Alton Towers

Alton Towers Resort

Slogan	Escape to the Alton Towers Resort
Location	Alton, Staffordshire
Coordinates	52°59′21″N 1°53′29″W / 52.98917°N 1.89139°W / 52.98917; -1.89139
Owner	Merlin Entertainments Group
Operating season	Theme Park Main season: March–November Santas Sleepovers: Late November-Early January Alton Towers Hotel Year-round Splash Landings Hotel May - September (2017) Enchanted Village Year-round CBeebies Land Hotel Year-round Alton Towers Waterpark Year-round Alton Towers Hotel Spa Year-round Conference Centre Year-round Enchanted Forest Tree Top Quest February–November (2017) Extraordinary Golf Year-round
Visitors per annum	1.980 million (2016)
Area	910 acres (370 ha) (total combined resort area)
Rides
Total	50
Roller coasters	9
Water rides	3
Status	Alton Towers Theme Park 10am - 6pm Alton Towers Hotel Open Splash Landings Hotel Open Enchanted Village Open CBeebies Land Hotel Open Alton Towers Waterpark 10am - 8pm Extraordinary Golf 9am - 8:30pm Alton Towers Hotel Spa 10am - 8pm Enchanted Forest Tree Top Quest 9am - 8pm

Alton Towers Resort, often shortened to Alton Towers, is a theme park resort located in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The resort, which is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group, incorporates a water park and hotel complex. The location debuted in 1860 featuring flower shows and garden tours, but was later transformed into a theme park in 1980.^[1] Now, it is the largest theme park in the UK and the second most visited after Legoland Windsor.

The park operates six major roller coasters – Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita, Thirteen, The Smiler, and Galactica – as well as other attractions. The first hotel accommodation opened in 1996 as the Alton Towers Hotel. The Alton Towers Waterpark and a Caribbean-themed Splash Landings Hotel were added in 2003. The Enchanted Village opened in 2015, and a new hotel based on the CBeebies brand opened in July 2017.^[2] The complex also includes conference facilities, crazy golf and a high ropes course.

While the theme park closes for several months of the year, many of its hotels and amenities are open year-round. Special events are hosted throughout the year, including concert nights, a Scarefest event for Halloween, and a season-ending fireworks display.

History

The Alton Towers estate was a former seat of the Earl of Shrewsbury. Following its sale in 1924 a group of local businessmen formed Alton Towers Ltd and began to restore the gardens as a tourist attraction.^[3] In the 1950s this included the operation of a fairground, and by the 1970s included a boating lake and chairlift.^[4]

After millionaire property developer John Broome married the daughter of majority shareholder Denis Bagshaw in 1973, he bought out the controlling stake in Alton Towers. Over the next few years he laid the foundation for the modern theme park by installing various permanent rides and developing areas of the grounds in progressive stages. In the 1980s Broome marketed the park by installing a major new ride every year - including Corkscrew, Pirate Ship (now The Blade), Alpine Bobsleigh, The Flume and The Black Hole.

With Broome in financial troubles having acquired the former Battersea Power Station for development as a tourist attraction, in 1990 the park was purchased by The Tussauds Group, which itself was owned by Pearson Group. The change of ownership heralded an era of sustained investment and aggressive marketing based around the US theme park model epitomised by Disneyland, involving the development of major family-oriented attractions such as Runaway Mine Train (1992), The Haunted House (1992, now Duel), Toyland Tours (1994) and Peter Rabbit and Friends On Ice (1994), alongside state-of-the-art, high-intensity rides such as Nemesis (1994, Europe's first inverted roller coaster). However, Tussauds subsequently reoriented the resort's business strategy towards the teenage market with the introduction of Oblivion (1998, a B&M Dive Coaster) and Air (2002, now Galactica, a B&M Flying Coaster), both marketed for their innovative 'World First' ride elements and restoring, to a degree, the youth credibility it had established in the 1980s. Ride designer John Wardley was behind the concepts and layouts of the major attractions in the 1990s that brought success to the themepark.

2005 saw the acquisition of Alton Towers by the investment group Dubai International Capital (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800 million.^[5] The Tussauds Group was then bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control.^[6] 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 35-year lease.^[7][8]

Rides and attractions

Roller coasters

Name	Picture	Opened	Type	Status	Height Min.	Manufacturer	Park section	Notes	Previous Attraction
Galactica		2002 (2016)	Steel VR flying	Operational	1.4m	Bolliger & Mabillard VR imagery created by Figment Productions.	Forbidden Valley	The world's first Bolliger & Mabillard flying roller coaster, and from 2016 onwards, the world's first virtual reality dedicated roller coaster. Formerly known as Air.	Air
Nemesis		1994	Steel inverted	Operational	1.4m	Bolliger & Mabillard	Forbidden Valley	Europe's first inverted roller coaster. Voted 9th best roller coaster in the world in the 2013 Mitch Hawker steel coaster poll.	N/A
Oblivion		1998	Steel dive	Operational	1.4m	Bolliger & Mabillard	X-Sector	Dubbed as world's first vertical drop roller coaster yet its dive angle is not 90°, it is the world's first Dive coaster however.	Alpine Bobsleigh
Rita		2005	Steel accelerator	Operational	1.4m	Intamin	Dark Forest	A launched roller coaster involving a race car succumbing to the powers of a supernatural forest.	Boneshaker
Runaway Mine Train		1992	Steel mine train	Operational	0.9m	Mack Rides	Katanga Canyon	A powered mine train roller coaster. The oldest roller coaster in the park following the removal of the Beastie in early 2013.	N/A
Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure		2015	Steel	Operational	0.9m	Zamperla	CBeebies Land	A new model of a children's coaster from Zamperla. Opened as part of a CBeebies Land expansion.	Beastie
Spinball Whizzer		2004	Steel spinning	Operational	1.2m	Maurer Söhne	Adventure Land	A spinning roller coaster located in Adventure Land.	N/A
Thirteen		2010	Steel Family Drop	Operational	1.2m	Intamin	Dark Forest	The world's first vertical free-fall drop roller coaster.	Corkscrew
The Smiler		2013	Steel Infinity	Operational	1.4m	Gerstlauer	X-Sector	Holds world record for most track inversions (14).	Black Hole
SW8 (code name)		2018	Wooden	Under Construction	1.2m (Expected)	Great Coasters International	Gloomy Wood	The UK's first wooden roller coaster to open since Megafobia in 1996.	The Flume

