The Magic Never Ends - An Alternate History of Alton Towers

[QTXAdsy]

Well then, before I say anything, I won't say that this something that I don't think I'd ever put on here or if it really fits with anything on TS. Either way, one of my other hobbies is alternate history and I have debated for some time to do one regarding on the history of Alton Towers but alas on the alternate history forums I have decide to start this new timeline which is, ofc, about our beloved park. Now for this to work and be as plausible as possible though I will admit some of my details might be a little off, there will be some events that will set the park in a different path thanks to the Cross Valley Coaster. However, before you think we're going to see a giant RMC dropping into the valley, no, this is not the place for you though the CVC will play a part in how things go about for the park in this alternate history.

I hope you enjoy so without further ado, let's go back to 2003...

The Magic Never Ends - An Alternate History of Alton Towers
Written by QTXAdsy

Wood Have Been Nice
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In 1980, the UK leisure park industry would be set up on a new path in which located among the stately ruins of Alton Towers in Staffordshire with the opening of a yellow coaster known as Corkscrew, Europe's first double corkscrew coaster. Over the next two decades, the park would transform from its humble beginnings into not just being the UK's number one theme park but also one of the best in Europe and during this time, many more theme parks would pop up throughout the 1980's with some succeeding and some ultimately crashing and burning along the way. In 1990, Alton Towers would be acquired by the Tussauds Group who had already gotten their hands on Chessington World of Adventures near London and had not only opened some well-loved rides such as 'The Vampire' and the 'Bubbleworks' but had actually gone to town on the theming aspect that put them on a level like with some of the more established theme parks in the world.

This had been important for much of the European wide theme park industry was keeping an eye on what was happening in France which was the construction of Euro Disneyland and with the industrial scale money of the likes that Disney was famous for throwing at their attractions to create a world class experience that would leave almost every theme park in Europe looking poor in comparison and the fears of many of these parks losing their attendances with many guests heading for the bright likes of Euro Disneyland was a real fear that could even spell the end for some parks. Alton Towers would be no exception and like many parks would have to really make an effort to attract more attendance and make Alton Towers into a true theme park and not some glorified fairground in the woods as some might have called it.

Alton Towers' new owners in Tussauds were more than happy to splash out the cash needed to transform the park and in 1992 they would make their mark with the opening of two new lands in the forum of Katanga Canyon, an African theme village with a Mack Powered Coaster known as 'Runaway Mine Train' and finally a haunted themed area known as 'Gloomy Wood' with perhaps the main star attraction being 'The Haunted House' which many would consider to be one of the finest dark rides ever built in the UK. These new areas would all open just two weeks before Euro Disneyland was to open its doors to the public and really shake the European theme park industry to its foundations and lead the death for many parks...

Park Map for the 1992 season with the two new areas of Katanga Canyon and Gloomy Wood clearly shown (C)TowersStreet.com
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The big shake up of the European theme park industry didn't happen as on the contrary, nothing really happened and instead it would be well documented that Euro Disneyland would flop in its opening year with the fear from Disney being that their European expansion was going to be a disaster while all the major European parks across the continent either let out a sigh of relief or secretly perhaps were laughing at Disney's expense. Nonetheless for Alton Towers and for the Tussauds Group as a whole, they would never look back and throughout the 1990's would take the park as well as Towers' new sister park in Chessington into a new era in which thanks to heavy investment in really turning them both into true theme parks.

For Alton Towers, the real peak of its life under Tussauds would come in 1994 when that season would see the opening of two attractions, one being a dark ride called 'Toyland Tours' (which actually was just a heavy retheme of an existing dark ride called 'Around the World in 80 Days) and the other being perhaps without question the park's most famous and iconic ride, an inverted steal coaster built Bolliger & Mabillard (or B&M for short by many) called Nemesis. The latter ride really cemented the park going forward and Nemesis became pretty much the first ride whenever one thought about Alton Towers though things would never stop there for the park. In 1998, the park would call on B&M to open that year what would be 'Oblivion', the world's first vertical drop roller coaster and the same again in 2002 when they were called again to build 'Air', the world's first flying coaster. Such was the success of all this was that in 1998, the Tussauds Group would take over Thorpe Park located not that far from the other park at Chessington.

However, the real brains behind much of these iconic rides that had meant so much for the public and enthusiasts alike was a man called John Wardley who himself had quite a life even before the theme park industry came calling. Wardley had started off his career working as a stage manager at Windsor's Theatre Royal before leaving to join the film industry which included him working on the James Bond films 'Live and Let Die' and 'The Man with the Golden Gun'; all of which is where he would learn much stage effects for future attractions. After having a brief stint working on the retheming of several attractions at Barry Island in South Wales, he would be hired by the Tussauds Group to help with the development of Chessington, both 'The Vampire' and 'Bubbleworks' being the two he personally designed before eventually scaling for new heights at Alton Towers with the likes of 'The Haunted House', 'Nemesis', 'Oblivion' and 'Air' and even helping out with Tussauds in Spain with the development of PortAventura. All of this sounded quite impressive, but what Wardley had always wanted for Alton Towers was a wooden coaster and had always begged at Tussauds for such a ride to be built yet more than not he was put down in favour of having 'World's first' coasters. That was until 2003 when plans went ahead for something wooden...

Just one of the plans showing the scale of this huge wooden coaster to be built for Alton Towers (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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When the plans were revealed for the first time in March 2003 to Staffordshire Moorlands District Council (nearly exactly a year after 'Air' had opened to the public), it was fair to say that the plans caused quite a stir in more ways than one in which enthusiasts were ecstatic that they would have a giant wooden coaster built at long last in the country yet nearby locals and other conservationists were left shocked by the plans. One of the more frustrating factors in building attractions at Alton Towers is the many restrictions in which much of the surrounding park is listed so getting planning permission to build in every area of the park is a non-starter and one golden rule is that no ride should ever pass above the tree height which is why 'Nemesis' is built into a pit, 'Oblivion' goes into a hole underground and why 'Air' isn't really that tall. This isn't all not a bad idea as it does have to make designers think outside the box in how to build these rides and many have praised the design of these rides for fitting into their natural surroundings.

At the same time, noise levels have always been a problem with perhaps the most notorious example being of a launched coaster known as 'Thunder Looper' which not only broke the height rules but also had noise levels that bad that allegedly that it was causing cows to give birth at the wrong time of the year. If that latter claim is true or not is hard to tell but what did happen was that the ride was removed at the end of the 1996 season, and it remains quite likely to this day as the only coaster ever to break the height rule with all other attractions keeping well and truly under the tree height. With regards of this giant wooden coaster that was being proposed was, despite its massive size was surprisingly something of a ground hugger in which it used the natural terrain to its advantage with perhaps the most notable being the two massive drops into the valley, being something like 200ft drops no less, yet with such a massive beast, it was always going to have trouble to get the green light.

Perhaps to no one's surprise who had followed the park over the years, many conservationists pointed out that the ride would potentially pass over a listed area and locals weren't exactly impressed by its size for fear of major noise pollution of wooden rides being nosier than their steal counterparts and all the potential of yet another 'Thunder Looper' debacle. Things weren't helped when it was shown that at least 142 trees would have needed to be removed (12% of trees in ride area, but less than 2% in the woodland area), with all these trees listed by height, type, exact location and condition in the planning documents and it is understandable that trees would have to unavoidably be removed, but this number may have posed some concern for the environmental agency and local authority.

A side view of the plans showing the scale of the massive drops into the Valley (C)TowersTimes.co.uk
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Because of all these issues, a meeting was scheduled to take place in the first week of April 2003 to determine the outcome of the application yet while it would go ahead, it was fair to say that things didn't really get far with many of the issues listed above still causing problems from letting the ride get fully built and as of a result, Towers and John Wardley, who had been brought on board to help design this monster of a ride, would have to go quite literally back to the drawing board to amend many of the problems and the hopes of a 2005 opening for the ride was still on the cards though Wardley would have to admit it would take another few months to design a new wooden coaster from scratch before submitting new plans in again, probably not until the end of year in which the hopes of a 2005 opening looked rather shaky. Yet even without the problems regarding the new wooden coaster during this time, problems were happening regarding Tussauds.

In 1999, Charterhouse Development Capital had acquired the group and new management and sought to increase profits whilst continuing the company's growth which while at first started of going well for the park such as the opening of the park's second hotel, Splash Landings, opening in 2003, yet the group was now acquiring more with Heide-Park in Germany being bought over in 2002 and the London Eye being taking over by Tussauds in the following year though this meant that Alton Towers was no longer going to be getting the big investment it had in the '90's with this huge coaster being perhaps the one major investment the park was going to get so the pressure to get it built was on.

A planned application for a revised giant wooden coaster for November 2003 was delayed for January the following year which during that time, the park was building a new but far smaller coaster called 'Spinball Whizzer' built by Maurer Söhne GmbH & Co. KG that would open for the 2004 season yet wasn't quite well received unlike previous coasters at the park with some hating it for its location in the park ruining the views of the Towers ruins not to mention its low throughput was nowhere near good enough for the crowds the park was getting. While that ride would open in March with little incident to speak about, just two months previously, John Wardley's newly revised cross valley wooden would be put on display at that meeting and the hope it would finally get approved though deep down, some felt that the 2005 opening was no longer possible and many enthusiasts at the time could sense the longer this was being dragged on for the more likely things weren't going to happen.

What happened there would be an event known as 'Black January' in which despite Wardley having tried everything he could to design a thrilling coaster, the plans were rejected which finally put to the end of a giant cross valley coaster to be built at Alton Towers though given all the restrictions to build such a beast, some would say that the plans were doomed from the get go with John Wardley on many years afterwards making the joke claiming that he had a better chance of bringing John Lennon and George Harrison back from the death to perform in a Beatles reunion concept with Paul and Ringo rather than get this giant coaster built. Wardley would make a brief exile from Towers over the dismal failure of getting planning permission, but panic was setting in in the offices at Tussauds that this giant coaster that they had been hopeful to get built was not only never going to be built but that the park had nothing in store to open for the 2005 season and panic began to set in over what to build for the park. Thankfully, an unlikely solution came from Thrope Park from one unused ride concept that was never built...

The unused Thorpe Park launch coaster concept that would actually be brought back to life for Alton Towers' back up concept (C) Attraction Source.com
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Back in 2000, just after Tussauds had acquired Thorpe Park, they had gotten underway in designing plans for rides to really attract the public and one of these was a LSM launch coaster from Vekoma featuring 3 inversions. The ride itself was actually a clone of the track layout of the 'Rock 'N' Roller Coaster' at Disney World in Florida and at Disneyland Paris while also an outdoor version would open at Walibi Holland known as 'Xpress' in 2000. As it would happen, the park would drop the concept and instead would build the B&M inverted coaster 'Nemesis Inferno' in 2003 and many Thorpe Park fans would claim that the park had dodged a bullet given how many coaster enthusiasts often look poorly at Vekoma coasters due to their rough nature.

