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Future of the Congo River Rapids

If they are never going to turn all the effects back on and give the ride a facelift it so badly needs then I'd be all for it being closed and the space used for SW9.

Obviously I'd prefer them to do what's needed and save the ride though. It's such a sad sight seeing it in its current state.
 
I rode a few weeks ago for the first time in years and was saddened by the experience. No wave machines, no waterfalls... Just the odd mild suspense as to whether you might catch an odd wave (of which there are few!).

It's still one of the best landscaped rapids out there (here's looking at you Legoland) but is missing any thrill.

That said, the family who joined my boat seemed more than happy and the children were excited!
 
Interesting in hindsight that The Flume was retired in 2015 and not the rapids. Factoring in everything that has happened in the industry since then I wonder if they would have made the same decision today.

I imagine upgrading The Flume to boats with some form of restraint and refurbing it would be preferable. Then the land used for the rapids could have made space for a new coaster.
 
I am not for a water coaster to be fair, the park have enough coasters. A modern, top of the range log flume, or comparable water ride would be much better if you ask me.
 
If the park does get a new water ride, I’d actually prefer for it to go elsewhere.

If Alton Towers were to remove the rapids, I’d argue that that land is one of the few places left on park that has real potential for a thrill coaster. Whereas water rides generally take up less space, so there’s quite a few places where one could feasibly go within Alton Towers.

In an ideal world, I’d have Towers build some kind of new water ride or dark ride as SW9 to plug the filler attractions gap, and then have them remove Congo River Rapids to build SW10. I picture an Intamin Blitz working well on Congo’s plot; you could put launches in some of the longer straight sections (e.g. the waterfall area), you could use some of the more empty bits of Congo’s plot (for instance, the location of the massive reservoir) for some nice coaster-y bits, and you could keep RMT as a nice peripheral coaster for the ride to interact with in a similar vein to how Taron and Raik at Phantasialand interact with one another. Congo takes up a massive plot of land, and a considerable amount of it would be ready to build upon if it were to be removed, even if RMT/Katanga were to be kept.
 
Rick said:
I still don't understand how a water coaster (clue is in the name) is a good swap for the rapids in a park that already struggles to provide enough mid-range rides.
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It would fill the void of a water ride, and it would fit into that demographic of “too big for CBeebies, too small for big 7” that people say Towers needs to cater to more.
 
Matt N said:
It would fill the void of a water ride, and it would fit into that demographic of “too big for CBeebies, too small for big 7” that people say Towers needs to cater to more.
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But it is yet another coaster.

The one thing the park do not need is more coasters, of any type. Not before the sort the other attraction types out.

They can fill the void in many other ways without becoming Alton Coaster Park Towers.
 
DistortAMG said:
But it is yet another coaster.

The one thing the park do not need is more coasters, of any type. Not before the sort the other attraction types out.

They can fill the void in many other ways without becoming Alton Coaster Park Towers.
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If you don’t mind me asking; how is a water coaster any different to a non-coaster water ride with multiple big drops other than that it does those drops slightly differently (on coaster track and with some banked curves rather than just being a straight drop)?

Both a water coaster and, say, a new style log flume with lap bars would be (or at least, could be in theory) water rides with family thrill appeal. What makes the water coaster any less desirable than the log flume, in that regard?
 
There is a large part of the population, as well as a reasonable number of Alton Towers' customers, who don't actually like rollercoasters. Flumes and rapids, whilst they still have drops, are a more gentle ride type that can appeal to a wider audience. And one of the reasons the park doesn't do as well in visitor numbers as it could these days is because they no longer cater very well for these guests who don't like coasters.

Most families are made up of a mix of coaster fans and non-coaster fans, so to justify a family trip to Alton Towers, there needs to be enough attractions to satisfy everyone. And it is fair to say that often the people within a family who are in charge of the purse strings are actually non-coaster fans (because generally people lose interest in coasters as they get older). So if the parents/grandparents in a family no longer perceive that Alton Towers has a good enough range of attractions to keep everyone happy, they will stop attending, especially at times when people are more budget conscious.

Given the recent trend at Alton Towers of removing popular non-coaster rides in favour of coaster rides, the problem with this strategy is that at some point if the park were to remove another 'family fun' style ride like the rapids, we could reach the tipping point where the park could actually lose more customers, than it gains by building a new coaster.
 
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