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Rides you miss/wish you could have ridden?

metalhead98 said:
Apart from the Sonic themed bit which imo became dated quite quickly even for it's time
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The Sonic room was great as a child. The mash-up of the Toyland Tours theme and Green Hill Zone was done so well, it's still my favourite part of the whole track (next to the party section). If however, the attraction was released a couple years later and did an N64 (preferably Mario 64) themed room instead, now THAT would have been awesome.
 
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Bowser said:
I had the "pleasure" of riding both of these! ThunderLooper seemed absolutely terrifying at the time, particularly because i'm sure it only had lap bar restraints which seems crazy in retrospect. A valuable life lesson in when you're told to hold on you should definitely do it.
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I never got to ride Thunder Looper - Did the ride have any hang time on the loop? If so I can imagine why you found it terrifying with only a lap bar 🤣
 
Nerdsticks said:
The Sonic room was great as a child. The mash-up of the Toyland Tours theme and Green Hill Zone was done so well, it's still my favourite part of the whole track (next to the party section). If however, the attraction was released a couple years later and did an N64 (preferably Mario 64) themed room instead, now THAT would have been awesome.
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I'm not saying the Sonic themed bit was awful I love Sonic. But it was a theme of it's time and seeing how the ride lasted till 2005 you'd think the deal the park had with Sega would've ended long before then which it obviously didn't because of Sonic Spinball and the hotel themed room and a new theme would've potentially took it's place
 
The forum's resident Sonic fan here. It's quite a timeless IP, and it's criminal that it's only been used for a single scene in a wider dark ride, and on a Maurer Spinner when Sonic games are basically designed full of rollercoaster elements. The problem with the Sonic room was how it was depicted.

The Sega Mega Drive was in its twilight years in 1994, and it's successor The Sega Saturn was released in Japan the same year, and the UK in 1995. 1994 saw two big Sonic game releases on the Mega Drive, which were actually two halves of the same game. Sonic 3 was released in February, the second part Sonic & Knuckles was released in October. The Sonic room in Toyland Tours promoted Sonic 3, and game footage was shown prominently to riders. Bizarrely, the large controller used for theming depicted a 2 button Sega Master System controller, the Mega Drive's predecessor console which was no longer supported by 94.

So the Sonic room was outdated pretty much in its opening year, certainly by the year after. By the time Toyland closed, Sonic himself had been redesigned in 1998 (for the release of Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast) with the Toyland depiction being his original 1991 design, Sega had released and killed 2 more console generations and exited the console business entirely 4 years prior, and numerous mainline Sonic titles had been released. Charlie opened the year the famously broken Sonic "06" was released, the fifth mainline Sonic title since Sonic 3.
 
Bowser said:
I can barely remember that to be honest. Same with the "Around the World in 80 days" ride. Probably have some photos somewhere though and have a few old maps/souvenir guides with them on.

Vaguely remember there being a giant model train set in The Towers too.
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Bits of the model railway still survives in the form of advertising in the great hall^^
 
I always feel that I missed out on a lot of these old rides as I only first went to Alton in 2013. I would love to experience doom and son as I love spooky themed things but also to experience the original haunted house.

It's something I noticed after watching all of those British dark ride documentaries. I have only ever ridden the "bad" versions of all of them, such as duel, tomb blaster, bubble works (soap edition). It would be nice to experience them all in their heyday.
 
Ug Swinger.

Fond memories of that as a kid. The whole Ug Land area actually. Used to have a really vibrant feeling to it up till about 2009 with the thunder rock rally radio, and all sorts of games and activities along with the rides. I remember there used to be a bunch of benches around Ug Swinger which usually ended up being my family's chosen spot for lunch. (Basically a ploy to get us to eat Lunch so we could go on Ug Swinger next door)

Dark Forest = biggest downgrade in Towers history IMO.
 
GJMarshy said:
Ug Swinger.

Fond memories of that as a kid. The whole Ug Land area actually. Used to have a really vibrant feeling to it up till about 2009 with the thunder rock rally radio, and all sorts of games and activities along with the rides. I remember there used to be a bunch of benches around Ug Swinger which usually ended up being my family's chosen spot for lunch. (Basically a ploy to get us to eat Lunch so we could go on Ug Swinger next door)

Dark Forest = biggest downgrade in Towers history IMO.
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Ug Land was my happy place as a kid and was pure Alton magic. It was such a complete area and it had something for everyone. Corkscrew headliner, a good mix of flats, some interactive areas including those fountains you could walk through and some great food choices.

