Flume'' is sponsored by Cussons Imperial Leather. The area contains several gaming sideshows at which prizes can be won, several food outlets and the Courtyard Tavern. This area includes a currently unused 3D Cinema, a McDonald's and a Goalstriker soccer-simulator.
Katanga Canyon
Themed as an adventure area. Rides include the ''Runaway Mine Train'' (a powered roller coaster) and the ''Congo River Rapids''. Both are well-established rides in the park and whose ride tracks share a tunnel. The area has Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut restaurants 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.
Gloomy Wood
The Gloomy Wood is a small, ghosts-and-monsters themed area containing the ride ''Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!''. The ride was originally a non-interactive ride named ''The Haunted House'', but was upgraded in 2003 with laser-based plastic guns to shoot LED lights scattered around the rooms and monsters, with each player's score displayed on a digital display in the ride car to encourage competitive play. New for 2007 is ''Haunted Hollow'' an outdoor walk-through following part of the route taken by the old railway, linking from Merrie England to Gloomy Wood, along the route tombstones and other scary items make noises and special effects are used to great effect.[4]
Forbidden Valley
Themed around a post-apocalyptic landscape, with large rocks and rusty pieces of metal and machinery scattering the area and also waterfalls coloured red to look like blood. One of the major rides is ''Nemesis'', an inverted roller coaster based around a monster. At the end of the valley is an "oasis", with calmer colours and plants, where the ride ''Air'', a Bolliger & Mabillard flying coaster, is located. Also in the area are the ''Ripsaw'' and ''The Blade'' thrill rides. This area contains a ''Skyride'' station.
Ug Land
Ug Land is a prehistoric/neanderthal themed area containing two of the park's major roller coasters. These are ''Rita - Queen of Speed (notable for its drag racing theme clashes with the area's prehistoric theme)''[5] and ''Corkscrew'', which was shipped to the park in the late 1970s, making it their oldest roller coaster. It also features ''Ug Swinger'', a traditional 'waveswinger' ride. There is also a range of food outlets and shops. This area contains a 'Skyride' station.
Cred Street
Cred Street is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers, and is themed with bright colours. There is a wide selection of bouncy castles and ball pits in the Cred Street playground.. There are four rides in Cred Street especially suitable for younger children; ''Frog Hopper'', ''Bouncing Bugs'', ''Cred Street Carousel'' and ''. Added in 2006; (which is suitable for all ages)''The Peugeot Driving School'', for under 10s, opened to guests on 17 July 2006.[6]. The area includes a McDonald's as well as a café and sweet shop. The final ''Skyride'' station in Ug Land is located at the area's edge.
The Towers
The Towers ruins are from what the park derives its name, and has sometimes featured a spooky maze during the Halloween period. Added for the 2000 season was the ride ''Hex - the Legend of the Towers'' within the ruins itself, an indoor swing ride which made use of the history of the Towers. The story for the ride is based on one of Staffordshire’s great legends about a chained oak.
There is currently a £1.1million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the castle. It is currently unknown how the completed renovations will be used.
X-Sector
Oblivion in X-Sector
Previously called ''Fantasy World''. A futuristic themed area, X-Sector contains the innovative ''Oblivion'' ride, a roller coaster in which riders experience an 87 degree drop (the world's first roller coaster to do this). The extra-wide roller coaster cars are held hanging over the edge for a few seconds before dropping downwards under gravity into a large hole amid mist, and then re-emerging into a heavily banked turn leading back into the station. The area features a Kentucky Fried Chicken and Pizza Hut outlet, and a Goalstriker soccer-simulation installation close by. Its many amenities continue the theme, including by name, for example, Xpose Photos (run by Pixsolve), Xcite Arcade (run by HBL) and X-sell Shop. Also in the area are the ''Enterprise'' and ''Submission'' thrill rides. Blackhole's tent is also situated in X-Sector awaiting to be used for future development.
Adventure Land
Adventure Land is aimed at visitors between the ages of five and ten, and consists mainly of climbing frames, slides, swings and similar equipment. There are two rides: ''Beastie'', a small roller coaster, and ''Spinball Whizzer'', a Maurer Söhne pinball-themed spinning roller coaster. The area also contains a food outlet.
