Alton Towers next thrill ride

Got an idea of how the Alton Towers Resort may develop over the coming seasons? Discuss it here.
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petethetowersfreak
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So Alton Towers have built Th13teen, the worlds first announced, on ride video released, is it a thrill coaster? Well that's up to you to decide, but this topic is not about Th13teen.

I was looking at googlemaps yesterday and realised just how much space alton have got that they could exploit for the sake of a new coaster. I mean planning is always an issue and not something you can do a lot about but if you personally could put a coaster anywhere at Alton what would it be and where?

I would love to see a creature similar to how nemesis is depicted that bursts from the Black Hole tent and around X-sector, a B&M.
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fishdalf

I can only echo your sentiments really. The X-Sector is in need of another 'big' ride, as well as 2 new flats, and if we could see that, along with a spruce-up in general then Alton Towers truly would have 3 big 'thrill' areas. Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest (after a new flat), and then X-Sector. In fact I would take another roller coaster there for the sacrifice of both flat rides, then if there's room to expand then throw in a flat ride near the vacinity if possible.
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petethetowersfreak
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Yeah x-sector really needs a spruce up and another coaster, imagine if they found something underground in the oblivion pit, and they decided to keep it from the world inside the blackhole tent, a creature not unlike the nemesis monster yet different. Inside the tent they could do different effects, make it feel like you really are part of something alive, and then near the roof of the black hole tent a mist effect or something covering up the gaiping hole as if you tear through the very wall, a few loops outside and then it gets slowed down as it is dragged back into the tent by the people in charge of the black hole (the break run-maybe a flashing blue light or something as they use some sort of tractor beam to get it back.

Coaster corner could be reused, get a couple of compact family rides in there, and gloomy woods needs another ride.

In an ideal world, over the next few years, alton need to up the themeing to maximum level, spruce everything, and then start to add another thrill coaster, a world class dark ride in replacement of duel, some flats to dark forest, family rides for coaster corner...once all this is done, which will probably take 10-15 years, Alton in my opinion will be huge.
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TheOneWho

If they can spruce everything up and ensure all effects and things are working I'm sure that would help make things better for everyone.

I don't really like the idea of another 'monster' theme, it shows a lack of imagination even though there is obviously a lot you can do with it. I'm sure there is something else they could come up with instead.
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FallenAngel
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I think X Sector has to be the next target area for a coaster. The black hole tent could be used quite effectively to either house a new ride or even as a fantastic station for a coaster that traverses the whole area. I must agree that something menacing may be needed. In my opinion a new nemesis is needed. An all out max G's, inverting, looping, scare-the-hell-out-of-you coaster must be the next step. I've already commented briefly on this in the th13teen forum, but i feel something like the incredible hulk or blue fire would be fantastic for alton.

I know hypercoasters are just not possibly with planning and everything associated but there are still great possibilities. So there are quite a few top manufacturers around with lots of different ride experiences and i dont think it will be hard to find the perfect foil to oblivion in X Sector.

these are on my wish list, let me know what you think would be nice to hear what other people are after:

a custom layout launched mack similar to blue fire. ( may not fit in x sector but anywhere would be great)

a sit down steel B&M coaster (similar to incredible hulk as i said above), B&M seem to be very good at creating very thrilling coasters within very limited space and height (look at nemesis)

a sitdown/ mini launch mack for inside the black hole tent

an intamin megalite (i know technically th13teen is a megalite but a standard megalite is a very thrilling ride and would easily fit within the height restrictions)

a custom eurofighter

an inverting intamin launcher (i know its just a pipedream as they only have one operating, xcellerator i believe, but if john wardley has finally cracked and th13teen is the best he can bring then i'll take a pipedream over another th13teen)

all of these i think could be worked into the park quite well and fit within the restrictions of planning (heightwise) without compromising the thrill.
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petethetowersfreak
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Got it! When sw6 was first announced, they went through a series of different ideas, of which one was robots or machines? Well what if the whole of x-sector becomes a machine factory, they use the oblivion to toss humans into, and the big machine in charge of the operations is inside the tent. On the outside of the tent you will see a giant robotic hand as if it has torn through the black hole tent and inside spanning to the outside you will be riding a coaster to attack the robot.

The place definetly needs to start doing another major build over the next season. But x-sector needs the magic back.
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"Bertha: The Ride" :P
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FallenAngel
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[quote=""petethetowersfreak""]Got it! When sw6 was first announced, they went through a series of different ideas, of which one was robots or machines? Well what if the whole of x-sector becomes a machine factory, they use the oblivion to toss humans into, and the big machine in charge of the operations is inside the tent. On the outside of the tent you will see a giant robotic hand as if it has torn through the black hole tent and inside spanning to the outside you will be riding a coaster to attack the robot.

