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[202X] Project Horizon (SW9?): Planning Approved

Jb85 said:
If it us a coaster surely the coaster gets built first
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Probably, yes. But I’d assume that the park is filing the application on the basis of the finished product, which will be enclosed inside a 20m building.
Danscott22 said:
Reading the EIA letter currently, about 1/3 through, they expect construction to take 12-14 months roughly.
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Interesting! Does this mean we could potentially expect a 2024 opening rather than the assumed 2025?
Benjsh said:
1000% percent.

The park doesn't need anymore dark rides. HH being rethemed, Hex back open, Gangster Granny fairly new and then there's Sub Terra which will hopefully come back at some point too. Also the boat ride in Charlie Building will be used again at some point too perhaps.

An Axis Coaster themed to Space. That's my bet. Black Hole VIBES for us oldies.
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I agree. If the park reopens Sub-Terra (as is potentially rumoured to be happening next year) and eventually converts the Dungeons back into a family dark ride (I’d be very surprised if this didn’t happen… the Dungeon has always seemingly been mooted as a temporary fix rather than a permanent addition, and turning that boat ride back into a family dark ride seems like an easy win), the park would have 5 dark rides, with at least 4 of those being suitable for all the family (I say “at least 4” because you don’t know what route the park would take with reopening N:ST; they could well make it more family-orientated).

That’s a pretty formidable number, in my view; I don’t think the park ever had 5 dark rides even during the 1990s. And this number can be reached through very cheap wins rather than needing to splurge on a major attraction; there are 2 pretty good dark ride opportunities that already exist on the park before you consider this building.

Indoor coaster opportunities are much more limited. None of the park’s current dark ride buildings (bar possibly Duel, but that’s totally irrelevant with the retheme in progress for 2023) would lend themselves to an indoor coaster at all, and the park isn’t exactly awash with other big, flat plots of land to build one upon. This area is probably the best opportunity the park will ever have to build an indoor coaster; it’s a pretty big plot, it’s flat, and the circumstances surrounding it also mean that the park’s only real option for the land is an indoor coaster. When combined with the fact that it would likely give the park a much needed middle ground family coaster to bridge the gap between Octonauts and Thirteen/Wicker Man (a void only occupied by RMT at present) it seems like an absolute no brainer to me, and that building height would certainly lend itself to an indoor coaster!
Craig said:
The key takeaway from what little we have so far is the words up to. So the height in particular could be lower than 20m in the end, I wouldn't get too caught up on that being the definite number until the actual plans are submitted.
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But surely if it was going to be an awful lot lower than that, the park would have specified a different figure?

The building might not be exactly 20m tall, but I’d say that this quote makes it likely to be within that sort of ballpark. That’s just my thought, anyway.

To be honest, even a height that can be rounded up to 20m, like 17.5m, would easily be tall enough to accommodate an indoor family coaster!
 
Danscott22 said:
On the final page of the letter, the land has been etched in a red marker. I assume this is the full site they want to use? It does look like quite a large space.
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I thought that.
Two bits stood out.
1) entrance feature. Could just be a sign, or could be something significant, like what Chessington are building.
2) Final ride design isn't finished.

This is making me think Jumanji again...
 
Matt N said:
But surely if it was going to be an awful lot lower than that, the park would have specified a different figure?

The building might not be exactly 20m tall, but I’d say that this quote makes it likely to be within that sort of ballpark.
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Oh there's clearly something that might require that sort of height, I'm just saying that the use of the wording up to means that the height isn't necessarily firmed up. So I wouldn't say that you can necessarily discount ride types purely on that information.

For all we know, they may have multiple options for attractions to go in the building and the required final height of the building would depend on a) which option they choose and b) how difficult the planning process/consultation is requiring them to adjust their plans.
 
Craig said:
For all we know, they may have multiple options for attractions to go in the building and the required final height of the building would depend on a) which option they choose and b) how difficult the planning process/consultation is.
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Yeah I was thinking about that. It's so early in the process that they might not have actually finalised what the ride hardware will be yet.
 
Jb85 said:
2) Final ride design isn't finished.
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Merlin have said that in both Thorpe and Chessington’s consultations in the past when some quite clearly discernible attributes of a finished ride or particular ride type can be seen in the renderings, so I’m not sure whether you can read too much into that. They could well be still deciding, but equally, I would not be surprised if they had already decided.

