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

The USP could be almost anything. It is an indoor attraction that we no absolutely nothing about! It could be a coaster, it could be a traditional dark ride, it could be a media based dark ride, it could be a water ride, it could be a bunch of flats you go on one after the other, it could be a walkthrough. The list goes on!

I'd love for it to be some sort of trackless dark ride but think a coaster is the most likely outcome for this project.
 
I think the point has been made elsewhere that if this were a coaster, might we have seen some SW reference by now?

I agree that it does seem to align time wise with JW’s new technology statement, but I got the impression that would be coaster technology. And if it is a coaster, one would assume it would get the SW moniker. Perhaps it’s a little premature for the SW to be adopted as a working title yet. I just can’t get the ducks in a row to explain a coaster atm though.
 
Steve74 said:
This thread is someone's interesting interpretation of the plans:

From: https://twitter.com/venny21/status/1587961986276548613?s=20&t=v5ieyp1HLerQiwkghuDhpg
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Indeed - our very own @venny as already posted a few pages back!
venny said:
So without wanting to type this all out again here, I’m not convinced it’s a coaster. In fact I really think it’s a flying theatre. Just look at the giveaway three entrance doors, plus all the other little details:


From: https://twitter.com/venny21/status/1587961986276548613?s=46&t=RwPDhK_ycytUsBFGXwizcA
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John said:
I don't think anyone really believes that what towers needs most of all right now is another coaster (even an indoor one)
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I think an indoor coaster is the one big thing the park's been missing in its family lineup, ever since Black Hole shut. Even by that point the coaster was very dated but as an attraction it was great. It's taking a long time to fill that gap at the park.

Also that area of the park has always suffered not having a big draw to bring guests behind the ruins. It's just geographically difficult and Charlie didnt cut it. So a coaster is really needed, but with planning difficult it would have to be indoors. And it's always been a wasted space.

If this is an indoor coaster it could solve many problems at once!

After this, Alton should probably remove a lesser coaster (Rita) before it builds another, there are almost too many novelty-based steel coasters.
 
I’m not saying that a flying theatre isn’t possible (practically anything is at this point), but there are certain pieces of evidence that lead me against one.

Firstly, I believe that the building shape doesn’t quite line up with a flying theatre. The hipped roof part is more pronounced than that of a typical flying theatre; Flight of the Sky Lion only has a very small slope in its roof, whereas this one looks quite considerable. The wall edges also aren’t quite the same; Flight of the Sky Lion has three angled edges at the end and is shaped more like a pentagon, whereas Horizon looks like it has one straight edge at the end and is shaped more like a rectangle.

Secondly, the building ground space doesn’t really line up with a flying theatre either. The dimensions Alton have given us suggest that the ride portion of Horizon alone will take up a minimum plot of 3,500m2 or so, possibly even exceeding 4,000m2. Flight of the Sky Lion, taking up a plot of less than 1,000m2, suggests that that is far too big for just one flying theatre, and Voletarium at EP, taking up a bit over 2,000m2 for its ride portion, suggests that it may even be a tad too big for two flying theatres. Anything more than two screens would be unlikely at Alton Towers; even Flight of Passage at Disney World only has two screens, and Epcot only added a third screen to Soarin’ retrospectively. I would also counter that if it had two screens, surely the roof would likely be hipped on both sides rather than just the one?

Thirdly, the height doesn’t quite line up with a flying theatre either. Flight of the Sky Lion’s building was described in its planning application as being 13m in height, while Alton Towers have described Horizon’s building as being approximately 20m in height. I don’t see why Merlin would add an extra 7m onto the building height unnecessarily, particularly given the existing controversy surrounding that site’s utilisation in the first place.

It could well be a flying theatre, or some new variant of one. But I’m not currently convinced… I could be wrong, but the evidence I see before me pushes me towards indoor coaster.
 
Batched locker rooms to help with flow?

I think a coaster with a dark ride element makes the most sense, ala Arthur.

I personally would love an enclosed extreme spinner, but can see it probably isn't what the park really needs.

I don't think the new Intamin theater leaked yesterday should be discounted, requires a large space and height for drops.
 
Nick🎢 said:
I was looking but totally missed this one from a year ago!



And this older one. Though looks like that one has been around a while actually.



Loads of Intamin concepts over the last 5 or so years to pick away at in that space.
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Now that would be incredible. Fits in with the new tech comment John Wardley spoke about that's coming to Towers and the dome in that video was 17m - if that's the height of the whole sphere then that leaves 3m spare on the height of this building.