Ride statistics

Name	Height	Length	Top speed	Max vert. angle	Inver- sions	Trains on ride	Riders per train	Designer
Galactica**	65 ft (20 m)	2,760 ft (840 m)	47 mph (76 km/h)	40°	2	2	28 (7 rows 4)	John Wardley
Nemesis*	42 ft (13 m)	2,349 ft (716 m)	50 mph (80 km/h)	40°	4	2	32 (8 rows of 4)	John Wardley
Oblivion*	65 ft (20 m)	1,223 ft (373 m)	68 mph (109 km/h)	88.8°*	0	7	16 (2 rows of 8)	John Wardley
Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure	21.3 ft (6.5 m)	469.2 ft (143.0 m)	28 mph		0	1	14 (7 rows of 2)
Rita	60 ft (18 m)	2,099.8 ft (640.0 m)	60 mph (97 km/h)	53°	0	2	20 (10 rows of 2)	Werner Stengel
Runaway Mine Train	36 ft (11 m)	1,000 ft (300 m)	22.4 mph (36.0 km/h)	29°	0	1	46 (23 rows of 2)	John Wardley
Spinball Whizzer	55 ft (17 m)	1,476 ft (450 m)	39 mph (63 km/h)	80°	0	8	4 (2 rows of 2, back to back)	Werner Stengel
The Smiler**	72 ft (22 m)	3,840 ft (1,170 m)	53 mph (85 km/h)	50°	14**	3	16 (4 rows of 4)	John Wardley
Thirteen*	65 ft (20 m)	2,480 ft (760 m)	42 mph (68 km/h)	70°	0	2	20 (10 rows 2)	John Wardley
SW8	70 ft (21 m)	Unknown	Unknown	40°	0	2	24 (12 rows 2)	(first 2 drops) John Wardley

Key: * = record holder upon opening; ** = current record holder (January 2017)

Flat rides

Name	Picture	Type	Status	Opened	Area	Manufacturer	Additional information	Replaced
Enterprise		Huss Enterprise	Operational	1984	X-Sector	HUSS		N/A
The Blade		Swinging ship	Operational	1997 (1980)	Forbidden Valley	Huss Rides	A zero gravity swinging ship, themed to resemble a piece of discarded shrapnel thrown from Nemesis's pit.	Thunder looper

Water/Dark rides

Name	Picture	Type	Status	Opened	Area	Manufacturer	Notes	Replaced
Battle Galleons		Splash Battle	Operational	2008	Mutiny Bay	Mack Rides	A Splash Battle ride, allowing riders to shoot at other ride boats and guests on land with mounted water guns.	Splash Kart Challenge
Congo River Rapids		Rapids ride	Operational	1986	Katanga Canyon	Intamin	An rapids ride around the perimeter of Katanga Canyon, interacting with the Runaway Mine Train throughout its layout. Refurbished 1992.	N/A
Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back!		Dark ride	Operational	1992 (2003)	Gloomy Wood	Mack Rides	A dark ride through a haunted house. Rides are equipped with laser guns to shoot the scenery and gain points.	The Haunted House
Hex - The Legend of the Towers		Walk-through/ Madhouse dark ride combination	Operational	2000	The Towers	Vekoma	A walkthrough attraction based on the legend of the chained oak. Concludes with a Madhouse attraction in the ride's Vault area.	N/A
Nemesis: Sub-Terra		Drop tower and walkthrough attraction	SBNO	2012	Forbidden Valley	ABC rides	Not been in operation since June 2015, still standing and listed on the Alton Towers website, currently unknown when or if it will reopen	Dynamo

