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

[DistortAMG]

Last month people were talking about this project no longer happening in 2025 because of the lack of work and a cited 18 month build. I'm just wondering why the build time given is so long compared to other rollercoasters we're seeing this year? Drayton's new coaster (potentially a similar model) seems to be shooting up very quickly and the AT proposed location means work can take place during open season i believe?

Is is the construction of the outbuilding that extends the project time in particular? Is there a timeline on the supposedly similar ride at Legoland in the US?

I guess because it is a complex project. Nemesis has taken 18 months and they were not even building from scratch. Then again, the original took around the same, maybe less, that included removing all the rock.

Health and safety allowed for things to progress faster back then, mind.

 

[Jb85]

I guess because it is a complex project. Nemesis has taken 18 months and they were not even building from scratch. Then again, the original took around the same, maybe less, that included removing all the rock.

Health and safety allowed for things to progress faster back then, mind.

It’s taken two years to build a new roundabout by me. 18 months is nothing in a civil engineering project.

 

[Poisson]

Projects can be as fast or slow as the budget allows. H&S doesn't make it slow really. Nemesis could have been done in 6 months with enough people on it and 24/7 working

 

[Tom]

Was quoted at 12-14 months by the architects. We are now 14 months away. Do we know that nothing at all has happened in terms of land/rubbish clearance etc?

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Was quoted at 12-14 months by the architects. We are now 14 months away. Do we know that nothing at all has happened in terms of land/rubbish clearance etc?

78 weeks was the proposed construction time, with a start window likely of Spring 2024, perhaps a little bit later. It's almost definitely going to be a 2026 opening and most likely always has been, though we've already had that discussion a number of pages ago. Full planning permission was only granted in June.

 

[Dobba]

If we're looking at a 2026 opening, I'd be amazed if any construction got underway until the tail end of the 2024 season, late September/October and even then it'll only be getting the site ready. Getting planning permission was a huge deal for the park and nothing would make getting any in the future harder than adding a bunch of construction and delivery vehicles to park visitor traffic for months on end.

 

[Tom]

78 weeks was the proposed construction time, with a start window likely of Spring 2024, perhaps a little bit later. It's almost definitely going to be a 2026 opening and most likely always has been, though we've already had that discussion a number of pages ago. Full planning permission was only granted in June.

In one reference document. There are others stating 12-14 months.

It is a shed with minimal foundation work. All is not lost for 2025.

 

[Dobba]

In one reference document. There are others stating 12-14 months.

It is a shed with minimal foundation work. All is not lost for 2025.

The one reference document that says 78 weeks is the CEMP which, putting aside all the arguments from locals, the site drawings that we all got excited about and mockups for how it'll look from outside the park, is pretty much the bulk of the basis for granting or denying planning permission. It would also be exhibit A in any legal proceedings should the park do anything differently without telling the council in advance.

Obviously everything is subject to change should the need arise but I'd certainly lean towards the CEMP than anything else when talking about the construction process.

 

[Tom]

I accept that 2025 is far from certain, but in my view 2025 is still in play given the 12-14 months referenced, and the modest scale of the project. If the site is literally untouched/uncleared right now, I'd probably back off from that though.

 

[Matt N]

If I’m remembering correctly, I seem to remember one of the documents referencing a 78-week build time and a start date of Autumn 2023 (I want to say September 2023?), which is widely believed to have been where the suggestions of it opening in 2025 emerged from.

With this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was originally intended for 2025, but some of the new team at Alton Towers/Merlin decided that there were more pressing priorities following how the 2023 season went down at Alton Towers and pushed it back to 2026.

 

[Dobba]

If I’m remembering correctly, I seem to remember one of the documents referencing a 78-week build time and a start date of Autumn 2023 (I want to say September 2023?), which is widely believed to have been where the suggestions of it opening in 2025 emerged from.

