Th13teen Behind the Scenes – Full Review

3 o clock, and a queue of eager Rollercoaster and Theme Park enthusiasts began to form by the gates of Alton Towers’ Hospitality suite. We were all gathering for the Th13teen evening, and from what we could already see, we were in for an amazing night. The usually bare marquee had been transformed into a makeshift crypt; covered in vines and camouflage nets; green and blue lighting; and a handful of wraiths wondering around the place. As we were let in, we were greeted by Wayne Burton, events manager, and were told to familiarise ourselves with whichever behind the scenes group we were in and then, we took our seats. Scattered around the room were many advertising posters, and mood boards used during the concept and planning of Th13teen, which made for interesting discussion, mainly due to the fact that all of the concept images were in fact of Wooden coasters. Were they really contemplating a Wooden Coaster for SW6?

The evening then started with a short talk with Alton Towers’ Sales and Marketing Director, Morwenna Angrove. She talked us through the plan of the evening, and apologised for the cancelling of the previous event, explaining that the site was just not ready or safe enough to let any public in. I can vouch for this, as when visiting the day before opening day, it did still look like a building site, and the place was teaming with engineers and managers. We were then told we had 20 minutes before John Wardley would begin his presentation, and were shown the Buffet that they had cooked for us. The food was lovely, with ‘Themed’ food such as ‘Slithers of flesh’ (Beef in a mushroom and paprika sauce) and ‘Feathered Demons with Forrest Poison’ (Chicken in a forest mushroom and tarragon sauce).

It was time for the main presentation, and everyone quickly waffled down their food, as John Wardley came on stage to a huge round of applause. It was evident that almost everybody in the room had the upmost respect for John. His presentation began with a discussion of Th13teen and its design. He discussed how they got around the height limit, in a rather humorous way, essentially hiding it by a Pine tree taller than The Corkscrew, and as always, he tried to take the attention away from himself, giving credit to the team at Merlin Studios, especially Candy Holland, the creative director for Merlin Entertainments. He further discussed the drop mechanism, which was in fact constructed in Budapest, so as to keep it as secret as possible. Apparently not even the people who constructed the pieces for it knew what it was! We then got to see a video of the drop in action, whilst still testing in Budapest. Morwenna was strapped in, and did indeed look very scared. It is quite surprising how massive the whole thing is, words cannot really describe how it looks, but something comparable to a house or two on top of each other. John then went on to discuss the Secret Weapon family, and how they all originated from an Arrow Pipeline Coaster called ‘secret Weapon’, although plans were scrapped due to John thinking the prototype was “Slow, cumbersome and boring” in Johns words. Word then caught on about the first Bolliger and Mabillard Inverted coaster at Great flags Great America, and John flew out to ride the ride, and loved it.

Next was a question and answer session with John and Morwenna, in which many rumours where cleared up. One man asked whether anymore effects where intended for Th13teens Crypt; to which John bluntly answered “No” and that was it. Another person asked about Morwenna and her marketing ploys, to which she did apologise, but explained that it was necessary, and it did bring in visitors, so therefore it obviously worked. Nobody could argue with that, even if us enthusiasts think it is unnecessary, they did what was meant to, and that is bring in visitors. A question on what will happen to the Black Hole tent got raised. Morwenna informed us that, either something will happen with it in 2012, or if not, nothing until after SW7, which will begin planning in 3 weeks time (3 weeks from June 19th), which will also have a 1.4m height restriction. Somebody also asked about the Wooden coaster that was planned back in 2003, and whether we will ever see one. Both Morwenna and john, explained about the planning issues involved with constructing anything in the valley, as the gardens are a protected site. They also stressed that they really do want a wooden coaster, and that they will keep on trying to get planning consent for one, but from a marketing position, according to research, it would not draw enough crowds. In a survey that they conducted regarding what type of coaster Th13teen should be, a wooden coaster came last, as most general public see them as either unsafe or boring.

It was time for the tours, and every ten minutes, a new group would be called to leave. Being in the fourth group, it gave me an opportunity to go and have a chat with John and Morwenna, who stuck around to answer any questions, sign autographs etc. Almost straight away, a massive queue formed to have a chat with John Wardley, and I must admit to feeling slightly bad for Morwenna, as she didn’t really have anyone to speak to, to start with. But I guess it was expected. John has been in the industry for many years, envisioned fabulous rides, and to most enthusiasts, he is like a god in the UK theme park industry. Whereas Morwenna has received much stick among enthusiasts, due to her rather over the top press releases during the construction of Th13teen. So it was my turn to speak with John, and although preparing many things to say and ask

him, I completely froze up and couldn’t think of what to say; in the end managing to blab on about how much I love him, and getting a Buffet menu signed. We were then called for our tour, and all wondered off towards Hex, the first tour of the evening, where we were greeted by one of Hex’s hosts, who was very friendly and enthusiastic. He gave us a, what seemed to be scripted speech, telling us about the ride, and how it is based on a true story (Which we all knew is only partly true). We took a walk through The Armoury, or indoor queue, which wasn’t that different with the lights on, due to there usually being adequate light coming through the windows. We got a few pictures of the control panel, and various scene objects, many of which I have not seen before, and moved on to The Cinema. There wasn’t much to see here, only a projector screen and a few white sheets, so we moved on to The Octagon. There was obviously a lot more to see in here, and I was rather impressed by the level of theming, and small details, that would usually not be noticed, either due to it being to dark, or being distracted by the video and effects (When working).

