Alton Towers' Next Big Thing?

[Swat]

The level of investment recently from Merlin across the majority of their portfolio is really exciting! We will basically know the investment plans for the next 3-5 years for Alton by the end of this year!

 

[God have mercy]

I'd go for a Vekoma multi dimensional coaster similar to GOTG Cosmic Rewind but with an original theme and not an expensive IP.

With this for Nostalgia I'd almost want them bring back the black hole but in the 21st century. Have it space themed and grand. Can have some screens and scenery. Have helixes. It can fit the family thrill market. Have it as a 1.2 metre ride and it be like no other ride in Europe.

 

[JoshC.]

Indoor ride is good, won't say no to that. One of my little bugbears which I hope doesn't crop up is that I would love it to have an indoor (or at least well covered) queue line. Much is said about how it's good to have indoor rides in the UK because of the weather, but it's a fact that is forgotten when you queue outside to get on it anyway. Whatever the ride too, I hope the building is designed to cope with all temperatures, hot and cold.

Could be a very exciting attraction to follow whilst being constructed. A planning application shouldn't need to show / talk about plans for what's inside the building, so we could very much be going in blind as goons as to what they'd be building too. Doesn't happen all that often for UK parks!

 

[roomraider]

Judging by this last summer and my stupidly hot flat I'd be happy with a ride sponsered by an air conditioner manafacturer. A trackless darkride that just moves around a room set at 15 degrees C for 10mins would be lovely.

 

[spicy]

Judging by this last summer and my stupidly hot flat I'd be happy with a ride sponsered by an air conditioner manafacturer. A trackless darkride that just moves around a room set at 15 degrees C for 10mins would be lovely.

Sounds slow.

 

[CrashCoaster]

So funnily enough, Intamin posted this to their YT channel today:-

I could see the new ride being something like this, and I think it'd be easily marketable. My only concern is that the building would need to be around 30m tall to house it, but I think it could be possible if they dug a pit. I'd really like to see something like this or a Flying Theatre, personally. Merlin just can't seem to make amazing tracked dark rides.

 

[cocoa]

I heard this ride will be themed to cherub, the YA book series about british child spies and snogging

 

[AidanCKY]

Something similar to GOTG but obviously smaller would be great. In that location it could be themed to something more family orientated and still be great.

 

[HighExtreme]

Just to echo a few people’s thoughts, its amazingly refreshing to be able to speculate on what this could be. Ticked off Axis, RMC, Flying Theatre but waiting for Intamin Aquatrax to get called on my rumour bingo card.

I’m kind of doing a slight concern though, that we may just get mega projects and nothing in between, other than the seasonal events.

In the long run this approach would be much better if we think of a scenario like how Phantasialand manages their additions, but in the short term there’s a lot of impending gaps to the line up.

Nemesis is overdue her break, Enterprise and Hex are dying slow painful deaths and the abomination that is retro squad must be due to leave, while I’m sure we can all agree its been great to have the capacity and kinetic energy of the flat rides, their presentation/execution is simply offensive.

There needs to be a plan to properly fill the gaps, or more, heal the scars on the Enterprise, Submission, Ripsaw and Ug Swinger plots. 

Recommissioning Sub Terra may seem like a good distraction for all of 5 minutes, until hopefully somebody remembers it was closed as it was as entertaining as dishwater.

 

[EDjanaika]

Just to echo a few people’s thoughts, its amazingly refreshing to be able to speculate on what this could be. Ticked off Axis, RMC, Flying Theatre but waiting for Intamin Aquatrax to get called on my rumour bingo card.

I’m kind of doing a slight concern though, that we may just get mega projects and nothing in between, other than the seasonal events.

In the long run this approach would be much better if we think of a scenario like how Phantasialand manages their additions, but in the short term there’s a lot of impending gaps to the line up.

Nemesis is overdue her break, Enterprise and Hex are dying slow painful deaths and the abomination that is retro squad must be due to leave, while I’m sure we can all agree its been great to have the capacity and kinetic energy of the flat rides, their presentation/execution is simply offensive.

There needs to be a plan to properly fill the gaps, or more, heal the scars on the Enterprise, Submission, Ripsaw and Ug Swinger plots. 

