Alton Towers

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Alton Towers Resort
Logo for the 2008 season.
Location	Staffordshire, England
Coordinates	52°59′26″N 1°53′33″W / 52.99056, -1.8925Coordinates: 52°59′26″N 1°53′33″W / 52.99056, -1.8925
Website	www.altontowers.com
Owner	Nick Leslau, leased to Merlin Entertainments
General Manager	Russel Barnes
Opened	1980
Operating season	15th March 2008 - 9th November 2008
Area	500 acres (2 km²)
Rides	125 attractions total 8 roller coasters 4 water rides
Slogan	"Escape To Alton Towers Resort"
Amusement Parks Portal

Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England, attracting 2.4 million visitors in 2007.^[1] It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent), on the site of a semi-ruined gothic revival country house of the same name. Also on site are two hotels; The Alton Towers Hotel and Splash Landings Hotel, The Alton Towers Waterpark (Cariba Creek), Extraordinary Golf, Conference Centre and The Alton Towers Spa (Located in the Alton Towers Hotel).Alton Towers is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainment.

Some of the major attractions at Alton Towers include:

• Nemesis, Europe's first inverted roller coaster.
• Oblivion, the world's first vertical drop roller coaster.
• Air, the world's first B&M flying roller coaster.
• Rita - Queen of Speed, a launched roller coaster which accelerates to 100 km/h (60 mph) in approximately 2.5 seconds.

The park's promotional music is In the Hall of the Mountain King, written by Edvard Greig.

Contents 1 History 1.1 As a theme park/resort 2 Areas 2.1 Towers Street 2.2 Mutiny Bay 2.3 Katanga Canyon 2.4 Gloomy Wood 2.5 Forbidden Valley 2.6 Ug Land 2.7 Cred Street 2.8 X-Sector 2.9 Adventure Land 2.10 Old MacDonald's Farmyard 2.11 Other Attractions 2.11.1 The gardens 2.11.2 The Towers 3 The Hotels 3.1 Alton Towers Hotel 3.2 Splash Landings Hotel 4 The Waterpark 5 Extraordinary Golf 6 Past rides 6.1 List of past rides 7 Events 7.1 Scarefest 7.2 Adrenalin week 8 "YourDay" 8.1 Competition 9 Controversy 10 References 11 See also 12 External links

[edit] History

The estate that was to become Alton Towers was owned by the Earls of Shrewsbury from the 15th century. The house on the estate once known as Alveton Lodge was originally the home of the estate bailiff. In about 1812-1814 the 15th Earl began the creation of extensive gardens and in 1831 the estate became the principal residence of the 16th Earl who completed the gardens and extended and improved the mansion which he renamed Alton Towers.

The estate was sold after the death of the 20th Earl in 1921 to a private company who opened the park to the public as leisure grounds. The house was requisitioned during World War II and the gardens were closed until 1951, by which time the neglected house had begun to deteriorate.

[edit] As a theme park/resort

Alton Towers was opened as a theme park in 1980. It was purchased by The Tussauds Group in 1990. In 2005, Alton Towers was bought by the investment group Dubai International Capital (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800million.^[2] The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control.^[3] In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a renewable 35-year lease.^{[citation needed]}

The Sky Ride was designed in 1987 and still stands to this day, although the central station in Forbidden Valley was burned on the evening of 28 October 2007, due to a faulty halogen lamp.^[4] The incident caused a power cut, which led to some guests being stranded on the park's monorail. Luckily, this incident was reported quickly by a Towers employee as to not cause as much massive damage, and the park say that the damage caused to the station was mainly cosmetic. The skyride re-opened 19th April 2008 after major work had been carried out on the station's roof.

[edit] Areas

The park is split into many themed areas. The Skyride is a cable car system which visitors can use to travel between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and Cred Street. The Monorail is a system that transports visitors from the car park to the main entrance.

[edit] Towers Street

Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers ruins and borrows heavily from Main Street, USA in the Walt Disney Theme Parks. The street contains several shops, including the Towers Trading Co., which sells official park merchandise. The first Skyride station is located nearby. The Your Day Shop is also located in this area.

