Violent water below Niagara Falls

Rapids on the Mississippi River, Pakehnham, Ontario, Canada

A rapid is a section of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. A rapid is a hydrological feature between a run (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a cascade. A rapid is characterised by the river becoming shallower and having some rocks exposed above the flow surface. As flowing water splashes over and around the rocks, air bubbles become mixed in with it and portions of the surface acquire a white colour, forming what is called "whitewater". Rapids occur where the bed material is highly resistant to the erosive power of the stream in comparison with the bed downstream of the rapids. Very young streams flowing across solid rock may be rapids for much of their length.

River Rapids

Rapids are categorized in classes, generally running from I to VI. A Class 5 rapid may be categorized as Class 5.1-5.9. While class I rapids are easy to negotiate and require no maneuvering, class VI rapids pose threat to life with little or no chance for rescue.

See also[link]

• Fluid dynamics - for academic digestion.
• International Scale of River Difficulty - for classification of rapids.
• Rheophile - organisms that live in fast flowing water.
• Riffle - A fast moving portion of a stream without the vigour of a rapid
• Whitewater - for factors related to rapids.

References[link]

• Mason, Bill (1984). Path of the Paddle. Northword Press. ISBN 9781559710046. 

External links[link]

Media related to Rapids at Wikimedia Commons

Alton Towers is a theme park and resort located in Staffordshire, England. It attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe.^[1] It is based north of the village of Alton in Staffordshire (approximately 16 miles (26 km) east of Stoke-on-Trent, and not to be confused with the town of Alton in Hampshire), in the grounds of Alton Towers, a semi-ruined gothic revival country house. The estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury.

The resort includes the theme park as well as Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Waterpark, Spa, Extraordinary Golf and Conference Centre. It is the flagship attraction of Merlin Entertainments in the United Kingdom. Major attractions at Alton Towers include Nemesis, Oblivion, Air, Rita and Th13teen.

The park's promotional music is In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg.

History[link]

Early history[link]

An Iron Age fort was built on Bunbury Hill (c.1st-century BC) which is now occupied by the Alton Towers estate. In about 700 AD, the Saxon king Ceolred of Mercia built a fortress on the hill. But King Ine of Wessex besieged the site in 716 AD. The ensuing battle, which ended in stalemate, caused such a loss of life the place was called Slain Hollow (which later became the estate's oriental water garden).^[2]

In the 11th century, the site was refortified when a castle was built soon after the Norman Conquest. By the 12th century, the estate had been given to knight Bertam de Verdun, as a reward for his work in the Crusades. In 1318, the estate passed by marriage to Thomas de Furnival when he married Joan de Verdun. Furnival later died crusading in the Holy Land in 1348. In 1406 Sir John Talbot acquired the estate when he married Maud, the eldest daughter of Thomas de Furnivall, 3rd Baron Furnivall. Talbot became the second created Earl of Shrewsbury in 1442 after the title was forfeited by the third earl of the first creation in 1102. The Norman castle was destroyed during the English Civil War.

In the 17th century the former castle was redeveloped as a hunting lodge known as Alveton Lodge (or Alverton), which is the ancient name for Alton. The three-storey structure reused one of the castle's former towers which remains part of the present-day building. The lodge was split into two properties, one of which was rented by a tenant. The other half was used by the Talbots as a summer residence, their main residence being at Heythrop Park in Oxfordshire.

Stately home and gardens[link]

Alton Towers c.1840

In 1811, Charles Talbot, the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, began redeveloping the hunting lodge into a Gothic-style stately home. Over the next ten years, architects such as Thomas Allason, William Hollins and Thomas Hopper oversaw renovating the building. Work included the addition of a drawing room, dining room, chapel, library, long gallery, banqueting hall, conservatory and entrance hall. As a result the building was doubled in size. It also included the laying of the foundations for the Flag Tower. The house was renamed Alton Abbey, despite having no particular religious connection.

In 1814 Charles and his wife moved to Alton permanently. Work then began turning the farmland around house into one of the largest formal gardens in Britain. Several gardens were planted, including a Dutch garden and a rock garden. More than 13,000 trees were also planted in the landscaped parkland. The gardens in the valley leading down to the River Churnet hosted a variety of features. These included a Pagoda fountain which was fed by water from a spring at Ramshorn that passed through various lakes and pools, cast iron Garden Conservatories designed by Robert Abrahams, a "Swiss Cottage" that hosted a Welsh harpist and a copy of Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens.

After the 15th Earl of Shrewsbury died in 1827, he was succeeded by his nephew John Talbot who completed the gardens and house started by his uncle. In 1831, the Talbot's principal residence in Heythrop burned down. The 16th earl then came to live at Alton permanently bringing everything that could be saved from Heythrop. Noted architect Augustus Pugin designed a new entrance hall, banqueting hall and various other rooms, extending the house further. The property was renamed Alton Towers. From 1839, the grounds were opened to the public at various times of the year.

In 1852, following the death of the 16th Earl, Alton Towers was briefly inherited by his cousin, Bertram. But when he died four years later at the young age of 24, all work on the house ceased (no further alterations would again be made to the property). As there was no direct heir to the estate, Bertram left the earldom and Alton Towers to a younger son of the Duke of Norfolk. But this was contested by Henry Chetwynd-Talbot from Ingestre Hall, a distant cousin of the late earl, who filed a legal writ to determine lawful ownership of Alton Towers. As the contents of the house were not contested, everything within the house was auctioned off in a 29-day sale of 4000 lots.^[3]

In 1858, Henry Chetwynd-Talbot became the 18th Earl of Shrewsbury, two years later he acquired the Alton Towers estate. In celebration, the earl held a procession through Staffordshire on 13 April 1860. Beginning in Uttoxeter, it stretched over a mile with up to 40,000 people in the grounds of Alton Towers at the end. The 18th Earl continued to open the grounds to the public at certain times of the year to help raise money to refurbish parts of the house.

During the 1890s, the 20th earl, Charles Talbot started the tradition of summer fetes at Alton. As well as the Gardens, people were attracted with fireworks displays, balloon festivals, clowns, and exhibitions of instruments of torture. In 1896, the earl and countess separated. The earl went to live at Ingestre, where he founded the Talbot Car Company in the 20th century, and the countess stayed at Alton. However, due to the marital situation, the house began to decay and the grounds became neglected because the earl did not pay much for their up keep. In November 1918, the Earl decided due his absence to sell off the majority of the estate by auction. The countess continued to live on the estate for another two years after the earl died in 1921.