Recommissioning Sub Terra may seem like a good distraction for all of 5 minutes, until hopefully somebody remembers it was closed as it was as entertaining as dishwater.

Honestly I can see the retrosquad returning for 1 final season next year as we'll be missing Nemesis but maybe they'll be gone after?! We've already seen blue markers around enterprise so you never know

 

[jasone]

Does anyone know if the public consultation for this has been moved due to the Queens funeral tomorrow? If so, do we know a new date?

I'm really interested to see whats going to happen at this public consultation. I do find it hard to believe they'd have a consultation for something that was just going to be a straight up dark ride in a relatively low building/structure. I know the area of the park has obviously been a point of contention before, so maybe thats why, but without wanting to add to the rumour mill too much (although slightly enjoying it on this quiet sunday when I have nothing better to do) i can't help but think it's going to be something that has the potential to make noise/cause more of an issue that your average dark ride building. Perhaps bigger in scale.

So because i'm bored, here are my hopes and thoughts... with the timing of this working with when we'd expect to see Alton looking to their next coaster, and them doing a public consultation akin to thorpes, I am (maybe hopefully) leaning towards this being an indoor coaster with dark ride sections. And perhaps the masochistic part of me is enjoying thinking of all the possibilities of coaster types that could work (probably only to be let down in the long run) and what Alton would be looking for in their next investment.

If it's a dark ride/coaster hybrid, ideally you'd be looking for a ride system that can offer a better view of show scenes/themeing, something akin to cosmic rewind with Vekoma's ride system. However, as was mentioned earlier in this thread, i think that system is only able to be used by Disney, developed for Disney. And Alton definitely are not in a position to splurge for their own ride system, or go for anything truly groundbreaking in my opinion that we haven't heard of before.

They'd also want it be high capacity, capable of an exciting ride experience (and possibly more intense considering their last coaster was more family based) without needing to be too large/high so it can stay within a building/below tree height. They'd also want it be something we haven't seen in the UK so they can market the hell out of it and it has a USP for the GP. And they'd want it to be reliable (so probably wouldn't risk an axis or anything untried/tested unless it was from a manufacturer they had a good working relationship with).

Knowing that Merlin do often do multiple deals with manufacturers, and have obviously done a deal with B&M with the Legoland/Chessington wing coasters, this got me thinking. I don't think this coaster (if it is a coaster!!) will be a B&M. I don't think B&M offer a ride type that would suit Alton for this, particularly if it's going to be indoors. However, we do know Merlin are working with Mack rides on Thorpes hyper coaster, all being well. Now we haven't seen Merlin build a large scale thrill coaster from Mack rides yet, but Macks reputation is growing and their new coasters are proving they are capable of delivering (Icon being an example). They are also a company whose rides are seen as pretty reliable with little downtime.

So if i was working at Merlin and was in touch with Mack rides already, and was considering what this company offer that could be suitable for Alton Towers having had discussions already about Thorpe, i think my go to here, to discuss at least, would be the option of an extreme spinner. It ticks a lot of boxes for Alton. An inverting spinner is something we haven't seen in the UK. You could keep it pretty low to stay inside a building, and it could still offer a great exciting ride due to the nature of it's ride system (Ride to Happiness is literally my number 1 and it barely tops 100 feet). It offers those views that could work for dark ride sections, without needing a ride system that is new/risky/expensive or overcomplicated. I believe the height requirement for an extreme spinner is around 1.3m which sits perfectly well in Altons line up, providing a thrill coaster for those younger guests who can't quite get on Nemmy/Oblivion/Galactica/Rita etc. And finally we know Mack are reliable.

I've probably just talked myself into this I know, and its probably unlikely I know, but for me this would be a great fit. It would also mean they can remove spinball at some point (which will be 20 years old in 2024) and free that area up for future development. As a last note, I'd love Alton to do something similar to what Worlds of Fun are doing with Zambezi Zinger, and create a homage to one of their past rides, Black Hole, in an area previously known as coaster corner. Heck, maybe the retro squad have got Alton feeling a little nostalgic... Just imagine Black Hole, now reimagined, with a mack extreme spinner tucked away inside... now that would be perfect. >.<

Anyway, my sunday rambling for you!

