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The Magic Through the Eyes of a Child

I'm 45 today. Happy Birthday to me. My knees knock, hair is largely grey, and I have more chins that a Chinese phone book.

I've been reading the section about Where has the magic gone and I can see it through a different perspective. I remember my trips to AT in the early 1980s when I was just a wee laddy.

I'm talking about former attractions, not the ones that get regular mention's such as The Thunder Looper, The Alton Mouse and The Beast.

No... way before these were attractions that few remember. Attractions without a multi million pound budget, that were knocked up from next to nothing, but which were magical to me as a child and hold fond memories today. Does anyone remember them or have I missed anything.

ALTON THEATRE AND FANTASTIC FOUNTAINS.

In the building that now houses Ice Age 4D. The lights would go down to total darkness, then on the stage a dozen or so fountains would appear, dancing in time to classical music (including hall of the mountain king). They were illuminated with changing coloured lights and cleverly choreographed to the music. They probably would not impress the iPad generation, but to me they were truly magical. There is a show today at Watermouth Castle that is so similar that I believe it must be the original AT hardware and it is on YouTube.

AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

Before Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Before Toyland Tours and in the same building. Travel in the footsteps of Philleous Fogg by Gondola visiting Paris, Egypt, China, Iceland and numerous other places. The sets were basic, yet more animated than CATCF, the music was relaxing and the lighting atmospheric. I remember this being magical and despite being created on a shoestring budget being better than CATCF and as good as Toyland Tours.

SPACE 1999

Set in the Towers and based upon the seminal Gerry Anderson TV series of the same name, using original props and costumes. The exhibition was in darkness, you walked across elevated gantries and it really felt like you were in space. Ultraviolet light made everything stand out. A lot of impact for a little price through the magic of theatre. JW would have loved it.

PLANETARIUM.

Also in the towers, scenes of space projected on to a domed ceiling with music and narration. No fancy CGI, but a great atmosphere. The original projector mow sits in Blivvys entrance building.

MODEL RAILWAY.

Every 70s child's dream. An enormous working model railway in the towers, with dozens of moving trains, buildings, country, people, lights and signals. Even ten minutes or so the building went dark so you could see it lit up. I always wanted to take it home.

LAND OF THE DINOSAURS

On the lower part of where the Smiler now sits. Half a dozen huge dinosaurs that were later moved to the flume site.

CAR MUSEUM.

Several dozens famous cars from TV and film where wobble world now sits.

James Bond, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Thunderbirds. Many of these are now at the car museum in Borton on the Water.

ALPINE BOB.

Before Health and Safety when kid's were allowed to play "dangerous" games like British Bulldog, Red Rover and Kick the Can was the Alpine Bob.

Racing your opponents down 2 asbestos tracks on what can only be described as a plastic milk crate with wheels but no breaks. Great fun if only you could survive without injury.

Some some of my fellow old fogies can remember these or have others to add.

Part two will follow.

These simple attractions were every bit as magical to me as a child as any big budget investment today.
 
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And then there was the Wildlife Museum with the scary stuffed animals in human clothing...
and you could park on the grass near the lake and sealions.
 
There is still a small bit of remnants of one of the dinosaurs of the Land of The Dinosaurs inside Alton Towers. Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't this bits of the legs of one of the raptors?
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P.S. Yes I remember all of those, I loved the space 1999 walk-through. I also remember being in the audience at kids tv show being filmed with a huge snakes and ladders constructed, I think, near where hex entrance is now,
 
