I didn't like the ride, so in a way I'm delighted it's going. However, it is a shame considering the ride lineup for this season. Hopefully a better log flume will replace it.
I've notice that the Flume and Ripsaw has now been removed for the Alton Towers website, however Hex, Driving school, Charlie, NST, still remain (Fingers crossed) https://www.altontowers.com/theme-park/#book-online-to-save
I did enjoy it, but it was mainly due to some funny experiences riding it, going on it once and no knowing we had put the heaviest person (my older brother) at the front of the boat. He and my cousin behind him got absolutely soaked on the first dinky little drop! It was even worse on the second one, they might as well of had a bucket thrown all over their legs (it was pretty cold that day too!). The funny thing was they were then super nervous that the third one was going to get them drowned but it was by far the least affective due to it not dropping you into a pool of water, even if it is a taller and faster drop.
There was also another time on the flume when we seemed to going really fast around the wood section, we jokingly said to the boat infront we are gaining on you, the problem was we really were and by the end of the wooded section instead of the boat infront being 8 or 9 boats lengths in front, they were only couple of feet and we were still gaining. Both us and them in the boat infront were scared we were going to crash into them once we went down the second drop so we made an effort with our arms on the side of the flume to act as breaks, luckily it worked, the funny thing was by the time we were coming into the station we were pretty much bumper to bumper again. It could of been pretty bad if we had smacked into them in the dark and I am pretty sure we would of if we hadn't slown it down ourselves. I hope the replacement ride is some kind of water coaster, something along the lines of poseidon at EP. Either way I hope some kind of water ride is brought in in the next few years as some kind of replacement even if it is located at a different location of the park.
Well, in all fairness, I'm not all that fussed about Flume leaving. It was starting to show it's age and the threat of closure hung has over the ride for the last few years now. But hey ho, now we can look forward to debating on whatever will be replacing the Flume now.
Only 1 boat was allowed down the drop/in the splash down part at a time, there was no need for you to slow your boat down.
RIP flume The flume was my very first ride of my very first visit to Alton Towers (29/09/87). I still love riding the flume to this very day. and another memory of another favourite from that very first visit back in 1987
I know it might not mean much but from AT's blog post: "it is essential that we continue to invest in thrilling new attractions and experiences and we’ll keep you posted with news of what will replace The Flume as soon as we can but for now, our exciting plans for the site are still top secret!" Really hoping that we get a high investment next season, utilising the flukes footprint, and you could fit quite a few things in there. The flume occupied an unnecessarily large footprint so that it could get a record, meaning that several small rides could (in theory) go into its space.
Much as I'll miss the Flume, I'm quite excited at the idea of what might take its place. Clearly they've got some sort of plans, so I'd hope we *might* see some interesting preparations in the area sooner rather than later this season. Personally I'd like to see AT go all-out with a big replacement water ride for 2017, whether it's a watercoaster or boats. I get that the UK weather doesn't always necessarily suit them, but (Valhalla excepted) I think there's a huge gap in this country for a top quality wet ride. I'm also a little bit more optimistic now that these rumoured ride closures might be on a lesser scale than first feared, partly because I reckon that the new blog post would have been the ideal opportunity to announce anything like that if they were going to - they're really starting to cut it very fine! I'm still sure there'll be closures, but maybe just some temporary ones at the start of the season? Fingers crossed and teeth gritted...
Yeah bye Flume, close the door on your way out. As for what next; Chiapas has set the benchmark high for "next gen" flumes. It will take a lot to beat it, and I doubt the park to do it will be in the UK.
A MAJOR busy season attraction lost. IF the park does get busy in the summer, they've lost a serious amount of throughput. The old Flume had charm, I quite enjoyed the meander around the forest! That's something I'll quite miss tbh. That whacking great ride just sat there not doing anything is going to create a very eerie feeling to that part of the park, like it or not, it was a big feature and imposing. There's SO little energy now in that area with this gone. Would have made so much more sense to have kept it going through the summer, then closed it, and started to build a replacement for next season - or started work on it LAST season for a replacement this year. I personally think this is too big a ride to just close, with Smiler still being down, and other pretty big attractions such as HEx and Ripsaw also off the list. That half of the park has now lost 3 attractions on the year they're redoing air. I just can't make sense of this, it's nothing short of idiotic to me.
I'm hoping The Flume will eventually be replaced by a big half indoor dark ride, half outdoor log flume water coaster hybrid. Something along the lines of Journey to Atlantis combined with Valhalla, and with a pirate theme to bring it in line with Mutiny Bay would be perfect. The site it currently sits on is ideal for a large building.
Great pictures RoyJess, that's how I remember the flume on my first trips to the park in the 80's. Some of the younger ones on here may not miss it as they will mainly see it as ducks, bath tubs and peeled off imperial leather stickers on an ageing and decaying ride that had been surpassed by other flumes and water coasters over the years. But at one point this was a magical ride in the eyes of a kid and seeing that lake, the last drop with logs hurtling down proudly displaying the park name on the front and the view of the carousel station was an iconic Alton Towers view to me. Over the years, even after the removal of the dinosaurs and the retheme the ride was one of those things that remained relatively the same and a constant fixture and experience in the park as cinema domes, the park railway, the black hole etc where removed, and as Katanga, Nemesis, Oblivion, hotels etc where built around the place. A lot of the park changed beyond recognition, but the flume was still as I remember it in my mid 30s taking my kids on as it was when I was 5 riding with my dad. The Flume needed replacement and has had a good innings, its just those childhood memories I'll miss.
As a huge flume fan, I will be sad to see her go... but I understand and accept it is necessary. I think that AT know that they need to deliver something truly amazing and on an epic scale. Could the flumes replacement be a SW? I was mega excited for a woody and would still love to see this, but a world class new water ride would float my boat too (see what I did there). If they are planning as they say to develop the site during the 2016 open season, then it surely can't be long for a planning application. Exciting times... come on AT, don't mess this up.
