CorkscrewCoasters

Ranking the Alton Towers Areas Alton Towers has many great themed areas, and some not so great. Since 1992 themed areas have been a staple of the park and along with Chessington the park pioneered themed areas in the UK. Here is my ranking of the nine themed areas at the resort. 9. X-Sector Rides based X-Sector is one of the top areas, with 2 of the parks biggest coasters there. But on theming the area lacks. Outside of the rides areas there is little theming, which is a shame as the Ministry of Joy theming which was added in 2013 has a lot of potential. The area was created in 1998 with the addition of Oblivion and is themed around a government test area. This area feels more focused on the rides and there is not much theming outside of that which is a shame.  8. Forbidden Valley Forbidden Valley, founded in 1994, is an area which has been falling since the closure of Ripsaw and Nemesis Sub Terra. Before that the area was full of attractions making the area really...

1994: The year of the rollercoaster It is a tradition in China to name years after animals. For example 2020 is the year of the rat and 2019 was the year of the pig. If this was done in the United Kingdom I have a suspicion that 1994 would be known as the year of the roller coaster. Here's why. 1994 saw the first real boom in the UK theme park industry with three of the biggest parks opening up rollercoasters. The three that opened were Nemesis at Alton Towers, The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Shockwave at Drayton Manor. At the time these were the three biggest coasters in the country and propelled the country onto the rollercoaster map of the world. Nemesis- When you think of rollercoasters in the UK, Nemesis at Alton Towers is usually one of the first you think of. The B&M invert, designed by John Wardley was the first secret weapon and was in the planning stages since 1990 and was originally meant to be a Togo Pipeline coaster. Luckily the park chan...

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 Ob...