Rides That Never Left The Drawing Board- Part 2 (Non-Disney)

If you read our previous post on Disney rides and attractions that were designed but never built, you’ll know that many attractions go through a few different drafts of an idea before finally building something. Parks outside of Disney (and maybe Universal) don’t do this as much, generally speaking, but it does still happen from time to time, so lets explore the rides and attractions of non-Disney parks that never make it off the ground!

Secret Weapons 1 and 2, Alton Towers

Have you ever wondered why Nemesis is known as Secret Weapon 3? What happened to Secret Weapons 1 and 2? Well, they did almost exist. After Thunder Looper, a Schwarzkopf Shuttle Loop installed at the park as a temporary attraction, was removed in the early 1990s, Alton Towers along with theme park designer John Wardley began looking for a new rollercoaster to fill the space. At the same time Arrow Dynamics had been working on a new Pipeline coaster model, having already created a prototype in their workshop, and the two companies were a perfect fit.

Or so they thought. Arrow were struggling financially at the time, and the Pipeline coaster really wasn’t ready to debut- technical issues weren’t fully ironed out and the design was constantly facing problems. On top of this, Alton Towers realised that those pesky height restrictions meant that the ride would only feasibly have a track length of 300ft, or 980 metres.

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For a while the project was abandoned, leaving both Alton Towers and Arrow Dynamics to work on other things for a year or so, but hope for a new ride wasn’t completely lost. The park returned to Arrow when the Pipeline design was perfected, and John Wardley flew out to the Arrow workshop in Utah to try out the new prototype, known as SW2. It didn’t live up to expectations, with John Wardley reportedly finding it mundane and boring, and the energy efficiency of the design wasn’t great neither.

Alton Towers and John Wardley later heard about a new, innovative coaster model being developed by Bolliger and Mabillard: the Inverted Coaster. The first B&M suspended coaster, Batman: The Ride, had opened at Six Flags Great America (before opening at almost every single Six Flags park subsequently!) in May 1992, as the prototype model. John Wardley rode Batman and realised it would be a perfect fit for Alton Towers: themed to an alien that had been found under the park, and we know what happened from there. Nemesis opened in March 1994, but the previous two attractions weren’t totally lost- the rock blasting technique used to clear land for Nemesis was originally going to be carried out for Secret Weapon 2!

Tornado, Blackgang Chine

While the vast majority of rides on this list were designed yet never built, here is one that doesn’t quite fit that criteria. Many people haven’t heard of this little park on the edge of the Isle Of Wight’s cliffs, but it has an elaborate history among it’s nostalgic walkthroughs, play areas and attractions. Blackgang Chine isn’t really known for its rides, so it’s easy to understand why Isle Of Wight residents and holidaymakers alike were so excited when Tornado was announced to open as the park’s first ever coaster in the early 2000s.

Designed by an Italian ride manufacturer now owned by Westech, the New For 2003 rollercoaster was one of Blackgang Chine’s biggest investments yet at £300,000, decorated with red track and silver supports. Yet, to the dismay of fans, Tornado never opened. The coaster didn’t meet UK safety standards due to unsafe supports as well as other issues, and amid a legal battle between the manufacturer and Blackgang Chine, Tornado lay standing but not operating for a year. The manufacturer agreed to dismante the coaster but at first refused to refund the park, but eventually Blackgang Chine won the case and received a full refund. No one outside of Westech seems to know what happened to the ride after its removal, but the most likely theory is that it was simply relocated to another park outside of the park that didn’t realise it was a relocation.

A year after Tornado’s removal, Blackgang Chine made another attempt to open a rollercoaster, and this proved successful when Cliffhanger opened in 2005- and still operates today, despite being right on the edge of a cliff. (hence the name!)

Strangely, this isn’t the only time a ride was built then abandoned shortly after. Blizzard at Fort Fun Amusement Park in East Sussex, England was constructed quickly by kiddie coaster manufacturer Cavazza Diego in 2007, when the park’s owners were struggling financially. It’s likely that they believed the new coaster was going to be a way to revive their financial security, but bankruptcy was declared before Blizzard could open. A new owner subsequently purchased the park and the coaster was dismantled after just a few days of being SBNO. I guess this sort of thing isn’t so uncommon after all.

750ft Arrow Fish-Hook, Las Vegas Stratosphere Hotel

Okay, lets face it- the Stratosphere Hotel attractions in Las Vegas look… terrifying. Yes, they’re technically just family rides (with the exception of the SkyJump!) but they dangle you off the side of a building. Even as an enthusiast I don’t know if I’d ride them if given the chance! The Stratosphere features four rides and attractions, Big Shot, Insanity, X-Scream and the Las Vegas SkyJump, however in the early 2000s another ride was being planned.

