The John Wardley Interview - Questions

[Slappy McGuire]

My question:

Given a free hand, which non-merlin UK theme parks would you most like to get your hands on, and what would you do with them?

[SAM93]

Hi John,

Couple of questions from me

1. How did your involvement with the Carnival of screams come about, and what made you want to work on a scare attraction?

2. Were there any idea's for the carnival the didn't quite work out, if so, could you tell us?

Thank you for your time to do this interview

And also, thanks very much to the team for organizing this as well

[manni]

Thanks to TT and John for arranging this and taking the time out to do it.

My question is: Have you been to Barry Island over the last year? Whether or not you have been do you know what state the park is in and how do you feel that none of the rides are being used and that the owners have just plonked a couple of travelling rides in the middle of the park?

Once again thanks a lot for this it would be an honour to meet you and talk over a few drinks.

[MrRickroll321]

If a member of the public comes up with a fantistic ride idear, would you let them devolpe the idear with you and mabey even open it as a attraction

[Simon Baynham]

Dear John Wardley

What do you think of coaster clubs and 'enthusiasts' in general? Do you find that 'enthusiasts' are occasionally anything BUT enthusiastic?

Simon Baynham (Andy Shine's Glamorous Assistant!)

[AmeelsAltonTowers:)]

Hello John and MERRY CHRISTMAS!

My question is...

If you could make any ride in the world, what would it be? with no restrictions or limits

or

Why is the tag line for Th13teen "Don't Go Alone" yet there is a single riders que?

[siralgenon]

Hi John just like to say i am a huge fan of you and your amazing attractions!

If myself or any other Alton Towers Resort enthusiast were to have any big ideas about improving the resort or had any ideas/designs about possible future attractions would you possibly help them to fill out their dream or ideas?

SIR ALGENON

[alvpel]

Hey John,
I have two questions:
1) It´s been told that you design your rides with NolimitsCoaster, is that true? Iff not with what do you design.
2) How do you get inspiration for world´s first?

[[Archive]]

Yes, he does use No Limits. He gave a short speech about how he uses it on the Thirteen Evening.

[ThorpeParkGuru]

Mr. Wardley, do you plan on retiring soon? Will SW7 be your last Secret Weapon?

[Keeno1113]

Is there any ride ideas that you wish you had involved in your creations

[DiogoJ42]

You have often spoken of your admiration for Spiderman. If you could build a ride at alton using this technology, and obviously without restrictions (!), what would you do? Would it be an original story, or IP based? Would it use 3D video, or would you rather use real animatronics and sets?

Almost following on from that, [could be a separate question, I guess]:

Film special effects have become dominated by CGI these days. Many people (myself included), lament the loss of animatronics, models, stop motion etc.
Do you think this could be happening in the themepark industry as well? Rides like The Haunted House and Terror Tomb had amazing animatronics by the dozen, whereas dark rides these days tend to use static props, 3D UV paint, or video. To take it to the extreme, look at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... Almost all video projection.
Are animatronics out of fashion these days? Or are they too expensive to build compared to the cost of animating a few pixels?

[Jdrowlands]

How did you feel when you found out that The Haunted House was being changed to Duel?

You have often spoken of your admiration for Spiderman. If you could build a ride at alton using this technology, and obviously without restrictions (!), what would you do? Would it be an original story, or IP based? Would it use 3D video, or would you rather use real animatronics and sets?

Almost following on from that, [could be a separate question, I guess]:

Film special effects have become dominated by CGI these days. Many people (myself included), lament the loss of animatronics, models, stop motion etc.
Do you think this could be happening in the themepark industry as well? Rides like The Haunted House and Terror Tomb had amazing animatronics by the dozen, whereas dark rides these days tend to use static props, 3D UV paint, or video. To take it to the extreme, look at Charlie and the Chocolate Factory... Almost all video projection.
Are animatronics out of fashion these days? Or are they too expensive to build compared to the cost of animating a few pixels?

I'd like to see both of these ones answered.

My question: Have you ever considered joining TTF?

[Gax]

The enthusiast community within the last six or seven years has been consistently critical of Alton Towers for an apparent departure from the 'magic' of the 90's and early 2000's. Examples of this are the replacement of themed food outlets with generic versions (eg. Nemesis Nosh to Fresh Fish and Chips) and the transformation of the original Haunted House into Duel.
What would you say to these criticisms, and would you consider that the park has lost any of the 'magic' it once harboured?

[JoshM]

Many enthusiasts talk about a supposed Air back story, but was their ever a back back story to Air?

[ciaran]

If you were to create a ride such as Nemi again what would your story be and what would it be if you could?

[Ritadz]

Just a few more, then i'll stop whoring this thread:

1) Out of all the ride themes you've imagined/created, which is your favourite, and why?

2) Do you think Air's tunnel needs something done with it? And will we ever see the fountains etc. from Air's concept?

3) Are you the stig?

[Rob L]

Sorry if this has already asked before, I've not been able to go through this whole topic! My question is:

There have been rumours about what Air's original theme was meant to be. It has been said that the intended theme for Air was going to be military based, something like an air strike against Nemesis. There was also military styled Air merchandise on sale in Air's early years. This was supposedly changed due to the events of September 11th 2001. I was just wondering if there was any truth in this rumour?

[Nightfall]

[quote=""Ritadz""]2) Do you think Air's tunnel needs something done with it? And will we ever see the fountains etc. from Air's concept?[/quote]
[quote=""Rob""]There have been rumours about what Air's original theme was meant to be. It has been said that the intended theme for Air was going to be military based, something like an air strike against Nemesis. There was also military styled Air merchandise on sale in Air's early years. This was supposedly changed due to the events of September 11th 2001. I was just wondering if there was any truth in this rumour?[/quote]
Oddly I don't think many Interviews have asked about Air so I second both of these.

A question with these 3 points should definitely be included.
1) Airs tunnel.
2) The rumoured military concept. Was it ever part of the plan or was it made up by fans of Nemesis?
3) What would Air have been like if the fountains from the Oasis theme had been included? Was this the only scenery cut before construction?

[Dormiens-Dave]

I apologise if this has also already been asked but...

1) Where you dissapointed with the response to thirteen by a large number of enthusiasts

2) Do you think Alton Towers will ever green light a large scale dark ride project again


I also second robs questions, john went into retirement not long after air and we have never been able to badger him about Air as much as other projects