Children's rides

Name	Picture	Type	Opened	Area	Manufacturer	Additional information|	Replaced
Twirling Toadstool		Chair Swing	1984	Cloud Cuckoo Land	Unknown	Currently closed for the 2017 season.	Bouncing Bugs
Cuckoo Cars Driving School		Driving Attraction	2006	Cloud Cuckoo Land	Peugeot	A children's car driving attraction.	Vintage Cars
Frog Hopper		Mini drop tower	1999	Cloud Cuckoo Land	Zamperla	A mini drop tower for children.	N/A
Galloper's Carousel		Carousel	1991	Cloud Cuckoo Land	Bertazzon	A children's merry-go-round ride.	N/A
Heave Ho		Rock 'n' Tug	2008	Mutiny Bay	Zamperla	A rocking and swinging boat ride.	N/A
Marauder's Mayhem		Tea Cups Ride	1986	Mutiny Bay	Mack Rides	A tea cups ride re-themed to resemble barrels of gunpowder. Rethemed in 2008.	Tea Cups Ride
Sharkbait Reef		Sea Life Centre	2009	Mutiny Bay	Merlin Entertainments Studios	Aquarium themed as a shipwreck.	3D Cinema
In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride		Boat ride	2014	CBeebies Land	Mack Rides	Boat ride taking in sights of In The Night Garden. Rethemed Riverbank Eye Spy.	Riverbank Eye Spy
Get Set Go TreeTop Adventure		powered monorail ride	2014	CBeebies Land	Premier Rides	Riders travel through the tree tops in their own vehicle above CBeebies Land.	Squirrel Nutty Ride
Postman Pat's Parcel Post		Convoy Ride	2014	CBeebies Land	MSI	An interactive car ride based on the CBeebies programme Postman Pat.	Old Macdonalds Tractor Ride
Numtums Number Go-Around		Carousel style attraction	2014	CBeebies Land		A carousel style attraction featuring the Numtums.	Doodle Doo Derby
Charlie & Lola's Moonsquirters & Greendrops		Walkthrough	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An indoor interactive attraction based on the CBeebies programme Charlie and Lola.	Donkeys
Justin's House: Pie-O-Matic Factory		Playhouse	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An interactive indoor play area based on the CBeebies programme Justin's House.	Berry Bish Bash play area
Nina's Science Lab		Activity Centre	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An indoor educational science attraction based on the CBeebies programme Nina and the Neurons.	Education Centre
Mr Bloom's Allotment		Show	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An indoor show and attraction based on the CBeebies programme Mr Bloom's Nursery.	Animal paddock
Something Special Sensory Garden		Sensory Trail	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An outdoor sensory garden based on the CBeebies programme Something Special.	Bookworm attraction
Tree Fu Tom Training Camp		Play Area	2014	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	An outdoor play area based on the CBeebies programme Tree Fu Tom.	Dung Heap play area
Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride		Spinning flat ride	2017	CBeebies Land	Garmendale Engineering	A spinning flat ride themed to CBeebies programme Go Jetters. One of two additions to CBeebies Land for 2017.	N/A
The Furchester Hotel Live		Show	2017	CBeebies Land	Merlin Ent. Studios	A show based on the CBeebies programme The Furchester Hotel. One of two additions to CBeebies Land for 2017.	N/A

Theme park transport and grounds

Name	Picture	Type	Opened	Area	Manufacturer	Notes
Haunted Hollow		Walkthrough	2007	Gloomy Wood	Tussauds Studios	Themed spooky path between Gloomy Wood and Mutiny Bay, with interactive features.
Monorail		Monorail	1987	Links entrance plaza and hotels	Von Roll Habegger	Monorail system to transport guests from the resort hotels & car parks to the theme park entrance. Trains refurbished in 2008 by AV and multimedia company, Sarner, with different themes added for each of the 8 trains, including the jellybean and daisy designs. Trains were originally used at Expo 86 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Sky Ride		Cable car	1987	Stations at Towers Street, Forbidden Valley and the Towers	Poma	Cable car to transport guests around the theme park giving views of the gardens. Was damaged by fire in 2007; refurbished in 2009; damaged again by fire 21 July 2009; Rebuilt for the 2010 season.
The Gardens		English landscape garden	1860	Gardens		Landscaped gardens located within the valley with lakes, water features and architectural landmarks.
The Towers ruins		Ruins	1970s	The Towers		The ruins were made safe and opened to the public in the 1970s. Utilised during Scarefest for scare mazes.

Food Facilities

Past Food Facilities

Alton Towers has previously had leases with High Street outlets, which have since been replaced by in-house brands such as Explorers Pizza & Pasta, Fried Chicken Co. and Burger Kitchen.

• McDonald's (1998-2007)
• Burger King (2008-2012)
• Pizza Hut (1998-2009)
• KFC (1998-2011)

Past rides

Past roller coasters

Attraction	Opened	Closed	Relocation
Corkscrew	1980	2008	Display feature at theme park entrance (decommissioned)
Black Hole	1983	2005	Furuvik Zoo, Sweden since 2011[9]
Thunder Looper	1990	1996	Hopi Hari, Brazil since 1999[10]
The Beast	1988	1997	Salitre Magico, Colombia since 2010[11]
The Beastie	1983	2010	SBNO during 2011 and 2012 then removed.
Alton Mouse	1988	1991	Idlewild and Soak Zone, Pennsylvania, United States since 1993[12]
4 Man Bob Coaster	1985	1991	Last operated at Loudon Castle, Scotland, UK in 2011[13]
Mini Apple Coaster	1982	1997	Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach, England, UK since 1998[14]

Main Past Attractions

Attraction	Opened	Closed
Around The World in 80 Days	1981	1993
Doom & Sons	1981	1991
The Flume	1981	2015
Toyland Tours	1994	2005
The Haunted House	1992	2002 Now Duel
Submission	2001	2013
Dynamo	1993	2003
Aquarium (Unrelated to Sharkbait Reef aquarium)	1974	1994
Boneshaker Formerly Energizer	1995	2003, SBNO until 2004
Ripsaw	1997	2015
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride	2006	2015
Ice Age: The 4D Experience	2012	2016

Other notable past rides

Alton Towers Theme Park

The Alton Towers Theme Park is divided into twelve areas: Towers Street, Mutiny Bay, Katanga Canyon, Gloomy Wood, Forbidden Valley, Dark Forest, The Gardens, The Towers, Cloud Cuckoo Land, X-Sector, CBeebies Land and Adventure Land. The SkyRide cable car system travels between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley, and Cloud Cuckoo Land and takes in views of the gardens.