However, as it turns out many plans don't really die; they are just put on the shelve to be reused at a future date and this concept would be no exception in which in a desperate attempt to find a ride that was not only tried and tested but could be built in a short space of time which was badly needed after the disastrous failure of the Cross Valley Coaster's rejection and the time wasted in trying to get it through. Yet another planning application was put in for March 2003 in which the details showed that it would be built in 'Ug Land', the park's dinosaur themed area, with the ride being a vast contrast to the giant beast before when instead it would split the area in two with the majority of the coaster being built halfway into the area which had originally been planned to the main station for the giant wooden coaster; all of which meant less trees would have to be cut down and that much of the land would have to be lowered to allow for the ride to fit under the tree heights with a cutting for the launch and returning tracks which remarkably bared a striking resemblance to how it was for 'Thunder Looper' when it was built.

Many held their breaths that this time things would go through and thankfully it would be the third time lucky that planning was approved, and no sooner had it gone through, Ug Land would have fences erected up towards the end of September 2004 for construction to begin. While Tussauds was breathing a sigh of relief that they would have something built for the 2005 season, though it would be a tight deadline by this point, many enthusiasts upon looking at the plans were left underwhelmed. After the lukewarm reception to 'Spinball', things weren't exactly better for this new Vekoma being built at the fact that it was not only another cloned ride that Alton Towers never did but that this was the other choice to the giant wooden coaster which made the sting ever worse for some and to top it all off, Thorpe Park revealed that the park was planning to get a giant Intamin launched coaster with an opening for 2006 and yet this was what Alton Towers got? Rumours were also abounding that Tussauds had the chance to build an Intamin launch ride for Towers, yet this was never followed up on with many enthusiasts hotly debating that an Intamin would have been a better choice...with that, there was nothing they could do but just sit there and take it.

An overview design of the Vekoma launch coaster originally for Thorpe Park with the main area of the ride to be built within the eastern side of Ug Land (C) Attraction Source.com
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No matter what the enthusiast may had thought, Tussauds didn't really care about the quality of attraction they were getting, just having something there for the 2005 season was needed and once some enthusiasts begrudgingly accepted on what they were getting, the speculation on what the name and theme of the ride would begin towards the end of the 2004 season with many thinking that a dinosaur theme would the idea with some pointing that the new ride's older cousin in 'Corkscrew' which was also in the same area being themed to that of a boneyard due to the happy coincidence that the Vekoma skeleton type track resembled that of bones seemed ideal for that sort of theming.

However, in October, signs started to appear nearby 'Ug Land' which would start the hype built up for the ride and from what it was hinting at was something that totally threw many off-guard of what the theme of this ride was going to be as well as a website address that had something of a sexual meaning to it. It would all be revealed the following year to see what on earth was happening in that area of the park yet no matter what though, many fans of the park would lament with the phrase 'wood have been nice'...

The first sign up to promoting the new ride and website address (C) TowersTimes.co.uk

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So, there we go, the first part of this timeline which I'm not sure will be pulled down due to not quite fitting in with anything on this forum but I'm willing to let it out on here. Anyway, an interesting starting point for this timeline in which the point of diversion is the plans for the Cross Valley Coaster were scrapped before they could go out for a meeting, but here, they go ahead with the meeting and yet problems still happen as it gets dragged on throughout the remainder of the year. Hope you liked it though and I hope others will be interested to see where this is going to go.

 

[Matt.GC]

Funny how memories work, but I always associate the tag line "Where Wonders Never Cease" with Alton more than "Where the Magic Never Ends". I still think of the former when I think of my fondest memories of the park rather than the latter and think it's more classy and less cliché.

 

[DistortAMG]

Funny how memories work, but I always associate the tag line "Where Wonders Never Cease" with Alton more than "Where the Magic Never Ends". I still think of the former when I think of my fondest memories of the park rather than the latter and think it's more classy and less cliché.

Interesting you say that, because my thoughts are exactly the same, just revered. Maybe it has something to do with the fact "Where the Magic Never Ends" was the prominent tagline for me growing up. The park certainly did feel very magical to me as a kid, I am not sure if that was due to the tagline subconcisously playing on me, or the place actually had a magical feel.

 

[AT86]

Perhaps this version can keep everyone happy, presumably for a 'transition' phase?

 

[QTXAdsy]

Well then, wasn't expecting a discussion about the title but hey, nice to see people seemingly interested in the TL. So yeah, without further ado, here we get a Rita that is very different yet strangely similar to what we got...

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The So-Called (Dutch) Queen of Speed
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While Ug Land might've been closed off to the public towards the end of the 2004 season, that wasn't meant to say that many didn't get the chance to see work taking place and from quite a good view. As it turns out, the park's cable car attraction known as 'Skyride' actually passes over Ug Land and from there many could get excellent views of construction taking place [1] and the resulting work was quite staggering. Much of Ug Land was being flattened towards the eastern side where the Ug Swinger flat ride was removed with no word if it would be returning for the following season and that wasn't including the dinosaur theming removed to make way for construction and also the of number of earthworks taking place, perhaps the greatest amount of change the area had ever seen since the park opened. The only 'survivor' from this major shakeup was that Corkscrew remained untouched and was given to get a new coat of yellow paint though it was clear that its queue line would have to be rerouted to allow for the Vekoma LSM to take the space needed [2].

As the year came to an end with nothing of note to speak of, the groundwork was completed though it wouldn't be December in which the first pieces of track and supports would arrive and it would soon be revealed that the colour of the ride would be of ruby red track and dark brown supports [3] yet there was still no clue on what theme or name of the ride would be other that plans simply calling it as 'Rita' which many assumed it would be a codename before the real name would be revealed. Interestingly, this would actually be the first thrill ride at the park not to use the 'Secret Weapon' title that had been used for the likes of Nemesis, Oblivion and Air all getting known as SW3, 4 and 5 respectably so this new coaster was something of an oddball compared to the others. As the new year dawned, trackwork begun with pretty much a lot of the ride being built throughout January and February with the hope that an opening in March to coincide with the start of the new season was still on yet despite the best of efforts, it became clear that the planners might have been overly optimistic with how fast they felt they could build it.

The amount of work needed to Ug Land needed to fit this ride in such a tight area and to try and fit it just below the tree height and try and get the other attractions in the area ready for the new season such as flat rides and queue lines being relocated had all proven to be far tougher than first thought and rather frustratingly, the new ride and even Ug Land as a whole would not open for March and instead an April 1st opening was instead planned for the grand opening [4]. That being said, enthusiasts did get a chance to have a better look at the details in which during the half term season in February, several were invited to see the then fully built Vekoma LSM built and even run for the first time [5]. As regarding for the ride, there was not much to say other than other than it was just a clone of its Dutch cousin over at Walibi Holland and that the ride cars themselves were actually remarkably the same as the limo themed cars as its cousin over in Walt Disney World (reportedly it was said the moulds of the cars were still in the factory and all they did was simply press out a new set for Alton Towers' version but this has never been proven) though the main difference being was that they didn't having the heavy onboard sound system and they did have a more dragster theme to them instead of a limo theme, speaking of which...

Not the new ride, but it might as well be. Xpress at Walibi Holland which shared the same layout (and colour minus the supports being brown instead of blue) as Alton Towers' new launch coaster which shows the cramp nature of the ride (C) ScreamMachine.net
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While many enthusiasts might have suspected a dinosaur theme was always planned, what they saw was something that utterly blind sighted everyone which was actually that the new ride was going to have a dragster theme which totally saw it at odds with the rest of the area with its own little area known as 'Thunder Rock Valley' which didn't do anything to fit in with the dinosaur theming despite the name suggesting otherwise and that the name of the ride was indeed going to be called Rita...or as its full name would be 'Rita - Queen of Speed' [6]. However, an interesting feature was that because the ride was lowered and that the both the launch and return straight sections of track were built into a wide cutting that did bare an unexpected reminder of how the former Thunder Looper ride was built into a cutting; Rita though didn't have that and instead it was just an ugly looking concrete cutting which only made it look far more out of place from the vibrant colours of Ug Land; an example of rushed constructure and barley even any theming at all which enthusiasts there witnessing it for the first time were rather lukewarm to what was happening.

The station itself didn't have a theme, or rather, it was nowhere to be seen. As a matter of fact, the station area was built some meters into a pit of its own just wedge in between both Corkscrew's break run and the station for the Skyride [7] and had been built over in concrete in a 'cut and cover' method to try and blend in with the area with only an entrance and exit (as well as a staff only access path) leading into the station area from the top yet those visiting had no clue what theme would lie within as it was still closed off at the time of the visit. The only thing of note that the ride did improve on with its cousins that it was the fastest of the bunch by reaching a top speed of 62mph [8] on its launch though honestly it wasn't saying much, Oblivion actually went faster down on its vertical drop that what Rita would on its launch. All in all, compared to the ground-breaking rides that Alton Towers had always done throughout the previous decade, this was indeed quite an underwhelming looking ride, but some held out hope that with work still underway that more theming would be added and that would make up for the ride on opening day.

A couple of months later on April 1st, Rita - Queen of Speed would open to the public and the reception to this Vekoma clone was quite a very mixed one to say the least. While the public seemed to like it fine enough by loving its fast launch, three inversions and being quite a fun ride in all honesty, enthusiasts weren't exactly singing on the same page. Many had criticisms about the ride in general ranging from its theming (or lack thereof) clashing with the rest of the area, clone layout and how much the new attraction had deeply changed the area in which despite some of the dinosaur theming, arcades and fast-food sections all reopening and even Ug Swinger had returned to be moved to a new area from its original location that had been taken up by Rita to go beside the rerouted queue line for Corkscrew all didn't help matters. What was the worst part of the attraction that some considered was its dreadfully built queue system was quite honestly a Cattlepen as there was no theming and the queue line would just snake around an area of land with no theming and just wooden fences which over that season many others that followed suffered from vandalism; the rather cheapness of it all just being an example of how it was built in a rush with the only thing that guests seem to like was that as it passed by the brake run for Corkscrew, guests in the line and on that ride would often wave to each other which was actually the only sort of entertainment guests in line seem to get [8].

Theming of Rita's entrance which shows a great example of how out of place it looked (C) @Trooper Looper
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It is unclear that if more theming and a more well-built queue line had been planned had more time being given but given how nothing had emerged online since then if this was the case then it is perhaps likely that there was no time for anything, and things had to be built fast was in some ways was ironic for the ride's namesake. While it might have been not the best ride Alton Towers ever built, that wasn't meant to say that the park would go out advertising that it was with one advert boasting that it not only went from 0 to 100, in KPH and not MPH if some had thought, but also that it was Alton Towers' best ride ever [9] which given that this was just a cloned Vekoma coaster and that the same park had a masterpiece of a ride known as Nemesis was quite frankly laughable for some yet nonetheless the marketing worked and it did see many wanting to ride Rita (certainly that joke has run its course since then).

The only nice feature guests were that over the two long straight sections in that concrete that there was a footbridge that connected the two split halves of Ug Land and often would be a location in which guests could stand there and watch as Rita launched up the track and into the double sea serpent roll inversions. The ride itself would also arrive at the start of what would be the park's more gimmick phase which would go up to sum the ride to some enthusiasts. Gone was the magic that the park had often branded itself throughout the last decade in the hope of given guests a truly magical experience and instead, the park was now getting itself involved with some bizarre publicity stunts involving the ride with perhaps some like it being renamed to Camilla - Queen of Speed for one day to commemorate the marriage of Prince Charles to Camilla Parker-Bowles to perhaps the most infamous examples being having drag queens being there on opening as part of a rather tedious connection for drag racing and drag queens to another being used for apparently 'bra safety tests' [10].