 

[rob666]

Postponed.
No new date set as far as we are aware, it is a local consultation, but lots of things are to be announced from Tuesday.

 

[Matt N]

Postponed.
No new date set as far as we are aware, it is a local consultation, but lots of things are to be announced from Tuesday.

Out of interest, Rob; what sort of “things” do you mean?

Do you mean theme park things, or things within wider society?

 

[rob666]

Everything in general, political and business wise.
Nothing until Tuesday from most businesses.

 

[fartsalad]

I agree with you.

It would be really hard for Merlin to market the Axis, and also create an immersive experience. As we know with Wickerman, the advertising was not as popular as they thought it would be, especially when they talked about wood and fire fusing. So when it would come to advertising an Axis, they couldn't really call it a 4D coaster or a spinning coaster, in my opinion it isn't either, to me it is a spinning car on the end of a stick attached to a normal coaster car. Plus, it's not like the coaster can do that impressive elements because of intensity and that lot, so it would be a stupid idea for Merlin to add one to Towers.

We all now know that Merlin has signed a massive multi - coaster deal with B&M which does include the Nemesis re-track, so could we possibly see a new Surf Coaster at Towers? This would be easy to market as it would be the first Stand - Up coaster since 1994 in the UK. We saw this marketing style with Wickerman as it was the first new wooden coaster in the UK for 21 years. It would be a sensible move, as Alton do have most of the different models on offer from B&M except from a Wing, Surf/Stand - Up, Family Invert, Sit-Down and Floorless.

Going through them models, starting with the Wing Coaster: they couldn't get one because both Thorpe and Chessington will have one, and they couldn't really build one at Alton because you have both a Launched Shuttle Wing Coaster at Chessington, which takes away the unique factor, and then you have The Swarm at Thorpe which is a highly themed and large Wing Coaster that takes away the high themed aspect of that model.

Then we move onto the Family Invert, and as much as we want and probably need a new family coaster at Alton, one that has nice, happy theming, unlike the fabulous Intamin Multi - Dimension Coaster at the back of the park. And as much as they already have an invert, being Nemesis, it would be a nice addition but would not live up to the Secret Weapon and Technological Advancement Status that our dearest Wardley has teased.

Next, I'm going to join both the Sit-Down and Floorless as they are practically the same model, just with different trains. It seems that these models have been made redundant as Gerstlauer, Vekoma and Intamin have come along and have revolutionised the multi - looping coaster, taking away that thunder from B&M. Also, with Alton having The Smiler, which is very much being an inversion intensive ride, it would make a B&M Sit-Down/Floorless seem redundant in the line up.

That brings me onto the B&M Surf Coaster, which could fill two main gaps in Alton's line up. Firstly, it would fill the gap of a stand-up position ride at Alton and offer another unique seating/standing position on a coaster in the line up. It would fit with the Invert (Nemesis), Flyer (Galactica/Air), Dive (Oblivion). The second gap it would fill is a multi-launch coaster that has 2 or even more launches, and I know what you are thinking, but once High Surf opens at Seaworld and possibly another opening in the next few years it will show that it gives parks a chance to fill 2 gaps in one coaster. Also, once we see how High Surf works out, it will allow B&M to experiment more by adding more launches and also some more daring elements never before used by their highness.

Conclusion, it is a very controversial idea, and I do know how you will respond but it is a serious idea and we know how much Mr John Wardley likes working with B&M and is probably nagging on at John Burton to work with them on a new project as they are reliable and you know what you are going to get from B&M when you buy a ride, so I very much want to know your opinions on this idea, and I will stick by this until I am proven wrong.

But it wouldn't be a first. SeaWorld Orlando has track already down for theirs.

 

[mrFacipieri]

Any news about the public presentation?

 

[spicy]

Planning application has been submitted

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1572569267052359683

 

[Jamesss]

Hoping for a tracked ride and not something like a flying theatre.

 

[Crazycoaster]

It’s gunna be that Shrek thing from London.

 

[Wazzupnerds]

It’s gunna be that Shrek thing from London.

"GIT OUT OF ME GARDIN"- Locals complaining about Alton Towers, now part of our new attraction!