Spinball

One of the newer rides at Alton Towers is Sonic Spinball, renamed a couple of years ago from Spinball Whizzer. It's amongst the first rides reached from the main entrance and riding it early is a good idea because changeover time is pretty slow and queues build up rapidly to a long wait. It's fun, with cars turning randomly as they navigate the compact track. Some of the edges are definitely interesting. "Eeeep. Are we still attached?"

Opened on March 27th 2004 at a cost of 3.5 million, Sonic Spinball has a track length of  450m with a high point of 17m. In total the ride lasts 1 minute 10 seconds and reaches a top speed of 32mph. It's fun and slightly scary, but the spinning makes me feel mildly nauseous. Not one of my favourites, but that doesn't stop me from riding.

What about you? Are you a rider or a bag holder, or even someone who stays away all together?

Do you race for the big rides or prefer a different pass time?

Just for fun - and an opinion

A trip to Alton Towers would not be complete without a bit of time spent in Katanga Canyon; home to The Runaway Mine Train and Congo River Rapids.

They aren't exactly biiiiiiig scary rides, but they are both great fun, with their courses intertwining and much waving happening between the two.

Of course, one of the attractions of the Rapids is the possibility of getting wet, but unlike the Flume (on which we did get extremely wet!), with the Rapids, it's very much hit and miss. I've been on them in the same boat as people who have come away very damp, whilst I got off bone dry, and vice versa. It all depends on the spin!

My boys and I usually ride the Mine Train after the Rapids in order to blow out some of the dampness. It's a bit like the combination of a washing machine and spin drier.

A few interesting facts

The Mine Train was added to the Park in 1992 as the new themed 'coaster'; though it is in fact a powered ride throughout, the speed being controlled by the ride operator up to a maximum of 22mph. It's a relatively long ride at about 50 seconds per lap with two laps as standard (except in very quiet times, when a little shouted persuasion may extract a third time round). At £3 million, it was a lot cheaper than the big coasters, but had the same designer, John Wardley.

The Rapids have been around much longer, opening for the 1986 season. At the time they were the biggest project the Park had attempted, taking over 12 acres of what had been the car park, requiring the moving of over 40,000 tons of earth and rock. They also needed the installation of their own electricity sub station and the building of a 1.3 million gallon reservoir to store the water used. At 6 minutes, it's one of the longest water rides in the UK with a total channel length of 725 metres.

Good fun :)

NB: Those who value our heritage will be pleased to hear that, during the construction of the Rapids, great care was taken to preserve the mature trees which existed in the area.

PS: I think that my own view on the question from yesterday is sadness at the fallings out of families over inheritance but, once the Towers had fallen into decay, I'd rather see the estate used as a theme park than being flattened for the building of houses! I do, however, wish that Merlin (the current owners of Alton Towers) would see fit to restore at least a section of the building to it's historic richness.

I'm not holding my breath though...

"Too expensive! The paying public would rather the money were spent on a new attraction."

"They are a great attraction in their current state of ruin!" (useful for Hex (ride) and Scarefest (event) )

"We have restored some parts enough for you to walk around them as ruins."

...I can hear the arguments now!

Besides, people who like historic buildings are hardly going to pay Alton Towers prices just to walk round the Towers (which is exactly why coach loads of people no longer arrive to walk round the gardens).

The Towers at Alton - and a question!

These days, Alton Towers is primarily about big rides, but it hasn't always been that way. Once the Park was a family estate belonging to the Earls of Shrewsbury, the first of whom fought alongside Henry V in the 15th Century.

In the early days, the house was called Alton Lodge and was mainly a summer residence, but when Charles became 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, he decided to extend both house and grounds. Work began in 1800 and continued until 1852. It was during this time that the gorge was developed into a wonderful stately home garden, with hand dug lakes and pools, sourced by water diverted in from a spring two miles away. Alongside this went the planting of trees, with 5,000 conifers, and 8,000 deciduous trees being planted around the estate.

The major work on the house began in 1811, comissioned by Charles, but continued after his death by his nephew John. Unfortunately, when John died in 1852, family members began to battle over the right of ownership of the estate and the costs incurred were to prove near fatal, with the eventual winner having to sell off much of the contents of the Towers and then open the grounds to the public in order to pay the bills. incurred

Eventually, in 1924, the Towers were sold to a group of local businessmen. The estate continued to be open to the public and attracted many visitors, but between 1941 and 51, it was requisitioned by the army as a cadet training centre, during which time the house continued to fall into disrepair. When it was eventually returned to its owners, the house was gutted, leaving only the shell.

