Perhaps you could start us off with some of your own ideas.
The queue line area is rerouted slightly to up via the hill in which the queue area near the final helix is cleared back as part of future development while the area near the break run is not only giving some theming touch ups from palm trees and waterfalls but also has that are turned into a viewing area for guests just wanting to see the coaster without riding. So yeah, that certain retheming years later never happens here and thus, Air is here to stay!
Wow, just... wow...Ok then, been trying to find the right thread to put these ideas up and at last...here we are! It's time for some Alton Towers alternate history in which what if Merlin did things right and were willing to spend a little more than they did? For some things I might say for internet slang, here are some of things I'll say
OTL = Our timeline
ITTL = In this timeline
So anyway, let's begin...
Phew, that took ages to write that all up. But yeah, my fantasy version of Towers throughout Merlin ownership if done well. Few things I might have missed out but feel free to answer any questions you might have about any of it. Nice to get all these ideas out of my head after so long.
- 2008:
- Pretty much the same as with OTL in which Mutiny Bay opens and Corkscrew closes though it is here that things start to change the following year...
- 2009:
- SW6 is not being built in Ug Land but rather in Gloomy Wood in the area in which some years ago was the site of an April fools Vekoma bike model.
- Ug Swinger is still moved to Cred Street which still gains its CCL theming much like with OTL and Ug Land as of a result still carries on though is more of a shell of its former self than before.
- 2010:
- Thirteen opens in GW that while still has the freefall drop element though ITTL it has a different outside layout due to surrounding area however it has a bit more airtime and more importantly, it is marketed correctly not as a high thrill ride but rather as a mystery to keep guests guessing at what lies within the building (the whole GMTV live thing doesn't blow the reveal but keeps it hidden). As of a result, Thirteen opens to a somewhat more positive reception though some fans are still disappointed that it is more for families.
- At the same time that Thirteen opens, the money that in our timeline that would have gone to retheme Ug land instead is poured into Duel in which reopens for 2010 as the Haunted House and brought back to its former glory, much to the joy of fans though some guests are left disappointed that the shooting element is gone. That said, rather tediously AT mark the revised Haunted House as a 'new' attraction for 2010.
- Finally, much like with our timeline, Spinball is still rethemed to Sonic (still being classed as 'new') and Corkscrew's elements are still there at the entrance to the park.
- 2011:
- As we all know, this is the year that the Shrek 3D show was suppose to be opened but fell apart meaning that Towers would for the first time there would be no new rides or attractions then...not so here. Thanks to a far greater 2010, Merlin decide to thrown in a little more money into the place such as more entertainment for park guests though Towers do save some money for the long-term all thanks to their new attraction...
- Opening for 2011 is something very different is opened to the public...The Alton Towers Museum. As it is, this is a museum built inside the Towers (the first attraction to open in there since Hex) and would be based towards the eastern end of the Towers near X-Sector and would likely be built inside the large area on the other side of Hex's queue. It would based on not just many of the past rides being represented such as a ride car from Corkscrew, one of the Swan boats, some theming from Toyland Tours etc (ITTL, I'd like to think that in Towers boneyard they have had some of theme remaining in storage in which they are instead brought out, given some final TLC before finally going on display) but also giving a history of the park and of the Towers themselves for guests who have no knowledge about the place.
- Beastie would still be announced as never to open again and one of the ride cars goes into the museum.
- As the season ends, Towers manages to hold a steady 3 million guests for 2011 that it gives the indication to Merlin that all they have to do is keep the momentum going and not screw it up which leads us into a very different 2012...
