Alton Towers Alternate History Moments

[QTXAdsy]

Now for something a wee bit different. As some of you might know I do love following alternate history and you will have noticed I have done a thread on here of a alternate Alton Towers history on here but it has got me thinking about many other 'what if' moments in the park's history and if there are any other moments to go from that others might have.

Now off the bat I don't want to go into the cliché topics like 'What if Tussauds never acquired Towers' or 'What if the Cross Valley Coaster got built' but rather some other thoughts from recent memory that likely have affected the park into its current state which the biggest one being 'What if the Smiler crash never happened' which to be is perhaps a major point of diversion in the park's history which maybe if it hadn't happened the park wouldn't find itself it many of its problems now or perhaps the lack of a crash would just postpone the invertible as what we have now.

So if you have any other ideas you might have in mind, write up any possible what if moment that fascinates you and what might've happened with one topic that comes to mind being 'What if Wicker Man had been replaced Congo River Rapids instead of Flume and the latter had survived' as there are many moments in the park's history that can all be included here for us to speculate on what could have happened had other choices been made so over to you guys.

 

[Secret Weapon]

Here are two that I can think of (one more recent than the other, but both relating to the same ride!):-

1) What if Merlin had decided not to retrack Nemesis, and decided to build a different ride on the site instead? Would the new ride have retained any of the Nemesis name? If not, then what effect would this have had upon Nemesis Sub Terra and Forbidden Valley in general (and, now, Toxicator)?

I've heard some people say that it would have been pointless to build a new ride because the new ride would have essentially had to follow the same contours of the valley as Nemesis (which were custom excavated for the ride), and thus may have been an almost identical ride anyway.

The only change that I personally would have made to Nemesis Reborn would be to have built it as a wing-coaster instead of an inverted coaster, as I think that this fits the concept better, and - in my opinion - the original Nemesis probably would have been a wing-coaster if the technology had been available in 1994. The only downside is that a wing-coaster might take more space, and thus may not have fit without further excavations, and perhaps groups of 4 would have missed the opportunity to sit together (I'm not sure if it's possible to have an inverted coaster train and a wing-coaster train on the same track at the same time?).

2) This is probably unlikely, but what if John Wardley had decided to retain the 'Secret Weapon' name for the B&M inverted coaster, instead of calling it 'Nemesis'? Would Thunder Valley have been renamed to Forbidden Valley? What effect would this have had upon Nemesis Inferno and Nemesis Sub Terra? Would the ride have been any less successful in 1994, or was the appeal of an inverted coaster too strong to be affected by the branding? (my personal opinion was that the ride still would have been very successful, regardless of its name)

 

[waffa]

I think about this a lot! I wished Alton Towers continued along the same quality in the 90s, and got to the kind of status Efteling or Phantasialand have. I'd have loved it if we still had the Haunted House, The LOG flume, Black Hole.... call me nostalgic maybe but they felt like they made it a more complete theme park.

The real change happened when the whole board was changed around 2001/2002 when the old Tussauds crew were pushed out and Charterhouse then DIC came in. If this hadn't happened, perhaps we would have still had a consistent vision.

I think the IP's, destructive hastily added "Rethemes" and Plonked in Rita really deviated the park into a less classy and coherent place.
We would still have lovely hand painted and 3d signage, less in your face advertising printed on 2d Leek signs, and good entertainment around the park.
Older rides would have been carefully maintained into legendary status, and updated in an honourable way. The same way that Europa Park or Efteling does.
We wouldn't have the garish block colour repaints of Towers Street or Cred Street, or inconsistent paths and fences. The hotels would have become a destination in their own right, (and the park would still have free virtual queue......)