One enthusiast is said to have remarked that 'they should've been doing safety tests on rough riding' giving the infamous reputation of many Vekoma looping coasters had for bashing heads.The contrast was staggering; what on earth had happened to Britian's number one theme park with it getting involved with such bizarre events? Many enthusiasts to this day still lament of the giant cross valley coaster that could've been yet never was and some still hate Rita because of that reason to this day and the fact was made even worse a year later when at Thorpe Park, another launch coaster called 'Stealth' would open in which was an Intamin accelerator coaster which would reach a height of nearly 200ft [11] and to some enthusiasts completely blew Rita out off the water with several Alton Towers fans wondering what couldn't they had something like that.

The designs of the Rita ride cars in which heavily based their designs of its American sister ride in Walt Disney World (C) @Trooper Looper ​

However, the long drawn out and ultimately failed planning application had been an embarrassment for the park and had left many bruised egos at Tussauds over this and as of a result of this giant Woodie that never was, the farcical situation would give birth to a phrase from park staff there and is still used by Alton Towers staff past, present and even enthusiasts to this day...Woodiegate. A word that for any senior level Alton Towers member of staff still brings shudders to this day anyone as it is always used for any planning application that goes astray or a project that runs either over time, budget or the end project is a lacklustre one and no one would even want to be part of the next Woodiegate no matter what it might be.

For all the mixed views thought about Rita and how it could have been better, it in all honesty was quite something of a miracle that something like that could get in such a short space of time given how at once point there might have been nothing built for the park for the 2005 season. However, 2005 was to be a truly a rough year even without the shenanigans involving Rita and the bizarre gimmick phase the park was going under, it marked the end of the loss of two classic attractions...

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[1] As what happened IOTL when Rita was being built.
[2] Ug Land here looks very different with it being split right through the middle though Corkscrew's newly moved entrance remains in the same spot with Ug Swingers now alongside it.
[3] TTL Rita still uses the same colours from OTL version with the only difference is that is a Vekoma LSM coaster.
[4] As what happened IOTL due to the construction progress.
[5] As what would happen with (I think?) a TowersTimes invite.
[6] Yes, no matter what TL we have, Rita is still the same in terms of name, poor theming and standing out like a sore thumb.
[7] Where in fact Rita's maintenance shed is located for OTL.
[8] Yes, nothing really changes, still that damn queue line which is the bane for some guests is still there...no TL is ever perfect, and this is no exception.
[9] Yes, like what happens with OTL here.
[10] Yes, somethings never do change
[11] Stealth opens at Thorpe Park in 2006 as in OTL so no change there.

So yeah, this was actually longer than I expected as I was planning to include a quickfire of the years from 2005 to 2007 but this got bigger than I expected so I decided to split it in two and honestly that'll give me more of a chance to add more detail into this story. If you were expecting nice things to happen in an alternate world, think again! In some ways, things go worse here for Towers as they end up with a bog standard Vekoma rather than what we got though really, I suppose you could argue if this version of Rita is better or worse than what we ended up with.

Anyway, next update will see our next major point of diversion which if you know the history of Merlin taking over almost happened...until then, please comment if you want to see more!

EDIT: For those reading back, yes, I'd like to thank @Trooper Looper for making the artwork for this timeline starting off with Rita first and many more to follow. I really appreciate the help to make this hopefully the best alternate history timeline that ever was on Alton Towers, not that I don't think there were many to begin with, jeez, sound like Merlin media department there, haha.

 

[Kraken27]

I think you need to refer to www.rcdb.com to find the [correct] manufacturer of Rita. Lots of other factual errors in both parts of this "alternative history" too.

 

[rob666]

It is an alternate history...are there any facts?

 

[Matt N]

I think you need to refer to www.rcdb.com to find the [correct] manufacturer of Rita. Lots of other factual errors in both parts of this "alternative history" too.

Given that it’s an alternate history, I don’t think it’s supposed to be a 100% accurate match to real life events.

Correct me if I’m wrong there @QTXAdsy.

I must say, this is very interesting so far; your narrative is very detailed!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Given that it’s an alternate history, I don’t think it’s supposed to be a 100% accurate match to real life events.

Correct me if I’m wrong there @QTXAdsy.

I must say, this is very interesting so far; your narrative is very detailed!

That is correct, yes. For example, Rita here is not an Intamin but a Vekoma so that is the first set of details that are different from our own timeline and several more will follow that'll see the park look a little different from our own. Thank you for the support though, I appreciate it. Nice to try out a full alternate history on TS which I don't think has really been done in such a detail way like this before.

 

[Marshal-B33J]

Loving this looking forward to see where it goes.

 

[JAperson]

Nice to see this coming along @QTXAdsy , it's a really interesting perspective on the history of the park and how it could've been so different.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Thank you for the replies so far, it really means a lot for me! So, this chapter will be a quickfire of the years between 2005 to 2007 which might all sound like the same as our own TL but keep reading to the end in which one choice that nearly did happen does happen here. What is it? Read it to find out as we enter the 'Dark Years'...

The Dark Years - 2005 - 2007
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While nothing truly awful happened at Alton Towers in 2005, unless you counted the fact of a cloned Vekoma LSM coaster being built was a sin for a park of Alton Towers' standing, it was however a rough year for fans for two classic attractions that were to make it their final year of operation - the end of Black Hole and Toyland Tours [1]. Black Hole was a Schwarzkopf Jet Star II model had opened at the park in 1984 as the park's second roller coaster and was best known for being built within a large tent and was actually a rare exception in the UK theme park scene in which it was an enclosed coaster that saw riders fly through the dark at high speed as if they were flying through space and was boasted at the time of being Britain's answer to Disney's Space Mountain. Of course, the two rides could hardly be any different other than they both shared a space theme and that Alton Towers' ride was nothing more than just a bog-standard Schwarzkopf coaster that any park could have gotten though by placing it in the dark with riders having no clue where they were going utterly turned the ride into something truly special and even downright terrifying for some.

It had seen a few changes over the years such a major overhaul to allow it to work with two car trains and a brief retheme to its station to have a Steampunk Jules Verne style theming job which was actually part of a larger plan to retheme that area the ride resided in, Fantasy World, into a steampunk themed Port Discovery but this was changed at the last minute to become the more secretive and sinister X-Sector [2], which it remains to this day and despite a repaint to the tent to match in with its more sinister surroundings the station would remain unchanged and as of a result did seem to look somewhat out of place. While the ride had always captured the hearts of many a park guest over the years, it was starting to look out of place compared to the bigger coasters that were being built with combined with its low throughput of guests and ever-increasing maintenance costs, the ride had pretty much come to the end of its expecting operating life and it would take its final run in March 2005 to specially invited guests, a month before Rita would open to the public.

Many did mourn the passing of the ride and that such a unique ride to the park's line up, and arguably the UK as a whole, would never be experienced again though some enthusiasts would admit stating that the ride towards the end of its life was no longer the same and was a shadow of its former self that didn't live up to the thrill of the other rides on the park and for the time being, the giant blue tent in which had enclosed the ride in for so many years would remain up as in the meantime as just glorified scenery for X-Sector though speculation would start over what and when something new would take its place. In the meantime, a small sign was placed on the front of the ride's entrance which was vintage posters, merchandise and various quotes of what many had to say about this beloved ride [3].

The poster that was placed at the front of the ride following closure (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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If Black Hole's demise had been tragic to some, that was nothing compared to the loss of Toyland Tours later on in June that same year which some felt was an even bigger tragedy for the park. Though the ride only 10 years younger than Black Hole and nowhere near as thrilling with it being just a gentle ride through a giant toy factory, it is a ride that many park goers and fans of the park alike have all such warm memories of it and that included the many well-crafted scenes, many gags that often required a great deal of re-riding to check on again, most infamously a rather busty hippo during the finale of the ride and finally its happy soundtrack which always certain to be an earworm and have someone humming it for the rest of the day after riding it [4].

That said the ride throughout its 11-year life never really saw any changes to update the scenes which perhaps the most notable being a scene which saw none other than an animatronic of Sonic the Hedgehog alongside a giant Sega MegaDrive (or Genesis if you are American) which might have looked hip, cool and relevant for 1994 but by 2005 with this scene remaining pretty much the same from opening day, not to mention the Sonic figure barely worked due to lack of maintenance, saw it look hopelessly out of date for modern kids but pretty much the same could be said for the whole ride. It has never been truly clear why Toyland Tours would close compared to why Black Hole left due to the ride's increasing reliability, though it seems dwindling guest numbers and the lack of money to fix some of the scenes which by 2005 weren't even working was ultimately what saw the ride's fate sealed with it closing without anyone knowing it and never got a proper farewell event unlike what Black Hole would get.

No sooner had it closed, walls appeared up all around the ride and it was clear that something was taking place for something to open there for the following season. Speaking of which, the 2005 season would finally come to an end though other than the opening of Rita and the closure of two well-loved classic rides, it was a season that not many fans of the park would look back on with fondness, though the return of long absent park mascot Henry Hound was well welcomed [5], as it was the many gimmicks that really summed up the year in which other that the many PR Stunts that the park had Rita involved with though there was another time in which at their height of their fame, British pop band McFly would for one day renamed Nemesis to 'Wonderland' to coincide with the release of their album of the same name [6]. Something that didn't quite go down with some fans of the ride of seeing this iconic ride reduced to such a petty role.

Soon to be homeless, the pink elephant statue that would often welcome guests to Toyland Tours looks on as the ride is demolished in September (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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After the season was over, it was clear that something was going to take place within the Toyland Tours building which would be the new attraction for the 2006 season (or technically the speaking the third version of whatever was going in there) and the speculation began as to what might be going in there. Sady for those hoping for an original theme like Toyland Tours, it became clear that the new attraction was going to be related to an IP in which for the time Tussauds was dipping its toes in more and more IP based attractions as a way of attracting guests for the park. This is often said by some as the start of the dark years for the park in which any magical creativity was gone in favour of trying to raise profits as best as possible which all in all created a rather soulless feel. As it would turn out, the park had considered various choices for a replacement, including attractions based on Road Runner, Scooby Doo or an experience based on a PlayStation franchise.

At the same time down south at Alton's sister park at Chessington, another dark ride, the equally well loved 'Bubbleworks' ride had also closed at the end of the 2005 season for its own overhaul with it rumoured to be getting a similar IP retheme though no one quite knew what though. With both dark rides about to look very different for the 2006, no one knew what to expect though it would soon turn in the case for Alton Towers that the replacement for Toyland Tours would indeed be an IP...though it was not either of the others mentioned above but instead it would be rethemed for the well-loved Roald Dahl children's book 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'. On the face of it didn't seem so bad compared to what others might've been suggested instead and had potential if done right though some had long since believed that the only reason that theme was chosen was that it was to cash in on the Tim Burton film adaption that had been released in 2005 though the Alton Towers ride would base its designs and theme from those in the book as opposed to the film version.