Public ownership[link]

In 1924 the remaining part of the estate and house was sold to a group of local businessmen, who formed Alton Towers Limited. Although the contents of the house were sold off, the grounds were restored and remained open to the public. Parts of the house were converted into cafés and toilets for public use.

During World War II Alton Towers was requisitioned by the War Office as an officer training unit. The gardens remained closed to the public until 1951. It is a common misconception that military occupation of the towers caused a lot of damage to the building. However, this is not case as much of the building was already boarded up and unused. It is now commonly understood that the decay was caused in the inter-war period by the Bagshaw family - the majority shareholders - who sold the wood and plaster fixtures from the house's interiors as well as the lead roofing allowing water to rot the remaining fixtures.

During the 1960s and 1970s the grounds were reopened as a visitor attraction. There was a boating lake, chairlift and a small fair behind the ruins of the main house. Concrete floors were installed in Alton Towers house so that it could be opened to the public. The building was listed as Grade II.

After millionaire-property developer John Broome married the daughter of majority shareholder Denis Bagshaw in 1973, he bought out the controlling stake in Alton Towers. Over the next few years he laid the foundation for the modern theme park by installing various permanent rides and developing areas of the grounds in progressive stages.

Alton Towers began its evolution into a major theme park in 1980 with the installation of The Corkscrew rollercoaster, Pirate Ship and the Alpine Bob sled ride. A year later the Log Flume opened and in 1984 the park's second roller-coaster, The Black Hole, arrived. Throughout the next decade, more attractions, areas and rides were added to Alton Towers. Some of the work was undertaken by award-winning British ride designer, John Wardley.

In 1990, the park was purchased by The Tussauds Group from John Broome. Fifteen years later Alton Towers was acquired by the investment group Dubai International Capital (DIC) when it purchased Tussauds for £800million in 2005.^[4] The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control.^[5] In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a 35-year lease.^[6]

The park's maximum daily capacity is set at 28,000 guests.^[7][8][9] In 2010, the park attracted 2.7 million visitors over the season.

Theme park[link]

Entrance monorail[link]

The monorail transports visitors from the further away car parks to the main entrance and ticket booths leading to Towers Street. The Von Roll monorail system was acquired from Expo 86 which was held in Vancouver, British Columbia. It was installed at Alton Towers in 1987, a year after Towers Street, and was opened by Star Trek actor William Shatner.

In 2008, Sarner, a UK based theme park design company, was commissioned to revamp the nine monorail trains. This included exterior decoration and new bench seating. Each train has a personalised soundtrack to fit with its own theme, such as 'pirates'.^[10]

The monorail moves visitors from the Alton Towers Hotel, Splash Landings Hotel, Cariba Creek Waterpark and Extraordinary Golf to the Alton Towers Theme Park.

Skyride[link]

The Skyride is a cable car system which visitors can use to travel between Towers Street, Forbidden Valley and Cloud Cuckoo Land. The Skyride has operated since 1987 and replaced an earlier chairlift, which had opened in 1963. At the end of 2008 season the original Skyride gondolas were replaced with smaller and more colourful gondolas.

The Skyride attraction has suffered from two accidental fires in recent years. The central station in Forbidden Valley was burned on the evening of 28 October 2007, due to a faulty halogen lamp. The incident caused a power cut, which led to some guests being stranded on the park's monorail. Luckily, this incident was reported quickly by a Towers employee as to not cause as much massive damage, and the park says that the damage caused to the station was mainly cosmetic. The Skyride re-opened on 19 April 2008 after major work had been carried out on the station's roof. At approximately 22:30 on 21 July 2009, another fire broke out in the Cloud Cuckoo Land station causing extensive damage. It remained closed for the rest of the 2009 season and a new replacement station building opened in 2010. Both fire incidents were caused by external factors and not related to the ride system.

Towers Street[link]

Opened in 1986, Towers Street is the first area that visitors to the park encounter. Themed loosely as a town street, it leads to views of the gardens and the Towers across the lake in the distance. Along the pathway are the park's famous jumping frog fountains and a lawn where seasonal events usually take place. The street contains several shops, including the Towers Trading Co., which sells official park merchandise. The first Skyride station is located nearby. A ticket shop called Resort Box Office is based in a building at the end of Towers Street and sells products such as Fastrack, Annual Passes and Hotel Breaks. Also located in Towers Street is Corner Coffee, Towers Family Restaurant and Guest Services.

Navigation:

• Skyride (opened 1987; refurbished 2009)
• Monorail (opened 1987; refurbished 2008)

Food, drink and shops:

• Coca Cola Refill Station
• Corner Coffee
• The Towers Hot Dogs
• The Towers Family Restaurant
• Towers Trading
• Resort Box Office

Mutiny Bay[link]

Mutiny Bay Battle Galleons

Mutiny Bay is a pirate-themed land, which re-themed Merrie England in 2008, is aimed primarily at families. Attractions in Mutiny Bay include: Battle Galleons, a large interactive "Splash Battle" water ride where guests sit in pirate boats that travel through a water channel, while soaking other riders with water cannons; and a rocking boat ride, Heave Ho. The teacups ride was re-themed to become Marauders Mayhem, where rotating gunbarrels replaced the tea cups. The area also has a Burger King take-away and live entertainment. Since the opening of the area, many live actors roam around the area dressed as pirates.In 2009, a new Sea Life Centre, Sharkbait Reef, opened in the location previously home to the 3-D Cinema. This includes designated "touch pools" where guests can interact with various underwater species and a 10-metre ocean tunnel. The attraction is one of the most heavily themed Sea Life centres to open worldwide. In April 2010, a live webcam was installed to allow internet users to watch one of the tanks, which can be accessed via the official website.

Slightly outside the area is the popular 'Flume' ride, a log flume with boats themed as bath tubs and many ducks quacking around the station area. The Flume opened in 2004 after being re-themed from a traditional log flume ride. The ride was sponsored by imperial toiletries until 2011.