Attractions:

• Skyride
• Monorail

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Coca Cola Refill Station
• Corner Coffee
• The Towers Hot Dogs
• The Towers Restaurant
• Towers Trading
• Yourday

[edit] Mutiny Bay

New for 2008, Mutiny Bay, a pirate-themed land, replaced the old Merrie England which opened on March 15. New attractions to Mutiny Bay include Battle Galleons, a large "Splash Battle" water ride where guests sit in boats which travel along a track, and a rocking boat ride Heave Ho. The old teacups ride has been re-themed to become Marauders Mayhem, complete with rotating barrels instead of the old tea cups. The area also has a new Burger King restaurant and a new live show, The Pirates of Mutiny Bay. Since the opening of the area, many live actors roam around the area dressed as pirates.

Attractions:

• Battle Galleons
• The Flume - Unplugged
• Heave Ho
• Marauder's Mayhem
• Pirates of Mutiny Bay

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Pirate's Galley - Burger King
• Courtyard Tavern and BBQ
• Eastern Express
• Mexican Cantina
• Mutiny Bay Donuts
• Mutiny Bay Hot Dogs
• Mutiny Bay Shoppe

[edit] Katanga Canyon

Themed as an African village. Rides include the Runaway Mine Train and the Congo River Rapids. Both are well-established rides in the park whose ride tracks share a tunnel. The area has KFC and Pizza Hut restaurants with a shared indoor seating area. There is a shop located at the exits of the two rides called Katanga Cargo, hosting "ancient" tribal themed merchandise.

Attractions:

• Congo River Rapids
• Runaway Mine Train

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Katanga Kabin
• KFC and Pizza Hut
• The Katanga Cargo Company

[edit] Gloomy Wood

The Gloomy Wood is a small, ghosts-and-monsters themed area containing the ride Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!. The ride was originally a non-interactive ride named The Haunted House, but was upgraded in 2003 with laser-based plastic guns to shoot LED lights scattered around the rooms and monsters, with each player's score displayed on a digital display in the ride car to encourage competitive play. In 2007 Haunted Hollow an outdoor walk-through following part of the route taken by the old railway was added to the Resort, linking from Mutiny Bay to Gloomy Wood, along the route tombstones and other scary items make noises and special effects are used to great effect.^[5]

Attractions:

• Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back
• Haunted Hollow

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Gloomy Wood Kiosk
• Waffles and Ices
• Spooks 'R' Us

[edit] Forbidden Valley

Themed around a post-apocalyptic landscape, with large rocks and rusty pieces of metal and machinery scattering the area and also waterfalls coloured red to look like blood. One of the major rides is Nemesis, an inverted roller coaster, based around the fictional tale of an ancient malevolent alien creature. Also in the area, and continuing the apocalytic theme, are Ripsaw and The Blade thrill rides. Ripsaw is the Huss Topspin ride, which opened in 1997. At the end of the valley is an "oasis", with calmer colours and plants, where the ride Air, the worlds first B&M flying coaster, can be found. A Skyride station also services this area of the park.

Attractions:

• Air
• The Blade
• Lava Lump
• Nemesis
• Ripsaw
• Skyride

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Forbidden Treats
• Fresh Fish and Chips
• The Generator
• Nemices Donuts
• Refresh@Ripsaw
• Air Shop

[edit] Ug Land

Ug Land is a prehistoric/neanderthal themed area containing two of the park's major roller coasters. These are Rita - Queen of Speed and Corkscrew, which opened in 1980, making it the park's first and therefore oldest roller coaster. It also features a Chair-O-Planes ride called "Ug Swinger". There is also a range of food outlets and shops.

Attractions:

• Corkscrew
• Rita - Queen of Speed
• Soakasaurus
• Ug Swinger

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Bronto Bites
• Swee-T-Rex
• Rita Shop

[edit] Cred Street

Cred Street is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers, and is themed with bright colours. There is a selection of bouncy castles and play areas in the Cred Street playground. There are four rides in Cred Street especially suitable for younger children; Frog Hopper, Bouncing Bugs, Cred Street Carousel and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory : The Ride. The Peugeot 207 Driving School, for under 10s, opened to guests on 17 July 2006.^[6]. The area is also home to the Cred Street Theatre, which in 2008 plays host to "The Wonders of Algenon's Attic" - an interactive play for children. The play's eponymous hero, Sir Algenon Alton, is also an important figure in the themeing of the resort's Alton Towers Hotel.

