The John Wardley Interview - Questions

General discussion regarding the UK's No.1 Theme Park. Talk about anything and everything Alton Towers here.
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DiogoJ42

Some very good questions here! A few more:

*Do you think there is any hope that the rock cladding on Dragon Falls' main lift hill might return?

*What would you add to Chessington next if you had the opportunity? (Assuming planning would let you build something on the scale of Vampire again, that is!)

*Where is Zappomatic now?
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jp235
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[quote=""Jordan""][quote=""jp235""]I'd love to know what he really thinks about Merlin altering his work - whether that's the "revamps" of Haunted House and Bubbleworks, or Thorpe's inverter sharing the Nemesis brand.[/quote]

Just a quick thought, I doubt that John would be happy answering these questions considering he is currently employed by Merlin and no doubt has a good relationship with them. I'm sure we can all have a good guess at what he would respond to the Haunted House/Bubbleworks question (in fact it was briefly touched on in The Season Pass' first interview with him), and I think it would be quite unfair on him to keep asking him these questions which I expect he would try to answer very awkwardly...[/quote]


Well, such questions could very easily be taken as opportunities to rebuke enthusiasts' criticisms and explain why they are wrong. I've no doubt, for example that he'd talk about Inferno being a worthy addition to the Nemesis brand.
JoshM

Thanks for taking time out of you're busy schedule to do this interview John. Also, we can't forget to say thank-you to TowerTimes for this opportunity to ask John some questions. So, i've seen a couple of questions that I would like to 'second'
Which of the Alton Towers rollercoasters are filled with sand in their supports, really want to put this baby to bed to be honest!
Out of all of the rides you have personally been involved in, which do you consider to be your best achievement?
John, If you were the head of marketing/publicity at Alton Towers, would you have marketed TH13TEEN differently?
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?
So now it's time of some of my questions. I've looked at most of the questions here but if I ask a question thats already been covered in this thread I apologize.

1. If you had free control over Alton Towers. What one thing would you change and why?

2. What are you're feelings about IP's taking over rides such as Spinball Whizzer, The Flume and Bubbleworks?

3. If you had unlimited amounts of money and their was no boundaries stopping you from building above tree-height. What would you're dream rollercoaster be?
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What are you're feelings about IP's taking over rides such as Spinball Whizzer, The Flume and Bubbleworks?
They are not really IPs, just sponsorships (albeit very obvious ones).
fredward

[quote=""DiogoJ42""]
*Where is Zappomatic now?[/quote]

Seconded!
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Chris1
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Question 1 - How did you get involved with the development of Megafobia at Oakwood?

Question 2 - Do you feel Oblivion is in need of some TLC?

:)
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Sam
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Sorry if it has already been asked, can't be arsed scrolling through 9 pages:

Do you think that Tussauds, and now Merlin, has had a detrimental effect on the UK's smaller parks, and the UK theme park industry as a whole? Do you think that Merlin now have a monopoly over the market and have stagnated somewhat?
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NF2
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What do you think of the current attitude towards Dark Rides in the UK? Do you believe that the market has changed since 1992 and the public no longer appreciate dark rides without either a Duel-esque gimmick or attatched IP like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, or is this just a misconception of public opinion as far as current management are concerned?

Is there any chance of the UK seeing another Dark Ride built with the same detail and theatrical brilliance (yes, I am using that term Bill :D ) as some of your work in the early 90's, or is there just no more demand for them in the present day?
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Stern John
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Hello John.

If you were involved with Spinball, Charlie and Rita what would you have done differently?

Do you think we will ever see Air's tunnel finished off as per the original plans?

And Finally you have any pictures from the construction of The Fifth Dimension, Bubbleworks or any of your wonderful dark rides you would like to share?

Thank You
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stretchy
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I find that entertainment is good if it either

a) scares you (ie horror films/roller coasters)
b) makes you laugh (ie comedy films / some dark rides)
c) teaches you (eg museums)

Q 1) What attraction has made you laugh the most?
Q 1b) were you laughing with the ride, at the ride, or at other riders?
<I personally think that Carnival of Screams was one of the most laugh inducing
attractions I have been on/through only due to the effect on other members of
the group>
Q 2) have you ever thought of creating or created a comedy based attraction? If so how would it work?

Q 3) Have you ever thought of creating or worked on any knowledge based attractions/dark rides
[url=http://"http://www.stretchedmindz.com"]Image[/url]

[url=http://"http://www.secretsantaelf.co.uk"]Image[/url]
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deadwing
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Go on then, I've got a couple more.


You mention on your website that you've always aspired to Disney and were influenced by Big Thunder Mountain in particular. Did you ever consider working for Walt Disney Imagineering?

Also,

Do you think we'll ever see another major theme park in the UK and if so would want to be involved and what sort of attractions do you think it'd need to compete with the big boys like Alton, Thorpe and Blackpool.

Cheers.
In the coat you wore to Alton Towers is still the way I see you now...
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starbugger1303
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I have another pne

Do you remember the mysterious mannequin head in the Haunted House, if so what was it used for?

:?
[Archive]

:roll: He will definitely not remember that. I would say it is simply a piece of decoration left over from the Ghost Corridor, most likely not an effect. It is so small when you see it in real life that it could not have been an effect. You will be lucky if he does remember, or recognises a photo of it, but if he does the answer will probably be quick and simple like the one I just gave you. Also remember that he was not directly involved with the decoration and theming around the ride, he just worked to decide on the concepts for the key features, atmosphere, effects and what the decor would be like, so it would probably be better asking whoever was in charge of the actual set design. :)
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Pricey ;)
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Did you have involvment with the Haunted Mine at Barry Island Pleasure Park? If so are you sad to see the state of it now?
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Chris W
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From TT News:
There is now just one week left for you to submit your questions to John Wardley, ride consultant for Merlin Entertainments.

John Wardley is best known as the creator of Nemesis, Oblivion and Air. He also worked on the 2010 Alton Towers attraction, Th13teen. In the 90s Tussauds era John Wardley was instrumental in the development of Alton Towers, and his work firmly placed Alton Towers as the UKs number 1 Theme Park.

Over the past week, TowersTimes Forum members have been submitting their questions for John Wardley. (There has currently been over 170 questions submitted!)
These questions cover a wide variety of subjects including: Chessington World of Adventures, Alton Towers, Barry Island and future attractions.

Although, we cannot guarantee that your question will be put to John Wardley we would still like more questions to be submitted for consideration.
TowersTimes are looking for unique questions that have not yet been answered by John Wardley, so get thinking about what you want John Wardley to talk about!

The closing date for questions to be submitted is Sunday 5th December 2010 at 5:00pm.
The response has been fantastic so far! Keep it up over the next week.
I have read every question posted and there are a lot of really great topics that could be discussed with John.
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rhejenko
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John,

My question is if you could build any type of ride at Alton Towers what would it be, forget all about the restrictions i.e noise & height what would type would you go for new or old and what themeing would it have ?

Brief description would be great :)


Thanks :P
NEMMY CHIC
gazag

simple question i have asked at evry Q&A i have been to

What is your favorite cheese?
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XIIIDom
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Is Duel likley to be replaced in the future? If so, will you be involved on its replacement?
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grrwolf
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Any news about roller coaster tycoon 4? [-o<
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Mitch
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^I don't think he'd know. He doesn't work on the games or with Atari/Frontier who produce them.

My question...

"Would it be right to say that not all of your creations have turned out as you wished? If yes, which of these rides would you change and what would you do to it to make it into your original concept for the ride?"
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