The History Of Alton Towers Resort

The History of Alton Towers Resort

John Broome (1980-1990)

The first decade in the parks history was led by John Broome. The park was transformed from a estate and fairground to more of a theme park. Major additions included Corkscrew in 1980, The Flume in 1981 and the Black Hole in 1984 and Congo River Rapids in 1986 that all put the park on the map in England and for thrill seekers around the world. Along with lots of permanent rides being put in most of the parks infrastructure was created such as Towers Street and the Monorail. The best addition in my opinion was the Corkscrew as it put the park on the map and created the park we all know and love today. 

Pearsons Tussauds (1990-1998)

Potentially the most iconic era for the park and enthusiasts was the Pearsons Tussauds era. Pearsons bought the park for £60 million and added many additions during its tenure. Many of there additions are still staples at the park including Runaway Mine Train, Duel, Nemesis and Oblivion. The company also was the first to really implement themed areas as well as themed rides. The investment also came out of the park as it was turned into a resort with the addition of the Alton Towers Hotel in 1996, a 180 room hotel attempting to the park into a multi day experience. Other rides such as Ripsaw and Toyland Tours were added but are both sadly now not in the park. The company was also the first to implement the secret weapon programme with SW3 and 4.The best addition in my opinon was the B&M inverted coaster Nemesis which really put the park on the map globally rather than just in the UK.

Charterhouse Tussauds (1998-2005)

When Charterhouse took over Pearsons and Tussauds for £300 million they also took over the resort. Major additions included Hex, Air and Rita as well as attractions no longer with us such as Submission and Nickelodeon Outta Control. The new owners carried on the multi day park goal with the 216 room Splash Landings Hotel and the Alton Towers Waterpark in 2003 and the Alton Towers Spa the year after. The park had some great additions at the start with high levels of theming such as Hex and Oblivion but started to introduce lower quality additions such as Rita and Spinball Whizzer which seemed more temperate than the previous coasters. The best addition in my opinon was the world class dark ride Hex which still holds up to this day. 

DIC Tussauds (2005-2007)

The UAE based company only owned the park for three years and made a handful of additions after buying it for £800 million. None of there rides are still at the park other than the Cuckoo Cars Driving School. They also added the crazy golf course. The biggest addition was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory which was a major disappointment for most enthusiasts. The company added the Haunted Hollow walk through which is a high quality themed shortcut to Gloomy Wood, this is what I believe was the best quality addition and is definitely something you should check out and use when visiting the resort.

Merlin Entertainments (2007-Now)

Merlin are the current owners of the park and bought it for £1 billion as well as many other UK and European attractions. Merlin have made many high quality rollercoasters such as Th13teen, The Smiler and Wickerman as well as new areas such as Mutiny Bay, CBeebies Land and Dark Forest. Other new attractions they added include Sharkbait Reef, Battle Galleons, The Alton Towers Dungeon and Nemesis Sub Terra. Although the company has potentially had the hardest time out of all of them with the Smiler incident in 2015 they have been rebuilding the park up to its old standards and many say the park is as close as it has been to the 1990's in years. They have added 3 hotels and an aerial assault course. The best addition in my opinion is Wickerman which is a great themed experience with a good ride attached.

Thank you for reading this blog and I'd love if you'd be able to follow my Twitter @corkscrewcoast as I will be doing lots of Alton Towers content to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the park.