Attractions:

• Bouncing Bugs
• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride
• Cred Street Playground
• Cred Street Theatre: The Wonders of Alegnon's Attic
• Frog Hopper
• Gallopers Carousel
• Peugeot 207 Driving School
• Skyride

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Cred Street Diner - Burger King
• Caffe Express
• Cred Street Toys

[edit] X-Sector

Previously called Fantasy World. X-Sector, themed as if it were a sinister government facility, contains the innovative Oblivion ride, a roller coaster in which riders experience an 87.9' degree drop (the world's first roller coaster to do this). The extra-wide roller coaster cars are held hanging over the edge for 3 seconds before dropping downwards under gravity into a large hole amid mist, and then re-emerging into a heavily banked turn leading back into the station. The area features a KFC and Pizza Hut outlet, and many side stalls. Its many amenities continue the theme, including by name, for example, Xpose Photos (run by Pixsolve), Xcite Arcade (run by HBL) and X-sell Shop. Also in the area are the Enterprise and Submission thrill rides.

Attractions:

• Enterprise
• Oblivion
• Submission

Food, Drink And Shops:

• Front Lawn Tuck Shop
• Meltdown - KFC and Pizza Hut
• Rehydrator
• X-Sell

[edit] Adventure Land

Adventure Land is aimed at visitors between the ages of 5 and 11, and consists mainly of climbing frames, slides, swings and similar equipment. There are two rides: Beastie, a small roller coaster, and Spinball Whizzer, a Maurer Söhne pinball-themed spinning roller coaster. The area also contains a food outlet.

Attractions:

• The Beastie
• Space Adventures
• Spinball Whizzer

Food And Drink:

• Refresh @ Spinball

[edit] Old MacDonald's Farmyard

Themed around a traditional farm, this area contains a small petting zoo as well as a few rides for younger visitors, which include Doodle Doo Derby, a farm-themed carousel, and Riverbank Eye Spy, a recently re-themed boat ride. In 2003, the old barn that used to hold the farm animals before the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001, was converted to a play barn called Berry Bish Bash, that contains thousands of small foam balls that are propelled, raised, thrown, dropped and shot. 2007 introduced a new themed area called There's Something in the Dungheap, an area specially for youngsters, with zip lines, climbing frames and a picnic area.

Attractions:

• Berry Bish Bash
• Doodle Doo Derby
• There's Something in the Dung Heap
• Old MacDonald's Singing Barn
• Old MacDonald's Tractor Ride
• Riverbank Eye-Spy

[edit] Other Attractions

[edit] The gardens

As an example of the mixed style of Humphry Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, circa 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, of whom J. C. Loudon (who was consulted on design features of which there were many) relates that he consulted every artist, only to avoid 'whatever an artist might recommend'.^{[citation needed]}

Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, said to be based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens (a feature in English gardens since the 1760s), domed glasshouses (originally gilded), even a fairly large Matterhorn as a backing to one of England's earliest Alpine gardens.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] The Towers

The Towers ruins are from what the park derives its name, and has sometimes featured a spooky maze during the Halloween period. Added for the 2000 season was the ride Hex - The Legend of the Towers within the ruins itself, an indoor haunted swing ride which made use of the history of the Towers. The story for the ride is based on one of Staffordshire’s great legends about a chained oak.

There is currently a £1.1million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the castle. It is currently unknown how the completed renovations will be used.

[edit] The Hotels

The resort features two hotels, The Splash Landings Hotel and The Alton Towers Hotel. The Splash Landings Hotel is a combination hotel and waterpark.

[edit] Alton Towers Hotel

The Alton Towers Hotel opened in 1996 and is themed to the eccentric fictional character Sir Algernon Alton. The rooms are decorated in a classically English style with pictures of Sir Algernon's inventions including the coasting roller adorning the walls.

The hotel features the Secret Garden restaurant serving a buffet breakfast and a la carte dinner, there is also the Captain and Dragon bars, the latter having a Chinese theme along with the small event/conference rooms in the hotel. The bars and restaurant surround the "ship" the centrepiece of the hotel featuring a hot air balloon shape and rotating propellers.

The ship is also used as a stage for the evening entertainment. For several years, until March 2008, this featured popular entertainment host, 'Dickie Hart'. However, as part of the drive to promote the resort firmly as a family destination, a show based around the adventures of Sir Alegnon along with Pirate Bill's magic show are the current offerings.

