Park People
www.parkworld-online.com
Towers. It's a back story; a story that you don’t actually need to understand. If you try to do be too clever, invariably your guests do not take it on board and you fail dismally. There was great fun and games on the internet though with people reading far more into the story than we ever meant!
TH13TEEN is the “world’s first freefall drop coaster.” Please explain what lies behind the bragging rights
During the drop sequence you enter the upper level of a crypt, the door closes behind you to give you a light seal, there is a false drop, then there is the main drop as the track falls and various special effects take place before you are blasted off backwards. The false drop is only a few centimetres, but it makes everyone scream and think that’s it, then the real drop occurs, which is quite significant, about 5 metres. We researched what sort of drop we would need, and we didn’t need a massive drop to achieve the right effect. You achieve weightlessness after a freefall of just a few metres, therefore it doesn’t mater whether it’s 5 metres, 10 metres or 20 metres, in the dark the effect is more or less the same.
How accommodating was Intamin in designing the freefall element?
They were very up for it, and in effect already had most of the technology. They had taken the panoramic tower at Heide Park and turned it into a freefall using magnetic brakes, so it was just a case of designing some very beefy hydraulics for the coaster and away we went.
You managed to keep details of the ride secret right up to the last minute. How important was this? It wasn’t just marketing hype, although that did have a lot to do with it. With nearly all coasters what you
Nemesis TH13TEEN
see is what you get, there is very little held back from the rider before they have actually ridden it, so we wanted to use the woodland to hide a little of what was to come. We were very keen not to spoil the surprise of the freefall. It’s rather like revealing the outcome of a whodunit before an audience has even watched the play. On Opening day, I think it was true to say that 99.9% of people who went on the ride got a complete shock when that drop occurred, and that made the ride unique. Since then word of mouth has got out, but that has just aroused even more curiosity.
How important is it co create a unique identity for each ride? Terribly important. One of the criteria that Merlin applies to any project when it comes to capital investment is that there needs to be a fundamental, compelling proposition to that attraction, which has to be more than just the mechanics of the ride.
Is this approach one of the reasons why Europe has avoided joining the Rollercoaster Arms Race?
There are a number of reasons why we’ve we avoided the Rollercoaster Arms Race and I’m ashamed to say one of those reasons is that we can’t get planning consent for many rides. That forces us to be much more creative than the Americans, who can basically throw anything up in the air with very little difficultly. So really the planners, God bless ‘em, are part and parcel of our success!
What projects do have lined up for the future?
I’m doing some Halloween stuff at the moment for Alton Towers, and I will be involved with the next few years of development for Merlin. There are big rides planned for Alton, we’ve got more for Thorpe Park, more for Heide Park; there are long terms plans and major capital investments for all the parks. I don’t do much outside the amusement industry any more; I’m almost retired and tend to choose what I want to do.
Timelapse video footage of the Corkscrew’s removal can be viewed at:
www.altontowersheritage.com/members/corkscrew.asp
AUGUST 2010 21
Alton Towers back to the ‘80s
Alton Towers marked its 30th anniversary with a special concert back in May featuring some the biggest names in music from the 1980s, when the park began. Headlining the one off-event was Rick Astley, joined by Bananarama, Kim Wilde, Midge Ure, Curiosity Killed the Cat and The Christians. “Reaching our 30th birthday is a momentous occasion,” remarked Alton Towers Resort’s sales and marketing director, Morwenna Angove. “The Corkscrew was an iconic attraction and Europe’s first double loop rollercoaster, so we wanted to mark the birthday with a celebration we could share with our guests, and this concert was the ideal way.” Alton Towers guests were able to enjoy the
performance as an added extra by pre-booking regular park admission. Further anniversary celebrations will take place throughout the remainder of the season.
www.altontowers.com
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