The place definetly needs to start doing another major build over the next season. But x-sector needs the magic back.[/quote]

like the idea though not sure how well it could be implemented to an existing ride like oblivion. doubt merlin would want to spend money retheming it, though i hope they do. needs some paint, the rusty look is slightly worrying.

Whats happens to kfc then? do they start selling robot chicken?

Whole area needs either a retheme, as it is basically non existent, or at the least it needs some paint here and there and a tidy. personally i want to see the place completely gutted and just drop a coaster in there, ditch the flats, and maybe find another flat that would fit after they build the new ride. It just seems dead nowadays. No life, no thrill, kind of the beige area of the park if you get what i mean.
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John
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[quote=""Diogoj42""]"Bertha: The Ride" :P[/quote]
I loved that show!

On topic, I've always thought the black hole tent would lend itself well to a mack spiral lift coaster similar to eurosat (it would probably have to be a bit smaller though). This would be in addition to a new thrill flat or two in x-sector to resore the area to its former glory. Aside from that, I'd like them to finally get round to fitting a wooden coaster in somewhere.

For both coasters, I think they should go for medium thrill, high capacity and a much longer ride duration than their current major coasters, something that seems to be becoming an issue at alton. I think with these types of rides it should be achievable as they would get much more track for their money than with some other types of coaster.
Blaze

A new medium/family thrill needs to be next, black hole tent hopefully. A Mack Spiral lift would be perfect for many reasons.

Also, a decent medium/family thrill wooden coaster is a must, really, if possible.

There isn't any space left to Alton. To one side is a road, the other carp parks, the resort and a road. They can't extend farther back because of the village and even if Towers Street closed there is still a road and car parks in that direction. The only way to really extend is to open Coaster Corner again or remove attractions already there.
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FallenAngel
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A MACK would definitely be the smartest choice in terms of family/ medium thrill ride. Apparently they are about to start making a new launched youngstar which could work fantastically as a replacement for the beastie or even if it were possible to put it in the black hole tent, though im sure a spiral would be much more appropriate.

However i am not holding my breath for either, as i expect merlin will decide th13teen is enough to keep us going for another few years until they come up with another "world first" or something actually starts falling apart and has to be replaced. They seem mor einterested in hotels and rethemes than rollercoasters and rides which is what the park is all about. I understand they are trying to bring the park up to a higher standard but since merlin have taken over all we have had is th13teen and not much else whereas thorpe has had some brilliant additions in the past 3 years.

I'm starting to worry alton may get forgotten with merlin owning so many parks and they wont give it the treatment it deserves.
Blaze

Alton may be forgotten?

Since Merlin took over there has been 3 new area rethemes, numerous new attractions including a Splash Battle and aqaurium, not to mention £15 million worth of world first Intamin coaster!

I can't see another 'big' thrill ride for 4 years, keeping with the Secret Weapon pattern (ingoring Rita which was 1 year early and not a SW, but they are back on track now: 94,98,02,*06*,10,*14*)
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FallenAngel
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Ok maybe i went a bit far, but the point I was making was Thorpe has been getting a lot of serious attention. They had Stealth and Saw within 3 years of each other and Alton got 13 which just looks tame in comparison. £30m worth of coaster at Thorpe to £15m at alton. I just want to see some parity.
Last edited by FallenAngel on Thu Mar 18, 2010 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.
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mezza
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I think realistically, the following sites are available for a coaster - all have varying issues of planning permission, space and height restriction.

- X-Sector Black Hole site

- Coaster Corner (off Cloud Cuckoo Land)

- The woods around the Flume / Gloomy Wood (may require the removal of the flume)

- Across the valley
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I think the next Thrill Ride will see the Black Hole tent and a revamp of X Sector top of the agenda. It's a huge space, utterly wasted.

After that I think Forbidden Valley will come back under the eyes of the imagineers who are desperate for wood.
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dale160688
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[quote=""petethetowersfreak""]Yeah x-sector really needs a spruce up and another coaster, imagine if they found something underground in the oblivion pit, and they decided to keep it from the world inside the blackhole tent, a creature not unlike the nemesis monster yet different. Inside the tent they could do different effects, make it feel like you really are part of something alive, and then near the roof of the black hole tent a mist effect or something covering up the gaiping hole as if you tear through the very wall, a few loops outside and then it gets slowed down as it is dragged back into the tent by the people in charge of the black hole (the break run-maybe a flashing blue light or something as they use some sort of tractor beam to get it back.[/quote]

That is very true however did any of you visit walt disney worlds magic kingdom pre 2002? the ride that was installed there called Alien Encounter (now Stitch's Great Escape! :roll: , was completely terrifing! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ExtraTERRO ... _Encounter i feel something like this would be fantastic...of course i cant see alton putting in as much heart as the origanal, but something along these line in the black hole tent would be fantastic!
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FallenAngel
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[quote=""mezza""]I think realistically, the following sites are available for a coaster - all have varying issues of planning permission, space and height restriction.

