The Flume

It needs a new dark ride? What does, alton? I take it Hex, Sub-Terra & Duel aren't enough for you?

Combine the both you say....oh hey Charlie!! ;D

BigAl said:

Is that the same for the Hafema model though? Valhalla is a 13 year old Intamin too. Storm Force 10 from Bear Rides seems to work fine too.

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Stormforce 10 is ABC... Dear. :S http://www.abc-engineering.ch/cms/front_content.php?idart=29

Stormforce 10 also appears on the BeAR rides website, and the official DMP website lists BeAR as the ride's manufacturer.

And the name plates on it all say BeAR too. Same as Excalibur

More evidence:

When Storm Force 10 was announced, it marked something of a change of direction of direction for Drayton Manor. It would be the first time the park attempted real theming for anything other than a dark ride, and would be the first ride ever built by BEAR, a Swiss firm started by ex-Intamin staff. It would be the first time the park claimed a “world first”, although rumours of this being some sort of inversion were swiftly dashed when it was revealed that Storm Force 10 would be the first ever ride to be (drum roll please) endorsed by a charity. Not exactly Earth-shattering, admittedly, but at least it’s a nice change from rides being sponsored by big business. The charity in question was the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, or RNLI, which obviously lent itself very nicely to the concept of the ride.

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Source.

BEAR Rides changed their official company name to Swiss Rides in early 2000s and partnered with ABC Rides. So everyone's kind of right.

Except Storm Force 10 opened in 1999 while they were still just known as Bear. Also...

I am reviving this old thread because I heard a rumour that The Flume is going to be replaced with a new attraction, possibly Intamin, themed to Mutiny Bay. Anyone know anything about this and was it an April Fool? I think the 'rumour' originated about a week ago so I reckon it probably is. I was told there was some poster or something on an info board in Mutiny Bay itself and that is the 'source'. I have no proof so it's probably a lie.

But looking at the Chiapas video kind of makes me wish it was real.

(in before it's true and everyone knows already)

Laura said:

I am reviving this old thread because I heard a rumour that The Flume is going to be replaced with a new attraction, possibly Intamin, themed to Mutiny Bay. Anyone know anything about this and was it an April Fool? I think the 'rumour' originated about a week ago so I reckon it probably is. I was told there was some poster or something on an info board in Mutiny Bay itself and that is the 'source'. I have no proof so it's probably a lie.

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Do you mean this?



It originated from August 2011 and nothing ever came of it. Rumour is that it was just a stunt to get us geeks hyped up IIRC.

That looks like what they described!
I'd better tell them the bad news I had no idea.

I believe it was someone in the marketing department having a little joke at the geeks

Yeah this was a little ruse aimed at the geeks back when Towers liked us all.

What is the likely hood of Alton being able to get planning for a flume up around CCL? The areas in desperate need of a headlining attraction and I have visions of in indoor/outdoor flume using up some space behind TT and IceAge for the drop/lake and the charlie site for a indoor section. It also gets rid of charlie two birds one stone

Anything located there would almost certainly have to be completely indoors due to it's proximity to residents in the local area.

It would be nice to see a new attraction there though.

My view on the flume is. If they did a major overhaul and rethemed it, linked to mutiny bay. Then it could run for years.

^ that is a good idea either that or a mack water coaster for secret weapon 8 that has 3 splashdowns but it's on normal track so can do inversions could be a great first inverting rollercoaster but have the splashdowns hidden so they are surprises.Theme the cars as pirate ships as well.

@nemesis1994 I don't think a splash coaster is needed as the ride mechanics seem to be fine, based on the feel and noise during my ride on it the other day.

However there is three sections of trough that have had repair patches of 1 to 3 foot in size at water level. two where of similar colour to the trough. however one is day glow orange, and really stood out.

As for theming, they could look in house for it. They have Sir Edward England and Shark Tooth Jack as strong characters on park.

Maybe Sir edward's and Shark tooth's water chase. where half of the boats are themed as Shark tooth jacks ships and the other half themed to Sir Edward Englands ships. then place them in a jack, edward, jack, edward, etc layout on the trough, to give a chasing feel.

^that could be good although someone else on this forum posted a link to trip advisor in another topic and one of the reviews Alton had Replied to a couple of days ago saying the next major development would be in Katanga canyon or on the flume site.The flume could have a major overhaul with a few extra bits added or we could possibly see a mack watercoaster if it's on the flume site. Also on the Ltdp the flume is earmarked for removal with a replacement attraction in the 2015-2019 and John Wardley was shown a design in I think either Katanga canyon or the flume site which he said he hoped would be the next secret weapon. If on the flume site I think a water coaster and if in Katanga canyon I think it will be the stand up he designed for there before they settled on the smiler. Next year I think is the year the flume will be refurbed/replaced in this closed season with a thrill flat in x sector for 2015 along with cbeebies rollercoaster and in 2016 Sonic relocation and flume replacement/refurb or Katanga stand up.I do kind of hope for it to stay as it is one of the oldest,if not the oldest ride and turned alton into what it it's today along with corky and black hole. It's a classic and will be missed by me if it does go because it was in my top 3 first ever rides at alton just after oblivion and before air

nemesis1994 said:

^that could be good although someone else on this forum posted a link to trip advisor in another topic and one of the reviews Alton had Replied to a couple of days ago saying the next major development would be in Katanga canyon or on the flume site.

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I really wouldn't read too much into that. They merely said that they're looking at those areas for development in the future. They will be looking at many areas in the parks though, not just there. Also I would be surprised if those who write the responses on Trip Advisor know details of future major investments that may not yet be decided. I do think that The Flume be removed sometime between now and 2019/20 although replacing it could well be tricky as they won't be able to get away with much in the wooded area.

Might be going in the next year or survive until 2019, either way the flume ripsaw and the blade are earmarked for removal. I can see a compact water coaster taking up part the space the flume is then a pathway created to another pirate ship on the flume space. I think it will be a standup though as their next new coaster as John Wardley designed one before they settled on the smiler and said in a recent interview he hoped the coaster he knew about would be the next coaster.