Even before the ride had opened to the public, there was a feeling that something was not right as that during the construction stage all over the construction fences, a golden ticket on them announced that the lucky finder(s) should present themselves at Willy Wonka's factory gate in 2006 for a tour filled 'wonderful, whipplescruptious surprises' which seemed to indicate that a grand opening was to take place that would follow the scene from the book though when 2006 did roll around and the ride would open to the public...there was no factory gate to welcome guests [7]. As it would turn out, the loss of a planned themed gate for the attraction had been scrapped along with many other features due to budget cuts which had unfortunately at the turn of the century for the Tussauds Group running the park had become all too common with scrapped theming being always a victim to try and not go over budget as what had seen with the previous year with Rita's lack of theming and perhaps more know being Air's cut theming being another well-known victim of cuts with perhaps the most infamous section being that of its tunnel but that is another story [8].

The big golden ticket which started the promotion of the opening of the ride and all the great things were to follow...or so they seemed at the time (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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When the public did get to ride it for the first time, the response was, to put it mildly, more mixed than even what Rita had been to some. Over the course of the ride's development a tight budget had resulted in a scaled back attraction, which saw the ride's shop and an attached 'party room' dropped from the final design to be replaced by a backstage boat charging area. The ride's pre-show, Nut Room and Mike Teevee scene had also been significantly altered to rely more heavily on digital effects and even though the ride boasted a £8 million price tag, far higher than the £2 million that had been given for Toyland Tours when that had been first built, it seemed that much of the budget actually went into getting the licence to build the ride (one that saw the ride have a 10-year deal with the Dahl family) with barely half that money going into the whole scenery of the ride. Had the park not had to worry about paying for a licence and instead had the freedom to build the best possible dark ride then it is very like that Charlie and the Chocolate Factory would have been a very different attraction as to what the final ride was.

Whilst the course of the boat ride was largely retained from before, the end was re-routed to create a separate platform which led guests into the Teevee Room at the back of the building. Most notably the ride building was extended into the neighbouring square (which had previously held Toyland Tours' extended queue line) to add a pair of Great Glass Elevators, which combined a simulator surrounded by 360-degree projection as part of the ride's finale. While Towers had high hopes for the ride to be a big success for the park, it ultimately didn't pan out that way in which the ride lacked a rideability factor in which it seemed rather tedious with its length with over the years queues falling in which one of the elevators weren't needed. However, what hamstrung the ride more so was the fact it had replaced a beloved dark ride in Toyland Tours that many still held dear in high regard and that 'Charlie' lacked heart with much of the physical sets gone in favour of digital effects due to those dreaded budget cuts, even if the latter was not actually Alton's fault.

While 'Charlie' might have ultimately been something of a disappointment in the eyes of many, that was nothing compared to the controversy that saw the reopened Bubbleworks at Chessington, now known as 'Imperial Leather Bubbleworks'. While the original ride had been themed to that of a parody of a German brewing factory which instead saw its madcap inventor known as Prof. Burb inventing fizzy pop which featured a number of well-loved gags and soundtrack that actually saw it ranked as one of the best dark rides in the world at its height, the new version of Bubbleworks would be in all honesty nothing more than a gloried sponsorship campaign for Imperial Leather in which the factory was rethemed to be that of a soap factory to suit with that of the sponsors [9] though this wasn't the first time that Imperial Leather had worked with Tussauds in which back in 2003, the Flume ride had been given a strange retheme to that of bathtubs and scary giant ducks as part of its sponsorship though that in contrast seemed fine compared to what had happened to Bubbleworks. With how tacky, soulless and just utterly lazy the retheme was, it was heavily criticised by many for ruining the feel of the original and the ride's creator, John Wardley, who had no involving in the retheme, was warned not to ride the new version in which he'd said that if he did, he'd 'weep at what they'd done to it and would disown it' [10].

The outside of the building during the early year with the 2D style theming on display (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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Bottom line, 2006 wasn't a good year for Tussauds' dark rides though in truth it was a pretty terrible year for the UK theme park industry which had seen the loss also two theme parks in American Adventure and Southport PleasureLand, the latter being highly controversial at the sudden manner it was closed though this is another story [11] with the only good thing from that year was with Thorpe Park opening Stealth to the public and become the UK's fastest launch coaster which to some made Rita look like a toy. At this point, it was clear that Tussauds were clearly favouriting Thorpe Park over Alton and Chessington as unlike those two parks which had heavy restrictions on what could be built, Thorpe didn't have such problems and following its acquisition in 1998, the park had never looked back into what some felt it was going to become as the Alton Towers of the south and much like what the 1990's had been for Chessington and Alton Towers, the same would apply for Thorpe Park during the 2000's and the park became pretty much Tussauds' favourite new toy with the former two getting nowhere near the investment as they did before.

Speaking of which behind the scenes at Tussauds, things were in a flux. Tussauds had seen a number of changes with taking a controlling stake in the likes of British Airways' stake for the London Eye in 2005 for £95 million though that year would be quite the change for the company in which it would be sold to Dubai International Captial, a branch of the Government, £800 million [12] yet it seems that this major shake-up in ownership did have some ramifications for attractions being built at this time in which during this time in which 'Charlie' was being built that saw much of its planned features scrapped over the buyout and in the effort to try and save money. 2006 would be another year that fans of the park did bemoan, after being in denial of how soulless 2005 might've felt, now believed that the famous magic of Alton Towers had all but vanished in favour of profits and company margins.

As 2007 rolled around, the feeling of low budget and quality attractions at Alton Towers seemed to reach a peak in which instead of either a new coaster or flat ride, neither of which would happen, actually nothing mechanical related at all to be honest. What the park would get for the 2007 season was three rather cheap editions; a mini golf course for the hotels named 'Extraordinary Golf', a new walkway between Katanga Canyon and the Gloomy Wood called 'Haunted Hollow' which used part of the park's former miniature railway track bed that had closed in 1996 and perhaps the rather unfortunately named but yet oddly fitting third addition to the park was a kid's playground in the Old MacDonald's area called 'There's Something in the Dung Heap' which was just a typical playground anyone could have experience, only difference was that it had a some theme of actually being themed round a dung heap and it pretty much summed up the latter end of the Tussauds' era of the park for getting low budget and low quality additions for the park [13].

Though Haunted Hollow would out of all of them in time actually become well-liked by guests due to it acting not only as a quicker route to get around the park and having some quirky pieces of theming which showed glimpses of what Tussauds could do before, it was all a vast contrast to the big spending days of before; 1994 it wasn't and many fans of the park were left disappointed at what had happened and wanted change to happen. However, as it would turn out, they would get their wish later on in May that year, Tussauds was to be bought out by the Blackstone Group with them being merged by Merlin Entertainment [14] in which it meant that the likes of Alton Towers, Thorpe Park and Chessington were to start a new life under their new owners...or at least that was the plan.

The very last attraction that Tussauds ever built at Alton Towers...a dung heap; the irony is surely not lost on anyone (C) TowersTimes.co.uk
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While it had been thought that all three Tussauds parks would be part of the deal to join Merlin, a problem had emerged between the distance between Thorpe Park and Chessington in which are only 20 miles apart and ever since Thorpe Park had been taken over by Tussauds back in 1998 the relationship between the two parks had been an awkward affair. Prior to this, the two parks were competitors in that area who were both doing their own thing though it is fair to say that during the 1980's and into the 1990's Chessington would transform itself into a true theme park that despite the many restrictions placed on the park due to the surrounding greenbelt area, the park had done well for itself as a great family park. However, when Thorpe Park was bought over then things got rather strange in which in order to try and not affect each other's attendance, Thorpe Park would lose much of its family attractions in favour of becoming a full-on thrill park as a way of not affecting Chessington's firmly established family market though some fans of Thorpe felt this was a sad loss in order to make Thorpe into the park it was to become.

The question of if Tussauds should have really both parks in such an area had been a question that had been asked a few things at the top and this had been raised furthermore following the company's debt problems in which the thought of actually selling of Chessington off so that the company could just focus on just Thorpe and Alton Towers had been considered and now following the soon to be taken over by Merlin, this question came up again and suddenly whisper were raised from Merlin if they really needed both parks when in truth all they needed was one and it was the outcome of the now infamous 'Woodiegate' that would tip things in one direction. It would soon be a shock to many that it would be announced that not only Chessington would not be joining Alton Towers and Thorpe in the merger but that instead Tussauds would actually survive the merger though it would mean with the exception of its famous waxworks museums and of course Chessington, everything they owned would all be sold off to Merlin [15] which included the loss of Alton Towers and Thorpe. While Tussauds would be reduced to a shadow of its former self in terms of size, it did mean that the sale would wipe clear all the debt the company had and put them back in the black. At last, Tussauds' goal of the early 2000's of clearing its debt had succeeded, though it had come quite literally at a high cost in more ways than one.

It was something of an eyebrow raiser as to why Tussauds could not only survive but also keep Chessington rather than either of the parks they could have picked from however things would actually become quite clear when more was revealed. When Woodiegate happened back in 2004, it had gravely exposed some ropey management of running three parks at the same time in the same country and the never-ending amount of budget cuts that had struck the parks for any reason had been enough in which it was then discovered that had Tussauds had never got Thorpe Park in 1998 then much of the problems the company would suffer may not had happened. Another reason as to why Merlin decided not to take Chessington with them was the major planning restrictions placed on the park and how limited they were of what they could do with it; something in contrast Thrope Park did have to put up with which in itself made it a far more attractive alternate and the large amount of investment that Tussauds had poured into the park following the then takeover only increased this further.

Finally, without having to worry about keeping Chessington around and trying to tip toe around to try and not affect its family market, this meant that Thorpe Park would not need to lose any family attractions which was vitally important to keep a hold of that market if the park was set to become the 'Alton Towers of the South' as was boasted about it and could have more investment to splash out on just two parks rather than three (actually Merlin would ultimately have 3 UK parks as the merger would include Legoland Windsor but since it was far out of the way of both Thorpe and Alton in terms of their market they were pretty much their own thing in truth). With this, the time what some Alton Towers have called as the 'Dark Times' of the park had come to an end and a new era was about to begin that would see the UK theme park industry change once again...

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[1] Yes, sadly both rides close much like OTL.
[2] Some of you will know that this almost happened had X-Sector never happened.
[3] The picture you see below was there at the front of the entrance of the ride for most of the 2005 season.
[4] I dare you not to not get that tune stuck in your head
[5] Henry Hound would return that year but would leave not only after, but another update will also talk more about Henry in time.
[6] Yes, this actually happened back in the day. Nemesis' most infamous moment perhaps?
[7] Yes, much like with OTL.
[8] The ride itself is pretty much the same as OTL, budget cuts, poor reception and all.
[9] Yes, Bubbleworks at Chessington still suffers that infamous fate as per OTL.
[10] This is actually what John Wardley is said to have mentioned about the ride.
[11] Pretty much the 2006 was a pretty bad year for the UK theme park industry if you remember.
[12] As what happened IOTL.
[13] As all per OTL.
[14] As per OTL.
[15] And here it is, the second but perhaps major POD in this TL in which Chessington is not part of the Merlin buyout and that Tussauds just survives though only very barely. This is that this almost happened though ultimately Chessington did end up with Merlin which some have debated was a good or bad thing, ITTL, it is the problems of Woodiegate that ultimately are what causes Merlin to drop Chessington from their collection.