- 2012:
- The main thing to point out is that NST is very different to OTL in which instead of being a drop tower ride is in fact a Mack dark ride system that has the shooting element in place (this would built as a way of appeasing guests who were disappointed in 2010 that HH never had the shooters anymore) and the ride building is about twice the size of the OTL NST building which can just about fit in a dark ride system. The plot of the ride is somewhat different in which while guests are still going many miles down (with no shouting staff) the difference is that rather then going to see an egg, it turns out that Nemesis eggs have hatched after being discovered by workers down there and the danger is that many of them are heading to the surface and guests find themselves being roped in to shoot and the hatched Nemesis babies to make sure they don't reach the surface. Perhaps not surprisingly, the ride opens to a far better reception than compared to OTL for sure. However NST is not the only thing that is happening in FV.
- At the same time as NST opens, FV is seeing a major change regarding Air for thanks to a lot more spare funds out there, Air would see a major transformation not just with some tweaks from B&M but as part of the ride's 10th anniversary, the ride would be fully rethemed into its original 'Oasis' concept, something that Towers would call the 'Remastered' events in which much of that area of the park goes under such a major change that it actually see's itself become its own separate area from FV being called Forgotten Oasis that is themed to a relaxing paradise that is themed to what FV looked before Nemesis ruined it all and that Air is themed to a spirt that is there to not only protect that area but battle Nemesis...a classic good vs evil thing there. Air's show building is cosmetically change to be that of a rockface in which guests enter a cave system to take their ride and yes, the tunnel finally gets some theming...rockface!
- Following the success of the 'Remastered' events, this gives the idea that other attractions could get it next.
- Ice Age 4D never happens for the CCL theatre for with entertainment still a thing at Towers and as of a result, shows will still play out of there though would see not the same show each season.
- 2013:
- So yeah, Smiler still opens much like with OTL though there are some key differences ITTL. Construction is not as shambolic like in OTL and the ride does open earlier than OTL though only by just a week after the 2013 season starts. The ride's queue line now has a set of preshow videos much like Oblivion in which here they do come of as a parody of Oblivion with a lot of black humour thrown in in which themed to resemble that of those cheerful 1960's adverts, they are telling guests of how to make themselves feel better and not act like those other poor fellows...anyway, the ride itself has two small but major differences; the ride cars have lap bars and the loading bay has two platforms instead of one with a system like that with Oblivion which does help Smiler's capacity problems for sure and all in all, the ride is ofc a success with no real trouble at all building it.
- Finally, X-Sector does get the TLC needed much like with OTL so no change there.
- 2014:
- Now then, this is where things get different in which for starts, CBeebies Land never happens. Yes, big change there as you'd think Merlin would go with an IP here but instead after the success Towers had in actually exploiting more of the brand of their attractions and perhaps more cheaper than using an IP to get attention, it is decided to Storybook Land is to undergo a major change for the 2014 season in which it and Adventureland and both grouped together to create a new larger themed area called Fantasy Forrest (acting as a mirror image to GW) in which not only has much of the rides and theming refurbished such as Squirrel Nutty Ride and Bookworm are all restored to their former glory with the latter having a new voice audio for the new area. Old MacDonald's Farm is never part of the change so as of a result it remains as is though does see some TLC for the 2014 season.
- With Adventureland now part of the new area, there are some changes in which the biggest is that on the site of the now long gone Beastie is a new Mack YoungSTAR coaster called Woody Rocket which is a typical standard YoungSTAR clone coaster and the first on the part that is not a unique layout much like other rides and is lightly themed to mad invention from Squirrel Nutty himself attempting to creating a rocket from logs. Speaking of which, Squirrel Nutty is much more seen as a walkabout character and the ice show tent is taken down and replaced by a more permeant ice show building in which a new ice show is put in place to help bolster the park's entertainment line-up.
- Sonic Spinball is not themed into the new surrounding area which does mean it sticks out slightly from the rest of the area and rumours are there that its time is coming to an end on several forum sites...
- 2015:
- Now then, to get the elephant in the room out of the way, no, the Smiler crash never happens here though the Enchanted Wood accommodation still opens much like with OTL.