The park's maximum capacity at any one time is set at 28,000 guests.^{[17][18][19][20]} According to the TEA attendance report, the park was estimated to have attracted 1,980,000 people in 2016, a 2.9% increase on 2015's figure of 1,925,000. This makes Alton Towers Britain's 2nd most visited theme park after Legoland Windsor and the 13th most visited theme park in Europe. The launch of the Thirteen rollercoaster saw the theme park attract 3 million admissions in the 2010 season, a number equalled only by the launch of Nemesis in 1994.

Annual Attendance

Annual park attendance figures are not released by the park itself, so the figures listed here are sourced from various estimates from organisations such as the Themed Entertainment Association^[21]. Due to conflicting figures from various sources, some of the figures listed here are not sourced from the TEA.

Year	Attendance
1994	Unknown (circa 3,450,000)
1995	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
1996	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
1997	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
1998	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
1999	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
2000	Unknown (circa 2,600,000)
2001	Unknown (circa 2,400,000)
2002	Unknown (circa 2,600,000)
2003	Unknown (circa 2,350,000)
2004	Unknown (circa 2,400,000)
2005	Unknown (circa 2,500,000)
2006	2,400,000
2007	2,400,000
2008	2,520,000
2009	2,650,000
2010	2,750,000
2011	2,650,000
2012	2,400,000
2013	2,500,000
2014	2,575,000
2015	1,925,000
2016	1,980,000

Timeline of park areas

1980	1981	1984	1986	1990	1992	1994	1995	1996	1997	1998	1999	2008	2009	2010	2014	2017
Ingestre Centre		Aqualand			Katanga Canyon
					Merrie England							Mutiny Bay
Springfield Centre		Fantasy World								X-Sector
Talbot Centre		Festival Park									UG Land			Dark Forest
	Talbot Street				Land of Make Believe				Cred Street				Cloud Cuckoo Land
			Towers Street
			Kiddies Kingdom					Adventure Land
								Storybook Land							CBeebies Land
				Britannia Farm	Safeway Farm		Old MacDonalds Farmyard
				Thunder Valley		Forbidden Valley
					Gloomy Wood

Gallery

• 
  Towers Street
  View of The Towers
• 
  Mutiny Bay
• 
  Katanga Canyon
• 
  Gloomy Wood
  Exterior of Duel
• 
  Dark Forest
• 
  Cloud Cuckoo Land
  Galloper's Carousel and Twirling Toadstool
• 
  Forbidden Valley
  Nemesis theming
• 
  X-Sector
  Enterprise and Oblivion
• 
  Adventure Land
  Spinball Whizzer roller-coaster

Towers Street

Opened in 1986, Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed loosely as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers across the lake in the distance. Along the pathway are the park's jumping frog fountains and a lawn where seasonal events take place. The first SkyRide station is located nearby, which is a 1048 m long cable car transport that opened in 1987, and was refurbished 2009. The monorail moves guests from the three on-site hotels and the water park to the theme park; it opened 1987 and was refurbished in 2008. In this area during the hour before the park's daily closure, departing guests are entertained by three people wearing police costumes, two of them riding Segway-like vehicles which play party music and the third standing with an old-fashioned megaphone that is unused, and a man riding a miniature ship while dressed as a sea captain.

Katanga Canyon

Themed as an African village; created in 1992 and incorporated existing rapids ride. Rides include the roller coaster Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids. Both are well-established rides in the park whose ride tracks share a tunnel. Congo River Rapids is a river rapids ride that opened 1986, as The Grand Canyon Rapids, and was refurbished in 1992. A 735 m long wild river rapids ride down the Congo River that lasts six minutes. Despite the gentle nature of this ride in comparison to a log flume, riders still may receive a soaking since other guests are offered the use of pressurised water jets aimed at the ride at the price of £1.00 for ten shots. Runaway Mine Train is a steel sit down powered coaster that reaches a speed of 22 mph (36 km/h) on a 1000 ft long track (305 m) and height of 36 ft (11 m); height limit 90 cm. Opened in 1992 by Mack Rides, it was designed by John Wardley.

Gloomy Wood

Gloomy Wood is a small, haunted house themed area containing the ride Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back!. The ride was originally a standard ghost train ride named The Haunted House from 1992–2002. However, the ride was upgraded in 2003 with laser-based plastic guns fitted to shoot LED lights scattered around the ride in order to deactivate scares. Each player's shooting score is recorded a digital display in the ride car to encourage competitive play. It features a screaming stone bust, splitting head, zombies behind a transclucent window, blood-soaked zombies on curved frames, flying and squeaking bats, a massive spider and floating spirits.

In 2007, a path cutting through the woods was added to Gloomy Wood, named Haunted Hollow. The pathway follows part of the route formerly used by the old scenic railway, linking from Mutiny Bay to Gloomy Wood. Haunted Hollow includes tombstones, statues and other features, some of which interact with guests using sound effects.^[22]

In July 2015, Nitrogenie opened and replaced the old Waffles and Ices. It is a new way of making ice cream using liquid nitrogen. It is located outside the entrance to Duel.

In March 2018, Gloomy Wood will be home to the SW8 wooden coaster as confirmed by the 2017 park map.

Forbidden Valley

Forbidden Valley is set in a post-apocalyptic landscape, with large rocks and rusty pieces of metal and machinery scattering the area. A SkyRide station also serves this area of the park, and there is The Edge: Video Arcade.

The area's principle attraction is Nemesis, opened in 1994. Nemesis is a steel inverted coaster that reaches a speed of 50 mph (81 km) with four inversions (corkscrew, zero g-roll, loop, barrel roll). The much-praised layout is built down into excavated ground and was designed by John Wardley. The attraction takes the appearance of a malevolent alien creature inhabiting the quarry.