The Coaster Wars of the 1990s and 2000s were well underway- every park wanted to build the biggest, tallest, fastest rollercoaster, and the Stratosphere was no exception. Arrow were suffering financial issues at the time, so when the chance came up to design a record-breaking ride they jumped at it, hoping the project would put an end to their economic problems once and for all. The new coaster would be a brand new concept, a fish hook style-ride beginning close to the top of the Stratosphere and winding 750ft down to the ground.

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When the plans were first announced to the public, they were met with criticism from local residents, likely due to the noise pollution the coaster would have caused. This, along with the maintenance nightmare that was X (now X2) at Six Flags Magic Mountain in 2001, spelled the end for Arrow Dynamics, and the company sadly filed for bankruptcy in 2002.

This is not to say, however, that you could never pick up a cred at this iconic Las Vegas hotel. Between April 1994 and December 2005, High Roller stood on the Stratosphere’s top deck, and when it closed, the coaster was cut into tiny enough pieces that it could be taken down to the ground using a lift! Now that’s an original way of removing a ride!

S&S Shot Tower, Thorpe Park

After the major fire of 2000 in which several attractions were damaged and one completely destroyed, Thorpe Park began moving towards a growing market for UK thrill parks despite being family-oriented since its opening as a theme park in 1979. Wicked Witches Haunt, an amazing darkride formerly known as Phantom Fantasia, had been damaged beyond recovery and was demolished soon after the fire, leaving a large empty space. To fill the gap left by the lost ride and bring up the ride count, Thorpe Park applied for temporary planning permission for a Mega Drop Tower manufactured by Fabbri.

When the new droptower opened as Detonator in 2001, it was a massive success with riders- I guess visitors to Thorpe Park had wanted a few thrill attractions outside of X all along! Detonator became a permanent installation at Thorpe and paved the way for many other thrilling attractions that made Thorpe Park what it is today, such as Zodiac and Nemesis Inferno.

That’s the story of a droptower-style attraction that did end up coming to fruition at Thorpe Park. You’d assume Detonator, now Detonator: Bombs Away to fit in with the theme of Angry Birds Land, was the first of its kind to be considered for the park, right? Well, an S&S Shot Tower was actually proposed in 1998, two years before the fire, overlooking what is now Rumba Rapids. Due to planning restrictions the tower would have reached a top height of just 147ft, making it more of a family oriented ride, but then perhaps that could have worked as Thorpe was a family park at the time? Anyway, the project was abandoned soon after with no real reason given, though it was likely as a result of some sort of financial concerns, or the realisation that such a short Shot Tower wouldn’t be all that thrilling.

Which would you have preferred? Do you love Detonator, or do you think the abandoned Shot Tower would have been more fun? Let me know in the comments!

The ArrowBATic Model

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Ah, Arrow, we meet again. Arrow Dynamics was a leading pioneer in the theme park industry throughout its operational life, creating many groundbreaking rollercoaster models that continue to thrill riders even today. However, as we’ve seen, some of these never saw the light of day, and one of these was the ArrowBATic. Created around the time Arrow were approaching bankruptcy, the revolutionary ArrowBATic model was a sort of inverted wild mouse, offering two versions- the Family and Extreme.

As you can imagine the Family model was aimed at thrillseekers that didn’t want too much height or speed, featuring a downward helix, several switchbacks and overbanked turns, careful not to invert too much or create an excessive amount of airtime (though on more thrilling coasters, you can never have too much airtime, right?). The Extreme model really ramped up the thrill level, with multiple inversions including barrel rolls, a dive loop and a cobra roll, as well as a 90 degree drop from 152 feet up!

Not much is known about this innovative Arrow model as no park ever applied for planning permission, let alone built one, so we can only dream of what the ArrowBATic would have been like, and the themes that could been attached to the ride.

Which of these attractions would you most like to have experienced? Are there any you would like to see added to the list? Let me know in the comments below!

1. 

   Thank you so much! I’m so glad you enjoy them. Sorry about the late reply -Lily 🙂

2. 

   Your articles are amazing. Thank you for your hard work.

3. 

   It’s definitely worth a visit! 🙂

4. 

   Interesting! Never heard of that park before

5. 

   Love this Lily

If you enjoyed this article, check out my other posts from theme parks around the world, and make sure to read Part 1 if you haven’t already!

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Photo credits:

-@uk_coaster_media on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/uk_coaster_media/

Thanks for your help!

You are all clear- and outta here! Thanks for reading!

-Lily