Some call it rose tinted specs, but I get the same feeling I did when I first visited Alton when I visit Efteling. I want to spend my money there and I feel like I've had a valued day out. When I go to Alton now it gives me the same icky feeling as a Six Flags park, slightly hollow and empty, and ripped off.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Here's a thought that I'm sure many have already thought about and that is what if when building Wicker Man it was the Rapids and not the Flume that had gone instead? Yes I'm aware that towards the end the Flume was needing major work and likely would have gone eventually even if the Smiler crash never happened but all the same, given that IIRC Thorpe were planning to upgrade their Flume for modern standards yet the budget was eaten up by trying to fix DBGT which as we know was a waste of money so it isn't hard to think that maybe Towers' Flume might have been given a second chance to live another day.

So instead of getting Air changed into Galactica in which the former would remain as is, that money could have been spent on a new look Flume finally themed into the rest of the area with say new themed pieces and new boats from Mack as part of a larger pirate theme, as well as now reduced maintenance and running costs if Mack come in to overhaul it for modern standards and being a pure family ride might have had better success than what Galactica ever did in those post Smiler accident days. Also, given the fact that it costs a lot to run the Rapids not to mention how many feel that they are a shadow of themselves these days, does make you wonder with hindsight that they would have saved more on operation costs and that Katanga Canyon would finally have a new attraction in that area after many years plus could you imagine a woodie using parts of the Rapids route like say the shared tunnel with RMT would have been a highlight to have 'racing' trains and a woodie might have suited that area very well all things considered.

So yeah, I'm starting to think with hindsight Towers got ride of the wrong water attraction.

 

[Secret Weapon]

what if when building Wicker Man it was the Rapids and not the Flume that had gone instead?

So yeah, I'm starting to think with hindsight Towers got ride of the wrong water attraction.

I have a few questions in response:-

1) Was it inevitable that Alton Towers had to get rid of one of their water rides? Could they have kept both, or did one have to go?

2) Another 'what-if' question: was it inevitable that a wooden rollercoaster was going to replace the log flume, or were other rides considered at the time? I wasn't following the construction of Wicker Man and so I don't remember how the situation unfolded (on a side-note: given that John Wardley was never able to get a wooden rollercoaster built, why did Alton Towers change their mind as soon as he retired?).

 

[QTXAdsy]

Another question if I must bring this topic back to life is regarding the whole Shrek 4D debacle that was planned for 2011 with Dreamworks pulling the plug over how cheap Merlin were trying to do it and got egg on there face (some things don't change!)

That said IIRC, wasn't there plans for Storybook Land to become Duloc or Far Far Away as well or is that just a rumour? Still, it is honestly one of Towers' more underrated blunders for being the first year in which the park didn't have a new attraction opening which shows how Merlin really screwed up.

But it has got me thinking what if they managed to get Shrek 4D to the park, would Cbeebies Land still have happened or not? Surprised this little alternative history doesn't get a mention.

 

[djtruefitt]

Another question if I must bring this topic back to life is regarding the whole Shrek 4D debacle that was planned for 2011 with Dreamworks pulling the plug over how cheap Merlin were trying to do it and got egg on there face (some things don't change!)

That said IIRC, wasn't there plans for Storybook Land to become Duloc or Far Far Away as well or is that just a rumour? Still, it is honestly one of Towers' more underrated blunders for being the first year in which the park didn't have a new attraction opening which shows how Merlin really screwed up.

But it has got me thinking what if they managed to get Shrek 4D to the park, would Cbeebies Land still have happened or not? Surprised this little alternative history doesn't get a mention.

I imagine if we had got shrek then the parks history would be very different. I don’t think we would have got CBeebies, and probably not Ice Age, which then of course would completly change that end of the park, could we still have CCL?

I’m guessing we may have seen an expansion of Shrek or other dreamworks IPS in what is now CBeebies land of it was successful.

 

[QTXAdsy]

I imagine if we had got shrek then the parks history would be very different. I don’t think we would have got CBeebies, and probably not Ice Age, which then of course would completly change that end of the park, could we still have CCL?

I’m guessing we may have seen an expansion of Shrek or other dreamworks IPS in what is now CBeebies land of it was successful.