Attractions:

• Battle Galleons (opened 2008, replaces the Splash Karts)
• Heave Ho (opened 2008)
• Marauder's Mayhem (opened 2008, rethemed Teacups ride)
• Sharkbait Reef by SEA LIFE (opened 2009, replaced 3D Cinema, which closed in 2004)
• The Flume Unplugged (opened 1981; refurbished 2004)

Live Shows and Entertainment:

• The Pirates of Mutiny Bay: Quest for the Golden Parrot - Live Show (Opened 2011)
• Shark Tooth Jack's Pirate Training Camp (Opened 2011)
• Pirate Walkabout Characters
• Meet and Greets with Fin the Shark (Since 2010)

Food, drink and shops:

• Pirate's Galley - Burger King
• Courtyard Tavern and BBQ
• Eastern Express
• Mexican Cantina
• Mutiny Bay Donuts
• Mutiny Bay Hot Dogs
• Mutiny Bay Shoppe
• Pirates Pasty Co.
• Ben & Jerry's

Katanga Canyon[link]

Themed as an African village; created in 1992 and incorporated existing rapids ride. Rides include the Runaway Mine Train a wild speeding mine train rollercoaster and the Congo River Rapids. Both are well-established rides in the park whose ride tracks share a tunnel. The area includes the 'Explorer's' restaurant, with a shared indoor seating area (£8.25 per head for all you can eat buffet). There is a shop located at the exits of the two rides called Katanga Cargo, hosting "ancient" tribal themed merchandise.

Attractions:

• Congo River Rapids (opened 1986; refurbished 1992)
• Runaway Mine Train (opened 1992)

Food, drink and shops:

• Katanga Kabin
• Explorers Pizza-Pasta Buffet Restaurant (Replaced KFC/Pizza Hut in 2009)
• The Katanga Cargo Company

Gloomy Wood[link]

The Gloomy Wood is a small, haunted house themed area containing the ride Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back!. The ride was originally a standard ghost train ride aptly named The Haunted House. However, the ride was upgraded in 2003 with laser-based plastic guns fitted to shoot LED lights scattered around the ride in order to to deactivate scares. Each player's shooting score is recorded a digital display in the ride car to encourage competitive play. In 2007, an outdoor walk-through was added to Gloomy Wood, named "Haunted Hollow". The pathway follows part of the route formerly used by the old scenic railway, linking from Mutiny Bay to Gloomy Wood. Haunted Hollow includes various tombstones, statues and other features, some of which interact with guests using sound effects.^[11]

Attractions:

• Duel: The Haunted House Strikes Back! (opened 1992; refurbished in 2003)
• Haunted Hollow (opened 2007)

Food, drink and shops:

• Gloomy Wood Kiosk
• Waffles and Ices
• Spooks 'R' Us

Forbidden Valley[link]

Nemesis

Themed around a frightening post-apocalyptic landscape, with large rocks and rusty pieces of metal and machinery scattering the area and also waterfalls coloured red to look like blood. One of the major rides is Nemesis, an inverted roller coaster, based around the fictional tale of a giant, ancient, malevolent, alien creature which is now incorporated into the new ride: Nemesis: Sub-Terra. Nemesis itself is consistently regarded as one of the greatest designed rollercoasters in the world in major, global rollercoaster polls. Also in the area, and continuing the apocalyptic theme, are the Ripsaw and The Blade thrill rides. Ripsaw is a Huss Top Spin ride which opened in 1997 themed around a piece of shrapnel, supposidly thrown from the alien creature's pit, while The Blade is an older Huss Pirate Boat themed around a pendulum blade. At the end of the valley is an "oasis", with calmer colours and plants, where the spectacular ride Air, the world's first B&M flying coaster, can be found. A Skyride station also services this area of the park.

Ripsaw

Attractions:

• Air (opened 2002, originally sponsored by Cadbury's Heroes)
• The Blade (opened 1980; relocated 1997 from Fantasy World before retheme to X-Sector)
• Nemesis (opened 1994)
• Ripsaw (opened 1997)
• Nemesis: Sub-Terra (opened 2012)
• Skyride (opened 1987; damaged by fire 2007; refurbished 2009; damaged by fire 21 July 2009; Rebuilt for the 2010 season.)
• The Edge: Video Arcade

Food, drink and shops:

• Forbidden Treats
• Fresh Fish and Chips (Take-Away)
• The Generator - Burger King
• Nemices Donuts
• Refresh@Ripsaw
• Air Shop

Dark Forest[link]

The Dark Forest opened in March 2010; replacing Ug Land which opened in 1999. Dark Forest is themed as a supernatural area of woodland that has been disturbed by recent excavation of an ancient burial ground. The new ride for 2010 was unveiled as 'Thirteen', themed as a haunted crypt and features the world's first freefall drop on a rollercoaster. The ride replaced the Corkscrew; the park's original rollercoaster. Along with Thirteen's opening, the surrounding land was rethemed into the Dark Forest with refurbished outlets and game stalls to fit the theme. Rita, an existing rollercoaster, was also altered, with new station and train designs to look 'engulfed' by the supernatural forest.^[12]

Attractions:

• Th13teen (Opened March 2010; replaced Corkscrew)
• Rita (Opened 2005, re-themed 2010)
• Crypt Games

Food, drink and shops:

• Forest Feast
• Tormented Treats
• Rita Shop
• Thirteen Shop
• Woodcutter's Bar & Grill

Cloud Cuckoo Land[link]

Cloud Cuckoo Land is aimed at the younger audience of Alton Towers, and is themed with bright colours incorporating oversized flowers and toadstools, as if in a fantasy garden. Among the attractions are a bouncy castle play area called Wobble World, regular shows in the Theatre, a Wave Swinger ride called the Twirling Toadstool and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride, based on the Roald Dahl novel. There are other rides in the area especially suited for younger children such as Frog Hopper and Galloper's Carousel. The Peugeot Driving School gives children the opportunity to ride their own miniature car around a British style road network.^[13] New for 2012 is the 4D screening of Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs in the Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre. A Skyride station is also located nearby, which was newly refurbished for the 2010 season.

