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Corkscrew's Removal (Alton Towers)

That news report actually made me realise how sad I am that the Vekoma's going.

I love getting bashed about on it :(.
 
At first I think no! poor corky :cry:

But then thatguy sort of hints that something big is coming makes me happier again untill they do that "never be forgotten" thing. :(
 
A tribute to Corkscrew.

1979 - Vekoma, a big player in the rides industry create their first Corkscrew with Bayern Curve. The ride was ground breaking. It utilises two inversions, high speeds, a bayern curve, and a long, entertaining layout. First constructed in Italy, the ride was then dismantled and moved to Alton where it pulled huge crowds, some reports stating it had over 5 hour queues.

The ride really was the boom that gave the Alton Towers theme park it's feet. Thanks to the Corkscrew, finance was created for other new rides, such as The Blackhole and Alton Mouse. People would come from far and wide to ride the rollercoaster which was to become the icon of all UK steel coasters, to experience it's forceful drops, airtime packed hills and of course, those signature inversions. The popularity of the ride was proven by the spread throughout the world. The Vekoma Corkscrew outsold it's Schwarzkopf competators, and rivaled the similar ride built by Arrow.

Over the years, the ride roughened, and new coasters such as Nemesis really p*ssed on Corky's bonfire. The ride was getting less and less popular and people were forgetting it. But the end was not yet here, new trains and a fresh scheme gave the ride a new lease of life. As the centre piece to the new Ug Land, the rollercoaster was still in its prime, delivering thrills to all of the family. Tame enough for the young, but still giving something that little bit special to draw in the older thrill seekers.

This was not to last though. In 2005, Rita: Queen of Speed (euurggghhhh) really overshadowed the Corkscrew (despite the fact that it's rougher, less entertaining and ugly). Corkscrew once again became forgotten, and Ug Land was really killed. Families headed elsewhere and queues dwindled. This was not to be the end however, Corkscrew stilled pulled queues over over 45 minutes on the busiest days of this season, sometimes having a larger pull than the big players, Air, Nemesis, and Oblivion.

Yet, despite its long history, being an icon of the UK amusement industry, and being a **** good ride, its time for it to go. Corky has provided first inversions to many people, been thoroughly enjoyed by the young and old, and will no doubt be missed by all.

Corkscrew 1980 - 2008

(If you didn't know :p )

EDIT: Bloody BBC beating me too it ¬_¬
 
Thank god it is going, all it does is hurt your bloody ears.
 
I'm sure Alton will make use of it's space.

So, mourn all you want but it's going to be worth it.
 
It will probably be a coaster, doubt it will be Intamin because Rita is there, might be B&M (to add to the others) or another Vekoma like Exp. Everest (Like what one of the drawings looked like), maybe even another Eurofighter *barf* HOPEFULLY NOT ANOTHER!
Could be a Maurer Sohne Xtended coaster, as they do have SPinball and they may want to invest in another Maurer.

Not forgeting a woody :)
 
Nice to see you've actually managed to narrow it down, instead of just randomly speculating about pretty much every possibility under the sun.

I'll be sad to see Corkscrew go, but if the replacement is a good ride, I'll consider that a fair trade.
 
I didn't really like Corkscrew, but it will be sad to see it go...I guess all the speculating begins now.
 
Ian said:
"Unfortunately the Corkscrew will not be sold. Alton Towers has decided that as it is such an iconic ride, they won’t be selling it on and are currently discussing what will happen to the track and carriages once the ride is removed."
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Sounds interesting...
Not sure if this has been posted before, as this topic is long, but it made the front page of yesterday's Sentinel (that's the local paper where I live when not at Uni)...
http://www.thisisstaffordshire.co.u...w-28-years/article-371877-detail/article.html
Otherwise, I'm still surprised by how saddened I am by this news - but then, this was one iconic coaster, however much of a battering it may have delivered in its later years - as well as the fact that, as with a great many of us on the site, this was my first major coaster, back in September 1997 - arguably the day on which I caught the coaster bug, beginning the path that would bring me to this site 7 years later!
Also, though perhaps it's because I've not been browsing the coaster related forums closely enough lately, this news seems to have come out of nowhere, and was not the way in which I was expecting to end the season.
Still - at least it's an excuse to return to Alton before the season's out, though I'm thoroughly annoyed that I won't be able to make the pilgrimage on November 9th.

Also, if the 'bigger, better' (which Rita is NOT) replacement turns out to be another ****ing Eurofighter, I think I will actually cry...
 
I'm actually not to bothered, I mean why are people so bothered, I don't know anyone who goes to Alton because Corkscrew is there, it is one of those rides you just pass or might ride to wait for the queues to go down maybe (yea right)

It is so exciting how they talk about the new investment for the next few years, who know... they might even start construction next year!

Oops: This is Mandy (AmandaPanda) my brother didn't log out
 
Never thought I'd say this but,I'm with UC on this. :wink:

Rob said:
to experience it's forceful drops, airtime packed hills
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Are you sure we're talking about the same coaster?

For me,Corkscrew was an 'average' coaster,one of those that if you didn't ride it,then it's no big deal.

I appreciate it's history,but you can't live in the past forever.

Give it a decent send off,and just pray it's predecessor is something worth talking about.
 
I can't imagine all this talk of "forceful drops" and "airtime packed hills"
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Just describing the ride as I found it the last few times I rode it. Get on the back row and you'll find the airtime, infact, more than Rita has. Forceful drops, well there's one, but remember, by the standards of what was aroud (I was talking about the 1980's), it is moderatly forceful.

Don't mock it by making it sound like Alton is ripping down the best thing since sliced bread...
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To be honest, in my opinion, I think it is one of the best rides in the park. I prefer it to both Rita and Nemesis, and its only beaten in my eyes by Oblivion.

...especially since before this news came out, the ONLY thing any of you ever said about Corkscrew was how rough it is and how much everyone hates it.
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I've always liked it. It is rough, but it's most certaintly not a bad ride. It delivers more airtime than Rita and is a more enjoyable experience than nemesis, and for the past few years I have thought so.

For me,Corkscrew was an 'average' coaster,one of those that if you didn't ride it,then it's no big deal.
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I think it's one of the better ones in the park, as stated.
 
^ I was simply summing up its history, and, as you say, now it's going it seems everyone is gonna miss it, which is more or less what I said. If it was a crap ride, why would I bother going to the lenghts of writing all that?
 
I think the people that will truly miss it, will miss it purely for nostalgiac reasons. As Furie said, the ride could be credited for pretty much creating the theme park industry as it is now in the UK. I don't think many people here will tell you that it's an amazing ride, and the people that do are just silly :p

As for them being fickle, I think it's just a case of not realising what they've got till it's gone, so to say.
 
I know what's going to happen. People will speculate. Everyone will be like ''omg, alton - corkscrew = space and space = coaster''

When you think like that and it doesn't happen, your hopes get shattered.
 
i would like to see a coaster go in corkscrews space, and i know its unlikely coz of theyre height restrictions, but i would love to see a eurofighter there, or more realistically a terrain woodie.
 
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