Alright, another big update done and while this may not sound very good with many boring details, it is crucial chapter which sets up the rest of the TL going forward and from this point onwards, things will start to look quite different. So please comment if you want to see more and where this TL will go to next, until then, catch you all later!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Ok, rather disappointed at no reply but I do need them as I don't want to keep doubling or triple posting for this thread as I might get in trouble. Anyway, let's begin the start of the Merlin era and a somewhat different Mutiny Bay...

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And Corkscrew Walks the Pirate's Plank​

Following the takeover from Merlin in 2007, Alton Towers and Thorpe Park were both about to embark on the next phase of their lives though it was fair to say that the former was needing the major investment more so than its southern counterpart. As it had been seen until the end of the Tussauds era, Thorpe Park had done pretty well for themselves though their family appeal was slowly on the wane due to their high thrilled attractions that they had installed and the reason for this was as a way of not affecting Chessington's family market being as they were in close proximity to each other, now without Chessington being something for Merlin to support on, this meant that there was nothing stopping from Thorpe Park to try and appeal to the family market and hopefully a bigger audience than the park already had [1]. Whatever was to happen to Chessington now as according to some at Merlin not their responsibility anymore.

Many were hoping that 2008 would see a big change in how the park would look like during the height of its golden era just over a decade prior though to try and restore much of the magic in just one season, even if Merlin were willing to throw money at it was not going it magically make things all better again. When it was announced of what was coming for 2008 wasn't just a new ride but actually an all-new themed area...'Mutiny Bay' it would be called or rather technically speaking just a retheme of a previous area. The new area in question would indeed be a retheme of the land known as 'Merrie England' which previously had been themed to that of Medieval England since 1994 which was needing something of an upgrade and instead, a pirate theme would move in in the form of what a theme to that of a town that has been sacked by pirates. Some have speculated that the idea for the theme was to try and cash in on the appeal of the 'Pirates of the Carribean' movies on at the time that had made the pirate theme appealing again though since then it must be said that many parks during that time and afterwards would install their own pirate themed areas which has all sadly made the pirate theme look more generic much like that a basic space or cowboy area that Disney had already done for decades and Mutiny Bay has sadly in recent years gained this sort of attention.

Despite this though, the transformation of the area into its new look was remarkable to say the least, actually something that theming wise looked far better than what most thought it was going to be. What guests would see experience during that opening 2008 season was something of high quality that had not been seen since the 1990's. Thanks to not having to spend anything on Chessington, this actually helped free up cash from Merlin to allow both Alton and Thorpe to gain an unexpected yet very welcomed cash injection for their 2008 developments and in the case of Mutiny Bay, Alton would make it count. The extra money would all help bring a true immersive experience in which several buildings were to have another level added to them that meant not only they towered over guests but cleverly were designed with a curve structure in mind to create the illusion of not only looking bigger than they were but also enclose guests into the theme. All of this also meant that they blended in perfectly with the existing and historic stables and blacksmith buildings which for any new guest coming to the park who weren't aware of what was what would assume they were part of the theme [2].

An area of the rethemed Mutiny Bay which was one of the only areas that didn't have the towering structures overlooking the guests (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

Along with other sorts of theming which all helped in various ways make the area possibility the best themed area in the whole park, there was the edition of the attractions taking up space and there would be a total of three new attractions to join the Alton Towers line-up. The main attraction would be a Mack Splash Battle water ride called 'Battle Galleons' which would be located in the small lake in which for many years had been the site of the former swan boats, another would be another Mack ride, a SeaStorm ride called 'Stormy Waters' [3] which would be located just across from 'Marauder's Mayhem' which actually was the already existing spinning teacups ride that had been rethemed into spinning barrels of gun powered to fit in with the rest of the area, it too was yet another Mack ride that had long since existed at the park since 1987.

The final ride to make up the list would a Zamperla Rockin' Tug named 'Heave Ho!', the only non-Mack ride to be built in that area, and with that, Mutiny Bay had not only been a solid edition to the park but one that been considered a success to many though many did have to question the other long-standing attraction in that area that had not been given a retheme to blend in with the area and that was 'The Flume Unplugged'. Ever since that ride had been rethemed from a rather typical log flume experience to that of that riding in a giant red bathtub (sponsored by Imperial Leather of course), its rethemed had left many not knowing what to think about it. While the idea of covering a ride in sponsors sounds like a cheap and tacky prospect, the retheme actually to its credit did give the vintage ride some new life and some new theming elements such as two giant shower heads near the end of the ride and, perhaps most infamously of all, a giant (nightmarish) rubber duck situated within a tunnel on the ride that often proved to be a jump scare for many guests.

When Mutiny Bay was being constructed, many assumed that the Flume would get a retheme to match in with the new pirate theme and that all the bathtub themes would be gone. Instead, that didn't happen...actually, nothing changed with the Flume in which the bathtubs would remain, and some felt this was a bizarre exclusion from the new rethemed area as it would stand out like a sore thumb [4] and instead, the ride would instead be listed within the nearby Katanga Canyon area of the park which in itself didn't make sense not that it would class with the African theming of that are but that the main entrance led onto Mutiny Bay. Why this was down is anyone's guess and given the cash injection the park had been given to give the area a brilliant theming job, the lack of anything done for the Flume was the only negative many had though some in enthusiast circles either felt that it was yet to be rethemed as part of a 'phase 2' after its sponsorship deal was over or some suspected that this was a sign that the ride would eventually close which given its age by this point seemed a possibility. Either way, some felt that the park hadn't learnt anything after how Rita was out of place with its theming.

Bathtubs among the pirates; The Flume Unplugged's theme shows how out of place it now looked (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

Even without the addition of Mutiny Bay, the park itself seemed to have been injected with a new bit of life as there was in general a renewed surge of life as park goers couldn't help but sense that there was now a more solid and optimistic future for the park that perhaps hadn't been felt since a few years ago and suddenly thoughts and dreams for the park than fans had that were considered too expensive, too ambitious or rather just not hip enough for the public at large were now suddenly all possible in whatever form it might be. However, it was towards the end of the 2008 season that rumours were being raised about the future of the park's oldest working ride, Corkscrew, and that its end was sooner than some thought.

Some thought that given what Corkscrew meant for the park in being the one that started it all, life without it for the park would seem unthinkable as it had by this point pretty much ended up being as part as the scenery and the sound of its lift hill that could be heard from certain areas across the park had also become part of the very sound of the park too. However, it was towards near the end of the 2008 season that the bombshell would happen...Corkscrew was indeed to have its final runs at the end of the season and that the park would on November 9th, a whole week after the 2008 season came to a close, the park would open for one day only just to give Corkscrew its final farewells for the public and many enthusiasts alike [5] which was quite a one-off for the park as this wasn't the passing of something and even the knew what Corkscrew had meant for the park to become the place as it had done. For some though, this day was a long time coming and for good reason.

While towards the end of its life the ride was still rather popular, the opening of Rita did give it something of Indian summer, it clearly was well and truly past its prime as it had since been overtaking by thrilling machines like Nemesis or Oblivion that not only made Corkscrew look puny in comparison, but had now relegated it to being now part of the park's family ride line-up in which now its role was for younger guests to experience their first upside coaster. A far cry from its heyday when it was once considered as the most thrilling coaster ever to be built in Britian when it first opened and could boast a 5-hour queue for people traveling from all over just to ride it. Another factor in its demise was that the ride had become more notorious for its rough riding rather than thrilling guests as was the case for any Vekoma coaster that had been built and this was made even more ironic that when Ug Land opened in 1999, the then middle-aged Corkscrew was given a small retheme to try and blend in with the area more which would than of a prehistoric boneyard which was actually ironic that the 'bone-rattling' nature of the ride in the latter years of its life seemed to fit its new retheme a little too well though even then this was only very little of what the full retheme might've been in concept art was anything to go by.

What might have been for Corkscrew had it been given more of a retheme to be that of a dinosaur boneyard (C) themeparktourist.com​

And thus, on that wet day in November, enthusiasts and curious members of the public alike all gather from far and wide to bid their final farewells for the big yellow beast, questions were soon raised as to what was going to be taking up Corkscrew's land as given how difficult it was for the park to get things built due to the restrictions imposed onto the park and any flat bit of land that had once had a ride on it was always certain to be snapped up for a future ride sooner than later. Anything that could or should be built on the land become the talking point of many enthusiasts alike with the agreement that a coaster of some kind was to be built though what it might be was anyone's guess and there were many ideas flying around.

Some suspected that Spinball Whizzer was to get moved from its area of the park to Corkscrew's now vacant bit of land, other thoughts that the infamous Cross Valley Coaster was to get built though given the 'Woodiegate' scandal from a few years ago, that was quickly shot down. Others suspected that the famous Secret Weapon program was about to make a long-awaited return to the park in the form of SW6 or that just some other generic coaster, flat ride or even a new dark ride would fill the spot of land. As it would turn out as the Corkscrew was to be taken down, it would soon be leaked that indeed a new coaster would be coming to Alton Towers and that it would be SW6 which caused much of the Alton Towers fanbase to get excited in ways not seen when Air was being built.

The planned opening date was pencilled in for 2010; the park's 30th anniversary at that point (and rather more unfortunately, Corkscrew would just miss out on a further 2 more years before reaching the big 3-0 itself). However, as it would turn out in hindsight, a coaster would be built on the Corkscrew site...but not for a few more years and it would not be SW6. At the top of Merlin management, something had caused a strange turn of events that honestly no one saw coming and for some members of Alton Towers management, they might have wished they had held on to be big yellow bone-rattler for just a few more years...

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[1] Though not part of the main Alton Towers TL here, for Thorpe though this is the big POD for them as them also now appealing to the family market sets them on a different course for the next decade though I'll only cover them in a brief intermission chapter if anyone is interested.
[2] So yeah, Mutiny Bay is about 75% the same as OTL though with the freeing up of more money from Merlin that would have been spent on Chessington here, there is more money to give the area an even greater retheme here, same applies with Thorpe too here.
[3] Yes, this is our first different ride for TTL in which as mentioned above, more money given for the park allows them to have enough to by another flat ride for the area.
[4] Flume's fate at the point remains about the same in which this is true that despite having its entrance lead onto Mutiny Bay, the park decided for whatever reason to have the ride part of the KC area.
[5] Corkscrew's final day is pretty much the same as OTL.

So, there we are then, the first stages of things going very different here for Alton Towers and yes, Corkscrew still closes here though I did consider having the ride hang on for a few more years but thought that what happens next would create an interesting dilemma for the park as we'll soon see...either it'll be a good or bad thing for Ug Land depending on how you look at it in the short term. Thorpe Park as you read there is going down a different path here though I'm still thinking of how different it might look...

So please as I mentioned above, please make a reply to this thread as I don't want to triple post myself for the next update and just hearing you reply always makes me feel good and gives me motivation to keep writing this up for all you wonderful people. But yeah, SW6 looks to be something different but where could it go and what will it be like? To find out what is happening next as the parks starts to go down a different path...you have to make a comment at what might be happening! Until then, catch you later and hope to hear from all of you soon!

