Alton Towers Resort is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park, water park, mini golf and hotel complex.
A roller coaster inversion is a roller coaster element in which the track turns riders upside-down and then returns them to an upright position. Early forms of inversions were circular in nature and date back to 1848 on the Centrifugal railway in Paris. These vertical loops produced massive g-force that was often dangerous to riders. As a result, the element eventually became non-existent with the last rides to feature the looping inversions being dismantled during the Great Depression. In 1975, designers from Arrow Development created the corkscrew, reviving interest in the inversion during the modern age of steel roller coasters. Elements have since evolved from simple corkscrews and vertical loops to more complex inversions such as Immelmann loops and cobra rolls. The Smiler at Alton Towers holds the world record for the number of inversions on a roller coaster with 14.
Legoland Windsor Resort, styled and also known as Legoland Windsor, is a theme park and resort in Windsor, Berkshire in England, themed around the Lego brand. The park opened on 17 March 1996 and is currently operated by Merlin Entertainments. The park's attractions consist of a mixture of Lego-themed rides, models, and building workshops targeted at children between three and twelve.
Rita, formerly known as Rita: Queen of Speed, is a launched roller coaster located in the Dark Forest section of Alton Towers amusement park in Staffordshire Moorlands, England. Designed by Intamin, the Accelerator Coaster model opened to the public on 1 April 2005. It features an acceleration from 0 to 98.3 km/h (61.1 mph) in 2.5 seconds. The ride is loosely-themed to a drag racing concept, which partly changed when the section of the park transformed from "Ug Land" into the "Dark Forest" in 2010, when the ride TH13TEEN was added into that section. It is now themed as an abandoned drag racer that is used as the escape cart to escape the Dark Forest.
Nemesis Reborn, previously Nemesis, is an inverted roller coaster located at the Alton Towers theme park in Staffordshire, England. It was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and designed by Werner Stengel, from a concept by park developer John Wardley. It opened in the Forbidden Valley area of the park on 19 March 1994.
The Incredible Hulk Coaster is a launched roller coaster located at Universal Islands of Adventure theme park within the Universal Orlando Resort. Designed by Werner Stengel and manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M), the roller coaster is themed after the Hulk comic book superhero and opened to the public on May 28, 1999. It is the first B&M coaster themed to a Marvel Comics superhero character and the first to feature a launch design, which was primarily implemented by Universal Creative and MTS Systems Corporation.
Colossus is a steel roller coaster at Thorpe Park in Surrey, England, and the park's first major attraction. It was built by Lichtenstein-based manufacturers Intamin and designed by Werner Stengel as an adaptation of Monte Makaya in Brazil. Colossus was the world's first roller coaster with ten inversions; an exact replica, called the 10 Inversion Roller Coaster, was later built at Chimelong Paradise in Guangzhou, China. It retained its title of having the most inversions on any other roller coaster in the world until The Smiler at Alton Towers took the record in 2013.
Oblivion is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The prototype Dive Coaster model from Bolliger & Mabillard opened to the public on 14 March 1998 and was marketed as the "world's first vertical drop roller coaster". With a maximum speed of 68 mph (109.4 km/h), it is the fourth fastest roller coaster in the UK, behind The Big One at Blackpool Pleasure Beach, and Stealth and Hyperia at Thorpe Park.
Galactica is a flying roller coaster located in the Forbidden Valley area of Alton Towers amusement park in Staffordshire, England. It originally opened as Air on 16 March 2002 and is the first flying coaster manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard. Guests ride in a prone position, meant to produce the feeling of flight, as the train passes close to the ground, under footpaths, and narrowly past trees and rocks. The ride was refurbished for the 2016 season and reopened as Galactica. It features an 840-metre-long (920 yd) track and reaches a maximum speed of 75 km/h.
Beastie was a steel family roller coaster made by Pinfari of Italy. The coaster was located in the Adventure Land area of Alton Towers in Staffordshire, England. The ride featured a tunnel and performed two laps of the circuit each run.
Corkscrew was a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers theme park, near Alton in the English shire county of Staffordshire, United Kingdom. Corkscrew was manufactured for Alton Towers by Dutch company Vekoma, engineered by Werner Stengel of German Ing.-Büro Stengel GmbH. The coaster was located in the Ug Land area, formerly called Talbot Centre. It was the theme park's oldest ride and considered one of the greatest factors in promoting the new theme park to the British public. It was the first double-inverting coaster in the UK and Europe, and was well received publicly in the 1980s.
Nemesis Inferno is a steel inverted roller coaster at the Thorpe Park theme park in Surrey, England, UK. The ride was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard, the same Swiss firm that built the Nemesis inverted roller coaster at Alton Towers.
Rameses Revenge was a Top Spin ride at Chessington World of Adventures Resort theme park in southwest London, England, introduced in 1995. It was the world's first top spin ride to feature a drown-upside-down element.
Thirteen is a steel roller coaster/haunted attraction/drop tower at Alton Towers in England. The ride was constructed by Intamin and opened on 20 March 2010. It is the world's first vertical freefall drop roller coaster, on which the track and train freefall approximately five metres in darkness. The ride replaced and is built on the former site of the Corkscrew, which resided at Alton Towers for 28 years between 1980 and 2008.
The Smiler is a steel roller coaster located at Alton Towers in Staffordshire, United Kingdom. The Infinity Coaster model from Gerstlauer set a world record for most inversions on a roller coaster when it opened in 2013, featuring 14 inversions that include dive loops, sidewinders, corkscrews, and other inverting elements. The ride was constructed in the X-Sector area of the park and underwent an extensive advertising campaign, during which it was codenamed Secret Weapon 7 (SW7).
Marauder's Mayhem is an operating spinning teacups ride at the British theme park Alton Towers. It is located in the pirate-themed Mutiny Bay.
The Flume was a Log Flume at Alton Towers in Staffordshire. It opened in 1981 and was rethemed in 2004 coinciding with its sponsorship by Imperial Leather. The ride was a bath time themed log flume with three drops. It was the longest log flume attraction in the world at the time of opening. The attraction closed in 2015 and was replaced by the Wicker Man rollercoaster.
Dynamo was a Huss Breakdance ride located in the Forbidden Valley area of the Alton Towers theme park. It was the first ride seen to the left when entering the area, and was opposite to Ripsaw, which was a Huss Top Spin.
Alton Towers is located near the village of Alton in Staffordshire, England. The former country estate was a former seat of the Earls of Shrewsbury. It is now a major theme park in the United Kingdom. In 2012, it attracted 2.4 million visitors, making it the most visited theme park in the United Kingdom and 9th most visited theme park in Europe. It employs in excess of 2,000 staff members during the summer months.