Attractions:

• Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride (opened 2006, replaced Toyland Tours which in turn replaced the original boat ride Around the World in eighty days)
• Frog Hopper (opened 1999)
• Galloper's Carousel (opened 1991; refurbished 2009)
• Peugeot 207 Driving School (opened 2006)
• Wobble World indoor-play area (opened 2009)
• Twirling Toadstool (opened 2009-originally located in Ug Land)
• Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs - The 4-D Experience (Opened 2012)

Food, drink and shops:

• Cuckoo Diner - Burger King
• Caffe Express
• Wobble World Cafe
• Ice Age Shop

Navigation:

• Skyride (Opened 1988, refurbished 2009. The new station was opened in 2010.)

X-Sector[link]

Oblivion in X-Sector

X-Sector is themed as if it were a sinister futuristic government facility. The area contains the innovative Oblivion ride, the world's first roller coaster with a vertical (88.8°) drop. The extra-wide roller coaster cars are held suspended over the edge for a maximum of three seconds before dropping downwards into a large hole amid mist and sirens through a pitch-black tunnel, and then re-emerging into a heavily banked turn leading back into the station. A game arcade next to Oblivion's gift shop and the 'Meltdown' restaurant, selling fast food, can also be found here.

Two other thrill rides are located in X Sector: Submission, which opened in 2001 and is a double swing inverter; Enterprise which has been at the park since 1984, originally located where the Dark Forest is today, and is a HUSS enterprise. A giant blue building, which once held the Black Hole roller coaster, lies disused to one side of the area. On 5 January 2012, the plans for SW7 were released, revealing that the ride is due to open during the 2013 season, starting with the destruction of the former Black Hole tent sometime in April 2012.

Attractions:

• Oblivion (opened 1998)
• Enterprise (opened 1984)
• Submission (opened 2001)

• SW7 (opening March 2013)

Food, drink and shops:

• Meltdown - Fried Chicken Company (previously franchises Pizza Hut/KFC until 2009 and solely KFC until 2011)
• Rehydrator
• X-Sell

Adventure Land[link]

Adventure Land is located in an area of the park aimed mainly at children and consists of family coaster as well as a selection of play equipment. The main ride is the Sonic Spinball, based on the hit SEGA video game franchise Sonic the Hedgehog. Sonic Spinball was previously known as Spinball Whizzer until the name change in 2010 when Alton bought a contract with SEGA. It's a Maure Sohne spinning roller coaster, in which riders sit in carts that can spin on their base whilst travelling at speed around the twisted track. There is one other attraction, the 'Space Adventures' playground. The area also contains a food counter called Spinball Noodles. Previously, Beastie, a small children’s roller coaster operated in the area but is now is standing but not operating (SBNO).

Attractions:

• Sonic Spinball (opened 2004, rethemed 2010)
• The Beastie SBNO (opened 1983, Closed late 2010)
• Space Adventure playground

Food and drink:

• Spinball Noodles

Storybook Land[link]

Storybook Land opened in 1996, previously being part of Adventure Land and is the park's smallest area. The area contains one attraction: the Squirrel Nutty Ride where riders travel above the area in acorn-shaped powered cars that move across the track at a relaxing pace.

Attractions:

• Squirrel Nutty Ride (opened 1996)

Live Shows and Entertainment:

• Meet and Greets with Squirrel Nutty (Since 2010)
• Farm Animal Talks

Old MacDonald's Farmyard[link]

Themed around a traditional farm, this area contains a small petting zoo as well as a few rides for younger visitors, which include Doodle Doo Derby, a farm-themed carousel, and Riverbank Eye Spy, a recently re-themed boat ride. In 2003, the old barn that used to hold the farm animals before the Foot and Mouth crisis of 2001, was converted to a play barn called Ribena Berry Bish Bash, that contains thousands of small foam balls that are propelled, raised, thrown, dropped and shot from air cannons, now called Berry Bish Bash. In 2007, a new themed play area opened called There's Something in the Dungheap, especially for youngsters, with a maze, a playground and a picnic area. The main feature is a large pile of dung in which visitors can enter to find interactive insects crawling the floor, made possible by a projector and sensor.

Attractions:

• Berry Bish Bash (opened 2003, originally sponsored by Ribena)
• Doodle Doo Derby (opened 1995)
• There's Something in the Dung Heap (opened 2007)
• Old MacDonald's Singing Barn (opened 1995)
• Old MacDonald's Tractor Ride (opened 1995)
• Riverbank Eye-Spy (opened 1999)

Historic areas[link]

The Gardens[link]

Alton Towers in 1880

As an example of the mixed style of Humphry Repton's gardens, Alton Towers' garden was begun, circa 1814 by the eccentric 15th Earl of Shrewsbury, of whom J. C. Loudon (who was consulted on design features of which there were many) relates that he consulted every artist, only to avoid 'whatever an artist might recommend'.^{[citation needed]}

Alton Towers grew into a collection of gardens: a Swiss Cottage, a Stonehenge, a Dutch garden, a Pagoda Fountain, said to be based on the To Ho pagoda in Canton, Lysicrates' Choragic Monument from Athens (a feature in English gardens since the 1760s), domed glasshouses (originally gilded), even a fairly large Matterhorn as a backing to one of England's earliest Alpine gardens.^{[citation needed]} Near the garden entrance is a cenotaph to the 15th Earl, a marble bust with an inscription reading "He made the desert smile".

Landmarks include:

• Chinese Pagoda Fountain
• The Swiss Cottage
• Miniature 'Stonehenge'
• A Greek Choragic Monument
• Orangeries

The Towers[link]

The Towers ruins are the source of the park's name. They belonged to the Talbot family as a stately home until 1924. The Towers are now in a state of disrepair following several decades of neglect. The ruins are open to the public during most of the open season. However, some areas are closed off as part of a £1.1 million project in place to restore the oldest parts of the Towers.

Hex - the Legend of the Towers, a walk-through dark ride based within the ruins themselves, opened in 2000. The finale to the ride is a Vekoma Madhouse located away from the real Towers but themed as a secret vault. The storyline is based on Staffordshire's true legend about the chained oak tree, located in a nearby forest, and makes use of the history of the Towers.