[edit] Splash Landings Hotel

The Splash Landings Hotel is the newer of the two hotels, opening in 2003, it has a Caribbean theme and the main feature is the Cariba Creek Waterpark. The hotel features Flambo's Exotic Feast a buffet restaurant with a wide selection of food including roast dinner and a chocolate fountain, a buffet breakfast is also served. Above Flambo's Feast is the Ma Garrita's Bar which features evening entertainment including karaoke. Both the bar and restaurant have windows looking out over the indoor waterpark. The hotel rooms are in a wing to the side of the hotel and some rooms have views over the outdoor sections of the waterpark. The hotel also contains two shops, one selling general snacks, sweets and souviners and the other offering swimming costumes and other waterpark related sundries. There is also an arcade near Flambo's restaurant.

Between the hotels sits the Alton Towers Conference Centre, Winner of meeting & Incentive Travel Magazine's Best UK Unusual Venue Award 2007^[7]. The Conference Centre opened shortly after the Splash Landings Hotel and is linked to both hotels via a walkway running from the side of the Alton Towers Hotel to the Conference Centre and through the Cariba Creek waterpark to the Splash Landings Hotel.

[edit] The Waterpark

Main article: Cariba Creek

An indoor and outdoor waterpark themed as a tropical lagoon is located within The Splash Landings Hotel and is accessible by both members of the hotel and members of the public. The waterpark also contains Quencher's snack bar.^[8]

[edit] Extraordinary Golf

In 2007 Alton Towers opened Extraordinary Golf, 2 nine hole themed crazy golf courses, located near The Splash Landings Hotel. As with Cariba Creek, this facility is aimed at the general public as well as park and hotel guests.

[edit] Past rides

Many roller coasters have been replaced since the original opening.

The attraction whose removal caused the biggest controversy was a single-loop roller coaster called Thunder looper, manufactured by Schwarzkopf, which was constructed in 1990 but lasted for only 6 years. It was removed mainly due to the fact that Alton Towers only obtained a temporary planning agreement and later height restrictions placed on the park and problems with the high level of sound the ride produced made it certain permanent planning permission would not be granted.^[9] Thunder looper stood in the area Thunder Valley, which is now Forbidden Valley.

The Black Hole featured a spiral lift and was contained entirely within a permanent tent structure that made some sections of the ride completely dark. This ride was closed in March 2005 and has been sold to an undisclosed theme park in Brazil. The sale was attributed to rising maintenance costs and new health and safety requirements requiring evacuation stairs on the spiral lift that could not be accommodated within the tent structure. As of April 2008 the tent structure which used to hold The Black Hole is still in place in its original location in the X-Sector area.

In common with most major parks, there was also a miniature railway line. It ran through the forest, and was one of the first attractions built after World War Two. It was a 2-foot (610 mm) gauge line equipped with Baguley locomotives, which although steam-outline in appearance were in fact powered by diesel engines. It closed in 1996, by which time this once-popular ride had been displaced by the Skyride cable-cars. It was gradually removed afterwards, and is now covered in part by the Haunted Hollow walk-through, some remnants of the railway can still be seen at various points in the forest.

[edit] List of past rides

Around The World In 80 Days Toyland Tours Nickelodeon: Outta Control Alton Beast Alton Mouse Dinosaurs Space Boat Magic Carpet Alpine Bob Sled Ferris Wheel Cine 360 Turbo Star

4 Man Bob Coaster Adventure Land 4 - 11 Doom & Sons Gravitron Octopus Spider Cine 2000 Fantastic Fountains Tri-Star 1001 Nachts Miniature Golf Mini Apple Coaster

Mississippi Showboat Splash Karts Rowing Boats Thunder Looper The New Beast Park Railway Swan Boats Dynamo Boneshaker 3D Cinema Vintage Cars The Black Hole

[edit] Events

[edit] Scarefest

The park's most major event ever is the Halloween 'Scarefest'. It runs for several weeks during the Halloween season and features a number of extra attractions across the resort. The park used to hold a fireworks display around the same time, however due to complaints from locals, the event was replaced with a laser light show.

[edit] Adrenalin week

The final week before closing for the winter season is usually, Adrenalin Week. The tickets are reduced in price, but only the major rides are opened.