With this in mind, I wouldn’t be surprised if it was originally intended for 2025, but some of the new team at Alton Towers/Merlin decided that there were more pressing priorities following how the 2023 season went down at Alton Towers and pushed it back to 2026.

I remember the documentation mentioning the archaeological works on the site taking place in June 2023, are you misremembering that? I don't recall anything else being given a start date, but happy to be proven wrong.

 

[Ash]

Just a thought, perhaps this had some baring on whether Merlin were going to purchase the indoor coaster for legoland? If they got planning, great, try and get a multi deal. Given their previous pragmatism for multi buys it wouldn’t surprise me at all.

 

[jibbsie]

In one reference document. There are others stating 12-14 months.

It is a shed with minimal foundation work. All is not lost for 2025.

I would kinda agree, nemesis took 18 months to tear out all of the track and replace the foundations, supports and track and the geography of the nemesis site isn't the best, on an essentially flat ground i would imagine it would be a lot easier to dig out foundations, and build it.

 

[jibbsie]

I would kinda agree, nemesis took 18 months to tear out all of the track and replace the foundations, supports and track and the geography of the nemesis site isn't the best, on an essentially flat ground i would imagine it would be a lot easier to dig out foundations, and build it.

I just did some looking on the planning permission, and in the document "CL03224-09 Alton Towers - Infographic - Sep22 v2" it says 85 FTE jobs over the 2 year build period, which seems as though it may take 2 years (although that was from 2022)

 

[rob666]

If it is in a shed, there may even be no ride foundations, if it is a level site it may just have a large floor plate, like transportable coasters.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I would kinda agree, nemesis took 18 months to tear out all of the track and replace the foundations, supports and track and the geography of the nemesis site isn't the best, on an essentially flat ground i would imagine it would be a lot easier to dig out foundations, and build it.

They're going to be building what is essentially a new area. Yes it used to be coaster corner, but it's been storage for Kuch longer. They may want to start from scratch in that area, they may want to build and theme something new. This could be the first new land we've seen at Alton Towers in decades. The shed and the coaster may take 12 months or so to put up, but the tidying up and theming that can't be completed until construction is finished, will also take some time.

 

[Rob]

At this stage I would be expecting Project Horizon to be 2026's new offering rather than 2025's. There is still time for 2025, but only just and it would likely end up being a mid-season opening.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

At this stage I would be expecting Project Horizon to be 2026's new offering rather than 2025's. There is still time for 2025, but only just and it would likely end up being a mid-season opening.

Have you been reading my drafts? I was going to put that at the end of my last post, but thought I'd stop bashing on about 2026 always being the intended release window.

 

[harrington]

Is it possible that Towers themselves have slowed things down from a design perspective. There are a lot of new coasters with new elements that have been announced worldwide. Could one of them have spoiled the unique selling point or marketing angle for project horizon. Merlin are always very hot on that, especially a AT.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Is it possible that Towers themselves have slowed things down from a design perspective. There are a lot of new coasters with new elements that have been announced worldwide. Could one of them have spoiled the unique selling point or marketing angle for project horizon. Merlin are always very hot on that, especially a AT.

It's an interesting theory but the project is too far down the road for such a substantial change. The building and planning permission would have been designed around whatever they're putting in there, even if we can't gleam many clues.

If there is a world's first element, you can also bet that Merlin would have secured that element of the project down in the contract stages with the manufacturer. Even if they hadn't, the project is already rolling and there wouldn't be much they could do about it now.

Nothing has slowed down. One notable YouTuber got very excited, jumped the gun and claimed a 2025 opening with the usual "could we be seeing a?" caveat to cover their caboose later on. We've since had a bit of a row back, when it finally became obvious that a 2025 opening was never realistic, especially with planning permission only being granted in June 2023. This has been spun into "because the park want to focus on firming up their flats lineup and doing a spruce up"; which again was probably always the plan anyway.

It's not Planet Coaster, these things aren't done on a whim. You couldn't, and wouldn't, push a project back of this scale with a few months notice because your fairground rides have gone.