On a side note, I took a look at the last page, and I’d say that the site plan appears to confirm the theory that we could be getting a full-on new area, entered via the gap between TWODW and the Alton Towers Dungeon. That area they’ve highlighted appears considerably larger than 4,000 square metres… my guess is that the ride building will go in the large square bit at the back (the former Mouse/Beast area) and the rest of the area will go in the longer, more fluidly shaped bit at the front that starts near the Dungeons and runs behind TWODW.
 
Also just to point out so everyone is clear, this is not a full planning application. It is merely an application to the local authority to seek on opinion as to whether an Environmental Impact Assessment is required as part of the full planning application. They seem to think not, and if an EIA was required it would add time to the whole planning process.

If I was guessing, we’ll likely see a full planning application sometime in 2023, dependent upon the outcome of this screening opinion. This screening opinion application does state that detailed designs have not yet been finalised.
 
Also, the consultation period is said to be ending on the 18th October, for some idea.

For Thorpe and Chessington, it took about 2 months from the ending of the consultation to progress to a full planning application, so at a guess, I’d take a punt at the planning application going in for this at some point around Christmas 2022.

Allocating a few months to get approved and the 12-14 month construction period specified in that letter, it would make a 2024 opening plausible. Maybe not opening day 2024, but a late spring/early summer opening in 2024 certainly seems like it could be doable on this timescale.
 
Don't forget that planning isn't the only thing that's affecting new attractions at the moment. The chip shortage is creating a massive issue for pretty much every industry at the moment, see Europa-Park for how it's affecting them for a ride that's already under construction. There's a big backlog to clear, even when manufacturing gets back up to full speed.

I'd even go so far to say that current political events could also really affect this project as well. The cost of the hardware will be through the roof compared to previous projects due to the exchange rates at present, not to mention interest rates should it need to be funded from borrowing too.
 
I agree with it being a coaster of some sort...

...

...

...Black Hole is coming home! It's coming home, it's coming...! Alright, I'll shut up. :p

Anyway, on a serious note, I can say that on the dark ride front, I'm actually a lot more confident in this issue being fully addressed within the next few years with Duel's overhaul, Sub Terra possibly returning, Dungeons going and having a boat ride put back in there again while not mention the many empty spaces such as the Nickelodeon building that can be easily gutted out and have a dark ride of some kind placed in there. If Towers were to go all out with the amount of dark rides on the park, they have could easily have a total of 6 or 7 dark rides (if they used the Nickelodeon or X-Cite buildings as well for something) which when you think about, not only would we be spoiled for choice but a good variety for all the family to choose from which if Towers are to appeal to everyone for rides in all weathers, that is pretty much a winnable strategy for Merlin to adopt.

That said though, even if the dark ride situation is sorted out which I strongly feel more confident about that than I have in years though it is just one issue of many, many things that's wrong on the park. If it's not dark rides, it's the flat ride crisis, if not that, then its entertainment, if not that, the monorail future, not that, then the hotels and so on with all that you can think of. TBF, a lot of the problems were of the fault of many mishandling blunders throughout the last few years of the park and even if Towers is actually on an upward trend with investments to follow then it will still be a long way before the park can be considered among the best in Europe.

Alas though, I'm hoping we get the long-awaited Port Discovery concept to be dusted off the shelf and brought to life in this new area with a steampunk Black Hole as the main attraction to follow! 😍
 
If this building is going to be around 20 metres high it would make it taller than the black hole. Does anyone know how the footprint of the black hole compares with Project Horizon? I would guess PH is going to be a larger building footprint wise which could indicate something a bit more substantial than a family coaster, but I don’t know what the footprint of the black hole was.
 
What id like…

A family thrill ride based around “Sir Algenon” and the flag tower. Alton Towers version of mystic manor but using either a trackless ride or the premier rides hardware used for Revenge of the Mummy or Intamins hardware from Gringotts.

Alton is at its best when it leans into its history, a new crypt, tomb just “unearthed” at Alton Towers could work a treat.

Another coaster would also give Alton the UK coaster crown as much as it matters and a dark coaster is missing from the line up

How big are Jumanji (the dark ride), Lego factory adventure Ghostbusters?


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