[edit] "YourDay"

In 2007 the park introduced the "YourDay" DVD system. This enables visitors who wear optional, RFID wristbands during their stay at the park to be filmed on eight of the main rides and at various locations around the park. At the end of their stay all of the personalized footage is collected and insert edited into pre-recorded stock footage of the rides to produce a DVD souvenir of the visitor's day.

The YourDay system features personalised footage on Corkscrew, Nemesis, Rita - Queen of Speed, Spinball Whizzer, Oblivion and Air. The Flume & Congo River Rapids will be added in Summer 2008. Customers can now also preview their footage before they buy.

[edit] Competition

YourDay may soon be facing competition within Alton Towers, from the current on-ride photo suppliers Picsolve. Towards the end of the 2007 season, Picsolve started to test on-ride video cameras on one of the Oblivion cars. Their aim is to be able to offer a DVD with on-ride footage of the riders as an alternative to both their own on-ride photos and also YourDay's DVD. ^[10]

[edit] Controversy

• The theme park received some press for its proposal to tag guests with RFID wristbands in order that they be tracked and filmed by cameras as they move around the park. Although it is intended to be optional and used for providing personalised video of a visitor's day, the media reacted to the privacy implications and Big Brother scenario.^[11]

• A marketing strategy encouraging workers to call in absent in order to visit the theme park was heavily criticised by business groups.^[12]

• Relations with the local community were harmed when Alton Towers significantly reduced the amount of free tickets it provides to local residents as compensation for the heavy traffic the theme park attracts to the small local village roads.^[13]

• Due to a court battle with two local residents, Suzanne and Stephen Roper, Alton Towers is having problems with its end-of-season fireworks display, which is a very popular event with customers and an important date on the season calendar. However, the towers is attempting to keep them running. The court battle ended in October 2005 leaving Alton Towers with permission to stage three of the five firework and laser displays. The park now has a noise abatement order in place meaning that it cannot exceed 40 decibels to their nearby neighbours.^[14]

• On July 20, 2006 an accident involving the Runaway Mine Train occurred near the tunnel area of the ride. The train separated into two, with the two sections colliding after the first section rolled back (or "valleyed"). Three people were taken to hospital while another 26 were treated for minor injuries.^[15] The ride remained closed until 2007.

• The park was subject to media coverage over its decision to slaughter its livestock from the Old McDonald's Farmyard area due to the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in 2001^[16]. The slaughter was deemed necessary as the park would have been unable to open to the public if the animals remained, and livestock movement restrictions prevented them from being removed from the theme park itself. The RSPCA criticised the action, saying other options should have been examined.^[17]

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• Alton Towers announced a special "Islam Day", in which a group of Muslims had reportedly booked the complex for an entire day in which they would perform prayers and other Muslim related activities.^[18] This was attacked by critics as an example of political correctness.^[19] The same day was booked for holding a wedding celebration prior to the "Islam Day" for a non-Muslim couple, along with their 60 invited guests. The couple learned nine weeks before the day that an "Islam Day" was taking place at the same time. The couple and their guests were allowed to attend the same day, provided they respected the Muslim rules: alcohol, smoking and music were banned and only halal food was served.^[20] The day, however, was subsequently cancelled due to a lack of interest.

• In October 2006, 15 out of 19 fast food outlets, and an independently run Kentucky Fried Chicken failed local council health inspections.^[21]

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Roller Coaster Database Alton Towers entry
• Stafford Tourism Bureau
• Alton Towers data on Theme Park Junkies
• Behind the Scenes tour.

v • d • e Alton Towers Roller coasters: Air · Beastie · Corkscrew · Nemesis · Oblivion · Rita: Queen of Speed · Runaway Mine Train · Spinball Whizzer Other rides: Hex - The Legend of the Towers · Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride · Congo River Rapids  · Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back! Past rides: Around The World In 80 Days · Toyland Tours · Nickelodeon: Outta Control · Doom & Sons · Black Hole · Thunder looper See also: Cariba Creek  · Merlin Entertainments

v • d • e UK Theme Parks Merlin Theme Parks: Alton Towers · Chessington World of Adventures · Legoland Windsor · Thorpe Park Other Selected Theme Parks: Blackgang Chine · Blackpool Pleasure Beach · Drayton Manor · Dreamland Margate · Flamingo Land · Lightwater Valley · Loudoun Castle · Oakwood · Robin Hill