The John Wardley Interview - Questions

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
Locked
User avatar
James
Member
Member
Posts: 2740
Joined: Thu Jan 22, 2009 4:43 pm
Location: Newport, Wales
Contact:

[quote=""Rollercoaster5000""]Who came up with the concept for the world first element on Thirteen and what is the ride's top speed?[/quote]

The rides top speed is 41.63mph :wink:
User avatar
Rollercoaster5000
Member
Member
Posts: 492
Joined: Fri Jul 10, 2009 4:43 pm
Location: North London
Contact:

[quote=""James""][quote=""Rollercoaster5000""]Who came up with the concept for the world first element on Thirteen and what is the ride's top speed?[/quote]

The rides top speed is 41.63mph :wink:[/quote] Thanks James :). It's a decent speed :|.
Danny

Were you ever drunk when you came up with one of the world's first concepts? If so, which ones were you drunk for?
User avatar
Ritadz
Member
Member
Posts: 1410
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:09 pm

That's the coaster section's top speed, the freefall drop's speed is 67 MPH.
AdamJ

Do you think you will ever be able to top Nemesis? And what ride style/theme/manufacturer would you choose, and why?


:)
User avatar
Voke
Member
Member
Posts: 1218
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 3:46 pm
Location: Derbyshire
Contact:

John, If you were the head of marketing/publicity at Alton Towers, would you have marketed TH13TEEN differantly?
fredward

[quote=""Danny""]Were you ever drunk when you came up with one of the world's first concepts? If so, which ones were you drunk for?[/quote]

Not sure about the concepts, but he was drunk when he named nemesis,

"I don't care what it's called aslong as it ends with 'sis"

I'm actually curious to know how much he realises we idolise him! And following on from that wether he has read any of the TTwiki entries!

and, How's SW7 coming along!?
[Archive]

Thank you very much for this opportunity, Towers Times. :) I have 10 questions that I would be very greatful if John Wardley answered.
____________________

Mr Wardley, you have been the man behind practically everything that captured my imagination as a child. In fact, riding Professor Burp's Bubbleworks for the final time before it closed at the end of 2005 was one of my happiest childhood memories. You are the reason that I have become interested in theme parks and are a fantastic role model. Thank you ever so much much for your great work. I will be extremely grateful if you are able to answer my questions, which are mostly on the rich past of your dark rides.

1. You have described the Haunted House in the past as a "laugh in the dark" attraction and something you were always keen to do. Did you think the finished product was how you had wanted it to turn out? Many scenes and effects failed or had to be changed very early on in the ride's lifetime. Would you say your vision for the ride suffered as a result of this or were the solutions carried out well enough to fix its problems? I am very interested the past, and the Haunted House sticks out in terms of its history of alterations and changed effects. Were there particular reasons as to why there were so many changes, both before opening day and after, or simple bad luck?

2. Do you know about the future of the Haunted House, whether it will continue as Duel for long or if it is being considered for a major change at some point in time?

3. A quick question out of curiosity, again on the Haunted House... The animatronic skeleton that is seen pulling on a switch on an old fashioned fuse box, cutting out the lights (installed at the start of the Skeleton Corridor in c. 1993) is commonly named "Electric Bill". Do you know if this is the skeleton's official name?

4. The development of Transylvania at Chessington was one of the greatest projects that you worked on. Did Professor Burp's Bubbleworks remain the same after it opened, or did it have any problems or alterations like the Haunted House? Did Transylvania turn out as planned, or were ideas changed at some point?

5. Did you have the same input with the total reconstruction of the Fifth Dimension to Terror Tomb as you did with the other dark rides? Were you pleased with Terror Tomb as a replacement to the Fifth Dimension?

6. Will you consider returning to work on Chessington World of Adventures in the future? Also, have you been following Chessington since you stopped working there? What do you think of its current state? Were you involved with the park's new land - Wild Asia? Wild Asia is, in my opinion, fantastic and a return to how Chessington used to do things when you were there.

7. What happened to Spark's Creative Services to make them shut down after they worked with you to create the Haunted House? On what rides did you work with Keith Sparks, was it just Bubbleworks and Haunted House? Did you have a good relationship with Keith Sparks and did he have a lot of input on how the rides turned out? Who else worked with you other than Mr Sparks? I am interested because it would be great to know what it was like during the creating of the concepts for these rides and who was involved, and it seems that Sparks Group had a big role to play.

8. Would you consider working on another dark ride in the future, even if you will not be project manager as was the case in the late 80s to 90s? Your remaining untouched dark rides are very sorely missed, so it would be great to see a new development if there any are planned in the future.

