Talbot Street Tuesday

[Jb85]

Thanks for doing this @Squiggs its been a great read and trip down memory lane.
Also shows us how far we have fallen, but hopefully Ocean will prove to the management and Merlin bosses flat rides can be a success

 

[Squiggs]

Not a problem at all. It's been a good chance to dive into the archives and share some lesser discussed bits and bobs . By my reckoning, as part of the run we've added four additional rides we'd not previously covered on TowersStreet, plus a host of new photos and info about some of our old favourites.

But now, if you'll excuse me, it's time for...

 

[Squiggs]

With Christmas on the horizon, we've reached the final day of our Advent Calendar and, what else could it be behind the final door but The Blade? Alton Towers’ longest serving Flat Ride is a fitting end to our festive rundown.

The park’s Pirate Ship first opened in 1980 on the former site of the Skate Park in the Springfield Centre, offering guests stomach churning thrills. It moved to Forbidden Valley alongside Ripsaw in 1997 when it was transformed into The Blade as we know it today.

For 44 years the ride has offered family-thrills, but the park has recently announced that The Blade shall swing no more and, as the only remaining ‘opening-day’ theme park attraction from 1980, it truly brings a chapter of Alton Towers' history to an end.



And that's our Advent Calendar done. We have one more history update to share in 2024, which I'm aiming to get up for Boxing Day. But for now a merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!

 

[WillPS]

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.

Excellent feature @Squiggs , thanks very much for it.

On the topic of Enterprise, was it the same model throughout? I know later on Thorpe swapped out their aged model for a much newer model, and the aged one was shipped to Towers to be used for spares. Then, much later the body of an Enterprise was used for something to do with fireworks - was that one the original Zodiac, a ride that operated as Enterprise or something else?

 

[Squiggs]

In 2018 Alton Towers finally got chance to build Wicker Man, their first wooden coaster.

But did you know that a woodie had previously been considered for almost every major coaster since 1990, when Tussauds planned to add a wooden coaster as their first major investment in the park?

Join us as we consider what could have been and look at seven unbuilt wooden coasters from Alton Towers' past.

 

[IDB]

Then, much later the body of an Enterprise was used for something to do with fireworks - was that one the original Zodiac, a ride that operated as Enterprise or something else?

That was this one I believe

https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Enterprise_(Paul_Hart)

 

[Matt N]

Brilliant work @Squiggs; I’ve loved reading these!

Just for some additional information for this final post, there were some additional bits revealed by the park regarding the 2015 Forbidden Valley proposal at an Attraction Source event that don’t seem to be in the relevant section of the page, if I’m not mistaken, which are disclosed here: https://towersstreet.com/talk/threads/original-plan-for-sw8-forbidden-valley-wooden-coaster.6781/

I hope you find it useful.

 

[Squiggs]

Thanks, @Matt N , I'll take another look and see if I can beef up that section. I'm not much one fore describing coaster layouts, so it'll probably come in handy.

Interestingly, the image provided on the CDC website seems to be for a different coaster design to either the layout in the article or Wicker Man, suggesting this was a third design in consideration, which would make sense, as GCI and the Gravity Group would have provided different designs.

 

[WillPS]

That was this one I believe

https://coasterpedia.net/wiki/Enterprise_(Paul_Hart)

Interesting, so a travelling Enterprise was hired in especially? Seems like a rather large hammer to crack a nut, were they considering purchasing or hiring it to replace their own ageing one or something?

 

[djtruefitt]

Interesting, so a travelling Enterprise was hired in especially? Seems like a rather large hammer to crack a nut, were they considering purchasing or hiring it to replace their own ageing one or something?

I think it was hired in purely for the fireworks display, imagine it’s ents and nothing to do with the parks idea either.

I did hear originally it was meant to be on the ground and then would go up during the display, but was too heavy with all the lighting and equipment on it, so it was in the air for the whole display.