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[2025] Toxicator: New Forbidden Valley Suspended Top Spin

Ash said:
If only they’d looked after the towers and gardens…

They should be Alton’s “closed season” attraction, instead they’re a disgrace.

By their own admittance.
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The Gardens are literally at their worst during the closed season on account of everything seasonal being dead.

If Merlin opened them up we'd have folks complaining about charging to see bare trees and empty flower beds.
 
Dobba said:
The Gardens are literally at their worst during the closed season on account of everything seasonal being dead.

If Merlin opened them up we'd have folks complaining about charging to see bare trees and empty flower beds.
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Not to mention it would be a potential H&S nightmare with those narrow, uneven and slippery paths in winter too!
 
Ash said:
If only they’d looked after the towers and gardens…

They should be Alton’s “closed season” attraction, instead they’re a disgrace.

By their own admittance.
Click to expand...

Have they admitted the gardens are a disgrace then?
We all know they are, compared to the past.

Even with proper support, the gardens and towers in themselves just aren't enough of a draw in the closed season, other gardens are far more accessible, with more things to do, quite close by.
Lots of them.
Alton would be a poor relation, with poor access, internal and external, in bad weather.
 
For it to be feasible to open the gardens in winter, they need to first sort out and maintain the existing gardens. Then, they need to invest in the gardens to improve them further and make them more of an attraction. Sadly, neither is happening.

In an ideal world, the Towers and gardens would operate as an all-year-round attraction. Unfortunately, both require a lot of work, time, and investment, and Merlin is not interested since there would be nowhere near enough ROI compared to building a big coaster in the theme park.
 
As a thought experiment I wonder how this would have been received if they'd have done what they should have done a decade ago, and did this immediately/soon after getting rid of Ripsaw? If they'd have done it as an "upgrade" or something?

9 years is a lot of new guests true but I was still getting asked about Ripsaw in 2023 and having to explain that yes, it's gone, no they haven't replaced it.
 
Martin said:
As a thought experiment I wonder how this would have been received if they'd have done what they should have done a decade ago, and did this immediately/soon after getting rid of Ripsaw? If they'd have done it as an "upgrade" or something?

9 years is a lot of new guests true but I was still getting asked about Ripsaw in 2023 and having to explain that yes, it's gone, no they haven't replaced it.
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Reading socials - a lot of people are referencing Ripsaw and quite rightly stating this isn’t really anything new
 
Jb85 said:
Reading socials - a lot of people are referencing Ripsaw and quite rightly stating this isn’t really anything new
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When Project Horizon starts gaining traction I can see the keyboard warriors saying “so it’s Black Hole then”.

But let’s not forget, back when the park had several flats and an indoor coaster, those years were seen as the golden years of the park.

So you can’t blame them for trying to get back to that era.

But equally I can sympathise with the people who want to see something new. There’s just been so many years of neglect that need undoing.
 
rob666 said:
Have they admitted the gardens are a disgrace then?
We all know they are, compared to the past.

Even with proper support, the gardens and towers in themselves just aren't enough of a draw in the closed season, other gardens are far more accessible, with more things to do, quite close by.
Lots of them.
Alton would be a poor relation, with poor access, internal and external, in bad weather.
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Closing them to direct access on H&S and vandalism grounds? Sounds like mis management to me

And the gardens are appalling, the before and after pictures of the past 5 years are heat breaking

The park needs a decade of renewal.

Entrance
Monorail
Meadows Car Park
ATH common areas
Non coaster rides
Gardens
Towers
TWODW
Dark Forest
Food and Drink
Permanent night lighting

Arguably all needed before any more major investments. It’s a lot to sort and I imagine there will be nobody heading up the resort for the pro longed period to deliver (as these positions tend to go. 3-4 years at best)
 
So they haven't admitted the gardens are a disgrace then!
I thought there wouldn't have been an admission, even if the fact is obvious.

...and completely off topic.

Why people complain about a direct replacement of a popular flat?

Because.
 
Like with everything in life, I don't think a few posts on social media are indicative of wider public opinion.

Although I'm very critical of how they're managing/failing to manage the park lineup, as a standalone attraction I'm sure it'll be fine and most that can ride it (sorry kids, Forbidden Valley is not for you) will thoroughly enjoy it for what it is. I very much doubt there will be a great number of people thinking they've just tarted up Ripsaw because a few guys in the internet who few sods will ever even know exist said so.
 
Matt N said:
These were for a launched wooden roller coaster, as far as we know (the launched part was revealed at an Attraction Source event in 2023, where the park revealed renderings of a proposal). They did indeed use the Blade site as a station.
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The alternatives to Nemesis Reborn shown at the VIP event also had a layout which utilised Blades Pit.

I’d say they had been planning on retiring Blade for a long time now.
 
Skyscraper said:
It goes back even further than that... I believe there were plans to remove Blade in 2015, but they were cancelled in the aftermath of a certain incident.
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Blade was planned to be kept before that certain incident happened. It was definitely due to be removed in 2015 though, so much so that the 2015 park map didn't even have Blade on it at all. So unless they could see a couple of months into the future, it was kept open for another reason.
 
Josh said:
Blade was planned to be kept before that certain incident happened. It was definitely due to be removed in 2015 though, so much so that the 2015 park map didn't even have Blade on it at all. So unless they could see a couple of months into the future, it was kept open for another reason.
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SW8 was originally planned for that area and Blade would have made way for it. Would probably have been closed part way through the season if planning permission was granted. But then the incident happened which put a halt to those plans.
 
Benzin said:
I wouldn't be surprised if many of the more vocal ones are just sad they weren't old/tall enough to ride Ripsaw and have some weird misty eyed nostalgia for something that wasn't all that special.
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Possibly, although if you're saying Ripsaw wasn't all that special I would argue it was probably the most popular and highest rated flat ride at AT. I've seen countless people on here say Enterprise was boring, Submission was painful, and Energizer was too tame in it's later years. So what do they do? Install something people will likely enjoy or take a risk on another "Submission"?

I used to like Ripsaw but this type of ride will probably make me sick now
 
dazza4783 said:
SW8 was originally planned for that area and Blade would have made way for it. Would probably have been closed part way through the season if planning permission was granted. But then the incident happened which put a halt to those plans.
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If that was the case why would they have not had Blade on the park map from opening day? Surely they would just reprint the maps once Blade was removed if it was due to go mid season.

The park map was reprinted with Blade added on before June of that year, so keeping it definitely was not related to the incident. Although you could be right about the SW8 plans, maybe it became apparent it wouldn't get permission in that area so they kept Blade after all.
 
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