The Blade is a Huss Pirate Boat modified with a pendulum blade. It opened in 1980, and was relocated to the area in 1997 from Fantasy World. The Blade currently operates as the only flat ride in Forbidden Valley since the removal of Ripsaw.

Galactica is a flying coaster from B&M that opened in 2002, originally known as Air. Air was themed around an oasis and was sponsored by Cadbury's Heroes until 2007. Air was re-themed as Galactica for 2016, and the surrounding oasis was rethemed to a futuristic area, alongside the ride. To create an immersive experience for riders, those who choose to go on the ride can wear a Virtual Reality headset which will give the illusion of riders travelling though space by displaying a virtual environment in the headsets which is perfectly synced to the existing movements of the ride as it completes its course. The headset is optional, and guests can choose to ride without one if they wish. Due to the addition of virtual reality, Galactica does not have as high a throughput as it did as Air, however, the loading process is much more efficient than many other virtual reality coasters in operation. A new coffee shop "Coffee Lounge" opened up in the area for the 2016 season.

In May 2016, the 'Rollercoaster Restaurant' opened, offering a new dining experience where guests have their food delivered by roller coaster track. The restaurant is open daily from 10am - 9:30pm. It is available to guests without theme park admission after the park has closed except during Scarefest and Fireworks.

Adventure Land

Adventure Land is a small family area featuring Spinball Whizzer;^[23] based on a pinball machine in which the car is the ball whizzing around the machine. The ride was previously known as Sonic Spinball until the name change in 2016 when a contract ended with SEGA after 5 years. The ride is a Maurer Söhne spinning roller coaster, in which riders sit in cars that can spin on their base whilst travelling at speed around the track.

X-Sector

X-Sector is themed as a sinister government experiment facility, which is controlled by the "Ministry Of Joy". The area has an Orwellian undertone and features elements of psychosis and mind control/manipulation.

The area contains three thrill rides, two of which hold world records. The steel sit down dive coaster Oblivion which was manufactured by bolliger & mabillard, opened in 1998 as the world's first roller coaster with a vertical (88.8°) drop. The extra-wide cars are held suspended over the vertical edge for three seconds before plunging into darkness, playing on the fear of being forgotten. It was designed by John Wardley, as was the second roller coaster in the area, The Smiler. The Smiler is a Gerstlauer Infinity Coaster which opened in May 2013 and holds the world record for most inversions on a roller coaster (14 inversions).^[24] Enterprise is a standard HUSS Enterprise model which opened in 1984, spinning riders 360 degrees and giving the illusion of defying gravity. X-Sector was refurbished for the 2013 season to coincide with the opening of The Smiler. Work done included an overhaul of Enterprise and a track & train repaint of Oblivion.

Previous rides in X-Sector include The Black Hole, which was a Jet Star 2 coaster enclosed in a tent and was replaced by The Smiler. Energizer (also known as Boneshaker) was a swinging gondola flat ride and replaced by Submission, a Chance Double Inverter which was itself dismantled in early 2014.

Mutiny Bay

Mutiny Bay is a pirate-themed land, which re-themed Merrie England in 2008, is aimed at families.^[25]

Attractions in Mutiny Bay include: Battle Galleons, a large interactive "Battle Galleons" water ride where guests sit in pirate boats that travel through a water channel, while soaking other riders with water cannons, which replaced the Splash Karts. Battle Galleons is often cited as being one of the best themed "splash battle" rides in the world. Also in the area is the rocking boat ride, Heave Ho. The teacups ride was re-themed to become Marauders Mayhem, where rotating gunbarrels replaced the tea cups. The Flume was a log flume ride that opened in 1981 and was rethemed in 2004 to bath tubs. At one point it was the longest flume ride in the world at 886 m.^[25] But, in February 2016, Alton Towers announced that The Flume would not reopen, with its last day of operation being Saturday 10 October 2015. Later in 2016, it was removed to make way for SW8, a new Great Coasters International wooden roller coaster that will open in 2018.

In 2009, a new Sea Life Centre, Sharkbait Reef, opened in the location previously home to the 3-D Cinema. This includes designated "touch pools" for interacting with underwater species and a 10-metre ocean tunnel. The attraction is one of the most heavily themed Sea Life Centres to open worldwide.

Cloud Cuckoo Land

Cloud Cuckoo Land is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers, and is themed with bright colours incorporating oversized flowers and toadstools, as if in a fantasy garden. There are rides in the area especially suited for children such as Frog Hopper and Galloper's Carousel. Cuckoo Cars Driving School allows children to drive miniature electric cars around a British style road network featuring traffic lights, roundabouts and cross roads alongside whimsical theming.^[26] A SkyRide station is located nearby in Fountain Square with access to other areas of the park.

Other attractions in the area, which are currently closed include an indoor bouncy castle play area called Wobble World and Twirling Toadstool, which is closed for refurbishment. Previous attractions include Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride, which opened in 2006 and closed at the end of the 2015 season, and Ice Age: 4D Experience, which opened in 2012 and closed at the end of the 2016 season.

Dark Forest

The Dark Forest opened in March 2010; replacing UG Land which opened in 1999. Dark Forest is themed as a supernatural area of woodland that has been disturbed by recent excavation of an ancient burial ground. The new ride for 2010 was unveiled as TH13TEEN, a steel sit down partly indoor coaster themed as a haunted crypt. It features the world's first freefall drop on a roller coaster, and a drop into total darkness. The ride replaced the Corkscrew; the park's original roller coaster. Along with Thirteen's opening, the surrounding land was rethemed into the Dark Forest with refurbished outlets and game stalls to fit the theme. Rita, an existing Intamin roller coaster, was also altered, with new station and train designs to look 'engulfed' by the supernatural forest.^[27] Rita is a hydraulically launched steel sit-down coaster that reaches a top speed of 62 mph (100 km).