It was from this foundation that John Broome built the beginnings of the leisure park. Conceived in 1980, developed in stages, and changing hands more than once over the following 30 years, it eventually became the popular theme park it is today.

So, here's my question. Is Alton Towers a wonderful success as a popular theme park, or is it a tragic example of history lost?

The gorge, by air or land

At 800 acres, the Park at Alton Towers covers quite a lot of ground, most of it gently hilly. Moving around the different areas of the Park can include a lot of walking around, but there are some easier options, one of which is the cable car.

Although it doesn't run to all areas of the Park, the Sky Ride (as it is known) gives easy access between the main entrance and some of the big rides and is an enjoyable trip over the gorge.

An alternative, is to walk through the gardens. Though not as extensive as they once were, there is still an area which is attractive.



My earliest memory of Alton Towers was as a teen when Derby Round Table organised a 12 mile sposored walk around this area. Bus loads of us came out here to complete the walk. The 'rides' consisted of the cable car and a Merry go Round and the treat at the end of the day was to pile onto the boating lake and have great fun soaking each other with inter-boat water fights.

In those days, the gardens used to attract bus loads of visitors, whereas now they are definitely a sideshow, but it's nce to see that some things haven't disappeared.

Nemesis

Nemesis: An opponent that cannot be beaten or overcome

(http://www.thefreedictionary.com/)

Meet Nemesis, Air's alien companion, lying in a lake of blood, contorted in torturous twists of torment... and watching you!

Nemesis is one of my favourite rides at Alton Towers, for the speed, the tight twists and turns, the plunges down into the semi darkness of the pits and for the freedom of having no floor. And the best seat of all is front row, left end (just in case you ever come when it's quiet!).

A few facts about Nemesis...

The ride was unveiled on 19th March 1994, having been cloaked in secrecy up until that point. It's project name was Secret Weapon 3!

Design and manufacture was down to the same partnership who later produced Air, but it came in cheaper at a mere £10 million (though, being eight years earlier...). The track length is 716 metres and the highest drop 13 metres. Top speed reached is 50mph and the maximum G force is 4G. The ride lasts 1 minute 30 seconds including loading; which makes the ride itself a minute at best!

But, what a minute!!

Air

From its conception, Air was meant to be something a little different from the usual scary coasters; a ride to simulate the feeling of flight. And so, the restraints are designed to be comfortable as the seats tilt by ninety degrees to horizontal, placing the rider in a face down position in order for the 'flight' to begin.

After the initial crawl through the boarding tunnel, the ride emerges onto the climb; the ground slowly dropping further and further away until the top, followed by a dip and twist, launch the ride smoothly into the first speed gathering swoop. Sometimes seeming to barely clear the ground, sometimes soaring into the air or floating upside down, the remainder of the flight brings the rider as close to being a bird as technology will allow.

Technology was certainly a problem in the early days. Originally planned for the 1998 season, the complexity of the design led to it being postponed; its place in the batting order being taken by the much more straightforward build of near-vertical drop Oblivion. Air was finally unveiled on 16th March 2002, constructed during winter rains which reduced the site to a lake of mud!

Air was designed by John Wardley and manufactured by Bollinger & Mabillard for a total cost of £12 million. During the design stages it was known as Secret Weapon 5; the ride's identity hidden to guard against industrial espionage. In the course of its 840m track, it reaches a top speed of 47mph, exerting a maximum G Force of 3.5G. The drop is 20m and the entire ride lasts 1 minute 30 seconds.

Whenever I can, I visit Alton Towers away from the busy school holidays, meaning that queue times are quite reasonable. On a busy day in the height of summer when the secondary schools are enjoying their 'enrichment' activities, queue time for Air can be anything up to one and a half hours. Do I think it's worth it? I'd have to be queuing with somebody pretty interesting!

Exhileration

First, the slow steep ascent...

rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety (Breathe! Don't forget to breathe!) rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety (Why do I put myself through this?) rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety (I must have a screw loose!) rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety (Oh c**p! What if IT'S got a screw loose!) rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety (Nearly there!!!), rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety, rackety,

ROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLL.

LURCH!

STOP!

P  a  u  s  e
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Look!

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Gasp!

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Tense...

DROP!! 

WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

AGAIN!!!

Tell you what. While I'm sprinting back round to the 'Oblivion' queue, why don't you nip over to Jenny's to check out the other E posts on Alphabe-Thursday?