Around the World in 80 Days (Alton Towers)

Around the World in 80 Days was an attraction in the Talbot Street (now Cloud Cuckoo land) area of Alton Towers theme park, Staffordshire, England. The attraction opened in 1981, one year after the park first opened. It was the park's first dark ride. It was a 4-minute boat ride which fallowed the adventures of Phileas Fogg and was loosely based on Jules Verne's novel Around the World in Eighty Days and took riders through various different countries from around the world. Each boat could hold 9 people and there was 10 boats with 1,000 guests an hour. Each country had its own music and some animated characters. You could travel through London, Siam, Egypt, New York City, Venice, Greenland, Las Vegas, Vienna, Holland, Brazil, Paris, London Docks and Battersea. The ride station was themed around the London docks and featured an animated Phileas Fogg in a hot air balloon. Guests would board from the right hand side and exit on their left. In 1991, at the end of the ride, was a model of the haunted house's facade, advertising the opening of the attraction in 1992. The ride was quite popular in its day, but when Talbot street was re-themed to The Land of Make Believe the ride needed a major revamp. It was then closed in 1993 and it was replaced by Toyland Tours in 1994 and then Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride in 2006. The ride track and boats stayed much the same but with different theming within the attraction's numerous scenes.