Friday, 24 April 2015 14:21

SW8 a Wooden Coaster?

The possibility of a wooden roller coaster at Alton Towers is one step closer as the popular theme park reveals plans for a new ride in Forbidden Valley.

In a document submitted to the local planning authority various details are given, including that the proposed ride would be of timber truss construction set within a wooden backdrop and foreground.

Previous plans for a wooden roller coaster at the park have included a cross-valley ride between Dark Forest and Forbidden Valley.

The proposal includes:

Demolitions and removal of existing buildings and ride structures. Construction of new ride including tunnels, ground level changes, maintenance building, station, shop and pre-show building all with combined maximum total floor area of 1130sqm, single storey building to maximum height of 6m and two storey to maximum height of 7.5m. The new ride would have a 14.5m maximum height above exisiting ground levels.

Three highpoints are identified in the plans and one or more of these would be enclosed with "sound tunnels". The plans also state that the park expects the new ride to bring in an additional 120,000 visitors annually along with a 5% increase in traffic.

If these plans are for the anticipated roller coaster project SW8, it would follow a long line of Secret Weapon projects including SW3 (Nemesis), SW4 (Oblivion), SW5 (Air), SW6 (Thirteen) and SW7 (The Smiler). The ride is expected to open in 2017.

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