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There is still a small bit of remnants of one of the dinosaurs of the Land of The Dinosaurs inside Alton Towers. Please correct me if I am wrong but isn't this bits of the legs of one of the raptors?
qyWJnANm_HYLtUIVZDkFiwvoBL_Hy_BqX0MYtu4RrZRLlys9KvkjrpnjOKpTGPo2EbYFupXVfzwWItigZ-dADHSEbi1qFkzYeShwjqnLx9wBuQ_uLpfGqxx7ww86dwAutmlWB2qfH5UCV3qDRfy2nvq1d6kJ42Zajx861MKRHv7VS7YRa04NZSBIh_gohcUroVAPVAap8sdO8KNbwUVw-t9tiN4QL0J3l7mYcp9NSjgWiXuvzpTmT0kHKZqAvkKPUzKZBe0JqNk7gNiWrQyB39pHnUKl9jTv8XsQpeim4ODRZODUCvL__dBQ4cPQgaDd8Lo7Ai5kZcd2VNpJNRI-0kA_qRT_aSFsnP7BAZJuu7blqfk_ZLWWQ0naYzY5kULli2MQ6aa6QE1Fm730OOd5A784NmandhuW-7UEXxbBUo4ZfBxm6yUPMvrW3oT9GG5n2L-5ISktZe0wonNwCUKtlN6yUM7H4qU16mj6rMMoA92dPlScsBZLh5T6DPx0aVE4Qj3hglEBmoL0GJpEFnSNFb-WeWpsiTIzzqT9X-FpxI-yeycwdOlpIGaIWtjNPA_fTh9wOA=w669-h892-no



P.S. Yes I remember all of those, I loved the space 1999 walk-through. I also remember being in the audience at kids tv show being filmed with a huge snakes and ladders constructed, I think, near where hex entrance is now,
I remember the kids TV show. It was caled Hold Tight and it was really boring. I just wanted to see footage of the rides.

I don't remember the creepy wildlife museum. Perhaps you are even older than me.

I do remember the Sea Lions, which I seem to recall were at the foot of what is now Towers Street.

Simpler times where magic was easier to create for a less demanding generation
 
There was also a really politicaly incorrect show near where the corkscrew stood.

It involved a man using some rather course language against his wife. The wife then used some equally course language back at her husband. The man then started beating his wife and when the policeman arrived they both started assaulting the policeman!

Then the crocodile ate the sausage and...

Boy, Punch and Judy was sure contraversial looking back...
 
Your right - It was hold tight,
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Regarding the wife beating, policeman assaulting puppet show, that was just the 70's & 80's, people nowadays think it was all boy george and wham, you should have tried being an inner city gay teen back then, no wonder people nowadays think I am the most un-gay gay person they have met. Little do hey know the true horrors of that time period. It was the time of the ists, be they racists, sexists, genderists and guitarists.. It was the 70's and 80's and all, so I was regularly told, perfectly normal.


Just a thought about the bobsley that ran approximately where Oblivion now stands. I remember coming off that with blood running from my hands and legs when, being my usual moronic self, I misjudged the speed round a corner (I say misjudged, I just wanted to go faster). This was a regular occurrence and I didn't even get a plaster. I was told by the ride host, who was laughing at my most spectacular ride dismount, that there were some toilets over there and I should go and wash the blood off myself. There was a brown stain at one point, which was about the point where I came off, that on subsequent visits I proudly announced was my blood. It probably wasn't just mine but the combination of lots of adrenaline junkies blood. p.s. If you want a safer version of the same ride, go over to Oakwood. I was well impressed with it, even though you cant get the speed I remember the Alton one had.
 
The creepy wildlife museum was next to the Corkscrew entrance,
and it was creepy!
Only ever queued for the alpine bob sleigh once,
an hours queue for a thirty second ride.
About right for the Towers I suppose.
I think it ran from the chicken shop to the enterprise roughly,
with a crazy golf course where Oblivion is.
And yes Altonadvocate,
I do beat you by a few years...
am I the saddest old git with a season ticket at 53?
 
We may be old Rob666, but we must still be young at heart to be on this forum.

Ah the days when you could take your bird to to AT, go to the flicks, get fish and chips, and a couple of pints, before catching the omnibus back home and still have change from a halfpenny.

No £50 gate price back then.

And I say we were more amazed by the magic of simple attractions than today's generation are by far more elaborate developments.

I say the magic comes from the degree of contrast between the AT world and the day to day world.

The contrast, and therefore the magic was greater then.

