Although the estate itself opened back on the 13th April 1860, we're saying fuck that shit and celebrating the day Alton Towers opened as a kick-ass theme park, which was on this very date, the 4th April 1980!
Just a quick crash-course history on the grounds of Alton Towers, the area started off as a private estate as previously mentioned, and as it moved owner to owner and into the early 20th century changes begun to take place that would benefit the owner in making more money from the land. First off a railway station was put in place, which would allow the public to visit the grounds and take in all its hoity toity beauty. A bunch of local estate agents saw potential in turning the grounds into a tourist attraction, and together they took control of the land and set up Alton Towers Ltd., and by the 1950s Alton Towers became home to a couple of fairground attractions to create a further draw of paying punters. By the 70s a man named John Boome married the daughter of Alton Towers' majority shareholder, and following this he bought out the final shareholders, and begun laying the foundations of what would become the Alton Towers we know today, putting in place permanent rides and attractions, leading up to the eventual grand opening of Alton Towers the theme park in 1980.
Alton Towers is regarded as the biggest and greatest theme park in the UK, beating out close competitors such as Chessington's World of Adventure and Thorpe Park, which along with every Legoland in existence, are owned by the same company who owns Alton Towers - Merlin Entertainments. One of the reasons it is held in such a high regard is the quality of its rides, a lot of which have been world firsts and record breakers, an enticing prospect to thrill seekers the world over.
One of the park's earliest rides, The Flume, once held the record as the longest flume ride in the world, with the whole experience lasting an impressive 6 minutes, all ending in a 26 metre drop at the end. Sadly The Flume has been long gone, but in its place now stands one of the park's newest additions, The Wickerman, which is not only Britain's first wooden roller-coaster to have been built since the Megafobia's construction in Wales in 1996, but it is also the park's highest ride, reaching a trouser browning 72 metres in height.
Another of the park's early attractions was the cherished Black Hole roller coaster, which took place in almost pitch black surroundings inside a tent, which led to a dozen or so injuries due to guests not bracing themselves for the sudden drops and sharp turns it featured. Black Hole was closed and sold off to a zoo in Sweden in 2007, and the site it once reigned supreme in remained vacant until April 2012 when The Smiler was opened, a ride which holds the world record for the most inversions on a ride, a whopping 14 of the fuckers.
Other records held by park rides include Thi3teen, which is not only the park's most expensive ride with its £15 million price tag, but it was also the world's first vertical freefall drop roller coaster, sending riders down 5 metres in total darkness. Oblivion, which is the fastest of the coasters at 68 MPH, was the world's first vertical drop roller coaster, with a drop degree of 87, the park's steepest drop which sends riders plummeting down 55 metres. You'd think then that Oblivion would then also have the highest g-force, but that place actually goes to Rita, which manages 4.7g with its launching speed of 100kph, as opposed to Oblivion's close but no cigar 4.5g.
There is also the hugely popular Nemesis, the park's most expensive ride at £10 million until the construction of Thi3teen, which was Europe's first legs free inverted coaster, which lasted just 90 seconds in ride time.
Last but not least for the records, there was also Air which was in operation from 2002 to 2016 before being tweaked and re-branded as Galactica, which was the world's first "flying" rollercoaster to be built by big time ride makers Bolliger & Mabillard, a ride that was 840 long and had top speeds of 75kmh.
Bolliger & Mabillard are actually responsible for the most attractions featured at Alton Towers, having been the team behind Air/Galactica, Oblivion, and Nemesis. Other attraction companies to lend their trade to the park include Maurer AG (responsible for the Hollywood Rip Ride Rockit in Universal Florida), and Intamin (the crew behind the world's fastest roller coaster at the Ferrari World park).
The park has also featured a bunch of tie ins with famous IPs, most of which are British-based, such as David Walliams world (why?) and the Cbeebies world, but they'd also rubbed shoulders with some heavy hitters, such as SEGA mascot Sonic the Hedgehog. The blue hog made his first apperance on the Toyland Tours attraction from 1994 to 2005, however he had his very own ride re-named in his honour, when the Spinball Whizzer was re-dubbed Sonic Spinball between 2004 and 2010. For a while there was also a Sonic the Hedgehog themed hotel room to stay in at the park, but sadly this too has ceased.
As well as Sonic branded goods, you won't find any big name fast food chains to eat at on site anymore, with the final big name brands (KFC and Burger King) closing their doors in 2011 and 2012 respectively. What you will find those is an abundance of Costas, because everyone loves Costas. No unhealthy fast food for me thanks, just a big caffeinated fatty beverage for me.
What you may also find at Alton Towers besides shitty coffees is musicians, because Alton Towers has been host to a few gigs in its time too. And boy, have they sure worked with the big names - Rick Astley, Bananarama, Tina Turner, The Black Eyed Peas, and P!nk. What a proud history of incredible artists.
But for all the fun the park has brought over the years, there are of course, the bad times. Alton Towers has found itself in court a couple of times over noise complaints for local residents, which to be fair are the least of its legal worries given its SkyRide has caught fire twice, and on one particularly windy day its cables got jammed and resulted in 80 riders having to be abseiled down to safety. Then of course there is the infamous incident involving The Smiler, in which an issue with a few too many trains on the circuit resulted in an empty one flying back and hitting an occupied one, resulting in multiple injuries, the worst of which resulted in two riders at the front of the cart to require leg amputations. Bummer.
But despite its few downfalls, Alton Towers is still pretty fuckin' cool, and so we honour it today, the anniversary of its opening.
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