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

Thing is this will likely be a dark ride coaster hybrid, so I think the drones will see a fair bit of structure but I don’t think that structure will be very indicative of the final product experience unlike a traditional coaster.

Plus Towers Times paid to fly airplanes over SW7 construction and still believed it had a washing machine element so the sky is not always the limit when it comes to these things…..
 
Another thing to consider with indoor coasters is that the building often goes up before the coaster. So we might see track arriving at Alton Towers but it is unlikely that we'll get any glimpses of the layout. Recent examples of this happening would be DarKoaster (where the building was already there) and the new Uncharted coaster at PortAventura.
 
Rob said:
Another thing to consider with indoor coasters is that the building often goes up before the coaster. So we might see track arriving at Alton Towers but it is unlikely that we'll get any glimpses of the layout. Recent examples of this happening would be DarKoaster (where the building was already there) and the new Uncharted coaster at PortAventura.
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Actually IIRC wasn't the two Rock N Roller Coasters in Florida and Paris had their tracks built first then had the building then built around them?
 
QTXAdsy said:
Actually IIRC wasn't the two Rock N Roller Coasters in Florida and Paris had their tracks built first then had the building then built around them?
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Yep, picture from bioreconstruct on Twitter.

27BDD368-A90C-42A5-8AC9-C889688A725D.jpeg

You would think it was easier to build the coaster first and then add the building around it. But I am not a construction engineer so what do I know.
 
John_P said:
With the Unchartered coaster it looked like they built most of the box, then put the track in. Then continued to seal up the box.
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You would have thought that would make the most sense, I think this might be another wickerman situation if people see the layout I think there might be some disappointment but I think Merlin might go for another good experience ride.

It would be nice to have another full on thrill coaster as it's been 10 years but opening up a new area of the park with a big multi million pound investment is not a bad thing.
 
"A confirmed bat roost has been recorded within a portable retail unit located within the proposed
development area. Damage to this must be avoided, so it will be moved outside of the development
area at the start of site clearance. This must be done during the winter months (Nov-Feb inclusive).
The unit will be moved approximately 25m to the northwest of its current location into an area with
suitable habitat connectivity. A Method Statement will be agreed with the ecologist prior to works
and implemented under ecological supervision."

One would hope this has already been done if they hope to start site clearance this spring?!

Also, that same document seems to confirm they won't be digging down for this one.

"The only excavation works are for the installation of foundations and subbase excavation for hard
surface installation."
 
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As good as an original theme would be, given Merlin’s recent work with Sony it would be great to see The Last Of Us get an attraction, stand-alone ride akin to a The Walking Dead at Thorpe, it can have the infamous Alton Towers run down theme and could be a great world wide exclusive. Especially given the success and popularity of the TV show now.
 
Ash said:
As good as an original theme would be, given Merlin’s recent work with Sony it would be great to see The Last Of Us get an attraction, stand-alone ride akin to a The Walking Dead at Thorpe, it can have the infamous Alton Towers run down theme and could be a great world wide exclusive. Especially given the success and popularity of the TV show now.
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Not for me. SW's are not IP based typically are they?

Also Towers don't need to theme their coasters to IP's either to get the punters in. The marketing alone gets the visitors through the gates when there's a big new ride.
 
Benjsh said:
Not for me. SW's are not IP based typically are they?

Also Towers don't need to theme their coasters to IP's either to get the punters in. The marketing alone gets the visitors through the gates when there's a big new ride.
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It would be great to build on the Hex story - multiple launches through dark forest at night pursued by the beggars curses.. ok, so they’d need to build the story out a bit, but why not lean into the folklore?
 
ensee said:
It would be great to build on the Hex story - multiple launches through dark forest at night pursued by the beggars curses.. ok, so they’d need to build the story out a bit, but why not lean into the folklore?
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Isn't that vaguely similar to what Thirteen is though?

Only a guess obviously but I think this will be a stand alone non IP based attraction. I can't see it being tied to existing Towers rides either.
 
I guess the points being made on if the coaster will be built before the building or visa versa comes down to a couple of factors. The main one being the complexity of the track and the associated crane lifts required to get that into place. Simple structures such as the Thirteen drop structure were fairly basic so could easily be slid into place almost and hidden.

Full blown coasters such as Alton's Black Hole, The Tron and the Rock 'n' Rollercoasters all required pretty much full track construction before any building was put up around them, I suspect, mainly to do with how they need to crane and lift the track and supports into place.

Given that we do not know much about Horizon yet, it is entirely plausible that either option could be used. They may even try and push for an internal assembly if it is possible to keep it hidden.

I am sure Alton Towers and the construction companies know what method they will be using by now, just not clear to us at this point.

Alton's black hole could probably have been done inside the building, without a doubt very easily in this day an age. Over 30 years ago though things were a little more primitive meaning it would have been much harder and expensive to do it indoors.

For the Disney rides, given the side and complexity of the track and support structure, it would make it very difficult and expensive to do that indoors. You would need to install some sort of gantry crane into the roof. Expensive and pointless seeing as it will only be used once, easer to just use external tower cranes.
 
For me it’s still a strange one being just a coaster, my guess and it’s purely that a guess is if it is a coaster it will be some kind of flying coaster as the building is too small for a real thrill coaster unless AT have something up their sleeve planning wise?
Would they need to pursue planning for excavation under existing areas? Could they come forward of the building underneath the queue line into existing development areas?
Also that areas IP is DW world, could it fit with that theme but again strange considering half the buildings are empty in that area.
Could it be a whole new land? How long is the agreement with DW for?
 
BigT said:
Also that areas IP is DW world, could it fit with that theme but again strange considering half the buildings are empty in that area.
Could it be a whole new land? How long is the agreement with DW for?
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It will be its own separate area. The plans show some sort of theming piece or sign at the entrance to the pathway.
 
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