2024 is truly the year of Forbidden Valley! The return of Nemesis has got us all talking, and with the additional question of what Alton Towers Resort are planning to add with Project Ocean, the valley is certainly the place to be in the seasons ahead! Therefore, it seems the perfect time to look back over the history of this twisted post-apocalyptic wasteland that is currently home to one of the UK’s most loved roller coasters, and has historically been home to so much more! So let’s flick backwards through the book to where it all began, 34 years ago in 1990…
The Thunder Valley Era
Thunder Looper
In 1990, something new arrived in the far corner of Alton Towers – a shuttle loop launched coaster built by Schwarzkopf, called Thunder Looper. Originally opening at Kings Dominion as King Kobra in 1977, Thunder Looper was the very first Shuttle Loop to be built by Schwarzkopf. Thunder Looper utilised the weight-drop propulsion method where a 40-tonne weight was dropped down a shaft providing the kinetic energy required to launch the train out, and back, through the layout. The roller coaster was situated in the ditch that is now home to The Blade, which we will get to shortly, but even with this sunken position, the fate of Thunder Looper was sealed by its visibility over the treetops and its noisy nature, and so it left the park in 1997!
New Beast and The Beastie
In 1992, the New Beast was moved from its original home in Talbot Street to the lower end of Thunder Valley. This Schwarzkopf Jet star, formerly called The Beast, featured an electric spiral lift hill and a twisted layout traversed by cars in which riders sat in single file, one behind the other. New Beast received a full refurbishment at the Schwarzkopf factory in the 91/92 closed season, and returned to the park and its new home in Thunder Valley where it operated until it left Alton Towers at the end of 1997!
Thunder Looper and New Beast were joined in Thunder Valley by the park’s Pinfari Super Dragon, Beastie, rounding out a line-up that supplied fun and thrills for all the family! Located next to the area’s entrance, the Beastie was a firm favourite amongst younger thrill seekers, and it remained in the area until 1996 when it moved to Adventureland.
Thunder Valley amazed guests with its collection of thrill-tastic rides, and between 1990 and 1993 all was calm in the area, that was until excavations and works in the area discovered something wonderful, something horrifying, something alien, something… Nemesis!
Routine maintenance awakens something horrifying
During routine Maintenance in the Thunder Valley area of the park, Alton Towers disturbed something that had lain dormant for many millennia. Thought to be from outer space, this creature went on a rampage after it was stirred from its slumber, ripping up trees, destroying the landscape, and smashing buildings. A top secret military force, known as The Phalanx, were deployed to solve the problem, and after much difficulty, the beastly being was restrained using a complex web of metal, pinning the beast into a crater. This is the origin story for a certain ride we will touch on next, and it is here that Thunder Valley meets its demise.
The Forbidden Valley Era
For the 1994 season, the area that was once known as Thunder Valley was renamed to Forbidden Valley, a post-apocalyptic wasteland packed full of character, charm, and truly one of the most unique and immersive themed areas the country had ever seen. At the time of its opening, home to four unique roller coasters, Forbidden Valley was host to the theming and specific experience that turned Alton Towers from a collection of rides and attractions into one of the country’s best theme parks.
The Beast Awakens
Nemesis was the name of a B&M Inverted roller coaster built at Alton Towers, opening in March 1994. Born of the collaboration of John Wardley, Walt Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, and code-named Secret Weapon 3, Nemesis would go on to become the most iconic roller coaster in not only the park, but also the country. Built by blasting away tonnes of stone with explosives in order to build a large scale thrill coaster despite the height restrictions the park had to work within, which remains the case today, Nemesis snaked it way around its alien captive, diving through the trees and into tunnels, over blood red waterfalls and into a complex web of paths and rock work. Without a doubt the magnum opus of the resort at the time and to this day, Nemesis blew people away with its comfort, intensity, four impeccable inversions and incredible roar, something that could be heard across Forbidden Valley!
Nemesis stood at Alton Towers until 2022, when the ride reached the end of its serviceable life after 28 years of thrilling riders. On the last day of the 2022 season hundreds of enthusiasts lined up to take one final ride on the beast, and to say goodbye to this truly incredible ride. In an evening that will go down in history as one of the best celebrations to date of a roller coaster’s life, Nemesis truly went out not with a whimper, but with its incredible roar.