- This season instead becomes the year of the 'Remasters' in which Ripsaw, Enterprise and Blade (all Huss rides no less) are all dismantled during the 2014 closed season and are replaced with the newer models of each version with the 'new' Ripsaw being built as one of the suspended Top Spin rides with some new effects and theming and the new Enterprise is based on the newer generation of the model and is given a new black and teal colour scheme to match in with X-Sector.
- This is also the year that many old favourite characters return such as Henry and Henriette Hound return to the park after many years and Merlin have actually started to make comic adventures of the characters with some plans even going for a possible TV series in the future to really market the Towers brand.
- Much like OTL, Charlie still closes.
- During this time, serious building work is going on in Ug Land on the site of where Corkscrew was.
- To end the year on a shock, Sonic Spinball is confirmed to leaving at the end of the season with the ride being sold off to another UK park while on of the ride cars will stay to be placed in the museum and finally, it is also announced that Ug Land will close at the end of the year too and that the Flume will also make way for future developments.
- 2016:
- Thanks to the rather wise investment, many good attractions and with Towers now having attendance that is touching towards the 4 million mark, it is fair to say that things are on a roll here with Towers still having some loose change in their pocket and for 2016, Ug Land is given a new retheme to become Thunder Rock Valley, the theme that was somewhat with Rita on opening but here it is now part of the new look of the area in which now the previous dinosaur theme is now all themed to a 1950's style American racing circuit. The new area is one that has a rather mixed opinion in which while many will say that at least finally Rita fits into the area built around its theme of racing, many though miss the dinosaur theming and say that the new Thunder Rock Valley theme feels a little bit more bland with its 1950's Americana feel being more straight compared to the previous whacky theme.
- The main standout for what would be on the site of Corkscrew would be none other than a Mack Spinning Coaster called 'Drifter' in which is themed to, ofc, cars drifting corners much like how Rita is themed to drag racing and almost in tribute to Corkscrew, it also is painted yellow though has purple supporters. It becomes clear as to why Spinball left as the new ride does take many elements of that ride and improves on it greatly and soon enough, almost everyone says it is a far better attraction in comparison to Spinball.
- During this time, Rita itself had during the closed season a major overhaul or 'Remastered' as Merlin's media team would like to call it, in which the ride would have not only a fresh lick of paint of red track and now dark blue supporters, but also a new station roof to cover riders which is very welcomed and such as rebuild queue line which is no longer the infamous cattle pen system as before. Despite this though, this far from the only thing to happen with the ride. Intamin were brought in to give the ride several new changes such as its station area now having a double loading area as shown with Oblivion and Smiler to help with capacity the ride has suffered and create a one way system in which riders exit via from the right side of the trains. Perhaps the biggest set of changes are with its cable launch system (which famously snaps in 2012 much like with OTL) being converted into a LSM system and that its highest point on the ride has been converted into a barrel roll which gives the ride a inversion. To top it all off, the ride is also given brand new lap bar trains that help improve comfort and the ride from then on is given a bit more of a positive reception even by those who thought low of it.
- 2017:
- Hex returns fully refurbished like in OTL, however with no Smiler crash ITTL, the attraction wasn't shut for much of 2016 as was the case with many other rides.
- The main attraction for 2017 is not Cbeebies hotel here but instead it is original planned expansion for the Alton Towers hotel such as a much larger Spa complex and new wing of suits which all comes to fruition here.
- There is a new attraction that replaces Submission which closes, to little to no fanfare, at the end of the 2016 season to be replaced by a brand new Intamin Suspended Twin Hammer ride which strangely still calls itself as Submission though much like how there was the case of calling Black Hole as Black Hole II following a refurb, Submission does get called as Submission MK2.
- 2018:
- SW8 opens on the site of the Flume and yes it is a woody though not called Wicker Man but instead called 'Kraken' which themes itself more closely with Mutiny Bay than the current OTL theme. The ride itself is pretty much the same though with a different story regarding the great sea monster the ride is named after.
