Alton Towers' Next Big Thing?

[Matt N]

Matt… Are coaster trains massively different in size to any other people carrying ride vehicle???

I think you’ve answered your own question here.

Deep down I think you know people are so hoping for it to be a coaster that they’re manufacturing evidence that it is, where there is none… A bit like how Exodus was definitely going to be B&M (And yes I know a B&M, and several other options, were considered, but by the time rumours got to the public, and all of that documentation drawn up, it had already long been decided… Didn’t stop people being sure it was a B&M.)

We’ll find out for sure if it’s a coaster or not, when Merlin want us to find out.

That is true, but I’d argue that a “vehicle” sized maintenance hatch could possibly rule out something such as the common rumour of a flying theatre, which doesn’t have vehicles as such.

It could admittedly facilitate a tracked dark ride vehicle, but a flying theatre or something probably wouldn’t have a vehicle sized hatch of that type because there isn’t really a vehicle to bring out, if you get my drift.

As for Exodus; I’m aware that it ultimately wasn’t a B&M, but I’d argue that a B&M making it far enough to be included in the planning application did possibly give us some idea of where the rumour came from, and proved that it may not have been “unfounded speculation” as some said when the Mack was revealed.

 

[CineramaMax]

It's probably a multi-motion dark ride similar to Jumanji: The Adventure. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

 

[Matt N]

It's probably a multi-motion dark ride similar to Jumanji: The Adventure. At least that's what I'm hoping for.

That’s certainly an option! If it were one, the building height could be due to it using elevators similar to Transformers.

 

[Hixee]

That is true, but I’d argue that a “vehicle” sized maintenance hatch could possibly rule out something such as the common rumour of a flying theatre, which doesn’t have vehicles as such.

Well no, but how exactly are you supposed to get parts that need replacing on said Flying Theatre without something like a telehandler or forklift? Heck, you'd need some sort of cherry picker type machine to get to the lighting in a room as tall as that. That's just a bog standard access door and neither confirms nor rules out any ride tech.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

The whole John Wardley ‘new tech’ thing hopefully rules out both a coaster and a flying theatre… But that’s just me doing the whole wishful thinking thing myself, and reading way too much into things…

As for the exodus thing, I wouldn’t say B&M being considered was unfounded… Quite the opposite, I’d say we were fairly confident it was a big coaster, and as far as big coasters go, usually multiple manufacturers bid, so it’d be highly unusual if B&M hadn’t bid… Point is, people were adamant that they ‘knew’ it was a B&M that was coming, that their reliable sources had told them, and that itself turned out to be unfounded nonsense.

 

[Hixee]

The whole John Wardley ‘new tech’ thing hopefully rules out both a coaster and a flying theatre… But that’s just me doing the whole wishful thinking thing myself, and reading way too much into things…

Much like how a roller shutter door is a clue it's going to be a coaster...

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Much like how a roller shutter door is a clue it's going to be a coaster...

Yep, same kind of wishful thinking nonsense…

Although I’d argue that word from the big man himself is much more hopeful than some arbitrary door in the side of a building

 

[Matt N]

One other big glaring piece of evidence that could point towards a coaster rather than a dark ride is the building height… the application says that the building is to be 19.4m tall, which is much taller than your average dark ride building. Dark rides don’t usually tend to exceed 10m or so in height, and even Flight of the Sky Lion is only 13m.

A coaster, on the other hand, would need that kind of height, particularly given that they’re not digging…

A coaster would also fit in the given ground space… the given ground space is 71m*46m, which is around 3,266m2 and a larger area than Spinball, as well as larger than any dark ride building on park by a good margin.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Intamin Motion Tower looks to need a fair bit of height and width… “19M of vertical stroke”

That’s my guess… I mean ‘hope’

 

[witchfinder]

That's just a bog standard access door and neither confirms nor rules out any ride tech.

Thank you, a common-sense answer It's literally just a roller shutter door that you'd find on most warehouse type buildings.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Thank you, a common-sense answer It's literally just a roller shutter door that you'd find on most warehouse type buildings.

Are you sure though, I mean it’s a big building, most big show buildings in this industry are almost always for coaste… Wait… Never mind.

 

[Howie]

How big is an Aquatrax?

 

[Nicky Borrill]

How big is an Aquatrax?

Sorry, one of the roof panels is the wrong angle, can’t be an Aquatrax :/

 

[Crazycoaster]

Rob from TowersStreet noticed that one of the building elevations showed a suspiciously coaster train-sized maintenance hatch on one side of the building:
View attachment 21488
Could this possibly add weight to the theory of it being an indoor coaster? I know that all rides will need a maintenance hatch, but that one does look to be the right sort of size for a coaster train.

Here’s Rob’s post: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threa...on-on-new-attraction.6401/page-46#post-385713

Amazon Warehouse confirmed.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Amazon Warehouse confirmed.

To be fair, there are no toilets in the plans!!! This could be the most plausible theory yet!!!

 

[Swat]

I know it will be near on impossible and if somehow they managed to keep whatever inside a secret, they'd only go and spoilt it on national news days before. But how good would a completely unknown experience be going into launch day

 

[Crazycoaster]

Do we know how extensive the Haunted House redo is going to be? My argument for a coaster would be that they’re adding a “new” dark ride in the form of the haunted house redo, so it wouldn’t make sense to add a second one as the next new ride?

 

[Nicky Borrill]

Do we know how extensive the Haunted House redo is going to be? My argument for a coaster would be that they’re adding a “new” dark ride in the form of the haunted house redo, so it wouldn’t make sense to add a second one as the next new ride?

Potentially 2 new ones, if the Sub Terra rumours / activity come to anything...

 

[Matt N]

Do we know how extensive the Haunted House redo is going to be? My argument for a coaster would be that they’re adding a “new” dark ride in the form of the haunted house redo, so it wouldn’t make sense to add a second one as the next new ride?

I think it’s going to be quite extensive. The calibre of marketing and length of closure suggest that we could be getting a fairly substantial retheme.

As @Nicky Borrill says, there are now signs of Sub-Terra possibly returning in some form too, which would add another “new” dark ride. I’d say that now looks more likely than not, because they’ve actually started doing a fair old bit of construction work on the queue; it looks as though they’re going to replace it like-for-like.

 

[Nicky Borrill]

I think it’s going to be quite extensive. The calibre of marketing and length of closure suggest that we could be getting a fairly substantial retheme.

As @Nicky Borrill says, there are now signs of Sub-Terra possibly returning in some form too, which would add another “new” dark ride. I’d say that now looks more likely than not, because they’ve actually started doing a fair old bit of construction work on the queue; it looks as though they’re going to replace it like-for-like.

I could be wrong but I believe like for like wouldn't require any planning involvement either, which would explain the lack of news on that front.