 

[Matt N]

Great stuff @QTXAdsy!

I find it interesting how you’re making an alternate history that is somewhat realistic, with both good and bad events happening, rather than just an idealistic alternate history where everything that happens is good. I do like a good bit of idealism and dreaming, but in a way, I almost find your approach more interesting to read, because it does seem like a feasible path that might have happened had things been slightly different.

I also like that you kept Thorpe rather than Chessington out of the two London parks. I must admit that part of me does wish that DIC Tussauds had gone ahead with their plan to sell Chessington in the mid-2000s (yes, this was actually considered), because I feel like Thorpe would have really benefitted in the long run had they not had the fear of stepping on Chessington’s toes to contend with. I know many would have kept Chessington out of the two, but I would personally have kept Thorpe because I think that it has a fair bit more potential than Chessington, what with the looser planning restrictions and such.

I would be very keen to hear about your ideas for Thorpe, if you wouldn’t mind sharing them!

 

[BigShadowtinytree]

Really enjoying reading this, as @Matt N says the fact that it’s not all sunshine and rainbows actually makes it more interesting. Keep it coming.

 

[QTXAdsy]

Now then, this is where the fun begins though this might be a little bit of stretching the logic a bit in terms of what can and can't be built at the park so I'll probally get called out for saying 'that'll never get built' but anyway, here we go over some broomsticks...

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When Someone Takes a Joke Seriously​

It is said that there is nothing worse that whenever someone makes hoax or prank and someone, rather than find the funny side of it, actually finds something more in the idea and decides to turn into something more when it no longer becomes a joke. For Alton Towers, there had been several hoaxes over the years regarding attraction mainly coming from fan sites with one being 'Jazz Land', a major retheme of Cred Street which had been a very elaborate hoax that some fan had created back in 2004 and even the park itself would get itself into some of the tomfoolery in which in 2008 as part of some of the park's PR stunts in which their own marketing department had come up with a coaster designed exclusively for babies called 'Project Giant Gurgle' which was so bizarre itself that even the national press felt the need to report on it. There would also be a third plan that had been picked up by an Alton Towers fan site in 2004 that would also be very questionable if true or not and it would play a part in regarding SW6 but more on that later as for now at least, Merlin had other plans for the 2009 season though it was fair to say that things were a little tight behind the scenes.

2009 would see the park retheme another area of the park...Cred Street was to get a makeover though it wasn't to get the 'Jazz Land' look as some might have hoped for but instead would transform into 'Cloud Cuckoo Land', a strange world of colour, magic and where children's dreams come to true (that latter being if they could get all of the rides on the park in the same day without having to worry about queues that is). In contrast to the somewhat more grounded pirate theme of Mutiny Bay the previous year, Cloud Cuckoo Land, or CCL as some would nick name it as, was a very strange theme in which was themed to that of some fantasy town in which features many objects like giant plants on display and main concept was to allow the younger guests to let their imagination run free. They had even gone as far to give the area its own mascot known as Snorlix, a little purple dragon who might have quite honestly been Alton Towers' answer to the Disney character 'Stitch' in some regards.

Despite all this, the area would include 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory' as part of the retheme though it must be said it either fitted well with the new fantasy theme or didn't depending on who you asked though the area itself was to get a brand-new flat ride in the form of a Zamperla Disk'O ride called 'Twirling Toadstool' [1] which was nothing more than the typical Disk'O though with the main disk area itself themed to that of a giant toadstool which with the help of some other little bits of theming to blend in with the area more actually fitted in very well and it might as well had been a successful addition to the line-up though behind the scenes, the only reason why Alton Towers had decided to invest in a new flat ride was down to an unexpected development regarding the now vacant Corkscrew site and this would bring back the topic of that third apparent hoax plan as mentioned above.

The sort of Disk'O ride Alton Towers would get for Cloud Cuckoo Land though give the theme of a toadstool (C) Zamperla​

Back in 2004, plans had emerged on an Alton Towers fan site which seemed to show of a new coaster that was to be built in the Gloomy Wood area of the park which seemed to be of the then new Vekoma launch motorbike concept but was instead of being themed to that of bikes was instead themed to that of flying on broomsticks [2]. The plan itself has led to much confusion on how serious these plans were with some thinking that they were being the actually back up plans that would have been built instead of Rita, others felt that these were a ruse by the park to try and distract eagle eyed members of the public away from Ug Land to keep Rita's construction kept secret but many in the following years seemed to regard them as nothing more than yet another elaborate hoax much like the Jazz Land plans and that was not to mention how some pointed out how it was not possible to build anything in that area due to being close to the listed gardens.

Little did anyone realised that the so-called joke plans would turn out to become an unlikely reality in which someone decided to take seriously and how it happened was due to several changes at the top. After the infamy of the failure to build the Cross Valley Coaster and how rushed the construction of Rita had been, management knew that they couldn't afford such a chaotic situation happening again as it was seen that keeping all of their eggs in one basket and as of a result there would be two design teams in place in which one, Team Alpha as they could get nicknamed, would design what was the more likely choice for Merlin and the other would be the back-up team, Team Delta as they would be called, to have another plan in place should the former plan didn't become a reality either from planning permission rejections or various other problems.

Following Chessington being dropped from Merlin, several long-time employers who had been part of Chessington from as far back as the Tussauds days had a choice to either join Merlin and leave Chessington behind or perhaps stay loyal with a now reduced Tussauds group. Several stayed behind and Merlin would instead have to bring in new blood to join the 'old guard' of designers who had been long associated with both Alton and Thorpe though it was with these two teams that often plans didn't work together on matters and as it would turn out, SW6 would end up being something of strange set of circumstances of how it would be built and of plans not following the script. When Corkscrew left the part, it was pretty much a certainty from everyone that something was to go there with many suspecting that the long awaited SW6 was to go there and with it, a retheme of the area in which the main designer team were to take this on though the secondary team had other ideas about SW6...

The original 'Broomstick' plans that, true or not, was to become part of Gloomy Wood (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

The secondary team were mostly of newer, fresh-faced and naive individuals who hadn't really experience the many faces of reality when building rides and were unaware of any plans that might have been fake or not and it was that the infamous Broomstick plans that would kick start one of the strangest build stories regarding the Secret Weapon program. It's unknown how it started but it was sometime in late 2008 shorty before Corkscrew closed that one of the Team Delta members stumbled upon the plans and had been unaware about the history of the plans and thought they were actually legit lost plans and would show them to the rest of the team who themselves for the most part had been unaware too about the plans. Yes, they were that naive to it all, and were left not only impressed how detailed they but were left wondering if maybe this had a chance for Alton Towers' next big investment? One that was the next and long awaited sixth Secret Weapon coaster.

At the same as this was going on, Alton Towers were about to submit a new planning application for what was stated as the 'Corkscrew Ride Replacement' which as the name suggested was to be the new ride that was to take over the Corkscrew site and for many this seemed like a foregone conclusion with even a gothic horror theme planned for the ride and a subsequent retheme of Ug Land [3]. The secondary team at Merlin knew about the plans set for Ug Land yet it was here that someone would instead ask 'why don't we build SW6 in Gloomy Wood?' Not surprisingly, most of Team Alpha laughed it off pointing out the problems in trying to build a coaster in that area and how that they had to have something built in that area soon enough. However, it was when someone on the Delta team pointed out that the gothic theming that had just been signed off by Merlin pointed out that it as Ug Land was to be given a retheme into this new theme and yet they already had a gothic setting over in Gloomy Wood and stated that it would have been a lot cheaper if they didn't have to retheme a whole area.

With the planning application about to go in, plans were suddenly thrown up in the air as Merlin now had something of a civil war taking place between its design teams over where this new ride was to go, and the application would have to be pushed back towards December instead of November just to try and get this situation sorted out. Team Alpha's argument was something would have to be built on the Corkscrew site ASAP and that there was more potential for the area however Team Delta's reason was that Ug Land had already seen investment recently with Rita and that as the area was planned to be rethemed to that of a gothic forest of some kind that they pointed out that they already had that in Gloomy Wood and that they would wasting more money in a new themed area when it would have saved a lot more if they had decided to build the ride in Gloomy Wood which they pointed out had hardly changed ever since it first opened in 1992 and even though Merlin had the money to spend, any big company always loves to try and save money as possible and Merlin were no exception and this Plan B now seemed to look suddenly more tempting.

Concept drawing of some of the planned theming for the entrance of SW6 of what was to be in Ug Land (C) Merlin Studios​

As easy as it seemed to start work on the Corkscrew site, there was indeed something to be said about having it built in Gloomy Wood as it was true that it had, other than the building of the Haunted Hollow path in 2007, changed very little and was perhaps long overdue for something big to go in that area. In the end, Merlin decided to take a gamble and go for building SW6 in that area and a submitted (and hastily redrawn) plan in December 2008 and hoped that it would get built. When the plans were revealed, it did cause something of surprise of where this thing was to go, and it would cause a bit of an uproar to say the least over how close it was to the gardens from conservationists and the so called NIMBIY's but also by some bizarre reason even some coaster enthusiasts.

The latter being that some felt that having something built in that area would ruin the feel of Gloomy Wood's remoteness and to add to the bizarre nature of the situation, having both sides, often at odds with each other, actually being on the same page for once is actually stated to be the only time in which both NIMBY and enthusiast alike shared the same opinion on something. While perhaps not as controversial as the Cross Valley Coaster, it still caused some upset from some and when it came round to get the final planning permission to get the go ahead to be built, Team Alpha was apparently still holding onto the plans of their ride concept for Ug Land for their version to be built in what they, and likely others, felt was a planning application that was doomed to fail. In a shocking turn of events though and against all the odds, the plans were accepted, and it soon confirmed that SW6 was to be built in in Gloomy Wood and would open for the 2010 season. Whoever had designed that broomsticks concept, if they were a fake, must've had to pinch themselves that park had taken some joke seriously.

However, one would be lying if the plans were universally accepted by planners; many objected for it being built even if the redesigned would avoid much of the nearby lake as best as possible and would be built within the cutting between it and the path leading onto Gloomy Wood and when the application went to the final vote, it is said that it just barely passed with it being said to be by one or two votes in favour; had that failed then SW6 might have been built in Ug Land after all however it was of a certain little loophole that Alton Towers discovered that allowed them to get away with building it though all this is better left for another story. With a potential crisis averted albeit with Staffordshire Moorland District Council not fully behind where the ride was to be built, ground clearing work would start in March 2009 with banners going up in Gloomy Wood announcing the major investment for 2010 with some banners and signs later saying 'Come ride the demon of Gloomy Wood' [4], all was looking good. However, the changed planned had caused something of a knockout effect for Ug Land.

