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[202X] Project Horizon (SW9?): Planning Approved

Benjsh said:
Reason I ask is that building two indoor coasters at roughly the same time seemed a bit of a reach to me unless they were going to be carbon copies of each other like these at Legoland parks.
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How is building two rollercoasters in a shed, at roughly the same time, any different to building two rollercoasters not in a shed at the same time? (Excluding the shed of course).

They are, as far as the parks are concerned, two different projects.
 
Horizon didn’t start out as a coaster project either, hence the confusion over the 3 sets of doors on the plans. So the project existed before Minecraft was nailed on
 
Plus, if Project Horizon does happen, it would open at least 2 years after the Minecraft ride at Chessington. I don't see how the public will be able to make comparisons. It's like saying, why did Merlin build Nemesis and Hyperia in the same year? They are both coasters.
 
Benjsh said:
Do we know for absolute certainty that Project Horizon wasn't in fact the Minecraft ride now going to Chessington? Has it been officially confirmed they were two separate projects?

Reason I ask is that building two indoor coasters at roughly the same time seemed a bit of a reach to me unless they were going to be carbon copies of each other like these at Legoland parks.
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I'm pretty sure Horizon was considered for the minecraft theme. There was 2 surveys sent out, 1 for towers and 1 for chessington. I'm guessing the feedback steered them towards chessington as the better for fit for the land. It also showed a minecraft themed waterpark and accommodation, both of which chessington are planning on building. I'm guessing for Alton this would have involved re-theming what they already have.

This doesn't mean to say that Horizon is dead, just that the minecraft theme worked better at chessington. My guess is that they are looking for an alternative IP for Horizon and possibly Walliams world / the dungeons area. There was also more of a priority for Towers to fix what they already have rather than spend lots of capital on a new ride. I would imagine that means Horizon will be somewhere in the future when towers feel that the more immediate fixes are complete. I'm also quite glad they have gone in this direction as Horizon would not fix the underlying problems at Towers .
 
MrTowers said:
I'm pretty sure Horizon was considered for the minecraft theme. There was 2 surveys sent out, 1 for towers and 1 for chessington. I'm guessing the feedback steered them towards chessington as the better for fit for the land. It also showed a minecraft themed waterpark and accommodation, both of which chessington are planning on building. I'm guessing for Alton this would have involved re-theming what they already have.

This doesn't mean to say that Horizon is dead, just that the minecraft theme worked better at chessington. My guess is that they are looking for an alternative IP for Horizon and possibly Walliams world / the dungeons area. There was also more of a priority for Towers to fix what they already have rather than spend lots of capital on a new ride. I would imagine that means Horizon will be somewhere in the future when towers feel that the more immediate fixes are complete. I'm also quite glad they have gone in this direction as Horizon would not fix the underlying problems at Towers .
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Agreed im sure I was reading somewhere that Horizon has gone to Chessington as it would fit better there
 
Horizon is/was a separate project to Minecraft at Chessington. The coaster planned for Chessington was, to the best of my knowledge, never planned for Alton Towers. Those are just what I'd call "convenient" rumours.

No idea what is going on with Horizon at the moment, but clearly it is delayed.
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
How is building two rollercoasters in a shed, at roughly the same time, any different to building two rollercoasters not in a shed at the same time? (Excluding the shed of course).

They are, as far as the parks are concerned, two different projects.
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Because Indoor coasters are much much rarer. It's also at parks owned by the same company with very similar plot sizes. It's not exactly impossible that it could have been designated for Towers and then switched. I was merely asking the question.
 
Benjsh said:
Because Indoor coasters are much much rarer. It's also at parks owned by the same company with very similar plot sizes. It's not exactly impossible that it could have been designated for Towers and then switched. I was merely asking the question.
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Apologies if my question came across as facetious, I was curious to follow your line of reasoning!
 
GooseOnTheLoose said:
Apologies if my question came across as facetious, I was curious to follow your line of reasoning!
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No offence taken anyway. I was just curious to whether we've had any kind of official statement from the in house teams that they were separate attractions. Judging from the comments it seems as they were.

If it's been delayed it could be down to many things of course. The cost of Sky Ride renovation plus they might be planning a major Monorail overhaul for all we know. I love indoor coasters so i hope we do get it confirmed again soon.
 
Stubpb said:
Agreed im sure I was reading somewhere that Horizon has gone to Chessington as it would fit better there
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Horizon hasn't gone to Chessington, Minecraft went to Chessington. Horizon is essentially a planning application for a big shed that they can put any ride into. We have assumed that it will be a coaster as this makes the most sense and there was reference on the planning application.

The indoor coaster could have been themed to minecraft, but it would of had to be different to Chessington as Alton need to keep the coaster completely indoors due to noise.

This building still has planning permission and Alton can use it for essentially whatever they want to. Like I said before, I think they will look for another IP for this ride / area that works better for Alton when it suits them. They have bigger priorities to sort out first just to stand still before they even think about starting this. My guess would be 2027/28.
 
At what point in the year is it expected to have to have started construction (or at least ground clearing) for it to be able to open for the start of the season.

Also isn't project horizon much bigger than the ride at chessington.
 
flyingguitar said:
At what point in the year is it expected to have to have started construction (or at least ground clearing) for it to be able to open for the start of the season.

Also isn't project horizon much bigger than the ride at chessington.
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Horizon is bigger than the chessington building. They have until 21/06/2026 to start until their permission expires. They planned for 18 months construction time so if they wanted to open in 2027 we would need to see something by September this year I would guess.
 
tayspru said:
Horizon didn’t start out as a coaster project either, hence the confusion over the 3 sets of doors on the plans. So the project existed before Minecraft was nailed on
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Do we know that for sure?

I think all that is known is Alton Towers applied for planning permission to build a building with a ride inside.
 
jon81uk said:
Do we know that for sure?

I think all that is known is Alton Towers applied for planning permission to build a building with a ride inside.
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I believe it came up in conversation way back when the discussions around the contents of the building were happening. Assurances were made that while the plans didn’t necessarily reflect a coaster ride system that this was the final choice for the project. The interior plans were never updated because they weren’t needed to be, but the 3 doors was a remnant of a flying theatre proposal that ultimately got shelved
 
tayspru said:
I believe it came up in conversation way back when the discussions around the contents of the building were happening. Assurances were made that while the plans didn’t necessarily reflect a coaster ride system that this was the final choice for the project. The interior plans were never updated because they weren’t needed to be, but the 3 doors was a remnant of a flying theatre proposal that ultimately got shelved
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That’s never been confirmed, it’s just a rumour that people who were saying it was a flying theatre (whilst ignoring the reference to rollercoaster in the planning docs) started to save face.

It’s never been suggested this was ever anything other than a roller coaster.
 
With the delay, I believe the type of ride might've changed since the original planning application.

Whether that is a Flying Theatre, Coaster, Water Ride, Trackless Dark Ride etc.

It might even be a change in coaster type.
 
Latest update on the area.... Project Nothing
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In better off-topic news Rita and The Smiler have been testing today and Skyride has gondolas on the line with staff cleaning the Forest Skyride station so they are making the most of these closed days.
 
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