Thrill-seekers joined four-hour queue for Alton Towers' newest attraction
18.03.2024 - 16:25
/ manchestereveningnews.co.uk
Theme parks and queues come hand in hand, but a new addition to Alton Towers saw riders queuing for four hours at the weekend.
Thousands of thrill-seekers stood in line waiting for a seat on its newest rollercoaster Nemesis Reborn.
Following a launch event on Friday, where we were lucky to try out the revamped ride, it opened to the public on Saturday morning.
Its launch marked the culmination of an 18-month project to replace the entire 250-tonne, 716-metre-long track.
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The original Nemesis ride, which opened in 1994, closed in 2022. After almost 30 years, carrying more than 52 million people, the ride and its tired track were desperately in need of a revamp.
Fans were so desperate to be among the first riders that they joined the mammoth queue, which snaked all the way from Forbidden Valley to the Congo River Rapids.
With its mysterious red veins snaking along every inch of the track and a fearsome interactive eye at the heart of the ride, it looks much more impressive than its predecessor and the whole story-telling element around it has transformed the zone, which is also home to the lesser known Nemesis Sub-Terra drop tower dark ride.
While the look of it has changed - and it's a much smoother ride - the elements that riders loved about Nemesis, including the four inversions, hair-raising corkscrews and nerve-shredding drops - remain.
John Burton, senior creative lead at Merlin Magic Making, said: “For three decades the original Nemesis rollercoaster provided an unrivalled experience for countless millions of thrill-seekers - making it one of the most cherished attractions in the UK.
“So when it came to bringing