We then moved on towards the main room, past the bookcase, where we were held, whilst waiting for the previous group to finish their ride on Hex. We then got to enter the Vault, and have a ride on Hex with the house lights on, and all effects turned off. This provided for a rather strange experience. All the cracks and squeaks of the ride were audible, but the whole ride was rather dull; just enforcing the level of which the ride relies on all of the effects to be working. After taking some final geeky pictures of the vault, we made our way into the control room, where one of the ride ops explained to us the rather simple operation of the ride, and then asked whether anybody had any questions. Nobody seemed to have any; so I asked why all the effects were broken in the ride. Apparently he had been dreading being asked that question all evening; but he explained that things will be fixed, and that the park managers are trying their best to get them all working. Apparently they all love it as much as we do! He did say they hate to see it failing to impress, but they feel it would be better to keep the ride open, and let people experience it, rather than close it fully while it is being fixed. That being said, we were led outside the back of the building, and into the building that houses the vault. I was quite shocked at the sheer size of the vault, when viewed from the exterior. It is a large hexagonal rotating drum, driven by 8 small hydraulic drive tyres. The speed at which the room rotates is also very deceiving, seeming a lot faster than when actually riding Hex, and the synchronisation of the drum must be impeccable. It makes many little turns that are so well timed, that on the ride, you cannot notice them. That being said, there wasn’t a great deal to see here either, even though it was really cool; so we walked on over to Th13teen.

Once at Th13teen, we were greeted by two members of staff; who, much to everyone’s excitement, informed us that John Wardley would be taking us through a part of the tour. The first area we explored was the station and control room. There was a lady talking us through the controls; how block systems work; and using the pre-recorded announcements. We got to take some pictures from the control booth, and then climbed over the cars, and walked through an exit leading to the corner before the lift hill. Whilst stopped there I managed to have a chat with Morwenna, and express my disappointment at all the scaffolding covering the building. We discussed all of the budget issues, and in the end, I guess she won me around, and I do agree that it’s better than a metal tin shed. We then climbed a set of stairs, hidden behind the scaffolding, which led us to the bottom of the crypt. There, waiting for us, was the man himself, John Wardley, who greeted us in his usual friendly manner.

The theming in the crypt, though simple, does actually look a million times better with the lights on and when given time to have a proper look around. John proceeded to explain to us how the drop mechanism works. I think we were all a bit shocked, when he told us that the whole thing is moved via one Hydraulic piston, not any wider than your average football! It was interesting to see how incredibly large the pit containing the drop mechanism was. He also pointed out that the broken floorboards attached to the drop section are not there for theming, but rather to create a safety envelope, so as to not cause anyone to hit their arms if sticking them out to the side.

We then moved to the upper section of The Crypt, where it was pretty much the same as the lower level. There were some nice touches that I had not noticed before. Mainly the fake track leading towards the curtains, which I thought was rather good, adding to the surprise effect of the drop for people at the front. There were many random theming items such as boxes, ladders, wooden beams and even a spade; and I only wish that, when riding, the train remains in the crypt for a little longer. The little things really enhance the theme of the restoration of the towers, and not just a random castle with demons. We also got to have a look at the air blasters that fire during the false drop; they were just simple compressed air cylinders, with the supplying pipes cleverly concealed in the scaffolding poles. I’ll admit to being too preoccupied taking pictures, and didn’t listen to what the man in this room had to say, but I can’t imagine there being much to say, so don’t think I missed anything important.

We then walked back down the stairs, and entered the maintenance room; which was surprisingly clean and organised, as far as maintenance sheds go. We got to crouch under the storage track, seeing the undercarriages of the trains, and wheels, which only me and one other person were interested in. There were also piles of wheels and friction tyres on a cabinet, for all us wheel geeks, I would have loved to take one of them home. We were then held in the maintenance switch track area, waiting for the next group to pass. The Tesla Coil operating board was located here, as well as a rather, what seems to be useless space underneath Th13teens batching gates, with a single water dummy in it. We where then ready to move on to the switch track area; here a ride operator showed us the power pack they use to manually release the restraints in the event of a breakdown. He also briefly explained how the switch track works, and we were then able to take photos of whatever we wished. We then walked over to the main lift and bunny hill area. There, our tour guide told us how the trim breaks were constantly automatically changed according to the weight of the train, via pneumatic pistons, which I admit to not realising before. She briefly explained that the level of braking depends on the speed at which the previous few trains have passed the proximity sensors located around the course of the ride. We got to explore the area around the first bunny hill and the first banked turn. Whilst exploring the area, it is apparent that one day, the ride will ‘Ride through the Dark Forest’ like it says it will, as there are plenty of young trees planted all around the place. Once they have grown, I feel the overall outdoor section of the ride will be improved. We also got to have a close look at the rides camera, which scared me, due to me unknowingly setting it off, causing it to flash extremely fast in my face. I was not aware that it was motion activated. That was the end of the tour, and my brother and I hanged around until the last group, having a further look at everything and taking some more pictures.

The entire evening was an amazing experience. I really applaud Alton Towers for putting on such a great show, that realistically, none of us were expecting to be so good. The organisation of it all was superb; the presentation, both humorous in places, and informative; and the behind the scenes, so in depth. It was, by far, one of my greatest Theme Park experiences to date.