The John Wardley Interview - Questions

[Tardiskey]

Which rollercoaster/ride was the first to really inspire you as a designer?

[Mike]

I'm not sure whether this has been asked (I couldnt see it on a skim-read) but:

Considering your involvement with Alton Towers both before and after the takeover by Merlin, which out of Tussauds and Merlin did you prefer working with, if indeed you observed a notable difference at all?

[[Archive]]

He can't really answer that since he works directly for Merlin. Also, most of the people he works with came from the Pearsons Tussaudes days anyway.

[Mike]

[quote=""electricBlll""]He can't really answer that since he works directly for Merlin. Also, most of the people he works with came from the Pearsons Tussaudes days anyway. [/quote]

Ah, didn't realise he works for Merlin directly

I'll rephrase the question then :P

How would you say UK attractions generally have fared in recent years? Would you say that, generally, theme parks here are still getting enough investment, or do you feel that the credit crunch is stifling development - and more specifically creative freedom in ride design?

(OK, I realise its a completely different question :P )

[Blaze]

[quote=""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?[/quote]
That, but also, "do you consider Alton to be getting that 'magic' back?

The Air military theme was made up, there's no need to ask John :P It would have been a bit late to change it in September 2001 anyway. The questions about the tunnel and missing oasis theming I would like an answer to, however.

[Themeparksandy1981]

Are animatronics out of fashion these days? Or are they too expensive to build compared to the cost of animating a few pixels?[/quote

The sort of animatronics Drayton and Alton have no as theses are run by air. But the Disney animatronics costs millions. If you seen the American adventure show at Epcot thats cutting edge technology years before they built the Haunted house. There whole bodies move like a real human.


My 3 questions are:

1) How do you feel now your first ride project at Barry Island Theme park has gone?
2) If the park wanted to build a new dark ride to replace the haunted house what sort of ride would you replace it with?
3) If you were the person who designed Rita would you have build it the same as it is now or a complete different layout.

[coastermaster]

Q have you tried to get rid of the higet limit for rides

---- Post Info Added ----

Q have you tried to get rid of the higet limit for rides

[McFlurry]

Question

Alton Towers Resort faces continued pressure to build rides which are both thrilling and look impressive. Given the limited availability of space at the Alton Towers Resort and the current portfolio of rollercoaster’s what do you feel will be the biggest challenge with SW7?

[spin-ride-lover]

Hi john I’m a huge fan of thrilling, spinning flat rides like a KMG AFTERBURNER.

Is Alton ever likely to get a ride like that :

Many thanks , Doug

[[Archive]]

John Wardley does not decide which attractions Alton Towers invest in. He only consults for Merlin's major projects, which do not include flat rides.

[deadwing]

Did anyone think to ask the true identity of the mysterious James?

[Nightfall]

[quote=""deadwing""]Did anyone think to ask the true identity of the mysterious James?[/quote]
No need, his identity has been revealed to us all. But don't look! The mystery will never be the same again.

[spoiler:2ic77a2v][/spoiler:2ic77a2v]

[Martin.C]

Q) Where do you base your original ideas from?

Do you get them from films, TV, books ect, or do you conjure up these creative ideas yourself?

[Matt.C]

If you could work in any park in the world, where would it be and why?

[Rowe]

I would just like to say thank you to Chris, for successfully putting forward the interview with John Wardley and organising this with TTF in order to ask some questions he had most likely never heard or even answered before.

It's a great joy to have this happen, especially for us Wardleyists within the TTF community and to just those who really want to learn more behind their favourite rides and rollercoasters that have spanned John Wardley's career.

Thank you once again, Chris!



Your outstanding effort, well, FTW.

p.s. Also, thanks to everyone who has asked serious questions that, regardless of being put through, have spanned more notions than before! Your efforts are also, FTW.

[Chris W]

A huge thank you to everyone who have submitted questions. There has been around 230 questions submitted and the majority of them are really great.

Unfortunately, due to the huge response not all the questions will be answered.

Currently, there is no fixed date for the answers to be published on TowersTimes, keep checking back to see which of your questions have been answered and what John's answers were!

EDIT: You can find the answers here - Link