DistortAMG
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- POTC Disneyland Paris
Ahh that's interesting, it WAS true that he drew plans for a wooden racing coaster penned to open in 1991, but it got shelved to create new family areas instead (on the advice of Nick Varney). Although for a different reason, this was the first of many denials for a wooden coaster at Alton Towers.
I wouldnt know if it was the exact same layout that ended up as Stampedia, but it was probably similar and definitely possible. Do you have a source for John speaking about this connection?
Also, I doubt the Toyland Tours extension would have ever realistically happened. Coaster Corner has never been granted planning permission due to its location, this was the reason it was abandoned when Tussauds took over the park. Essentially, John Broome built on it illegally! If they could convince to pass a planning application there, it could really help that area.
Posted by TowersTimes, here's all I can find online today of the Broomsticks plan. It may have been fake, although it's a pretty accurate one if it is. Personally I think there is still great potential for a family coaster in the woods and towards the lake like this.
I think both were 'real' designs, but both would not have had a realistic prospect of approval. John himself has said in numerous interviews including the one linked below, that coasters have been designed for every inch of the park. I think back at the height of Tussauds, they liked to have a sea of designs they could chop and change and pick from or draw inspiration from for future projects. Even given that though, they could be fake, but very very good fakes. I think the fact the broomstick coaster has a Vekoma ref at the bottom, makes it less plausible, but hey, that could just be me.
The source for Stampedia being originally designed for the Nemesis site comes from a transcript on the TT SW5 minisite, from an interview with him at the ECC AGM in 2001. See the answer under the question titled 'Is there a main reason why a woodie hasn't been built at Alton Towers?' Obviously this is not concrete evidence but strong evidence and interestingly, overlaying Stampedia onto the Nemesis site gives a good fit, further supporting this. Although I agree, that there was the strong possibility of it being modified to compensate for the very different topography of the area at Portaventura.
https://www.towerstimes.co.uk/history/from-the-archives/sw5/jw2001.htm
The Great Messiah John Wardley PhD MSc MA BSc BA OBE MBE HRH said:Is there a main reason why a woodie hasn't been built at Alton Towers?
As the years go on we are more and more likely to do it. It is only the last few years when woodies have got street cred in the UK and that is thanks to Megaphobia. I'm as big a coaster enthusiast as everyone else and I've always loved woodies. I would love to build a Woodie at Alton Towers, but it is hard to get planning consent for such a loud ride and as soon as you try to silence a woodie with polyurethane wheels it makes it a pretty dull ride. I would like to think that in the next few years a woodie will be built at Alton, the Stampedia at Port Aventura was originally designed for where Nemesis is now.
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