Area Cloud Cuckoo Land Cost £8million Closing date End Of 2015 Duration 11 minutes | Status Closed Opening date 1 April 2006 Opened 1 April 2006 Replaced Toyland Tours | |
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Attraction type Dark boat ride, Elevator Address Farley Ln, Alton, Stoke-on-Trent ST10 4DB, UK Theme Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Similar Battle Galleons, Hex – The Legend of the Towers, Toyland Tours, Twirling Toadstool, Duel ‑ The Haunted House Str | ||
Charlie and the chocolate factory the ride boat audio with photo tour
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: The Ride was a dark ride located in the Cloud Cuckoo Land area of Alton Towers theme park, Staffordshire, England. It is based upon the famous Roald Dahl book of the same name, and takes its thematic inspiration from the illustrations of Quentin Blake.
Contents
- Charlie and the chocolate factory the ride boat audio with photo tour
- History
- Ride experience
- Trivia
- References
In 2016, the attraction was announced to be temporarily closing as part of Alton Towers' Towers Loving Care initiative. However, when Alton Towers' website was updated on 16 January 2017, the attraction was not listed at all, implying permanent closure
History
The building was originally constructed for Around the World in 80 Days, a water dark ride produced by Sparks Creative Services in 1981. This ride took you on a journey through numerous locations including Egypt, Las Vegas and Paris. The ride was scenically redesigned as Toyland Tours in 1994. During the 2005 season Toyland Tours was closed and work began converting it to its present incarnation. The transit system manufacturer Mack Rides were brought in to add a new disembarkation point towards the back of the ride building. This was necessary due to the new ride featuring two simulators as the second half of the attraction.
This attraction was closed to guests at the end of 2015 after the Intellectual Property license from the Roald Dahl Foundation was not renewed. It is currently closed for the foreseeable future with no sign of reopening).
Ride experience
The ride is split into two segments, the first being a boat ride along the chocolate river inside Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Passengers encounter all the characters from the book (going from Augustus Gloop to Veruca Salt) either as simple animatronics or CGI projections. After disembarking the boats the second segment begins with a short pre-show video (involving Mike Teavee). The video is presented as if the viewers are actually trapped within the TV set. The ride continues inside one of two "Great Glass Elevators" which simulate passengers taking an airborne trip through the rest of the factory. Each elevator is a static room with semi-translucent walls and ceiling on which CGI animations are projected from the outside, and only the floor trembles slightly to give the impression of movement.