Alton Towers is a theme park located in Alton, Staffordshire, England, UK. It opened on 4 April 1980 and has since grown into one of the largest theme parks in the UK with around 2.3 million guests as of 2022.[1]
History
Alton Towers was originally purchased in 1412 by the Talbot family (Earls of Shrewsbury), who over the years built a number of properties on the site. The stately home that remains today was built around 1810 for Charles Talbot, 15th Earl of Shrewsbury. The grounds were later opened to the public in 1860 to raise money for refurbishing parts of the house. During the 1890's the 20th Earl of Shrewsbury started to host summer fates which drew crowds of around 30,000 visitors. After the earl and countess separated in 1896 Alton Towers started to decay when the earl stopped paying for upkeep.
After 700 years of being owned by the same family, in 1918 the majority of the estate was sold off by auction with the remaining parts and the house being sold in 1924 to a local group of businessmen who formed Alton Towers Ltd. They worked on restoring the grounds and reopening it to the public. During the Second World War, Alton Towers was used as an officer cadet training camp.
The grounds at Alton Towers were reopened to the public following the war where a number of attractions were built over the following decades including a miniature railway, indoor model railway, boating lake, chairlift, and a small fair.
In 1973 the controlling stake on Alton Towers was purchased by millionaire property developer John Broome, who began to install various permanent rides. In 1980 it became a theme park following the opening of the Corkscrew.[2]
In 1990 Broome sold the park to The Tussauds Group who started to rapidly expand the park. The Tussauds Group was sold to capital venture firm Charterhouse in 1998, who later sold the Tussauds Group to Dubai International Capital in 2005 for £800 million.[3] In May 2007 the Blackstone Group purchased the Tussauds Group for £1 billion and merged it with its subsidiary Merlin Entertainments.[4] In July 2007 Alton Towers was then sold to investment firm Prestbury for £622 million who continued to lease the park to Merlin Entertainment under a 35-year renewable lease.[5] In 2019 Merlin Entertainments was brought by Kirkbi Invest, the private investment firm of Kirk Kristianson, whose family owns the LEGO group.[6]
The opening of the park in 2020 was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic and the opening of the new Gangsta Granny: The Ride pushed back to 2021. On 6 June 2020, the park reopened its gardens. The park reopened fully on 4 July of that year.[7]
Roller coasters
Upcoming (1)
| Class | Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Status | Secret Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roller | Unnamed CBeebies Land coaster[8] | Unknown | Kiddie | 2026 | Planned | N/A |
Present (10)
| Class | Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Status | Secret Weapon |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roller | Galactica | Bolliger & Mabillard | Flying | March 16, 2002 | Operating | Secret Weapon 5 |
| Roller | Nemesis Reborn | Bolliger & Mabillard | Inverted | March 19, 1994 | Operating | Secret Weapon 3 |
| Roller | Oblivion | Bolliger & Mabillard | Diving | March 14, 1998 | Operating | Secret Weapon 4 |
| Roller | Octonauts Rollercoaster Adventure | Zamperla | Kiddie | March 21, 2015 | Operating | N/A |
| Roller | Rita | Intamin | Launched | April 1, 2005 | Operating | N/A |
| Powered | Runaway Mine Train | Mack Rides | Terrain | 1992 | Operating | N/A |
| Roller | Smiler | Gerstlauer | Sit-Down | May 31, 2013 | Operating | Secret Weapon 7 |
| Roller | Spinball Whizzer | Maurer AG | Spinning | March 27, 2004 | Operating | N/A |
| Roller | Thirteen | Intamin | Sit-Down | March 20, 2010 | Operating | Secret Weapon 6 |
| Roller | Wicker Man | Great Coasters International | Wooden | March 20, 2018 | Operating | Secret Weapon 8 |
Past (8)
| Class | Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Closed | Fate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roller | 4 Man Bob | Zierer | Sit-Down | 1985 | 1990 | Relocated to Pleasure Island Family Theme Park |
| Roller | Alton Mouse | Vekoma | Wild Mouse | 1988 | 1991 | Relocated to Idlewild & SoakZone |
| Roller | Beastie | Pinfari | Kiddie | 1983 | 2010 | Relocated to Barry Island Pleasure Park |
| Roller | Black Hole | Schwarzkopf | Enclosed | 1983 | March 5, 2005 | Relocated to Furuvik |
| Roller | Corkscrew | Vekoma | Sit-Down | April 4, 1980 | November 9, 2008 | Scrapped, Corkscrew element retained and moved within park |
| Roller | Mini Apple | Pinfari | Kiddie | 1982 | 1997 | Relocated to Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach |
| Roller | New Beast | Schwarzkopf | Sit-Down | 1988 | 1997 | Relocated to Divertido |
| Roller | Thunderlooper | Schwarzkopf | Launched Shuttle |
1990 | November 3, 1996 | Relocated to Hopi Hari |
Attractions
Operating
Standing but not operating
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opened | Closed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Skyride | POMA | Ropeway | 1987 | 2022 |
Under construction
| Name | Manufacturer | Type | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|
| Toxicator | HUSS Park Attractions | Suspended Top Spin | 2025 |
Closed
Images
-
The Corkscrew, honoured at the entrance to the park -
Smiler logo -
Galactica logo -
Wicker Man logo -
40 years logo, 2020
References
- ↑ "Global Attractions Attendance Report" (PDF). Themed Entertainment Association (TEA) and AECOM. Retrieved 9 September 2023.
- ↑ "Alton Towers Heritage". Merlin Entertainments.
- ↑ "Dubai firm buys Tussauds". BBC News. 23 March 2005.
- ↑ "Tussauds firm bought in £1bn deal". BBC News. 5 March 2007.
- ↑ "Alton Towers sold in £622m deal". BBC News. 17 July 2007.
- ↑ "Legoland owner Merlin Entertainments agrees £4.8bn offer". BBC News. 28 June 2019.
- ↑ "Alton Towers reopens parts of its grounds". InterPark.
- ↑ https://x.com/altontowers/status/1870129643770286327
External links
- Alton Towers on the Roller Coaster DataBase.
| Amusement parks owned/operated by Merlin Entertainments | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dungeon | |||||||||
| Eye | |||||||||
| Legoland | |||||||||
| Legoland Discovery Centre | |||||||||
| Madame Tussauds | |||||||||
| Peppa Pig Theme Park | |||||||||
| Water Parks | |||||||||
| Former | |||||||||