TIMELINE

Want to know what rides have come and gone over the years at Alton Towers? Well you've come to the right place. Here you will find a timeline of everything that's happened at the park (well everything I know of anyway).

Back to the History Section

LINKS

The Timeline

1983
The Circus Hassani opens in Ingestre Centre
1984
Ingestre Centre renamed to Aqualandand has new ride Octopus. Enterprise and Mini Dragon Rollercoaster open in Festival Park. The Black Hole replaces Dinosaur land and Turbo Star.
1985
4-man-bob coaster opens in Talbot Street. 1001 Nights and Ferris wheel open in Festival Park.
1986
Grand Canyon River Rapids opens in Aqualand. Spider, Wave Swinger, Magic Carpet Removed. Vintage Car Ride also opens.
1987
Teacup Ride and Swanboat Ride both open in Aqualand. Skyride station opens in Talbot Street (now Cred Street). The monorail opens connecting the park entrance to a car park at the rear of the grounds. Open Air Theatre, and Rupert Bear Magic Show close.
1988
Cine 360 in Aqualand is upgraded to a 3D Cinema. Alton Beast and Alton Mouse both open in Talbot Street. Planetarium Removed from The Towers. Black Hole 2 and Alpine Bob sleigh are removed.
1989
Talbot Street is slit into 3 sections Adventure land, Talbot Street and a second Festival Park. Adventure land consisted of Blue Carousel, Mini Apple Coaster, Carousel Corner. Talbot Street consisted of around the world in 80 days, Skyride Station, Doom and Sons, Talbot Theatre. Festival Park consisted of The Beast and The Mouse.
Tri-Star opens in Festival Park. Gravitron opens and Turbo Star is removed.
1990
Thunder Valley opens with hit ride Thunder Looper.
1991
Britannia Building changes its name to Society Farm.
1992
Aqualand is split into 4 different areas. Octopus is removed and Grand Canyon River Rapids entrance is moved to new area Katanga Canyon along with a name change to Congo River Rapids. Alongside the Congo River Rapids is new ride Runaway Mine Train. The Big Top is added to Kiddies Kingdom. The spit of Talbot Street in 1989 is reversed. The Beast is moved to Thunder Valley, The Mouse and Blue Carousel, Doom and Sons, 4-man-bob are removed. The Haunted House opens in new area Gloomy Wood. Society Farm changes its name to Safeway Farm.
1993
Talbot Street is renamed to Land Of Make Believe. Tri-Star is removed. Vintage Car Ride Moves to Land Of Make Believe.
1994
Thunder Valley is renamed to Forbidden Valley and features new ride Nemesis. Around the world in 80 days replaced with Toyland Tours, Magic Live Show. Music Power House opens.
1995
Peter Rabbit On Ice opens in the Big Top. Safeway Farm changes its name to Old Mac Donald’s Farm and opens a new Tractor Ride. Energizer opens in Festival Park. Miniature Golf is removed.
1996
Kiddies Kingdom is renamed to Storybook Land and the Squirrel Nutty Ride opens. Model Railway is removed from the Towers.
1997
Thunder Looper is replaced by Ripsaw and Blade (previously in Fantasy World under the name of Pirate Ship). Storybook Land is split in two to become Storybook Land and Adventure Land. Adventure Land contains The Beastie (moved from Forbidden Valley) and Storybook Land contains The Big Top and Squirrel Nutty Ride. In Land Of Make Believe Nickelodeon Outta Control opens, Exhibitions and Museums are removed, and the Mini Apple Coaster is removed. Astro Dancers is moved from Fantasy World to Festival Park.
1998
Land Of Make Believe is renamed to Cred Street. The New Beast is removed from Forbidden Valley. Fantasy World re-named to X-Sector. Oblivion opens, Enterprise and Energizer moved from Festival Park.
1999
Nickelodeon Outta Control is removed from Cred Street. Festival Park is re-named and re-themed to UG Land. Astro Dancers is now called Dino Dancers. Music Power House removed.
2000
Barney's Theatre and Playhouse opens in Cred Street. Hex opens in the Towers.
2001
Submission opens replacing Energizer, which is moved to UG Land and called Bone Shaker.
2002
Forbidden Valley recieves two new rides in the form of Air and Dynamo (previously Dino Dancers in UG Land). Storybook Land and Adventure Land are merged to become one area.
2003
The 3D cinema is given a new film to show. Barney's Theatre and Playhouse is replaced by The Tweenies. The Haunted House is replaced by Duel the Haunted House strikes back. Ribena Berry Bish Bash opens on Old Mac Donald's Farm.
2004
Spinball Whizzer, Altons first spinning coaster opens in Adventure Land. Low throughput and location near to the entrance plague the ride with constant huge queues even on quiet days. Gallopers Carousel is relocated to Cred Street and the Log Flume is rethemed to The Flume with new themeing sponsored by Cussons Imperial Leather. The Swan Boat Ride is replaced by Splah Karts, and the 3D Cinema shows its last film. Webmaster on Ice is also replaced by Circus of Illusions. In Cred Street the Vintage Car Ride is removed, and in Forbidden Valley after just 2 seasons Dynamo is removed.
2005
Rita: Queen of Speed opens, blasting riders from 0 - 100 kph in 2.5 seconds. It also breaks the world record for worlds smallest rocket coaster. UG Bugs is relocated from UG Land to Cred Street and renamed as Bouncing Bugs. After many years service the Black Hole is sadly closed, but remains in the park. Toyland Tours is also closed as work on re-themeing the ride to become Charlie and the Chocolate Factory begins.
2006
Toyland Tours has been re-themed and opens as new ride Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Cred Street Carousel and Vintage Cars are both removed.

back to top