The world’s ‘most intense ride experience’ was removed over the 2022 / 2023 closed season, and with that the book was closed on this incredible roller, ah. More on that later… Let’s not get ahead of ourselves shall we.
Ripsaw and The Blade arrive
1996 was the year Thunder Looper retired from Alton Towers, but it was also the day Forbidden Valley got two new and very fitting attractions. A truly remarkable looking Huss Top Spin arrived into Forbidden Valley, named Ripsaw, the ride featured saw blade theming and water jets, making for a ride that was as fun to watch as it was to ride.
In addition to this, Pirate Ship from Fantasy World (now X Sector) was moved up to Forbidden Valley and re-themed to The Blade, with this Huss Swinging Ship attraction placed in the ditch previously occupied by Thunder Looper. This placement provides a unique view of this otherwise fairly common attraction that really invites people in to watch riders faces as they swing back and forth. The Blade is the oldest attraction at Alton Towers – having arrived at the resort in 1980, 2024 marks the ride’s 45th season thrilling guests!
Unlike The Blade, Ripsaw was retired from the resort in 2015, with the site being used to host a pay-to-play attraction and later something a little more funky.
Take flight on Air, then soar into space on Galactica
In 2002, after five years of stability in Forbidden Valley, yet again the masterminds of John Wardley, Walt Bolliger and Claude Mabilliard were cooking up something fascinating. Looking to create a roller coaster experience that accurately mimicked the experience of flight, the trio developed the B&M Flying Coaster, the very first of which would arrive at Alton Towers as Air. Codenamed Secret Weapon 5, Air was originally announced as “Aerial Inversion Ride”, and on March 16th, Air opened to the public, eight years after John Wardley had first imagined the concept.
Boarding your seat, you pull down a large vest restraint and secure your legs, before the whole seating structure is lifted up on a hinge so you are facing the floor. From here, once you have assumed the position, you could fly through the air, gracefully floating through twists, turns and rolls allowing you to truly experience flight. Unlike the competing Vekoma Flying Dutchman model where you would travel up the lift hill backwards lying down on your back, Air was revolutionary in allowing you to experience the entire roller coaster in the prone flying position!
Air received a new theme and VR experience for the 2016 season, and would be re-themed to Galactica. Featuring VR headsets showing a journey through space and the addition of a small number of theming structures to the ride, Galactica allowed guests to have an all new experience on this B&M Flying Coaster. Sadly, following many technical issues and guest feedback, Alton Towers retired the VR aspect of Galactica, and today the ride simply retains its new name and theming structures, but providing a very similar experience to when the attraction first opened in 2002.
Dynamo’s short visit
2002 also saw the arrival of Dynamo to Forbidden Valley. This Huss Breakdance was formerly located in Ug Land as Dino Dancer, and even earlier as AstroDancer within Fantasy World, before joining Forbidden Valley for what would ultimately be the ride’s final years in operation at the resort. Despite a fresh coat of paint, the ride’s age was hard to conceal, and after a very lacklustre 2003 season of very intermittent operations, Dynamo closed for good, being sold to Mondial for refurbishment and ultimately a return to the funfair circuit on the continent.
Return of The Phalanx
2011 saw the return of Phalanx operatives to Forbidden Valley, following the discovery of something curious during routine assessments of the Nemesis Creature. What followed, was the construction of a secure military establishment, and the creation of what would become known as Nemesis Sub Terra. One third drop ride, one third dark ride, and one third scare maze, Nemesis Sub Terra was a unique attraction, the likes of which certainly hadn’t been seen before in the UK!
The experience began with a pre-show video, introducing you to the work undertaken at the Phalanx facility, how they have recently unearthed an egg from the Nemesis creature, and how they are studying it and looking to learn from it. You enter into a lift and journey down into the laboratory, where you are greeted by four rows of seats, each attached to an ABC Rides drop tower system. The show then commences and (to not spoil it all) some ‘stuff’ happens, which means you then have to quickly escape back to the surface and through some lightly spooky corridors before emerging back into the safety of Forbidden Valley!
After opening in 2012, the ride operated until 2015, when Nemesis Sub Terra became standing but not operating, the building ultimately being used for a few Scarefest events as Project 42, before then returning to its SBNO status, forgotten where it stands, and left… until?