I whole heartedly agree that what we have now is a huge downgrade.
 
s_g_k said:
Ug Land was my happy place as a kid and was pure Alton magic. It was such a complete area and it had something for everyone. Corkscrew headliner, a good mix of flats, some interactive areas including those fountains you could walk through and some great food choices.

I whole heartedly agree that what we have now is a huge downgrade.
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Yeah magical is exactly how I’d describe it. Just pure joy! I’ll be honest I don’t remember it pre-Rita when most consider its “heyday” but when I was just a bit too small for the big rides, Ug Land was the perfect place. I was just tall enough to get on Corkscrew but not Rita (which was great fun to watch at least!)

The games were the best thing. It was almost like a fun-fair vibe but less chaotic (and safer!) which made it perfect for families. The audio in the area was just ace. We’d usually approach it on the skyride which provided amazing views of Corkscrew and played Thunder Rock Ralley radio on the way past which really set the scene!

That brings me to one area I’m definitely not nostalgic about: Cred Street! What even was that place? It was trying to provide the same family-oriented entertainment as Ug Land but lacked any of the charm or character. Cloud Cuckoo Land admittedly improved it, but it was around that time Ug Land entered managed-decline before becoming Dark Forest.

I did enjoy Charlie and The Chocolate Factory though. I know as adults we slag it off, but it was definitely fun and engaging as a kid (as long as the staff were on point, often they really added to the experience!)

I only wish I could have experienced the infamous “Toyland Tours”. From what I’ve heard that was the epitome of Alton magic!
 
GJMarshy said:
Yeah magical is exactly how I’d describe it. Just pure joy! I’ll be honest I don’t remember it pre-Rita when most consider its “heyday” but when I was just a bit too small for the big rides, Ug Land was the perfect place. I was just tall enough to get on Corkscrew but not Rita (which was great fun to watch at least!)

The games were the best thing. It was almost like a fun-fair vibe but less chaotic (and safer!) which made it perfect for families. The audio in the area was just ace. We’d usually approach it on the skyride which provided amazing views of Corkscrew and played Thunder Rock Ralley radio on the way past which really set the scene!

That brings me to one area I’m definitely not nostalgic about: Cred Street! What even was that place? It was trying to provide the same family-oriented entertainment as Ug Land but lacked any of the charm or character. Cloud Cuckoo Land admittedly improved it, but it was around that time Ug Land entered managed-decline before becoming Dark Forest.

I did enjoy Charlie and The Chocolate Factory though. I know as adults we slag it off, but it was definitely fun and engaging as a kid (as long as the staff were on point, often they really added to the experience!)

I only wish I could have experienced the infamous “Toyland Tours”. From what I’ve heard that was the epitome of Alton magic!
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Toyland Tours was awesome. I’m 32 now so back when it opened it was just pure magic for me as a kid. Quite depressing watching this back because of what’s there now.

You may have already seen it but here’s a POV.

From: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OEdoaX_FC9w&pp=ygUNVG95bGFuZCB0b3Vycw%3D%3D
 
GJMarshy said:
Yeah magical is exactly how I’d describe it. Just pure joy! I’ll be honest I don’t remember it pre-Rita when most consider its “heyday” but when I was just a bit too small for the big rides, Ug Land was the perfect place. I was just tall enough to get on Corkscrew but not Rita (which was great fun to watch at least!)

The games were the best thing. It was almost like a fun-fair vibe but less chaotic (and safer!) which made it perfect for families. The audio in the area was just ace. We’d usually approach it on the skyride which provided amazing views of Corkscrew and played Thunder Rock Ralley radio on the way past which really set the scene!

That brings me to one area I’m definitely not nostalgic about: Cred Street! What even was that place? It was trying to provide the same family-oriented entertainment as Ug Land but lacked any of the charm or character. Cloud Cuckoo Land admittedly improved it, but it was around that time Ug Land entered managed-decline before becoming Dark Forest.

I did enjoy Charlie and The Chocolate Factory though. I know as adults we slag it off, but it was definitely fun and engaging as a kid (as long as the staff were on point, often they really added to the experience!)

I only wish I could have experienced the infamous “Toyland Tours”. From what I’ve heard that was the epitome of Alton magic!
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Ug Bugs, Nickelodeon Outta Control and Toyland Tours are the greatest attractions to ever grace Alton Towers. I will die on this hill.
 
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