- As part of its 20th anniversary, Oblivion is also giving some TLC such as fresh paint job (with Smiler getting some too as to make sure one or the other don't look groggy compared to the other) and some changes to the queue line such as much covered areas which as the riders in darkness with some orange tinted lights and of course the ride preshow films playing out.
- 2019:
- Stargazing Pods open much like OTL though on the park sees a few changes in which in Fantasy Wood, two S&S Frog Hoppers are built called 'Wood Hopper'. If you haven't already guessed, this is pretty much OTL Peter Rabbit ride.
- CCL however is undergoing a major change in which as part of a three stage building job that will that area as well as the building for Charlie and finally reopening Coaster Corner into an all new larger area to be called 'Port Discovery', an steampunk concept that many years ago had been proposed for X-Sector and as such will act as mirror image to the sinister view of the future as what is seen in the latter. The first major change in the area is Twirling Toadstools is gone and in its place is a Garmendale Quadstar Aerial Roundabout flat ride called 'Steel Hawks' which has all the steampunk theming of flying machines in action, pretty much OTL Vroomster ITTL. The other new attraction in the area and headline one too is inside the Wobble World being a Spin master ride called 'The Time Machine' which is ofc themed to novel by H.G Wells and if you haven't guess then yes, this is pretty much OTL's GG ride though themed to H.G Wells in which here guests go on a wild journey through time.
- Finally, the Cuckoo Cars Driving School is also giving a steampunk retheme though admittedly I'm unsure of what they should be renamed.
- Much like OTL, the Swiss Cottage gets work done on it.
- 2020:
- Yeah, pretty much everything the same from OTL happens ITTL too, however the new attraction for the area is a rebuilt Around the World In 80 Days attraction in the same area of Charlie and ofc is based on the novel by Jules Verne and sees a full circle moment in which the ride that was originally there finally returns, though it would not open until the following year all due to Covid.
- 2021:
- 80 Days does open for the 2021 season, completing stage two of Port Discovery though one key difference here is that with a number of flat rides around Towers, far more so than OTL, there is no need for the Retro squad to be there though is one flat ride added for Fantasy Wood being a Zamerla ride, a Lolly Swing built on the site of Spinball and is called Treetop Swingers.
- Over in Port Discovery, the area that was once Coaster Corner sees some major work for what will not only see that area of that park opened up further for the first time in years, with rumours of access to the Flag Tower now possible, but that the park's newest attraction would be based on site though curiously is not SW9 as some fans might think.
- 2022:
- Opening for the 2022 season, though missing the opening day by a month due to various glitches, the third and final stage for Port Discovery opens is the park's first enclosed roller coaster called 'From the Earth to the Moon'. Named after the book by Jules Verne, the ride is a Vekoma Space Warp Launch Coaster in which takes guests on a voyage to the moon and though it does take a lot of heavy influences from DLP's Space Mountain, it is different in its own right for there is no cannon but a simple launch system nonetheless indoors with the ride being tightly built inside a small space with two inversions to boot and an onboard soundtrack, the first for any UK ride to have this technology installed.
Thanks for that. Regarding the two issues, I understand about Thirteen in GW though the thing is I do like the theming about the ride if you ignore the scaffolding job and surrounding area. Thing is though that I'm not a fan of what they've done of having two spooky forest themed areas on the park and to me it would work better if they just combined the two into one area that already has a spooky wood theme so that's why I decided on GW. That said if Dark Forest was never that theme in the first place and something totally different then this situation would never have happened plus let's be brutally honest about Duel...IMO the only way it would get good money spent on it is if a big new ride was to open in the area, look at X-Sector when Smiler was open when it got TLC, that would never have happened if Smiler never happened so as much as my fantasy view of the park, I have to keep it in the grounds of realism by following traits the park has done over the years and thus this being one example.
Call me a looney here, but I actually... like... Dark Forest. Its got good music, and I think has some great offride photos options.