And that second video, while for illustrative purposes, the balloon seat theming sort of fits with Sir Algenon storyline and theme too
 
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For what it’s worth, the Dome Ride Theatre is listed as being 16.9m tall, requiring ground space of 28m*24m, seating 80, and attaining a throughput of up to 1,600 riders per hour: https://www.intamin.com/wp-content/...er-ImmersiveAttractions-dome-ride-theater.pdf

The 360 Fly Adventure is listed as being 19m tall, having a diameter of 43.5m, seating 72, and attaining a throughput of 1,250 riders per hour: https://www.intamin.com/wp-content/...er-ImmersiveAttractions-360-fly-adventure.pdf

As for the other two Intamin immersive theatre ride types, the Motion Tower and Ultra Tower are both out on the basis of them being too tall.

For some idea, the application confirms that Horizon’s building will be 19.4m tall and occupy a ground space of 71m*46m.
 
If it is the Dome Ride Theatre, my one question is; what’s filling the rest of the building? The ride itself only takes up 672m2 of ground space (or roughly 1/5 of the Horizon building’s ground space), neither the width nor length of the Dome Ride Theatre are long enough to match either dimension of the building (Dome Ride is 28m*24m, while Horizon is 71m*46m), and the building also doesn’t look to have the right shape on its other side for a second theatre.

Not to mention that the capacity of one Dome Ride Theatre is likely more than adequate for Alton Towers; Intamin claims it’s capable of up to 1,600pph.
 
Matt N said:
If it is the Dome Ride Theatre, my one question is; what’s filling the rest of the building? The ride itself only takes up 672m2 of ground space (or roughly 1/5 of the Horizon building’s ground space), neither the width nor length of the Dome Ride Theatre are long enough to match either dimension of the building (Dome Ride is 28m*24m, while Horizon is 71m*46m), and the building also doesn’t look to have the right shape on its other side for a second one.

Not to mention that the capacity of one Dome Ride Theatre is likely more than adequate for Alton Towers; Intamin claims it’s capable of up to 1,600pph.
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The shop, backstage areas - which as well as for all the ride equipment could well be additional storage space that they're losing by putting this building in?
 
I wouldn't be against something like the Intamin Dome Ride, it does seem like an interesting concept. You feel that at Alton Towers though a ride like that lends itself to an IP, and there is always a risk that IP or even original content media-based rides become outdated (this is of course not always the case).

Like Matt says though, the shape of the building doesn't seem right for such a ride. With the queue outdoors, I am not sure what would go in the rest of the building, unless there were several substantial pre-show rooms.

The shape and size of the building still make me feel this is going to be some sort of family coaster on a similar scale to Studio Tour at Movie Park Germany or DarKoaster which is opening at BGW. And I think such a ride would be good for Alton Towers.
 
Steve74 said:
The shop, backstage areas - which as well as for all the ride equipment could well be additional storage space that they're losing by putting this building in?
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That’s certainly possible, but would the maintenance area for it really be 4 times the size of the actual ride? For some idea, flying theatres (1 theatre is similarly sized to the Dome Ride Theatre) are usually housed in a building that’s little bigger than the space the actual ride itself takes up, and I’m not sure why the Dome Ride Theatre would require a maintenance area that’s any bigger.

I believe it was said in the planning application that the storage currently facilitated in Coaster Corner would be moving behind Duel, although correct me if I’m wrong there. I certainly remember that being mentioned, although I could be totally wrong.
BarryZola said:
Don't forget, they may as well build as big a building as possible, as they may want to use it for something else 15 years down the line.
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My thought process there was; surely they build attractions like that with the intent of them staying for multiple decades? And surely they’re built with a fairly short term view of the future, no? Building a larger building than needed with the intent of future proofing the site in case they want to build something bigger in the decades to come isn’t something that theme parks normally do, to my knowledge.

Also, what would you fill the empty space with in the meantime?
pluk said:
www.looopings.nl

Fabrikant toont technische specificaties van nieuwe Efteling-attractie Danse Macabre

Meer weten over het ritsysteem van de nieuwe Efteling-attractie Danse Macabre? Fabrikant Intamin heeft extra informatie over het concept online...
www.looopings.nl www.looopings.nl

Leaked, so not full details, but looks viable.
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It would be a solid addition, but it appears to only have an 18m diameter (which, using PiR2, equates to an area of only around 254m2, or under 1/10 of the ground space occupied by Horizon’s building, so I’m not sure if that ride is big enough on its own.

I apologise if I come across like I’m being confrontational for the sake of it here; that’s not my intent. There were just a few points raised that I wasn’t entirely sure on.
 
You don't build a building that is far larger than what you need it for, that does not make sense for so many different reasons. You'd expect any new attraction to be lasting 20 years at least, probably longer for something of this scale.

Something I noticed in one of the building elevations was what appeared to be the maintenance hatch on one side of the building. Of course this is likely to be required regardless of the attraction, but it did seem to be just the right size to get a coaster train in and out:

PH1.PNG
 
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