- X-Sector Black Hole site

- Coaster Corner (off Cloud Cuckoo Land)

- The woods around the Flume / Gloomy Wood (may require the removal of the flume)

- Across the valley[/quote]

I agree these are the best options for a new coaster, but I think realistically X-Sector is most likely the next home to a coaster unless something is uninstalled.

Coaster Corner was closed (phased out) i believe due to proximity to the town and noise levels, so unless the locals become friendly i doubt we shall see anything of significance there, which is a shame. Its of great size and could have so much potential for a new coaster.

Across the valley is, I'm sure, what everyone is hoping for, and the fabled woodie, but would that involve cutting across the gardens of the park? A possible stumbling block perhaps? Please correct me if I'm wrong.

I like the idea of replacing the flume, but I'm not sure a coaster would be the best replacement, the existing clearing from the flume would allow for something similar to th13teens forest element, but nothing to extreme or inverting. Ideal for a Mega-lite I feel, but would probably require building over the lake/pond nearby which I doubt alton would do. A new flume in this area would be best i think, or maybe
even Aqua-Trax but I'm not holding my breath.

The Black Hole tent surely has to be the target area, I've already mentioned previsouly my thoughts on this, but alton will be limited with what can fit inside the tent.

I would love to se the area rethemed or at least redesigned with new flats and a new coaster, hopefully keeping the tent, but I would not be surprised if they decided to scrap the whole area, barring oblivion, and rip out the tent and all the flats with it starting from scratch.

I really hope Alton's next installation is finally given a bigger budget compared to the previous rides. It seems that the general budget for all the major installations is about £15m on average, but with what we've got from th13teen seems pretty poor compared to previous installations, most of that seems to have been spent on theming and designing the ride and the station, I was hoping we'd see more value for money with the track, like Nemesis or Air. A long scary thrill from start to finish, with less emphasis on the world's first and more on the actual coaster. We got Rita for £8m, Oblivion, Air and Nemesis for between £12m-£15m, imagine what we could get for £20m-£25m.
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I can see the next 5 years looking something like this;

2011 - Spruce up for Forbidden Valley. Themeing in Air tunnel, overhaul of Ripsaw. Continued themeing additions to Dark Forest.
2012 - New flat in Dark Forest (roboarm?)
2013 - X-Sector updated, new UK first ride in black hole tent.
2014 - Spinball relocated to CloudCookoo land (coaster corner). Beastie Removed. Storybookland theme extended to all of Adventureland. New Mack youngstar coaster with storybook theme in place of Spinball/beastie.
2015 - Flume removed. New pirate themed Shoot-the-chute water ride in its place.

That won't be accurate by any means but I can see those 5 areas being Alton's next priorities.
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FallenAngel
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[quote=""Gax""]I can see the next 5 years looking something like this;

2011 - Spruce up for Forbidden Valley. Themeing in Air tunnel, overhaul of Ripsaw. Continued themeing additions to Dark Forest.
2012 - New flat in Dark Forest (roboarm?)
2013 - X-Sector updated, new UK first ride in black hole tent.
2014 - Spinball relocated to CloudCookoo land (coaster corner). Beastie Removed. Storybookland theme extended to all of Adventureland. New Mack youngstar coaster with storybook theme in place of Spinball/beastie.
2015 - Flume removed. New pirate themed Shoot-the-chute water ride in its place.

That won't be accurate by any means but I can see those 5 areas being Alton's next priorities.[/quote]

Sounds pretty similar to what I was thinking, though I had to giggle when you mentioned Air's tunnel. I think thats a lost cause. They're not going to do anything with it after 8 or 9 years, its pretty clear by now.

I would hope that Rita finally gets its repaint along with the continued work on the dark forest. Any dark colour would be an improvement on its current colour.

Also does anyone know if there was any truth to the rumour that Alton budgeted for a station for Rita as part of the dark forest retheme? Think it was mentioned on here a couple of times but can't for the life of me remember who said it or where it came from.

Would also love to see a Youngstar replace the beastie, but if they were to move spinball and take out the Beastie what else would accompany the new coaster in that area?
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[quote=""FallenAngel""] I had to giggle when you mentioned Air's tunnel. I think thats a lost cause. They're not going to do anything with it after 8 or 9 years, its pretty clear by now. [/quote]

Haha I know, whishful thinking really. :wink:
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