In addition, a temporary scare maze, Terror of the Towers, operates during the park's Halloween 'Scarefest' event and has done yearly since 2002. It takes guests through a tour of the ruins and uses live actors, lighting, mist and sound effects to add atmosphere. The attraction won the 2009 London Screamie Awards for 'Best Seasonal Attraction/Maze'.^[14]

Key areas:

• Hex - The Legend of the Towers (dark ride) (opened 2000)
• Terror of the Towers: What Lies Within (seasonal attraction)
• The Banqueting Hall
• The Chapel
• Conservatories
• Her Ladyship's Gardens

Timeline of Theme park areas[link]

Resort facilities[link]

Hotels[link]

The resort features two hotels, The Splash Landings Hotel and The Alton Towers Hotel. The Splash Landings Hotel is a combination hotel and waterpark.

Alton Towers Hotel[link]

The Alton Towers Hotel opened in 10 April 1996 and is themed to the eccentric fictional character Sir Algernon Alton. The rooms are decorated in a classically English style with pictures of Sir Algernon's inventions including the coasting roller adorning the walls.

The hotel features the Secret Garden restaurant serving a buffet breakfast and à la carte dinner, there is also the Captain and Dragon bars, the latter having a Chinese theme along with the small event/conference rooms in the hotel. The bars and restaurant surround the "ship" centrepiece of the hotel featuring a hot air balloon shape and rotating propellers.

The ship is also used as a stage for the evening entertainment including:

• Pirate Bill's Magic Show
• Live Bands and Singers
• Character Photoshoots with Darwin the Dodo and Alton Bear.

Splash Landings Hotel[link]

The Splash Landings Hotel is the newer of the two hotels, opening in 2003, it has a colourful exotic Caribbean theme and the main feature is the Cariba Creek Waterpark. The hotel features Flambo's Exotic Feast, a buffet restaurant with a wide selection of food including roast dinner and a chocolate fountain, also serving a buffet breakfast. Above Flambo's Feast is the Ma Garrita's Bar. Both the bar and restaurant have windows looking out over the indoor waterpark. The hotel rooms are in a wing to the side of the hotel and some rooms have views over the outdoor sections of the waterpark. The hotel also contains two shops, one selling general snacks, sweets and souvenirs and the other offering swimming costumes and other waterpark related sundries. There is also an arcade near Flambo's restaurant. In all the public elevators in the hotel, when they are in motion, the theme tune to Captain Pugwash is played, and stops as soon as the doors start opening. Splash Landings also plays host to "Ringo's Kids Club," new for 2011. Activities include:

• Ringo's Pirate Workshop
• Facepainting
• Ringo's Dance Workshops
• Pirate Bill's Magic Show
• Party Time with Ringo!
• Ringo's Bed Time Story
• Ringo's Fish Tank Talk
• Character Photoshoots with Ringo the Lemur and Alton Bear

Conference centre[link]

Between the hotels sits the Alton Towers Conference Centre, Winner of meeting & Incentive Travel Magazine's Best UK Unusual Venue Award 2007.^[15] The Conference Centre opened shortly after the Splash Landings Hotel and is linked to both hotels via a walkway running from the side of the Alton Towers Hotel to the Conference Centre and through the Cariba Creek waterpark to the Splash Landings Hotel.

Waterpark (Cariba Creek)[link]

The Alton Towers Waterpark, also known as Cariba Creek, opened in 2003. It is a large, part indoor and part outdoor waterpark themed as a tropical lagoon. It is located within The Splash Landings Hotel and is available for both guests at the hotel and members of the public. The park features several fast slides, a lazy river, a giant tipping bucket and many other water features. Also located here is Quencher's bar, which was previously themed as a shipwreck until 2007 when it was extended.^[16]

Extraordinary Golf[link]

In 2007, Alton Towers opened Extraordinary Golf, 2 nine hole themed crazy golf courses, located near The Splash Landings Hotel. Each of the holes have themes based on attractions within the theme park e.g. Nemesis. As with Cariba Creek, this facility is aimed at the general public as well as park and hotel guests. The standard price is £5 to play one 9-hole course or £6 to play all 18 holes.

Music[link]

The music played at Alton Towers is a combination of commercial tracks, library music and commissioned music. The following composers have had their music played at the park:

• Graham Smart
• Ian Habgood
• David Buckley
• Crispin Merrell
• John Sanderson

In the Hall of the Mountain King by Edvard Grieg is the theme park's theme tune used in adverts, and played throughout the park.

List of past rides[link]

New and proposed attractions[link]

2010[link]

• Thirteen, a £15million rollercoaster opened on 20 March 2010. The ride is built on the site of the removed Corkscrew rollercoaster. The new ride features the world's first vertical freefall drop, and was manufactured by Intamin. A new area, the Dark Forest, opened up with Thirteen and has a spooky/gothic theme based in a haunted forest. The nearby Rita coaster was given a re-theme to allow continuity with the rest of the area.^[17]

• Alton Towers made a deal with Sega at the end of 2009 to give Spinball Whizzer a sponsorship. The ride was partly rethemed with Sega's famous mascot, Sonic the Hedgehog for February Half Term of the 2010 season. The ride's name was changed to Sonic Spinball, named after the 1993 video game by Sega.

• The Skyride station in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of the park was rebuilt and the ride attraction is now operational again. The new building replaced the original 1980s station, which was destroyed by a fire in July 2009.

2011[link]

The main new installation for the 2011 season was the Go!Go!Go! Show; a pop musical show aimed at children. The show performed regularly throughout the season in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of the park.^[18]

Originally, it was rumoured, there were plans for a Shrek 4D attraction in the disused ice tent based in Storybook Land; along with a retheme of Storybook Land/Old MacDonalds Farmyard to Far Far Away from the films.^[19] However, these plans were scrapped by DreamWorks.^[20]

2012[link]

• A new indoor ride in Forbidden Valley, called Nemesis: Sub-Terra, will be built on the site previously used for the "Lava Lump" climbing wall; adjacent to Nemesis.^[21] People believe that the ride element could be an indoor drop tower, due to there being a 6m underground area in the building. In October 2010, planning permission for the new ride was granted by Staffordshire Moorlands Council; giving the go ahead for construction to begin over the closed season. Groundwork construction for the new attraction began in September 2011 and the new attraction is now finished and open to the public.

