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Talbot Street Tuesday
- Thread starter Squiggs
- Start date
Squiggs
TS Team
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...
. 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
TS Team
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!
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!
Excellent feature @Squiggs , thanks very much for it.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.
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
TS Team
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.
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
TS Member
Matt N
TS Member
- Favourite Ride
- Shambhala (PortAventura Park)
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.
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
TS Team
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.
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.