9. Was it a tricky decision to leave your work on James Bond?

10. What is the story behind your brown, leather jacket that you wore for the promotionals for the Haunted House, Nemesis, Oblivion and Air? It is awesome! Where can I get such a jacket? :P

11. If you were given the chance to recreate any of your past devlopments, is there anything you would do differently?

____________________

I seem to be the only one in this topic with any serious questions! :P

EDIT
Expanded a lot on question 6 and added question 7. :)
Last edited by [Archive] on Tue Nov 23, 2010 5:17 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
Islander
Member
Member
Posts: 2204
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:12 pm
Location: Space Station Mir
Contact:

How far advanced are plans for SW7? Can you give any clues as to what/where it might be?

How do you feel about all the attention you receive? You're treated like a God amongst coaster enthusiasts, and for someone who logically shouldn't be treated like an A-list celebrity, it must be weird.

[quote=""starbugger1303""]How did you feel when you found out that The Haunted House was being changed to Duel?[/quote]
Seconded.


[quote=""Nightfall""][quote="".Will""]I has question!

Which of the Alton Towers rollercoasters are filled with sand in their supports, really want to put this baby to bed to be honest!

:P[/quote] Seconded.[/quote]
Thirded.
User avatar
ewan2000
New Member
New Member
Posts: 7
Joined: Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:46 am
Location: Norwich
Contact:

Have you used RCT3 or No Limits to design any of your rides, and if so, which ones?
towerspy.co.uk
Jem8472

Some great Questions here, I really laughed at the shampoo/conditioner question :lol:


Are you family big rollercoaster fans? If so which do they think is the best ride you have helped create?
User avatar
Hauntedone
Member
Member
Posts: 134
Joined: Thu Feb 16, 2006 8:50 am
Location: Alton
Contact:

What would you do to Duel given the opportunity ?
Image
[Archive]

[quote=""ewan2000""]Have you used RCT3 or No Limits to design any of your rides, and if so, which ones?[/quote]
He has said multiple times that he uses No Limits Pro, as do most people these days. Rollercoaster Tycoon is not an accurate tool when designing coasters by the way, it doesn't work out the calculations accurately. :)
User avatar
Islander
Member
Member
Posts: 2204
Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2009 8:12 pm
Location: Space Station Mir
Contact:

[quote=""Islander""][quote=""starbugger1303""]How did you feel when you found out that The Haunted House was being changed to Duel?[/quote]
Seconded.[/quote]
Thinking about it, I'd also like to widen that question to include Bubbleworks. It's clear that the park wanted to generate revenue from sponsorship using the ride, but do you know why the park went for a total retheme, rather than adding subtle sponsorship (à la Tidal Wave during the Original Source era)? How do you feel about the current Imperial Leather version of Bubbleworks?
[Archive]

And also, who's idea was it to dare touch such a classic ride as Professor Burp's Bubbleworks?

Are they dead yet? I hope so. :twisted: [/tongue-in-cheek]
Last edited by [Archive] on Sat Nov 20, 2010 9:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.
User avatar
DannyJ
Member
Member
Posts: 89
Joined: Mon Nov 23, 2009 8:55 pm
Location: Macclesfield,Cheshire
Contact:

How many times did you ride nemesis , oblivion, air and th13teen before it was openend to the public ?
Nemesis being most intresting one i want to hear.
Blaze

Firstly, thank you so much for this oportunity :clap:

[quote=""Mike""]OK I'll start us off shall I :P

Q: If you were put in charge of theming at Alton Towers, which area of the park would you say is best themed, and which would you say needs most work? And for the latter, what would you do to improve it? :)[/quote]
Seconded

[quote=""Voke""]John, If you were the head of marketing/publicity at Alton Towers, would you have marketed TH13TEEN differantly?[/quote]
Seconded

[quote=""Ritadz""]That's the coaster section's top speed, the freefall drop's speed is 67 MPH.[/quote]
I'm pretty sure that's very wrong.
User avatar
Ritadz
Member
Member
Posts: 1410
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 10:09 pm

A few more from me:

1) When you first started the planning/concepts for Nemesis, did you ever imagine after 16 years it would still be regarded as one of the best rollercoasters in the world?

2) If you could change anything about Nemesis, would you and if you would, what would it be?

3) Do you think that in your lifetime there will be a ride that revolutionizes the UK industry as much as Nemesis did in 1994?

4) Have you ever been involved with any park events eg: Scarefest?

5) As mentioned in a topic on TTF, Nemesis has a SW tag on the tour bus, Oblivion on some supports and a queue building, do Air and TH13TEEN have SW tags, and if so where are they?
User avatar
seanyboyuk
Member
Member
Posts: 1055
Joined: Sun Oct 07, 2007 10:40 pm

My SERIOUS questions...

Has AT management asked you to look at rethemeing any existing rides within the next few years?
If so which ones or if you cant say anything specific at least confirm if anything is in the pipeline.

What has been agreed by all parties by the SW7 meetings you have been holding this year with all people involved? Mainly has a location within the park been agreed on and will it be a worlds first coaster?
User avatar
Voke
Member
Member
Posts: 1218
Joined: Tue Aug 31, 2010 3:46 pm
Location: Derbyshire
Contact:

What stage is SW7 currently at?
Locked