One of the posters on display at the park during the 2009 season (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

Team Alpha was left taken aback about how things had changed so quickly and the relocation of SW6 had caused some side effects for the 2009 investment over Cloud Cuckoo Land in yet in another strange twist. From the early plans of whatever was to go on the Corkscrew site, it was clear that this meant that Ug Land was to go, and this meant that the Ug Swingers ride was to leave that area of the park and take up in its new location in Cloud Cuckoo Land with Rita remaining as the sole attraction in a now very depleted Ug Land [5] which was only just to be temporary once the new land opened yet the new plans had caused this to be turned upside down. With the dinosaur themed land getting an unexpected extension to its life for however knows long, it meant that Ug Swingers couldn't be moved to its new location and would have to remain its current location to help ease pressure of nearby Rita's often long queues. The thought of Rita being the sole ride in this area for the next few years seemed foolish and this is where the Disk'O flat ride comes into play. With their new themed area about to open yet with no new attraction to go in that area, Merlin knew that they needed something to at least market to the public at and they scrambled around trying to find something that could be built in short amount of time.

In the end, it was a call to Zamperla rides in Italy, who had previously supplied the park with the 'Heave Ho!' rocking tug flat ride for Mutiny Bay, who would come to the rescue to design a ride needed for the area which of course would be the Disk'O ride that was to be named 'Twirling Toadstool' and the planning, building and transport of the ride to the park was done in matter of weeks which makes it even quicker than that of Rita's construction. Thankfully, everything turned out well in the end, Twirling Toadstool seemed popular with guests, even though some mistook it for a coaster which in all honesty is debate that even some coaster enthusiasts wonder if Disk'O rides could be considered a coaster, and the new area itself brought some new life into the area, though as history would later show, only for a short time.

Ug Land itself though despite being spared of what looked to be a certain retheme would in some ways would come off as the worst as not only would it had missed out on new investment, but it really was also a shadow of its former self with Corkscrew no longer there and instead, a large plot of land would remain empty for the next few years though some argued that the area was never the same in the first place when Rita was built and how its theme utterly changed the whole area and now the absence of Corkscrew only made things worse. In the meantime, some rushed short term plans by the park was to use the area for public benches and tables to try and make some use out of it until a permeant solution could be found but for now, Rita and Ug Swingers would have to hold the fort in the area while Ug Land itself would die a slow death over the next few years. 2010 though be the year in which Merlin hoped everything would work the return of familiar faces to the park the return of an old favourite attraction would happen...

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[1] Yes, something that is the same yet different to OTL in which Ug Swingers remains in place due to Ug Land not going at the end of the 2009 season as IOTL, it moved to CCL.
[2] Yes, this was another concept that while many say is a hoax or ruse, you can't help but feel that there is some merit in the idea.
[3] The planned themed of Dark Forrest had been planned by 2008 and thus would of course be the fate of Ug Land come 2010.
[4] IOTL, the same posters were saying 'Ride the Demon of the Dark Forrest'. Just a simple change of names here.
[5] This was the case IOTL 2009 in which Rita was the only ride in the area though this was just a temporary thing, not so here in which Ug Land gets an extra few more years at the park.

So, there we go, this is where the TL starts to divert from our own and to get the elephant out of the room quickly, yes, SW6 is going into Gloomy Wood which is quite controversial due to the planning restrictions in what can be built and probably you can't build anything in there TBH and some would hate the idea of a coaster in there full stop due to how it would clash with the surrounding theme of Gloomy Wood, however the next update will explain more and a somewhat different 2010 for the park which for some will love.

On the other hand...Ug Land lives! Though as I said, this TL isn't always perfect as Ug Land is now a rump area that is just limping along to the point to the point in which anyone ITTL would be wanting that area to be put out of its misery. Until then, catch you all later, please comment and you better not go down to the woods alone...

 

[JAperson]

With the planning application about to go in, plans were suddenly thrown up in the air as Merlin now had something of a civil war taking place between its design teams over where this new ride was to go

Would it be more likely the Merlin board wouldn't approve one or the other of the applications? Not that there's anything wrong with yours I just see a civil war between the design teams as less likely than the board being awkward.

Anyway I am really enjoying these @QTXAdsy so keep them coming.

 

[RIPCorky]

2005... Is where the magic ended

 

[LivOctober]

Super interesting alternate history going on here, really enjoying reading this!

I honestly think having a spooky-themed coaster in the Gloomy Wood's area would be great from a theming perspective and would fit in a lot better than it does in the current "forbidden forest" area, with its strange companion of Rita... Although I have to admit, I don't think I'd like to face the crowds that would form trying to navigate those paths!

 

[QTXAdsy]

Thanks for all you lovely replies! They are always so supportive and I'm doing all I can to make it good and plausible as I can. Now then, this is where the fun begins as 2010 starts and we get not only Wardley playing a part and an old friend that some of you will know very well. Anyway, here we go with the return of a classic attraction, pretty much 2023 as we have right now for Duel back many years earlier!

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If You Go Down to the (Gloomy) Woods Today...​

After the investment that Merlin had put into the park following them taking over the park, 2010 was to be the real make or break year for the park as SW6 was due to open though it was something that was very different to its fellow SW coasters in the park. When the plans were first shown online of the layout and how high the ride was, some were left disappointed that it wasn't going to be a thrill ride like the others had been but yet nonetheless many were curious to see what it was going to be and the only thing many did seem to get was that the theme was going to blend in with that of the surrounding Gloomy Wood; at least the park had done something right this time with a new ride unlike what had happened with Rita. Some excitement was there though during the construction phrase in which John Wardley, the famed ride designer who had masterminded many of Alton Towers' previous SW projects and had been behind the likes of 'The Haunted House' and the 'Runaway Mine Train', was said to be attached to the project though this time not as a designer as before but rather as a consultancy to the new design team who had the big boots to fill left over by Wardley to try and build a ride that would stand alongside the likes of Nemesis, Air and Oblivion.

To get Wardley back to this point had been something of a story in its own right in which following Air opening to the public back in 2002, he had gone into semi-retirement following Tussauds being taking over by Charterhouse which meant that he had lost his role as a director on the board and so too with many of the rest of the team that had helped with him over the years rides and had a fairly uneventful time after that other than help act as a consultant on the game Roller Coaster Tycoon 3, the third edition in the popular video game series. When Merlin took over Tussauds and thus the running of the parks in 2007, Wardley was tempted to come out of retirement by Nick Varney, another character that many theme park fans would be aware of for having been associated with Wardley and Tussauds having helped with the park's growth throughout the 1990's and had even helped out with giving Nemesis its name.

When it came to the design of SW6, it was once again a throwback to yet another World's first though Wardley had hoped that his dream of building a wooden roller coaster at Alton Towers would become a reality though like before, he was told that the public perception of wooden roller coasters by the public were considered to be 'unsafe and rough' was would be something that would irk Wardley for many times over the years [1] and Varney would often have two main facts that a new ride was to have with one being what would its unique selling point be and the other being its killer image that all would bring the public in on mass. Both had to be fulfilled and if neither could be filled that the plans for whatever the new ride would be would fall at the first hurdle.

This new coaster would be something very different in many ways possible; one was that this not be built by Bolliger & Mabillard (or B&M for short) as they had done with the other projects before them but instead fellow Swiss manufacturer Intamin, the second being that this would be a world's first freefall coaster in which the train would stop on a straight piece of track before plummeting downwards before connecting up with another section of track that would take the train on a new layout either forwards or backwards, the latter being what would happen with SW6. At this point in the story is that although Wardley may had been part in helping what could the new element be, he wasn't doing the lion's share of designing the ride but rather the honour of taking his place of that was Candy Holland, another from the Tussauds days who had been taking on the role with a new team, rather the Alpha team at the park, to design new rides that didn't need any help from Wardley himself though this would her first attempt at taking part a more major role in the SW program.

The first sections of the new ride arriving in the car park in September 2009 (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

Though Wardley might have been relegated to the background in this regard, that didn't mean to say that he was not left out in which the marketing team at Merlin use him to put him in front of the media whenever a new ride was opening acting as the personality as the 'creator' of some new ride in which the enthusiast community in in some ways the public to a certain extent would recognise him. However, all this Wardly would admit that he always felt uncomfortable about doing mainly as the real credit of who was designing the rides were Holland and her team who were the ones now taking the role of bringing SW6 to life. While he might had played a much smaller role for this new coaster instead of days prior, that wasn't meant to say he wasn't doing nothing, on the contrary, he had his hands full over on the other side of where SW6 was being built and one that was perhaps dearer to Wardley's heart and something that the enthusiast community were perhaps more excited for rather than that of SW6 in many ways...the Duel was over, and The Haunted House was back!

Opened in 1992, the original Haunted House attraction was truly one of a kind for UK dark rides ranging from its one-off transit system built by Mack Rides which helped with an impressive high throughput of 1,920 guests per hour, its truly incredible sets and many animatronics throughout the ride and pretty its attention to detail, it truly was a very special ride that some would argue was more of being Wardley's baby rather that of Nemesis. In the years following its opening, the ride saw little changes done until it would close in 2002 to be refurbished and reopened for the 2003 season as 'Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!' which would now feature the use of a blaster for guests to fire at the many ghouls and many zombies that were now taking up residence within the Haunted House. It is fair to say among many enthusiasts that the retheme of the ride in Duel is always one that causes strong feelings of resentment among the Alton Towers fanbase of how many will say that the original was better, and the newer version is a shadow of the original and was a poorly and cheapy done refurb, though some will argue that the retheme actually gave new life to an attraction that by 2002 was clearly looking tired.

This wasn't helped that Duel's refurbishment didn't see Wardley or any of the original creative team brought back to redesign or at the very least consult on a few differences which many felt did ruin the original feel of it. It has been no secret that Wardley wasn't happy with the retheme with how shooting at various things took away the enjoyment for guests of just being able to take in the impressive scenery within still left over from the original ride that now on one was able to focus on and yet it turns out that it had never been the plan of the park to turn it into an interactive shooter ride but rather a straight up refurb, however it was at that time in which Tussauds was starting to penny pinch and the only and cheaper option the park could do was to turn it into the current ride it was.

When SW6 was given the go ahead to be built within the Gloomy Wood, it was stated that the surrounding area would need some TLC to look the part for the 2010 season and thankfully with the new ride already having a gothic theme that blended in well with the theme of Gloomy Wood, there was very little to be done to the surrounding area and then the focus was turn to Duel and what to do with it. It is said that with SW6 being built in Gloomy Wood, Wardley would admit that he did have a feeling that Duel would be getting a refurb of some kind and did hope that he would be given the keys to work on the ride given how he had very little to do now with SW6. It was when Duel would close in September 2009, ironically just as the first sections of new track for SW6 arrived, was then that Wardley got the question he was hoping for...'Would you like to bring back the Haunted House?' To say that he didn't need asking twice would be an understatement.

The outside of Duel towards the end of the 2009 season (C) TowersTimes.co.uk​

When it became apparent, unofficially of course but still heavily hinted, that the Haunted House would be back with Wardley taking charge of bringing it back, it was fair to say that the enthusiast community was beyond ecstatic of what some felt as righting a wrong and even those who were unhappy of SW6 coming into Gloomy Wood were at least happy to know that at least something good would come out of this if it meant the Haunted House was to return to its former glory. But there was to be an unlikely surprise which only doubled that in which Wardley was bringing back much of the old team as possible who did the original...one of them being a gentleman simply known as Keith Henley Sparks. For anyone who follows the UK theme park scene, the name Keith Sparks and his company 'The Sparks Group' are pretty much just as well-known as John Wardley himself mainly for their dark rides that that graced the UK theme park scene over the years as the highly acclaimed Bubbleworks at Chessington, 'Dooms and Sons' walkthrough attraction at Alton Towers way back in the day and even the original 'Around the World in 80 Days' before that would end up as 'Toyland Tours' and then 'Charlie' and of course the Haunted House was another of these rides.

