Alton Towers: What Ever Happened to...?
Posted: Tue Feb 16, 2010 1:53 am
Ok, I can't find any similar topics to the type of thing I want to create here so I'll explain what this is about. Many ideas, plans, and rumours have popped up over the years and then been long forgotton about and lost in time. There's also been real physical things on park that have dissapeared without reason or explanation, and quite alot are insignificant enough to warrant their own topics. For example warldey's woodie, but that's something thats been talked about alot and there's info already on the TT History page.
You start off by asking "What ever happend to... [insert topic]" and whoever knows can post their reply with a quote to that question.
A list of questions answered so far - UPDATED: 25/02/2010
Q: What ever happend to the Nemesis Bus (Nemesis Nosh)
A: It is believed the roof collapsed and since a larger Nemesis Nosh outlet was built, the bus was removed altogether.
Q: What ever happend to Alton Towers Hotel extension?
A: The application was withdrawn after it had been approved. The plans were used to bump up the value of the resort as it was going through the sale (from DIC to Blackstone / Merlin).
Q: What ever happened to the old parade floats?
A: Many of the old floats are/were stored in the builders yard next to the Flag Tower.
Q: What happened to the old paddle steamer style funhouse (Mississippi Showboat) next to the swans?
A: There's currently one at Parque De Atracciones in Madrid as La Reine de Africa. It is believed the one at Alton was demolished. The ride experience was very similar to what you might get on a Fun House at a funfair. Moving platforms, moving steps, air blasts, rotating barrels and alike, but ever so compact. So much so that eventually it is believed HSE caught up with these attractions in the UK due to very narrow corridors and lack of lighting.
Q: What ever happened to the second arm on submission?
A: It's still there, but hardley ever gets used because it's not busy enough most of the time. There are also several other rumours floating around such as it needing new parts or maintenace, it possibly uses too much power in the X Sector area, and also that it is very costly to run. None of these rumours have been confirmed though.
Q: What ever happened to the Nemesis bus smoke (Mushroom Cloud Luxury Tours Bus)?
A: The bus is still there and smoke is often seen working throughout the season, however it requires a person to climb inside the crashed bus in order to access the fog machine and this can sometimes be difficult in busy periods when there are other things to maintain on park. Most of the time though, the bus does still pump out smoke as if it had just crashed.
Q: Has the bus always been at the last barrel roll on Nemesis?
A: Yes, its location has never changed but it does go unoticed sometimes particularly when the smoke effect is not working to draw your attention to it.
Q: What ever happened to the Nemesis truck?
A: The Nemesis truck is currently sat outside of Studios North, behind the driving school, looking in a bit of a sorry state. It was removed when fish and chips opened to replace the Nemesis Nosh outlet.
Q: What happened to the old style Nemesis sign that was located on the bridge just after the vertical loop?
A: This was saved and placed in Area 3 of the queue line - area 3 is the 3rd extension to the queue line which is near the first drop, going round the top of the pit above the loop and back round the top of the lift. It can be see on a very busy day when the queues are well over 1 hour and that's your only chance. It sits in amongst some grass harking back to 1994.
Q: What ever happened to the numerous effects in the Duel/Haunted House queue room?
A: Most of this happened in the Haunted House to Duel changeover. Some of the effects were vandalised, some simply stopped working due to lack of maintenance and Alton didn't want to replace them, like the purple curtians. They were constantly ripped and once even burned. After being burned they were removed. Some of the portraits were also removed due to copyright issues. Detailed information about Duel/Haunted House can found at <!-- m -->[url=http://www.hauntedone.co.uk"%20onclick="window.open(this.href);return%20false;]http://www.hauntedone.co.uk[/url]<!-- m -->
Q: What ever happened to the 2007 park, nemesis and rita music?
A: It was all royalty free music and the chances of ever finding it are slim to zero, given the abundance of royalty free music available most of which is unnamed.
Q: What ever happened to free fasttrack?
A: Like anything, if its popular enough you can usually charge for it and thats exactly what Alton Towers started doing.
You start off by asking "What ever happend to... [insert topic]" and whoever knows can post their reply with a quote to that question.
A list of questions answered so far - UPDATED: 25/02/2010
Q: What ever happend to the Nemesis Bus (Nemesis Nosh)
A: It is believed the roof collapsed and since a larger Nemesis Nosh outlet was built, the bus was removed altogether.
Q: What ever happend to Alton Towers Hotel extension?
A: The application was withdrawn after it had been approved. The plans were used to bump up the value of the resort as it was going through the sale (from DIC to Blackstone / Merlin).
Q: What ever happened to the old parade floats?
A: Many of the old floats are/were stored in the builders yard next to the Flag Tower.
Q: What happened to the old paddle steamer style funhouse (Mississippi Showboat) next to the swans?
A: There's currently one at Parque De Atracciones in Madrid as La Reine de Africa. It is believed the one at Alton was demolished. The ride experience was very similar to what you might get on a Fun House at a funfair. Moving platforms, moving steps, air blasts, rotating barrels and alike, but ever so compact. So much so that eventually it is believed HSE caught up with these attractions in the UK due to very narrow corridors and lack of lighting.
Q: What ever happened to the second arm on submission?
A: It's still there, but hardley ever gets used because it's not busy enough most of the time. There are also several other rumours floating around such as it needing new parts or maintenace, it possibly uses too much power in the X Sector area, and also that it is very costly to run. None of these rumours have been confirmed though.
Q: What ever happened to the Nemesis bus smoke (Mushroom Cloud Luxury Tours Bus)?
A: The bus is still there and smoke is often seen working throughout the season, however it requires a person to climb inside the crashed bus in order to access the fog machine and this can sometimes be difficult in busy periods when there are other things to maintain on park. Most of the time though, the bus does still pump out smoke as if it had just crashed.
Q: Has the bus always been at the last barrel roll on Nemesis?
A: Yes, its location has never changed but it does go unoticed sometimes particularly when the smoke effect is not working to draw your attention to it.
Q: What ever happened to the Nemesis truck?
A: The Nemesis truck is currently sat outside of Studios North, behind the driving school, looking in a bit of a sorry state. It was removed when fish and chips opened to replace the Nemesis Nosh outlet.
Q: What happened to the old style Nemesis sign that was located on the bridge just after the vertical loop?
A: This was saved and placed in Area 3 of the queue line - area 3 is the 3rd extension to the queue line which is near the first drop, going round the top of the pit above the loop and back round the top of the lift. It can be see on a very busy day when the queues are well over 1 hour and that's your only chance. It sits in amongst some grass harking back to 1994.
Q: What ever happened to the numerous effects in the Duel/Haunted House queue room?
A: Most of this happened in the Haunted House to Duel changeover. Some of the effects were vandalised, some simply stopped working due to lack of maintenance and Alton didn't want to replace them, like the purple curtians. They were constantly ripped and once even burned. After being burned they were removed. Some of the portraits were also removed due to copyright issues. Detailed information about Duel/Haunted House can found at <!-- m -->[url=http://www.hauntedone.co.uk"%20onclick="window.open(this.href);return%20false;]http://www.hauntedone.co.uk[/url]<!-- m -->
Q: What ever happened to the 2007 park, nemesis and rita music?
A: It was all royalty free music and the chances of ever finding it are slim to zero, given the abundance of royalty free music available most of which is unnamed.
Q: What ever happened to free fasttrack?
A: Like anything, if its popular enough you can usually charge for it and thats exactly what Alton Towers started doing.