During the Scarefest 2011 event, actors in Bio Hazard outfits were seen outside the area of the ride, moving people away from a science vehicle which has yellow tape around the area and on the vehicle itself. Alton Towers also released a website dedicated to the ride where visitors to the site can access up-to-date information about the ride's development. On 31 December, Alton Towers posted a video on the official site showing the Nemesis comic strip and revealed the ride name to be Nemesis: Sub-Terra. Nemesis Sub-Terra opened to the public on 24 March 2012 when the park re-opened.

• In late 2011, it was announced that an 'Ice Age 4D' attraction would be coming to the park in 2012. The show is to be based around the third Ice Age film, Dawn of the Dinosaurs and will be a unique 4D experience located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land Theatre.^[22]

2013 onwards[link]

Proposals for the next major roller coaster at the park were announced at the 'TH13TEEN Event' on 19 June 2010 held in the Alton Towers Conference Centre. Mowenna Angove, head of marketing at the time, described it as the next "white-knuckle thrill ride" and John Wardley, ride consultant for Merlin Entertainments, stated that the ride would include a "world's first" feature. The ride has been announced for a 2013 opening. It will be codenamed "Secret Weapon 7" or "SW7" for short, being the next attraction in the 'Secret Weapon' line-up. Most of Alton Towers "Secret Weapons" have featured a worlds first element (the exception being SW3 - Nemesis, which was Europe's first Inverted roller coaster), although nobody knows what to expect on this one, due to Alton Towers Resort not giving much detail away.

On the 5 January 2012, the plans for the new attraction were released on the council's planning website. The plans show that the ride will be built on the current site of the Black Hole, which closed in March 2005 due to health and safety issues. The manufacturer of the proposed ride is thought to be Gerstlauer, the same manufacturers as SAW: The Ride at Thorpe Park, which was used for the noise report. The ride model is currently unknown as is the “world’s first” feature.^[23]

SW7[link]

Reports and multiple researches carried out by Alton Towers confirm that SW7 will be a Gerstlauer EuroFighter with 12 loops (a worlds first). As of now, a name hasn't been leaked, nor has the complete coaster design. However, the theme is rumoured to be based on shipping containers and scaffolding^{[citation needed]}. In addition, several industrial sized tins of 'rust effect' paint have been reportedly sighted on the SW7 site.

Development plan[link]

In July 2009, the park outlined a 10-year development plan for the park (2010–19), the aim being to increase visitor numbers, in particular multi-day guests. The plan showed an option for a third hotel or new accommodation of some sort over the coming years.^{[citation needed]} This in the 2012 Team Brief to the Alton Towers Staff by the Alton Towers Resort's Directors was said to be a Log Cabin hotel project, similar to what Centre Parcs offers, that is to reside over the land that is currently used for "Muddy Good Fun" activities. The plan also highlighted areas for development, as well as suggesting the possibility of a new park entrance nearer to the hotels, which could act as a second entrance or replacement to the existing one in Towers Street.

Attendance[link]

On average Alton Towers attracts around 2.7 million visitors per year making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom. Alton Towers is also the 9th most visited theme park in Europe. With attendance figures from 2009 being 2,668,576 and then in 2010 jumping to 3,010,533 due to the opening of their new ride Th13teen. But during the following year the visitor numbers retreated to 2,732,179 due to their not being any new major attractions being added to the park. The figures show that attendance figures are affected by what's new to the park and what major events are happening throughout the year.^[24] A Survey that took place on 2008 shows that 85.7% of people came to the resort in a car; 5.0% by private coach or bus; 4.3% by public bus; 2.5% by train and bus; 1.2% by train and taxi; and then 1.3% by other modes of transport. Alton Towers is in the middle of the Staffordshire countryside which means that there are not any main roads going past the resort to cope with the traffic, one of the Resort main aims is to reduce the number of cars and encourage public transport because of this.^[24]

Alton Towers Resort DVD[link]

The Alton Towers Resort DVD system enables visitors to have footage captured of them as they visit eight of the main rides and other various locations around the park, by wearing optional RFID wristbands during their stay. The wristbands can later be returned to the shop (located on Towers Street); where the personalized footage is collected and compiled alongside stock footage of the rides, to produce a DVD souvenir of the visitor's day.

The system features personalised footage on Nemesis, Rita, Sonic Spinball, Oblivion, Air, The Flume and Congo River Rapids. Customers can preview their footage before they buy the DVD.

The system was originally known as "YourDay" and was run by a separate business to Alton Towers. It was first installed in the 2007 season. YourDay officially went into administration on 31 March 2009, and failed to open at the start of the 2009 season.^[25] However, the shop reopened for business in October 2009 for the final weeks of the season after Alton Towers decided to take over the concept and run the system themselves. YourDay remained closed again throughout the first few months of the 2010 season, before being rebranded as the "Alton Towers Resort DVD" and reopened again. The shop, system and footage used remains much the same. This has since been closed down for the 2011 season.^[26]

Events[link]

Live concerts[link]

The theme park and backlot car park areas host occasional concerts during the year, these have included Tina Turner, James & Chris de Burgh, among others. Alton Towers celebrated their 30th birthday with an 1980s concert held on 23 May 2010. On 27 June 2010, the park played host to its first full live date within the theme park itself, when P!nk performed during her Funhouse Summer Carnival Tour.

Alton Towers Live was a past event, which was hosted on 19 June 2011 and saw pop artists such as; JLS, McFly, The Saturdays and Eliza Doolittle perform at the theme park.

Another concert was held at Alton Towers on 6 July 2011 which featured The Black Eyed Peas as the main act and had supported acts such as LMFAO, Labrinth and Parade. The Black Eyed Peas announced that this would be their last U.K. performance as they would be taking an indefinite break.^[27]

February Half Term[link]

The theme park traditionally opens selected attractions during February half-term in the closed season, prior to the main opening in March. The 2012 event ran from 11–19 February 2012 and included a selection of thrill and family rides. Although there were difficulties on the first day of opening the park managed to get Air (roller coaster) working. Full list

Scarefest[link]

The park's major annual event is 'Scarefest' which celebrates Halloween with a number of temporary scare maze attractions, costumed characters and extended opening hours to 9:00PM. Many rides and areas are lit with coloured lighting at night, with rides operating in the darkness after dusk. The Scarefest event has been running since 2007, although the park started celebrating Halloween with decoration several years before. This year's Scarefest will run from 13-14 October and 19–31 October 2012.