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 re-themed boat ride. In 2003, the old barn that used to hold the farm animals before the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001, was converted to a play barn called 'Ribena Berry Bish Bash', that contains thousands of small foam balls that are propelled, raised, thrown, dropped and shot. New for 2007 is the new themed area called 'There's Something in the Dungheap', an area specially for youngsters, with zip lines, climbing frames and a picnic area.
Past rides
Many roller coasters have been replaced since the original opening.
The attraction whose removal caused the biggest controversy was a single-loop roller coaster called ''Thunder Looper'', manufactured by Schwarzkopf, which was constructed in 1990 but lasted for only 6 years. It was removed mainly due to the fact that Alton Towers only obtained a temporary planning agreement and later height restrictions placed on the park and problems with the high level of sound the ride produced made it certain permanent planning permission would not be granted.[7] ''Thunder Looper'' stood in the area Thunder Valley, which is now Forbidden Valley.
The ''Black Hole'' featured a spiral lift and was contained entirely within a permanent tent structure that made some sections of the ride completely dark. This ride was closed in March 2005 and has been sold to an undisclosed theme park in Brazil. The sale was attributed to rising maintenance costs and new health and safety requirements requiring evacuation stairs on the spiral lift that could not be accommodated within the tent structure. As of August 2007 the tent structure which used to hold The Black Hole is still in place in its original location in the X-Sector area.
In common with most major parks, there was also a miniature railway line. It ran through the forest, and was one of the first attractions built after World War Two. It was a 2-foot gauge line equipped with Baguley locomotives, which although steam-outline in appearance were in fact powered by diesel engines. It closed in 1996, by which time this once-popular ride had been displaced by the Skyride cable-cars. It was gradually removed afterwards, and is now covered in part by the Haunted Hollow walk-through, some remnants of the railway can still be seen at various points in the forest.
List of past rides
★ Around The World In 80 Days
★ Toyland Tours
★
★ Alton Beast
★ Alton Mouse
★ Dinosaurs
★ Space Boat
★ Magic Carpet
★ Alpine Bob Sled
★
★ Corkscrew
★ Cred Street Carousel
★ Enterprise
★ Hex
★ The Flume
★ Nemesis
★ Oblivion
★ Ug Swinger
★ Ripsaw
★ Rita - Queen Of Speed
★ Runaway Mine Train
★ Submission
★ Congo River Rapids
Future
The park made the following announcement late in 2006, although it now appears that no wooden rollercoaster will be built for the 2008 season:
[8]:
Plans were released a while ago for a Hotel extension and a brand new water slide at the Resort, both looked to be promising but with the recent take over from Merlin, it looks as if the plans for both of these have been withdrawn.
There are rumours floating around the park concerning the future. The main one is that 2008 will see something in the old Blackhole tent, with either Spinball being re-located inside the tent, or a Eurofighter. The Eurofighter is said to go outside the tent for the start and finish but the main ride will be inside. Another strong rumour is a 5D cinema behind Cred St and The Blade is to be relocated there.
There are new rumors recently relased from Alton Towers' own staff magazine entitled "The Source" which have made there way onto the internet discussing the possibility of a Merrie England area re-theme. This has been called "Project Penzance", and will have what appears to be a pirate theme. There will be two new rides, and the tea cups ride will also be re-themed to fit the areas new theme. These rides are strongly rumored to be a "Splash Battle" ride on the site of the Splash Karts, and also a flat ride or theater of sorts. This is still in the planning at the moment, but scheduled to be finished for the 2008 season.
Hotels
Two hotels are on the site, The Splash Landings Hotel and the Alton Towers Hotel. The Splash Landings hotel is a combination hotel and water park. The water park, Cariba Creek, is also open to the public.[9] In 2007, near the Splash Landings hotel, Alton Towers opened Extraordinary Golf, 2 nine hole themed golf courses. As with Cariba Creek, this facility is aimed at the general public as well as park and hotel guests.[10]
Alleged paranormal activity
Alton Towers is known for its history and the local area has many ghost stories and legends. The legend of the ride ''Hex'' is based on the local legend of the chained oak tree. There have been numerous purported sightings of orbs and reports of cold Spots in several of the park's queues and within the Towers' ruins 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. An episode of Most Haunted, which was filmed at the Towers' ruins and aired on 30 January 2007, showed apparent paranormal activity including stones being thrown at one of the presenters from an unknown source.
