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Corkscrew Memories

I rode it first back in September 2007, I didn't really find it to be rough, and although I preferred it's cousin in Yorkshire, I enjoyed riding it again twice and at the end of the day was my 2nd favourite coaster at AT.

My next ride was in it's final year, and I did find it to be rough this time, infact I must have being leaning wrong because I banged my head just after the corkscrews and it hurt for at least a week, only time I've been hurt by an Alton coaster. Although I did ride it again twice that day (If I remember correctly), just at the (less rough) front.

My last ride was (bit of omen for what'd replace it) my 13th ride on Corkie, when I was 13 years old. In fact looking at an ORP from the same day I can say it was Saturday the 25th of October, just 3 weeks till it was removed. (RIP)

And still to this day I regard Corkie to be at least twice as good as what replaced it.
 
AstroDan said:
I was priviledged to work as a ride host on Corkscrew for some time during the 2007 season. It may have been drab, it may have been poorly themed and it may have been rough - but I recall children in particular enjoying the ride immensely. What was even better, was that large cuddly toys which were won on games, could also ride in the seats.

It was a tremendous icon in the park, and I doubt Th13teen, whilst better themed and a more pleasant ride, will ever have the legacy of Corkscrew.

:)

What a good season that was Dan, I loved operating it that year...and seeing such incidents as 2 trains on the lift hill/evac during power cuts and being late opening due to a bird's nest blocking a sensor lol

Believe I still have the COSWP somewhere! Getting the urge to find and test myself after reading all these comments!
 
I've only been on Corky once during it's last season at the park. Before riding it, my sister has said that it was a terrible ride...all the more reason to try it out!

It wasn't as rough as I may have thought it would be, though I do remember having a swollen ear afterwards. Strangely, I loved this ride and it was a surprising highlight for me that day. After thinking to myself that it weren't so bad than what everyone else thought of it (I love old school Vekoma somehow!) you could only imagine how stunned I was to hear that the ride was leaving.

Now looking back on it, it was on it's last legs and was in the way for progress (in Merlin terms...). I did consider going back down south to have one last ride, though increasing college work at the time stopped me from going down.

Then I came back in 2010, and was happy to see the two famous screws at the entrance. I know a lot of people probably hate the Purple colour scheme, but I think it rather suits it somehow.

No matter how much we like to slag of the ride for how rough it might have been, when you think about it though, there wouldn't have been Nemesis. No Oblivion. No Air. No Th13teen and now No SW7...actually Alton Towers wouldn't be the place we know it as today! And it's all thanks to the yellow peril we call Corkscrew...

R.I.P 1980 - 2008
 
Ahh Corkie, loved that ride no matter how rough it may have been.

For me, one of the best memories of Alton Towers is walking though the gardens on a summers day and hearing "that" whine of the lift hill in the distance. Thirteen should have been built with a noise generator to make the same lift hill noise lol!
 
Re: Re: Corkscrew Memories

Olii said:
I do think the Corckscrew looks nice outside he entrance, but m£rlin had to come along and paint it purple instead of the iconic yellow I always associated with Corckscrew. Another reason to add to the immensely large list of why i hate them... >:(

It wasn't painted yellow because it didn't pass planning permission,

Also I would assume it would be tower's decision not Merlin's.

Sent from my HTC One X using Tapatalk 2
 
It was painted purple to make it less visible outside the park and to make it fit in with Alton's colour scheme, and give it a grander, posher appearance ore suitable for its role. I think it looks amazing.

Personally though, I hated the ride.I love old school Vekoma, but I hated Corkscrew. I only rode it twice, on the 1st of November 2008, last day of normal operation before the special closing day. I only did it because I knew I wouldn't get another chance. My first ride was on the front row. I hated everything about it other than the view, the mental airtime and the weird dynamics the length of the train provided, like how you'd accelerate going uphill and decelerate going down while the back caught up. I rode it again at night n the back row. Hated it just as much.

Corkscrew, and its cousin formerly at Flamingo Land are the only coasters I've ever found to be rough and truly painful. I'm so thankful and appreciative for the ride and everything it led to, but I'm not sad it's gone.
 
I never got to ride Corkscrew. Even though it got fairly bad reviews and wasn't anything particularly special, it would of been nice to have ridden a part of rollercoaster history. :(
 
I miss Corkscrew being there more than the ride it offered if that makes any sense. Some of my earliest memories of the park are hearing the whine of the lift motor ring out over the area and watching the train arc its way through the double corkscrew. It looked so imposing to me back then and it really commanded attention over Festival Park and later UgLand before Rita came and ruined it.

For a lot of people, it was a stepping stone to the larger coasters in its later years but when I eventually came to ride it, I'd been on much better coasters so the ride experience didn't really hold up. I did enjoy the multiple re-rides on its last day of operation however.

Overall, it was possibly the UK's most important coaster and the ride that made Alton what it is today. But I still feel that it was the right time for it to go and there are other departed rides that I miss much more. (TT and Black Hole).
 
The *whiiiiirrrrr* she made, all the time.

My TOP memory is of a winter weekend (remember them?) and me and Saz stood at the entrance and it still being a little too cold to open, Saz even offering to share her coat with Corky to get her open, no sooner as we walked away the whiiiirrr started and we ran back.
Always a special memory to me.
 
Blaze said:
Corkscrew, and its cousin formerly at Flamingo Land are the only coasters I've ever found to be rough and truly painful. I'm so thankful and appreciative for the ride and everything it led to, but I'm not sad it's gone.

Wait till you visit Parc Asterix ;)

I similarly have memories of it being rough and I probably rode it two or three times. I wasn't fussy about coasters then and I'm not really now. If it were still working, I would go on it for sure...who needs a neck, anyway?!

The corkscrews do look very good at the entrance though. I've only seen them twice in that position but it was a nice thing to do. The plaque with the funky Vekoma logo is cool, too.
 
Can always remember the corkscrews last day always though a lot more people would be there to celebrate it truly great ride
 
Fredward said:
Olii said:
I do think the Corckscrew looks nice outside he entrance, but m£rlin had to come along and paint it purple instead of the iconic yellow I always associated with Corckscrew. Another reason to add to the immensely large list of why i hate them... >:(

It wasn't painted yellow because it didn't pass planning permission,

Also I would assume it would be tower's decision not Merlin's.

As mentioned in the TTF@10 speech, Towers wanted to leave it yellow but the council/national heritage wanted it green to fit the surroundings. In the end they settled on purple as it was Altons colour.
 
I do find that little story quite amusing really as yellow would have fitted in with the surroundings far more than purple! You see more yellowy like trees, bushes etc than bright purple ones! Thank god it wasn't green though, that would have been horrendous!

:)
 
Honestly, it's a good thing that it wasn't left Yellow and wasn't painted Green. Leaving it Yellow wouldn't look good in front of the entrance and having it green would make it look unfitting to Alton. The Purple does look really nice though
 
I can still remember going on Corkscrew for the first time in 2000, when I was 8... and I was with my dad, and he ended up getting a headache from the harnesses... I always loved the rattling and the roughness, but dad hated it and would never go on it again...
 
Whurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr............

followed by a clunk clunk as the train crests the top of the lift :p
 
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