Current seasonal attractions- as of 2011[link]

• Terror of the Towers - What Lies Within, a long scare maze situated inside the Towers themselves, first introduced in 2002. This attraction has seen several different incarnations since its debut. A new format was introduced in the 2009 Scarefest event, along with the new tagline "What Lies Within" replacing "Bloodfest Banquet". Visitors queue outside in Her Ladyship's Gardens, and the attraction itself starts in the derelict Conservatories. Batches of guests watch a short pre show video showing two men exploring inside the Towers in search of ghosts. The video then unexpectedly cuts short, and guests enter the Towers in order to find them. At certain points in the maze, the bodies of the two men are each seen hanging from a noose. Visitors become lost in the lengthy corridors and themed scenes in the Towers, with live actors pursuing them in every room. The finale to the attraction is a maze-like walkway that winds around actors in cages, with intense strobe effects.

• The Boiler House is a scare maze first introduced in 2008, and was situated next to the Alton Towers Hotel. Originally, the scare maze was based around an abandoned industrial facility and featured live actors in make up. This was changed in 2009, when a new storyline was added. The scare maze is now based around the fictional "Hamble Twins" serial killers hiding in the industrial building, and visitors have to escape them as they are chased through the scenes. Visitors queue outside, past a van labelled "Alton News 24", from which television screens play news reports on the activity of the serial killers. Guests then walk through a covered walkway, which hides the marquee that the maze is contained in from view. Once inside, a man appears and warns guests about the dangers of coming inside. The murderers then appear and kill him, before chasing visitors away. Each of the Twins are played by two different actors wearing the same grotesque, latex mask. They appear at different points in the maze, creating the illusion that one character is in several places at once. Dim lighting and scent effects are heavily used. For the 2011 Scarefest, The Boiler House moved along with the Carnival of Screams to the X Sector, where they both shared the old Black Hole tent. It has since been announced that The Boiler House will not return for next years scarefest.

• Carnival of Screams is a scare maze that opened for the first time during the 2010 Scarefest event. During its debut at the 2010 Scarefest, the Carnival of Screams shared the same temporary building as the Boiler House. The attraction was entered through a large clown face with enhanced horrific features, but was relocated with the Boiler House to the X-Sector area inside the park for the 2011 event. The maze is a mixture of funny "laugh out loud" moments and serious scares. The music used during the scare maze is the Toy Land Tours music that has been slightly warped for dramatic effect (Toyland Tours was a former attraction at the resort). John Wardley is known to have contributed heavily to the development of this Scarefest attraction.

• "Zombie Scarezone" is a new for 2011 walk through scare zone themed to a nuclear fallout where zombies roam the earth. This was located on the path between Sonic Spinball and X-Sector.

• "TH13TEEN: After Dark" features an enhanced queue line experience for Alton Towers' newest roller coaster, including fog and lighting effects as well as live actors.

Past seasonal attractions[link]

• Terror of the Towers. The first incarnation of this long-running annual scare maze was introduced in 2002, and was located in the Towers ruins themselves. Many scenes from the original maze are still used every year. Visitors walked through the long, winding corridors of the Towers, through many different themed scenes, whilst being pursued by live actors. The finale featured a winding pathway around actors behind fences, who lunged towards visitors, accompanies with heavy strobe effects. Terror of the Towers returned for the 2003 season, but was completely restructured and gained the new tagline and theme "Bloodfest Banquet".

• Terror of the Towers - Bloodfest Banquet was a new version of the successful Terror of the Towers scare maze, running from 2003 to 2008.^[28] It retained much of the original version, but featured new scenes that included scripted dialogue from the several characters, and a new storyline was added. The strobe maze finale was moved to another point in the maze and replaced by a new ending, in which visitors become trapped in a small room with cages on every side, as actors reach for them through the metal bars for almost a minute. Every year, Terror of the Towers kept changing slightly with revised scenes and new scares.^[29] However, for the 2009 Scarefest event, Terror of the Towers was once again completely rethought, with the tagline "What Lies Within". The new incarnation drops the scripted scenes and characters; meaning it is similar to the original Terror of Towers of 2002. The whole layout for the maze was also reversed, with what was previously the entrance becoming the exit.

• Room 13 was first introduced in 2006 and was located in the conference room of the Alton Towers Hotel.^[30] It was only available to guests of the hotel, who were lead around the maze as many live actors appeared to scare them. Room 13 had positive reviews and returned in 2007, but was replaced by The Boiler House in 2008.

• Field of 1000 Screams was first introduced in the 2007 Scarefest event and was the first maze at Alton Towers not situated inside a pre-existing building.^[31] The Field was located entirely outdoors in a moderately sized field of maize, which had to be planted especially for the event several months earlier. It was based around the fictional village of Altonville, that had supposedly become overrun by zombies. Visitors walked down a long pathway cut through the corn, and encountered various characters and scares along the way, before the finale took place. Each year the maze developed slightly with different scenes, with the storyline continuing on from the previous year's backstory. The Field of 1000 Screams was received with positive reviews in its first few seasons, but did not return for the 2010 event.

• Haunted Hollow Live was first seen in 2007 and consisted of several sinister, costumed actors performing along the Haunted Hollow walkway in Gloomy Wood. The attraction was similar to Duel Live, which was introduced the year later. Haunted Hollow Live returned for the 2008 Scarefest event, but was cancelled for 2009 because of incidents involving actors being attacked.

• Duel Live was first introduced in the 2008 Scarefest event. Throughout this period, the park's haunted house dark ride, Duel, became host to this attraction, which included several live actors situated around the ride circuit. Duel was available to ride normally until 12PM, when the laser guns and LED targets were switched and the actors took their positions. This was changed in 2009, when Duel Live took place throughout the whole day and many more actors than the previous year were present. Duel Live was aimed at the family audience, and included such features as new music playing throughout the ride (instead of the usual Duel theme music), as well as a butler or maid who would welcome you inside the house. The attraction was changed slightly for the 2010 season and is now based around the park's Scarefest mascots.