CBeebies Land

CBeebies Land is based on the BBC children's TV channel: CBeebies. It is the newest area of the Theme Park and opened on 24 May 2014. The area includes rides, shows and interactive experiences based on programmes from CBeebies, including In the Night Garden and Postman Pat.^[28] Attractions in the area are: In the Night Garden Magical Boat Ride, Postman Pat's Parcel Post, Get Set Go Treetop Adventure, Something Special Sensory Garden, Nina's Science Lab, Numtums Number Go-Around, Charlie & Lola's Moonsquirters and Greendrops, Justin's House: Pie-O-Matic Factory, Mr Bloom's Allotment and Tree Fu Tom Training Camp. Shows at the Big Fun Show Time stage include: Mike the Knight, The ZingZillas and Nina and the Neurons. Octonauts Roller Coaster Adventure opened on 21 March 2015 and is now the park's children's roller coaster after the departure of The Beastie. CBeebies Land will be expanded for the 2017 season with the opening of the Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride and The Furchester Hotel Live.

The Towers

The Towers are the ruins of Alton Towers stately home and are the source of the park's name. They belonged to the Talbot family as a stately home until 1924 and largely designed by Augustus Pugin, also noted for his work on the Palace of Westminster.^[29] The Towers are now in a state of disrepair following decades of neglect. The ruins are open to the public during most of the open season. However, some areas are closed off as part of a £1.1 million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the Towers. Key areas of The Towers include the banqueting hall, the chapel, conservatories, and Her Ladyship's Gardens.

Hex – The Legend of the Towers, a walk-through dark ride based within the ruins themselves, opened in 2000. The finale to the ride is a Vekoma Madhouse located away from the real Towers but themed as a secret vault. The storyline is based on a local legend about the chained oak tree, located in a nearby forest, and makes use of the history of the Towers. It draws its theme from the legend of the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury who was said to be cursed by a beggar woman to suffer death every time a branch falls from an old oak tree.

During the park's Halloween 'Scarefest' event multiple scare mazes operate within the Towers themselves. For 2016's Scarefest event these were; Terror of the Towers, Sub Species: the End Games and the new for 2016 maze called Altonville Mine Tours.

The Gardens

Near the garden entrance is a cenotaph to the 15th Earl, a marble bust with an inscription reading "He made the desert smile". Landmarks include a Chinese Pagoda Fountain, The Swiss Cottage, Miniature 'Stonehenge', a Greek Choragic Monument, and orangeries.

Alton Towers Waterpark

The Alton Towers Waterpark, formerly known as Cariba Creek, opened alongside the Splash Landings Hotel in 2003.^[30] It is a large, part-indoor and part outdoor waterpark themed as a tropical Caribbean lagoon. The waterpark features several fast slides, a lazy river, a giant tipping bucket and many other water features. Also located there are two food and drink venues: Adventures Cave and Ice Cream Shack. Unlike Chessington Zoo at the also Merlin operated Chessington World of Adventures Resort, a separate ticket is needed for waterpark access as it is not included with the theme park entrance price.

Attractions include Lagoona Bay, which is the main tropical pool, with water cannons, geysers and waterfalls. The Little Leak is a paddling pool for young children with two small slides and interactive pipes to play with, while Wacky Waterworks Treehouse is a wooden 'treehouse' with water cannons, and other interactive features to squirt passing people with.

The largest ride in the Waterpark is the water coaster The Master Blaster, with uphill sections similar to the Master Blaster at Sandcastle Water Park, Blackpool and Nucleus at Water World, Stoke-on-Trent. The Master Blaster is a high speed water flume that contains sharp turns, drops and dark sections, and has views of the entire indoor area of the waterpark.

Other rides include Rush & Rampage, twin racing slides where riders experience wide turns. This attraction requires rubber rings. Lazy River (Calypso Creek) is a slow-moving water circuit, taking riders underneath spraying water jets and tipping buckets of water. Rubber rings are available. The Tipping Bucket is a container filled with 1000 litres of water which regularly tips its contents over people standing below. Flash Floods are tiered outdoor pools with two slides leading to the middle pool and three leading to the bottom. Other swimming pools include Volcanic Springs, and indoor heated hot pool, and Bubbly Wubbly Pool, an outdoor heated pool and whirlpool.

Resort accommodation

Alton Towers Hotel

The Alton Towers Hotel opened on 10 April 1996 and is themed to the eccentric fictional character Sir Algenon Alton and his travels. The rooms are decorated in a quirky English style with pictures of Sir Algenon's inventions. The hotel is four star and has 180 rooms. The hotel was the first phase in a plan to turn the theme park into a multi-day resort.

The Alton Towers Hotel is currently undergoing a long term phased refurbishment to theme each floor to a different setting. So far, the plan has produced the Moon Voyage Bedrooms and Arctic Explorer Bedrooms.

Splash Landings Hotel

The Splash Landings Hotel opened in 2003. The hotel has a relaxed Caribbean theme and is attached to the Alton Towers Waterpark. It is also four star and it has 216 rooms with a choice of six room types, Family of 4 'Beachcomber' room, Family of 6 'Beachcomber' room, The Ice Age Suites, The Pirate Suites, Interconnected Family of 4 'Beachcomber' room and, Interconnected Family of 3 'Beachcomber' Room. The interconnected rooms are all on the ground floor and the family of 3 rooms are also disabled accessible. The rooms are numbered in the ranges of 1101 to 1159, 1201 to 1259, 1301 to 1359 and, 1401 to 1459, there are a few room numbers that are not used due to the shape of the hotel, these are 27, 29, 31, 33 and 35 on each floor.