CCL happened in 2009 so still would have existed if Shrek came in 2011 as planned in which Storybook Land might have gone instead.

I have always felt that regarding Cbeebies land that hadn't gone the full thrill route then likely I could see them getting it or maybe Chessington in which it would take WoJ's place perhaps? Honestly I do feel that Cbeebies land was the Plan B for Storybook Land's replacement which in the end turned out for the best even if personally I'm not a fan of IP themes.

Regardless given how Shrek 4D would have been dated by that time, it's unlikely it would have lasted long, 2018 at best given how the others all closed around that time.

 

[Secret Weapon]

I have two quick further thoughts:-

1) If Alton Towers had decided not to retrack Nemesis, then what effect (if any) would this have had upon Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park?

Would it suddenly have become more loved / appreciated, or would people have resented it for outlasting the original?

2) If the Smiler crash had happened without passengers on board (i.e. between two empty trains) then I wonder whether Merlin would still have changed / improved their operating procedures as extensively (presumably, the HSE would not have gotten involved, and so perhaps not?).

If they did, though, then it's possible that this may have been a better outcome than the crash not happening at all, as it would have highlighted a flaw in the operating procedures, but without any human casualties.

 

[Ash]

The period post Air was really a period for me the park never recovered. With the last real quality installation at the time probably Splash Landings.

The DIC acquisition was a disaster but you look at the choices made after 2002 onwards and they just didn’t work and/or were below the standard of what was currently at the park.

Everything after that point up until Wickerman in 2018 was for me, sub par (Spinball/Rita/Smiler/Thirteen I’m looking at you) yea may be well marketed and have a good narrative proposition, but as experiences are not as good as they could or should of been.

It’s taken them nearly 20 years to put Duel right, and god knows how long to fix all the others.

The choices in what they spent money on, and how, compared to what particularly Drayton and Paultons have done recently show just how far off the top spot Alton have fallen.

If it wasn’t for the infrastructure of the park added in the 90s and early 00s they’d be severely struggling. Which arguably they already are.

 

[Secret Weapon]

If it wasn’t for the infrastructure of the park added in the 90s and early 00s they’d be severely struggling. Which arguably they already are.

This might be an unpopular opinion, but I personally think that Alton Towers got a bit lucky that they managed to sign a de-facto exclusivity agreement (or close to it) with B&M during the 1994 to 2002 period, as it gave them three consecutive world-class rollercoasters (and probably helped to kill off competitors such as American Adventure, et cetera) - although it possibly also set the bar a bit too high, as they struggled to repeat the success afterwards (John Wardley himself said that he remarked after the opening of Nemesis that they'd struggle to top it).

It's interesting that B&M essentially helped to make Alton Towers what they are today, but yet there hasn't been another B&M ride built at AT in over 20 years; perhaps if The Swarm had been more successful at Thorpe Park then Merlin may have considered building a wing coaster at AT as well?

 

[QTXAdsy]

Regarding the SW projects if I have to be brutally honest, only Nemesis is the one that all the planets aligned to make it work and it was a fluke with maybe Wicker Man being the only other successful SW coaster.

Oblivion as much as I like it is a one trick pony which did needed more than just a drop, Air was plagued with issues and is a ride model that never really made the impact in the long run, Thirteen is the weakest SW for having such a poor outside layout and Smiler has gained the reputation even when you ignore the incident such as how construction was a nightmare, the late opening which might have ruined the big turnout that the park wanted and never really became the big rival to Nemesis as some of us would have thought back in the day.

The thing is was a theme park really the best location for such new ride designs like Air/Galactia in which the hidden costs forced them to cancel theming for it as had it been built in a unthemed amusement park then they wouldn't have to worry about a botched theming job.

It does make me wonder what if after Nemesis or Oblivion that they had decided to give up on the SW name or instead didn't bother making it about World's firsts attached to the name like Wicker Man let's say? After all, how could they have topped Nemesis anyway?