Like Wardley, he had never gotten the call to help out when the ride was transformed into Duel even since then, Sparks had long since retired from the industry, but it was when he would get a call from Wardley asking him for one last job if he would be interested in helping out on bringing back the Haunted House. Sparks had thought it was a joke, it seemed too good to be true but when he found out that it was legit, he was more than happy to help out though things would be different. As he was at this time suffering from the start of a long illness, he wouldn't be there doing a hands-on job much like Wardley was but rather he would use much of his advice to pass onto the Delta team who had been given the daunting task of restoring the Haunted House and what could be done and as it turns out, it wasn't going to be strictly a return to the original as the revised Haunted House was to have a few new features that date back from the original planning stages.

It had been planned when the ride first opened that Wardley and Sparks had planned for the attraction to be updated seasonally to keep interest going but yet Tussauds never went for this plan either as the technology to pull off some of the effects wasn't there or perhaps most likely Tussauds didn't really care and sadly let the attraction get into the state which caused Duel to happen. This time round, they weren't going to let those long-lost ideas go to waste and several scenes would be restored and three in particular would be brought back to life. When the ride first opened, there were three effects that didn't even survived with one being a ghost corridor which was a small track above the riders in which a ghost would fly above the riders which while looking impressive was too difficult to keep working and was removed and the other two were near the finale in which one was of a troll under the bridge that was supposed to come up to scare guests and the other was actually of a giant Loch Ness Monster type swamp monster that was emerge from a lake.

Both figures suffered from mechanical faults in which the troll was too heavy for it to be lifted due to the weight and the swamp monster would be infamous for being removed just after opening due to a mechanical fault that pretty much forced it. While the fate of swamp monster is likely that it was scrapped soon after, the troll would be reprieved and moved to the screaming room section of the attraction where it would remain from then on. Since then, technology had improved and now there was the chance to bring back these original effects, but this time make them work. It was going to a major overhaul for the ride and with the help of several others who had worked on the original ride either dragged from their current job or long since retired, there was a feeling that this time the return of Haunted House was going to be not back to its former glory but even better than when it first opened. In a final act of irony regarding the final cost of the refurb of Duel, the money which way back had been kept in place for what had been a major retheme of Ug Land would end up being the exact same amount that was thrown in for Duel in which in the game no matter area Merlin had decided upon, they would have been out of pocket regardless.

The troll that originally was placed under the bridge before the finale before being moved (C) hauntedone.co.uk​

While the work on Duel was all unknown with it being hidden away in its building, that wasn't quite the same for SW6. Over the season, not much was given away other the track arriving which turned out to be a dark green track with brown supports [2] which it turns out that those colours were not really a choice but rather a needed requirement to have the ride built within that area to try and blend in with the surrounding area. From what guests passing by or curious to get a closer look saw that large station structure was being built nearby the start of Gloomy Wood (interestingly almost exactly in the same place as the infamous Broomstick ride concept station would've been) with a cutting being dug up nearby the path towards Katanga Canyon and mingling around the Flume in some places with some of the green track being installed yet no one could see anything of the secret element just yet and parts of Haunted Hollow having to be rerouted to allow for the new track to be installed. However, it was on the top of the lift hill that headed in a southwards direction towards Forbidding Valley that there was an element that caused a bit of discussion.

What it was not just a steep drop but actually something more, a near vertical bend or sometimes referred to as a 'Psycho Drop' which bent towards the lake side before dropping into a small cutting to allow to pick up more speed before back the way towards Gloomy Wood with some tasty looking airtime hills in what was quite a narrow 'out and back' footprint was being quite tight was yet another factor in getting the ride built in which as it couldn't go close to the lake, it had to make do with a narrow footprint and the only way to get the ride built was by using the psycho drop element, a rare element on any UK ride that the only one that at that time that could be found in the country was on the ride 'Knightmare' at the now since closed Camelot Theme Park. As the 2009 season ended, the ride was starting to come together and yet despite some rumours of what might be the secret element of the ride, no one knew for sure but wouldn't be until January that SW6's name would finally be revealed to the world.

Thirteen...or TH13TEEN depending on how you spell it, otherwise it was name that raised a few eyebrows despite many thinking the name would be either 'Surrender' or 'Demon' [3]. Exactly what in the world would make someone give a coaster a name like that is a valid question but that where Morwenna Angove would come into the story. Angove had become the park's Sales and Marketing Director back in 2007 and in that short time she had helped promote the park back into appealing to families once again though there would be a number of rather baffling PR stunts along the way such as the infamous 'project gurgle coaster' for babies in 2008 and when it came to promoting Thirteen, Angove would go to town and help build the hype up and it seemed that the choice of the name was a marketing choice to help ramp up the scary factor as the number 13 has always been associated with bad luck.

Thirteen - the world's first freefall drop roller coaster (C) Merlin Studios​

As opening day was getting nearer, the hype reached new levels boasting as the world's first psychoaster or the scariest ride in the UK with even a now infamous post-watershed advert of a girl being wrapped in vines saying the aged old quote 'if you go down to the woods today...' [4] which some hardcore fans felt was actually going to be Emily Alton, a character on the Haunted House ride, and that the ride would perhaps either expand on the Gloomy Wood's lore or even reveal what happened to her. As it turned out, there was at first no connection to Emily Alton or even anything to do with both rides - it just simply made for an appealing advert, yet some fans bemoaned that a missed opportunity was made that they didn't decide to tie Thirteen and the Haunted House together. Finally, after the long-held secret freefall element was revealed to the public and the ride along with a now revamped and now blaster-less Haunted House, reactions to the new secret weapon was very mixed to say the least. It did feel like an anti-climax of all the build up to that point of promoting it as even the ultimate roller coaster, some were left underwhelmed that it wasn't quite a Nemesis with some even hating it with others saying that while the ride on its own was actually a good family thrill coaster with an excellent theme, perhaps the best the park had done at that point which blended in beautifully with Gloomy Wood, some great elements such as its freefall element and that now legendary drop which some said was the real highlight of the ride but yet it was all let down by the marketing of promoting into something that it clearly wasn't [5].

Fortunately for those who were left disappointed by Thirteen were to be left more or less satisfied as they rode the newly revamped Haunted House which not only hadn't looked better than it had in years, with many old effects now restored such as the head of Sir Henry Alton in the fireplace restored (actually played by Keith Sparks himself from way back in 1992) but that seemed even more terrifying than the big £15 million roller coaster next to it. To the embarrassment of the marketing team and perhaps Alton Towers as a whole, the return of The Haunted House had not only stolen Thirteen's thunder but would actually kick start the attraction undergoing something of a renaissance period in which the ride would regain a new sense of popularity it had not seen in at least over a decade and thanks to the ride's already excellent high throughput, it proved to a vital support ride for Thirteen to try and keep queues down and from that day forward, the extended queue line for the ride which had rarely seen any use would pretty much be always be opened to help with the large crowds that now swarmed Gloomy Wood which while the area would be forever changed and no longer some rather quiet area of the park which in many ways was a bittersweet feeling.

That feeling would actually be sadder with hindsight as the return of the Haunted House to what some considered it to be its definite version, would be the last time Sparks would work on a UK attraction for just over a year later in October 2011 he would pass away after a long illness and his death was mourned by many in the UK theme park community with some seeing that him returning to bring back the Haunted House was in many ways his swansong to the industry, his face in the fireplace for the Haunted House still playing to this day does take on a different feeling for those in the know. However, he had left one final request in his will for the ride which would not take place until the 2012 season as part of the ride's then 20th anniversary but that would be another story. Thirteen has thankfully gotten a better reception over time with not only it being liked for its strong theming, coaster elements and now looking much better natural fauna which was grown up around the ride making the blend in even better to the surrounding area than when it first opened (or rather as some cynical fans would point out as Merlin's lazy upkeep of attractions as they would get sadly known for in fan circles).

Despite some of the controversy around how the marketing for the ride backfired, 2010 would ultimately be a major success for the park as for the first time since 1994 the park would pull in over three million guests thanks to the heavy marketing, which was debatable if it worked or not, and that the park was boasting three new attractions for year, or to be truthfully told one new ride and the other two being refurbs with one being obviously the Haunted House was marked as 'new' which in all honesty given the extensive refurb given to the ride system and scenery as a whole it might have well been and also there was a retheme of Spinball Whizzer now into a Sonic the Hedgehog themed 'Sonic Spinball' [6] which actually was really anything special - it was just a repaint to the with some Sonic stickers stuck around the attraction which was all part of deal with SEGA over the next few years. Funnily enough though on a tangent, it would be the blue hedgehog's return to the park having appeared in Toyland Tours many years ago but that's another story. For now, though, 2010 was a year that despite some hiccups in there regarding Thirteen was a success and now all Merlin had to do was try and keep the momentum going though as 2011 would prove, things can never go smoothly....

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[1] Yes, some things never change in any TL and that from Merlin in those days in one of them.
[2] Instead of OTL version which has all black track and supports (what is it with Merlin and that colour for their rides?)
[3] Much like with OTL, these were the names many fans thought it was going to be at the time if some you remember.
[4] Yes, THAT advert if you remember regarding the girl being wrapped in vines still happens like with OTL.
[5] Much like OTL, the marketing let the ride down so the exact same happens here though admittedly the ride is a little better here.
[6] Sonic Spinball is pretty much the same as OTL as well as the Sonic room in the ATH.

So there we are, 2010 is done and that was an even bigger than I was expecting. Now a lot to get through there but to talk about Thirteen here, it is about 40% the same as OTL in which everything from the drop into the underground section is pretty much the same as what we have though the rest of the ride is different in which it follows an out and back layout with some camel back elements heading towards Katanga Canyon with some helixes taking place before going into the indoor section, trying to keep most of the layout as real as possible in which for example it going over the nearby lake is a big no-no for the planners so scrap that. Theming wise is about the same as OTL with the main difference is that there is no scaffolding theming though the main building does seem to match in with the facade of the Haunted House in which is more like an abounded chapel that theming wise seems to be connected to the HH as it were built at the same time. Regarding the lack of connection between the HH and Thirteen, I did consider tying them together but thought that much like what you see at Merlin with some rides that some things are overlooked like how we have Smiler and Oblivion or Nemesis and Air somewhat at odds with each other, so this happening is actually realistic sadly enough but who knows for the future...

And yes, Keith Sparks makes his first and only appearance in the TL though it is more bittersweet as he gets his chance to do HH once again and in face you're interesting to trying to imagine what the Gloomy Wood area looks like now, that statue where the zombie is and the Dual sign has been removed mainly to help with making that area have a little bit more space and instead an entrance sign in built by where the overflow queue section starts which is now needed due to that area's spike in popularity so now you can get the chance to go through that queue line on a regular basis now. But yeah, would you have liked to go on this version of Thirteen compared to the version we got, and would you have thought it would have been better? Anyway, see you for the next update and what do you think will happen next? Until then catch you all later and tell me what you think!