Enchanted Village

The Enchanted Village is made up of 120 lodges and 5 secluded treehouses set in the fictional Enchanted Forest woodland. Situated next to the Alton Towers hotel, it features new recreational activities, such as various playgrounds for children and an archery range, which is available to use at no extra cost. The site is also home to "The Crooked Spoon" restaurant, and also an additional shop which sells alcohol and outdoor activity toys.

The Enchanted Village opened to the public on 18 April 2015.

Alton Towers have submitted planning application to expand the Enchanted Village in several phases. The application has been approved and if the plans go ahead, construction on the first phase will commence in 2018 with a scheduled opening of March 2019. ^[31]

CBeebies Land Hotel

On 27 July 2016, Alton Towers announced the addition of a 76-room extension to the Alton Towers Hotel themed to CBeebies characters. The hotel was constructed with 42 standard rooms themed to the CBeebies Bugbies and another 34 premium rooms themed to different CBeebies shows, such as Something Special and Swashbuckle. Room amenities include child-friendly features, such as steps up to the sink and children's toilet seats. The hotel features CBeebies-themed shows and entertainment, which run every day of the year, as well as the "Windmill Restaurant".^[32] The hotel opened on the 8 July 2017.

Recreation

Alton Towers Spa

Alton Towers Spa is part of the Alton Towers Hotel and opened in 2004. It includes relaxation and treatment rooms and an adults only swimming pool. Despite being inside the Alton Towers Hotel, non hotel guests are able to use the Spa.

Extraordinary Golf

Opened in 2007, the Extraordinary Golf mini-golf attraction is themed to different rides and attractions at the park, some of which, are from the park's history. Extraordinary Golf is located to the west of the Splash Landings Hotel. Extraordinary Golf was refreshed for 2016 including the addition of a Galactica themed hole.

Enchanted Forest Tree Top Quest

Opened May 2015, the Enchanted Forest Tree Top Quest is a high ropes course near the Enchanted Village. The attraction opened shortly after, and accompanies, the Enchanted Village development. There is also a low ropes course.

Future developments

In July 2009, the Alton Towers Resort outlined a 10-year development plan for the park (2010–2019), the aim being to increase visitor numbers, in particular multi-day guests. The plan showed an option for a third hotel or new accommodation of some sort over the coming years. This was later revealed to be a log cabin development, The Enchanted Village. The plan also highlighted areas for development, as well as suggesting the possibility of a new park entrance nearer to the hotels, which could act as a second entrance or replacement to the existing one in Towers Street.

In August 2015, Alton Towers submitted a planning application for the construction of a third hotel next to the Alton Towers Spa. Although the plans are an altered version of the originally submitted extension to the Alton Towers Hotel, the plans indicate that the development is an entirely separate hotel. The plans show four floors, including a new restaurant, bar, entertainment area, and sunken garden landscaping.^[33] This was later confirmed to be the new CBeebies Land Hotel in July 2016.

In April 2016, Alton Towers submitted a screening opinion request to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council. The request came attached with a layout of a roller coaster to be situated on the site of The Flume, with a new Smokehouse restaurant occupying the old station building of the ride.^[34] Furthermore, banners were erected around the site advertising 'SW8', and a ground breaking new ride experience. The Smokehouse restaurant was removed from later SW8 plans, the ride is expected to open in Spring 2018.

Two new attractions have been added to CBeebies Land for the 2017 season, Go Jetters Vroomster Zoom Ride is a small family flat ride and the Furchester Hotel Live Show is a new actor led interactive indoor experience next to the new ride. Both attractions opened with the rest of the park on 25 March 2017.

Towers Loving Care

In 2016, Alton Towers began a maintenance programme, promoted online as "Towers Loving Care".^[35] The programme includes scenic maintenance, relaying pathways, removal of rides and changes to themed audio. The 2015-2016 winter season saw various developments, including extensive paintwork for Nemesis, removing the original scenic rust effect from the track but restoring colour and detail to the station exterior. Theme dressing and scenery was also added to the Dark Forest area.

The project is co-ordinated in-house by Alton Towers Resort as a means of securing budget for essential aesthetic maintenance, to circumvent the lack of dedicated budget delivered by parent company Merlin Entertainments. The resort launched a Twitter and Facebook account^[36] which frequently showcases images of what occurrences are taking place under the project.

Secret Weapon developments

Alton Towers has established a tradition of giving code names to future major attractions, using the letters SW, followed by a number. As the SW stands for "Secret Weapon", these rides are known as the park's "Secret Weapons".

The convention was briefly dropped while the park (and its parent Tussaud's Group) was owned by Dubai International Capital, before being reinstated on its incorporation to the Merlin group. As the only major coaster built in this era, 2005's 'Rita' is not included in the Secret Weapon series.