History of the gardens
.JPG)
Alton Towers in 1880
As an example of the mixed style of Humphry Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, ''circa'' 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.
Controversy
★ The theme park received some press for its proposal to tag guests with RFID wristbands in order that they be tracked and filmed by cameras as they move around the park. Although it is intended to be optional and used for providing personalised video of a visitors day, the media reacted to the privacy implications and Big Brother scenario.[11]
★ A marketing strategy encouraging workers to call in absent in order to visit the theme park was heavily criticised by business groups.[12]
★ Relations with the local community were harmed when Alton Towers significantly reduced the amount of free tickets it provides to local residents as compensation for the heavy traffic the theme park attracts to the small local village roads.[13]
★ Due to a court battle with two local residents, Suzanne and Stephen Roper, Alton Towers is having problems with its end-of-season fireworks display, which is a very popular event with customers and an important date on the season calendar. However, the towers is attempting to keep them running. The court battle ended in October 2005 leaving Alton Towers with 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 neighbours.[14]
★ 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 woodland as it spoils the landscape. At first it was thought that this would mean Alton Towers would no longer be able to build extreme roller coasters. This 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. The train separated into two, with the two sections colliding after the first section rolled back (or "valleyed"). Three people were taken to hospital while another 26 were treated for minor injuries.[15] The ride remained closed until 2007.
★ The park was subject to media coverage over its decision to slaughter its livestock from the Old McDonald's Farmyard area due to the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in 2001[16]. The slaughter was deemed necessary as the park would have been unable to open to the public if the animals remained, and livestock movement restrictions prevented them from being removed from the theme park itself. The RSPCA criticised the action, saying other options should have been examined.[17]
★ Alton Towers announced a special "Islam 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.[18] This was attacked by critics as an example of political correctness.[19] 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.[20] The day, however, was subsequently cancelled due to a lack of interest.
★ In October 2006, 15 out of 19 fast food outlets, and an independently run Kentucky Fried Chicken failed local council health inspections.[21]
Facts and figures
The Von Roll monorail transports visitors from the car park to the main entrance.
★ The Charlie and the Chocolate Factory ride cost approx. £4.5million (with another £3.5million spent on licensing the book's storyline).
★ Receives 2.5 million visitors per year[22].
★ The monorail is from Expo 86 which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia.
★ The theme park is home to several "world's firsts": vertical drop roller coaster, ''Oblivion'', as well as ''Nemesis'', Europe's first inverted rollercoaster, and ''Air'', the world's first flying rollercoaster.
★ The park was featured as a downloadable add-on to Chris Sawyer's RollerCoaster Tycoon.
★ The 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 over the PA system at the park entrance and inside the Skyride cable-cars.
References
1. Visitor numbers to Local Attractions (around Stoke), ''thedms.co.uk.''
2. Dubai firm buys Tussauds
3. Tussauds firm bought in £1bn deal
4. Alton Towers: New for 2007 http://www.alton-towers.co.uk/resort/newfor2007.asp
5. End of era for Alton Towers ride
6. Coming soon … the first ‘drive of your life’
7. Alton Towers Past Rides: Thunder Looper
8. Alton Towers - Future, themeparks-uk.com. Retrieved May 23, 2007
9. Alton Towers Waterpark - Cariba Creek opening times & pricing
10. ''Extraordinary Golf'' Alton Towers website. Retrieved May 23, 2007.
11. Theme park visitors can be tagged
12. Theme park 'pushing absenteeism'
13. Villagers lose free ride ticket
14. Fireworks go-ahead for theme park
15. Dozens hurt on Alton Towers ride
16. Animals killed at Alton Towers
17. Alton Towers cull 'breached trust'
18. Alton Towers booked for Muslims only day
19. Britain’s Muslims at Alton Towers
20. Couple's Alton Towers wedding in the balance after clash with Muslim fun day Chris Brooke
21. Theme park food units criticised
22. BT Case Study
See also
★ List of theme parks in the United Kingdom
External links
★ Official website
★ Roller Coaster Database Alton Towers entry
★ Reviews and features of past and current Halloween events at Alton Towers
★ Stafford Tourism Bureau http://www.visitstafford.org
★ Heraldry at Alton Towers
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