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Flat Rides: What would you like to see come to the park?

Matt N said:
I’d argue that the height extension is odd if they’re only keeping it as an arcade, though. What things would you realistically put in an arcade that would require a greater building height than the Edge Games building had?

I don’t see the height extension being a design flourish, as a park in Alton’s planning predicament will want to build things as small as possible. Not to mention that more height equals more cost… why would Merlin spend unnecessary extra money if there wasn’t a good reason for the building to need a height extension?

The other thing I’d say is that while I’d take anything like that with a pinch of salt, Sean Evans is another one who has arguably proven himself to have a past record of reliability.

I’m not saying that there is a ride going in there, but some parts of the evidence are certainly fishy, in my opinion…
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Agreed. And Alton Towers definitely need more inside attractions for 365 operations.
 
I've done a little bit of digging on the basis of Mr Evans' video to put some of his theories to the test.

Mentioning height is all well and good, but I notice that Evans neglects one key aspect of fitting a flat ride into the building; ground space. If the building's area isn't big enough to fit one of these Huss flat rides, then they definitely won't be going inside it unless the building is expanding in footprint (which I believe it isn't by any significant amount, if I'm not mistaken).

Evans mentions 4 flat rides:
  • Huss Break Dance 4
  • Huss Break Dance 5
  • Huss Magic 2G
  • Huss Spinning Cruiser
According to Huss' website:
Now my initial thought upon reading those diameter figures was "There's no way the Edge Games building is nearly wide enough by its narrowest dimension to fit those rides in it...". However, hunches do not make for scientific evidence, so I decided to consult our good friend Google Earth and measure the building's narrowest dimension.

I must confess that it was hard to tell where the building actually ended, as the trees cover part of the roof in the most recent aerial imagery. However, I must say that the building could be wider than I'd anticipated; without the canopy, it measures in at around 10-15m at its narrowest point, extending to 15-20m with it.

So based on that, my feeling is that a Break Dance could be possible if the ratio of canopy to building is increased, but a Magic 2G is a long shot unless the building's footprint is extended by a few metres.

Of course, there is also the possibility that Evans' suggested candidates might not be the flat ride in question, if there is one... it could be something longer and narrower!

So in conclusion, the building doesn't necessarily lend itself to a flat ride at first glance, but based on what I found, I don't think it's necessarily impossible if the ratio of canopy to building is changed.

It's also worth noting that the height extension is not insignificant; Evans said that it's roughly doubling in height, going from 2.8m to 5.7m (I think?).
 
Modular buildings are usually up to 10' x 40'. I would imagine it is multiple clustered to make the building, roughly around those dimensions.
 
Ah come on.....its 100% obvious a rides going in there, or some sort of pay attraction?

Why would they change what is already there?
It's not like it was high up on the priority list.
 
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It does seem very odd to me that the building size is drastically changing if there’s not really going to be any sort of change inside. Guess we’ll have to wait and see though
 
Folks, remember that the existing arcade is simply some 30 year old Portakabins bolted together. It is quite frankly knackered.

Think of those ‘temporary’ class rooms at school that were never temporary and falling to bits. Then stick a load of arcade machines in there for 30 years with thousands of kids running about and you get the idea.

The replacement building will be taller than the existing yes. But that isn’t hard, the current ceiling is very low in there, and the replacement will likely be made to a standard specification to keep the costs down.

Not to mention the fact the planning application literally states in several places that this will be an arcade.

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On balance it feels like any suggestion this will house a ride is simply YouTubers scrabbling around for closed season content and nothing more.
 
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Yeah, you don't go an outright lie in a planning application with regards to what it is you're planning on doing. As if you do and the Council don't like it, they can make you tear it down.

Quite clear that right now this is a replacement building to house an arcade.
 
Rob said:
Yeah, you don't go an outright lie in a planning application with regards to what it is you're planning on doing. As if you do and the Council don't like it, they can make you tear it down.

Quite clear that right now this is a replacement building to house an arcade.
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I will clarify that I think his claims are absolute twaddle and a non-starter. Just thought I'd share the video, with my own thoughts, for discussion purposes. :)
 
It is odd that the building will be double the height, though, isn’t it? My main question is; what in an arcade would realistically need double the height of the existing one? A little bit taller wouldn’t be that much to shout about, but nearly 6 metres, and double the height of the existing one, is a very tall arcade… that’s roughly 20ft tall!