Though in all seriousness when I first heard about DF's theme I was looking forward to it though was left underwhelmed by how cheap the whole area looked and my opinion on the area hasn't improved in which as I've already mentioned that we already have GW, did we really need another scary woods area in the park? If it had been a happier theme to contrast GW then I'd be fine with which is why you'll notice in my version how there are mirror images to each area such as X-Sector and Port Discovery being contrasting views of the future. So s much as having Thirteen in GW might not have been everyone's cup of tea, let alone if it had been possible to build it there, it would have been cheaper to have used all that money to refurbished Duel as opposed to the work they did for DF.
Interesting butterfly effects in which perhaps Thorpe still has a family market and probably gets Cbeebies Land instead. Interesting to see how the UK theme park industry will go now with more competition at stake...and another thing, I highly doubt we'd get the Oblivion Fanta debacle here!
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Interesting concepts there for Air returning you have there and yes, another thread for alternate theme park history would be fun to do as I really would want to do one regarding Towers.I'm not all Familiar on M&Ds and it's current form, but I respect the amount of dedication and effort you've put in these alternative timeliness for this new Park you've come up with!! Maybe I should make another Thread dedicated to that topic...
Anyhow, I here because I've just finished some air concept art of my own. I've had a lot of time to do this since I caught the 'you know what' bug. This is what I'd do if Galactica was to be Rethemed back to air. I haven't done all the Sketches yet, but here are the completed ones. Each drawing has a number labeled by them. I'll describe what they are for you all. Anywho, here they are, hope you guys like them
1.
Updated Height Restriction sign, is to be based by the main entrance.
2.
Main entrance area, logo is kept the same, but signs are altered to suit with the futuristic design more, same with the bars holding them. Altered rockwork by the Pram area to be more realistic.
3.
Updated sign, indicating where the entrance to the ride is, to be located where the old one was by the Air Shop, now roller Coaster restaurant.
4.
Rethemed Galactica Portal, now with themed rockwork on its base, that along with a pond, a waterfall, and a mini Geyser fountain. Main portal is painted into Airs style and is partly demolished to create an abandoned portal look as the Ride passes through it.
5.
Rebuilt air shop, Galacticas current Gift shop is reduced with the Ride photo purchase shrunk for space. Reintroducing the observation view, but still not as big as the original one as the shop still takes space at the end of it. New facade will have a curved face, with new windows, that reminiscent of Air Shops old windows, but with slanted panels, again, for a futuristic look.
6.
New Info Sign in the queue, showing the rides history, such as its opening, its retheme into Galactica, and its supposedly present state. Also a little Easter egg of Galacticas logo carved into the rock structure.
7.
Pre Lift Hill Tunnel, surprised? Probably not. Now overhauled, with lighting and some inspiration taken from the original concept art of the tunnel. (E.g. the fan on the floor and the lights.) The wall outside of the station were the trains first enter now spells on the left side 'now' and the right one saying 'fly', in order to create the famous "Now Fly" quote on the wall before you ascend up the lifthill
Hope you guys enjoyed these ideas. New ideas will hopefully be here soon on my next post here.
I'd love to do some Port Discovery concept art. After I've done all on my Air art, I'll get right onto Port Discoverys'!Interesting concepts there for Air returning you have there and yes, another thread for alternate theme park history would be fun to do as I really would want to do one regarding Towers.
Speaking of concept art, this might a bit brass neck of me for saying this but if you'd like, I'd be interested to see you attempt sketching up the Port Discovery proposal for TWODW as seen in my alternative history of Towers as even though I roughly know how it might look, would be good to have a second opinion on how it would look.
Mind you, anything might be better that TWODW I suppose.
Will be looking forward to seeing that!
Very good, format looks familiar to what I did with Towers...how about we create our own shared universe regarding alternative theme parks?
Done. Just added it to the last post. Your welcome.Very good, format looks familiar to what I did with Towers...how about we create our own shared universe regarding alternative theme parks?
Anyway, looking forward to seeing what you have next for Chessie.
