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Alton Towers Resort (UK: / ˈ ɒ l t ən / ⓘ OL-tən) (often shortened to Alton Towers) is a theme park and resort complex in Staffordshire, England, near the village of Alton. [4] The park is operated by Merlin Entertainments Group and incorporates a theme park , water park , mini golf and hotel complex .
The Tussauds Group was bought by Merlin Entertainments in March 2007 for over £1 billion from DIC, placing Alton Towers under their control. [13] In July 2007, the resort and park was sold to Nick Leslau and his investment firm Prestbury, who now lease the park back to Merlin Entertainments to operate on a 35-year lease.
In 1979, John Broome, one of the then directors of Alton Towers, wanted to make the Towers and Gardens into a new style of leisure attraction. [2] On 4 April 1980; 44 years ago (), Corkscrew opened [1] to a crowd of 30,000. It became the main attraction of the park, and led to attendance numbers doubling from 500,000 in 1979, to over 1,000,000 ...
Merlin Entertainments Limited is a global entertainment company based in London, England, which operates a number of theme parks and other visitor attractions. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange until November 2019, when it was acquired by a consortium that includes Kirkbi A/S (the investment arm of the Kristiansen family, which controls The Lego Group).
The attraction was closed at the end of 2015. The building and associated boat ride were re-themed into The Alton Towers Dungeon, which opened in 2019. [1] Various theming object from the ride were put on sale at auction on 13 February 2019 to raise money for Merlin's Magic Wand. [1]
It was the first dark ride at Alton Towers, one of the largest in the UK at the time, and was produced by Keith Sparks for the park's owner John Broome. It was a 4-minute boat ride which followed the adventures of Phileas Fogg and was loosely based on Jules Verne's 1873 novel Around the World in Eighty Days and took riders through various ...
He is a 30 percent shareholder in Prestbury's AIM listed Secure Income REIT, [4] which owns tourist attraction venues such as Thorpe Park, Warwick Castle, and Alton Towers on a long-term lease to Merlin Entertainments. [5] Secure Income REIT also owns 20 private hospitals and 55 Travelodge hotels in the UK. [6]
However, Merlin Entertainments took over the company in May 2007 and invited Wardley back as a ride design consultant. He has consulted on various rollercoaster projects, such as SAW - The Ride and The Swarm at Thorpe Park, TH13TEEN and The Smiler at Alton Towers, and Raptor at Gardaland. On 22 January 2013, Wardley announced his retirement. [3]