I’m not saying that Evans is necessarily right or that the building won’t be used as an arcade, but if it was just an arcade like before, I think that doubling the height is a very strange move.

I think the building dimensions do pour cold water on the idea of a flat ride, though. The smallest of those 4 Huss ones had a 16m diameter, which definitely wouldn’t fit in that space if it’s only 9m wide.

If there were to be a flat ride, as Evans and others are suggesting, then it would need to be something long and narrow to fit into that building.
 
Matt N said:
It is odd that the building will be double the height, though, isn’t it? My main question is; what in an arcade would realistically need double the height of the existing one? A little bit taller wouldn’t be that much to shout about, but nearly 6 metres, and double the height of the existing one, is a very tall arcade… that’s roughly 20ft tall!
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How tall is the Oblivion shop and arcade building?
 
Matt N said:
It is odd that the building will be double the height, though, isn’t it? My main question is; what in an arcade would realistically need double the height of the existing one? A little bit taller wouldn’t be that much to shout about, but nearly 6 metres, and double the height of the existing one, is a very tall arcade… that’s roughly 20ft tall!
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It's really not that tall in the grand scheme of things. Take a look at the current building:
Screenshot at Dec 04 10-07-10.png
While the building itself might be 2.7m tall, add the sign on which is probably 1.5m ish, you're looking at the current fronting being 4.1m tall. An increase to 5.7m isn't all that much really, especially when they want to advertise to guests that the arcade is new to attract people in.

Next up, take a look at the machines. They're already pretty much the height of the building, there's not a lot of space to manoeuvre and HB are likely already having to pick and choose what they have in there due to the building's limitations.

Now take a look inside. It's dark, dingy and just generally miserable. It's not a welcoming place, and I can count on one hand the number of times I've even walked in there since I've visited the park as a result. They need that extra ceiling space not only for larger machines, but to install lighting and make the place generally more welcoming.

As jon81uk has already alluded to, think about one of the other arcades that the park has over in X Sector that ticks the boxes above a little better. The arched building means there's more space for larger machines and the lighting is better as a result (we'll ignore the massive chunk of closed shop!).

Finally, it's all well and good looking at whether a ride will fit into a building's dimensions. But where will a queue line fit? Where's the Fastpass/RAP access? Where's any mention of new/larger plant rooms? As the plans state the electrical cabinet configuration will be maintained, where is the details for a needed upgrade to run a ride in there?

I'm all for speculation for new rides based on mentions in plans, but it needs to be balanced with the evidence to the contrary rather than just clickbaity Youtube videos. Don't forget there's multiple vacant sites with that queue line space and electrical capacity installed, one of which is just down the way from the arcade. With Sub Terra only being opposite, I doubt another indoor ride in such close proximity is needed.
 
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Fair points. The more people say, the more far-fetched the idea of a ride in that building seems.

I don’t think the idea of a flat ride in Forbidden Valley next year is that far-fetched, but with the evidence and arguments people are presenting, I’m now struggling to think of a compelling argument in favour of there being a ride in that particular building.
 
Rob said:
There is no compelling argument because the plans, which are official documents that have to be truthful for the purpose of a planning application, state that the building will house arcade equipment!
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That is by far the most compelling argument against the theory for sure!

A lot of people seemed to latch onto the mention of an “operator cabin”, but I’m starting to agree that that was probably a typo.
 
Matt N said:
A lot of people seemed to latch onto the mention of an “operator cabin”, but I’m starting to agree that that was probably a typo.
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The operator cabin likely refers to somewhere where a HB employee will be located to manage the arcade. The reference to rides is the likely typo which was intended to say arcade machines. The quote from the Design and Access statement was:
Scale & Massing
The proposed rides and operator’s booth shall have a scale and mass that is subservient to the surrounding site structures and landscape. The proposed building is suitably situated tothe rear of the site which backs onto a boundary consisting of hedges and mature trees ensuring any imposing dominance from the increased height is reduced by the landscape
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I mean if you really want to take everything as gospel in that paragraph, we're getting multiple rides in the new building ;)
 
I know the games in the Bunker and Mutiny Bay are ticketed to get prizes - is that the same in this one? If not, I wonder if they will be and the Ops cabin would also be the counter to exchange 10,000 tickets for a small rubber ball?
 
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