Talbot Street Tuesday

[Squiggs]

By 1995, Alton Towers was well on the way to becoming the theme park we know today and Tussauds had got into the swing of adding a range of different ride types to keep the line-up varied yet balanced.

Energizer was one of their first major flat ride additions, adding a new spark into Festival Park before moving over to X-Sector in 1998. In its final years in the park, it got a family-friendly, prehistoric makeover to become Bone Shaker in Ug Land.

It is now over 20 years since Bone Shaker last operated at Alton Towers, but today the ride can be found at Terra Mitica where it is known as La Cólera de Akiles

 

[djtruefitt]

I actually think Ug Land was the best themed area we've had in the UK and Bone shaker certainly helped the theme.

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

I actually think Ug Land was the best themed area we've had in the UK and Bone shaker certainly helped the theme.

I don't know, Fearless Valley surely has to be a top contender for that accolade.

 

[Squiggs]

The Octopus made a splash in 1984 when it replaced the Space Boat as part of the freshly-renamed Aqualand.

It was a near identical ride to the Spider, but it is generally thought that Alton Towers ran the Octopus on a more gentle cycle than its thrilling counterpart in Festival Park.

After Tussauds took over the park, it briefly moved to Talbot Street for a single season, but departed at the end of the 1992 season. These days it operates on the German fair circuit.

 

[Spark]

I remeber this ride, my dad got stung by a wasp on it

 

[Squiggs]

Who misses Dynamo? Well, here it is, behind door 17 of our advent calendar.

This classic flat ride arrived at Alton Towers as AstroDancer in 1993, replacing Cine2000 in Fantasy World. In 1999, it became Dino Dancer in Ug Land, before moving to Forbidden Valley in 2002 to become Dynamo.

It had patchy reliability in its final years at the park and departed at the end of 2003, but after a full refurb found its way onto the European fair circuit, where it still operates today.

 

[Squiggs]

1001 Nights swooped high over the treeline of Festival Park.

At 26 metres tall, it was technically the flat ride that took guests to the highest heights at Alton Towers, offering spectacular views over the Staffordshire Moorlands.

It operated in the park from 1984 to 1994, and seems to have been decommissioned when it left the Towers.

 

[Matt N]

One thing I’ve always wondered about 1001 Nights, as well as the likes of Thunderlooper, is; how did they manage to get it in when it goes above the treeline?

Surely the planners rejected that? I can imagine it certainly wouldn’t fly nowadays, anyhow…

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

One thing I’ve always wondered about 1001 Nights, as well as the likes of Thunderlooper, is; how did they manage to get it in when it goes above the treeline?

Surely the planners rejected that? I can imagine it certainly wouldn’t fly nowadays, anyhow…

I'm sure that @Squiggs will confirm, but I believe that the treeline rule was introduced as a response to Thunderlooper.

 

[Squiggs]

I think the easiest answer is that, as with all the best things in life, it's probably not quite that simple.

In answer to your question @Matt N, the 80s were a very different time to now. There are quite a few things that got planning permission during that period that simply wouldn't get through now, as planning law is much, much more defined now than it was. Effectively, this was a period before the 'treeline rule' existed.

But equally, I'm not sure how much the 'treeline rule' exists in the format of a specific rule. I may be wrong, but I don't recall any of the park's planning documents or decision notices from the council ever referring to a specific rule related to Alton Towers. But rather it's a bit of a patchwork of existing legislation, which creates that shorthand that developments at the park shouldn't be visible above the treeline/outside the park.

That said, the height restrictions were being introduced at Alton Towers earlier than the Thunder Looper. The original GPD areas were certainly defined by 1989 (though I have a niggling feeling possibly earlier than this, I seem to recall seeing a 1986 document once).

This is just supposition, but I think the 'treeline rule' might tend to be linked to Thunder Looper because the coaster opened in the same year the 1990 Town and Country Planning Act was enacted, which would have affected how both the GDPO, as well as the Alton and Farely Conservation Area, was enforced. The GDPO effectively limits much of the park development to 5m for buildings and 25m for rides, but I think it will be the enforcement of the conservation area which results in the 'treeline rule'. (i.e. to protect that character of the conservation area the rides should not be visible outside the park)

As an aside, it was actually Forbidden Valley's 'planning permission' that put the writing on the wall for Thunder Looper. In the agreement that allowed Forbidden Valley to become a GDP area in 1993, one of the conditions was that Thunder Looper had to be removed by the end of 1995. Clearly this was extended by a year, but Thunder Looper had to go to allow Forbidden Valley to exist (and potentially also as part of Nemesis' planning permission - the language is a little unclear).