Forgotten Valley
It’s clear to everyone that from 2015, Forbidden Valley simply existed at the park. Whilst always a part of the park that fans flocked to for laps on the ever brilliant Nemesis, there was nothing new to write home about, and what was present didn’t receive love. Truly, with the gaping hole left by Ripsaw, the leftover remains of Galactica, it felt as though what was once the beating heart of Alton Towers had fallen by the wayside, loved for what it is, but cursed to remain slowly crumbling from the weight of its former glory.
2021 saw the arrival of The Retro Squad at Alton Towers and specifically Funk’n’Fly in Forbidden Valley, a Super Trooper travelling ride with a lighting package and array of interesting audio to accompany it. While it contributed to additional capacity to the theme park during the Covid-19 Pandemic, something that is hard to ignore the value of, it also detracted from the atmosphere of Forbidden Valley in equal measure. Slowly, the very nature of Forbidden Valley faded, until it simply existed, home to a great roller coaster, a swinging ship, Galactica, and very little else.
Then all of a sudden, on a dark evening in November 2022, something happened that would re-write the very history of Forbidden Valley, something so well executed that it sparked what can only be thought of as the start of The Forbidden Valley Renaissance.
The Forbidden Valley Renaissance
In early 2022, a planning application was submitted detailing Alton Towers’ plan to re-track the legendary Nemesis. Utilising the same design, the iconic coaster was to be entirely removed, re-fabricated, and rebuilt, preserving the legacy of this roller coaster for another generation to enjoy. Naturally, this was exciting, but no one was prepared for the levels of excitement that would follow. September 2022 brought the official confirmation from the Resort, via The Phalanx, that Nemesis would be closing at the end of the 2022 season in order to be refurbished for the 2024 season.
On 6th November 2022, Forbidden Valley as we knew it would change forever. After years which saw little change in the valley, the beating heart of Alton Towers once again flowed with creativity, passion, energy and excitement. Not only was Alton Towers re-tracking Nemesis, but Nemesis was going to be entirely reimagined. Announced during a special ending to the Resort’s annual firework display, The Phalanx took over the theme park, declaring suspicious activity had been identified at Nemesis, and in the snap of a finger the entirety of Forbidden Valley was abuzz with Phalanx operatives exploring, testing, and examining Nemesis. Crowds of enthusiasts, fans, and park-goers rushed to Nemesis for their final ride, with the queue stretching back as far as Duel (now The Curse at Alton Manor). Not only was the love the world had for Nemesis visible, but so was the love the resort, and the people who work in it, had for this iconic roller coaster. It’s hard to truly encapsulate what that moment means for fans of Alton Towers and fans of Nemesis, but knowing that the park took interest in preserving something that meant so much to so many of us, meant more than any new RMC Hybrid Hyper Cross-Valley Coaster ever could.
What would follow that fateful evening is a year and a half long marketing campaign, incorporating the removal of the original Nemesis, the arrival and installation of the all-new Nemesis track, and the return of Nemesis Sub Terra in May of 2023 following eight years standing but not operating. Sneak peaks and a meticulously crafted and truly creative campaign has had us on the edge of our seats, anticipating what was waiting to be discovered and questioning what was the truth we were meant to seek. Of course it all culminated in the announcement that Nemesis isn’t just coming back, Nemesis is being Reborn and will reopen on Saturday 16th March! This brings us neatly to today, in the last weeks before the start of the 2024 season, where it’s been possible to spot sneak peaks of testing trains from the car park, spectacular armoured structures through fences and hear the roar of Nemesis once again.
As Nemesis prepares for its next stint of introducing another generation of enthusiasts to this beautiful hobby, we thought we had seen it all, and were ready to be reintroduced to the all-new Forbidden Valley, in all its black and red veiny goodness. Little did we know that Alton Towers had one more trick up their sleeves, and, on 8th February, we were introduced to it with the submission of a planning application for Project Ocean. Not only was Nemesis being reborn, reimagined for the next 30 years, but the plot of land that Ripsaw was removed from in 2015, and had been temporarily occupied by a travelling flat ride, was going to be home to a new attraction. As of right now very little is known about the project, but what is known is that it will stand 18m above ground level, feature two large theming structures, and be the first permanent truly thrilling flat ride Alton Towers have installed since Submission in 2001.
We can say that Forbidden Valley is back, veinier than ever, and in 2024 we can all sit back in confidence that the place, that for so many of us was instrumental in the development of our passion and love for theme parks, is firmly in good hands.
