Park section Forbidden Valley Type Steel – Inverted Height 13 m Opened 19 March 1994 G-force 4 g | Status Operating Manufacturer Bolliger & Mabillard Max speed 80 km/h Height restriction 1.4 m Cost 10 million GBP | |
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Soft opening date 16 March 1994 (1994-03-16) Opening date 19 March 1994 (1994-03-19) Similar Oblivion, Rita, Thirteen, Galactica, The Smiler | ||
Nemesis is an inverted roller coaster located at the Alton Towers amusement park in England. The ride's concept and layout was devised by designer John Wardley. It was manufactured by Bolliger & Mabillard (B&M) and opened in March 1994. It is located in the Forbidden Valley area of the park, adjacent to Galactica, a B&M flying roller coaster; Nemesis: Sub-Terra, a dark ride manufactured by ABC rides, and The Blade, a HUSS Park Attractions pirate ship ride.
Contents
The 716-metre-long (2,349 ft) ride stands 12.8016 metres (42.000 ft) tall and features a top speed of 80.5 kilometres per hour (50.0 mph). The four-inversion roller coaster was one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside of the United States and the first in Europe (as an independent company). The ride has been very well received, consistently ranking highly in industry polls.
Development history
In 1990, Alton Towers added the Thunder Looper roller coaster; the addition was only temporary due to planning restrictions imposed on its installation. The park began planning for a new roller coaster which would open prior the closure of the Thunder Looper. They desired a roller coaster that was big, different and exciting, but they were constrained by the tree-level height limit imposed on the park.
Alton Towers approached Arrow Dynamics for the new roller coaster. The Utah-based company was working on a prototype of a pipeline roller coaster, similar to TOGO's Ultratwister design. John Wardley worked on the design of the ride which was originally to be themed around a secret military facility, codenamed "Secret Weapon 1" (SW1). Due to the design of the ride and the height restriction imposed on the park, SW1 would only have a track length of 300 metres (980 ft). Development of the project was put on hold a short time into the process, due to the financial problems being encountered by Arrow at the time and technical problems with the ride's design. The project was revived a year later under the codename "Secret Weapon 2"; rock blasting was used to clear more space for the larger ride. The project was again abandoned when Wardley rode the prototype, describing it as slow, boring, cumbersome and energy inefficient. The park began to look for an alternative.
Wardley became aware of a new roller coaster design being installed by Bolliger & Mabillard at Six Flags Great America. He subsequently entered into discussions with Six Flags who agreed to privately disclose information about the new ride, in exchange for a similar favour at a later date. Jim Wintrode, the general manager of Six Flags Great America at the time, proposed the concept of an inverted roller coaster that featured inversions. Although Wardley believed this would be impossible, Wintrode worked with Bolliger & Mabillard to develop Batman: The Ride. Wardley rode Batman: The Ride prior to its May 1992 opening and wanted to add a similar ride to Alton Towers.
The inverted roller coaster, then dubbed "Secret Weapon 3", was developed throughout 1992. Wardley and Nick Varney, marketing director of Alton Towers, came up with the name "Nemesis" and pitched a theming concept about an alien creature trapped beneath the park. Tussauds Studios elaborated on this, creating visuals for later promotion. Wardley also worked alongside Stengel Engineering to develop a layout for the ride which was exciting for both riders and non-riders; for example, the final inversion was built at the eye level of an observer.
Operational history
The £10 million Nemesis officially opened to the public on 19 March 1994, following a soft opening three days prior. It opened as one of the first Bolliger & Mabillard rides to be installed outside of the United States, along with Diavlo at Himeji Central Park, Japan, which opened four months later.
In August 2004, Nemesis gained the Guinness World Record for the "Most Naked People on a Rollercoaster". The ride set the record at 32 riders – the number of seats on a single Nemesis train. It took the record from Thorpe Park's Nemesis Inferno roller coaster which set the record at 28 just three months prior. The ride lost the record in 2010 when 40 naked riders boarded Green Scream Rollercoaster at Adventure Island.
In 2009, Alton Towers received several complaints from nearby residents regarding increased noise levels emitted from the ride. New wheels had to be installed on the two trains before the ride returned to normal operation.
Characteristics
The 716-metre-long (2,349 ft) Nemesis stands 13 metres (43 ft) tall, however, due to the modified terrain, it features a drop height of 31.7 metres (104 ft). With a top speed of 80.5 kilometres per hour (50.0 mph), the ride features four inversions including two corkscrews, a zero-g roll, and a vertical loop. Riders of Nemesis experience between 3 and 4 times the force of gravity on the 1-minute, 20-second ride. Nemesis operates with two steel and fiberglass trains, each containing eight cars. Each car seats four riders in a single row for a total of 32 riders per train. As guests approach the ride a loud roar from the ride can be heard.
Ride experience
Once the train is locked and checked the floor beneath it is lowered before the train then departs the station making a 45-degree, right-hand turn towards the lift hill. Once at the top of the 13-metre (43 ft) hill, the train makes a small dip and turns around 180 degrees to the left. The train then descends 31.7 metres (104 ft) down the first drop into the first inversion, a right-handed corkscrew. The train then navigates a right-handed, 270-degree downward helix that features 90 degree banking. Then the train rises up into the second inversion, a zero-g roll, where riders experience the feeling of weightlessness. It then makes a 180-degree right-handed stall turn into the third inversion, a vertical loop. After a left stall turn the train enters the second corkscrew. The train then passes through an underground tunnel, and through one more 180-degree turn, before being stopped by the brake run and returning to the station.
Reception
"Nemesis" has received overwhelmingly positive reviews, by park visitors and the industry as a whole. The roller coaster has continuously ranked high in worldwide polls and, as of 2007, featured queues in excess of an hour due to its popularity. More than 50 million people have ridden Nemesis since opening.
In Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards, Nemesis has consistently ranked highly. It is also one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 every year since the award's inception in 1998. It debuted at position 10 in 1998, before peaking at position 7 in 2003.
In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll, Nemesis entered at position 5 in 1999, before dropping to a low of 12 in 2012. The ride's ranking in subsequent polls is shown in the table below.
Due to the success of Nemesis, park owners Merlin Entertainments have created two related rides. The first is Nemesis Inferno at Thorpe Park, another Bolliger & Mabillard inverted roller coaster. The ride opened in 2003. Alton Towers hosts the second related ride, Nemesis: Sub-Terra. The drop tower opened on the former Dynamo site in 2012 and closed in August 2015 due to cost-cutting.
As a result, Nemesis is commonly compared with its Thorpe Park counterpart – Nemesis Inferno – with many citing Nemesis as the superior ride. Nemesis has ranked favourably in Amusement Today's annual Golden Ticket Awards, being one of only seven roller coasters to appear in the top 50 steel roller coasters for all 15 years. Nemesis Inferno, on the other hand, has never made an appearance. In Mitch Hawker's worldwide Best Roller Coaster Poll Nemesis Inferno has an average ranking of 80, while Nemesis' average ranking is 6. In a poll conducted by the Los Angeles Times, Nemesis received 37.93% of the vote for title of best roller coaster in England, while Nemesis Inferno received 0.32%. Jeremy Thompson of Roller Coaster Philosophy describes Nemesis as "a vastly superior ride" to Nemesis Inferno.