• Skelvin's Haunted Adventure was a newer version of Duel Live, introduced in 2010, and took over Duel - The Haunted House Strikes Back! throughout Scarefest. As in previous years, the attraction included live actors situated at different points around the ride. The laser guns and LED targets were switched off during this time. The ride was based around the Scarefest mascots, notably the character of "Skelvin".

Adrenalin Week[link]

Adrenalin Week has run since the 2005 season, but had a break in 2008 after low attendance during the 2007 event. From 2–7 November 2009, the park's ten biggest thrill rides (including Air, Nemesis, Oblivion, Rita-Queen Of Speed and Enterprise) were in operation for the last time in 2009, with admission to the park costing just £10 in advance or £15 on the day. The event did not run in 2010. A similar event ran in 2011 but it was not called the "Adrenalin Week", however low price entry was granted with similar rides open to previous years.

Winter[link]

The Splash Landings and Alton Towers hotels are open throughout Winter. Visitors can still enjoy Cariba Creek water park, Extraordinary Golf and Spa while most of the theme park is closed. Selected areas are open in Winter for the Christmas event, in which the Old McDonald's Farmyard area of the park is decorated for the special occasion and home to real reindeer.

Fireworks[link]

From the 1990s, Alton Towers hosted an annual fireworks event on the Great Lawns, which often attracted tens of thousands of visitors. The displays, although stunning, were considered disruptive by some, which led to complaints from local residents. Two local residents, Suzanne and Stephen Roper, decided to take the theme park to court regarding this issue. The court issued Alton Towers with a noise abatement order in October 2005, this restricted the theme park to three shows a year, previously five, with noise readings not exceeding 40 decibels outside the park.^[32] This led to the park temporarily abandoning the fireworks event. However, the 2010 season finished with an impressive fireworks and laser show, which ran from 5–7 November, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the theme park. The park hosted the event again in 2011 and was open until 9pm; with most major rides open.

It is also of note that the Earl of Shrewsbury made use of fireworks as part of the Grand Fetes held at Alton Towers in the 1890s,^[33] when Alton Towers was still a stately home.

The Ultimate Event[link]

Every year, usually in May, Alton Towers plays host to The Ultimate Event. It consists of "a day of fun and live pop music." People can spend the day in the park before going to a concert at the end.

80s Disco[link]

On 23 May 2010 Alton Towers Resort had an 80s Disco to celebrate thirty years of the park. Featuring a concert with 1980s pop stars including 'Kim Wilde', 'Midge Ure', 'Bananarama' and 'Rick Astley'.

Controversy[link]

• A marketing strategy encouraging workers to call in absent in order to visit the theme park was heavily criticised by business groups.^[34]

• Relations with the local community were harmed when Alton Towers significantly reduced the number of free tickets it provides to local residents as compensation for the heavy traffic the theme park attracts to the small local village roads.^[35]

• On 20 July 2006, an accident involving the Runaway Mine Train occurred near the tunnel area of the ride. The train separated into two, with the two sections colliding after the first section rolled back (or "valleyed"). Three people were taken to hospital while another 26 were treated for minor injuries.^[36] The ride remained closed until 2007. See Incidents at European parks for more information on accidents that occurred at Alton Towers

• The park was subject to media coverage over its decision to slaughter its livestock from the Old McDonald's Farmyard area due to the Foot and Mouth disease outbreak in 2001.^[37] The slaughter was deemed necessary as the park would have been unable to open to the public if the animals remained, and livestock movement restrictions prevented them from being removed from the theme park itself. The RSPCA criticised the action, saying other options should have been examined.^[38]

• In July 2006 a story broke that Alton Towers had been hired out for the day by a Muslim group, so people of Muslim faith could attend the resort for the whole day and perform prayers and other Islamic activities.^[39] It was, however, attacked by critics as an example of political correctness.^[40] It was discovered that the same day had already been booked for a wedding for a non-Muslim couple and their 60 invited guests. The couple were told they were allowed to attend the day, but had to respect the Muslim rules.^[41] The event was eventually cancelled due to lack of interest.

• In October 2006, 15 out of 19 fast food outlets, and an independently run KFC failed local council health inspections.^[42]

• In August 2009, Alton Towers hit the press with its decision to ban men from wearing Speedo style swimming briefs.^[43]

• The Sun published an article on 29 July 2010 stating that the resort had banned sexual intercourse in certain sections of the hotels, because "a string of families moaned to staff that they were kept awake by noises from neighbouring rooms".

Restrictions[link]

Alton Towers is set in a dedicated Conservation Area, which puts a restriction on the height of any ride or building development in the park. It has been agreed with the local council that no buildings should be built above the tree line and if so should be disguised to fit the landscape; this can be seen on the ride Rita, where part of the track is painted dark green to fit in with the trees.

Noise pollution is also a problem for the park due to the close proximity to the villages of Alton and Farley. There have been several cases where Alton Towers have been taken to court over the noise levels emitted from the park and have been served noise abatement orders in 2004 and 2005.

Court Cases[link]

On 3rd May 2012 a couple from the local village of Farley won the rights to a full High Court trial on the amount of noise generated by the park. The couple have been in a legal battle with the park for nearly a decade, and during this period succeeded in a noise abatement order on the theme park which lead to the audio from the top of the Oblivion drop to be removed, and Alton Towers having to limit the amount of Annual fireworks displays to only 3 a year.

Stephan and Suzanne Roper, who live only 100 yards from the park, say that their lives have been made a misery by the noise of the screams as well as Fireworks Displays and Music. They first launched their legal fight in 2002, but after years of wrangling, their claim for an injunction and damages was thrown out in January 2011. Judge Mr Justice Hickinbottom later overturned that decision, bringing the claim back. This now paves the way for a full court hearing. The Ropers will seek an injunction forcing the park owners to close or relocate some rides and an order forcing them to pay damages for noise suffered from 1998 to the present. ^[44]

See also[link]

• List of theme parks in the United Kingdom
• Merlin Entertainments (Alton Towers parent company)
• Incidents at European parks

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Alton Towers

• Alton Towers Official website
• Lost Heritage: full architectural history of the house
• Description of Theme Areas
• 1930 film of Alton Towers
• Heraldry at Alton Towers