The Secret Weapon rides are:

Code Name	Ride	Opened	Operating Status
SW1 & SW2	SW1 was a pipeline roller coaster roller coaster intended to be located on the Nemesis site and was originally going to be themed around a secret military facility.[37] John Wardley rode the prototype of SW1 but stated "it was very slow and rather boring".[38] And that it was very energy inefficient which meant that for a given lift height it couldn't go very far and due to height restrictions for roller coasters in the park the project was scrapped. The project was then revived as SW2, and to fix the problem of the lift height they decided to dig into the ground to create a canyon for the roller coaster to be built in. But Arrow Dynamics were having problems with the prototype, and Wardley decided that it was still too slow and boring, so it was scrapped and development on SW3 (Nemesis) was started.[37][38]	N/A	N/A
SW3	Nemesis	1994	Operating
SW4	Oblivion	1998	Operating
SW5	Air (now "Galactica")	2002	Operating
SW6	TH13TEEN	2010	Operating
SW7	The Smiler	2013	Operating
SW8	SW8 is a wooden roller coaster currently under construction on the site of The Flume. Plans for SW8 were added to the Staffordshire Moorlands District Council website in April 2016.[39][40]	2018	Under Construction

Events

Prior to the main open season, Alton Towers held the February Half-Term event which saw a selected ride offering opened for the week before the start of the main season in March, however the event was cancelled for 2016; with the exception of Sharkbait Reef which was open for Pirate and Princess Week held at the Resort hotels.

Concerts

Alton Towers has a history of hosting concerts since the 1960s. Concerts in recent years have included the Alton Towers Live event in 2011 and 2013. In 2010, there was an 80’s concert for the 30th Anniversary featuring Rick Astley and Bananarama and also that year hosted a P!nk concert. In the past these concerts were often held in the car park at an additional fee, however more recently concerts have been held within the theme park. Artists that have performed there include Tina Turner and The Black Eyed Peas.

Scarefest

Scarefest is the resort's largest annual event. It celebrates Halloween with a number of temporary scare maze attractions, scare zones, costumed characters and extended opening hours. Rides and areas are lit with coloured lighting at night, with most rides and attractions continuing to operate until 9pm. The Scarefest event has been running since 2007, although the park started celebrating Halloween with decoration several years before and has operated the Terror of the Towers scaremaze since 2002.^[41][42]

Timeline of scare mazes

Season(s) active	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016
12	Terror of the Towers					Terror of the Towers
2					Room13
3						Field of a 1000 Screams
4							The Boilerhouse
4									Carnival of Screams
3											The Sanctuary
1														The Haunting of Molly Crowe
2														Sub Species
1															Altonville Mine Tours
1															House of Monsters

      Previous Scarefest attraction       Current Scarefest attraction

Fireworks

For the last days of the season, Alton Towers host firework Shows, these have been running annually since the 1990s on the Great Lawns. The displays were considered disruptive by some local residents, which led to formal complaints. Two local residents decided to take the theme park to court regarding this issue. The court issued Alton Towers with a noise abatement order in October 2005 which restricted the theme park to three shows a year, previously five, with noise readings not exceeding 40 decibels outside the park.^[49] In 2006, the display was rebranded as Electric Towers, but then discontinued. However, the fireworks and laser show was reinstated in 2010 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the theme park and has returned to being an annual event.

Other events

During the closed season months Alton Towers holds regular Pirate & Princess Weekends. The event entails decorations, and themed activities for children in the Hotels and the waterpark. The theme park's Sharkbait Reef aquarium also opens for the event.

During December, the Santa's Sleepover event takes place. Both resort hotels are decorated for the event and a pantomime takes place. The Alton Towers Theme Park also opens for Christmas with a small number of rides open as well as a Santa's Grotto. The event is largely aimed at children. In 2015, the theme park permitted entry to non-hotel guests for the first time however the event has reverted to hotel guests only in 2016.

Incidents

There have been some incidents, the worst was in June 2015 when sixteen people were injured on The Smiler ride and two individuals needed leg amputations. Merlin Entertainments were fined £5M for breaking safety regulations.^[50]

Conservation Area restrictions

Alton Towers is set in a Conservation Area, which puts a restriction on the height of any ride or building development in the park. It has been agreed with the local council that no buildings should be built above the tree line and if so should be disguised to fit the landscape; this can be seen on the ride Rita, where part of the track is camouflaged to fit in with the trees.

Noise pollution is also a problem for the park due to the close proximity to the villages of Alton and Farley and the town of Cheadle. There have been several cases where Alton Towers have been taken to court over the noise levels emitted from the park and have been served noise abatement orders in 2004, 2005 and 2006.

Court cases

On 3 May 2012 a couple from the local village of Farley won the rights to a full High Court trial on the amount of noise generated by the park. The couple have been in a legal battle with the park for nearly a decade, and during this period succeeded in a noise abatement order on the theme park which led to the audio from the top of the Oblivion drop being removed, and Alton Towers having to limit the amount of annual fireworks displays to only three a year.

Stephen and Suzanne Roper, who live only 100 yards from the park, say that their lives have been made a misery by the noise of the screams as well as fireworks displays and music. They launched their legal fight in 2002, but after years of wrangling, their claim for an injunction and damages was thrown out in January 2011. Judge Mr Justice Hickinbottom later overturned that decision, bringing the claim back. This now paves the way for a full court hearing. The Ropers will seek an injunction forcing the park owners to close or relocate some rides and an order forcing them to pay damages for noise suffered from 1998 to the present.^[51]

Gallery

Main gallery: Alton Towers Resort at WikiCommons

See also

• Incidents at European amusement parks
• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom

References

Coordinates: 52°59′21″N 1°53′29″W / 52.98917°N 1.89139°W / 52.98917; -1.89139

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Alton Towers Resort.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Alton Towers.

• Official website
• Lost Heritage: full architectural history of the house
• "Description of Theme Areas". Archived from the original on 1 October 2009. 
• 1930 film of Alton Towers
• Heraldry at Alton Towers
• Alton Towers: Before it was Famous (on themagiceye at Joyland)