Attraction Source Forum

if Spinball was going to go anywhere else, it would make sense to move it to Thorpe so they have a ride aimed at younger people, where height and noise is not an issue and it is not a 1.4 height restriction. Thorpe have plenty of space for it.
Alton could get another spinner, but one like Dragons which is designed to weave in an out of existing buildings, or through Gloomy Wood would be a great location

bensaund wrote:if Spinball was going to go anywhere else, it would make sense to move it to Thorpe so they have a ride aimed at younger people, where height and noise is not an issue and it is not a 1.4 height restriction. Thorpe have plenty of space for it.
Alton could get another spinner, but one like Dragons which is designed to weave in an out of existing buildings, or through Gloomy Wood would be a great location

I don't see the point in moving Spinball to Thorpe. If there's anyone at Thorpe under 1.4M tall, they have almost definitely been to Chessington previously, so Spinball would just seem a lame alternative to Dragon's Fury.

Also, where would it go and how would it be themed?

Dan.B wrote:

Tom170499 wrote:

RollercoasterRob wrote:Sonic Spinball is an absolutely great ride for all the family. However I do think that a Cebeebies expansion could threaten the rides future at the park. I think that if they do want to expand Ceebibies Land, they should move Sonic Spinball to the old Coaster Corner as an expansion of Cloud Cookoo Land, that way, it would also attract more people to that area of the park!

Only issue with that is that Sonic is quite a loud ride, especially the lift hill so correct me if I'm wrong but is there a problem with the noise levels in Coaster Corner?

Correct, I believe that is why the coasters there were removed in the first place. I doubt that the park will move the coaster to another area of the park anyway as this is expensive and pointless.

I do believe this was the case but when you look there are barley and residential or commercial buildings located behind Coaster Corner anyway and there is a large strip of forestry land in between the Coaster Corner and the nearest road. Alton towers could cover the lift hill and the other noisier parts of the ride with sound proof tunnels. Or they could put the whole coaster indoors however that is extremely unlikely as the coaster is over 17 metres high. So really Alton Towers should have no problem with noise levels from the ride. Their problem would be actually moving the coaster from its current location.

Right time to clear some stuff up. Spinball would never be moved to another merlin park, for many reasons because it's a huge task and the cost of doing so wouldn't be far off buying a new roller coaster. Same again with the moving in the park I highly doubt it would move somewhere else because they'll have To go through planning etc and they wouldn't waste that planning consent on another ride they've got about 5 years of life left


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Aye I feel they'll let it run its course where it stands. It caused the council to rethink the planning guidance so I would be surprised if it was shifted after all that hoohah

Oh and you're not the only one to love Sub Terra :P

So according to a team member on Towersstreet, the sonic branding will be removed from the ride for the 2016 season as the contract from SEGA has expired.

MakoMania wrote:So according to a team member on Towersstreet

I'm sorry, but towerstreet? Never heard of em'... :lol

This is supported by the ride being referred to as 'Spinball' in the ERT line-up.

Liam.W wrote:

MakoMania wrote:So according to a team member on Towersstreet

I'm sorry, but towerstreet? Never heard of em'... :lol

Really??

Anyway it is still listed on the website as Sonic Spinball


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If it is true, then I'd expect the page to be updated when the rest of the ride line-up is confirmed.

I shall miss Sonic's disconcerting nose and terrifying single eye.

I'm pretty sure sonic lost his nose at a point last season :lol

tcw1993 wrote:Same again with the moving in the park I highly doubt it would move somewhere else because they'll have To go through planning etc and they wouldn't waste that planning consent on another ride they've got about 5 years of life left

I believe it suggested in the LTDP that it may be removed/relocated, so there is some scope for this to happen..
Personally, I think there is a strong possibility that it would, due to the success of Cbeebies. The 5m ruling wouldn't have too much of an impact if the area was to be used for expansion.

I'm slightly confused, why are people referring to the sonic theming a if it has been removed?

As far as I'm aware, the contract with SEGA has been renewed, as both the theming for the ride is still there and you can still book a stay in the Sonic room in the Alton Towers Hotel.

In terms of it being moved, I still can't understand this obsession of it being taken from this area, it isn't hugely visable anymore unless you're being hugely pedantic. Although I can see CBeebies being expanded, I'm not sure they'd want to do it until 2019/2020 time, as other wise they've lost a piece of land that they can use to market the area. If they were to expand it so early after it opened, while the area is still flourishing, then the expansion wouldn't have the maximum effect in terms of visitor numbers and money.

stealthsmiler wrote:

Liam.W wrote:

MakoMania wrote:So according to a team member on Towersstreet

I'm sorry, but towerstreet? Never heard of em'... :lol

Really??

Nah it was a joke... :chuckel:

Owen wrote:Although I can see CBeebies being expanded, I'm not sure they'd want to do it until 2019/2020 time, as other wise they've lost a piece of land that they can use to market the area. If they were to expand it so early after it opened, while the area is still flourishing, then the expansion wouldn't have the maximum effect in terms of visitor numbers and money.

:yes: I do agree with you on this. The current LTDP runs until 2019, so I believe any movement would be towards the end of this plan.

I'd bet on 2017 as the last season for Spinball, being either relocated or removed for 2018 to allow construction on a CBeebies expansion for 2019.

I noticed in the article published tonight on TT news that the ride IS being reverted to Spinball Whizzer.

Is this confirmed, or just a most likely scenario?

MakoMania wrote:I noticed in the article published tonight on TT news that the ride IS being reverted to Spinball Whizzer.

Is this confirmed, or just a most likely scenario?

The ride is listed as 'Spinball Whizzer' in the new DigiPass booklet which is being given out to guests. The ride is also referred to as simply 'Spinball' on the list of ERT rides on Towers' website. The Sonic IP ran out at the end of last season too, so as they didn't renew it they had to revert the theme.

It's also listed as 'Spinball Whizzer' on ridetimes.co.uk