Incidentally, it turns out it was this same agreement that resulted in planning permission being required for Project Ocean. You'll recall there was a lot of confusion as to why that planning permission was sought for a ride under 25m within a GDPO - but actually the Forbidden Valley GDPO has 'modified rights', which means that rides over 5m tall require planning permission, as well as any development that result in the removal of trees.

 

[WillPS]

1001 Nights was only really visible above the treeline when it was in operation too; the counterweight end was a good metre or so shorter than the gondola end.

 

[Squiggs]

Hang in there! Behind door 19 we have Submission.

In a rare miss for Tussauds, Submission is one of the few flat rides in Alton Towers past that never clicked with park guests. That is, unless you count that click in your back as you were stapled into your seat.

The ride arrived to great fanfare in 2001 and operated until 2013. It then sat backstage for many years, and whilst its final fate was never confirmed, it is widely believed to have later been scrapped.

 

[WillPS]

Hang in there! Behind door 19 we have Submission.

In a rare miss for Tussauds, Submission is one of the few flat rides in Alton Towers past that never clicked with park guests. That is, unless you count that click in your back as you were stapled into your seat.

The ride arrived to great fanfare in 2001 and operated until 2013. It then sat backstage for many years, and whilst its final fate was never confirmed, it is widely believed to have later been scrapped.

The ride wasn't much to shout about, but when both sides were operating it looked absolutely awesome.

 

[Squiggs]

We go back to the Swing Sixties today and the oldest ride in our advent calendar.

The Chairoplanes were a staple of the Brian Collin’s Amusement Park for around 14 years. Having arrived at Alton Towers by 1965, they operated until 1978 when they were removed to make way for the short-lived Water Chute.

After they left the park, the Chairoplanes went on to the UK fair circuit, but seem to have gone out of circulation sometime during the 1980s.

 

[Squiggs]

Ripsaw arrived at Alton Towers in 1997, and quickly became a firm favourite. It remained popular with both riders and spectators alike right through to its closure in 2015.

During development, one of the other names considered for Ripsaw was Hangdangler. However, this option was jettisoned because it did not offer the required level of menace.

Ripsaw may have been absent for nearly a decade, but 2025 will see the ride's spiritual successor arrive in the park. Next year a new Top Spin will open next to the old Ripsaw site, but this time offering a floorless experience and spinning higher over Forbidden Valley.

 

[Squiggs]

When Cloud Cuckoo opened in 2009, the larger-than-life Twirling Toadstool was one of its stand-out attractions.

But behind this striking new look, was one of the oldest ride in the park. The Waveswinger had arrived at the park in 1984, having come to Alton Towers from the German fair circuit. It was a stalwart of Festival Park, before becoming the Ug Swinger in Ug Land.

The Twirling Toadstool operated until 2017, when it closed as part of the park's ‘TLC’ programme. Originally intended to get a full refurb and reopen the following season, instead the ride was dismantled and left on site before quietly disappearing when the nearby Alton Towers Dungeon opened.

 

[Jb85]

Another theme park staple removed for no reason

 

[s_g_k]

God how far the park has fallen. Please, just bring back staples like this that the whole family can enjoy. We don’t all like visiting a coaster museum.

 

[Squiggs]

Enterprise originally landed at Alton Towers in 1984 in Festival Park, where it eventually found a home on the former site of the Spider.

But the ride took on a whole new life in 1998 when it received a sleek black paint job and was relocated into the new X-Sector.

For the second half of its time at the park, it was nestled in the final turn of Oblivion, creating a spectacular interaction between the two rides.

 

[Squiggs]

And so, we near the end of our Flat Ride Advent Calendar. But before we open the final door this evening, first an honorary mention to the Mutiny Bay flats.

This month we’ve focused on rides that have come and gone over the years but, the park's pirate cove contains the two remaining full-sized flats that operate at Alton Towers today.

Marauders Mayhem was originally known as the Tea Cup Ride when it opened in 1987, and is the park’s second longest-running flat ride. Meanwhile, Heave Ho! arrived when the area became Mutiny Bay in 2008.

And, of course, next season they will be joined by a new Top Spin in Forbidden Valley. Project Ocean will be the first permanent new flat ride addition, outside Cbeebies Land, since Heave Ho! was added 17 years ago.