But I still feel it as I hear HOTMK on Towers Street and the exciting Katanga Canyon music which drums up a spirit of adventure.

My next trip to AT is a week on Monday. Will let everyone know what I think to Galactica.
 
Overall though, adding in inflation and with the greater number of big rides overall,
I'd say Towers is actually better value now than back then.
There were no 241 offers back in the days of the Corkscrew opening.
 
So I am assuming both of you guys went into the park through the main entrance, back then.

I, am vaguely embarrassed to say, when I was a nipper, I used to cycle to Alton, with 4 friends, hide our bikes in the bushes down the public path running along side the railway line, and follow the 'right of way' to the bottom of the gardens. Then one of our team would distract the guard (if there was one) that sat in the little guard hut down there, whilst the rest of us sneaked in, a lad maned mark used to do the distraction as he could run through the forest like a whippet and do a big circle, loosing the guard around half way round his route. I am 100% sure the guard knew what was going on as this was a regular occurrence. I think the only time I went through the park entrance was when I did a school trip.

I am sure, though, that I have given the park way more in my repeated visits over the years than those entrances cost.

For those who are thinking this might be a ploy. They moved the right of way years ago, so now its the other side of the fence of doom, it now comes out near the archery field.

The plinth the guard house stood on is still down at the bottom of the gardens though. (even though its now far beyond the gate)
 
Overall though, adding in inflation and with the greater number of big rides overall,
I'd say Towers is actually better value now than back then.
There were no 241 offers back in the days of the Corkscrew opening.

Hmmmm, not sure about that! You had later opening in the nights (up to 8pm), you could buy 1/2 day tickets and the tickets were cheaper too
 
If I can recall correctly (old age brain fade!),
they took all the offers away when the Corkscrew first opened,
as the place was packed out with first time riders.
The infrastructure and other attractions struggled to cope.
The tickets were cheaper, but inflation over the years has been considerable,
it has only been in low single figures for the last decade or so.
The Corkscrew was the only big ride for the first couple of seasons,
then along came the Black Hole and Flume,
hardly a park full of thrill rides...
and the half day tickets were a bit of a con,
as they didn't kick in until 2pm,
even with a 5pm close.
I heard loads of tales of sneaking in from the bottom of the park,
and one of the lads in the sixth form managed to stay in the grounds overnight,
coming home the day after with the "O level" kids the next day,
what a hero.
 
OK A couple of rides I remember that haven't been mentioned

I am not sure if I am mixing parks with memories here, it might have been Drayton or American Adventure
When I was like 9 I remember a ride where you sat in a trailer (like the old trams from Universal Hollywood but with 3 rows of 2 people) but it was behind a tractor kind of thing. They would then do a figure of 8 as fast as they could with you in the trailer behind. I remember you would be on 2 wheels then 2 wheels on the other side. Great fun.

Also. I am surprised no-one has mentioned the fun house in the Mississippi steamer or the Dixie band that used to regularly play there.
 
I believe the ride you speak of was at Drayton, though it was long before my time.

Frankly, I'm just glad to no longer be the oldest fart in the U bend! :p
 
Is it time to start the over fifties club on here then?
Never seen the tractor ride,
so I dont think it was the Towers,
though it did have a slow land train.
The Mississippi Steamboat was a duff funhouse compared to the brilliant Blackpool one,
the Morecambe and Southport ones were good as well...
always came out with a dozen cuts, grazes and bruises
Proper souvenirs of a good day out, and free!
The showband were good though,
they would even play requests.
 
You are right. It was called Drayton Manor's Snake Train, and looked slightly different than I remembered it, but as soon as I saw the picture i recognized it instantly. Memory + Years of alcohol = Broken. (Photo stolen off google, the site where it did reside seems to be no more, no copywrite intended, - themeparksofengland.com)

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Re Southport fun house. Also on the broken memory topic - I have just realised again, that all of my memories of what I though where Blackpool's fun house were actually southports fun house. http://www.ridemad.com/southport-pleasureland-the-fun-house-its-final-laughs
 
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