Planned But Never Built

What rides and attractions do you miss? Share your memories of Alton Towers' extensive past here.
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Paws
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This topic is dedicated to the rides and attractions that were planned to be built but the plans ended up being scrapped, shelved or changed. For some of them there isnt much information out there so it would be great if anyone has anything to add.

Unknown 1988 ride - [1988]
in April 1988 Alton Towers submitted planning permision for a temporary ride next to the flag tower in (at the time) Coaster Corner. The application was refused and it is unknown what type of ride this was and to this day is a mystery.
http://publicaccess.staffsmoorlands.gov ... PKID=34888 - Link to application

Secret Weapon 1 - [1990]
Secret Weapon 1 was an Arrow Dynamics Pipeline roller coaster that was to be built on the site where Nemesis is today. The coaster was to have many inversions and was to go underground many times. John Wardely rode the Arrow prototype and found it very boring and not thrilling so scrapped the plans but revisited the pipeline coaster for secret weapon 2.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=smJaSPbESD4 - Video of prototype Pipeline coaster
http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/th ... -weapon-1/ - Pictures of SW1's plans

Secret Weapon 2 - [1991]
Secret Weapon 2 was to also be an Arrow Dynamics Pipeline Roller coaster that was planned for the same place as SW1 but featured a different layout. These plans were also scrapped as the prototype wasnt thrilling enough.

Giant Schwarzkopf Coaster - [1991]
This roller coaster was designed by Schwarzkopf and was said to be built in the area next to or behind Corkscrew. It would feature 3 Lift hills, 2 of which were next to each other like a racer. It would have been very similer to Lisebergbanan at Lisebergpark and it was rumered to possibly be the biggest steel roller coaster ever built at the time. The coaster was possibly scrapped because of Schwarzkopf going bankrupt. It is thought that if the coaster was built, it would have been a "disaster".
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Original Ripsaw - [1997]
Ripsaw was originally going to be called "The Screw" and featured more themeing.
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Original Oblivion - [1998]
This drawing below was featured in the patent for the B&M dive machine. It is unknown if this was to be Oblivions original layout or if it was just a layout plan for the patent.
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Balloon Ride - [2005?]
there was a balloon ride planned for the space where dynamo once was. It was also planned for at the time Cred Street. It was scrapped possibly due to being over tree height.
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Cross Valley Wooden Coaster - [2005]
A wooden roller coaster was planned to stretch accross the valley from (at the time) Ug Land to Forbidden Valley. The coaster would have massive drops possibly reaching 200ft and could have had the largest drops on any wooden roller coaster in history. However, the plans submitted were withdrawn and the coaster was shelved for many reasons such as the noise it would create as well as the height.
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http://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/th ... n-coaster/ - More info on the coaster

Vertigo zip line - [2006]
There was a zip line planned to start from the top of the towers to the grass below. The plans were scrapped.

Original Th13teen - [2010]
There was many other layouts planned for Th13teen before the one we see today. They were not much different and only the outside was different.

Duelling Deadstars - [2010?]
Duelling Deadstars were two Technical Park Vortex rides planned to be built inside the Black Hole tent. The plans were scrapped.

RoboArms - [2010?]
Also planned for Alton Towers was to build many RoboArm rides. There was different plans to install these in many areas of the park aswell as new areas. Themes included the Dark Forest, rock blasting and robots. There was also Plans to install 10 of these in the Black Hole tent.

Katanga Canyon B&M Stand Up Coaster - [2013?]
John Wardley has stated that there was to be a giant B&M Stand up coaster that circled around Katanga Canyon and dived down into a big hole. It was scrapped possibly due to how massive and expensive it would have been.

Original Smiler - [2013]
John Wardley mentioned that the original smiler layout was almost the same but didnt reach up above the toilet block and was more compact than the layout we see today.


