SW7 - Under Construction - (10/9/12) There is a very odd rumor about SW7 starting to float around the inter-webs that sounds crazy... and at the same time, sounds like something Alton Towers would try to do as well. It has come to light that SW7 may attempt to take the inversion record when it opens, but with the track layout already shown to have only eight clear inversions, this was a bit of a head scratcher until now. We know Alton Towers likes to have new gimicks, and that there seems to be an enclosed section of track between the station and the lift hill that has so far remained out of sight. Much of the building it travels through was labeled as a maintenance area, but what if there is more to it than that? What if Alton Towers has found a way to only only score the world record for inversions, but do it in such a way that they could evolve the ride over the years to keep the record, no matter what the competition was to do?
Picture this... what if before your coaster hit the first lift hill, you traveled into a special effects tunnel (imagine a Vortex Tunnel effect) on a very special piece of track that would essentially bring your car to a halt, but begin spinning around and upside down a few times before stopping and sending you out onto the lift hill? A typical Vortex Tunnel effect is enough to make most people stagger off balance when trying to walk through it, but imagine a Vortex Effect mixed with a ride car that would actually spin and rotate around the room in the opposite direction!
Certainly the crazy looking icon graphic they’ve been using the tease SW7 with lately seems to almost to hint that just such an element may be possible. But the genius part of this concept that that with a little reprograming, they can add on more inversions to the program for years to come to always keep SW7 as the coaster with the most inversions on the planet. Stay tuned!!