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.

 

[Squiggs]

Following some discussion over on the Project Horizon topic, I finally ticked one of my long-standing tasks off my to-do list, and I have just added a new page to TowersStreet all about the Flag Tower, one of the historic buildings tucked away backstage at Alton Towers.

It has quite a fascinating history, and is actually one of the very first structures added to the estate by the 15th Earl, with its foundation stone having be laid way back in 1810 (at which point it basically then took a decade to complete).

Flag Tower - The Park of the Past - Your premier Alton Towers guide

Your ultimate guide to Flag Tower - a former attraction in The Towers at Alton Towers theme park

towersstreet.com

It also allows me to share one of my favourite pictures of anything at Alton Towers:

 

[DistortAMG]

Following some discussion over on the Project Horizon topic, I finally ticked one of my long-standing tasks off my to-do list, and I have just added a new page to TowersStreet all about the Flag Tower, one of the historic buildings tucked away backstage at Alton Towers.

It has quite a fascinating history, and is actually one of the very first structures added to the estate by the 15th Earl, with its foundation stone having be laid way back in 1810 (at which point it basically then took a decade to complete).

Flag Tower - The Park of the Past - Your premier Alton Towers guide

Your ultimate guide to Flag Tower - a former attraction in The Towers at Alton Towers theme park

towersstreet.com

It also allows me to share one of my favourite pictures of anything at Alton Towers:

Amazing photo for sure, on TS, it says the photo was marked as 1909, crazy to think the Titanic has just started construction when that picture was taken.

 

[Hid]

Following some discussion over on the Project Horizon topic, I finally ticked one of my long-standing tasks off my to-do list, and I have just added a new page to TowersStreet all about the Flag Tower, one of the historic buildings tucked away backstage at Alton Towers.

It has quite a fascinating history, and is actually one of the very first structures added to the estate by the 15th Earl, with its foundation stone having be laid way back in 1810 (at which point it basically then took a decade to complete).

Flag Tower - The Park of the Past - Your premier Alton Towers guide

Your ultimate guide to Flag Tower - a former attraction in The Towers at Alton Towers theme park

towersstreet.com

It also allows me to share one of my favourite pictures of anything at Alton Towers:

I hope they allow to be seen one day the amount of time I have been to Towers and not seen this Tower are you allowed to scale it.

 

[Hid]

Question, the area where the Chocolate House and Mini Apple, when we're they last accessible

 

[GooseOnTheLoose]

Question the area where the Chocolate House and Mini Apple when we're they last accessible

Why do I need to question the area where the Chocolate House and Mini Apple were, when they were last accessible? What are they, or the area, alleged to have been doing?

 

[Matt N]

Question the area where the Chocolate House and Mini Apple when we're they last accessible

Somebody with more knowledge and first-hand experience of the era can correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe this would probably have been 1997, when the Mini Apple closed.

According to TST’s map, the Chocolate House was actually in a section of the area that’s still publicly accessible today, sitting around where the Royal Carousel is now located: https://towersstreet.com/theme-park/attraction/the-chocolate-house/

 

[AT86]

Question the area where the Chocolate House and Mini Apple when we're they last accessible

It is often extremely difficult to understand your posts.

I appreciate not everyone has the same writing level - but given you are essentially asking strangers to help you with your questions you might get more help, and good will, by meeting them half way and making changes to your posting style.

You could stick your intended posts in ChatGPT for example to ask it to tidy up the wording before posting.

 

[Squiggs]

If we're talking the final operating spot for the Mini Apple, this is basically where Flavio's Fabulous Fandango was operating. If we're talking about the Mini Apple's original location, that is part of the Project Horizon site has been backstage since 1992.

With the Chocolate House, someone with better spacial awareness across time may correct me, but it sat a little further forward than the Royal Carousel does today, so technically you can go and stand where the Chocolate House used to sit. Basically, if you were watching someone ride the carousel today, you'd be on the same spot.

For comparison, these two pictures are taken in more or less the same spot:

(I think probably more accurately, the first photo was taken roughly where that picnic bench is in the centre of the second)

 

[Matt N]

If we're talking the final operating spot for the Mini Apple, this is basically where Flavio's Fabulous Fandango was operating. If we're talking about the Mini Apple's original location, that is part of the Project Horizon site has been backstage since 1992.

With the Chocolate House, someone with better spacial awareness across time may correct me, but it sat a little further forward than the Royal Carousel does today, so technically you can go and stand where the Chocolate House used to sit. Basically, if you were watching someone ride the carousel today, you'd be on the same spot.

For comparison, these two pictures are taken in more or less the same spot:

(I think probably more accurately, the first photo was taken roughly where that picnic bench is in the centre of the second)

Thank you @Squiggs; you are always a font of Alton Towers history knowledge!

I always assumed that the Mini Apple was in what used to be Adventureland 4-11, and what was closed off along with the fabled Coaster Corner and is now being considered as part of the Project Horizon site. Did it move into the perimeter of what is now Walliams after 1992, then?

 

[Squiggs]

Thank you @Squiggs; you are always a font of Alton Towers history knowledge!

I always assumed that the Mini Apple was in what used to be Adventureland 4-11, and what was closed off along with the fabled Coaster Corner and is now being considered as part of the Project Horizon site. Did it move into the perimeter of what is now Walliams after 1992, then?

You are correct, the Mini Apple was one of only two (if I recall correctly) Adventure Land 4-11 attractions that properly outlived the area and were moved into the new perimeter of the park. The other was the Baby Flug, which after many, many rethemes would eventually replace the Chocolate House as the Bouncing Bugs.

There was an odd year in 1992, when it seems as though Adventureland 4-11 has technically closed, but it looks like the Mini-Apple continued to operate in that area, along with the Astroglide and Adventure Railway. But by 1993 the other two rides had been removed and the Mini Apple had been relocated as part of the Land of Make Believe.