Others / More info needed

John Wardley also mentioned a few other wooden roller coasters were planned for Alton Towers these include:
Wallace and Gromit woodie - [2009] (unknown if this was for Alton Towers or another park)
"Spookie Horror Circus Woodie" (unknown if this was for Alton Towers or another park)
1001 Nights woodie - to be built on the site where 1001 Nights was
Towers Woodie - to be built next to the Towers

There was also mood boards that revealed many ideas for roller coasters that were considered for the Dark Forest instead of Th13teen:
Vertical Launch Coaster
A Tilt Coaster
An Inverted Coaster

Thats the main ones I can think of now. If anyone has any corrections or Information that would be very helpful.
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Justin
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This was a great read, so thank you for posting. There were a few rides there that I never knew about!
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jonny9403
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Is this just at ??
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iamradam
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Really interesting finds, Paws! Love the thought of alternate realities where some of these plans come into fruition


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gaz1313
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Is the 1988 temporary planning application for the Alton Mouse, or did they apply for retrospective planning permission later than '88 which was also refused?
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Burniel
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Some fascinating details in this thread, thank you!

I would imagine that another reason for the Katanga Standup being declined was the fact that Standup coasters aren't popular any more (no new ones have been built since 1999!)
Burniel | Great at theme park knowledge, not so great at designing signatures.
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Arwen
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Awesome stuff there!

Wasn't there also a planned broomstick coaster around gloomy wood that never got built?
Correct me if I'm wrong. :)

I wish some of them woodies were built,would've loved a circus themed woodie!
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DrReeve
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Arwen wrote:Awesome stuff there!

Wasn't there also a planned broomstick coaster around gloomy wood that never got built?
Correct me if I'm wrong. :)

I wish some of them woodies were built,would've loved a circus themed woodie!
I believe this is featured in one of the sections of the towers times website under their plans section or something of a similar name.

This was always the ride I think the park has really missed out by not building. I mean all these SW's would be great and so would the cross valley woody. But ideally AT wants a ride to attracts both families and some thrill seekers.
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lewis97
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DrReeve wrote:I believe this is featured in one of the sections of the towers times website under their plans section or something of a similar name.
Indeed. Our Drawing Board section covers many of the developments that have taken place or were proposed at the Resort.
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Hex was originally to have an extra pre-show before the cinema, with anamatronic chandeliers bats etc... but it was dropped shortly before construction due to cost and time restraints.
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Rita 2005 wrote:Hex was originally to have an extra pre-show before the cinema, with anamatronic chandeliers bats etc... but it was dropped shortly before construction due to cost and time restraints.
Yup. I've got the plans for this somewhere. It looked pretty cool, if rather simple. Swinging chandeliers that faded in and out in time to the audio track and a few other small effects. It would have introduced the attraction in a similar way to the current portrait illumination and welcome speech.
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archie.mm
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Adz wrote:
Rita 2005 wrote:Hex was originally to have an extra pre-show before the cinema, with anamatronic chandeliers bats etc... but it was dropped shortly before construction due to cost and time restraints.
Yup. I've got the plans for this somewhere. It looked pretty cool, if rather simple. Swinging chandeliers that faded in and out in time to the audio track and a few other small effects. It would have introduced the attraction in a similar way to the current portrait illumination and welcome speech.
That sounds so cool! Do you have the plans or am I being stupid and they're on the website.
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archie.mm wrote:
Adz wrote:
Rita 2005 wrote:Hex was originally to have an extra pre-show before the cinema, with anamatronic chandeliers bats etc... but it was dropped shortly before construction due to cost and time restraints.
Yup. I've got the plans for this somewhere. It looked pretty cool, if rather simple. Swinging chandeliers that faded in and out in time to the audio track and a few other small effects. It would have introduced the attraction in a similar way to the current portrait illumination and welcome speech.
That sounds so cool! Do you have the plans or am I being stupid and they're on the website.
They're not online, nor are they ever likely to be.
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Theo
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About the cross-valley woodie...

why did Alton Towers ever plan this as surely by this point they would've been informed about the height/noise restrictions the theme park faces. Seems a bit silly to me to plan something in such detail when it is so obviously going to get rejected?
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TowersManiac0110
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This was an awesome read! I really hope that some of the concepts that were scrapped make an appearance as future SW coasters, especially the Vertical Launch one! Only issue is where it would go I guess..
Leaves a lot of speculation to some of the elements the lost SWs may have had.
Duelling Deadstars looked really cool! I hope they manage to do something like that, but combined with the Dark Forest flat ride idea.

Again, this was really cool!
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jdoughtyqpr
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Great read - thanks for this
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